4 Hours

So for now, I'm finishing with moving my stuff from Reutlingen to Munich.
Kinda feels a bit surreal, but I'm in a great mood! After a long period of vacation, fun, traveling, partying, learning, and getting ready for the real world of tomorrow. Literally, I start working tomorrow!
I can only recommend that you all take a year off after your studies or after a period of work! It does wonders to the soul!

Hasta la vista baby!

A Weekend in Switzerland

Last weekend I went with a friend of mine to Switzerland and had a really nice time. I believe that the trip, although short and spontaneous, was very enlightening in two ways:
1) I met Kiantki
2) I met my Swiss family after five years of not seeing them.

When I first met Kiantki, it was a this tennis court where my friend, Sebastian Fitz, was going to meet his time in order to train. That day Kiantki and I talked about a few old political stories (Nicaragua, Reagan, the Contras, the Sandinistas) and how some of those events influenced us.
However, the most interesting talks we had were on Saturday when the team had their games. We talked from philosophy, beliefs, people's motives, Iraq, Afghanistan, oil, child upbringing and politics. I think we talked about so many different issues that I felt that time flew by really fast and it was a great time to be able to talk to someone about all these issues where they also have an opinion, and a well educated opinion at that.
The most funny moment I think (at least for me) was when I told Kiantki about the Swiss Army and their military bases being well hidden "you know where". No worries Swiss Army, your secret is well hidden with the Mexicans.

Another issue we talked about, that is a very touchy issue to Americans, was 9/11. I gave him my point of view and as well tried to explained why it happened. I'm not saying that I know facts or have evidence, but many past historic events have similar backgrounds and if you have read enough (and studied, if you're lucky) then you can start seeing patterns within contemporary world events. I cannot emphasize the saying "he who forgets his past, is deemed to repeat it".
Remember Pearl Harbour and how that took the USA by surprise? We all know how that ended.

In essence, in order to understand why such a tragic event took place, one must understand the motives behind it, the materialistic gains that are to be achieved and the long-term results that such an event will lead to. If you do not understand the basics in politics, human motivation, strategy and the principles of power, then you will always have questions like "how can a person (or a group of people) mastermind or plan such awful attacks?".
A better question to be asked would be "Why was it done in this way and how do they (our enemies) want us to react?"
You could understand that anybody, when attacked, will immediately want to retaliate. This is the hard part in controlling our anger because we tend to attack the first thing that crosses us may it be a friend or foe. It can send us on a wild goose hunt where we end up wasting our time and energies. In the worst case, it can lead us to a trap.

Anyway, these are many things to ponder and discuss about in a round of chess with a good beer. I would really want to thank Kiantki and letting me see the side of an American citizen about the whole issue. It isn't something that is easy to talk about.

Last but not least, visiting my Swiss family (they used to be our neighbors back in 1985 when we lived in Switzerland). My parents are the Godparents to a girl and a boy (now in their 20s) and their mom and step dad are family friends. Reuniting with them was a lot of fun. The funny part is that we ended up talking on the night that I stayed about philosophy and human behaviour.
I'm starting to think that I should have studied philosophy and political science. Maybe I should still do it. We shall see.

Oh, and this might be my last post from Reutlingen since I'm moving to Munich this weekend!
Interesting times are up ahead!

Have a nice weekend wherever you might be.
Peace.

Once again...

Once again I am legal in beautiful Germany! I my visit expired today and well, if I didn't get that extension today, I would be flying either today or tomorrow back to Mexico City!
But it seems that the Gods want me for a while over here.

So for now, it's 100% sure (until Aug. 14th, 2008) that I can stay in this country!
I must say I never planned on staying in Germany for so long. This coming June 1st I will celebrate my 5th year over here and I can't believe how much time has just passed by.
I can still remember the day I arrived at the Frankfurt Airport and my bro Stephan Matz picked me up.

Who would have guessed it would be the beginning of so many adventures?
Nevertheless, these will be my last months in this country that I now call home.
Sometime in August I will move to England (not sure yet where, I will let you people know) and start working there as a Sales Manager for my company called CCR Logistics.
I'm really looking forward to live and work in a new country! And since I have to start from zero, it feels like I'm pioneering on uncharted waters! There's nothing better than that feeling!!! The risk, the excitement, the fun, the rush, I just love it!

So I hope that my friends come and visit! We will travel through the UK!

What the Easter Bunny brought us

Well, the first three months of the year have FLOWN away faster than your DSL/cable connection. Don't you get that feeling? I certainly do! The world isn't exactly a mess right now, but it really such a pretty view. So much has happened lately that you can barely take a deep breath in order to recover. So let us take this deep breath and take a dive into the cold water!


Número 1: Elecciones Americanas!

