Setting goals in life is always an ambitious project. I never seriously fought to set new goals, but on the other hand I never shied away from it. After all, I successfully mastered two courses of study and at least learned to speak three foreign languages fluently. Of course, this is quite impressive and at least something to make me say, that I reached my intrapersonal targets.
But I never fulfilled these goals with a feeling of a proud achievement because I couldn’t build up any emotional level to them. Neither before reaching the goal and nor afterwards. During reaching a goal, I also perceived it as a means to an end.
Drivers license? Not needed to know how to navigate a car. Annoying social obligation for individual mobility. But I did my license anyhow for car and motorbike.
High school diploma? Was funny and joyful, but served at the end only for more qualifications.
Apprenticeship? Well, if I have to. Not a bad idea, but not a good or quaint one either.
Bachelor title? Cost a lot of time to receive at the end only a colorful certificate and nice ceremony.
Master title? Still a realistic goal to skim a bit of my own potential. Literally to do something off the cuff.
I have rarely been fed up or satisfied and have only quickly check marked the goal that has always been reached or sometimes even surpassed. The epigraph was always to hurry on and never rest on own success.
I even wanted to continue after my Master’s with a Doctor degree. But my former university in Spain artificially artificially extended the certification of my master’s degree in an unprecedented act of administrative chaos and professional inability. Hence, after three elapsed registration periods for a possible doctoral program at another university, I finally lost the desire to waste even more patience or time because of some dorks. Funny to mention at this point that I am still waiting for the official title after 2.5 years. Incredible!
Goals only exist to be accomplished. Nothing more. I was much more interested in intangible and immaterial dreams and abstract ideas. Having a dream in life is wonderful. You can color it imaginatively for yourself, always navigate onto it and enjoy it quietly and secretly without being affected by others.
A dreaming dog at a lagoon
Nobody can take away your dreams. But goals can be. It only needs one arbitrary and unprofessional decision maker or some administrational obstacles to cross your plans. These external factors can jeopardize your idea to accomplish the goal. Perhaps this was the reason why I could always build up a higher emotional level to dreams than goals. Because what is nicer than following my individual and perspective imagination of life?
Certainly not pursuing a goal and sharing a lecture hall with 100 fellow students, only to end up holding the same documentary wipe in my hands. This is more of a collective goal developed by society to create a certain claim against others. I prefer to stay with my individual dreams in me in my own hemisphere.
Of course, there are also people who advocate the exactly opposite perspective and dismiss dreams as lies. There’s nothing wrong or right about that. But if they don’t judge me, I won’t do the same.
I have often wondered how much a dream weighs. In contrast to a goal, a dream leaves a mental fingerprint and thus has a weight somewhere. The dream has to be stamped and located in a distant place in the brain and this naturally carries weight with it. A goal, on the other hand, is only achieved or not. But it has no mental burden comparable to a dream.
A baby having very active dreams
There are two dreams that I have followed and lived. One was fulfilled and the other was not. Am I physically heavier than before because of the dream came true?
Ziele im Leben zu setzen ist immer ein ambitioniertes Vorhaben. Ich habe mich nie ernsthaft um die Setzung neuer Ziele gerissen, aber auf der anderen Seite auch nie darum gescheut. Schließlich habe ich immerhin zwei Studiengänge erfolgreich mit Bravour gemeistert und immerhin drei Fremdsprachen fließend sprechen gelernt. Das kann sich natürlich durchaus sehen lassen und repräsentiert meiner Meinung nach das Erreichen von intrapersonellen Zielen.
Mich haben aber diese Ziele niemals mit Stolz erfüllt, weil ich keine Emotionalität dazu aufbauen konnte. Weder vor dem Erreichen des Ziels und danach schon gar nicht. Auch auf dem Wege dazu sah ich das Ziel eher als Mittel zum Zweck.
Führerschein? Braucht man nicht, um ein Auto lenken zu können. Lästige gesellschaftliche Pflicht zur individuellen Mobilität. Trotzdem für Auto und Motorrad gemacht.
