e!
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and sometimes, in the middle of nowhere you find youself.
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Friday, August 15, 2008

Anthony Bourdain's show

I had been wanting to post about my favorite TV shows since a long time ago. For many reasons I didn’t do it before. Now there is something is worth sharing; something that I must share.

Two nights ago I was watching one of my favorite shows: Anthony Bourdain, NO RESERVATIONS. But this time they changed the title, it was Anthony Bourdain, IN BEIRUT. The show was shot in 2006. Tony was in Beirut when the 2006 war started.

It starts by showing the first restaurant and the first few places that they visited. But that same day, the Hezbollah killed and kidnapped Israeli soldiers and they show in the cameras how they are celebrating in the streets, shooting automatic guns and waving the yellow flags.

The facial expression of the host (not only Tony's, the Lebanese guy that was guiding Tony too) changed immediately.

I normally watch the show while I am working, chatting or just fooling around on internet, but this time I turned off my computer to keep focused.

Tony and his crew stayed for around 10 days in a hotel without being able to get out. They would go to the terrace and just watch the bombings from there. Going inside to watch the news. Watching how the French, the British and other nationalities were leaving the scene. And waiting for their own rescue.

There are two major learning points in Tony’s reflection. He starts saying that was uncertainty was killing them. He asked if he could use the kitchen and cook something for his crew. So he went to the kitchen and prepared his crew meal. The crew wouldn’t stop recording in tape what was going on. So in periods when things are definitely going wrong, doing that what you’re best at keeps you from going insane.

The other interesting part is at the end of the show, when he says that he used to think that the world could come together at a dinner table and that was the solution to all the world’s problems (or something like that). But then he says that at some point he kinda lost faith and started thinking of all the "bad people" and the world and all the harm they do.

And then he hopes he’s wrong. He hopes that the world is full of good people. The kind of people that welcomed him in every city he’s been to.

I hope that too.

I believe that.

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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

no title

While the eyes of the world are in Beijing and the eyes of the AIESECers are in Brazil (International Congress 2008 and the 60th anniversary celebration), Russia is invading Georgia, Salvadorian troops are in Iraq and going soon to Haiti and another bomb in Lahore (Pakistan), etc, etc, etc...

Being an AIESECer (and I already said, I will always be) you cannot escape from feeling concern and worried about what it’s going on the other side of the world.

As far as I know, a bomb destroyed the AIESEC office in Georgia, one of their most recent achievements. I am still trying to know if any AIESECer got hurt in the bombings at Lahore.

And I wonder: how can I go on with my life? How can I drive to work every morning knowing that there is something (or a lot of things) wrong in the world, when everything I learned in AIESEC was that I had to do something regarding this issues... and then I feel powerless... then I question myself if it was true everything I believe in… all the sh!t about Peace and fulfillment of human kinds potential...

It sucks not being able to do something about things that matter. It sucks not being creative enough to find out what I can do.

In the mean time, I stick to the causes I identify myself with, or the causes that I feel that have a positive impact in society (such as Fusal, I really like what they do). See? I still believe.

Ok, now I get it, the problem is not “what I believe in”, the problem is doing things so that you won’t feel powerless.

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