The US Election Campaign for the Democratic candidates has been prolonged and the pressure is on! Who would have thought that Senator Obama would be a serious candidate a year ago? Who would have thought that Senator Clinton would have such a tough competitor? We have never had so many American citizens being political active or conscious! These are really some exciting times to live in! It's like watching two tough, seasoned and spectacular gladiators giving their best in order to survive (insert now your Gladiator OST cd in and play it while you watch a primary or caucus). This time, the American people, its delegates and super delegates are the true Emperor(s) that decide who "lives" and who "dies". So who is going to get the "thumbs down"?
The Republicans, on the other hand, don't have much to worry. The whole party is behind Senator McCain and they are realigning formations and regrouping. They do have to get their strategies ready for whoever will become the democratic nominee. Senator McCain currently enjoys the sweet treasure of time, which is worth more than the price of gold or oil. You just cannot buy time, no matter how much funding you get. In my view, there are a few factors that Senator McCain must be wary of: the ongoing sub-prime financial tornado and the Iraq war.

Número 2: Financial Tornado

Now who on earth would have thought that the sub-primes mortgages in the US would have such a huge toll in the world? It basically tossed the financial markets into the air and those that learn to fly in mid-flight will have an easier landing (or crash). Those mortgages just appeared like a stealth submarine and sunk all our ships...sweet!
I truly feel sorry for the people that are in such a mess. I don't feel so sorry for the ones that caused this debacle.
In any case, the business of giving credit has always been at the heart of major financial problems. Either somebody can't afford to get more credit to pay off short-term debts, or the interest rates just went sky high, or people just don't realize that you shouldn't buy stuff that you can't afford! In the US you can pay everything with a credit card. Over here in Europe (I live in Germany) your credit card is basically useless. You need hard currency or a nice debit card. There's nothing like money upfront!

In any case, if you're into stocks, funds, certificates and any other financial product that gives you a kick, this is the best time to buy low cost stocks! If you're an European with lots of Euros, you should be going to the US and get some shopping done. But, since the price of gas and oil are going up, I suggest you start cutting your mileage and start riding a bike to work or drive a smaller car. It sounds ridiculous, but if enough people do it (mostly in the US) the price will go down slowly.

Well, if the world economy does slow down, then the use of oil will also go down and the prices will eventually go down. The problem with that is when will this happen? Is it profitable at all to let the price of oil go down? Lots of governments depend on high oil prices and would like to keep it that way.


Numero 3: my girl friend needs advice

One of my best friends has wondered which bikini she should buy. So I thought I would ask the wisdom of the World Wide Web to lend me a hand. Besides, I want to just chill for a bit and enjoy the moment. You know what I mean? Thanks! Now hand me that mojito over there...

Here are our options:

1) vitamin A Glamour Set (color black...looks muy caliente)
2) vitamin A Link Set (also black...impressive, most impressive)
3) vitamin A Hudson Reversible!!! (color gray, my favorite!)

Well, that's all for now! I hope things calm down!

Peace

Is this Iraq? No, this is...

this is Mexico! I've been recently been reading a bit on the war in Iraq and well, you do get to see how the Marines or the US Army capture weapons and ammunition.

Well, if you see this picture, do you think that this was in Iraq? They sure do look well equipped for waging war, but no, those men you see belong to the Cartel of Sonora (northern Mexico).

Mexico might not be taking part in Iraq, but I wonder why on earth do these criminals are so well equipped as the Mexican Army? I find it really sad to see that the best equipped people in Mexico are drug dealers or criminals (it makes sense when you look at their purchasing power...who in their right mind would not sell weapons to them if they have the cash?). Your regular Mexican army soldier does know that he is going to get his money's worth when confronting these guys.

I am not so sure where my stance is upon the Mexican Army going in and capturing these guys (I guess it got out of hand for the local authorities). I do believe that getting these people off the streets is important. However, there's this little thing in the back of my mind thinking that the army might be only acting in the interest of another group/band (of drug lords). Top officials of the Mexican Army have been involved in the past with drug lords or cartels (which just shows me that the values of the leadership is not what it is supposed to be). It is just so interesting to be able to criticize the American Army officials doing their job in Iraq (that is if you are against the war), but what do you have to say when Mexican army officials are actually getting involved in the fight against drugs by joining their ranks? It feels like my country is being betrayed by some of their best people, people that are actually given such power (the power of armaments) and judgement to bear and use their force.

Well, I can only hope that these criminals don't set foot on the streets again soon (or ever) and that the Mexican soldiers keep doing a great job.

Let me hope for the best!

"It is not living that matters, but living rightly." (Socrates)

About Iraq

I read a dispatch from the blog of Mr. Michael Yon and how he covers the situation in Iraq by accompanying American soldiers in their missions.
I felt that his dispatches are an eye opener or at least a different view of the ongoing conflict within Iraq. I am aware that the world is divided in several camps of pro and against the war. Nevertheless, there are men out there just doing their job and trying to survive day after day.

I would suggest you to read one of them (even if you are against war) so that you can get an idea of what is happening over there.

