The perfect order.

Some days ago I made a remark about a shitty day I had, due to a problem with an early bus and all the shit it carries. And, as a matter-of-fact, I had a similar problem again, maybe worst because it was not a bus, but a train. I might as well blog about shitty days because in this time my reaction was completely different. I have learned to be grateful for these off days. Those days where you try to look at the bright side but some times it's difficult because the things just aren't going like you would like. Off days, I mean, bad days, and setbacks which are inevitable in our personal and social lives. The other day I had to make some combinations of trains to come back home. But one train what 4 minutes late. Only 4 minutes that proved to be enough time to lose my next combination, and turned out into a shitty night with more than an hour of waiting.

Contrary to the reaction I would have expected, I found myself easy and relaxed. I withdrew my Harry Potter book in German and I started to read, beaten by the raw night, and anyway smooth. You could say it was a really cold night, as a result of sporadic showers happened throughout the day. Also I didn't feel really snug. But I was at peace.

Many people would point out that I am crazy because I didn't seem really altered. And yes, I thought about it. It is another result of this incredible process I am going through. This implies that I have changed the way I face everyday situations. I am prepared to respond to sudden and unexpected changes without becoming a moonstruck out of my boxes. I know I can stay calm if I see that my goals are distorted and the road seems crooked. I understood the perfect order of the things (just because it doesn't exist!). Spontaneous alternatives that break forth are sometimes too good to notice. Or maybe just because after a change we are so wrapped up in our anger that our ability to identify and catch new opportunities becomes blind. So this is the new direction, the new purpose that had taken my search.

Rounded and short, I feel better every day. I have spent a wonderful weekend, and for the first time here, I was involved in a situation that made me feel useful, helpful for someone, and filled with satisfaction. Now, I have stopped waiting for future moments. I have realized mournfully that the time is going faster as expected. Now I hope just shocks, without doubt they are the best way to learn. According to Einstein, the crisis is the greatest blessing that can happen, it makes you open to the world, start a search and just live.

And of course, like a flight, with turbulence, delays, ups and downs during the adventure, I know that my life won't be out of problems. But I know I have to focus on my strengths to develop and improve my weaknesses, and I am on the way, yes sir. Besides, all who know me are sure that I will never ever ever forget to show everyone my sparkling and almost flawless smile, be sure of that.

The flow of knowledge

I have long wanted to write about this stuff, but I think it wasn't really clear until today. Now I have something to say, something that could help you if you are trying to learn something, to make your life a little more interesting, or just to improve yourself.

Have you ever thought about how it works? Actually it's strange what I've been thinking these days about. Are you trying to learn something new every day? Or every month? A new hobby, a new fact, a new language maybe? Perhaps you have realized that it isn't so easy. And perhaps have you also noticed that sometimes one thinks that there is no place enough in his head for acquiring more intellect. And from that point comes the analysis of today.

Now more absorbed than ever, I realized that it is essential just to empty the box. Let's take the following example: when we want to store our freshly washed clothes in the closet, sometimes we think that the place is not ample, that some items will remain out of it. But, if we remove all out and organize everything again, we find out that there was place enough, and also that there is still room to spare.

And what I mean? Full heads, empty heads. What do you prefer? The full heads stand up and pour out knowledge. The empty heads eagerly gobble it up like hungry piglets. Understand what I am trying to explain? Sometimes it is necessary to empty our minds. Throw away everything we have learned, even the deepest thoughts. It is of paramount importance to entrench oneself heavily in what one tries to learn, and forget everything else. The tabula rasa effect, the blank or erased slate as it is known in English. It is truly intriguing and fascinating how great it can be. As an empty blank sheet, an empty head has room for a lot of new fresh knowledge, and that is the only thing we actually need. Sometimes it is not about the fact, but the way.

I know you'll be asking yourself what about the things that you have already learned.
Where are they going to go, maybe to waste? So, here is my answer related to my experience. When I started to learn German, I noticed every day how my English was deteriorating. I also noticed that my Spanish had started to retrogress. And I felt invaded. I was afraid of losing what I had taken so long to achieve. But, I had no choice. If I did not learn German, I could not live here anymore. So, I got carried away. And to my delight, I realized that, with time, things eventually returned to its right place, and then this place looked much bigger and organized than ever.

