Laura in Brussels

By Paulo Coelho

GENERAL PROVISIONS:

A] Considering that it’s absolutely correct the saying that states that “all is fair in love and war”;

B] Considering that in war we have the Geneva Convention, adopted in August 22nd of 1864, that determines the fate of the wounded in battlefields whereas there is no agreement that was promulgated until this day that deals with the wounded of love, who are much more populous;

IT IS HEREBY DECLARED THAT:

ART. 1 – All lovers, male or female, are now being notified that love, besides being a blessing, is also something very dangerous, unpredictable and able to cause serious damages. Consequently the one who decides to love has to know that his body and soul are exposed to many types of wounds and will not be able to blame the partner in any moment, since the risk is equal to both.

ART. 2- Once a lost arrow from the bow of Cupid hits a person, that person has to immediately ask the archer to dart another arrow in the opposite direction, so that one will not fall prey to the wound famously known as “non-reciprocal love”. In case Cupid refuses such act, the Agreement here promulgated demands that the wounded immediately retrieves the arrow from his heart and throw it in the bin.

Note:In order to achieve this effect, the wounded has to avoid phone calls, internet messages, flower deliveries, or any other act of seduction, since these acts may achieve short term results, but are inevitably erased by time. The convention declares that the wounded has to quickly seek the company of other people in order to control the obsessive thought “it’s still worth to fight for this person”.

ART. 3 – In case the wound comes from third parties, meaning, the loved one is interested in someone else who was not expected in the pre-established plans, it is hereby expressly forbidden any act of revenge. In this case, it is permitted the profuse use of tears, some punches on the wall or pillow, talks with friends where the wounded can freely insult the ex-partner, allege his complete lack of good-taste, but refraining to lessen the partner’s honor.

NOTE: The agreement determines that art. 2 can also be applied: the wounded may seek the company of other people, preferably in places where the partner does not dwell.

ART. 4 – In case of light wounds, hereby classified as small betrayals, fulminating passions that do not last long, transitory sexual disinterest or dysfunction, one has to quickly and abundantly apply a medicine called Forgiveness. Once this medicine applied, one must never look back and the subject must be completely forgotten, never being mentioned as an argument in eventual fights or moments of wrath.

ART. 5 – In the case of definitive wounds, also called “brake-ups”, the only medicine capable of truly healing one’s heart is Time. It’s pointless and ineffective to find consolation with fortune-tellers (that will always allege that the lost love will return), romantic books (in which the endings are always happy ones), TV soap operas or other similar things. One has to suffer with intensity, completely avoiding the use of drugs, painkillers, prayers. Alcohol is only allowed in moderation, never surpassing more than two glasses of wine per day.

FINAL PROVISION: the wounded of love, contrary to the wounded of armed conflicts, are neither victims nor torturers. They have chosen something that is part of life and therefore they have to face the agony and the ecstasy of their choice.

And for those that were never wounded by love, they will never be able to say: “I lived”. Because they haven’t.

Reference: http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2007/09/25/the-wounded-by-love-agreement/print/

Finally, finally I can enjoy event that is directly connected to communication and PR - conference on EP election communication strategy! Hopefully I will get my access badge for Parliament today!

Fair and even harsh presentation of life and love... and deepest emotions of people.





I found these movies last night... simple, minimal, but at the same time - deep enough to greatly impress you, excite your feelings and stick in your mind for a long time.

P.S.

My friends, nothing similar has happened to me lately. Don't worry... I was just really touched by the way how these short films were made. For sure everyone has experienced something similar at least once, everyone has felt like this time after time. Well, at least I have...

Hey, first day after coming back from Berlin has ended. And I am so happy that I will be able to sleep normally this nigh, (yesterday’s night was o.k. as well, but after spending whole day in the train in a way to Brussels, it just wasn’t enough).

