3 años, 3 dias, no sé.....

and the minute I saw these photos, the minute I thought of writing something, maybe parallel this Istanbul to my Lyon family: the similes, the metaphos, the analogies, the descriptions, the hypocatastasis, or maybe perpendicular it to my Moscow family: los diptongos, los dieresis, los acentos, los cambios de fuerza, los tonos... pero no... don´t want to get sentimental again, so I´ll jusdt sit back and enjoy the pics, the pics of 3 years and 3 families.. lucky me.. and at my 3 days in Perú, I´m still lucky, you´ll see as I write the accomplished:

seco con frejoles, chilcano de guinda, pisco, caldo de gallina, chifa, una butifarra, pan con chicharrón, tacu-tacu, un miguelón, arroz con pollo, one granadilla, half a  mango, thirty four ciruelas & enough Inca-Kola for a total blood transfussion....;)

Empacando

As I go thru my stuff trying to pack my life into two tiny bicycle bags I have to stop every two three minutes. A hat, a t-shirt, a note, a photo, a stain can bring back so many memories... and take so much space. And here I realize, I havent finished my last trip yet. Ive been collecting and carrying memories for the last two years. Time to finish this trip. Time to start a new one. And its this way that Chancho's 43 new friends, my new hat collection and103 other oddities find their way into a box that will wait for me in Peru... for when Im ready to go back. Almost feels like Im making room for new memories and maybe Im am...
Sitting in the once noisy and almost unbearable teacher's room, today is only the computer's noise that keeps me company. And a "glup" from the water cooler every so often...
And we start tomorrow. early train to Crimea and then Marta will do her thing... we'll be one once more: her, the road and me... hope Eolo doesnt join ;)
promise to keep you updated en la odisea.. till then

ciao belli

33

... y todo comienza, como jugando, a las 6 de la tarde....
como jugando pues, uno, no es mi horario a trabajar, tampoco son mis alumnos, y mirando en perspectiva: ni siquiera mi ciudad, y eso se hace super latente hoy cuando al ver por la ventana veo el cielo caerse de a poquitos en pedacitos blancos y, como jugando, van cubriendo el suelo.... q vision para hermosa y pues bien, no me contengo, ni siquiera intento y en medio de una oracion, un grito sale del pecho mio: "¡Esta nevando!!"
Y en una noche sin planes, entre agujas y blablablas acabamos en un bar, y, sin saberlo, y a la hora precisa, un  par de tanos hacen la pregunta indicada: ¿cuantos anhos tenes? the automatic "32" jumps out but a quick glance at my phone corrects me: "33, 33"...

Saturday now, an a parade of newly found friends make their way into my apartment with their hands full of decorations (to be read: food) chatter fills up the kitchen. It doesnt matter what language: the kitchen will always be the Queen, its attractive power is beyond words....Eat, drink, be merry but even here, is a well known fact, my evenings are ot complete without some dancing, so out we go: down into the street, up into a bus, taking over a bus, jumping into the metro.. well, almost everybody jumping into the metro... the clamour is heard "we've lost Estela", actions: somebody: retake contact, everyone: out the metro, we're camping here... 3 extremely long minutes later, un reencuentro digno de la tivu, to include a M. Jackson reprise ;)

And the night goes on, but the idea has already been sketched: thank you all for the moments shared...

Merci l' Universe!!!!

Mundo de Colores

Andando y medio no pensante, perdido entre una simile y dos o tres coloquialismos, llego sin querer al pasatiempo Moscovita por predileccion: pasear por los parques. Estas enormes forestas d rojo, amarillo, naranja y violeta, estos mundos de colores q se abren 'hora delante mio. El calendario hoy viste de Domingo, el calendario hoy no se toma la molestia de dibujar un rumbo. Pas grave. Tampoco dibuja musica (mis descuidos poco han cambiado  y una vez mas he perdido mi MP3) Tonto. Si, lo se. Pero una amiga me dice:

"no tienes musica? Habla con la gente!"

"y si quiero bailar?"

