travel

All posts tagged travel

More Than Just Another Travel Story

Published March 25, 2013 by Malena

In the following story I wrote parts of the conversations the characters had in other languages for an authentic experience. I wanted the reader to experience what it is like not knowing another language.

The idea was to put the reader in place of a foreigner. I remember how much fun it was to invent words by adding the ‘o’ at the end of my English when I didn’t know the Spanish word. It was also fun to guess the meaning. For example, preparado means prepare. It was a great way to get in there and have a go at learning!

Looking back, going to live in Spain and Germany was a brave step because I didn’t know Spanish and German. But then it was so exciting, I didn’t give it too much thought. Greek is my mother tongue and I was educated in English, in Australia where I was born and bred. I had no experience of travel. London seemed like an easy transition to the life of a traveler but I found it the hardest. That’s another story.

The reward of travel proved to be much more because it helped me understand the value of non-verbal language. Without it I would not have been able to write. This is because I was able to take in other aspects of the environment that gave me clues to not just what was going on, but the details that made my experiences so beautiful and unique.

Living abroad was the only way I could learn another language. I learnt Spanish but not as much German as I would have hoped. That’s another story again. If you’re curious, the following story is based on my experiences, because it is a subject I know well, but I spiced up the storyline to make it more interesting. What’s real and what’s not, I hear you ask? It’s all real because it is in my head. After living abroad I have many stories. The hard part is choosing which ones to tell.

This is the prelude to a story I’m writing.
Keep on dancing!

My multilingual journey (expatsincebirth.com)
Welcome to my blog! (tipsforlearninglanguages.wordpress.com)
So, You Want to Know About Foreign Language SEO? Mozinar Q&A (seomoz.org)
How to change the OS X system language (reviews.cnet.com)
Traveling Languages Series Post: T, U (studyabroad.joshuascriven.com)
Importance of Language When You Travel (landlopers.com)
What language should you learn and why? (tipsforlearninglanguages.wordpress.com)
Language part two – those other ones (masterzangetsuingress.wordpress.com)
“Glossary of Harlem Slang” Katie Bray (wocshortstories.wordpress.com)
Foreign Language Woes (sublife1.wordpress.com)

Smiling Eyes

Published February 26, 2013 by Malena

Smiling eyes
with sparkle that touched my heart
and cried
please don’t say a word
for my happiness may die inside
I’m free
I’m running away
to the place
I want to be
Finally
his heart smiled
as the anguish of my words
rested in peace

This one’s about my father and it has a beautiful story to it.

Written By Maria Grujicic
26/2/2013

A House, Like A Sacred Keepsake Box

Published August 3, 2012 by Malena

LISTEN TO MY POEM HERE!

Hi Everyone!

This is my latest poetry tag of a poem I wrote when I was in Greece one summer. I was inspired after observing the beautiful old abandoned houses. It is a poem about the love we need to give to a house to keep it alight. Sometimes after reading a poem, a mixture of thoughts and feelings go through me, and I wonder if I will ever write such a poem again. The moment was irreplaceable.

THANKS FOR VISITING!
Maria Grujcic (Malena)

I Was (prefacme.com)
Special Gift Ideas for Grandparent’s Day 2011 (personalcreations.com)
I Was (poemsthatdance.com)
On Poetry. (silverpens.wordpress.com)
Poem about being a loner II (grannyslittleprojects.wordpress.com)
old poems. (sickocean.wordpress.com)
Keepsake Stone (countryandvictoriantimes.com)

I See Spring! A Poem For Children

Published March 31, 2012 by Malena

As another year goes by, and with Spring coming to sprout, I recall the period when I started to write my poems. It was a time when I found my career at a stop and I did a lot of walking and exploring around the neighborhood where I lived, in Frankfurt, Germany. For my readers who have followed me, you will know it was the suburb of Bornheim, the most inspirational place of residence I have ever lived.

It was an atmosphere of people combined with unusual activity of animal life. It was Spring. I see Spring as a wake up call after the time of hibernation that Winter provides. I feel free in Spring, and this particular Spring was different. I saw things differently, and it was when I wrote my first poem. And unbeknown to me, it was the first poem of many more to come! It is a poem that belongs to my first poetry book, Spring And Sing.

I See Spring

I see droplets of dew
I reach them with my hand
I find them in my eyes
I touch the sun
I hold the rays in my heart

I smell smiles everywhere
I taste them in the cool air
I keep them in my lungs

I eat refreshing ice
I hear the crunch in my mouth
I meet my friends
I smell their laughter in their words
I spring for joy
I see spring

By Maria Grujicic

Do you have a place of inspiration to share? How did inspire you, and what did it inspire you to do?