Going to Berlin brought back memories from Turkey. I know, that it seems impossible and totally illogical to compare Turkey with trip to Germany, but I felt like that. Why? Because we traveled there with a bus and it was night when we departed… and all night we spent in the bus tossing about and trying to find most comfortable position for sleep, saying “Guten Morgen” to Berlin in the early morning. That’s how we used to travel all around Turkey with Iluta long time ago. And that’s why my stiff back and headache next morning brought a smile in my face rather than a bad mood.

That's how it looked...

Probably you wonder - what I was doing in Berlin... Well, I spent three nice days in International JEF’s seminar having discussions and learning new things about campaigning and especially political campaigning together with young people from all around Europe (well, majority were Germans, but still it was quite international). At first I was a bit annoyed and didn’t feel like it was my cup of tea (to tell the truth – it’s still not ) – being between all those politically educated and bright people who are really interested in the whole things happening at the political backstage. Discussions about political parties, coming EP* elections and potential promotion of them in delegates’ home countries, political jokes… it’s hard for me, but with each moment it becomes more and more interesting to be in this environment and I do not feel so confused anymore.

But when it comes to communication, no matter whether it is a fuel company or political NGO, I feel that I know what to do and how the things should be done. During the conference, right after theoretical part of the Campaigning workshop, we had to make our own campaign and as a result we had to organize street action to inform people about coming EP elections. We had just 90 minutes to come up with ideas about actions, slogans, posters, banners, branding of our team, etc. And it was so hard to convince my group’s colleagues, that we can’t put just some meaningless shouts on the leaflets and there should be content as well and that we should develop just one message. Finally I got a person – Swiss guy Christian, who held the same view, and people agreed that there should be content. And we both spent most of the time given to us, putting down arguments why should people go and vote in elections of European Parliament on 7th of June, 2009.

And after that, we went in streets… approaching people (mainly tourists) near the Branderburg gate, informing them about the elections and giving them special “magic wands” for their wishes to come true after voting in EP elections. (It’s a pity that I do not have any photos). We also asked people to write down their wishes on a special wall and people from Italy, Finland, Germany, Berlin, Spain and even Israel put down their wishes for more peaceful and friendly Europe and many more. And it was fun!

If you think that I spent all my weekends improving my knowledge about campaigning and giving magic wands for the people passing by, then you are wrong. I was partying as well… all the delegates having crazy party together with lots of dancing in pretty interesting place (it looked like unattended ex-luxury place with huge cracked mirrors on the walls and wooded carvings on the ceiling).

And Berlin itself is nice (but I didn’t fall in love with it)… huge and calm, with no rush on the streets and so damn cheap that it’s hard to keep your wallet in the bag. It’s worth visiting it again! Definitely! And I was lucky to have the greatest guide ever – Julia – German EVSer of JEF Europe.

Way back was more comfortable, as we used train and here they are so cool and fast (more that 150 km/h – I wonder, how long would it take from Saulkrasti to Riga ), that it was a pleasure to spend those 7 hours in a way, coming back to Berlin in a first class carriage.

P.S.

And one of the best moments of the trip was 30 minutes in Köln, when we went to see city just a bit between changing our trains. As soon as we get out of the station, unexpectedly we had to throw back our heads to see magnificent Köln’s Dom. That was breathtaking! And discovering that there is a Mass happening when entering this gothic Dom and having just some minutes in this saint and peaceful place before running back to the next train to our Brussels was enough, to get warm smile in our faces.

*EP - European Parliament [/FONT][/ALIGN]

I am not superstitious and believe that this day has no negative meaning, and actually I think it is quite lucky for me. Finally I have TYP03 web-management system training today and hopefully I will be able to manage project’s website after the training – doesn’t it show that it’s quite a nice day?

Actually believing that there is one certain day that can bring you bad luck is so silly… Yesterday I discussed it with my flat mates and we discovered that in our countries these days are different. If in Latvia people would think of Friday 13th as a day bringing bad luck, then in Spain it’s Tuesday 13th, but in Italy it is Friday 17th. I am not informed about Belgian superstitions, but the facts written above prove, that there is NO day that can bring you bad luck! Enjoy!

