An inspiring place

I have been in Copenhagen (CPH) for the last two weeks. As usual, it took me a bit to put my thoughts together on my impressions on Denmark, in particular considering that this is my first time in a first-world country (sorry France). Here's an attempt to give a written account of that impressions.

The initial reaction concerns that naive ---almost childish-- surprise in appreciating the simplicity of modernity. Clean streets, automatic, easy-to-use transport means, and in general, an organized society. People is in general friendly, an impression perhaps accentuated by the fact it's summer. Another remarkable thing here in CPH is the huge amount of families with small babies. There are baby strollers everywhere! Bologna is certainly not the proper place to see young people (apart from the students) and young families. Most city structures are now customized to the many parents with strollers moving around the city. The outstanding civility in the use of bicycles is something that also strikes me. Of course in other countries using a bicycle as a transport means is common, but here you can tell it is something that is part of the danish character. This is specially true when I think of the marvelous chaos of people in bicycles in Bologna and around.

Being a port, CPH has an special spirit. In its forms CPH is, essentially, a horizontal city. The architecture is different to everything I had seen before; both old and new buildings transmit a sensation of serenity, in which both the great history and the recent changes of the country are reflected. Denmark is a very old country and has gone through a number of events along time. Yet, in CPH you can appreciate a dynamic spirit that provokes creation and even re-creation. In some sense, the old doesn't look that old and the recent looks modern in a very classy way. This can be witnessed in districts and neighborhoods that are very recent or that are being built. The splendor of the modern Danish architecture and (specially) design can be seen everywhere.

In short, I can say now that CPH is a truly inspiring place. I am here for academic reasons, staying at the IT University of Copenhagen. That's the most inspiring CS department that I have visited (not that I have visited many CS departments, though). The infrastructure is amazing, really impressive.

When I visit a place that impresses me, I can't help thinking how much I wish to have my family and close friends to be with me and see the things I can see. In that sense, I feel fortunate. My feeling is that visiting CPH could be an amazing place to inspire anyone back in Colombia. Things are very different here, and differences can be appreciated even in the minor details. Many times I see small things and I say "hey, that's something extremely clever, that's something we should bring to Colombia!" I think of young people in Colombia that feel lost or skeptical about their future. I understand that for them life might seem only a handful of possibilities, something completely opposite to the options young Danes have. I can't help thinking how spending only one day in places like CPH or Paris could inspire a young Colombian for the rest of his/her life. Not only because of the mere experience of traveling and seeing different things, but also because of the shock of seeing that a better world (or, a world that works, if you want), built by people equal to them, is indeed possible.

Soccer and Summer

One of the downsides of the summer is that there are no official soccer competitions. Actually, the real problem is that the sport press doesn't stop during the summer. Soccer news in the summer can be extremely annoying, as every single year it's the same thing, with all kinds of rumors regarding big teams signing new players.

Those who know me know that I am a supporter of Real Madrid. I won't elaborate here on why this is; I will only say that it's the best team of the world. In fact, Real Madrid is perhaps the only thing I like about Spain. (Actually I don't know why I don't like Spain in general, never had a bad experience nor a Spanish friend. It must be the fact that in Spain, as a Colombian or Ecuadorian immigrant you might get a free beating.) Because of Real Madrid, part of my daily routine is to give a quick look (not so quick when there's some important game) to the main sport newspapers in Madrid: As and Marca. Since most people in Madrid are RM followers, these newspapers usually only publish news related to the team. One of the beautiful things about soccer is that when you decide to support a team, you're automatically deciding to hate your team's rival. In case you don't know, RM's all-time rival is FC Barcelona. This rivalry follows the traditional one between the two cities, and comprises many things, including politics. Because of this, sometimes I also read the Barcelona newspapers, Mundo Deportivo and Sport. I enjoy doing so when FCB loses in pathetic ways (which is frequent). They also start stupid rumors about RM and its players, which are also funny to read sometimes.

