Today has been a tough day at work and I'm not done yet. Being a manager is not easy when you need to solve a conflict between different cultures and opposite ways of working. Definitely this is a learning experience that hopefully could be translated to other aspects of my life. Did I ever mention that I wanted to be a politician? Well, I don’t have the necessary skills.

Last night I bought my ticket to Rome. I will be there in October. I’m planning to visit Natalia and then travel to Florence, where my aunt Pili lives. She moved there at 18, after falling in love with an Italian leftist. As a kid I saw her and my cousin Stefania once a year during summer vacation, and was always excited to learn about their different way of living (and sense of style). I haven’t seen Pili for more than 16 years. For all I’ve heard she was very similar to my father, two aspirant communists against the rest of their posh siblings. I’m not a socialist, as most of the children born to Marxist parents. I’m influenced by their sense of justice, but it has mixed with existentialism, individualism, consumerism, (lots of other – isms) and certainly confusion.

While we are waiting to rinse off a facial masque I light up the hookah. Neither Oscar nor Maria wanted to smoke with me, so I'm afraid I'll have to finish it up all by myself. Today is a hot summer Sunday and we don't feel like going out, but just staying home and getting organized for the coming week. The windows are open, but the air is static, no breeze is coming in, just the noise of the air conditioners. I feel fine and calm. Today I felt inspired by two interviews I read; the first one, with Daniel Barenboim on his West-Eastern Divan Workshop where he uses music as a way to generate dialogue in the Middle East. The second, with Lars von Trier on how he managed to write and direct a movie to avoid depression. Maria, Oscar and me are now on our third facial treatment, drinking orange-peach juice waiting for the cucumber masque to dry. Maria is inpatient and wants to peel it off; Oscar keeps his hands busy by posting a new Facebook status through his Blackberry. We remain quiet as the tobacco slowly burns down filling the air with a sweet peachy smell.

I’m at my kitchen waiting for the Verizon technician to come and fix my Internet connection. I eat toast with sauco and awaymanto jelly, straight from the Amazonian Peru, and bought at Lima’s airport duty free store. As whenever I return from a trip, I keep the momentum going by eating and drinking everything I brought while away. This time I’ve been drinking coca leaves tea and eating coca leaves covered with chocolate, feeling a kind of stupid thrill for consuming something quasi illegal.

I need to make an important decision soon. How can you know something for certain? Does absolute certainty actually exists? As for today, I just know that I’m hoping for a good and relaxing weekend: gypsy music tonight, brunch and pampering sessions tomorrow, and moules frites on Sunday.

Last night we smoked Hookah for two hours by the fireplace, it was very cold outside and smoking seemed like a nice way to warm up after walking across town to get to the bar. Tonight is our last in Cusco as tomorrow Javier and I leave for Lima.  The past week has been beautiful visiting Machu Picchu and driving to Cusco at night watching the moon being reflected in the Andean snow.  

Just got to my hotel after having dinner in Mongo´s, and as always surprised by the diverse crowd that assists to that place. I really like La Paz, it´s a very unique and cosmopolitan place.

My trip to Bolivia is almost over. This is my last night and my stomach is aching as it always does when I travel. My coworkers looked at me suspiciously as I ordered skinless tomatoes and bottled water; still I´m sure I´ve caught some kind of bacteria. Today we met with Marcos, the scriptwriter of the radionovela we are producing and that will be broadcasted across Bolivia next year. I got excited as we talked about production matters: selecting music, dealing with copy-right issues, hiring a local producer, casting non-actors from rural communities and putting all the pieces together for the recording sessions. I miss being part of the creative process and not just managing the people and resources to make things happen.

An old lady approached me on the plane in Miami and asked if I could hold her bag during the flight. ¨Inside are my son´s ashes¨ she said in the most solemn way. The flight attendant came rapidly and asked me not to hold the bag and left me feeling that I could have help the woman anyway. I´m now in Bolivia for the 2nd time this year and the 3rd in the last 7 months. Probably that´s why when I landed in La Paz after being in Santa Cruz for a few days I felt as if I was returning home. A few days ago we were travelling south of Santa Cruz, near the border with Argentina and Paraguay. The driver explained how most accidents happen when drivers hit cows, sheep or goats. I´ve never seen so many vultures eating dead animals by the road. The clouds in Bolivia are closer to the ground, or so it seems, and it always gives me the feeling that I will be able to touch them if I try really hard.

Today is a typical humid and sunny summer afternoon. I'm at my place resting my mind before packing for my trip to Bolivia and Peru tomorrow. I feel absolutely saturated, my life has been spinning in many directions lately, and even when a long trip to South America seems like a good way to get myself back together I don't feel like going. I'm not the adventurous kind. I rather enjoy the NY summer, watching Kronos Quartet in Prospect Park, than traveling to 4 Bolivian cities in 4 days, riding on winding roads and flying on 10-passenger (and very old) Cessna planes.
Brenda "dreadlocks" is staying at my place. She will be here all the time I'm traveling, keeping the "Brenda" presence while I'm out. We met with Sandrita last night in Brooklyn for dinner at a cozy Italian place. It's funny how you can feel so comfortable with friends you haven't seen in so long, and for a moment pretend you've never left your hometown. "It's been my lifelong dream to be in Machu Pichu" Sandrita told me while taking a bite of her prosciutto, and I wished my trip was not a business one so I could take my friends with me.

These have been strange times. Natalia and Pepe, two of the most important people for me, left New York for good the past weekend. I'm now in DC participating at a conference on International Development, working on a proposal for a media project in India, and silently watching the Michael Jackson memorial on CNN.  My mother came to visit me along with her boyfriend. He is a man of few words and soft temper; I wish she was with someone with an opinion, or at least with the ability to hold a conversation. Still, she looks beautiful and happy.