I recall that my father once read a book and he read to me a passage that I remember until this day: "In times of war prepare for peace. In times of peace prepare for war". I don't remember the title of the book or who quoted that, but it makes me think on how ill prepared we are if things really get out of hand (more war and war reaching our homes). In the event of being in a war, how are we going to continue life after the war has ended? Are we going to be happy neighbors and invite each other over for a beer or maybe some barbecue?

I guess in the end that would be the result because Europe has had its share of war. After so many years and hard work they achieved peace (and I don't mean by winning a war).
It's never easy to become friends after a fight, but with a little bit of wisdom, patience and forgiveness (this is the toughest to do for sure) things can work out for the best.

I'd rather have my neighbor drinking a beer or two with me than shooting at each other with guns and missiles.
What do you think?

A Little Change for 2008

Hello you all, welcome to 2008. I hope that these past weeks have been treating you well.
I have changed the layout of this blog and I will also be changing the things I write here as well.
I have always wanted to write about different issues that interest or trouble me. Maybe if I am lucky just to share a point of view and be able to debate about it and reach certain conclusions.

Fortunately this year has begun pretty good. My mind and body are ready for a new challenge. How? For starters, I am working out more often and my eating habits are much better. I am paying more attention to eating healthy foods. I used to weight like 85 to 87 kilos like 3 years ago. Today I'm like 15 kilos above that, something I definitely cannot be proud of. Yet I have taken the first steps to topple this big "fat" problem! I would appreciate any help or suggestions from you!

On another side I would like to convert this blog into a place or portal where I can debate, review or comment on global or regional issues. I firmly believe that keeping yourself informed in various fields will improve your daily life in a short, medium and long-term period of time.
So I will start posting about news that I read. I will honestly try to write the most objectively possible without falling into using coarse language. My goal will be to comment, think and rethink, and criticize in a constructive way. I guess part of my mission would be to help people out to figure things out, to find a viable solution to their problems, and to find an adequate answer to their questions.

So stay tuned with me because I will keep you posted. Before I forget, bear with my occasional posts about my personal life. I do like to share my moments with my friends. This is in any case the best way to keep my family informed that I am doing just peachy (for my foreign friends that don't know that expression, it just means that I am more healthy than normal).

So for now AUFWIEDERSEHEN UND BIS BALD!
Cheers from Germany (Land of the much needed Sun!)


Héctor Santillán

P.S.: A Mexican who still loves this country despite its pros and cons.

Something about Fashion: Miu Miu

From the creator/designer of Prada comes the new brand Miu Miu. This new brand has been in fashion for over two years now. I read an article from the Financial Times Special Weekend about Mrs. Miuccia Prada and found it to be captivating, that I decided to analyze the brand based upon what the article mentioned.

This is what it looks like:















The analysis is still not complete, but it is basically fnished.
I will scan the article and post it so that everybody can read it.

Keeping an eye for the nouvelle,

Héctor Santillán

YO SOY MEXICANO

You know, there are just some times that I feel a little bit of everywhere.
Nevertheless, YO SOY MEXICANO (I am Mexican)!
This is an old mariachi song that in one way shows how we truly feel about ourselves.

We might not be perfect, but damn we are proud to be Mexican. Not all is well in my country, but I love it for what it is, what it has, and where it will go to.
I live in other countries that have given me shelter and much more, but Mexico has taught me to love life, my family, and friends!!!

And I just wish to share this with you. If you look for the mp3, look for "Yo Soy Mexicano" by Jorge Negrete or any other mariachi.
If you are in Mexico either in Mexico City or Guadalajara or just close to a band of mariachis ask them to play this song for you. Drink a tequila for all those Mexicans living outside of their country!

YO SOY MEXICANO

Yo soy mexicano, mi tierra es bravía
palabra de macho que no hay otra tierra
más linda y más brava que la tierra mía.

Yo soy mexicano y a orgullo lo tengo
nací despreciando la vida y la muerte
y si echo bravatas, también las sostengo.

Mi orgullo es ser charro valiente y bragao
traer mi sombrero con plata bordao
que nadie me diga que soy rajao.

Correr mi caballo en pelo montao
pero más que todo ser enamorao
yo soy mexicano, muy atravesao.

Yo soy mexicano y por suerte mía
la vida ha querido que por todas partes
se me reconozca por mi valentía.

Yo soy mexicano de nadie me fío
y como Cuauhtemoc cuando estoy sufriendo
antes de rajarme, me aguanto y me río.

Me gusta el sombrero echao de lao
pistola que tenga cacha de venao
fumar una hojita tabaco picao.

Jugar a los gallos saberme afamao
pero más que todo ser enamorao
yo soy mexicano, muy atravesado.

Besides, September is the "MES DE LA PATRIA". We celebrate our Independance Day on the 16th of September! This is a time of going back to your roots, to remember what we fought for in the past in order to have peace and freedom in the future.

"Entre los individuos, como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz."
Translation: "As with individuals and nations, respecting another's Right (the right to govern themselves) leads to Peace.
(Benito Juárez, President of Mexico on several occassion from 1858-1872)

There’s something about Bodil and Marie!

