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.

Mercury Prize shortlist

It is time for a new entry and all my ideas for posts are, at best, half-baked drafts. So, here's a short post on music.

Last week the short list for the Nationwide Mercury Prize was announced. The Mercury prize is awarded yearly to the best British/Irish album. All genres all taken into account, and the selection is based only on the music of the album. Even if it's impossible to make everyone happy with an award (and this is especially true for music/movie awards), I find this selection scheme very interesting. Since the wonderful "Stories from the city, stories from the sea" by PJ Harvey in 2001, I have tried to follow the list of nominees and winner each year, as it's a safe way of finding quality music. This year's shortlist is as follows:

• Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

• Radiohead - In Rainbows

• British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?

• Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand

• Burial - Untrue

• Estelle - Shine

• Adele - 19

• Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim

• Rachel Unthank & The Winterset - The Bairns

• Neon Neon - Stainless Style

• Portico Quartet - Knee-Deep In The North Sea

• The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement

Apart from "In Rainbows" and "The Age Of The Understatement" (two of my favorites), all the albums are strange to me. It is my objective to hear most of them before the awards ceremony in September. I am always curious to know to what extent my taste (musical taste, in this case) is in accordance with the selection of some expert jury.

Independence Day

Today Colombia celebrates the first of the two annual festivities related to its Independence Day. This year the celebrations include yet another massive manifestation against FARC and kidnapping. This was done in each Colombian municipality as well as in a number of major cities in the world. I find this remarkable as the fragile unity of Colombian society was demonstrated around the world. Even if I could have joined the celebration in Milano, work and money reasons prevented me to do so, even if the idea of tasting Colombian food was very tempting ;-) Instead of travelling four hours in train and spending some money, I decided to celebrate this day by doing a small contribution in tracing back the origins of the fragility of Colombian society. Indeed, in this post I will give you a super summarized account of Colombian history.

As I mentioned before, to discuss the independence of what now is known as Colombia it is indispensable to mention two dates in history: the 20th of July 1810 and the 7th of August 1819. Let me start with the first one. As you might know, the Spanish empire had ruled America after 1492. Around 1810, the political instability in Spain, and of a number of social, economic and political factors in America were the trigger to a number of separatist movements. Back then, what we now today as Colombia was only a part of "The New Granada", a huge country that --more or less-- compressed today's Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama. The already mentioned problems in Spain made an Independence declaration rather easy and peaceful. This took place the 20th of July 1810 in SantaFe (what is known today as Bogota).

After this declaration, the perspectives were everything but clear. The society of the time was divided between people loyal to the Spanish crown and people wishing to cut every link with Spain. The second group prevailed, but then a new division arose, this time concerning the structure of the new government (federal vs. central). This caused a civil war, after which a guy called Simon Bolivar entered into the game. He had commanded the separatist movement in Venezuela in a rather short war. He then went to Santa Fe to try to organize the mess there was there.

Shortly after, there's a new king in Spain who orders to conquer again all the territories in which Spanish troops had been defeated. The mission sent by the king (leaded by a guy called Pablo Morillo) put some order and returned things as they were in 1810; this was around 1816 (more or less). The leaders of the separatist movements and armies were executed. This wasn't the case for Bolivar who escaped to Jamaica. It took little time for new separatist armies to reorganize; key in this process were Francisco de Paula Santander in Colombia and Jose Antonio Paez in Venezuela. Bolivar managed to return in 1817, assuming the leadership of the armies. Together with Santander, Bolivar fought against the last Spanish troops in a very famous battle, the Battle of Boyacá. This battle took place the 7th of August 1819, and consolidated the rather weak independence an incipient group of people had achieved back in 1810. The freed country was then called "The Great Colombia."

As you may imagine, both dates are important and meaningful. Unfortunately, few people in Colombia understand the history and politics behind them. Colombia's independence was a long, hard process that had to overcome external and internal disputes, in which political and military actions were crucial for the final outcome. In case you are wondering what happened after the 7th of August, here's a mini story. Yet another division took place on how to order the free countries. Now the sources of division were Santander and Bolivar, and they formed their respective political factions. The Great Colombia itself was very fragile and the leaders of the army in Ecuador and Venezuela started a division process to the countries we know nowadays. Several other interesting events occurred in Colombia, including: yet another war, the independence of Panama (technically Colombia sold it to the US in 1902), and the political violence that arose after that (around 1930-1960), and that in the last 30 years has evolved into the war against drugs Colombia still suffers today.

Colombia has only seen very short periods of peace. In this sense, we are independent in theory, but in practice this is not quite true. On the one hand, the myriad of cultures and social groups in Colombia have made difficult a real independence from ourselves. On the other hand, today we have a strong dependency on the current empire (USA , that stimulates our war), and --oddly enough-- also a rather implicit dependency on the old empire (Spain, that owns pretty much the whole financial and media systems in Colombia.)

To conclude, the recent euphoria of the "almost won" war against FARC should not confuse us: there are a lot of divisions and inequalities in Colombian society. They come pretty much since the very moment in which we started to exist as a country. I think it's a good idea to keep in mind our past to understand the lame present and to be prepared for a (hopefully not) also sad future.