“On a more recent trip I found myself in a threshold moment in Comayagua, Honduras. I was travelling with a small group and we had just spent 12 hours on the road. The following day would be no better: another 12 hours on what was beginning to feel like an endless drive to Granada. At first I looked at the city as a hotel room, a halfway, an in between. Wikipedia lists Comayagua as “one of the most important tourist attractions in Honduras”—a claim that felt, as we walked among unremarkable buildings and gun-toting security guards, about as true as calling Albany the crown jewel of New York.
But the city opened up, as cities do. We lingered among locals in the town plaza as dusk approached. A quinceañera wrapped up nearby. A Christian radio station blasted mariachi music in the distance. A fashion show for wedding dresses was rumored to be in the works for later in the evening. Moms chatted and dads dozed. Kids licked cotton candy-coated fingers. My friend pointed out that this might be our most authentic moment in Central America. And it felt true. We were on our way to Granada, but we were also right where we were supposed to be. We were at a middle that was also an edge. A threshold and a lesson.”
—Shaun Ellis - Why Travel Makes Us Better Designers (and Chefs and Scientists)
Cecilia Pescao’s VIP Room. Also known as her house.
Taken in El Chorrillo, Panama City, 2011.
Silicon Berliners
If you are still not convinced about Berlin sprouting a next silicon valley, here is a map about tech start-ups, events, vc’s, and co-working spaces. The blue dots in the image are the start-ups.
If you are planning on opening a tech company, service, or similar, Berlin is a great place to be. This is why I originally came for and it is quite worth it. However do not let be fooled by impressions. I would suggest you to invest in a visit and hang out so you get a clearer idea.
Press about this topic available here and here.
Picture extracted from: Berlin Startup Map
When I leave Berlin I will definitely have assured a certain future, I will be absolutely sure that nothing else could drive me back, and I will indeed be over all my own self issues. When I am in that plane, bus, car, bike or whatever mean I use, I will be sure it goes fast, as if turning back would mean becoming a colder stone. Believe me, the day I leave I will be leaving for good.
After I left Berlin, and when I think about my past I will deny all facts and blame my decision of being there at my lack of maturity. Whenever you ask me about it, I will tell you easier why I left and I will fucking convince you not to go there. I will tell you endless stories of amazing nights, condensing commutes, the cold, the music, an amazing job I had there, stories of all the girls I never fucked and my love for every inch of concrete it has, in past tense. I will tell you everything with absolute zero eloquence and you will see in me a broken heart and a wish to not discuss the topic anymore. I will make sure you don’t visit Berlin. I will protect you from such a heartbreak.
When I leave Berlin I will be a man with a dead youth, a magnificent income and severe lust to go on all-inclusive resorts, cruises, and blind dates. When I leave Berlin I will be sure I leave the last bit of my spark, my desire and my stubbornness in its streets. When I am no longer here I will be a grown-up Peter Pan.
I am afraid of betrayal. Specially betrayal made by myself to others. It has been seven months that I have been living in Berlin, the city of the young lust for self-pleasure and culture, and I can see already how absorbed I am in this freedom I have always dreamed of. To me, I am already divorced from my past, my roots, and totally married to my love for this new life I have. I am not a Berliner, but at least I can tell that I am not very much Honduran either. I am talking about myself, but I bet what you will read here represents much of the feelings of many people who migrate out of a Latin American country in search of their dreams (Wether to US, Europe, or any other place in the first world).
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My dad visited me in Berlin and then we went to Prague. I took pictures with a disposable camera so so I could participate in the 100 project, so here are the results.
Grand Hotel Europa Faccade. Taken in Prague, 2012.
Something that amazes me about this place and the general tendency of this architecture, is that I was a total ignorant about the importance of Prague in the past (before the breakout of WWII and then the Communist control) as a cultural, artistic, political hub of the heart of Europe. I feel so much better with myself about visiting it, and also curious about when I will go back to study it closer.
