Family, Free Spirits and 3 Winters

 © Jagoda Kaloper-Tajder

In true Renaissance woman style, I'm worried  I'm over-intellectualising my new found enjoyment of a foreign culture. As I ponder the consonants of an unfamiliar language and struggle with the concept of strong family connections, Slavic myths and fairy-tales, and bloody wars, I can't help thinking I'm falling into some kind of mental short circuit.

I've never had the urge to create a family environment. Continuity of lines and names mean nothing to me. Familial loyalty is limited to three people who I love unconditionally but they are long distance relationships. We are who we are; and perhaps we desire that which we've never known. This goes part way to explain my fascination with the Croatian language with its multiple words for nephew, niece etc., depending on whether it's your father's or mother's family. This is such an alien concept that the rigours of cases and word endings come as intellectual relief.