At this precise moment I am taking the ICE (the German express train) back home to Reutlingen and thinking about these past wonderful and cheerful days in Rostock that I spent with my friend Marie and her parents. I never thought that I would stay as long as I did and that is why I want to write about my visit and about this really special girl.

So this is the story on how it all started on a summer Sunday, a day that I will never forget because I was so sad and touched by the departure of a friend, a friend that until this moment I realize how important she is to me (damn you Bodil, I really miss you!) and how in one way or another she was always there for me without noticing it.

On August 12^th (Sunday) Bodil, Gary and I took the 07:09 train from Reutlingen to Stuttgart. This was the day that Bodil was leaving Reutlingen, a place where she met so many new persons, friends and experiences and maybe (hopefully) love. I was one of the lucky guys to have become a friend, but also the blessing of being her neighbor. There is so much that we lived together at our building called the “Wurmhaus” (mental note: it feels so sad to think about all this right now…) and there is so much I wish to tell you all, to show you how important this was in my life up until now. The departure of Bodil marked the end of an era on our 2^nd floor. This might sound exaggerated to your beloved reader, but if you have ever had to say good bye forever to a friend you will know what I mean.

Despite all the farewells I have lived through my life, this one has been a rather different than all the others. What is so different this time, why has it hit me so hard, even after four days since our good bye?

You might want to kick me or tell me “Hector, get over it and get to the point” or something alike, but please bear with me. This is truly a part of Marie’s story.

So leaving Reutlingen had more meaning than otherwise thought: no more “can you make coffee?” or “can you do a one hand push up?”. Man, this sounds so trivial in the spur of the moment, but it what makes a difference in everything. I am heading back to this 2^nd floor of ours knowing that I will not see the pretty morning smile of my neighbor (because I’ll be damned but it’s a gorgeous smile that anybody in their right mind would want to wake up to) nor will I ever party with her in our living room or at Färberei (I am actually crying here in this bloody train and man, the people must be really asking themselves what the hell is wrong with me, but who the fuck cares what they think! I need a damn Kleenex!).

And after this emotional roller coaster, we are back to the train taking us to Stuttgart. We were all so tired. I don’t really recall what we talked, but I do know that getting Bodil’s luggage on the train was a pain in the… I mean that it was really hard work.
Once we were in Stuttgart we took the stuff to our “Gleis” (google for the translation if you don’t speak German, I’m not in the mood for translating) number 9 and were almost ready to go. Gary was going to take another train towards Italy, so it also meant saying good bye to a good friend that I met three months ago (a bit too late for my taste, but I’ll consider myself lucky for getting to know him at all). So those two love birds (because man, if they weren’t love birds, then who knows what they were…comrades in arms, travel partners, doctor and nurse, king and queen, slave and master, jedi and sith?) had to say their temporary good bye (with all the lovey dovey stuff that comes with it). They shall meet again in Sweden when Gary flies back to Canada on the 23^rd of August.

After that I took Gary to the DB Lounge (a place I’m allowed to go to and get free drinks, read newspapers, work on my laptop or go to the WC) because he still had a while to chill out. Bodil and I had 10 minutes to get to our next train that would take us first to Mannheim, and from Mannheim we would take another train to Hamburg. From Hamburg we would take our third train to Lübeck, where Bodil’s father and younger sister would pick her up (they got lost on their way there and Bodil had to wait at the train station for 40 minutes).

Once we were in Mannheim we picked up breakfast and then went to the DB Lounge (they have one there too, score!) to chill, drink a tea and talk about stuff (while I ate my sandwich, Bodil talked). Before we left Mannheim we reserved some seats in our train because it would have sucked to have gotten kicked out of our seats (this can only happen if the train is full and travelers can reserve the seats…this is especially wise to do on long trips like going to Hamburg). Going from Mannheim to Hamburg you can see most of Germany’s landscape, the autobahn, its cities and towns and everything that we (referring to all of us who have been living here for at least half a year or more) we have come to see as our home. So we just sat there reminiscing about this past year, about our fun times, about all the drama that was lived on our floor, about the love triangles, about the jokes, about the places we went, about the people that we will miss and won’t miss (oops!) and last but not least we fell asleep.

We arrived at Hamburg around noon and had like 30 minutes to get our next train to Lübeck. Once again we hit our favorite joint there: the DB Lounge! We left our “chivas” (goats in Spanish… it’s an old saying that refers to anything that you carry around with you ranging from your backpack to 6 suitcases or more) at the DB Lounge and went to grab lunch. The best part was that we went to Subway and got the “Sub des Tages” with menu! That action costed us our precious little time that we had to run like chickens to catch our train. We made it on time (we had 2 or 3 minutes to spare) with the bonus of a good run for our lazy brain and legs.

