The Desert

The first two days of this week have really been busy… actually, more difficult than busy… It’s not like if I had been running from meeting to meeting, or flying from country to country ; it’s more like having thousands of small things to do and having the impression that more small tasks are added faster than I can get them done… I hate it! And, I know, on days like these, I become irascible and totally unable to enjoy the good things and focus, instead, on making sure that everyone else around me gets a bit of my own frustration… I also hate that! And, most of all, I hate myself for not being able to control this and simply act differently… I guess I should recuperate my long-time lost jogging habits! I remember that I used to feel good after twenty minutes of fast running, heavy sweating and totally empty mind. And, even more so, after one long, hot shower. I should definitely try it again. The good thing of jogging is that you can’t really excuse yourself for not doing it just because you’re not in town; you can actually do it everywhere. And it might even be a good way to explore new points of view on the places I visit. So, what’s the downside? Being lazy, I guess… The same reason why I ended up not going to the movies over the weekend (even though I watched one movie that I strongly recommend: The Darjeeling Limited) and I spent it at home instead… The movie made me think again about this train trip through Turkey (did you notice that the last five words all start with a T?) I want to do… and the one through India… both of which I probably won’t ever do because of the same laziness… On the other hand, I read quite a lot. I started the newest Khaled Hosseini’s book, “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, and I am enjoying it as much as I did “The Kite Runner”. Really good writing, but what I like the most is exactly this insight it gives on Afghanistan, its culture and its history, that makes you want to know more and go there and engage with its people; that makes you dream of travelling! So, at the end of the day, it all gets down to the same: I need to go. Need to go and learn, about places, about people and, most importantly, about myself. As I have found out in Morocco, more or less three years ago, there are some things about ourselves that we only learn when in the desert…

PS – Speaking of Morocco: Luiza and Razvan have become the proud parents of the second cutest little boy in the whole world: Raphael. Paul Hymans sends its warmest wishes to the parents and welcomes Raphael to this wild, yet beautiful world.