Built in the 1970s, this sort of urban tree has the dubious fame for being the ugliest building in town—even worse, all businesses which establish here eventually face bankruptcy. It has been empty for the last 12 years.
January 5, 2019
January 4, 2019
Churchill’s house — Griebnitzsee 302/365
This mansion was built by Mies van der Rohe and Churchill lived here during the negotiations in Potsdam following the capitulation of Nazi Germany. The back façade is directly at the lake. I had been looking forward to visiting this house, and it’s indeed a nice ride from home mostly through the forest. A perfect ride just early in the morning.
January 3, 2019
Anhalter train station — Mitte 301/365
This is what remains of Hitler’s favorite train station. Basically all pics of Hitler you have seen in a train or train station were shot here, a few steps from his office. From here, 1/3 of the Jewish population of Berlin was sent in regular trains to concentration camps. But as the Soviets approached, Nazis diverted the nearby canal and flooded this train station and many tunnels in the area. Many refugees drowned.
January 2, 2019
Infinite jest — Teltow Canal 300/365
I was thinking about this phrase by Shakespeare, which David Foster Wallace used for one of this novels: “infinite jest”. This is the effect of sports on me: I don’t only feel good while/after doing sports, I feel good about me, specially doing outdoors and enjoying nature. So it’s a nice investment in terms of jest. Here it goes to 363 more jesty days!
January 1, 2019
My forest — Zehlendorf 299/365
The day was cold and it rained all day. I spent most of the time lying in bed, recovering from a bad virus. The only thing I saw was the forest through my bedroom’s window. Not a nice start in the new year challenges and plans but a humble, realistic one.
December 31, 2018
December 30, 2018
Bike charger — Amsterdam 297/365
So you want to charge your phone in the airport? You’ll charge it only if you actively use the pedals.
Again, KLM and Schiphol are the best experiences if flying from/to Europe.
December 29, 2018
Leaving my neighborhood — San Pedro Garza García 296/365
When entering our neighborhood, this is the first sign you see. We always knew that there were black bears in our mountains, but they started coming down to our homes some 15 years ago. The last one my relatives saw was 2 years ago.
Now I’m heading back to Berlin, a city founded in 1275 by a guy whose nickname was “The Bear”, a fact which serves as an etymological explanation to the origins of the name of the city (Baerlein: the Little Bear).
December 28, 2018
The white room — Monterrey 295/365
This room used to have no window and a door instead of that bizarre bar. This room used to be the pediatric intensive therapy unit. In this room my brother Carlos passed away on his 7th birthday.
That night, everything was white. Since then, I can’t stand white, and white spaces make me sad.
How many kids died there? How many recovered?
I felt so much pain when, many years later, I discovered that it was being used as a storage room. The death of my brother felt abused.
December 27, 2018
December 26, 2018
The remains of Christmas — San Pedro Garza García 293/365
While Germans celebrate the first and second liturgical days of Christmas, Mexicans party weeks in advance. Yesterday we all ate the leftovers (recalentado), while Germans prepare a nice dish. This is what remained at home: a red cup in the bottom of the swimming pool. And I couldn’t help it but thought of Robert Leo Hulseman, the guy who invented it and passed away recently. He became billionaire with such an easy product, but which is like the cockroach of nuclear parties: indestructible!
December 25, 2018
Huasteca — Santa Catarina 292/365
Como dicen los alemanes, estoy llenando el tanque de sol para la vuelta a Berlín. Lo escribió de manera poética don Alfonso Reyes:
Cuando salí de mi casa
con mi bastón y mi hato,
le dije a mi corazón:
-¡Ya llevas sol para rato!-
Es tesoro —y no se acaba:
no se me acaba— lo gasto.
Traigo tanto sol adentro
que ya tanto sol me cansa.
Yo no conocí en mi infancia
sombra, sino resolana.
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