Desert Wisdom by Sebastian Pais

For a long time now, Alex has been telling me that I should share with Community Publishing a “little something” and finally here I go. The delay was not due to lack of ideas. In this last 3 years since I departed from Albuquerque I have been gathering thoughts, images, memories, sounds, and points view.

I have been pulling the trigger of my pen so slowly that I have forgotten I was doing it, so slowly the piece of paper was able to escape without marks. All of the sudden, as predicted, I can´t stop writing many things at once. I find myself pouring all out on the screen. I have to hit enter and find new room in this virtual paper. Wow, it is fun. I will read it later, gotta keep the flow.
But wait a sec, I was going to start somewhere. Yes, I was going to start right at the end.

Looking back, now. Looking at me looking back through the glass of a window inside this bus taking my south to the border. The border that separated one chapter from the next, yet at that moment unknown.

Me, looking back, waving at my brother at a gas station. Breathing and having one thought in each in and out. I was on a bus taking me to move back to Argentina after ten years living in Albuquerque. The Albuquerque in New Mexico, not the one on T.V.. Ten years in each blow of air.

2003 Albuquerque Destiny

Really want to know my story?: – mother fell in love with gringo. Then, moved to Cali but he got a job at the University of New Mexico (yes, it could have been Oklahoma or Tennessee, or Indiana or…). Things didn’t work out but a few years later she was working at the university and a big crisis hit Argentina. I was 19 years old and like many Argentineans wanted to destroy the political class. About 30% unemployment and many sad things forced us to take a decision. Go to Spain with our dad and like him hope for the best, stay in an out-of-control Argentina by myself, or move to ALBUQUERQUE (I was the only person I knew at that time that even knew of this city).

Yes you guess, I moved to Albuquerque. I would learn some basic English and then, in about 2 years go back to Argentina or in the worst case scenario, go to Spain. Basically, I just wanted to be in my home, in La Boca, Buenos Aires, Argentina, with my high school friends and my projects after high school.

2 years became almost ten. Soon became surrounded by a capoeira school filled with great people that despite the language barrier help my brother and I fill as at home as possible. Interestingly, all of us where practicing an art form that was foreign. A Brazilian art form practiced by gringos, Argentineans, Mexicans in Albuquerque, New Mexico that doesn’t look even close to Rio de Janeiro or Bahia. But there, we were doing our very best to make any capoerista proud. Hell we trained hard and tried to learn everything about the subculture of capoeira. If you don’t know anything about it, I recommend you look it up, there are some videos online ☺

Well, that was home, going from the house to capoeira as much as possible. Trying to communicate and play birimbau at sunset on a summer afternoon right on route 66. There it was this young guy from the bottom of the continent, learning English, using his funny accent as a weapon to attract ladies (thank God for giving me a foreign accent!!), and playing capoeira while thinking of home.

Went to college. American girlfriend, Colombian, Mexican, American, Colombian, Brazilian. Mmm great times… Oh, that was the time I really learned English. First, lunch time. God I just wanted a sandwich. “I say tomato you say…” yes, it took me a really long time to get a sub. Sometimes after a few tries the guy would start talking back to me in Spanish (and I got upset and no, it is not funny). 😉

Then the parties – check back next week!

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Sebastian Pais was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a professional translator, musician, radio personality and actor. In April, 2014 he was named Director for Latin American & Bilingual Initiatives at Community Publishing. 

Community Publishing brings local artists of all mediums together in creative collaborations for distribution as Multimedia Books while promoting literacy in our communities.