Successful British writer Arabella McIntyre-Brown has chosen Romania as her home. While UK media always presents Romania in a negative manner, you would wonder why someone successful would move to such a badly portrayed country.
Arabella first went to Romania on holiday many years ago, in the area of Zarnesti, Magura. According to Financial Times, the writer said ““We came up on a horse and cart and I had a very strange feeling — like being in Sussex, where my father ran a chalk pit. I felt at home; it was a very strange sensation.”
She said she felt immediately at home, however she decided to return to UK. The writer grey up in West Sussex, southern England and is now an successful writer and journalists, has won many awards and received praises for her history book” Liverpool: The First 1,000 years (2001)”. She has chosen to live in Liverpool for a while, forgetting about Romania. However, tragedy struck and in 2004 her sister, mother and aunt passed away within a short period of time. The writer was very affected by tragedy and felt she needed to change things in her life. So, she looked for a place to move to.
She chose Romania and at first she thought of staying for a few months to enjoy a longer holiday. McIntyre-Brown found a house in Magura and even though it was not in a very good condition she fell in love with it. But more than the house, she fell in love with the people. Even though at the beginning the people from the village saw her as a local curiosity, because she came alone and she was not married. They wondered if she was a part of a religious cult. But they soon accustomed to her.
She said
” I lived in London and Liverpool and I never knew my neighbours, maybe one-two, but I did not interact with them. Here, when I came, the neighbours showed their interest immediately, they came to visit me, they brought cooked meals with them and told me whenever I need something, I can count on them, because they are my neighbours.”
During her first winter in the village, the snow covered the area and she got stuck in her house and could not drive due to weather conditions. One day, though, she woke up with a neighbour at the door, who had a full sack of food for her. She said:
“One of my neighbours, who lives on the other side of the village, tramped over here with a rucksack full of food — apples, milk, cheese, bread,”
Now Arabella McIntyre-Brown has adapted to the Romanian countryside. She is currently doing copy-editing work, wants to organize writing workshops in Magura, and is writing a non-fiction book.
When asked if she should move back to Liverpool to have an easier retirement, she said “I’m not getting any younger, but why would I want to leave that,”[…]“I think I would rather keel over looking at that in peace and quiet than rot in some flat in Bournemouth.”
source:viitorulromaniei.ro
Arabella McIntyre Brown website abbswords.wordpress.com
positivenewsromania.com 
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