55 Tage seitdem ich Deutschland nach 25 Jahren Treue verlassen habe. Nun gut ich bin ein paar Mal fremdgegangen: Spanien, Frankreich und auch mal Afrika, aber immer wieder zurückgekehrt. Diesmal ist es anders. Während ich meine Diplomarbeit schrieb, habe ich mir ein Flugticket nach Mexiko gekauft. Es lag sechs Wochen lang auf meinen Schreibtisch, vergraben unter Büchern, Studien und Notizen. Zusammen mit einem Artikel aus einer großen deutschen Tageszeitung, der Titel: Moderne Völker wandern der Liebe wegen.
Vor gut zwei Jahren habe ich schon einmal hier gelebt, hier studiert und mich in dieses Land verliebt. Die mexikanische Lebensart, das Essen und natürlich die Menschen machen den Charme dieses Landes aus. Schon damals wäre ich beinah hier geblieben. Doch ich wusste, dass ich ohne einen Abschluss kaum eine Chance hätte hier meinen Lebensunterhalt zu verdienen, denn praktische Dinge wie Gitarre spielen, Brot backen oder Autos reparieren kann ich leider nicht. So bin ich mit einem weinenden Auge in den kalten Winter nach Deutschland zurückgekehrt und habe alles getan, um mein Studium zu beenden. Beeinflusst von meinen Erfahrungen in Mexiko, beschloss ich 1 Jahr nach meiner Rückkehr über den Fairtrade am Beispiel der Kaffeebauern in Mexiko zu schreiben. Keine zwei Wochen nach der mündlichen Prüfung und einen Tag nachdem ich mein Diplomzeugnis endlich in der Hand hielt, stieg ich in den Flieger nach Mexiko. In meinen Koffern: meine Fotoausrüstung, Visitenkarten und ein paar Ideen.
Mein Ziel: Monterrey, eine Großstadt im Norden Mexikos, die in einem Artikel der Zeit auch schon mal als das Monaco Lateinamerikas bezeichnet wurde. Monterrey heißt übersetzt Königsberg, die Stadt verdankt diesen Namen den Ausläufern der Sierra Madre Oriental, die majestätisch über der Stadt thronen. Die Villen der Reichen und Superreichen werden konterkariert von den vielen kleinen Häusern, der ärmeren Schichten. Dazwischen ragen einige Büro- und Hotelkomplexe in die Höhe und machen die Gegensätze perfekt. Chaotisch, und für ordnungsliebende Europäer unverständlich scheint das Verkehrssystem. Offensichtlich haben die Mexikaner alle verschiedenen Möglichkeiten eine Straßenkreuzung zu gestalten, ausgenutzt. Ganz nach dem Motto: Ob man wirklich richtig steht, weiß man erst, wenn das grüne Licht angeht.
Als Monterrey vor hundert Jahren von der industriellen Revolution gepackt wurde hatte sie weniger als 100.000 Einwohner. Heute zählt der Ballungsraum Monterrey mit geschätzten 3 – 4 Mio. Einwohnern zu den drei wichtigsten Industriestandorten Mexikos und wurde 1999 vom amerikanischen Wirtschaftsmagazin Fortune zur besten Stadt Lateinamerikas gewählt, um Geschäfte zu machen. Heute sind hier viele amerikanische, kanadische und auch deutsche Unternehmen wie Siemens und die Daimler AG anzutreffen, die hier vor Ort produzieren lassen.
Auch mich als Wirtschaftsabsolventen und Chef einer Beratungs- und Designagentur interessierten die Möglichkeiten, die sich in der jungen, dynamischen und vor allem bunten Volkswirtschaft Mexikos ergeben. Doch es war auch ein wenig Sehnsucht nach der Ferne, die manch einen nach dem Studium packt. So sind zwar viele meiner Kommilitonen jetzt schon in großen Firmen untergebracht, doch ich wollte wissen, welche Wege sich fernab vom „üblichen“ Pfad ergeben.
Meine Ankunft verlief sehr typisch für Mexiko. So hatte ich am Flughafen in Monterrey zwei Stunden Zeit, um mich auf die mexikanische Kultur aufs Neue einzustellen. Um es positiv mit den Worten eines Professors aus Mexiko-Stadt auszudrücken: „Der Mexikaner genießt den Luxus, nicht immer pünktlich sein zu müssen.“. Ich habe gelernt die „freie Zeit“ nicht mehr als Warten zu bezeichnen, weil ich mich dann nur über die Person ärgern würde, die mich warten lässt. Stattdessen suche ich eine sinnvolle Beschäftigung, und sei es nur ein Buch zu lesen oder die vorbeilaufenden Menschen mit ebenso neugierigen Blicken anzuschauen.
