Spain

I arrived in Spain on November 12th 2005 with too much luggage and a mess in my head.


I was going to meet my father for the first time in a long time and I would have to live with him (and talk to him). That was something I wasn't entirely comfortable with, and by not entirely comfortable I mean that it scared the s**t out of me. But I knew I had to do it, because it was the only option I had if I wanted to live abroad.


Notice that "abroad" at that time for me meant anywhere but Argentina. Because i wasn't happy there, and I thought if I just go somewhere else, all my problems would disappear.


They didn't of course, because there wasn't a problem with the country I was at, the problem was in my head and it was gonna stay there until I find a way of dealing with it.


What was the problem? Insecurities, paranoia, low self esteem, social awkwardness, difficulty to communicate with others, inability to give and receive love or affection, depression, fear, anger, tons of hard feelings towards many people, hate towards society, the government, the institutions, towards myself and a few more, which were probably caused by poverty, an abusive mother, being bullied at school, and growing up in a society based on competition, scarcity, survival of the fittest, peer pressure and inequality.


Only after I understood how this system works, I was able to forgive my parents, forgive myself and everyone who "messed me up" and try to change the system so that people in the future wont struggle the way my mother did to bring food to the table and wont have to go through things i went through, for not having enough food. I was able to change when I learned to see beyond my selfish need to put the blame on an individual and realized we are actually all connected, for better or for worse. And once you stop looking for someone to blame, you will start finding solutions (and answers (and peace (hopefully (or at leas try to)))).


I was going to talk about Spain though, my dad was working at some company so he hooked me up with some work there. That was the first time in my life that i had to suit up for work, and I kind of let my ego take over for a few months before finding out I was heading in the wrong direction. 


Did some odd jobs after that, security guard, sales rep, newspaper delivery, and and one awesome job polling people, it was great because every week they sent me to a different city so I had the chance of getting to know many places and talk a dozen different people every day. Sometimes i got into 10 different houses a day, seeing all of them had different lives and problems, helped me understand the diversity of the place i was living in and that my problems were just a spec compared to what some of them were going through. Like a single mother who just came from work at 8 pm and had to cook, feed, clean and look after 4 children, or some african immigrants who lived 6 of them on a tiny filthy room, and once I went to look for the person I had been told to find, when I arrive at his place their family told me he had died few days ago, I didn't know what to say.


I was almost 21 then, and that was the moment in my life when I found out, after having 5 different jobs in 6 months, that the story my elders had told me about having a career, a profession, going to uni or a job for life, were pure lies, not intentional lies of course, they just wanted the best for me. But they weren't aware that somewhere along the time when they were young and the time when I was young things had changed.


And the understanding that if I had wanted I could have easily make a career and work forever at any of those jobs made me understand, that it was MY life and I had the power to do whatever I want with it. And that one (I realize this 7 years later), was the first step to understanding that if i wanted to, I could do nothing at all as well. 


At that time I was till somehow trusting the system, believing that capitalism and the current monetary system were somehow acceptable, wouldn't have ran for politician but wasn't yet so annoyed by having to wake up at 6 am to help maintain the status quo while getting myself some monetary gain plus the thought of being a somehow productive, therefore respected member of society.


That year I also confirmed what I had learned while working in Buenos Aires, that (for me) any job, no matter how fun it was, it will always get boring after 2 or 3 months, that repetition and routine were my enemies, they made me depressed and took away the joy of living, so I needed to avoid them at all costs.


Was still quite greedy though, so found myself a new job at a logistics company and decided to save up some money. Signed up for it because the pay was super high and, didn't know it would be also the best working experience I would ever have.


Till then i had only worked with spaniards, and this was my first time working on a international environment, my work mates were all from different countries, argentina, peru, bolivia, ecuador, colombia, brazil, spain, morocco, poland, rumania, camerun, congo, etc.


Every person I met was a whole new experience for me, before working there i had never met people from ecuador or poland, and I don't think I could have even found congo on a map. We were working long hours every day, so after a few months they were like my family. 


That gave me a global perspective and I understood that even though I was working on a tiny warehouse in a little spanish city, I was actually a global citizen, not an argentinian citizen, not an italian citizen or a spanish one, I belonged to something bigger because my brothers were from bolivia, romania and camerun.



After 6 months on probation, my boss offered me to work directly for the company, sign a 2 years contract, paid holidays and tons of benefits. That was one of those moments where there's something you should do and something you want to do. And you have to choose one of them.


There were some tears while saying goodbye to my colleagues. But after spending a full year in Spain, I knew it was time to move on. Its usually easy to fool others into thinking you are happy there and everything's ok, but I can't fool myself, when it's time to move on, it's time to move on. And after some weeks relaxing in England, I was ready to settle down again, this time in germany, but that's another story.

more hiking pictures

   

 

   

  

  

   

 

Whatever 6

Friend: Why do you want to end world poverty and income inequality? Some people are rich, some are poor, that's just the way it is.

Bruno: I want? No, this is not about what I want or i don't want, it's about doing the right thing. It's about what has to be done.

Friend: But I like having more than the rest, that way I have no stress, don't need to work, can live a comfortable life, and all that thanks to my country's government who promote and enforce this income inequality you don't like.

Bruno: It's not about what I like or don't like, it's just the right thing to do!!!

Friend: And who are you to say what's right or wrong?