This summer sport newspapers in Madrid and Barcelona have been especially annoying, and this certainly deserves a post. The story of the summer in Madrid is Cristiano Ronaldo signing for RM. I am so fed up with the thing that everyday I wake up wishing the story is over. My position in this is clear: I don't want CR in Madrid. Granted, the guy is an outstanding player, but it's my impression that he's not psychologically strong enough to become the best soccer player in the world. And RM must have the best players in the world. Just take a look in the way he kicked the penalty in the UEFA Champions League final. He was scared. Think about real extraordinary players in soccer history (say Zidane): they would have kicked that penalty properly, with confidence. Ronaldo was lucky enough that John Kerry did much worse than him kicking his penalty. Otherwise, Cristiano would have been remembered as the idiot that gave Chelsea the trophy.

Now let's turn to the situation in Barcelona. They have a lot of problems: they want(ed) to get rid of good (yet problematic) players (Ronaldinho, Deco, Etoo), there's a new coach, the president of the club has little support. However, the story of the summer concerns Lionel Messi going to the Olympic games. The club doesn't want Lio to go to the games as they coincide with the preliminary qualification round for the UEFA Champions. However, FIFA regulations say that the club must allow Messi to play with his national team. The player seems to be too shy to make his position clear, which I really can't stand. It's some sort of endless situation in which both parts (the club and the Argentinian soccer association) are right. Things are really annoying because there are lawyers and courts taking part of the dispute. The latest news is that Messi went to China (based on a decision of some court), but today a higher court said that FC Barcelona wasn't obliged to let Messi participate. The Argentinian association replied saying that there's no way Messi is returning...

All in all, I hope these two stories to reach a final. I really don't care how the things evolve. Really. I look forward for the beginning of the new soccer year, which should be exciting.

Also a Saturday, 28 years ago

Today could be considered the first day of summer vacation. Bologna has been in "summer mode" for some days already: the streets are considerably emptier, the lessons and exams are evidently finished for now so there are no students around, and many business have closed. In spite of the unbearable humid weather, I find this a very enjoyable atmosphere of relax. Many have already escaped from Bologna or, as in my case, are close to do it.

This atmosphere is, unfortunately, very convenient to forget that the worst terrorist attack in the recent Italian history took place in Bologna, exactly 28 years ago. I kind of knew about the Bologna massacre (strage di Bologna, the "official" name given to the attack) but only now I cared to read a bit more about the issue. It is very difficult to me to assimilate that the Bologna train station ---a place that for me only evokes happy, positive memories-- was destroyed by a terrorist attack that took the life of 85 persons and wounded more than 200.

It is weird, but somehow I feel "attacked" only to read about the subject. (Yes, perhaps I have learned to love Bologna.) The thing is that I have been so many times in the very same waiting room in which the bomb exploded. I can easily imagine the people, waiting for their train at 10:25 am. For them, what it was supposed to be the beginning of a promising summer ended up being the end of their lives. Not only people in the waiting room died; also people in the train that was waiting in the platform next to the room suffered the explosion. Indeed, the west wing of the station collapsed, and a substantial part of it fell over the train. The blast was heard for miles.

One remarkable aspect here is that Bologna people has managed to keep the awareness about this tragic event. I am extremely glad that occurs, as civil awareness for such a long period is something that doesn't exist in a tragic country as Colombia. You can see it in the station: apart from the usual commemorating stones, the hole the explosion left in the waiting room, and a clock signaling the time of the attack, are preserved. I understand that several civil manifestations will take place in Piazza Maggiore. Besides, civil organizations created after the attack were crucial to demand objective investigations of the responsibles for the attack,

Even if I am tempted to comment on the politics behind the attack, I prefer not to do so as those are pieces of history that I know only very superficially. Perhaps when I have read more about the violence and political tensions of the time I will write about them. For now, I will only say that it was determined that the attacks were planned and executed by neo-fascist movements, and that the two main responsibles (a young couple) are serving life imprisonments.