New year’s day*
It is kind of usual that in the new year festivities, strange things happen. For example, a friend of you dissappears and his girlfriend wants you to find him (weeee, quite boring stuff to do in new year). You can also find an old acquaintance who wants to, ehem, remember good ol’ times. Or you may wake up 4am and find that you lost new year because by 9pm, you were absolutely drunk.
So, it’s quite interesting to see what God has prepared for you. Anyway, here I am, at a 1000+ party on the beach, returning from buying a beer when suddenly *poof*, no lights.
If you have lived in Peru in the 80′s and 90′s, then you don’t find it strange. At that time we were suffering the terrorist attacks of Sendero Luminoso and the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (you may find more info in Wikipedia). In those decades it was quite common to find yourself with no electricity, looking for candles & matches. In other words, we are used to blackouts.
Although this time was no terrorist attack. It was a simple failure and we only had to wait. Of course, the first thing that people do is to whistle and scream some “enlighted words”, but after some minutes they usually continue with what they were doing (except dancing)
Suddenly, I noticed that everyone was looking up. For the sky was as clear as it can be, and the whole branch of the Milky Way extended itself across the horizon. As I walked around in a slow-time bubble I saw couples smiling, friends explaining the constellations and drunks simply staring at the infinity of space.
It only lasted 10 or 15 minutes, but I can say from that experience that people do like space. The problem is that they don’t see it on their day by day.
We have to bring it down to Earth.
* This entry was originally posted in Liftport’s blog.