On this last train to Lübeck we had our last meal together. We took some pictures on this train and that put us in a really good mood until we got to Lübeck. When we were approaching the train station we tried to guess on which side the doors would open, either right or left. To Bodil’s luck the doors opened on the side that she had guessed (the right side). DAMN! Oh well…

And at this train station of Lübeck was the hardest of all: saying good bye to a friend that I have come to appreciate, respect and love. We stood there on the Gleis and I had to leave in order to get my next train to Rostock. This is when we hugged and Bodil cried like a baby! I don’t know, but I don’t cry that much at these times. A few tears came out, but I sucked it up, stayed strong for her. Even remembering that moment makes me teary eyed and I have like this big apple down my throat. We both knew that this meant the end of a phase in our lives, a time in our lives that we will never forget, a time that taught us so much about others and ourselves.

And the only wish I have at this moment is: Bodil, I hope and pray I get to see you again in this life (hey, maybe for Oktoberfest), but the uncertainty is what scares the living hell out of me! I am just trying to say that I really have come to love you like a friend and sister, like the girl that confided in me (with some stuff, not all of course), that made fun with me or of me, the woman that broke so many hearts (my species still has so much to learn…geez! You make us look stupid), but just the being YOU is what makes me smile! J

Geographical update: I just arrived at Göttingen and it looks like it’s going to rain!

Last but not least: Bodil, ¡DOY GRACIAS AL CIELO POR HABERTE CONOCIDO! I would gladly go all the way for you from Reutlingen to Lübeck again and to the End of the World and back! You are my Kumpel and I shall never leave you behind! WE ARE THE WURMHAUS CORPS! WE LOVE THE WURMHAUS COPRS!

Now I have to keep on writing on how on Earth I got to Rostock, because, damn, this little essay I have written has turned out to be more about Bodil than Marie. I can’t believe that I have written 3 pages on you and our trip! I have not done this before, but it’s cool (besides, I need to improve my writing).

After our farewell, I took the next train (it was fucking hot in there) to Rostock. Before I got to Rostock I had to change trains at another small city (I totally forgot the name of it). By this time I had taken 6 trains (but who cares when you have the Bahncard 100) and travelled over 900 km!

Bear in mind that I have been awake since 06:00 (struggled out of bed around 06:15), took the first train at 07:09 and finally met with my destiny at 17:00: Marie! So this is where the story of Marie begins.

If you know this girl like I do, you should know that the day has not come to an end until she runs out of energy (she is like a nuclear reactor on steroids). There is something I must explain first before I keep typing away: I promised Marie to come and visit her after her knee surgery (she busted her knee while skiing sometime in the winter). However, Marie got her surgery back at her hometown of Rostock, and Rostock is approximately 860 km north east from Reutlingen. Visiting Marie means to cross most of Germany from one end to the other. I guess I could safely say that she lives far away, but hell, do you think something like that could stop me?????? Thank you Diosito for the Bahncard 100! You are the BOSS!

Therefore, saying hasta la vista to Bodil was really hard, but then Marie came along (or I went to her) and made my life exceptionally merry and joyful. To our good fortune, her new boyfriend Gunnar (cool name, never heard it before) drove her to the train station to pick me up. So picture yourself that Marie was updating me with all or most of the events that had happened to her ever since she got back home. I won’t go into those details for now because that’s not the focus.

What we did do was go get some stuff at Gunnar’s place, get some gas for the car and some beer for us, then headed to Marie’s home and chill out a bit. Once at her place we just chillaxed and got our fine selves ready for the BEACH! I had totally forgotten that Rostock lies at Baltic Sea (Ostsee in German) and you most definitely have a beach! That is what exactly I needed after the long trip. I never thought that my day would include a visit to the beach! It was such a wonderful surprise! This is what life is all about! We also had a little dinner there: sliced up veggies and fruit. Have I told you how amazing this all was? I even got to see the Sunset! When I saw the sea, the seagulls, the sun, the people swimming and the sand between my feet I remembered that life is full of surprises (good and bad of course), and it is your friends that make a difference in the world.

I can now tell you that I went to bed with a full day behind me, that I slept like a babe, that I thanked the BIG BOSS (please feel free to call him/her/it whatever you wish, they are all correct) for such an intense day, but what I have not told you yet is the following: once we left the beach and went back home Marie’s dad (Mischa) opened the door for us and greeted me with a bloody face (he had just cut himself while shaving)! Now isn’t that a great first impression? I found it hilarious and so did Marie. The night had just started and I ended up talking with Marie’s parents most of the night about tequila and the types and kinds that exist (I love tequila, but the tequila sierra that you can buy in Germany tastes like disinfectant and will give you a strong head ache and hang over, therefore, I never drink that stuff). I never knew what I was getting myself into when I told Marie’s dad about the other kinds of tequila that you can buy. The whole night was pretty cool and around midnight I got really sleepy and that is how that day ended (plus the 30 to 60 min that I spent online updating facebook and studivz before the night embraced me).

For the time being, this is where I will stop my story about visiting Marie. The next three days are still to be told.

Cheers from the fastest train in Germany: the ICE!

Yours truly,

Héctor S.

PS: Almost in Frankfurt! Need to get some lunch there…foooooooooooood!

