This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.
A very refreshing beer with a slightly citric, acidic taste and an unremarkable aroma.
Category Archives: in english
Note to self
Mole poblano doesn’t always work with foreigners.
At least not the first time…
6th Matchday: Atlante 0-3 Chivas
They played at Azteca Stadium as if they had actually read the complaints in the press about their previous match: they scored 2 goals in the first 8 minutes and a last one at the end of the first half. According to mediotiempo.com, the team played very intelligent team football.
I was waiting for the goals to be posted in YouTube (especially the first, which to my understanding was an overhead kick from a defender), but they haven’t been yet.
Update: the second and the third goals linked, the first below.
Attached to people, not places
My fiancée commented once that I was probably more “international” than she was (if there is such a thing) even though she has lived in 3 other countries besides her own, and in my case it’s one less. I wouldn’t mind moving from country to country that much, as long as the job is interesting, the pay and the quality of life are good and we are together (which of course entails her filling her requirements list as well). However, she referred to a valid point: I’m not attached to the places themselves anymore, but to the people in them. A place is just nature, buildings and maybe a nice view or two, but the people I know (and the people I love) are really what is important.
One example are my feelings to the place where I was born. Even though I consider myself to be healthily nationalistic I don’t have an urge to go back and settle there, but just to see my family and friends. The same is the case with Finland. I’m very grateful for my experiences there, but it’s a place as good as any, what is important are the friends and family there. Belgium is the same story: if it fills the criteria detailed in the first paragraph I’d stay after my studies are finished, otherwise I’m willing to search for something somewhere else.
The problem with freedom, as a friend says is that “you don’t know what to do with it”. I hope that’s not my case.
Belgian Beer Review: Belle-Vue Gueuze
This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.
Another Belle-Vue beer, this is a Gueuze Lambic beer, with a very nice amber colour, and a sweet and sour taste. Even though Gueuze beers are originally from the Brussels region, the flavour reminded me of a Michelada (a Mexican beer prepared with lemon and salt).
Belgian Beer Review: Leffe 9°
This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.
Another in the Leffe abbey beer family, this beer has the same nice amber colour and a very similar taste to its siblings, but more of a punch at 9% alcoholic content. Not a beer to be drunk if you’re going to be on a long drinking night, but more of a beer to sit down and taste.
Reinventing myself
The first time I had to reinvent myself was when I entered high school. After a junior high of mostly pretty lousy experiences I had decided that it was time for something else. There I became much more social, and formed many friendships I still preserve to this day.
Later on, I moved to Finland to study engineering. That was reinvention number two: from a upper middle class hijo de papi to an immigrant student in a country far away, with different people and a new language. That went quite well, I’d say. During my studies I was fortunate enough to get a job.
While working, and especially after I graduated, I had to become a business person. That was my third reinvention, as at work I usually was working with people with whom probably initially I didn’t share very much, as they were in a different stage in life than I was. However, that went very well and I still keep in contact with many of them, even after my latest reivention.
This last one was coming back to study again, again in a different country (Belgium this time). After 3 years, I came back to writing papers, student parties and being with people my age. So far, so good, I am learning a lot, get along with everybody and have found some new interests and things I didn’t know.
After this, I don’t know what will happen. I know I need to get a new job (there are some clues on that one) and I will get married. That will be the next reinvention.
As the song goes: every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. 
Belgian Beer Review: Hoegaarden
This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.
My favourite witbier/bière blanche/weissbier. Made from wheat, has a very clear colour and a very refreshing taste with a touch of lemon. Excellent for a summer day.
Hope you like the change in picture format.
Closing Time: High school memories
On a day like this when I’m meditating about life, the universe and everything, my iPod had the nerve to play Closing Time by Semisonic.
The lyrics are especially touching given what happened afterwards. Phrases such as “time for you to go out, go out into the world”, “time for you to go back to the places you will be from” and “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end” are as relevant to my life now as they were back then even though I have more experience now.
Every time I hear this song memories come back like a torrent. My high school friends, my feelings at the time, the Model United Nations we were involved in, the work that went into it and the closing ceremony of the last one I was part of, exams, classes, parties, crushes, relationships created, broken and repaired, trips, and the expectancy of entering university and the work that went into trying it in another country.
With this song and Time of your life by Green Day I can just sit down and replay all those moments in my mind.
I can’t believe it’s been 8 years since I graduated. A lot has happened since then. I reinvented myself and the experience gave me the wings I needed to try something else.
¡Un abrazo a todos ustedes, sin importar donde estén!
Belgian Beer Review: Kwak
This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.
Interesting beer with a funny name and an unconventional taste. Very nice amber colour, the taste has some frutal notes but is also very strong in the back of the mouth, so I frankly lack the vocabulary to describe it. Was glad I tried it, but it is not one of my favourites, as I prefer a more orthodox palate.