Doch genau solche Unterschiede sind es, die für mich den Reiz des Fremden und Fernen ausmachen. In der letzten Woche verglich ein Mexikaner Deutschland, Japan und Mexiko: Wenn in Deutschland eines von 5000 Produkten fehlerhaft ist, wird die ganze Serie neu produziert. Wenn in Japan ein Fehler auftritt, wird der gesamte Produktionsprozess neu gestaltet. In Mexiko sucht man einen Kaugummi und regelt es irgendwie. Sein Vergleich brachte mich zum schmunzeln, zum einen bewundere ich die mexikanische Kreativität, zum anderen muss ich die Stirn runzeln.
Am Tage danach hatte ich die Gelegenheit eine Japanerin, die seit mehr als 40 Jahren in Mexiko lebt, und japanische Kultur und Geschichte lehrt, zu fragen, wie sie aus einem Land des Perfektionismus mit dieser MacGyver-Kultur klar kommt. Ihre Antwort überraschte mich: „mit viel Humor.“.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Monday, July 09, 2007
its been a time
Long time no see...
Yes i have been busy with my tesis and right now i should be working too. But as you know, its always the same: there are times when you have to write something completely different to continue with your own stuff...
So far, i hope at the end of august i will be finished, until then i work on a new portfolio in www.alexanderklebe.de...
See you there
Yes i have been busy with my tesis and right now i should be working too. But as you know, its always the same: there are times when you have to write something completely different to continue with your own stuff...
So far, i hope at the end of august i will be finished, until then i work on a new portfolio in www.alexanderklebe.de...
See you there
Monday, August 21, 2006
La Provence
Aqui estoy y es como la reunion de Mexico. Estoy en el corazon de la Provence, cerca de Aix y Marseille. Es en la manana el viento me da sonrisa cuando esta jugando con mi pelo. Todavia todo parece durmiendo, solo el sonido del rio en el jardin me recuerdo del fact que el tiempo se mueva sin apagar. Tambien me di cuenta que mi espanyol necessita un poco (un poco mas) trabajo para no parecer al idioma de un mummy.
A lo mejor con Manuel y florent hablamos solo espanyol, pero no tan alto como en aleman por supuesto.
Por Eso, tenemos que irnos hasta barcelona... pero hasta ahorita todos estan durmiendo, disfrutando sus suenos. y yo? Yo ando en el blog con u teclado frances, escribiendo espanol y pareciendo legasteniko.
Adios
A lo mejor con Manuel y florent hablamos solo espanyol, pero no tan alto como en aleman por supuesto.
Por Eso, tenemos que irnos hasta barcelona... pero hasta ahorita todos estan durmiendo, disfrutando sus suenos. y yo? Yo ando en el blog con u teclado frances, escribiendo espanol y pareciendo legasteniko.
Adios
Friday, July 14, 2006
The fields, power of nature and me
Yesterday after learning all day long i wanted to get some action and went by car to a near village. I had my rollerblades with me and just wanted to get thrilled and do something for my adrenalin. So i drove by the river, on the left have been the fields, standing in yellow full with corn. Sometimes there has been a tree. On the right side there was the shore of the Oder. and a went on a small hill against high water, where a way with concrete was goin far...
It was about 9pm when i started, at about 9:30 i asked myself why is it so hard to drive today, when i saw that on of my tires has been ruined. When i sat down to think about what to do, i turned back and wondered about the nice colors in the fields.
Then i saw, that there was something big coming from behind... Big clouds, rain and thunder. 3 minutes later the first flash hit the ground near to me. I got panic. was tkaing off the skates and left the small hill to be somewhere lower. i was running to the one direction - flash hitting in front of me, thunder coming. I was counting. 21-22-23 I was turning to the other direction - another flash hitting in front of me. 21-22. I saw there was no sense of fleeing, So i sat down and waited...flashes around me, sometimes with 5 seconds difference. I started talking loud out to god. Telling him, that there are so many undone things in my life, that i am not ready to leave today... i talked to him, just to overcome the fear. I pleased him to stop, but he did let the rain start. I made a very personal commitment - i asked him to let me live on, and i will fight for justice. When the rain was getting more and more i was changing my seat to a place under a near tree. But it wasnt helping to get anything better. I was sitting there and waiting probably an hour, The flashes did not stop - and i have never seen flashes so near in my life before, i was not even able to count between flash and thunder anymore. i was in the center. In one moment of many flashes i saw a roof enlightened by some chainlightnings in the dark sky.
