Atypical

Today there is a very interesting interview to José Mourinho in El País. At some point of the interview, when discussing his feelings about Portugal he says:

I am a very atypical Portuguese, because the typical Portuguese person misses Portugal and that is not my case. I don't feel saudade, perhaps because I have an amazing family, because I love what I do... I don't feel saudade, but I do have a lot of passion. I am a Portuguese who doesn't want to return; I don't want to work in any Portuguese team. I don't want to live in Portugal, but I am a Portuguese that wishes to make something important with my potential.

I couldn't relate more to Mourinho's words. That's is exactly how I feel about Colombia. Sometimes I think that I am an "atypical Colombian" but it seems like a pretentious thing to say. I don't miss Colombia, at least not in the persistent way most Colombians seem to miss it. There is an undeniable Colombian character --some undefinable form of passion, you could say-- in what I do and in how I behave, I am sure, and I feel most proud of that.

All of a sudden

There are modern countries in the world; I have seen some of them. There are also poor, underdeveloped countries; I was born in one of those. More interestingly, there are countries that for many different reasons attempt to go from underdeveloped to modern in a very short period of time. I have seen a few of those, too. Observing such attempts of sudden development is interesting, as it is often expressed by magnificent constructions, but it is also a bit shocking, as development is not uniform, so it looks unnatural, out of context. As a drop of modernity in a sea of underdevelopment.

I had seen this kind of shocking development in Greece, where the contrast between what is recent and works fine and what doesn't work (or doesn't exist at all) is both evident and overwhelming. Probably the thing that impressed me the most there was the ongoing development (notably, the several bridges and highways under construction), a burst of modernity kindly sponsored by the European Union. (I visited in 2007, things might not be that active nowadays.)

Even more impressive was to see sudden development and modernity in Malaysia. It was simply breathtaking. It looks like a place planned and built by giants. A country placed in the middle of a tropical forest, in which cities and highways are huge and underutilized, everything settled in a seducing combination of asian and muslim culture. Modernity has been recently imposed, but the humid character of the forest remains, though, and soon you realize how excessively big and distant things are. The key word here is overwhelming: the size of things, the magnitude of the contrast, and the tough, humid weather leave you no option but to feel overwhelmed. I suppose that even if one stays at fancy Kuala Lumpur it is possible to appreciate the contrasts: from the luxury of Petronas towers, to the traditional Chinese and Indian markets and neighborhoods, everything connected by rudimentary lines of railways that allow you to see everything in the middle. However, if you have the chance of travelling a bit outside Kuala Lumpur, and observe the unexplored forest outside you, then you might be tempted to think that modernity cannot be imposed, or at least that the price of doing so can be high. Malaysia had/has enough oil to pay that price, it seems, and the right leadership to accomplish the task.

I have seen signs of sudden development here in Portugal, too. As in Greece, this is recent development brought by the noble European spirit. Important events such as the EXPO'98 and the EURO 2004 have been also fundamental for the burst of development. It is quite insightful to take a train from Lisbon to Porto. The trip is nice and relatively short (300km in less than 3 hours). The high speed train, also part of the recent development, is rather efficient, and crosses many beautiful landscapes on its way to Porto. Some of such landscapes seem like postcards from 30 or 40 years ago; a flashback from old Portugal. The flashback breaks when you see a modern bridge, or a crossing highway; the sudden development is precisely in that rupture. Once in Porto, traditional and modern elements combine everywhere. In many ways, Porto is quite different from Lisbon, and yet a rather unique Portuguese character can be perceived. The metro in Porto is probably the main sign of sudden development in the city; oddly enough, the "heart" of the metro is at the stadium: the several lines start in the Stadium and fan out so as to reach the city center and the surrounding cities. This is to remind us that at the heart of sudden development is volatile capitalism: rather than ensuring efficient transport for most people, a metro system ensures that most tourists and visitors can go to the stadium. It could be the case that in the case of Porto both intentions coincide, but the idea of "stadium as the heart of the city" is hardly convincing.