Adiós, 2013!

 It is good practice to take a moment to look back at the year that is ending, with all the special events and beautiful sights that it had in store for us. It helps to give some perspective on the overall outcome of the year, and the serves as a reminder of all those unique moments that now are part of personal history, the movie of our lives. 2013 was a strange year for me, full of contrasts and unexpected twists. It brought difficult challenges and, above all, presented many opportunities to test my character and attitude towards life in general. However, those complications finally led me to take the first steps to become mentally strong and to persevere and keep pushing forward in the face of adversity, both qualities that I needed to develop and put into practice. I would not be on the way to become the person that I want to be without them. Still, that is not to say that this year was not full of wonderful times as well!  Here are some of my highlights: 

Places I traveled to...

Proud member of the EasyJet-set.

 Funnily enough, I felt like I didn’t get to travel that much this year; however, looking back at my 2013 photo archives I can see that is not entirely true! This is what my list of adventures looked like in the end:   

- AUSTRIAN ALPS -

 One of my favorite experiences of 2013 - and probably the most magical one - was skiing in the Austrian Alps. It was so inspiring and something I had never imagined I would end up doing! I wish I could do it more often. I love it when life has such amazing surprises in store. I wrote a blog post about the experience, which can be read here.  

The breathtaking view of the mountains at night, as seen from our hotel.

 

- SCOTLAND -

  

Some of my favorite places: Sharamanka Kinetic Theatre in Glasgow; beautiful buildings in Edinburgh; the rooftop of the National Gallery; the lighthouse point in the Black Isle.

 As much as I love to explore and soak in the beauty and culture of Glasgow and Edinburgh, my favorite part of the summer holidays was our week-long stay at Guitar Güero's hometown in the Highlands. Life there is so peaceful, surrounded by nature; there is plenty of fresh air and the most vivid colors to behold. 

Searching for chanterelle mushrooms in the forest.

 

Our quest along some Jurassic Park-esque descent among neverending fern fields.

 

Met some nice sniffy horses. I had never touched a horse before!

  

Enjoying the sunshine and fresh breeze of the Moray Firth. You can see dolphins there during high tide!

 

- LEIPZIG -  

 

The Church of St. Thomas where we listened to Benjamin Britten's War Réquiem; monumental buildings adorning the city in every corner; my feelings for Leipzig summarized; the Leipzig Christmas Market.

I visited Leipzig twice and fell in love with the city. Beautiful architecture (I haven't seen so many monumental buildings full of exquisite details since I visited Prague), charming coffee and tea houses, quirky stores, good food, rich culture and an air of tradition. And it's so close to Berlin! Next year I will go back for the Wave Gothic Treffen, as well as some more exploring.
 
 

Special events.

Despite being a bit more of an hermit during this year, I still managed to attend quite a few interesting events, visit some new and exciting places and discovered new favorite corners in the city!  

The Water Musik festival at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt; flying dragon during the performance of the amazing Shibusa Shiratzu Orchestra; Napoleonic soldiers walking down the street before the recreation of the battle of Leipzig; vernissage at the Stadtbatt Wedding, an abandoned pool complex now transformed into an alternative forum and club.

 

The Berliner Liste: One of the big art fairs during Berlin's art week, taking place in Kraftwerk Berlin, a former power plant now transformed into a deconstructed, monumental venue.

 

Mexicanity bursted out of me this year, so I decided to celebrated Day of the Dead in Berlin by making all the traditional elements myself and setting up an altar at home to commemorate my deceased loved ones and keep the tradition alive! You can read my series of articles (with lots of pictures!) on the topic here: Part I, Part II, Part III.

 

Visiting my Mexican hometown, Xalapa, to celebrate Christmas with my family; huge nativity scene complete with Egyptian pyramids and misty waterfall at my grandfather's neighborhood church; clay figurines sold at the market for the nativity scene; this is what the morning of the 25th looked like for me, Tropical Christmas!

 

 Achievements!

 For the first time ever, I actually managed to stick to most of my New Year's Resolutions for 2013! Not only that, but a couple of them - the ones regarding cooking and getting fit and developing healthier eating habits - surpassed my expectations by far, which was both surprising and exciting.
Also, I built a very eclectic and varied library of subjects that fascinate me and I am steadily making progress through it. Many of these books are completely changing my outlook on myself and the world, as well as opening my eyes to interesting and very enlightening new information. Keep posted, because I will be talking about some of them in the near future!
 

Lucifur and some new additions to my ever-growing book collection.

  

Healthier, cleaner eating has become part of my lifestyle!

  

I think 2013 will be remembered as "the year when I finally got fit", ha ha! Now daily exercise is part of my routine, and I like to keep it varied. One of my favorite ways of exercizing is TRX (suspensión training), it's very demanding but also very fun! I highly recommend it.

 During 2013 I met some really amazing, creative and interesting people; also, I managed to deepen my friendship with some of the friends that I don't see very often, to become more friendly with my colleagues and also got to spend some quality time with my dearest and closest friends.
Finally, one of the most exciting happenings of 2013 was getting accepted into a specialized school for Cancer research, which brought many exciting benefits: I gained an amazing scientific collaborator and got to know a whole new community of great scientists, as well as getting access to all sorts of fancy workshops, special high-level courses, and opportunities for travel. I am going to Israel by the end of January and I am thrilled about it!
 
 

Seasons in Berlin.

 Living in a country with cold weather comes with the reward of beautifully contrasting seasons –unlike in Mexico, where it’s only less-green-more-green, less-rain-more-rain and then three weeks in December where it gets cold enough so you can wear a jacket (a bit of an understatement!).
 In the end, 2013 was complex, but I can definitely say that it was a landmark year, with lots of lessons to be learned and opportunities for personal growth. I think my feelings for the upcoming 2014 are accurately expressed in Muse’s Butterflies and Hurricanes: Change everything you areAnd everything you wereYour number has been calledFights and battles have begunRevenge will surely comeYour hard times are ahead Best,
You've got to be the best
You've got to change the world
And use this chance to be heard
Your time is now.  Have a wonderful time enjoying the last moments of 2013, and I wish you all a stellar 2014! Let's make it great and worth remembering!  Cheers!