Yesterday we had common dinner at our house – Italian pasta, Spanish tortilla, Swedish salads, Latvian black bread with fruits and "Laima's" chocolate, and wine… Latvian and German manpower to clean all the mess after the dinner as we didn’t cook anything… It was nice to have dinner together… so I hope it wasn’t the last time we had it. Actually this dinner was planned to be as a competition between our house and our neighbors, but they didn’t show up

I am looking forward to have great weekend and wish the same for you!

P.S. I found some explanations for the perception of different days in different cultures; if you are interested, here you are...

“In Roman numerals, the number 17 spells out XVII, but an anagram of those letters reads "VIXI," which in Latin means "I lived" or -- less literally -- "I'm dead." This convoluted play on numbers and words, coupled with the fact that Friday is believed to have been the day of Jesus’ Passion, gave birth to the superstition”. More here

“The negative connotations that are attributed to Tuesday (Martes in Spanish) the 13th have no scientific nor religious bases, and one should be clear it is based strictly on myth.” Marte [Mars], according to Greek mythology, is the God of war, for which the day Tuesday is controlled by the red planet, that of destruction, blood, and violence. Also, the legend says that a Tuesday the 13th produced the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel.” More here
More about Friday the 13th

Somehow I postpone all my entries to the next day, although I try to push myself to do it right after coming home from work. Hmm, lazy me! And it feels easier for me to wake up earlier in the morning than go to sleep a bit later after updating my blog or doing something else. Really strange, considering that just a month ago I could sleep till midday…

So back to yesterday now! Yesterday morning started normally. I woke up, had my breakfast… and finally made an effort to make a meal for the lunch time, so I could take it with me to the work…Went to work and continued my research on EU policies in terms of unemployment… Just before lunch time director of the office informed me that we are going to have lunch at European Parliament cafeteria that day, because we need to meet an intern who is working in Parliament and is going to work in our office partly as well. Now you probably think that this entry tells about my first visit of European Parliament. Well, yes... But it wouldn’t be me, if everything goes smooth… and it didn't!

To enter the Parliament I had to have ID card or a passport with me, but thinking that it is safer to leave it at home, I didn’t have it with me. So I had to do my best and get back to home to take my passport and do it as fast as possible, as meeting had been arranged already. I run home, got to my 4th floor, grab my passport and was in a way back to office again. Mana – the office director - was waiting me on the corner near the office already, so I didn’t need to go all the way to the office (well those were just few meters before the office, but being so out of breathe it seemed quite a long distance for me).

Finally I was in a way to Parliament that appeared to be just around the corner and took only some 2-3 minutes to get there. Due to the passport adventure and realization that the “Big important building” is so nearby, I didn’t have time to get excited about visiting it, although I had thought my first time there would be something “wow”. Just before entering the building I had a quick look to Latvian flag near the entrance… and we went inside… finally I had time to get my breath back as we had to fill visitation form and wait to get registered and put in the database and meet the guy with whom we had the meeting. And after a while the guy came – dressed in jeans and simple sweater, and he rather looked like a visitor of a football match on the weekend, not an employee of European Parliament.

For me and the other trainee – German girl Julia – registration was a bit longer as we had to get entrance badge with our photo on it. Probably you can imagine, that after my little sport activity to get identification document, I wasn’t in my best shape and mood for taking photos… So in the end I got my entrance badge with a photo that should be stored in a dark place where nobody sees it (and be sure it will be stored in the dark place… till my next visit of Parliament)! So funny and stupid face expression!!! Uff…

Tortellini with meat and Parmesan on a plate with an emblem of European Parliament, huge dining – hall and French spoken all around… After the lunch that finally wasn’t so official, as I thought before it would, we had a quick tour in the corridors of Parliament passing by places often seen only in TV…

Several times while being in the Parliament, I was asking myself (well, I do it not only in the Parliament) – what exactly I am doing here and why I need to be here. What is my way? And where I am going... Because in these last years direction of my life has changed so many times and in such unexpected ways that I can’t forecast what I will experience next. Certainly being here in Brussels, working on political campaign and having lunch in European Parliament would never been on my mind as a part of my strange, but damn interesting life.