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Expat in Romania

“My name is Keisa Loci, I am from Albania, I have come to Romania to study the piano at the National University of Music in Bucharest. It was a great opportunity for me to be able to come here.”

In Albania, Keisa Loci studied music for about 16 years. She arrived in Romania in 2015, with a scholarship provided by the by the Romanian state through the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Since 2016, Keisa Loci Keisa Loci has been a student with the National University of Music in Bucharest. Keisa first took up a one-year preparatory course in Romanian at the University of Bucharest’s Faculty of Letters. She told us she grew fond of music ever since she was a child.

“My father plays the guitar and ever since I was a child I used to listen to him play; it sounded so beautiful to me and I wanted to be like him and be able to play like him one day. Music was more like a hobby for my father, as he works with the US Embassy in Albania. Mother has never had a job, because she didn’t have to, she was always with us, which for us mattered a lot because she taught us so many things preparing us for life. We also have a 16-year old sister who studies violin and I am really happy to have a mother who is also a very good friend.”

On her mother’s side Keisa Loci also has Romanian roots.

“The story is fascinating. My mother’s grandmother was from Romania, she was Aromanian, Ioana was her name, she married an Albanian and eventually, she settled in Albania for good. Mother did not have the chance to know her grandmother, but around the family, grandma’s story met our ears more than once. We also met a cousin of ours, who came to Romania before us, she is pursuing a doctoral program in medicine with the University of Galati. My grades were very good and I also liked Romania so much that I decided to come and study here. Anyhow, I had heard so many things about famous Romania. I have always liked its mythology, the people, the culture, the music, I have always been attracted to this country. People seem sociable, albeit a bit cold, sometimes, but then again, that depends on who you meet, it happens in any other country. I feel fine in the society I met here.”

Keisa Loci is very busy with her studies and she also has a part-time job at a Bucharest-based international company. She works in the customer service department, so she hasn’t had much time to travel the country.

“I would like to visit Brasov, Timisoara and Sinaia.”

Her preferred pastimes are going out with friends and reading J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter. She is also passionate about foreign languages. Besides Romanian, she can also speak Italian and English. And she has also become acquainted with the Romanian culture:

“I know about Caragiale, Eminescu and Enescu. Enescu is a great composer, and for us, musicians, he is a genius. It’s difficult to play his works. I played Enescu’s Toccata for piano, it is a very beautiful piece. It also has elements of traditional music which are similar to those in the Albanian tradition. I had the opportunity to play Enescu’s Tocata in the 1st year.”

Keisa Loci is now a 3rd year student at the National University of Music in Bucharest. Here she is next with her plans for the future:

“I would like to further my training in music, to be a pianist and give concerts in other countries. I want to play on international stages, I want to keep learning and get to know other cultures. My dream is to go to the US, the land of endless possibilities for those who study music.”