and was that all?

To try to resume these 11 months of trip is like to try to reduce an enormous multicolored fireworks in the minuscule cartridge that was containing it a few moments ago.

The time expanded travelling, up to the point of turning these 11meses of Gregorian calendar in years of learning for the time of the soul; time more fecund than the best of the universities; time teaching more than any sermon preached from the altars that try to control our minds; religious altars or altars in the offices of the skyscrapers; they try to lead us all in the same direction. This direction that limits the human freedom; that is not allowing us to discover the best of each of us; which sleeps us if we don’t pay attention and that it makes that the sand of our life’s clock consumes without we realize.

South America was, it is and it will be an incredible continent and now we have the exciting task of writing a book about this trip.

South America connected us with the mother earth, that one that we don’t stop damaging and of which every time we feel more foreign in our cities of concrete, full of technology that instead of approaching us makes us strangers.

South America sent to us many signs, as the liana of ayahuasca, this cord that connected us to the rhythm of drums and chamanistic singings with our inside world and with the universe, that after all end up by being one; or so many and so many dogs, cats or monkeys that without any invitation came close to us, perhaps attracted by the good energy; maybe just to share a small piece of the existence (with fleas or without them); or so so many people who taught us that giving is better that accumulating and how beautiful is to share.

This trip took us from the simple and hard conditions of life in little Andean towns, where the world of the people reduces to few km around, up to metropolis as Buenos Aires and Santiago, where these gigantic magnets of population can assemble the best and the worst. The cities are a source of art, of movement, of change, of resistance and at the same time of negligence, of ‘villas miseria’, of broken lives, of frustration for being forced to live in a tiny piece of concrete.

How amazing it was to decide to do give us this present; to save to travel for almost one year where we didn’t have the obligation to work. Where our soul, faithful partner of our body, was moving itself for this interminable continent to the sound of the music that were singing the others; without plans, without schedules; often without beds of shiny white sheets but many others in the best hotel of the world, that one of thousand stars that we were seeing from our tent. Small budget prevented us from coming to many places that all the guides were saying we "had" to visit. But this was what enriched our trip; the spontaneity, not knowing often where we would sleep or which would be our following step; that allowed us always to discover wonderful people and special places. How good is to flow; or for example to leave one year without cellular. And not to wait for anything, and to learn that everything is for something and that everything, it doesn’t matter how bad is it, can end up by teaching us something.

Undoubtedly, the most difficult trip has been the trip between us, Cesc and Aneta, Aneta and Cesc; we have put to test our relation and have burned ourselves several times; hoping that the return should pacify us a little; dreaming to fulfill so many other projects together.

So many people have opened to us the doors of their house, have seen us laughing or crying; plethoric of energy or exhausted; elegant to dance tango or full of dust. Deeply we want to be grateful to them for this returned smile; this walk along your favorite places; this shoulder where to cry; this bed where to rest; this warm food prepared with love in this shared table where we have felt like at home; these thousands of km in the cabin of a truck, advancing in infinite highways; this stop in the highway to prove a few sweets or to contemplate the stars of the desert; this desire to show us the Amazon forest as if it was the garden of your house, or the Colombian coffee plantations that feed you, or the educations to make an orchard grow.

We wish the ocean that separates could become smaller because one of the hardest things of this trip was to know great persons and then to say good-bye; the people that we would love having closer in our life; we hope that some of you could come to visit us since the doors of our house will be always, always opened hoping to receive you. Thanks to you we have always found the power to continue this trip, where the human encounter has been the greatest

This blog has been for us our way of sharing our trip, our small steps; and it began as something small, and it makes us happy every time we read your comments; or to see how someone changed a bit his way of travelling thanks to reading us; or the Polish girl who discovered us by chance and who now looks for the books that we read; or whenever there comes to us a message of this police officer of Peru follower of our blog, or Luis of Mexico, that we meet only at the distance and who answers us with beautiful poems and reflections; this blog stopped long time ago to be something to satisfy our ego; it turned into something prettier, something that affects a bit to all of us, since we all are brothers.

And I remember a mute child that we met in a small Andean village, like a small animal, touching us to verify what we were made of. And with sadness also we saw many computers, heaped in dark cibers, with so many zombie-children shooting, shouting and gaining impossible wars in the video games, this cancer that prevents us from thinking, which takes us to another reality to forget ours.

The trip took us to a humble house of an indigenous family in Equator, where we shared boiled potatoes and sweet corn on the floor, without needing anything more; and it took us also to the luxury of Buenos Aires, where ‘asados’ and great wine clouded our senses.

As much as we have, as much as we want. And the big problem of the world is the ego, which wants more and more material things and that takes people to the power, and to the abuse of authority; and to the wars, the extortions, the profuse bleeding of distant countries for the benefit of the proper one.

On the other hand, if we learn to live with less (materially) then we can realize the things that really matter; then we will be able to live with the objects to our service, instead of being slaves of so many contracts, credit cards, video games, televisions and technological gadgets.

How good could be that the 'lucky ones' to live in the so-called ‘first world’ we would more conscious that our 'welfare state' is based on the exploitation of other countries and that every time we have more products of the whole world in the shelves of our supermarkets while more and more people of the world are forced to leave their small ancestral pieces of land and forced to go to live to infinite cities of 10 or 20 million inhabitants.

Something that also we learned is that each one in this world has his own way; and that to understand that is the way to the respect, the way to eliminate the racism; the way to carefully listen to the other.

Many have not even the opportunity to glimpse his way, buried under the misery, the miserable work conditions and the impossibility to receive an education and a quality culture; braking their backs day by day to bring home a bit of rice or potatoes.

But in the other side of the world we are those that we have of everything; where some of them work tirelessly then to waste the money, to buy his second or third car, or the last cellular or the sneakers that come for the new period. And to that is added the noise of the city, of the works, the music of the ipod that doesn’t stop, to help us to forget ourselves. Some so much and others so few

Also we want to remember those who went away and to those who came. There went away the father of Silvia and Doris, in Trujillo and the mom of our friend Bernie, which, with his inexhaustible energy, that we celebrate that night in Barcelona. And came to this world small Pawel, nephew of Aneta; and small Lorenzo, in Chile, and Paola's kid, who absorbed surely great knowledge in the belly of his mom, traveler through South America; and perhaps the boy or girl of Cris and Fermín, of whom we still have no news. And we wait also anxious for the 4th nephew of Aneta and for Gabriel, who will be born soon in Santiago.

I close the eyes and I’m on board of a mototaxi on the Peruvian jungle; enjoying as children at full speed, seeing the people pass and forgetting the mosquitoes for a little bit.

I close them again and I am in Colombia, on top of a cold mountain, lying next to the fire, travelling between my mind and the reality, accompanied of the singings and drums of our ‘chamán’

And suddenly I am in Ecuador, celebrating the summer arrival, Inti Raymi, in an Andean little town, dancing in circle to rhythm of the ‘quena’ (Andean flute) and the chichi (Andean alcohol).

Now I am in Bolivia; in a little town without drinkable water; knelt down in the side of the river, extracting water with Anne and Alex and with the few children of our family there; and then bringing it back home.

I open them, I close them and we are in Argentina, in Vélez’ stadium, jumping and singing with the supporters, who don’t stop cheering his team up.

And now in Chile lying on the Atacama desert, observing the stars shining amazingly.

I close them for last time

and I am already at home,

to see my father, my mother

and soon I will see my sister and my friends;

and also soon Aneta will fly to Poland to see theirs …

big hug
the best wishes
Aneta and Francesc