"Haz que te canten"

Y eso hacen hoy por mi...Las risas de los ninhos tumbandose en las hojas secas, las palabrerias de los viejos jugando ajedrez, los gritos de los adolecentes que se empujan cuesta bajo la colina, las risas coquetas de las modelos rusas q recojen sus hojas y las tiran al aire para una nueva sesion fotografica... Tremenda sinfonia...

Mas de eso no he venido a hablar hoy. Hoy vine a hablar de lo que vine a hacer a Moscu: a trabajar. Trabajar. Ese pequenho pensamiento que hace un poco mas de un mes me causaba dolor de cabeza y me hacia anhorar la libertad de la ruta abierta, del viento en mi cara y del silbido de la Marta enfrentando el viento.
Hoy quiero hablar de este mundo de colores. De los ojos azules de Vanya, de los ganchitos verdes y rojos de Nastya, de los botas "perple" de Arina, de los ojos abiertos de Dima al ver rojo y verde tornarse en "braun" ... Mundo de colores!!! Y de sonidos tambien. De gritos al unisono que corean: "I like pink, I like pink, I like pink!!!!" ;de la voz baja de Annya: "Homer (Simpson) eats donughts at 1500, eats donughts at 1600, eats donughts at 1700" ;de las voces de mis 11 modelos rusas a las 11 de la manhana cantando al son de Manu Chao y de la voz  de Maria q repite

Mar adentro, mar adentro...

Y en la ingravidez del fondo
donde se cumplen los sueños
se juntan dos voluntades
para cumplir un deseo.
Un beso enciende la vida
con un relámpago y un trueno
y en una metamorfosis
mi cuerpo no es ya mi cuerpo,
es como penetrar al centro del universo.
El abrazo más pueril
y el más puro de los besos
hasta vernos reducidos
en un único deseo.
Tu mirada y mi mirada
como un eco repitiendo, sin palabras
'más adentro', 'más adentro'
hasta el más allá del todo
por la sangre y por los huesos.
Pero me despierto siempre
y siempre quiero estar muerto,
para seguir con mi boca
enredada en tus cabellos...

Y me pierdo de nuevo en una simile  .....

emborracharse de la copa de la vida...

 Ya mas de una vez de tener una vida embriagante me han tildado, entonces para que discutirlo... con el corazon en pena, cuando todo lo que se quiere hacer es descansar, abro los ojos y parafreseo al Carlitos: ..... cuando el corazón pide descanso por miedo de seguir queriendo, los ojos brujos de una mujer que pasa me atan a su cariño.... pues si algun pinglo llega a ser fijo el Domingo, me la juego entero... 

De noche por Moscu (y aledanhos)

And the nights in Moscow all of the sudden got warmer: the moon and good company help keep this cold front away...

Shama` Tova`

Wrong place and wrong time can make for incredible rendevous as well....

A last minute invitation turned my usual Friday into an unexpected celebration: Jewish New Years, last one on my head.... Masha, whom i had met just once before about a week ago, gives me a call to tell me our prior circus appointmtnt couldnt be because she wouldnt be in town but instead: "pls come to my house tonight, we will be celebrating Jewish New Year!"
Facing such invite, who could say no? ....
3 hours later, me and Lu are standing around a table full of fruit, honey and condensed milk: To have a good year you must start it in the sweetest of ways.... , so there we are, in the middle of Moscow listening to a Hebrew prayer.... Tons of Spanish, some French and even some Italian words are heard through out the evening. Another prayer in Hebrew and the most unusual marriage proposal I, and most of our hosts, have seen in a while make the crown of the evening. Short goodbyes that we'll hope will become so longs mark the end of the evening...
The last metro calls for us. Time to go. Until next year then... Shalom...

Dos tazas de cafe...

Dos tazas de cafe y un blini me ponen al dia......
Ya 15 dias en Rusia....
del idioma lo basico: piva y vodka,
el clima: va y viene, sol sin calor, frio sin congelarse.... no perfecto pero suficientemente para las fotitos, yeiiii
lo excepcional (para variar) la gente: la gente que voy conociendo, trabajando con o simplemente encontrando en distintos sitios (pues si, bares, clubes y/o otros) me llenan... No solo los rusos pero un par de latinos desfrenados, francofonos alocados y como olvidarse de los increibles italianos arrebatados. Formamos todos parte de esta ensalada mixta q es la cosmopolita Moscu...
Aun sin noticias de Marta, espero reencontrarla pronto, espero,
y pronto tambien mas noticias
Ci vediamo....

