Moroccan Nikita's

“ Where there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure.” Rumi Sadness, blues, spleen, anger, fear, all those who settled in my mind lately in a kind of final assault of a soul under siege for a long time. They entered, triumphant, displaying their Trojan horse , that suitcase I had bought from the Chinese and that started to break up right at the beginning of my complicated journey from F. to P. via two other cities. No, you don't want to be in a big city taking the metro with two suitcases, the heaviest one having a broken handle. Well I felt that the whole universe had conspired against me, and I felt like drowning myself in the Guadalquivir out of shame (but even the Guadalquivir was gone), or just leaving the luggage somewhere in a corner, hell take whatever makes my life so horrible. It is probably my raging nature that made me hold on till my final destination with all that stuff. (cursing the Chinese industry all day long helped, obviously). My arrival marked, though, m...

In solis sis tibi turba locis (In solitude, be a multitude to thyself) Tibullus  I surely have no problems with this. As much as I agree with Montaigne when he says we need solitude, I think that arriving to a new country or a new city is the best time for a retreat with yourself.  I've always done that for a few days  at least  (to entire weeks),  in any new place I was settling for a bit longer than just holidays. Is it to absorb the surrounding atmosphere, take a deep breath of the environment and appreciate it on your own. The timing is ideal, you are on site, but not really yet, which gives a kind of freedom that one gradually looses - voluntarily - while integrating a society. Once you'll have lost it , you'll seek to get it back again etc... The first moments are magic.  And here, in F. with the beach within bike reach, solitude can be a luxury. Who needs people to go to the beach with? it's like going to the movies , or...

"ay que si el mar es tan azul es de mirar tanto al cielo ay que si el mar es tan azul es de tanto mirar pal cielo" It was definitely the best house in town. In fact it is located in a district named like one of ex-Yugoslavia’s republics. After a surprisingly good meal made of cuttlefish, leaves of the garden’s over present basil, apple and more secret ingredients, all served in green melon, we moved to the terrace to enjoy coffee and cigarettes. The sun was high in a pristine blue sky, a light but refreshing breeze was blowing and we were gazing at this beautiful orange grove surrounding us. After the blue (or white, or bright purple - depending on the pair of eyes) painted orange trees, there was the marsh, silver blue naps among deep green isles. On one side this scenery continued toward the sea, on the other side, we could see, in the distance, the buildings of the city center.  It looked as if these were part of another world. From the Laranjal,  where we felt...

It started the day when the weather was so hot some would see kangaroos flying in the crowns of the courtyard trees. Coming from Sevilla, I was finally feeling at ease, or better said, I was not feeling cold. As I was sitting in that kitchen where everybody was complaining about the heat I suddenly noticed this glass filled with all the sky and the moon of that summer night. Prague becomes so beautiful when the sun shines and illuminates both buildings and faces. Since I arrived I could not miss a traditional walk crisscrossing the river, one bridge after the other, carefully avoiding the sightseeing rush on the Charles Bridge for, in the end, for an ex-homie, that one is much better to look at from a hill above or from another bridge. I had forgotten this little path just across my bridge that I had taken last time some 25 years ago since the restaurant Expo 58 had closed down in 1991. Good surprise to see that the building that impressed Brussels so much together with the Latern...

As with any magic place, we can forget about locating it on a map. So if I tell you of this place as the Bermuda's triangle, please do not come to me with any kind of geographical considerations. This is not about the North Atlantic ocean, this is not about the Sargasso sea, this is about getting lost and maybe considered missing  (by people not living there, or even by yourself) in Sevilla. How does this happen? One day you land in Sevilla, no matter for which reason, no matter where you came from, and the city welcomes you with its uncanny tranquility. In fact, you feel it straight away after arrival but you only adapt to slow motion after two or three days for you to get  used to a diffuse feeling of serenity and ease. The first time you leave the magic, you just think of coming back and staying longer. The second time you leave, it has already started getting into you, and you feel your heart aching. The third time you leave, your decision is made to come back for go...

Essalamu alaykum I was born with this greeting in my ears and it's only now, more than three decades later, that I understood one fundamental thing. God bless my grandfather for making me get that. Most people know that this expression, used as good day or hello, literally means "peace on you". What most people do not know, unless they speak Arabic,  is that the "you" is a plural form.  Obviously, the answer comes similar, Wa Alaykum essalam , plural form again. As if "you" when greeted were not only one person but  many . And this indeed is the answer! You, me , whoever, are never alone. For as my grandfather says, everyone of us has an angel on each shoulder. They're writing your good or bad deeds and  thoughts for after, when the final countdown comes. They also catch you if you fall, if they're not too busy writing. So when you greet someone you mean to greet the person and  their two angels. It would be rude not to greet these two, t...

"What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams"   Werner Herzog We had slept only two hours, woke up still tipsy judging from our nonsensical blabbering in the bus which no one could understand for making up new words and verb forms such as "si je chwaziland" at the crossovers of our multiple language conversation. Nevertheless, we were tired, but happy, for what was awaiting us on the other side of our journey was worth it.  Beach house was the reward : surrounded by water, Atlantic ocean in front, Ria Formosa behind, blue sky all above, what more to ask for?  Time for suspending the clock, lying immobile like a lizard, suntanning till burning and shedding an old skin  to finally come out as a new person. Time for diving in the fresh Atlantic embrace, feeling humble in front of its swell and releasing all kind of sorrow in its depths. Time for childish joy while getting rolled over by the waves, crashing ...