Schulabschlüsse? War lustig und amüsant, aber diente nur der weiteren Qualifikation.
Ausbildung? Na gut, wenn es unbedingt sein muss. Keine schlechte Idee, aber auch kein ausgefallener Geistesblitz.
Bachelor? Kostete viel Zeit, brachte am Ende aber nur ein buntes Zertifikat und eine schöne Zeremonie.
Master? Ein bisschen was geht noch, kein unrealistisches Ziel. Nochmal die berühmte Schippe drauflegen und aus dem Ärmel schütteln.
Selten war ich satt oder gar zufrieden gestellt und habe das stets erreichte oder manchmal gar überflügelte Ziel schleunigst abgehakt. Hastig weiter machen wollen und nie auf einem Erfolg ausruhen war die Devise.
Ich wollte nach dem Mastertitel sogar noch einen Doktor dranhängen. Allerdings hat meine damalige Universität in Spanien in einem beispiellosen Akt an administrativem Chaos und professionellem Unvermögen die Zertifizierung meines Mastertitels derart künstlich in die Länge gezogen, dass mir nach drei verstrichenen Anmeldungsfristen für ein Doktorstudiengang irgendwann die Lust auf noch weitere Geduld, bzw. Zeitverschwendung vergangen ist. Lustig zu erwähnen an dieser Stelle, dass ich auch 2,5 Jahren nach erfolgreichem Abschluss noch immer auf den offiziellen Titel warte. Sachen gibt’s!
Ziele sind also nur da, um erreicht zu werden. Mehr aber nicht. Viel eher war ich an den immateriellen und nicht greifbaren Träumen und abstrakten Vorstellungsweisen interessiert. Einen Traum im Leben zu haben, ist etwas Wundervolles. Du kannst ihn für Dich persönlich imaginär ausmalen, Dich stets daran orientieren und ihn still und heimlich genießen.
Ein träumender Hund am Ufer einer Lagune
Träume kann Dir keiner nehmen. Ziele hingegen schon. Da muss nur irgendein Querulant von inkompetentem, bzw. willkürlichem Entscheidungsträger im Weg sein oder eine administrative Hürde und bürokratische Schikane aufgebaut werden. Schon ist das gesteckte Ziel wegen dieser externen Einflussfaktoren in Gefahr, erreicht werden zu können. Vielleicht war es dieser Grund, weshalb ich stets eine höhere Emotionalität zu Träumen als zu Zielen aufbauen konnte. Denn was ist schöner als meiner individuellen und perspektivischen Vorstellung zu folgen?
Mit Sicherheit keinem Ziel hinterherzuhecheln und sich mit 100 Kommilitonen einen Vorlesungssaal zu teilen, nur um am Ende den gleichen dokumentarischen Wisch in den Händen zu halten. Das ist eher ein kollektives und von der Gesellschaft entwickeltes Ziel um ein gewisses Anspruchsdenken zu entwickeln und indoktrinieren. Da bleibe ich lieber bei meinen individuellen Träumen vor meinem geistigen Auge.
Es gibt natürlich auch Menschen, die die exakt andere Sichtweise verfechten und Träume als Schäume abtun. Ist weder verkehrt, noch korrekt. Aber: “Jeder Jeck ist anders” wie der besoffene Kölner an Karneval grölt.
Ich habe mich oft gefragt, wie viel ein Traum wiegt. Im Gegensatz zu einem Ziel hinterlässt ein Traum irgendwo einen mentalen Fingerabdruck und damit Gewicht. Der Traum muss irgendwo im Gehirn abgestempelt und lokalisiert werden und das trägt natürlich naturgegeben Gewicht mit sich. Ein Ziel hingegen wird lediglich erfüllt oder auch nicht. Aber es besitzt keine vergleichbare mentale Last wie ein Traum.