Bruno: I'm just a man, with all my flaws and all my goodness, just a man. Who doesn't accept that billions suffer because of the greed of hundreds.

Friend: We live in complex times, things are not just black and white.

Bruno: It's easy to say that with a full stomach and a roof over your head.

Friend: Well, you're one your own on this, what are you gonna do?

Bruno: I'm not on my own, and everything's done already, half of it at least, the guys from  the venus project found all the solutions to all the problems, war, poverty, crimes, hunger, everything's solved in theory.

Friend: Theory wont feed people.

Bruno: It's a start.

Friend: How about the practice?

Bruno: We are working on that.

Friend: How? by standing on the street with a sing or signing online petitions.

Bruno: No, when we run out of resources everyone will understand that there's something wrong and the system is not working, if enough people stop supporting it, will collapse by itself and then we can build something better, soemthing that actually works for everyone and not for a few. Then we can implement the ideas of the venus project

Friend: People already ran out of resources in many countries a while ago, did anything change? did they stop supporting the system?

Bruno: Not yet but they will.

Friend: You know what they did in africa to justify the genocides, plagues and famine, they build churches, and told people the reason why they die and are poor is because of god's plan, so they wont complain or look for a solution.

Bruno: I couldn't say, I've never been the africa, but what I do know is that when people have no education they are easy to manipulate, control the educational system or better yet, get rid of it and you can mold and control people's minds. Control education and you will have slaves for life, who will never dare to question the system or your decisions. They will say "that's god's plan" or "that's just the way it is".

Friend: Thanks for the tip.

Bruno: My pleasure.

Friend: Things are never gonna change.

Bruno: Not with that attitude for sure.

Friend: There can't be good without evil, can't be light without darkness. Darkness gives meaning to light.

Bruno: That could be true in the case that we didin't know what what light was and we only knew darkness, but in our case we know both already so we can choose one.

Friend: I don't want to choose.

Bruno: By not choosing one you are already choosing.

Friend: I'm not, this is not my problem.

Bruno: Ok, so when they can't farm the land, breathe the air and drink the water anymore, you will be the one to explain to future generations that it was good for economy. And that you chose not to choose.

Friend: Whatever.

Bruno: Yeah, "whatever".

10 best feelings while hitchhiking

The best feelings I've had were when hitchhiking. and here are some of my favourites:

1- When the car stops: You wont get this feeling if you've been waiting for 5 or 10 minutes, you get it only after waiting for a few hours. Big smile. trying to look friendly, adrenaline pumping in your brain, and the feeling that you are finally on your way.


2- When connecting with the driver: If you are going to be in a car with someone for a few hours, you want to get along and most times the drivers will make it quite easy. It's cool when they are old people and tell us how they were hitchhiking when they were our age, how they wanted to change the world and all their stories, and how things were so different from now, now everyone's scared of each other.


3- Absolute unmatched unrivaled freedom: I first read about it in Jurgen's profile, he wrote "The sense of freedom when hitchhiking without a plan and without a watch is definitely unrivaled :-)" and I thought: that's what life is about. Few months later i found myself trying it out for myself, only to get hooked up for life.

4- Non verbal communication: When you have no language in common with the driver, but still you understand each other through smiles and body language.

5- Empathy: When the driver sees you and notices you've been through a lot and they say "you can just sleep if you want".

6- Relax: Nothing better for relaxation than hitchhiking with a drink in your hand, if you know me you also a know I'm not a big fan of alcoholic drinks, but for a special occasion, few things can get you more relaxed than hitchhiking with a drink in your hand, and taking a break to appreciate the landscapes. breathtaking, the landscapes, after you see it you will know what I'm talking about, that's what life is about, the landscapes, the drink, the relaxation of not having any worries and knowing that everything's gonna be fine, no matter what, everything's gonna be just fine. 

7- Restoring faith in humanity: You know sometimes you feel like everything's lost already, our planet is doomed, everybody's violent and corrupted, we destroy everything, we kill each other. Well, the only thing you need to do, to realize there's still hope in the world is hitting the road, after a few rides you will know that there are still many good people around and not everything's lost yet.

8- Nature: When you are waiting or walking and suddenly le wild life appears, that's when you know it, that's when you know you're on the right track, that's when you know you're doing it right.

9- When getting off the car: The feeling of being truly grateful to the driver and the surprise on people's faces when they see a little guy getting of a massive truck in the middle of nowhere just to start walking along the road with a sign and a big smile. so happy. loving the world, loving everyone.

10- Camaraderie: Finally, this is probably the best thing I've felt on the 27 years I've lived is when you find a fellow hitchhiker, specially in a remote area, and you instantaneously understand each other without saying a word. "bro, i know what you've been through, here, have an apple". And if you get a ride first, waving at him from the car with the most sincere smile you've ever had, hoping they get a ride soon, or being waved at from the car and feeling truly happy for them to be on their way.

this was written from the heart, with feelings, so, sorry for the bad english and i wont even bother to edit so I dont kill what's written in between the lines., and all this feelings and experiences I'm talking about are just a fraction of the reasons, why I said in a previous post that if I die tomorrow I will die a very happy person, because I've already experienced amazing things, did everything I wanted to do and dont regret anything and had an amazing time, even today was amazing just for staying at home remembering all the amazing times. dont know how could it get any better.