Invisible Paths
like a cake
it is rich like one of Iván's desserts. Condensed milk, eggs, cream cheese, strawberries, sugar. Just so full of everything that a spoon fills you up, but always leaves you wanting more. And it has all potential to make you sick... consuming too much in too little time is not advisable, but in the heat of the moment eyes are often bigger than the stomach... and still...
My ingredients are currently in New York City, Düsseldorf, London, Jena, Singapore, Delhi, Bratislava, Bankok, Bogotá, Medellín, Berlin, Rotterdam, Blue Hill, Milan, Bergamo, Berne, San Francisco, and countless other places... thank you for making that cake so sweet.
And every day I add new ingredients. Friday night talking over coffee about business ideas that will save the world (well, at least until we got kicked out of the café that was closing around us). Thursday night over hot chocolate: culture, development politics and Colombia until we had to catch one of the last buses home.
Fast pace, new ideas, and always hungry for more of that cake.
of home and Shakira
home... when my Albe left, "saudades" hit me, until I discovered that I still have savings from Switzerland, and that flights are actually cheaper than in the summer. So Iberia it will be, since I refuse to book another Air Madrid flight after the nightmares that the latter created for Albe. Now I am dreaming sweet dreams of christmas eve dinner, boxing day family reunions, fresh biscuits, walks along the river, trips around Europe (Bergamo? London? Barcelona?), and of course hours with Albe.
yesterday (after a tough day of meetings) I went to see Shakira live in concert with Pipe, JuanK, Mauro y José. Those who know these four can imagine our conversations... but that is not the topic here right now.
Shakira has a very very important role to play for Colombia. She has the potential to not only continue the positive embassador outside of the country, but she also has the challenging combination of power and responsibility to use the fact that she is adored and admired for who she is, what she represents, and what she is doing. She must use this wisely, get together with influential people with new ideas for the country (like Sr. Karakatsianis from ANDI, whom I had the pleasure to meet this week), and ultimately make more happen than philanthropy...
Wishing her and everyone who works for and believes in Colombia and its people the best and the ability to break free from those bureaucratic processes and ideas paralysing innovative progress.
sounds
normally at night:
dogs.
the ones in the flat above running around sound like a million rats. the ones in the street bark and howl near and far.
vallenato.
unfortunately our neighbours are really into it.
frogs.
strange clicking sound, but only late when no more traffic noise reaches us up on our hill.
yesterday at night:
rain rain rain drops drops drops rain rain rain drops drops drops (water running down our hill in waves)
in the future
it all started while I was speaking to
CK a few weeks ago on the phone - I realised that (since Singapore is some 13 hours ahead of Bogotá) CK is really in the future. I was ready to go to bed and sleep, and he was already having lunch the next day.
And today, when chatting to
Ladi , who dropped me a message on his way to work in Auckland, I could enquire about Friday. Apparently the future is sunny. I'll see that tomorrow.
I conclude that I have friends who live in the future.
being there and not
been out at the airport a lot in the past 6 days. firstly to meet with
Jude - just for a few hours on her work-around-latin-america-in-one-week trip, but wonderful as always.
then of course my Albe arrived. some 6 or so hours late, the significance of those last minutes at the exit of the airport.
finally four days on the caribbean coast! hammocks, waves, sun, thunderstorms, buses, platanitos, fresh fish, tropical forest, lonely beaches and the rythm of a life so different from ours in bogotá and london. all that with the camera left on the bed at home in bogotá!
memory has to have the best pictures...