Ein Baby träumt während seiner sehr aktiven Nachtruhe
Es gibt zwei Träume, die ich verfolgt und gelebt habe. Anhand diesen beiden Beispielen möchte ich dezidiert versinnbildlichen, was den Traum ihn mir ausgelöst und was er in mir bewirkt hat. Der eine Traum hat sich erfüllt und der andere nicht. Bin ich durch den in Erfüllung gegangenen Traum nun physikalisch schwerer geworden als vorher?
Fijar metas en la vida es siempre un proyecto ambicioso. Nunca luché seriamente para establecer nuevas metas, pero por otro lado, nunca lo evité. Después de todo, obtuve con éxito dos diplomas de estudios y aprendí a hablar al menos tres idiomas extranjeros con fluidez. Por supuesto, esto es bastante impresionante y al menos algo para decirme a mi mismo que alcancé mis objetivos individuales.
Sin embargo nunca sentí orgullo por haber alcanzado estos objetivos porque no pude construir ningún nivel emocional con respecto a ellos . Ni antes de llegar a la meta ni después. El proceso de alcanzar un objetivo, también lo percibí como un medio para un fin.
¿Licencia de conducir? No es necesario saber cómo conducir un automóvil. Es solo una fastidiosa obligación social para poder transportarse individualmente. De todos modos la obtuve para auto y moto.
¿Diploma de escuela secundaria? Fue divertido y alegre, pero sirvió al final sólo de requisito para poder continuar otros estudios .
¿Aprendizaje? Bueno, si tengo que hacerlo. No es una mala idea, pero tampoco es buena o pintoresca.
¿Título de bachillerato? Cuesta mucho tiempo por recibir al final solo un certificado colorido y una bonita ceremonia.
¿Título de Master?Sigue siendo un objetivo realista para aprovechar un poco mi propio potencial. Literalmente para hacer algo fuera del alcance.
Raramente me harto o estoy satisfecho y solo he marcado rápidamente el objetivo que siempre se ha alcanzado o, a veces, incluso superado. El epígrafe siempre fue apurarse y nunca descansar en el propio éxito.
Incluso quería continuar después de mi maestría con un doctorado Pero mi antigua universidad en España extendió artificialmente el proceso de la certificación de mi maestría en un acto de caos administrativo e incapacidad profesional inolvidable en mi vida. Por lo tanto, después de tres períodos transcurridos de registro para un posible programa de doctorado en otra universidad, finalmente perdí el deseo de perder aún más paciencia o tiempo debido a algunos burros. Es curioso mencionar en este punto que todavía estoy esperando el título oficial después de 2.5 años. ¡Increíble!
Las metas sólo existen para ser alcanzadas. Nada más. Estaba mucho más interesado en sueños intangibles e inmateriales e ideas abstractas. Tener un sueño en la vida es maravilloso. Puedes colorearlo imaginativamente para ti mismo, siempre conducirte hacia él y disfrútalo en silencio y en secreto sin que otros te afecten.
Un perro soñando en una laguna
Nadie puede quitarte tus sueños. Pero los objetivos pueden hacerlo. Sólo necesitas un arbitrario y poco profesional tomador de decisiones o algunos obstáculos administrativos para cambiar tus planes. Estos factores externos pueden poner en peligro tu idea para lograr el objetivo. Quizás esta fue la razón por la que siempre pude construir un nivel emocional más alto para los sueños que para los objetivos. Porque, ¿qué es más agradable que seguir mi imaginación y perspectiva individual de la vida?
Ciertamente, no perseguir una meta y compartir una sala de conferencias con 100 compañeros, solo para terminar sosteniendo la misma limpieza documental en mis manos. Este es más un objetivo colectivo desarrollado por la sociedad para crear un cierto reclamo contra los otros. Prefiero quedarme con mis sueños individuales en mí, en mi propio hemisferio.
