passing by

This piece has been mellowing for some time. It was a bright morning in New York. The spring air filled the streets with pollen and the fragrance of new blossoms. After a 5K run with Allison, we met with Jen, her boyfriend and another one of her friends to have some coffee at the Hungarian pastry shop, a place I had intended to visit for a while. The days prior to that, I had felt as though I was being relieved from a choking sensation of fear for what was coming. I had spent long hours staring at my computer hyperventilating for not being able to produce coherent lines for my thesis. I read this and it helped. After many years, I had gone back to take refuge in literature but it started with music. Jim Morrison’s American prayer became my hymn for a couple of weeks. I had been feeling hopeless. Yet, out of serendipitous events I was visiting some places that were becoming havens- may be as a result of what felt as my imminent departure from the life I had been building in New ...

Era un Jueves por la noche y yo apenas había adquirido mi guitarra. Estaba en el subway, bailando al ritmo de la salsa de Willie Colón que provenía de mis audífonos cuando este chico (por no decir hombre) se me acercó. Eres artista?-Me preguntó y me dijo algunos términos -completamente nuevos para mí- acerca de mi guitarra. Él estaba en camino a un show, tenía un estuche (de la misma marca de mi nueva guitarra, la que me dio Shashwat y yo no sabía que era profesional) que parecía contener un saxo pero no sabría decir si era eso. Me recomendó que vaya a este bar de jazz, del cual ya había escuchado por otros medios. Se pasó de su parada y conversamos acerca de música. Dos semanas después fui a perderme en la cadencia errática de jazz en Smalls. Entre estas dos semanas; sin embargo, debatí las preguntas epistemológicas y dialécticas más difíciles en mis estudios y mi enfoque en energía renovable. Fui a una conferencia acerca del efecto de consumo de energía en la salud- básicamente la...

Almost a month since I came back from Ghana has passed. I am losing the sense that I WAS there. But, it is inevitable to be charmed by New York’s bustle and hustle and this is why I have not written about my life here. But I shall start. First and foremost, I found a home with my new roommate Dani who is no less than amazing. She actually has a blog too. I moved to the financial district, which is almost paradoxical to my indie self but I had a good feeling about the prospect of living here and I have very much enjoyed it so far. I lie to myself saying that I (sort of) have a view of the Brooklyn Bridge from my (tiny) balcony ;) The seaport was hit very hard during Sandy but it has received a lot of attention and remediation efforts have been very successful here. (There is still a lot of work to get done in the Rockaways and Staten Island) Before moving here though I was apartment hopping. I am so grateful for Alex and Rahma who received me in their pla...