Thursday, September 29, 2011

Can we erase borders?


I aspire to a border-free world that is not ruled by paranoid capitalists, that invest in fortifying political, economical, national and social boundaries to protect their fortunes from the unknown, that they have ignorantly and selfishly prejudged and secluded. The capital corps have huge responsibilities that will decide who live or survive the next decades.

And war does not determine who is right -- only who is left!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Where do we go now?

I am disgusted by all political parties that are incessantly dividing the leftovers of our 10,452 km2 and multiplying the ignorance of 30 years of civil war. I am nauseated by hypocrate politicians, unrighteous religious men and pretentious patriots that add to the nation's debts, doubts and dirts and subtract from the ruins of bravery, faith and honesty. I have had enough of all religious sects that rather than seeking union through similarities, are in favor of being reduced to anti-national and even anti-relegious individuals with identity and existential crises to the point of irreducible self-hatred and suicide. I am sick of the political parties that have infinitesmaly partitioned a minute nation and everything that its citizens could ever discuss or enjoy. Calendrical dates that are marked by political events, usually of disastrous nature, automatically used to refer to specific parties and historical mishaps. However, the greedy parties are not fully satisfied with mere dates from the calendar; they also claim colors from the spectrum of light in order it to label each citizen and in a way claim him or her as their own property. Even if you do not know it, when you're dressed in orange in this country, then you belong to this party, and when your hat or watch is blue then you belong to this other party... Where is this ridiculous modern dark age going to end? Are we going to wake up one day in favor of a vegetarian meal just for the sake of supporting a certain party, that has not had the chance to claim meat or animals for its supporters?

A couple of nights ago, Nadine Labaki made my day, in a movie that creatively and passionately expressed hyge concerns about this minute country, with tears of joy. Without any further due, I invite you to watch it at your nearest theater:



Thank you Nadine!

War does not determine who is right -- only who is left.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

What we learned from 5 million books | Video on TED.com

What we learned from 5 million books | Video on TED.com

Entre Paris et le Ch'nord


Il n'y a pas un mois, j'étais a paris a la recherche de logement, de paix et de liberté. C'était ma 3eme visite a Paris sauf que cette dernière fois c'était pour un postdoc que a paris 6 et a l'hôpital de la pitié-salpêtrière que je revenais avec beaucoup d'hésitation. Par contre, les deux première fois, c'était par curiosité ou par hasard mais jamais par désir.  J'étais dégoûté avant que la première semaine finisse, je me balader entre les auberges de jeunesse pour ne pas dépenser ce qui restait de ma fortune.

Il y a 3 ans, je suis venu a paris et j'ai présenté un ami français d'indiana qui m'hébergeait, a une amie parisienne que je connaissais des EU. Trois ans sont passes et Nicolas et Eve sont toujours ensemble. Leur co-existence me rappelle toujours de quel drôle de cupide solitaire j'étais, je suis et sans doute je serai toujours.

Il y a quelques jeudis, j'ai écrit a Nicolas en lui disant que j'étais sur paris. En suite, il me répond en m'invitant chez lui au nord, entre calais et boulogne. J'attendais n'importe quelle excuse pour quitter paris. Sa maison sur mer donne l'impression d'être dans un bateau pas loin du matelot et d'un fort visible de toutes les fenêtres. On était 8, 3 couples et deux mecs. Au moins un de ces couples est grâce a un des mecs! A part les jeux sociaux, les jolies promenades, les bons barbecues et les Welch traditionnelles aux restos, on est allé cueillir les moules, les nettoyer et les cuisiner. 10 kilos de moules excessivement bonnes pour 7 personnes peut facilement résumer le nord pour moi et avec le vin blanc j'hallucinais! J'hallucinais!

Les moules sur les rochers au nord

Andalucia

Mi ultima vez en Andalucia, hace 3 anos, fue en Sevilla en vez de Granada por un error de reservacion en vez de navegacion. En un café de Internet en Barcelona, he hecho la reservacion de 80 EUR con vueling por el mes de julio en vez de junio por ir en Granada. Solo al aeropuerto he descubierto la mala suerte y la mala gente, o sea el capitalismo, que no me podía ayudar. Mi única salvación relativamente económica era de coger un trenhotel entre barcelona y sevilla gastando solo 75 EUR por la noche y el viaje. En mi cuartito de 4 camas había un colombiano y un cubano que me caerán muy bien. La noche paso' sin dolor, sin rumor --- he dormido como un nino.

Tres anos después, Granada, tierra sonada por mi, su cantar mi vuelve gitano... Me fue a sacar los tickets del bus a granada en bilbao. Muchas horas después llegamos al centro y pasamos muchas noches de musica, baile, amigos..etc. La terzera noche fue mi ultima a Granada y con un amigo frances de la calle y sin plata nos acabamos en un bar donde la cerveza cuesta 1.5 EUR y lleva una tapa. Ah, cuanto quería pasar por Francia antes de ver Granada y no vice versa.

Luego, tenia que pasar 2 noches mágicas en Sevilla antes de coger un vuelo de 12 horas por la Francia. Salimos con los propietarios argentinos del hostal (hostel one) y pasamos noches increíbles de cerveca, tapas, y risas! En el hostal, yo nunca dormí en mi cama. Dormí a la terrassa mirando las estrellas y el sol de la mañana no me molesto' hasta las 10.30. Nunca he dormido así bien!!

La andalucia, puede ser el país mas parecido a mi, con su rica historia de conquistas entre el oriente y el occidente, entre su religiones anecdóticas pero al mismo tiempo iguales, con su arte arabesca y infinitamente barroca con cada detalle, aun platonicamente simétrica y harmónica.

Una iglesia sevillana

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Proustian Retrospection leads to interesting Introspection

My inevitable frequent visits to my native land are resulting in a proustian retrospection that is consequentially deciphering my present through a long forgotten past. The Madeleine that awakened many reminiscences from Proust's childhood had no effect on mine when savored in Paris, however, many of my mom's recipes and family reunions bring back to memory traces from the recycle-bin of oblivion. Toe-curling home-made recipes, that I have missed for a decade, are latently associated with afternoon naps and dreams that are followed by family reunions and discussions over coffee. Deja-vus take me back to a tough childhood that survived many years and tears of civil war. It must have been impossible to forget the war without suppressing related memories from my childhood. Therefore, I can hardly recall anything from when I had less than 12-15 years old. I almost feel that I never existed before I was 12. I must have been born or reborn at 12 give or take. A huge bokeh of my childhood is barely the picture I have thanks to old family photo albums and stories from the past. Hence, I wonder: Does my putative nonexistence explain my life at such an astounding pace as some kind of compensation? If so, when will I settle down or give in to a relatively normal pace?

Retrospective Glance

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Speechless Travels

My pilgrimage nears its end for another one to follow. I am concluding 4 months of wandering, this time less futilely than ever. It is almost impossible to touch on such a rich and diverse trip in words so I will post a descriptive picture for now and hope to dive into some unique reminiscences retrospectively in the posts that follow.