I decided that if the destiny chooses to hit me tonite, it will find me wherever i am, if it only wants to test me - i have to fight. So i started walking - barefeet, with my shirt and skates under my arm through the crop directly towards the roof i was seeing in the distance. I walked about 20 min the rain and the flashes did do a good company, lightning and melodyfying my way on the safe harbor.
when i reached the house, i saw it was a storage for bales of straw. I did get off the rest of my clothes an covered myself in the straw and waited until the rain was finished. after some more minutes i cannot count i took the laces of the skates and made myself look like an indian with the straw, at least i hadnt on the cold and wet clothes anymore. In this style i walked on and on until i came to a smaller house. Standing in front of the door in my robinson crusoe dress i rang the bell and cried for at least ten minutes until a man opened a window - i told him briefly what happened. He gave me some clothes and left me with words of trust: It´s not so easy to die, It´s not as far as you think... so i walked on, when i reached my car, stil barefeet in the clothes of the old man i realized what had happened. The nature gave me a lesson - a lesson of how small we are, a lesson of to stop crying and work for where we wanna get, even if the way is dark are dangerous. It made me trust in it, although i did not know what might happen, because there is nothing worse than sitting on a field while flash and rain are coming down on you and to wait and think "if i wait long enough, something has to happen"
It was about 9pm when i started, at about 9:30 i asked myself why is it so hard to drive today, when i saw that on of my tires has been ruined. When i sat down to think about what to do, i turned back and wondered about the nice colors in the fields.
Then i saw, that there was something big coming from behind... Big clouds, rain and thunder. 3 minutes later the first flash hit the ground near to me. I got panic. was tkaing off the skates and left the small hill to be somewhere lower. i was running to the one direction - flash hitting in front of me, thunder coming. I was counting. 21-22-23 I was turning to the other direction - another flash hitting in front of me. 21-22. I saw there was no sense of fleeing, So i sat down and waited...flashes around me, sometimes with 5 seconds difference. I started talking loud out to god. Telling him, that there are so many undone things in my life, that i am not ready to leave today... i talked to him, just to overcome the fear. I pleased him to stop, but he did let the rain start. I made a very personal commitment - i asked him to let me live on, and i will fight for justice. When the rain was getting more and more i was changing my seat to a place under a near tree. But it wasnt helping to get anything better. I was sitting there and waiting probably an hour, The flashes did not stop - and i have never seen flashes so near in my life before, i was not even able to count between flash and thunder anymore. i was in the center. In one moment of many flashes i saw a roof enlightened by some chainlightnings in the dark sky.
I decided that if the destiny chooses to hit me tonite, it will find me wherever i am, if it only wants to test me - i have to fight. So i started walking - barefeet, with my shirt and skates under my arm through the crop directly towards the roof i was seeing in the distance. I walked about 20 min the rain and the flashes did do a good company, lightning and melodyfying my way on the safe harbor.
when i reached the house, i saw it was a storage for bales of straw. I did get off the rest of my clothes an covered myself in the straw and waited until the rain was finished. after some more minutes i cannot count i took the laces of the skates and made myself look like an indian with the straw, at least i hadnt on the cold and wet clothes anymore. In this style i walked on and on until i came to a smaller house. Standing in front of the door in my robinson crusoe dress i rang the bell and cried for at least ten minutes until a man opened a window - i told him briefly what happened. He gave me some clothes and left me with words of trust: It´s not so easy to die, It´s not as far as you think... so i walked on, when i reached my car, stil barefeet in the clothes of the old man i realized what had happened. The nature gave me a lesson - a lesson of how small we are, a lesson of to stop crying and work for where we wanna get, even if the way is dark are dangerous. It made me trust in it, although i did not know what might happen, because there is nothing worse than sitting on a field while flash and rain are coming down on you and to wait and think "if i wait long enough, something has to happen"
Friday, March 31, 2006
The PhotoStudio
We have been working a lot of time, to clean these old rooms from the dirt. There has been growing something in the corner and i was happy it did not speak my language. The muscle-buzzers have been training here before and maybe forgot sometimes to open the windows... still there is this strange smell in the rooms. So we fought with the alienate-lifeform (there was some superspray in some supermarket) painted everything, laid new ground and finally: a hammock. Of coure i need it for fotoreasons. This week i was shooting with 3 different backgrounds, 9 different modells and 134 different camera and flash adjustments.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Good old Germany?
