My space heater, the size of a microwave with less power than my hairdryer sits behind me, as I long for a warmer place, I sit with a cup of tea, momentarily content at the same time.
Winter has arrived in Barcelona and after a year and a half here that pinge of anxiousness of where I am in the world and life, lingers. Nevertheless, for once, in 7 years, I am fairly content and excited about the possibilities of another year or two or three or more in Barcelona.
Last night, I went to my first football match and though the brisk air and ruthless wind made me think twice about attending, it paled in comparison to the energy in Camp Nou. For the first time in months, after protests, national strikes, salary discussions and a generally low staff morale at work, I felt a surge of hope.
And, I really realized that is what Barcelona, ASB, and myself all need at the moment, a little hope. And the puzzle pieces started to surface in my fingers: a project impossible card, an email from a friend who helped me light up some people´s lives in Venezuela and a hard drive, that miraculously contains some photos that we thought had gotten lost in cyberspace or in a move which multiple people did.
The project I did in Venezuela changed my life. It got me reengaged in life and also made me connect with a country that I had generally given up hope on.
I am not losing faith in Spain. When I look back at all my wanderings this year, I smile warmly at my two favorite trips I did this past year, both in Spain. One to Sevilla, with three very different but amazing, inspirational and powerful thinking women. And then, of course, there was the Camino, something that I will recommend to anyone who enjoys hopefully wandering across a country, across people´s journeys, across one´s individual path and existence in the world.
So, as 2012 comes to a near close, I am looking forward to taking my wanderlust to a new part of the world, Western Africa, with someone who smiles at the unique world and gets as much satisfaction from random adventures as I do. I look forward to wandering hopefully in 2013 and getting lost within the possibility of a photography project in Barcelona that might rejuvenate some people´s hope within themselves and connect people who need to know that they are not alone at all right now in this time of crises and change in Spain.
What lies before me builds a mystery, but the current cold air awakens me to opportunities that creep in corners waiting to come into the light.
No comments:
Post a Comment