January 2006

Wednesday was my birthday. Weekday, workday, early meeting the next day... not much of a celebration. A few good friends came by, we had a few whiskies, pizza and cake. I am 29 now and sometimes feel younger, but others feel really older. Tonight I will have dinner at the Jaramillo's, with some of the same friends who came by on wednesday and some others. Tomorrow I'll go out somewhere with repeated people and some new ones... a prolonged celebration.

A second consulting job is finally coming through. I will work on building online communities of practice with those who are working on citizenship at different levels: teachers, administrators, non profits and ministry "officials". I will work with Rosario, whom I casually met in Cambridge last year and my old friend Camilo. It will go through July and is, as most things here, a "capacity building" initiative that has to become self-sustained.
Another very interesting challenge, and more hard work. I think I won't have much time to even sleep in the next six months.

I thought I should just start writing this blog in Spanish. But then I also thought this is actually the only English I am producing right now, except for what I say to my guild and team mates playing Guild Wars and that is netspeek (spell?).
I'll keep writing in English to try and not completely forget the language and become unable to utter a sentence. Sorry with who dislike the idea. Most of you do read English and comment in Spanish, which is pefectly fine.

Yesterday I went to a place called "Help!", not a Beatles reference, since the name is "¡¡¡Socorro!!!" in Spanish. It's the kind of place I don't very often go to, with two DJ's playing different kinds of music (or computer hiccup as I usually call it). It was even melodic most of the time, so I didn't get a headache and had a lot of fun. I just danced all night long and had a couple beers, just a couple 'cause I was driving. The people I went with apparently had a good time too, so we might go dancing somewhere else sometime soon.

How I hate it when I have a fight with friend, especially when it is a good friend that I love and especially when I think I'm right being upset. In the past few weeks I've told a few people, in different conversations, that for your good friends you make concesions, you take more shit from them than from others and so on. Now I have to say the contrary: you also have to draw a line as to how much shit you take from them and that is when you have to stand straight and be firm. I think usually an honest conversation should do the trick...

El año terminó fue un año con muchas sorpresas (tanto agradables como desagradables) y lleno de alegrías y triunfos personales. Las sorpresas desagradables y los meses de incomodidad, dolor, sufrimiento y gran preocupación pasaron y esa maldita enfermedad quedó atrás gracias a los venenos, a la Dra. LaCasce y al Dr. Mauch... además de los maravillosos enfermeros como Larry y M. J. No sin mucho apoyo de mi familia y de amigos que se portaron como ángeles todo eso quedó atrás.