Bennie once asked: What is Love?

And somebody answered: What a beautiful question!
:)

What would be your answer?

Just a Game of Chess!

Hey gals & lads! Sorry for being such a lousy blogger. Time to catch up. It seems that life at one point gets so complicated, but at the same time it can be so easy. And well, I believe that life sometimes feels like a game of chess. You know, you start the game with such audacity and security, until you lose a piece or two (and I don't refer to pawns). With time (you have to be a fast learner) you have to adapt and protect yourself as best as possible. There is one thing though that we always protect besides ourselves (the king representing us): the queen (your partner, wife/hubby, gf/bf). It's funny how we get all upset one our queen gets taken. Nevertheless, she is not the most important piece in the game. I recently remembered that without the support of the towers, horses or bishops (these could represent your friends or family, colleagues at work, et. all) you can lose the game even if you your queen.

I am sure that many persons have already compared chess to our lives and the different situations we can find ourselves, so I am not really going to get into that right now anymore.

The support of your secondary pieces (tower, horse and bishop) is not only the only factor that plays a roll in the game. You also need to have (or gain, yes, it is a matter of practice) a long term vision of the game (i.e., to be able to play the game 3 or more steps ahead of you in your head) in order to see through your opponents strategy. But hey, this is only a game. And remember, you can always use your pawns (if they survive) to recover your lost queen!

You know, the best part about playing chess is the part of seeing how your opponent (which is usually a friend or somebody from your family) thinks, acts and reacts to your moves. Sometimes they get upset, sometimes they see victory at hand, sometimes they feel delight for getting the upper hand, and sometimes they lose all hope when they thinks that all is lost.

Seeing how my friends think is what makes me love this game. It gives you more insight into their person than whatever can be said with words or actions.

I hope I get to play chess against you too! Until now I have played recently against four people: Nina Jaretzke (she's beginning to understand the game and what she has to do in order to win), Natalia (a good friend from Russia; she almost kicked my ass at the game...damn, that was close!), Bennie (B. Schmid; my good old buddy from the mba who just lost a 3rd time), and Gerd Kloos (who kicked my ass at the Freibad!! Nice! I need a rematch for that one).
There is one person I would love to play with again is my cousin Min (Fermín Santillán). I taught him how to play many years ago and I am sure we have not played in like 7 years now. He has been the only person to beat me on like 50% of our games. Playing with him will have to wait for a little while.

Cheers to you all wherever you might be! I'm up for the challenge of playing anytime you want (as long as I'm free).

Check mate!

Héctor S.

PS: This is one of my favorite pics: Playing chess with Nina at the Main river

Hello Reutlingen!!!

What has happened since the end of February / beginning of March???? Well, what more can I say? Nick came along (March 11th or so) and moved into our floor (room 216).

Ever since then things have changed a lot. Most of you (especially Wurmhaus people) know that he's as crazy as a goat and a my best friend (in these Schwabenlands). So, I would really like to tell you all what we have been up to, but that would just take too much time and text!!!

March 11th: Irish Pub & SIB get together

March 13th: First 2nd floor dinner & clubbing @ Färberei

March 17th: Saint Patrick's Day @ the Irish Pub

March 21st: Second 2nd floor dinner and clubbing @ P&K

March 23rd - 25th: Trip to München with Tara and Amanda

March 26th: Lunch @ Belencita's place

March 28th: Another dancing night at Färberei

March 29th: Dinner @ Daniel's place

March 30th: Little visit to Frankfurt

March 31st to April 1st: BERLIN!!! BERLIN!!! BERLIN!!! Wir fahren nach BERLIN!

April 3rd: Dinner (again) at Daniel's and then Färberei (again)

April 25th: A normal day in Reutlingen

April 27th: Dinner @ Erika's!!!

April 28th: Frühlingsfest at Bad Canstatt, Stutgart

April 30th: Swedish night May 1st: THE FREIBAD! :)

May 4th: Crazy Friday May 7th: OUR STOCKWERK DINNER (2nd FLOOR)

May 9th: Costumes for Friday

May 11th: 60's & 70's 2nd FLOOR STOCKWERK PARTY

May 12th: The Bodensee Adventure!!!!

May 14th: Nick's & Erika's Bday!

May 16th: Another dinner party at Erika's

May 23rd: At the TDAW

Truly, there is no other way of telling you all how all this time has been. The pics will speak for themselves.

And now I must leave you.

Tomorrow morning we are leaving to Belgium (2 days), Holland (2 days), France (2 days) and Luxembourg (1 day). Nick and I are going with our friends Mihaela and Mariuca and we will have a blast and take lots and lots of pics (I guess there was no doubt about that). After that, on June 1st Nick, Belén and I will be going to ROCK AM RING!!!!!

In the meantime people, take care and see you back on June 4th!

Peace,

Héctor S.

PS: Let God sort them out
PS2: BELEN, no se te olvide ver lo de la renta de auto!