Здоровья и счастья всем друзьям

Grande... en el metro e c'e un Italiano accanto mio e si senti a qualquno qui parla francese non troppo lontano... Mi piace tanto Mosca...

And as time passes (I've been here for 20 days already!!!) I start to be able to take time to enjoy my coffee... and so I'll also take time to tell you about my encounters that have broken the myth: cold hearted, distant, vodka drunken Russian only in movies....

Second meeting with Irina. I was lost on her glance. The thought of seeing her sorrounded by SouthAmericans (She will shortly be in BsAires) and feeling totally at home was occupying my head when a tap on my shoulder gets me out of trance. The bowl had already made it once around & it was my turn again: Здоровья и счастья всем друзьям - Health and Happines to all the ones we Love:
Vodka and Lemon. Vodka as an element of pure energy. The lemon as a cleansing agent. My turn again: Здоровья.... Incredible how fast a bowl can go around in a circle of 20. Notions of time become relative here as well. Awesome. "Grab the bottom of the bowl. Yes. With your left hand. Make a fist. That way you close the circle of energy flowing thru you when you drink it and you reopen it when you stop... It's the chankra..."
I truly adore rituals. 3rd bowl now and a new arrival surprises me as he takes his first sip of the bowl. An 11 yo who quickly runs for grapes after he finishes drinking...
Food makes its way to the room. Tomatoes, grapes, bread, salads, cheese, salame & finally: the plov: this mixture of vegetables and meats. Filing. Conversation dwindles. Some people enjoy their food in silence. Compliments to the Chef gets mixed up with calls of "more chilli pls" Influence of the Caucass has spiced up "bland russian food" (their words not mine) to the point of taking the spices as their own...
As one more bowl of vodka starts to go around, I get the signal from Irina. Time to depart. Not before having made my usual "Peru is great. Go there!!" speech, I know it by heart now, & having made some more great contacts: Boris, Anton & Masha (you'll hear from her later...)

My departing thought:
"Sufism (the people in whose traditions we just took part of) is about forgetting everything but God: no religions, no rites... Thats all we ever wanted: to get close to Her. By means of beauty, music, art, vodka, love, ideals of sharing....
Vodka?!? ....
yes, Vodka....

Dosvedania Russia

After all this time (15 days later) trying to leave Russia I’m finally able to do so today, and as I wait for my train out of here I take a long stroll through the city that has seen me day in and day out for 5 weeks. And it's just today that I realize I don’t really want to leave... the irony. Plus today is Thursday Tango so what better a reason to stay just one more day…
I’ll miss the crowded metro, and the babushkas elbowing you in the ribs to get in front of you in the queue... I’ll miss Pasha saving me his last rotisserie chicken at 9 o’clock, and Masha with her everyday smile when giving me my blini (pancake) with nutella...

 I'll miss poor Anya giving me rides back from tango so I won’t have to leave at one o’clock with the last metro... Russian bands playing Spanish songs, really!!... Igor, the receptionist, who is never to tired to drink vodka... Sveta trying to convince me to learn pashtu… I’ll miss the sight of St Basil early in the morning as I stroll back to the hostel from a short salsa night, early in the morning, when there is nobody at Red Square; just a few drunks, St Basil and I… but I should return next year and hope everything stays the same, or not, at least till I see them again…

Around Mockba

Finally left Moscow and went for a bike ride along the golden circle. Marvelous, just what i wanted to see and the people i wanted to meet. Pity the weather was truly awfull: rain, rain and freezing rain, but the sights were incredible. Just like back home all this small villages with astounding churches are just incredible. Getting a bit homesick but is the last strecht, few more countries, few more days and grandma here I come....

Mockba

Moscow at night, mainly the only time I get to see her...
Almost on my way out of here, one more week and I should be heading out of Russia if I get an exit visa... then Saint Pet and then, well, we'll see...