Por supuesto, también hay personas que defienden la perspectiva exactamente opuesta y descartan los sueños como mentiras. No hay nada correcto o incorrecto al respecto o correcto en eso. Pero si ellos no me juzgan, yo no haré lo mismo.
A menudo me he preguntado cuánto pesa un sueño. En contraste con un objetivo, un sueño deja una huella mental y, por lo tanto, tiene un peso en alguna parte. El sueño tiene que ser estampado y ubicado en un lugar distante del cerebro y esto, naturalmente, conlleva peso. Un objetivo, por otro lado, solo se logra o no. Pero no tiene una carga mental comparable a un sueño.
Un bebé sueña activamente mientras esta durmiendo
Hay dos sueños que he seguido y vivido. Uno se cumplió y el otro no. ¿Soy físicamente más pesado que antes porque el sueño se hizo realidad?
¿Con qué frecuencia usé esta pequeña rima simple para “impresionarla”? No lo recuerdo, pero se desarrolló como una palabra alada. Incluso después de la 4,328 vez, ella todavía reprimió su molestia y se mantuvo amistosa con una sonrisa más amplia y blanca que jamás ví en mi vida.
Entonces, ¿quién es Su? ¿Quién es esta mujer con el nombre más corto del mundo? Tuve la oportunidad de conocerla en 2014 en Lima, fue en realidad la primera muestra peruana que vi en mi vida. Y cuando la vi por primera vez en el largo vestido de cóctel bailando en el césped del jardín del apartamento en el que me acababa de mudar, nunca hubiera esperado que la mantuviera como una buena y cercana amiga mía.
Fue difícil mantenerse en contacto en 2014, porque mi semestre en el extranjero en Lima fue una experiencia desenfrenada para mí, con muchos encuentros de corta duración. Por lo tanto, uno nunca sabe durante el primer semestre en el extranjero y la primera vez en otro continente, quiénes son las personas con las que puede contar y con las que vale la pena mantenerse en contacto.
Y Su definitivamente valió la pena y también fue la razón por la que visité las clases de Muay Thai. Practiqué algunas lecciones con ella los lunes por la mañana a las 7 am (!!),porque esta clase era la única coincidencia para encontrarnos. Como estudiante en el extranjero, debes comprender cuánta dedicación significa sacrificar un lunes por la mañana para que una chica te dé una paliza en una clase de Muay Thai.
Eres bienvenida Su, incluso años después. No hay necesidad de agradecerme por eso 😉
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A lo largo de los años nos mantuvimos en contacto y cuando regresaba a Lima después de cuatro años, el destino nos unió, a ella y a mí nuevamente. Me ofreció quedarme un par de días en su apartamento, mientras buscaba un lugar propio para quedarme en Lima. Casualmente, uno de sus compañeras de piso dijo un día después de mi llegada en enero de 2018, que se quería mudar del apartamento y coincidencias de la vida, ¡de repente había espacio disponible para mí!
Durante todos los años en el extranjero, viví con muchas personas juntas y cada una tiene sus propios hábitos. Algunos son más sociales, mientras que otros solo piensan en sí mismos. Susan era y es una persona…) muy social y me ayudó varias veces a salir de las miserias y problemas peruanos. Ella me integró bien en sus círculos de amigos y conocidos e incluso me presentó a los miembros de su familia. En comparación con la cultura familiar relajada de Europa Central, significa mucho, si eres bienvenido de una familia de amigos.
‘El camino de Susan’
¿Una fiesta, party, celebración y evento en Barranco sin Susan? ¡No imaginable! Durante mis siete meses en Lima, salimos juntos varias veces y nos divertimos mucho con la extraña y alegre población de Barranco. Mientras escribo el texto me estoy riendo de nuevo sobre todas las personas y abogados divertidos que conocimos durante las noches 😉
“El camino de Susan” se estableció por primera vez gracias a ella y luego se convirtió en un famoso tour nocturno Limeño. Si alguna vez alguien tiene la oportunidad de pasar algunos días en Lima, debe intentar de planificar un fin de semana allí. A Susan le gustaría guiarlos todos los viernes a partir de las 11 pm en “La noche de Barranco”. Debido a los mejores contactos con la vida nocturna, ella podrá conseguir unas mesas en cualquier momento, sin importar que lleno esté el salon. Para ella, es el bar el lugar perfecto para liberarse de la semana laboral de estrés e incluso celebró su cumpleaños allí.
