Refugees Family

Hola todos ☀️

As much as I would love to start this post with my love words to the country, that makes my heart smile and always makes me feel completely at home, I have another story to share. My love ode to Mexico gonna have to wait until the next post.

Today I started my bus trip from the city of Oaxaca to the city of Mexico. 6 hours trip, that is relatively close and comfy ride in the bus.

I was in a quite small bus station but we were quite many. Lots of people looked from other countries than Mexico and I quickly realized that most of them are refugees searching for new home to be living in peace.

I took my ukulele and started singing few songs while waiting for the bus because sometimes music is the best medicine. Few of them listened, smiled and continued their journeys.

When my bus arrived, I got in and in my seat there was sitting a man. I kindly showed my ticket with my seat on and then after a little conversation we swaped our seats as he wanted to sit next to his wife and it happened to be my seat. (Don't ask 🙈 here in Mexico from my experience they really care about the seat numbers !)

I love observing people, more like the behaviour rather than actual looks and I quickly got to like them. They seem a young quite sweet couple with 2 really friendly beautiful kids, maybe 7 or 8 years old.

We exchanged few words during the trip wondering about the next stops for our toilet breaks and so on. 

And the more I was observing them, the more I could feel them. I realized they were not from Mexico.

As we stopped in one of our toilet break stops, the guy asked me where I am from and knowing how rarely people actually know Lithuania here I just said Europe. I asked the same and he answered 'we are from Venezuela'. And then I understood what I was feeling.

They were refugees travelling all the way to the United States to get some peaceful life for their family. My heart broke and I could sense my tears coming.

We didn't talk much but I was really observing them from time to time. I found them so beautifully friendly, kind and funny to one another.

At the end of my trip I asked them more and the answers they gave me completely broke my heart.

They have been travelling for a whole month, taking different buses and sleeping at the bus stations on the floor with cardboard. A young woman, a man and 2 beautiful kids. And tomorrow they are taking another bus taking them to United States border.

They have nobody at the States, no place to sleep, no friend to give them job, nothing. They are making this whole trip to find a better life for their family and who even knows if they can enter.

This story shook me strongly so I gave away a big bag of some home made chocolates so the kids can enjoy and wished them luck.

But as I was walking away I had an urge to go back and just give them some money. A little something but at least to cover their food for the day.

The woman was so happy, she gave me this incredible hug that broke my heart. I felt so sad for them but was deeply praying the Universe to help them out. I felt like they were my family.

I choose to travel, I choose to sleep on the beaches from time to tome, have adventures. I have warm hostel bed, vegan food in my belly, I have friends around, language skills to move around, I have a job I love that pays me well and these people are crossing thousands of miles without even knowing what is there for them in USA.

I didn't grow up with money or in a luxury privilege but somehow I reached the state now where I am completely abundant.

And I complain sometimes that I didn't sleep well or mosquitos are biting me or whatever other white privileged girl may complain about.

This beautiful family is just a tiny little drop in the sea of refugees nowadays.

When we pass people that we think they might need some help, let's not turn away. We never know the stories, we never know why that drug addict homeless soul is there on the street. We don't know the suffering of another but we are always capable to share something.

And it doesn't have to be money, sometimes it is just an honest smile or an eye contact that may make another feel some kind of hope in this life.

I pray to the Universe to shower abundance to all of us, so we don't need to run away from our homes, so we have healthy food in our stomachs, roofs over heads, jobs we like and that feeling of belonging, and harmony within.

My heart is with that family that is now sleeping on the cardboard while I am writing this blog post, showered and ready to sleep in my bed.

😢

Moving Around

Hola queridos!

It's been nearly 2 weeks of me moving around. First Italy, then Spain. Both short trips and quite different. 

