Turning Passion into ACTion

A bit of Chennai

In the end of May 2011 I found myself emotionally broken: the sickness did not seem to slow down,an unbearable heat would only boil the air, mosquitoes were cruelly biting every inch of me and unnecessary stress at work pinched my head.Of course, due to health matters I just literally switched off my brain whenever it came to think of the office.Obviously, I stayed home for a few days to foster recovery by sleeping and

relaxing.

During those hot sick days and nights I was thinking what made me feel what I felt. What was the environment that made me lose my optimistic spirit? Who were the people whose behaviour I could not understand and thus, I did not enjoy their company? What elements were missing to feel uplifted, to smile, to shine and be happy?

It did not take me long to think, to analyse. Solutions popped up naturally.

Firstly, I registered for the Open World 10K Marathon in Bangalore organised by TCS.

Then I said to myself,'Discipline is your best friend at this time. Make it a habit to listen to your heart and do what you really want. Reduce negative language in your thinking.Welcome physical exercises with an open heart when you are absolutely ready for this experience,and go!" So running in the gym and yogging in the evenings, swimming at weekends and feeling lighter and lighter helped me in winning the fever. I must add to it that I am still bad at proper nutrition for myself, especially when it comes to working out. Too bad, I know.

Expect the unexpected. One of the key lessons I always carry in my soul here in India. I can't recall if I learnt this lesson somewhere else but definitely in India it is a reality. (Owing to this precious learning, I have even forgotten the word "Expectation" and whenever somebody utters it I wonder what it is) So unexpectedly I reached the Finish line in the project I worked in for the past 5 months. A colourful box of friends' farewells got enriched with another of Farewell experience of mine: saying Bye is always a two sided coin. On one hand, you are sad saying Bye to your that "Old" lifestyle you led. On the other hand, a Bye is always a door into unknown, and I am always positively certain that the Unknown brings new opportunities, new friends, new discoveries and new desires. Heavily loaded by these thoughts I said a warm Bye to the project and to my colleagues, breathed in excessively filling my lungs with a huge volume of the air anticipating a beautiful exciting summer.I knew what I wanted: travels! I needed so much a break from Chennai, the break from the heat and annoying noise, the break from whatever I was in at the end of May.

Yes, I am an average travel freak. I do not look for comfort when I travel. All I want is to be in the moment, to feel the present and live it to 100%. So I checked my passport, checked my monthly budget, googled the pictures of places I wanted to visit and clicked on 'Book' the flight tickets... Beginning of June embraced me with all its future unknowness and astonishing surprises. I was going to be with myself to rejuvenate and do what I truly love - travel ...

M(a)Y

Time runs. It does not fly anymore for me here. It marches and sprints with a 'Champion!' spirit.

My May 2011 was a peak of Intern's Cycle Life: last farewells to ACE family members: Naldo, Erik, Agus, Ola, Mohamed Adel, Vincent. My dear Naldo, my soulmate and my brother; it was Naldo, Elizabeth's and my journey in India we cherished, shared and cared about. My dear Erik whose positive attitude softened all the challenges I had encountered in Chennai and whose firm hand was always there to reach. Beautiful Ola that showed me her wisdom, who was constantly seeking for the best and learning to enjoy simple beauties in the world. Agus, Latino, guapo, whose salsas and merengues I will always miss! Mohamed Adel, the passionate Egyptian friend, his friendship is as silent as a mouse. Vincent, a big big African brother with a wide friendly smile and kind eyes.

...May was as crazy as any other month here in India. I was twice seriously sick: these temperature differences of indoor and outdoor checkmate me with no option but be treated with MEDICINE. Of course, I go to the Doc in a very rare case: I just simply do not believe to whatever they prescribe. However, here in India I already had gone twice to the Doc: dealing with infections and abnormal fevers made me re-look at my skeptical views of the Medicine in general.

Then, there was an intensive week of parties. It started with my pre Birthday party. My flatmates- Pamela, Erik and Tom- together with my first flatmates and close friends from Hyderabad - Carlos, Areli, Jose and Fernando - gifted me with a huge touching surprise: the Hyderabadis just arrived here at Chennai on Saturday noon. Devoted friends spent about 20 hours on the train, on a bus, in a rickshaw instead of traditional 12 hours! Exhausted and sweating, the Latino friends made a loud noise in our Chennai flat! It was totally unexpected: I was having a lazy noon nap when all of a sudden somebody was whistling, and then I saw faces of Fernando and Carlos in my room! Firstly I thought I was having a dream and I smiled looking at both of them: God knows how much I missed both of them! But then the noise grew louder and louder, and Areli and Jose's laughs woke me up completely! Had I had a camera nearby I could've captured those moments: all of us together embracing each other and tears come down my face... All my flatmates and close friends in Chennai knew about the surprise and were awaiting for the evening party to start. It was a priceless Bday gift! I am hundred times grateful to Pamela and my dear Chennai friends for keeping the fire burning that night!

So the Party week continued. We had farewells for Tina, Agus, Erik, Edward ( who actually left 3 weeks after because of the inefficiency and weirdness of the Immigration office of Chennai ), we had Bday party for Tanya, a true Damn Soviet compatriot. With Erik leave we welcomed Sergio and Angela to Chennai ACE family, and the parties went on and on ...

Meanwhile, my body got weaker and weaker. The heat of Chennai had been ruining all my hopes for a chilly weather at least for a day. I had this crazy thought to crack the eggs on the heated cemented road or rock and fry them. Guess, I thought too long that I actually never did it. Now the sun is not that strong and the experiment has more chances to be just a hypothetical thought of mine . . .

However, even if I was staying in bed with high temperature and terribly sounding cough I was still hoping to run a Marathon in June in Bangalore. By the way, my former office mate Juan, hearing my cough, said to me, 'Even I with a long Smoker experience do not cough like you do. Go visit the Doc': said-forgotten. I was worried of a more important stuff:

a) How long it takes me to run 5 km

b) When I am travelling to Malaysia