Thank you for reading.

Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you.Marsha Norman

Hi There With News! (poemsthatdance.com)
Come And Review My Next Poetry Book! (poemsthatdance.com)
Poems That Dance (prefacme.com)
SOLSC: Spring is Anew (booksavors.wordpress.com)
Poem by a Non-Poet! Reply ‘Poested’ (prefacme.com)
A Hundertwasser Poem & A Couple Of Hats! (onelittlecaterpillar.wordpress.com)
The Stem Of My Art (prefacme.com)
My First Poem… (prefacme.com)
Monday Melting Poem Week 10 (tasmith1122.wordpress.com)
I Sang a Poem (poemsthatdance.com)
A Petaled Poet (poemsthatdance.com)
The Magical Origins Of My Songs (prefacme.com)
Introducing Amazing Free Audios By Malena of Poems That Dance! (poemsthatdance.com)
New Poem Published (carvingoutavoice.wordpress.com)
WIZ’s 2012 Spring Poetry Runoff Competition and Celebration is underway (motleyvision.org)

A Place For My Quiet Smile

Published March 5, 2012 by Malena

I don’ t see you
With the kangaroos
It isn’t you
A hippy
With grace, humor and style
Inevitably
With a chance to stop
And breathe
And a time to cry
A pause
That exposed a soul
A risk
Unforeseen
That created a step
An entrance
To the outside
A place
A chance to stop
And breath
Honesty
Renewed a belief
And a place
An ability to see
And a place
For my quiet smile
A hippy
With grace, humor, and style
People, people, people
But not a soul in sight
I don’t see you
With the kangaroos
It isn’t you
A view, A vision replies
With quiet, heartfelt eyes
I see me
In a place
For my quiet smile

By Maria Grujicic (Malena)

Finding Time To Write (prefacme.com)
Inspiration Unlimited & A Song For A New Day (prefacme.com)
Caterpillar, Caterpillar Munch! Munch! Munch! (onelittlecaterpillar.wordpress.com)
Introducing Amazing Free Audios By Malena of Poems That Dance! (poemsthatdance.com)
Are You OK With the Term “Hippie” When It Comes to Natural Products? (bellasugar.com)
A Winter Butterfly (poemsthatdance.com)
Nature Art Sculpture Part Five (onelittlecaterpillar.wordpress.com)

Upon A Path I Stay

Published March 4, 2012 by Malena

I felt
Always
Upon pondering thoughts
I said
I’d rather live away
In an alien place
Than feel a foreigner
In a familiar place
I live further away
It is why I stay
And I cherish my stay
While I’m away
I secretly yearn for her
In opposite ways
I see
A home
A possibility
Of a home
Though I stay
And I believe
That I am home
Darwin
With a soul
Soothes the wounds
Of mine
And yearning of
The Europe
I left behind
A reliable go between
A path
From here to there
Upon the path I stay
It is the home I make

By Maria Grujicic

Thank you for reading my poem. To read the story behind it, go to http://www.prefacme.com.

To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.Phyllis Theroux

A New World & A New Poem (prefacme.com)
Darwin – Darwin, Australia (travelpod.com)
Waiting for our flight to Darwin!! – Perth, Australia (travelpod.com)
We all have secrets, some secrets have us… (currentlocationwonderland.wordpress.com)
Sea day – Darwin, Australia (travelpod.com)

I Sang a Poem

Published January 29, 2012 by Malena

Reblogged from Oliman:

I sang a poem to the wind;
The wind carried my poem to the valleys;
The valleys took my poem to the mountains;
The mountains echoed my poem to the cliffs;
The cliffs passed my poem to the seas;
The seas threw my poem to the ocean;
The ocean roared my poem to the abyss;
The abyss sprung forth my poem to the continents;

Protected: Free Audio For The Book, The Thorn And The Petal

Published January 13, 2012 by Malena

Protected: Free Audio For The Book, A Gentle Fire

Published January 13, 2012 by Malena

A Petaled Poet

Published December 28, 2011 by Malena

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT THE BOOK

A prose made up of short excerpts from the poems in my book.
Watch the videos at the same time as you listen to the poem for a relaxing effect.
I’ve chosen these ‘illustrating visuals’ that remind me of home. Those of above and those below.
Impressions are welcome!

A Petaled Poet

A story of poems About Life, Love and Travel. Intelligent and imaginative perspectives are sought as obstacles unravel a mystery. An intimate life, spiced with dance as identity is peeled away with an aim of ultimately revealing a truth. The intricacies of life made pleasurable by a soft stable heart beat and a melodic dance.

By Maria Grujicic