Italy, more specifically Puglia region, opened its arms with vast dry red sand fields and crowds of olive trees. Friendly italian men tried their best to give me some compliments in their broken english, so sweet!  My belly was happy with some great vegan italian gelato but I had to put an effort to find italian food without cheese and eggs. The beaches made me laugh with its paid access, I often feel very sceptical when you have to pay to enter the beach.

I camped in a relatively cheap camping and felt like a little tourist. My days consisted of swimming, walking, visiting random towns and eating. A privileged traveller! I bathed in expressive italian language and was reminded again how generally speaking the looks of your clothes are so important here. I missed hippies a little! Dear friends of Italy, where can I find them next time I visit? The stunning architecture of Bari and Monopoli towns blew my mind. I felt taken back in time, some hot hazy afternoons getting lost in narrow cobbled streets.

Puglia has charmed me a lot! ✨

And Spain visit was for work. 

10 years ago I met a special soul there and we both then knew that our friendship will bring some future creations. And here we go, 10 years later, me creating edible magic in the kitchen and her making it all happen, teaching, inspiring. The yoga retreat was a magical time. An intense and hard work but so rewarding and in the most beautiful villa in Andalucia!

To be back in Spain feels like coming back home. I still remember its flavours, smells and sounds. 10 years ago I completely fell in love with its South. Andalucia seduced me with its colours, intense heat and flamenco sounds. So being here this time brings the sweet nostalgia of an old lover. 

But like everything, things in life constantly change. And my soul yearns to be back in the land of Mayans. The land of cacao, the pelicans, its cultures and spices. My big love.

Tomorrow is special not only because I turn 33 or because of equinox but also because I take my wings and fly accross the ocean. I will be in Mexico for the next 2 months. You know how much I love that place. If you find yourself there, on the side of Pacific, write me. I wanna share that magical love this country gave to me.

Nos vemos en México!

Back in Greece

Hello dear friends!

As I am crossing the sea to reach Athens, in front of me is a 4 hours trip. I sit here quietly in my found perfect spot in the ferry and I am full of emotions.

I really like boats and ferries, I think it is my favourite public transport. It gives me this feeling of connection with an open water, it is always breezy and the vast blue all around me mesmerizes my soul. The loud speaking voice in greek language often wakes me up from this dreamy state and the smokers around get on my nerves. But the romanticism of crossing the sea to reach the land is way stronger than any frustration.

It is my time to unwind. To look within. To reflect. To digest. I love travelling alone. 

Many people just wait to reach the destination before they can unwind, relax and connect with themselves. They dislike the actual journey, especially if that envolves public transport.

For me, that is the juicy part of travelling. I feel so in my waters when I am by myself going on long journeys by buses, boats and trains. It is my time to stop and be with myself. To feel, to cry, to dream. There is so much beauty in those in between the places moments.

The fellow passengers become the main book characters in my imaginable book. They often inspire me to create. A funny moustache on somebody turns into my notebook sketch, two smokers conversation turns into the topic I write about in my diary, colours of the sea turns into a song on ukulele about freedom and so on.

I have spent an incredible month in Greece. It seems like I come here without thinking anymore. Like some deep string attaches my heart to this land. It always feels good to be back. The familiar language, spinach pies in the bakeries, figs hanging on every tree, golden olive oil, white and blue and that clear water lulls my soul. But mostly I feel the part of Sunshine House family. I feel seen, heard and loved. And however how chaotic and messy each year may be, I take the good times with me.

Without a doubt, Sunshine House, the place I always go to when I am in Greece have changed me a lot. It opened thousand possibilities for me, mostly by simply opening my heart. I feel blessed to have found these places and tools that help me to walk my heart's path.

And like all the things, at some point comes an ending to these experiences. So with so much emotion I pack my backpack once more and continue moving.

I got few more days in Greece until I take a boat to Italy for some camping and then off to Spain to cook for hungry bellies once more.

The heart of the nomad is happy.

May we all live in that space of spontanuity.

With much love and lots of splashes of this gorgeous incredible sea water,

Ligita