Witchcraft, mythology, analysis of technology + society and whatever weird interest I happen to pick up.
Also, I started it because I wanted to write down some of my Berlin experiences in a satire-ish format, which are great for analysis of some of the themes above.
Also, after a year of living a normal life in Mexico again and another of being locked up due to a global pandemic, new experiences worth talking about publicly have not been as abundant.
But Whyyyyy Berlin?
As soon as I graduated, I left my hometown. I had wanted to go to Germany for so long and experience living there, but lots of people asked me why I picked Berlin since I’m not a party person, I’m not into drugs nor do I really like to hook up with strangers much and the city is kinda famous for this.
To be honest, I chose Berlin because I wanted to get to know my German roots up close and live that type of lifestyle; my family is a conglomerate of WW2 & Spanish civil war refugees on both sides.
I had to go studying or working for my parents to help with finances, and the schools I was interested in were in Munich and Berlin. Berlin was less expensive and more artistic than Munich, but it was mostly a calculated leap of faith. I didn’t even know what the neighborhood I landed on was like, but I was very surprised it smelt like plants and Connecticut in my childhood’s summers rather than the destroyed city I encountered briefly in 2002.
A bit of context: as a privileged white person in Mexico City, the kind of stuff you have access to (safely) is very limited, but it’s what most people like and find respectable, which is completely fine, but not satisfying for everyone. Most people in this population segment tend to live in a little bubble forever, which is not for everyone either.
On a darker side, a considerable portion of this population thinks making people who work at the supermarket pay for their chocolate bar due to a tiny placing mistake is clever; probably because they are out of touch with other people’s reality. I wasn’t satisfied with only knowing this type of environment up close and I saw little potential for growth in it.
And the question Berlin might ask me, if it was a person like the aforementioned supermarket patron is:
Berlin is kind of a double edged sword: there is a lot of freedom and nobody cares what you do, like or wear. So it’s great for getting to know yourself and what you want.
On the other hand, if at some point you and your bad decisions happen to be laying face down on the pavement and snow is slowly covering you, nobody cares either.
Metaphorically, of course, there is actually a bus that collects people in that situation, but you know what I mean.
Mostly, for me, living in Berlin meant growing up and finding my own person, my own rules and tastes, as well as learning to live on my own, and most important of all, that I could absolutely do it.
Also, expansion of my world view and meeting types of people I’d never have met had I stayed in my hometown. I met the type of people I want to share life with and the ones that, uh, the opposite. Same for career stuff and living situation.
I left Berlin in November 2018 but there is no day I don’t think about it or don’t miss it despite all of the negative aspects I got to know up close. Hey, at least it’s not some ex!!
So yeah, here is a blog with a combo of Berlin stories, sociology, psychology, witchcraft, tarot, astrology, mythology and whatever other random stuff I come up with. The tech and design blog is somewhere else on the Internet.
