Sonia/Colombia

 

When I was a child,

​

I was still believing in Santa Clause, despite the fact that I had found the present hidden under my bed before the Christmas day. My parents told me, ‘The present is not yours, but other children’s’’. I believed in what they said.  

In the Christmas season, I liked to watch the buildings illuminated on the slope of the mountain, from my apartment room on the 13th floor. It was later that I found they were constructed illegally.

My mum was busy in those days, but often cooked for me and my brother. My favorite dish was arroz con leche*, and mum would specially sweeten it for me. I knew the dish was not good for health for containing much sugar, but couldn’t help eating it a lot. It may be because I wanted to see mum’s joyful look when I finished eating a bowl of it.  

 

 

*arroz con leche……sweetened milk rice pudding