‘It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye’. A. de Saint-Exupéry
Well, the truth is that when I’m not an Educational Technologist, I try to enjoy the rest of my hobbies (yes, because working is sometimes a hobby too;-))… almost all of them in the company of my husband and my daughter, who, fortunately for me, share my weaknesses.
I was born in Bogotá at a ‘transitional’ date, that is to say, between what some called the strange Generation X and Generation Y (you can find definitions of these two generations on the net, and you can laugh a little). Even following the definition made by my fellow countryman Andrés López in his famous ‘Pelota de Letras’, we could say that I have something of the X and the Guayaba. We would say that I have something about the X and the Guayaba.
Consequently, I do not consider myself a Digital Native or a Digital Immigrant. Actually, I’m a RESIDENT… I am a child of the audiovisual media; that is to say, since I was a child, I have loved watching TV. Yes, there are better films and series (not many telenovelas; the childhood ban I “suffered” is still noticeable). Still, in general I like TV as a medium… and since that childhood time I have kept another hobby: I love reading, I read almost everything that passes through my hands since I learned… and I frankly enjoy doing it.
Besides that – or maybe because of that – I love meeting new people, places and things… travelling by various means of transport (plane, car, train, boat, horse, canoe) and going for long walks, visiting museums (I love art galleries) and private houses, regional festivals and festivities, the mountains and the sea, the cold and the heat (although it is always easier to protect oneself from the cold than from the heat)… and food… food! Oh, the food!….
I’m not a sportswoman (the closest thing I do is “hiking”), but age has forced me to find a space in my day to do some Yoga and strength training (at home, not in the gym). There is something considered a sport that I love: SCUBA DIVING, yes, with a tank and a suit and everything… although I’m not averse to snorkelling… although we haven’t been diving for half a lifetime (my husband and I, it’s a hobby we share), although we are still members of our diving club (that gives you a clue that I’m an optimistic woman, full of hopes ;-)).
Of those hobbies that I enjoy but am not very good at, I also have music, listen to, hear, speak…. I studied at the music conservatory, I studied CC and music history, and in my youth, I played in a night orchestra. I was a member of one tuna (here you have a good example of what a tuna is); my brain is occupied with a massive amount of unnecessary song lyrics of unspeakable styles (that’s why I am probably unable to remember most of the names or to put together faces and names of most of the world, please forgive me), I love the history of music and the stories of musicians. For being the first who dared to do what he did, for the genius that he is, and for stirring so many things inside me, I am an unconditional Beethoven fan… Now, my preferences range from the Cantigas de Alfonso X to Rosalía. I am always in the process of musical colonization (getting to know music), thanks to whoever is willing to teach me new music… in short! Very varied…
There are a thousand things I’m bad at, but I love to learn and try; I’m obsessed with learning new things, even though I’m usually bad at them. I love screwdrivers and taking things apart. I try to learn new things even if I fail. I’m neither good at cooking nor have any culinary intelligence (imagining dishes with little in the fridge). However, sometimes I try impossible recipes I see on the Internet, which I make just once and sometimes can even be eaten.
I’m married –a long time ago– to Alejandro, a telecommunications engineer (and member of another tuna) with whom I had the good fortune to fall in love in Bogotá and who makes me a better person. I am a mother -and that is a permanent Beta- of Raquel, who made my priorities have a more adorably logical and endearing order; being her mother is the most impressive and brutal learning process I have experienced about all the happy aspects of life. Raquel, Ale and I are the team, where they are is my home and with them my life is always better.
I love to talk, but good conversation loses me, and I love to tell stories. I hope I haven’t bored you too much with this one 😉