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Alrededor de las 3 am del día siguiente, el tour continuará a un lugar super secreto llamado “El Bar de Nico”, al que solo se puede acceder para una cantidad limitada y selecta. Pero no se preocupen: Allí también tiene algunos buenos contactos disponibles para abrir las puertas secretas de uno de los mejores lugares del distrito.
Bailando con una sonrisa
Cuando otras personas toman sus bebidas o hablan entre ellas, ella es la única persona en la pista de baile que siempre está en movimiento. Susan baila. Susan sonríe. Susan baila y sonríe al mismo tiempo. Ella es feliz y otras personas también se alegran al observarla.
Normalmente hay una canción que te hace bailar. Susan y yo también tenemos una canción favorita. Es ‘El Baile y el Salon’ de Cafe Tacuba. Sentí como una ignición, cada vez que escuchábamos esa canción. Ella definitivamente quería bailar, cuando los tocadiscos tragamonedas tocaba esta canción.
Por supuesto, no hay una sola canción, que la hace querer moverse. Ni siquiera se necesita estar fuera de casa. Susan es una persona que puede bailar en casi todas partes, la única premisa es la música alta:
How often did I use this simple and amateurish little rhyme to ‘impress’ her? I can’t remember, but it developed as a winged word and even after the 4,328 time she still suppressed her annoyance and remained friendly with a smile showing the widest and whitest smile I have ever seen in my life.
Soooo, who is Su? Who is this woman with the shortest name of the world? I had the opportunity to meet her in 2014 in Lima, she was actually the first Peruvian specimen I saw in my life. And when I first saw her in the long cocktail dress dancing on the grass in the garden of the apartment I just moved in, I could’ve never expected to keep her as a good and close friend of mine.
It was difficult to remain in contact in 2014, because my semester abroad in Lima was a wild and rampant experience for me with a lot of short-time encounters. Hence you never know during your first semester abroad and at the first time in another continent, who are the people you can count on and worth to keep in touch with.
And Su was definitely worth it and was as well the reason why I visited Muay Thai classes. I practiced a few lessons with her on Monday mornings at 7am (!!), because that was the only timely overlap we could visit this class. As a student abroad, you should comprehend, how much dedication it means to sacrifice a Monday morning to get your ass kicked in a Muay Thai class by a girl.
You’re welcome Su, even years later. No need to thank me for that 😉
Over the years we kept in contact and when I was going back to Lima after four years, destiny put her and me together again. She offered me to stay for a couple of days in her apartment, whilst I was looking for an own place to stay in Lima. Coincidentally, one of her roommates said one day after my arrival in January 2018, that she wanted to move out the apartment and as coincidence commanded, there was suddenly room for me available!
During all the years abroad I lived with a lot of people together and every single one has his or her distinct habits. Some are more social, whereas others only think for themselves. Susan was (and is) a very social personality and helped me several times out of Peruvian miseries and troubles. She integrated me well in her circles of friends and acquaintances and even introduced me to her family members. Compared to the lax Central European family culture, it means quite a lot, if you are welcomed from a friends’ family.
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‘El camino de Susan’
A fiesta, party, celebration, happening and event in Barranco without Susan? Unimaginable! During my seven months in Lima, we went out together several times and had a lot of fun with the weird and tipsy population of Barranco. Meanwhile I am writing the text, I am laughing loud again about all the funny people and lawyers we met during the nights 😉
‘El camino de Susan’ was first established by her and got lather then promoted to a famous Limeñan nightlife tour. If you ever have the chance to spend some days in Lima, please try to plan a weekend there. Susan would be very happy to guide you every Friday from 11pm at ‘La noche de Barranco’. Due to best contacts with the nightlife, she will be able to get a table for you anytime, no matter how full the scenery will be. For her, it is the perfect bar to let loose from the stress work week and she even celebrated her birthday there.
