Lebanon

Sometimes I wish I actually had a say on things that happen around me, and not just accumulate anger in silence.

It’s impossible for me to understand the whys and hows of what’s going on in Lebanon, but it hurts enormously.

I wanted to fulfill my grandfather’s dream of visiting Beirut, but that may turn impossible. I don’t care whose fault is it— I just wish it could stop. But no, it won’t, just as the war in Iraq won’t, just as violence and ignorance in my own country won’t. Innocent people will keep dying in the name of whatever it is that one can call power’s latest disguise.

Kinda hopeless, this world, huh?

Lassitude

This is me preparing for finals.

Mon anniversaire, une fois encore

I’ve just turned 22, but I keep thinking I was born in the wrong decade. At least in terms of music.

Juan Valdez

This is Carlos Castañeda, a 39-year old coffee-grower from Andes, Antioquia. He was chosen among hundreds of candidates to succeed Carlos Sánchez in the role of Juan Valdez.

I thought I wouldn’t like him since I was so used to the image of Sánchez, but Castañeda seems humble, friendly, and his physical features are very typical of the coffee-growing region. He looks like the kind of farmer who would gently invite you to a cup of coffee when finding you tired on the road around his property.

More information, here.