EMBRACING NEW LIFE

December 9 was my b-day. I spent 13 hours sitting in on a seminar on anti-desertification. It was a meaningful day, in terms of learning new things, meeting new people, one of the best b-days I have had. In the meantime, I got 7 b-day greetings from friends. The first one got in only a couple of minutes after 9 am. It was from my high school classmate (in fact I had a 3-year+ crush on him at that time, which was ten years ago). I was so glad and thankful that he remembered.

I have not been to Inner Mongolia, but on this seminar I met some interesting people doing important things fighting against desertification of the steppe. The two most important things I learned on the seminar are: 1) the war against desertification can NEVER be won if indigenous culture and knowledge are not respected; 2) there will always be committed individuals, fighting for a cause, for an ideal, against desertification, against all odds.

On the way home after the long day, in the cab we shared, I told the new executive director of FON that I was a b-day girl, and he suggested we have a drink to celebrate it. Close by where I live, there is this small café named “Waiting for Godot”. It is a quiet place, perfect for a good conversation. Leffe Blonde tasted good. We both saw the play this May. He saw it twice and even wrote an unpublished review. I saw it with N.

To sum up, it was a nice day, and I was a happy b-day girl, with only one disappointment—it turned out that N did not know it.