Creating a just world

I watched this short documentary about the story of Mohammed Yunus, a Bangladeshi who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

Learn about Mohammed Yunus and the Grameen Bank

Coming from a poor background, but with the lucky chance to get higher education, he little by little engaged in giving micro-credits to poor women in rural Bangladesh. The first loan was over 27 Dollars to 42 women. Today Grameen Bank counts 4 million members and has expanded into many other countries.

I was particularly impressed by his very clear advice about not giving up an idea you believe in. Yunus' demonstration of stubbornness in dealing with bankers all too hooked to the conventional ideas that created the status quo in the first place gives me hope and trust in my own capacity to reach something in this world.

The Secret

In my old blog I once had mentioned a movie called "The Secret". Then and now it does something for me which is very necessary. It reminds me of the importance of being positive and dispense the very feelings I would like to receive. It motivates me to maintain a good mood especially on days that I find me in a somber state of mind. You may think about the movie whatever you like. It has a sensationalist air about it and I admit that it contains very little to no scientific proof, but still... It is a question of belief and personal experience! If you have made the experience that it serves you better to be positive and grateful in what you give and receive in life, or whether you have gotten into the habit of mourning and rueing decicions you made.

Most of the time I am positive now. I got back to my studies and have fun with friends and visit my brother and his girlfriend and always take my brand-new digital camera with me. Still, this life is not quite what it used to be. Or is it? Did the contrast to some months that basically felt like a large vacation make me miss something and now I discard the good life I have here?
Currently I definitely need a lot more reminding of being positive than I used to not long ago! This feels a bit like some days I spent in Germany immediately before leaving for Spain, when I could not wait to get away from it all.

Carrying these thoughts around with me, every now and then I reach the same conclusion: My life is changing rapidly and the next changes are already in sight. I should not be rash now, but patient and calm and grateful for my experience.

I just need to remind myself of that!

Llegando

Hoy es un día para escribir en español! Lo siento para todos que no se enteran, y doy un cordial "¡de nada!" a los que quieren aprender este idioma bonito y lo ven como oportunidad de practicar :) (por cierto: si cometo errores lingüísticos, ortográficos o lo que sea, ¡avisadme!, mi examen del DELE os lo agradecerá...)

Cada vez más me siento cómodo en Alemania! Hace ya veinte días desde que partí de España y estos últimos días he hecho un buen trabajo de colmarme con tareas en la universidad. Ahora ya tengo tres presentaciones de diferentes asignaturas por delante y sigo asistiendo a mis clases de Derecho Constitucional! Los viernes he elegido dos asignaturas para mejorar mi español y no perder los conocimientos adquiridos en Jaén! Las asignaturas se llaman "Español - Comunicación Oral", en la que hablamos mucho de cultura no sólo de España pero también de América Latina, y "Español - Expresión Escrita" para la que tenemos que escribir cada semana un informe o una redacción de 400 palabras que luego corregimos en clase con muchas y buenas explicaciones del profe. Por cierto, el profesor es chileno pero trabajó como traductor y ya vive en Augsburgo desde hace muchos años. Nos sabe explicar todo igual en español o alemán y conoce todas las trampas lingüísticas que hay!

Ya poco a poco voy convirtiendo la tristeza de estar separado de mis amigos en Jaén en energía para atacar de nuevo y sacar créditos en mi universidad aquí. Mis últimos semestres en Augsburgo quiero correr rápido para después cambiar otra vez de sitio y, muy probablemente, de país! Entonces: Ánimo y al ataque :-)

Changes in life

I have a cold! It is not a really bad one, but enough to keep me occupied with drinking tea and blowing my nose. Sitting in my room in Augsburg I watch movies and chat with friends and family. This day is to relax and cure myself!

These days I think a lot about how my life is changing. I just came back from a study abroad experience and I cannot but feel that I have changed during this time in Spain. Not just my hair is longer, but I have lived with interesting people in a shared house, learned a new language and, what is more, Spanish culture. What am I saying, I not only learnt about Spanish culture, but Chinese, American and Persian as well, so eventually I gained a different view on Germany.

Coming home is a very strange experience for me! It does not feel so much like home anymore as it did before. It is more like a place that I am intimately familiar with, because I spent my whole life here, but funnily I felt just as at home in Spain.
What makes the difference are the people, especially my family and very few close friends, that make it worthwhile to be here! Besides I have some felt obligations to my longterm career and life plans, that make it necessary to study some more :)

Maybe I am not meant to be at peace in one place for all of my life. The travelmania is in me and won`t leave me alone soon. Already I am planning two more trips this year, one of them to Spain! What that means for my studies? I guess I am doing what is necessary for my life, not for my CV...