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.
Kokeilin Sanoman vaalikonetta niinkuin olisin Suomen kansalainen, ja asuisin vielä Helsingissä. Tulokset yllättivät minua vähän.
Ensimmäinen ehdokas jonka olisin valinnut oli Arto Bryggare (Sdp), toinen oli Ben Zyskowicz (Kok) ja kolmas oli Tuomas Nurmela (Kok). Suurin yllätys oli, että puolueiden ehdokkaiden keskimääräinen sopivuus -osassa löysin ehdokkaan nimeltä Marijan Basic, joka on itsenäinen ehdokas joka on syntynyt Kroatiassa mutta asunut Suomessa jo pitkään.
Katsotaan miten menee. Toivottavasti Perussuomalaiset eivät saa paljon äänestystä, en haluaa toista Tony Halmettä eduskuntaan. Joka tapauksessa, en voi äänestää koska en ole kansalainen.
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. 
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.
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!
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.
Disgusting game from Chivas last Tuesday. We lost 2-1 in Trinidad, the team thought that just by being present they’d win. Let’s see how they play in the return leg at Jalisco stadium.
The winner of the CCC will qualify to the World Club Cup in Japan in December, so that’s why it’s important that they win the tournament.
This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.
Leffe Blonde is another of the Leffe abbey beer family. With a clear colour and a full flavour, it is surprisingly easy on the palate. For clear Belgian beers, it is one of my favourites.
Si hay algo que siempre me ha sorprendido y que no cuadra con mi visión del mundo es el machismo. Hablando al respecto sobre eso varias amigas mexicanas que viven por acá, me dí cuenta mucho mejor de cuál es el impacto de estas actitudes sobre la vida de las mujeres.
El haber vivido tantos años en una sociedad tan igualitaria como la finlandesa me dió una perspectiva muy diferente de las relaciones entre miembros de diferente sexo que la que tienen muchas personas en México, además de que tuve la fortuna de haber crecido en un hogar con mujeres fuertes, de esas que no se dejan. Hoy por hoy, en mi casa con mi mujer los dos lavamos, los dos cocinamos, los dos atendemos a las visitas y los dos tenemos una carrera (aunque curiosamente, los dos estamos estudiando).
Hablando con un amigo sobre las políticas sociales vigentes en Finlandia, donde además de ausencias de maternidad largas existe una ausencia de paternidad éste me respondió “¿Y tú para qué la querrías? ¡Si la que iría a parir es ella!”. En eso obviamente estamos totalmente de acuerdo, pero si uno también ayuda a hacer al niño también tiene que ayudar a cuidarlo. Tuve la fortuna de crecer en un hogar en el que tanto mi madre como mi padre se ocupaban de mí (en horarios diferentes por cuestiones laborales), y me da pena ver muchas familias en las que el padre de familia se desentiende tanto de las labores de casa y de los hijos. ¿O qué (le diría yo) tú crees que tu esposa no se cansa después de trabajar?
Otra cuestión que ha captado mi atención es que esta actitud no sólo es preponderante entre los hombres, sino que muchas mujeres mexicanas crecen con la idea de que van a ser de una u otra manera menos, de que un buen hombre tiene que ser bastante macho, y de que los roles van a ser tan fijos como eternos. Los casos de mujeres maltratadas son los más extremos, pero esto se manifiesta de múltiples otras maneras, como el típico de que en una salida el hombre es el que tiene que pagar.
Lo bueno es que la sociedad está cambiando. Con más mujeres profesionistas integrándose al mercado laboral (y en algunos, todavía muy contados casos, ganando mejor que los hombres), las demandas del sexo femenino están cambiando, y así también tendrá que cambiar la oferta masculina. O al menos, eso espero.
Y que conste que las feministas extremas también me chocan. Igualdad de géneros sí, extremismo porque sí no.
This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.
A clear pilsner beer, Maes has a light taste with a slightly bitter aftertaste. It is one of the most popular beers in Belgium after Jupiler. Another every day and everyman’s beer, but actually I preferred Jupiler because it feels a little bit lighter.