Around 3am of the consequent day, the tour will be continued to a top-secret location called ‘El Bar de Nico’, that only can be reached from a limited and selected amount of people. But no worries: There she has certain good contacts available as well to open up the secret doors of one of the top spots of the district.
Dancing with a smile
When other people are sipping from their drinks or talking with each other, she is the one person on the dance floor, who is always in motion. Susan dances. Susan smiles. Susan dances and smiles at the same time. She is happy and other people get happy as well observing her.
There is usually that one song, that makes you wanna dance. Susan and me have a favorite song together as well. It is ‘El Baile y el Salon’ from Cafe Tacuba. Felt like an ignition, every time we listened to that song. She definitely wanted to dance, when the jukebox played this song.
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Of course, there is not this single song, that makes her wanna move. It’s not even needed to be out of home. Susan is a person, who can dance almost everywhere, the only premiss is loud music:
El Ojo Bermúdez
Unfortunately, the Peruvian national soccer team was only allowed to play three matches in Russia during the World Cup 2018. That’s why the most of my international readers probably won’t understand the following joke fully. But there is a funny little striker in the team called Edinson Flores. He was called several times during their matches from the TV-commentator ‘El Oreja Flores’, because of the following reason:
Although it might not seem nice, to reduce this player to his outstanding and obvious hearing organ, it became during the matches something like a running gag and welcome addition to entertain the audience. When Susan and me were going out at night, something very unusual happened to her sensory organs as well, but not to the ears. It was more her eyes, who didn’t really want to behave as she wanted to behave. Especially her right one:
Susan doesn’t like violence. But once, she looked like she was beaten and had something like an infection on her eyelid. That exacerbated her generic ‘problem’ with her eye and made it even more distinct:
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The crazy cat lady
Although Susan told me, that she doesn’t want to have kids, she is already a mother. Her brood are two impertinent and gorgeous cats, whereof one is a very hoggish specimen. I once wrote an article about the cat and also produced a video. You should definitely check it out – Then you know her cats and that the cats love her and seek always her presence. Especially a warm body to sleep.
Do you know this character from the Simpsons who is throwing with cats at strangers? The crazy cat lady? Definitely I can see parallels and am concerned, that flying cats will be used in Lima as weapon. Especially her obese tomcat Lugh can become a weapon and tear down an opponent with his weight. If you are walking at Avenida Paseo La Castellana in Surco, you should wear a helmet.
Susan is a snow first-timer
Did you ever see snow falling yourself? Smelled it? Felt its cool temperature, that numbs your fingers? I am always surprised, if my friends and acquaintances from South America have the desire and longing to know how it feels to touch snow?
If you grew up in Central Europe, you get annoyed by snow sooner or later in life. As a child, you may love snow for all its appealing additional bonuses like snowball fights, building snowmen and outages of classes. If you are older, you hate to freeze and the terrible traffic jams caused by snow.
I am very glad to be the one who shared Susan’s first experience with snow. Somehow there is not a difference between a little girl and a grown-up lady. If they see both snow for the first time, they don’t really know what to do. Later they dare to dare and touch it and get used to the unique texture of the frozen water. Finally, they have fun and can’t stop touching it.
A lot of good Sundays
If we didn’t finish devastated at 6am (or later!) at the bars of Barranco, we usually spent a lot of great Sundays together. Mostly eating good food in Cevicherias, watching preparation matches of the Peruvian squad for the World Cup or visit some far neighborhoods in and around Lima to pass a great day before preparing for the next working week.