Now, this applies to everything. No pain, no gain. We have to detach. Move away from what we have had always nearby. Try new ways, new trends. New perspectives and points of view. Empty heads, happy hearts. Think about, it has sense. Try it. Make a skimpy effort from now on. Hope it helps.

English? German? Spanish?

Hello my people! I'm sorry for the delay. As I step into this culture, I am busier and without much free time to think about writing. But things that I can't stop sharing still appear. I am still impressed by the last weekend. I have been in which I catalog as the most famous city of the whole world, important for more than two millennia, one of the world's leading cultural centres... in short: Paris. So, here we go, once again.

We arrived in Clichy (a district of the metropolis), where my hostel was, on a cool spring evening, without knowing exactly where we were, what we were doing and which feelings would arousse that weekend. And just some minutes later it took place the first contact with the fantasy world in which we were immersed: we were face to face with the incredible Eiffel Tower, at night, which was shining immutable in the middle of the settlement. Such a feeling... I mean, after a whole life talking about her and figuring up her curves and shapes... there she was. Standing in front of us, unalterable, slender, rigid, arrogant. The iron monster, the queen of France. 330 metres of beauty and perfection. Enlightened and escorted by the whole world, icon of the human race. It is impossible to explain the situation. It was just her and us, nothing else. And goosebumps, of course.

After that wonderful welcome, we all thought it would be rattling difficult to spring up such strong feelings again. But definitely, we were wrong. As we walked through the city, I bumped into situations that made me feel once more in another place, dreamingly. I had never had this kind of feeling for a city. I had fallen in love several times, specially with London and Buenos Aires, but this time it was different. For the first time I found a city as a place to live in, linked to a whole way of thinking and enjoying life, art and respect. And don't ask me why, because I actually don't know the answer.



I fell completely in love with Montmartre, the district around the homonym hill. There lies the Sacre Coer Basilica, very interesting indeed, because of its byzantine architechture, quite different from the rest. But the view over the city was the most amazing part. We wandered around the small and winding streets at the top of the hill and drunk some beer. The atmosphere was incredible. Montmartre has always had a history related to artists and has many studios and cafes of many great artists in the area (Pablo Picasso, for example). Also the people who frequent that place usually have a particular vision about how to live life that I am really interested in.

Something worth telling: I lived a situation that I found truly encouraging and filled me with pride and self-esteem. And in fact, it has not happened only to me. After having settled in a Germanic culture and got used to the German language, we had to change again to a French speaking country. And at the moment we had to communicate, we found ourselves asking: Excuse me, do you speak English? German? Spanish? Maybe Italian? And, man, that was a great feeling inside. We had never thought about how important languages are, and how valuable it is to know them, therefore how capable we are, even being so young. We had to drink to that.

And yeah yeah, it was probably the most amazing museum I have ever been to. The Louvre, one of the most important institutions in the world. I flew while walking along its royal halls and corridors, steped into history and mystery, and with so much to show and teach. I have to say that I didn't really tickle my fancy when I spotted La Gioconda. The most spoken painting around the world, and it took me ten minutes to actually realize I was in the same room where it lays. Its size of less than a metre (too small), and the people around, so crazy about taking a photo, spoiled the moment. Anyway, I met other masterpieces of Leonardo, Delacroix, and Rembrandt, including the Virgin of the Rocks (that forced me to stop in front of her). I also strolled among millenarian Greek and Roman works, and definitely the experience was worth living.

I always seemed to find myself in staggering and astonishing situations, like the one in the metro station, when a totally drunk man jumped into the rails some seconds before the train arrived and narrowly he did not finish turned into mincemeat. It was a show, especially by the uproar at the crowd. Unfortunately the man lived, and the moment became a simple anecdote more, of thousands. Ok, don't believe what I just said last, haha.

When it seems that one can't learn anything else, boom! One runs into these situations that give meaning to life and make one feel alive. One feels good man, and also believes that he is doing things right, that he is on the right way. And that, and nothing else, is the most important thing, that is what effectively matters. Have a nice weekend.