SKIING IN MELLAU, AUSTRIA with AL (Feb. 9 - 11, 2007)

Hey there people! Sorry for the absence, but this time my thesis got in the way and well, I just haven't taken the time to update my blog.
ANYway...

Lots of crazy stuff have been happening in these past two weeks!
This weekend just rocked! I went with some ex-colleagues from Automotive Lighting to Mellau, Austria.
We were a total of 15 people and we wanted to ski for two whole days.

I would love to go into details, but that would just bore the hell out of you.
So here is the short summary:

1. Arrived Friday night (Feb. 9th ) around 8pm at Hotel Sonne, left our stuff in the room and had dinner. Went to bed early.
   
   
2. Woke up at around 7am on Sat. (Feb. 10th), had breakfast at 8am and we all left at 9am. Got at the ski field around 9:30 am and rented the whole ski equipment: boots, skis and sticks.
   
   
3. FIRST SKI DAY: I fell down on the first curve in a really spectacular way...it hurt like a b...I heard something pop and I thought it was my knee...thank God it was only the ski popping off my right boot. Fell a total of 10 times this day. I went down mostly blue ski roads (easiest level) and went down a red lane (level hard). There are black lanes and I didn't try that at all. I wanted to come back home in one piece! Most of the day was sunny, beautiful, and I was able to see where I was skiing.
   
   
   
4. We skied til 4pm and then went back to the hotel. Enjoy a good hour in the sauna, swimming pool and whirl pool. Also played some ping pong til like 6.30pm. At around 7pm we had dinner and around 9pm went straight to bed with lots of aches all over.
   
   
5. SECOND SKI DAY: We did the same routes like on Saturday, but this time I fell a total of six times! The weather was a real pain in the @ss! It was snowing big time and it was very windy! You could hardly see where you were skiing. We skied til 4pm and then we took off back to home. Got back home around 8pm and tried to chill out.
   
   
   
6. Total cost: 118 € for hotel, 39 € for skis, boots and sticks; 65 € for a two day ski pass; one new ski pants for 50 €, ski gloves for 16 €.
   
   
7. Damage: knee hurts, back hurts, right leg responds slowly, right arm hurts, neck also hurts.

I highly recommend you people that for your very first skiing experience you actually have ALL the required ski gear.
Enjoy in the meantime...I'm really beat!
Hugs to you all!
Héctor

OKTOBERFEST 2006

October 3rd., 2006
Hackerzelt, München

Well, I totally forgot to write a small post about this years visit to the Oktoberfest 2006, the biggest drinking party on the living planet!
In almost 4 years that I've been in Germany, I have come every single year except for 2005 (2003 and 2004 were great experiences, but I either lost my dignity, my clothes, my backpack or my digital camera...that one really hurt).
So, I took 2005 as a little break and swore to come back in 2006.

I don't want to say much about the whole experience. I'll let the pictures do the talking. In any case, I just want to thank one of my best old friends (once upon a time she was THE ENEMY). Her name is Maike Mei-lin Wengel, a.k.a. Mei.

Mei & Hector

She was very sweet to reserve a table for like 15 of her closest friends in the Hackerzelt

(the front of the Hackerzelt)

and we had a blast from around 5pm until like...hmm...11pm, yeah, that's what I remember.
There are over 100 pictures of this awesome drinking binge, but no worries, this time I didn't lose a thing...not that I know of ;)

Mei, you are the best!!! To all the fine ladies that were there: you girls just rocked the place!
To all the guys who were there: PROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOST!
I'm already looking forward to Oktoberfest 2007!!

Here are a collage of the pics!

For more pictures visit: http://groups.msn.com/FortheSiths/oktoberfest2006.msnw?Page=1

Prost!

Héctor S.
aka Milo or Mr. Turi

Buchmesse Frankfurt 2006

Hey everyone,

well, after a month of a pause I have to post something. Well, to keep thing interesting for you all, here's a picture from the "Buchmesse" or the International Trade Fair of Books in Frankfurt, Germany. This is one of the biggest trade fairs of its kind for the industry.

From a Korean author: Kung Fu, Meditation & Sex! (I can truly train like this all the time!)

I went there on Sat. the 7th of Octuber with my friends Nina and Paco. It was Paco's b-day on Sunday, so we also had a small b-day party for him. Btw girls, he turned 25 and he's still single.

Paco and "Die Maus", his favorite German cartoon (very educational)

Nina and "Die Maus"; she also likes the cartoon :P

One more thing: we celebrated Eva's belated (a friend and colleague from university from Nina) b-day with a brunch on Sunday morning. So here's also a pic with all the fine ppl that went to the brunch. Twas a great lunch/brunch! Thanks Eva!

From left to right: Christine, Nadja, Nina, Marion, Katja, Martin, bf from Katja (sorry, forgot his name), Héctor and Eva.

Cheers to you all and hope to know from you all.
Have a nice start of the week!

Milo in Reutlingen

Besos de mi amiga "open mind" Kay desde México!

