Rr e Celes 13, 38300, Peje - 1989 -94

Hometown

The place where I did almost everything for the first time. Well, almost. I will always be a Pejon but London is on the same level. Both cities are totally intertwined in my psyche and outlook. I was lucky to have this draw of the dice. Both cities are both so stubbornly set in their own ways but also incredibly welcoming and open... being a Pejon and a Londoner carries an element of perhaps a little  bit of haughty attitude, which only makes sense to Pejons and Londoners. Sometimes we may come across as overly confident or superior haughty simply because we can claim to belong to these cities. I truly hope I have managed to suppress this attitude as iI get opder and humbler. Though not sure if any wiser. .

Even after 30+ years, i can clearly hear the three enormous bells of St Catharine in my head, mixed with the sound of the Muezzin from the nearby Puhovci and The Red Mosques and smaller bells of the Orthodox Patriarchate... all sounding at 12 o'clock during winter time  in the summer, the Muslim Call to prayer is an hour later ... sometimes, depending on the time of year, other calls coincide with the Angelus... it's a unique sound, which, for me, is the sound of home.

I am not religious but I genuinely feel I "have' three religions, mixed with a bit of Communism... as weird as that may sound.. Pejons, as Londoners are largely secular with largely agnostic beliefs although revival of religiosity has attempted to fill the vacuum that Communism left behind but it never succeeded to play a big role in people's daily lives.  

As a Pejon, embracing, the multiculturalism of London as a city that truly belongs to the world came totally naturally.... i took to it like fish to water. 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153929049456942&type=3 

love of my life

september 2022