The first step out of the plane was incredible, in mind i was goin right back into the plane, hiding myself in some toilet, and goin back to my home, Monterrey. But the people have been pushing me forward towards the cold morning in Berlin. everything was white, and i wasnt. I noticed the people looking at me, even starring and whispering: "Oh he has a lots of stuff" and "Where does he work in a sunstudio?" I was just smiling to myself and thinking, it will stay a secret for you, i wont share my experience that are keeping me in a good warm mood on a cold winter day.
When my Mom arrived to pick me up, i had so many stories to tell, mexico is alive with me, and with every little piece i share, i feel a little bit less for myself. I hope You understand, i cannot share every moment, every story and not every picture, but i wanna share this one from over here.
Long time i hoped to go shopping in a supermarket in germany, and i was looking for sausage, bread and cherries, simple things. when i was at the chashiers, placing my stuff to be scanned and summed up, i was standing there waiting, at the end of the chain the products where getting more and more. As there where almost jumping themselvesback into the cart, i realised: There is no one putting my stuff in bags, Why not, there should be someone...
Its the small things, that cause us to realize, that something has changed...
In next days there are lots of change to come, when i was looking for my car, i could not trust my eyes, it was burried under a mass of snow, when i succesfully freed it, of course it did not talk to me, not a single sound not even a whisper. So i head to go to the heart of it and reanimate, with small success, it is alive, but more like a grandfather in a rocking chair than a jumpseat in Stealthfighter, and the worst thing is: the formerly known as megasoundsytem isnt working anymore.
As well finding a new flat is not as easy as i hoped, of course i can live with my parents (yeah after almost 4 years not living at home its really funny) but i need some place to put the hammocks and my fotos on the wall. I have seen real nice rooms, big ones, where i was tempted to stay there, but there is always an achilles heel: In one roomi would be neighbour with one of mybest friends and working collegues, and the people are really nice, but the room is promised to someone else, another nice room, in a former fabric yeah its really nice, but the muslimgirl ( who did choose to become muslim by herself) cannot live together with guys, because it is against her beliefs, although she isnot living there right now, but will come back in october, i could continue the list, but i dont think anymore its funny.
So One Week in good old germany and i already need some vacation... as soon as possible.
When my Mom arrived to pick me up, i had so many stories to tell, mexico is alive with me, and with every little piece i share, i feel a little bit less for myself. I hope You understand, i cannot share every moment, every story and not every picture, but i wanna share this one from over here.
Long time i hoped to go shopping in a supermarket in germany, and i was looking for sausage, bread and cherries, simple things. when i was at the chashiers, placing my stuff to be scanned and summed up, i was standing there waiting, at the end of the chain the products where getting more and more. As there where almost jumping themselvesback into the cart, i realised: There is no one putting my stuff in bags, Why not, there should be someone...
Its the small things, that cause us to realize, that something has changed...
In next days there are lots of change to come, when i was looking for my car, i could not trust my eyes, it was burried under a mass of snow, when i succesfully freed it, of course it did not talk to me, not a single sound not even a whisper. So i head to go to the heart of it and reanimate, with small success, it is alive, but more like a grandfather in a rocking chair than a jumpseat in Stealthfighter, and the worst thing is: the formerly known as megasoundsytem isnt working anymore.
As well finding a new flat is not as easy as i hoped, of course i can live with my parents (yeah after almost 4 years not living at home its really funny) but i need some place to put the hammocks and my fotos on the wall. I have seen real nice rooms, big ones, where i was tempted to stay there, but there is always an achilles heel: In one roomi would be neighbour with one of mybest friends and working collegues, and the people are really nice, but the room is promised to someone else, another nice room, in a former fabric yeah its really nice, but the muslimgirl ( who did choose to become muslim by herself) cannot live together with guys, because it is against her beliefs, although she isnot living there right now, but will come back in october, i could continue the list, but i dont think anymore its funny.
So One Week in good old germany and i already need some vacation... as soon as possible.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Hamaca loca
Yesterday when we have been relaxing in the hammocs, yeah it is very stressful overhere... anyway we have been sitting there, when the fishermen were coming back with a big fish in their net, a Shark, dangerously cunning and very young, i did not know whetther i should fear this one or be sad for he cant continue his way in the riffs, furthermore in the net there was a big manta... ahh poor fish, i dont like fish, and my friends try to feed me fish almost every day...
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