* Photos by Tibi Lupea.
At first, I was fascinated by Bucharest.
I was fascinated by the sea of people flooding the streets, swallowing you up and making you feel small and unsignificant, making you lose yourself and your goal. I was fascinated by the indifference hanging over each passer-by, the distance and the arrogance you were regarded with on the subway, or the reserved and superior smiles when hearing the Moldavian accent. I was fascinated by the imposing buildings, with bulky architecture, dominating you with their massive presence. I was fascinated by the crazy traffic, blending with the stinging smell of burnt gasoline and the piercing sound of the excessively-used horns. I was fascinated by the fast life pulsing in the vein of the City and the sensation lasted for several years. It was normal. I was a child on the verge on adolescence, freshly arrived from a countryside town with small ideals and stunted dreams.
Then I hated Bucharest…
When I saw the dirt that engulfed the Metropolis. I saw it reflected in every puddle on the sidewalk in which a boot carelessly stepped, splattering mud all over the place. I saw it clearer and clearer on the lips of people who talked to me and in the minds of the ones who taught and educated me in school. I saw it passing a red light, rising clouds of dust in my soul.
I started to understand that this is the real face of the City: tainted by its inhabitants’ behavior. And that people live in those beautiful buildings.
Then I accepted Bucharest.
Finally, I resigned myself. I integrated, trying to keep my reason, because I know it would take me over otherwise. We learnt to live together. It gives me the daily dose of urban tragedy, I live in It making it prosper and grow. Bucharest is a parasite organism.
Original post: here (RO).
Xul is 18 years old, lives in Bucharest and his ultimate target in life is understanding the human nature through its philosophical and spiritual dimensions.