From Germany to Canada, Switzerland, and Russia

Hello everyone!

Sorry for not writing more since the first day in Toronto. I will keep this short because I want to write everything about my trip to Canada.
So just that you have an idea of what happened at what time this can help you.

1) I was in Canada from August 8th until August 24th, 2006. Arrived in Germany on the 25th of August in the morning, went to Frankfurt and took a small brake.

2) I went to Lausanne/Geneve, Switzerland on the same day August 25th (during the evening) and came back to Germany on Sunday night.

3) Stayed ONE day in Germany, to be exact in Bonn and Frankfurt.

4) I went to Moscow, Russia for four days, from August 29th until September 1st, 2006. I was there because of business/work reasons.

So I promise to write all about that in like 4 parts, ok? The trip to Canada will be a very long blog, so I'm giving you a fair warning.

Cheers to you all!

Hector S.
a.k.a. Milo

First day in Toronto (August 8th, 2006)

Hi everyone,

well, I'm finally once again in the city of Toronto where I spent my three years of high-school back in the years of 1995-1997.
Well, to make things short, Holly picked Nina and me at the airport on Tuesday the 8th of August. We went to her place and started to plan Nina's trip up North. That whole story is for another day to tell by another person. ;)

However, on the following day I woke up at 7am and went to a diner called "The Mars Diner". Here is a picture of what I ordered for breakfast (typical Canadian)


That was one of the best breakfast I have ever had! Keep in mind that I haven't been to Toronto in over six years now. So basically what I had was the "Grand Mars Slam" breakfast that included toast (with butter, which I forgot to ask to tell the waitress not to put on), scrambled eggs, bacon and potatoes. At the bottom I had two pancakes later on served with maple syrup! Mmmmmm....
The diner is a little bit up north from the intersection of Younge St. and Englington St.
This is what it looks like --->After that beautiful fat breakfast, I made my way to Davisville Station. My goal was to reach the "Davisville Health Club" which my best friend (like a brother to me) Alex Gray owns.
He also has a martial arts school at his health club (he is a kung fu master) and has been training kung fu over 20 years or so. In any case, I went to school with him back in high-school and we have always been in touch.
So this is Alex for you people --->

After hanging out with Alex most of the day [working at the front desk for him, then going for lunch with his lovely mom (she looks so much younger than what I remember!)] I headed downtown in order to meet with Noor. Noor is the wife of another of my best friends called Christopher (Chris for short). I am staying right now at their place at Eglinton East 960, Apt. 7.


Well, I met Noor yesterday for the very first time and I think she is a lovely woman and that Chris is a lucky man. This is Noor by the way:

And before I met Noor, I went to get a slice of pizza from "Pizza Pizza". Hadn't gone there in six years and I just had to have a slice. So I go in, order a combo slice and meet a Mexican woman called Angelica Guzman. We didn't know each other, but we talked as if we knew each other for the longest time. So that was really awesome. She is married to a Canadian and lives in Toronto. However, they might move down to Mexico. We shall see how that works out for them.
Well, to keep the story going on, I met her at her work at Bay St. 777 (right at College St. and Bay St.) and we went for coffee and she handed me her keys to the apartment.

So, after 15 min she went back to work unwillingly and then my bro Mike Guerra came over to see me at Tim Horton's (where we were drinking our coffee). Like Alex, Mike is a really cool guy, they trained together kung fu and are true killing machines with a good conscious (thank the Lord!). So I spent the next three hours (from 6-9pm) with Mike talking about our lives in these past six years and it was really nice to see that he has grown up a lot, matured and still a nice guy. Unforts, I didn't take a picture of him cuz I was just a bit too tired by then.
What was really cool from seeing him again is that we went to the gym where he works and we worked out for a bit doing some kicks and punches. That was a lot of fun. Oh, I also met his girlfriend Sofia, a lovely girl and I can see why he likes her. I promise I will put on my next post a picture of those two.

Well, after saying my good byes to Mike and Sofia, I met finally with my bro Andrew Robinson. He is the man why I came over to Toronto: he is getting married with the woman of his life, that is Ada. I haven't met Ada and I'm really excited on seeing her and getting to know her.
Well, Andrew lives close to Front and Spadina Street. So from downtown I took the subway (also known as the TTC) from King to Union Station and then took the 510 tram to Front and Spadina. When I got off and made my way to his place I saw a really nice view of the following:

So, Andrew and I met on the street cuz he came down from his apartment (which currently is a fine mess) and we exchanged a huge hug. He is like family (as well) to me and six years not seeing each other is a long time. So, instead of going first to his place we went to the burrito mini restaurant and got us two steak burritos and pop, then headed over to his place and just catched up a bit with our lives. I could write some details, but then again, nothing you guys want to know of.
In any case, I stayed a little bit until midnight and then went back to Chris's place. Got home around 1am and fell asleep around 2am.

So that's it for now. I have more pictures of today, Thursday the 10th of August, but I shall show them later.

Cheers to you all!

Hector S.