My brief American dream

Olga Brajnović

13 years ago

What giant step did you take where you hoped your leg wouldn’t break? Was it worth it, were you successful in walking on the moon, or did your leg break?

My job was hurting my health seriously. My doctor recommended to change and put some distance between me and my old job. So I packed my things and caught a plane in Madrid to New York. There I went with my limited English knowledge to improve the language and work as a stringer and a correspondent. I left my secure job In a solvent company, said goodby to my friends and my family and went alone to the adventure of an insecure job In a new country across the ocean, by myself, and suffering a depression. I focused my first months in New York in improving my English, helping my boss in a report and enjoying the city. I learned to be in a New York state of mind. At the beginning it was not easy. Being depressed in Manhattan it’s not the best way to enjoy the city. You are alone in the middle of the multitude. Feeling that nobody cares about you. But the city has its suppressive caresses. I found unexpected help in the streets, in the metro. I found great friends. Even today I used to sing with nostalgia and good humor the song of the old musical “Anything Goes”:

The more I travel, Across the gravel,
The more I sail the sea.
The more I feel convinced to the fact,
New York’s the town for me.
That crazy skyline
Is right in my line,
And when I’m far away,
I’m able to bear it for several hours
Then I brake down and say.

Take me back to Manhattan,
Take me back to New York.
I’m just longing to see once more
My little home on the hundredth floor!
Can you wonder I’m gloomy?
Can you smile when i frown?
I miss the east side, the west side ,
the north side, and the south side.
So take me back to Manhattan,
That dear old dirty town!

But I couldn’t find a job in New York and I have to move to San Francisco, CA, where I had better possibilities. I immediately fell in love with the city by the bay . With the my work as a stringer for a news agency from Spain a correspondent for a Spanish magazine and others I found I ended earning more than what was earning in my old job in Spain. And I was working from my home office, organizing my schedule, without the old stresses. One of my bosses was in Washington DC and other in Spain. I was free to do whatever I wanted as soon as they had my reports on schedule. I discovered the wonders of working by myself without the constant pressure of the bosses In the newsroom. The city had a lot of possibilities to have fun and rest. Again I found wonderful people. Great friends. My health was improving . I was having a great time.

My big step fleeing from Pamplona to look for my particular American Dream was successful but brief. Two years after I took another big step and crossed the Ocean again, this time to come back to my family because they needed me. I recovered my old job and continued working until a year ago when I left definitively. And here I am happy with my loved ones.

Daily Prompt: Walking on the Moon.

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