2014 - A YEAR IN REVIEW - English version

As usual, the time has come to push the rewind button. I feel that my life has turned into a Lost & Found office. During 2014 I have found very few treasures, but I have the feeling that I've lost (and I'm still losing) lots of stuff that once were really precious. Needless to say, I'm not talking about material things, but people.

New Year's Day used to be my spur to keep in contact with many people, no matter how far or how often I get to see them. I have to apologize: I've been extremely idle during this year, but towards the end, that was just the icing on the cake. Procrastination, personal and delicate health issues hindered me to keep track on the life of those I care, birthdays, customized season greetings and so on. But well, let's stop those excuses already.

365 days ago I was about to embark upon a nice adventure. Known, familiar and new faces to be seen. Thirty-one days, three countries and almost 10 days in each one. There are several frequently asked questions, and I'll try to answer some of them here. First and foremost, I have no answer to the "What did you like the most" question. If I had to answer that it would be the people from ALL THREE countries. After all, that was the reason I decided to go there. People.

First Stage was Florida. Frozen was in movie theaters all over, and incidentally, there was a huge frost in the Northeast and Midwest. However, Florida is another story. US Customs were a nightmare, and I spent almost two hours trying to get to American soil. It is a great pleasure to meet Bruce again. 2007, 2011 and 2014 again. He was a wonderful companion and host. I underestimate his Midwestern cold endurance and I had a terrible cold... on the very second day. University sightseeing, football receptions and hanging out with other people. Great to see Daniel and Jennie, Robby, Lester, Byron, Jon, Chris, and many other staff members from the university (UCF) or Outback Steackhouse on Aloma Ave. It was also fantastic but quite short the lunch with Emilio in St. Augustine, and quite an experience to meet Bo in Gainesville, and visit the botanical gardens and UF afterwards. Great walks in the neighborhood, Epcot and the two Universal parks to say farewell.

It was getting darker, and I was completely shocked and speechless because of the size of Mexico City as the plane was landing with lights until the horizon. My good friend Ivan was there waiting for me with a banner and my name on it. That's the first time someone does such thing for me! It was late, but still we got to hang out a bit and even do some karaoke with my hoarse voice (remember the cold?) His family and even his animal mates were awesome with me. City center sightseeing was the following day, and I even met his friend Gerry, a nice and crazy fella. After a cold... How about a sunstroke? That's it, on the third day, among the beautiful pyramids of San Juan de Teotihuacan my skin turned red. If only I had bought one of those cheap hats for tourists... If it weren't for Ivan's family, my skin would be like cardboard.

On the second half of my stay in Mexico I went to the Pacific Coast to check on my good friend Gabriel's new life there. A nice climate, cheap food, great friends and much more than can meet the eye. For the first time I could see the Pacific Ocean and we had wonderful walks around the town. Despite the difficulties at work, I'm sure they will be OK in such environment among such nice people. Time to return to the capital, and meet Ivan again. Visited the huge Anthropology Museum and then to the airport to head for the last stage. 
At the airport I manage to see Marco, another known face from the internet, from long time ago. Surely I wanted to visit this country that gave so much to my grandfather's generation. It also left a deep mark on my father, who lived there for eleven years. Surely I was going to meet a whole different country. A fascinating one, neither North nor South. A conservative nation where you can feel winds of change from their people. Sure the Mexico I learnt from Cantinflas and sitcoms like Chavo del 8 were longtime gone... for the best. I hope to get there in the future, for sure.

A nauseating smell of kerosene was my welcome to El Salvador. I almost passed out in the corridors of the terminal, but I was in a hurry. Once again, my luggage was opened and messed around, but the flight already came with a one hour delay, so I didn't want to keep my hosts waiting there. Roberto and Kevin were great hosts. I do have a huge gratitude towards them for their dedication and spending that time with me. Roberto's family, friends like Juan Carlos or Alex, neighbors like the Varela family and what to say about those that you meet by accident, fate, serendipity or whatever you may call it. Charlie was the main reason why I came back there nine months later, but well, we will get to that trip later on. There were several things that we saved for later. I put my heart at peace, I survived a presidential elections there, I discovered new friends and even more, I found a reason to return again and again.

As I moved between stages, I was eager to see and experience the next one, but I couldn't help but feeling a huge sorrow for the ones I left behind. Then all came at once to me when I was travelling back. In Miami I almost got fined for loitering because I wanted to get to a store and I decided to walk around the International Airport. The depression beyond the journey was harsh. My mind was still in those tropical places, where I met such wonderful people. My classes were the only thing that kept me in some kind of weekly routine, since the staff members from my gym were sacked. How could I keep going from there? Due to time restraints, changes in their jobs or economical reasons, I started to lose my students. January-February were still on my mind and I didn't realize Summer was coming. It was time to hit the road again.

It seems I'm a whole different person when I'm out of my hometown, or that I can't spend much time in a single place. If the Florida-Mexico-Salvador trip was intended to be cautiously planned, this time to the South of Spain was the extreme opposite. Truth to be said, that brought some trouble among my friends and family as well, but I managed to see quite a big number of people in several days, with no rush at all. Chiclana, San Fernando, Cádiz, Algeciras, La Línea, Gibraltar, Estepona... Do I need to mention the names here?

The sport tournaments were close, but I had no chance to join a team, since they were all closed for a couple of weeks. The behavior of the contestants was far from pleasant. So I focused on my work as a coach for the under 25 cup, and finally this year we managed to win. A nasty situation about that day is that my video camera was stolen. As with the under 15 cup, the kids weren't much of a problem, but the new man on charge of the competition was, and he singlehandedly made it an unpleasant mess in certain aspects of the organization. I was getting out of shape, and I had another crazy thought on my mind. 

Since Charlie wasn't having a nice year, and I still kept fond memories of Salvador and him. This time I was going to Guatemala City, and I was going to meet him the very next day. Meanwhile, his good friend and former boss Geovany took care of me. We went on adventure to Antigua and Lake Atitlan, and then back to the capital. After that wonderful stage in Guatemala, it was time to go back to El Salvador, meet his family and friends and revisit all the people and some of the places that I've seen back in January. Claudia, Mario, Charlie's bunch of close friends, Vanessa & Jackie and much more. It was also great to deal with his family, cook, chat and hang out with them on the beach.

Then the whole coming-back-home sad process began again. I need to stay focused and organized. Then December and Christmas came, and my health issues appeared. I managed to dodge them as I received the visit of my great friend Lobo and all those musical sessions we had. My kidneys gave me an awful time in Christmas eve, and I was in the hospital all the way through my birthday, just in time to get to a school reunion at night. There were few people, but it was wonderful. There was a great combination of nostalgia, fun and criticism, and it was nice to see all those fellas again, some married, some engaged, many of them abroad, but deep down with the same spirit. 

My internet connection wouldn't allow me to contact with the outer world as much as I would like to, but for this 2015 I would like to visit new places and revisit some ones. Tao (my fave taiko band) will be around in Germany this January & February. There's also the Legend of Zelda's Symphony of the Goddesses concert, and I don't know if there's any ticket left in Paris, Milan or Düsseldorf. I want to make significant steps forward in my career, and I will try to keep in touch with you more often. Be a better person, be a nicer guy. Making every day counts.

See you in 2015.

MARIO