Francisco

4 years ago, I lived the happiest day of my life! After a long and hard sunny day, he was finally out! I first saw him covered in blood, and then heard his cry - his first ever breath! - and it was magical! A single, unique, mystical moment! I don't remember if I was able to say something; but I do remember that I cried. I cried tears of emotion, tears of joy, tears of not knowing what to do in front of such powerful magic. And I looked his mother on her eyes, and I held her hands, and I kissed her. She was also crying. And then, I touched him, and I kissed him, and I held him for the first of a million times! And I cried again. And today, when I think of everything that happened over the last four years, I feel like crying again. The tears today are different though. Many of them are still tears of joy, tears of wonder, tears of thankfulness; but a few of these are tears of sadness, tears of not knowing what to do in front of such a huge emptiness. Because, today, I would have liked to be with you; today, I would have liked to be your father...

Back in Brussels

I'm back in Brussels, after a 17-days-long trip that brought me to Ljubljana, Barcelona and Lisbon. 17 days which included hard work, nice holidays, important conversations, deep personal reflections, and a lot of waiting... For once, coming back to Brussels actually feels good. And, in line with my good mood, this morning the sun was shining, which allowed my fellow citizens to enjoy the car-free streets of Brussels. Due to the visit of some friends - who are never too many! - my plans of dedicating the day to cleaning my flat went down the drain... and I also have to confess that the result of my football team tonight wasn't exactly the one I expected... but, all in all, I am happy! And on Tuesday evening, I will be even happier!

It's good... but it could be more good!

Being in Lisbon is nice. The weather is great, the city is beautiful and full of good restaurants and bars. Moreover, it's the city where my son and many of my dearest friends live. Being in Lisbon when, on the top of everything, many of my "international" friends are also here, is even nicer. And that's exactly what happened over the last few days. The Youth Event of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union brought a lot of friends to this city that I consider to be mine, and offered me the possibility of sharing with them some bits of my Lisbon, showing-off with my cute son, and going out every night until quite late. Lisbon is even nicer when you can party at night and sleep the entire following morning! Well, all in all, I've been having a great time, and I guess it is quite obvious because several of my friends sent me nice messages such as "nice to see you relaxed " or "it is good to see you relaxed for a change. Keep it up. It suits you"... I'm also happy to have been able to show them a different side of me! But I have to confess that even though it's been very nice, it hasn't been perfect... perfection is a very complex thing, and very often I am not able to avoid thinking that I would prefer to be somewhere else... with someone else... Luckily enough, this will happen soon... in one week only!

Shame on me...

I almost can't believe that I did it... but I did: more than one month without a single entry is way to much! I could of course say that I've been on holidays, that I've been travelling a lot, that many much more important events took place... but I have to confess that I feel ashamed for this... and that I would like to apologise.

After Zagreb, I was in Genova, in Bayonne, in Lisbon, spent one week in Guimaraes and another one in South Africa, went back to Lisbon and then to Bayonne, and finally to Brussels, at the end of the holidays. Then, I went back to Skopje (and confirmed that it became a very central part of my world) and, after a short stay in Brussels, went to Ljubljana for the weekend. Now, I'm in Barcelona, and tomorrow will go back to Lisbon.

I know that this entry isn't interesting at all... but, at least, I started writing again... and I promise that it can only get better!

Thanks for waiting!