Leopards and Soccer

Lessons from a match

💚 💛 🖤 

I am not a big soccer fan but this article is a letter in which I celebrated the triumph of the “Atlético Bucaramanga” team.

My hometown, Bucaramanga, is a small city, with a hot climate, of “angry” and “berraca” (strong) people. I have never been very interested in soccer, but for several weeks, a furor had been developing in my city, which was impossible to ignore, to the point where it became contagious. 

That’s when I realized it wasn’t about soccer this time. It was about hope. 

The team was never considered good or anything important, several times it was stoned, minimized and mocked. And the fact that after 75 years a victory at national level was possible, overflowed me, the city and the country with joy.

The game was exciting, two penalty rounds were necessary for the triumph. A nervousness accompanied the 90+ minutes and the end: infallible proof that there is no such thing as “late”, but rather “the right time”. After 75 years, the team wins its first star and becomes national champion. 

For me, this triumph meant many things that go beyond a jersey and a ball: 

• Symbol of discipline and leadership. Venezuelan coach Rafael Dudamel focused on the strengths of each player, leaving no one aside and creating an invincible support network. It makes me think about my strengths, what am I good at? What talents do I ignore because I want to be someone else? How much self-rejection do we live with because we think there is something wrong with us? 

• It is a reminder to stop obsessing about being fast, becoming a millionaire in a weekend, visiting 20 countries in a year, losing 30 kilos with risky operations or having only coffee for breakfast on the train to “not waste time”. It is fine to run, but moments of enjoyment should come more often. Let’s allow slowness and stop punish it as society wants.

• Faith and perseverance. I am touched to know that many of my friends are true fans, who supported the team even in those times when they did not score a single goal and matches were only met with disappointing results. Even so, they believed and did not give up or change teams, looking for something better.

• It is an ode to companionship and support. Even the players and fans of the opposing team, Santa Fe, rejoiced at the unexpected triumph. It is proof of the advancement of humanity (not in the mundane technologic sense that the word advance often carries) Soccer and sports have always left a lot of violence due to lack of tolerance. Today, it is allowed to be a fan of another team and still be friends. 
  

And now, a poem. 

The leopard 

My spots are unique marks, special moments in my life. None tries to equal the other and I wear them proudly.

My sharp teeth let me taste the gifts of the world and will bite you if that’s what you’re looking for.

My sunshine yellow color is a reflection of the warmth inside me, emanating from my heart. 

My claws serve me to scratch, pull food from between my teeth and defend myself.

My star guides me, always forward, never a step back, like the people of Santander.

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My Week on Senses

What have I been up to this week? A description of what my senses have felt!

👂Hundreds of birdsongs that I had never heard in my life. Like that of the “Trogón Collarejo”.

👀 This week I visited for the first time the Eje Cafetero in Colombia. I loved waking up every morning and seeing the mountains full of coffee crops.

👅 The most delicious cups of coffee I have ever tasted in my life! It was hard for me to control myself and I ended up drinking more than 8 cups a day. 

👐 Harvesting coffee beans with my own hands. I took a tour to the farm “el ocaso” where I learned the whole process, from the planting of the fruit, through the drying process to its consumption. I learned how to differentiate a good coffee and many interesting things, such as that coffee comes from Africa, from the Kafas. 

👃 The smell of coffee drying and fermenting in front of my eyes. 

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