A few very nice Sundays I put together in the slideshow below:
So much fun is such less time
I have actually so much more funny stuff and stories to tell about her, that I sometimes forget how confident they are exactly. Maybe it’s better sometimes to keep quiet and enjoy thinking about these funny moments. But there are a lot of other good moments that I captured with my phone to tell a story:
My plan was to go to a Sushi restaurant, order the ‘All you can eat’-menu and eat at least 100 Makis. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it due to different reasons and only highscored 91. But Susan came with me and helped me emotionally with that big challenge. I’m proud to have finally found someone, who supports my gluttony!
But it’s not always about quantity and ‘All you can eat’. Especially in Peru – a country that celebrates eating – you can find a lot of high quality food. These dishes are actually so heavily tasty, that you don’t want to leave a single piece or drop on your plate, before the waiter comes to clean up the table. Su would like to show you in the following video, that table manners are in Peru defined as followed:
Believe it or not, but that’s pretty normal in Peru. And maybe also in a lot of other countries of the world. But the difference is probably to usually not do that in public 😉
If someone nourishes herself with good food, she should be also in a healthy state:
Next to cats, she has also a heart for plastic giraffes and the brightest smile I have ever seen:
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What a powerful lady!
The more I think about Susan, the more respect I have for her and the way she is able to manage her life. It’s not easy to live as a woman alone and independently in this world. But trying the same in South America and in a macho dominated culture how she has to face it every day in Peru lets me compel respect from her. Especially if Lugh eats up the half of her monthly budget.
It is a sad thing in life, if you don’t know for sure, when or if you are able to see each other again, isn’t it? I think, that it is.
Sometimes, the ways of two different people cross each other surprisingly again. Same happened after all with our first reencounter in January 2018. But when will be the second reencounter? And where? And why? It definitely won’t be for wedding or birth-related happenings, that’s for sure. Neither she nor I have any intention to follow the mainstream rules and rather want to live an individual life.
But one thing I know for sure. No matter when we are meeting each other again or how long it may take to see each other again. I am pretty sure, that we will still have the same trust and faith in each other, still laugh about the same childish jokes and still the same deep and profound conversations about life and all its challenges. I miss talking to her. She was like a big sister to me, who I never had.
It’s a sad story, when you have to leave your best friend behind. I will leave Lima and might never see him again. For a moment I thought about putting him into my suitcase, when I leave. Then I realized, that I don’t have the space and free weight to carry a 9 kilo monstrosity and will be overcharged from the transport operators.
So what present to give when I leave? A can of tuna? Do cats even feel when you leave? I will find it out. In case of emergency also without a can of tuna. But I hope, that he will like the following video that I recorded and edited. It should be nothing less than an eternal appreciation for Lugh the Cat. And thanks to YouTube, this video will hopefully last forever and survive all nuclear wars of the future to show mankind what funny and lovely personality this little tiger was and how much he enriched and delighted my time in Lima.
https://youtu.be/VSiHTWeKtTk
Ladies and Gentlemen. I’m proud to introduce you to the five minute masterpiece ‘Lugh – The Meowvie’ to all of you.
I am writing now about a very special friend of mine, who I made in Lima, Peru. People sometimes laugh here about me when I say, that he is the best friend I have here. I don’t really know why they say that, actually I don’t really care. Maybe because they never had a best friend. Or maybe they never felt a friendship to a cat.
To a cat?
Yes, to a cat! These animals with their four paws, their 270° radar ears and long whiskers. My best friend is called Lugh, but some people get confused with Garfield when they see him. Lugh has as well an orange colored fur and characteristic stripes on his back. And comparably to Garfield’s appearance, Lugh has exactly the same humanly problems, e.g. overweight, laziness and the fear of vacuum cleaners. Maybe these are not the problems of every human being, but at least the ones from myself.
And here we are why Lugh and me are such good friends: Because we can identify with each other and share mutual interests. I like canned tuna, Lugh as well. Lugh likes to oversleep all day, I do sometimes the same. And we both are very curious characters, who want to explore and discover the unknown.
Cats might have their own character, but are predominantly shy and nervous animals who prefer the defense mode, when someone new is approaching their territory. Lugh is different: He is a very friendly and curious cat, welcomed and accepted me very friendly in his territory. Another distinct sign for the Peruvian hospitality.
Lugh lives together with another cat, called Enya. Both have their names from important gods of the Irish mythology and Enya is the mother of Lugh. But only in the mythological Celtic stories, in real life both cats aren’t related to each other. So, they live together in the apartment of Susan, their ‘real mommy’.
Garfield-Lugh is always very nice and friendly to Enya as well, but she doesn’t thank him for that. Au contraire: She usually wants to cause fights and bullies him around 5-6 times during the day as you can see on the following videos. Like in real life as well, it’s always the woman who likes to start to fight.
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The poor and innocent overweight cat usually quits the field and retreats the female cat her space. He wouldn’t dare to defeat the girl, although his physique is more thein sovereign. A real gentleman and a sad depiction of ‘the real life’ as well. That’s how it goes, if you live together with a moody bitch!
Lugh however has many vices, but his biggest one is TO EAT. His few kilograms too much on his rips don’t come from black magic. These were all inimitably added to his normal bodyweight, when used to guzzle himself. His own dry food for cats isn’t unfortunately enough for him, that’s why he steals from Enya’s bowl as well. But for all her bad bullies against him, she deserves the diet-version of a bowl of cat food.
And if that isn’t enough, he even tries to steal food from my plate, from the fridge or the trash bin. One could also say, Lugh is born in the wrong body, because he is hungry as a tiger but can only live in a body as a cat. Whilst writing about his birth you should take a look at the following pictures, that show the ENOURMOUS differences between his birth size and the recent state.
For me it is simply incredible, if I take a look to his full size right now:
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For me it’s unbelievable how a cat can weight 100 times more after the birth weight. Maybe I should check the Guinness World Records and look if he maybe broke already a world record. With distinct cats, it’s possible to earn a good keep, hinting here at Grumpy Cat.
Another vice of him is to chase reflections. Whenever something like a mobile phone, a mirror or a glass is reflecting sunlight or artificial light, he deactivates his logical mind and enters the hunter’s mode. Unfortunately, he never succeeded to catch one single time a reflection. I told him several times, that his efforts are fruitless and will be fruitless forever, but he doesn’t want to hear that and ignores my wise recommendations. At least I have to admit his willingness and the ‘Never quit’ mentality. One time he was so wild, that he knocked over a whole scratcher.
From the shock in his face you can imagine, that he probably understood doing something wrong and wanted to apologize for that, repetitive meowing. All forgiven!
Lugh is now 4 and a half years old. In human years this would be 33 living years. In this age, you should actually behave very experienced, mature and sovereign. Lugh is still trying to find these behaviors for himself. For 33 living years, he is more a silly person than a senior. But that’s okay, I’m probably the same.
I sometimes think, what job he would have, if he wouldn’t be a cat. Probably being a supervisor, because that matches his interests and talents of observing people at work as well:
Another talent of him is to steal things:
Here he tried to steal money from me. So probably also a criminal career would be a way for him to earn his keep. But I don’t know about the chances of him on this specific career market.
Sometimes he just likes to make a chaos and make me responsible to clean up his mess:
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Because of these moments, I want to kick his ass. Another time when he breached my rules and entered the shower, I thought about switching it on to let him learn and understand more about the consequences for his misbehavior. Not being fully sure, if this would be a morally good thing to humiliate a cat, I asked this question in a poll in my Instagram Feed and got a very balanced answer:
So I didn’t do it. Damned, it was a unique opportunity to educate him and I missed it!
But together we also have a lot of fun. Mostly, because I like to make fun of him.
One day, Susan and I tried to shave him. Fat cats have also a lot of fur and Lugh isn’t unfortunately an exception here. It didn’t really work as we all imagined, but at least we tried it…
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