my first -and hopefully not last- lecture!

Last Tuesday I gave my first lecture ever. It was pretty exciting, although I felt a bit nervous at first.

The subject was very extensive and that made it scarier. "The Political, Economic and Social Situation of Central America and The Caribbean". I felt pretty confident talking about Central America, but not so much when it came to the Caribbean, for two reasons: a) The Caribbean includes over sixteen countries (it depends on the criteria taken into account), while Central America only six or maybe even seven (if you include Panama). I'm Centralamerican, and my education has always been a bit Central America-centric, if you know what I mean. And b) The Caribbean is much more heterogeneous and diverse than Central America is. Finding similarities between Guatemala and El Salvador and making generalizations of it was a lot easier than trying to do the same between Cuba, Haiti and Puerto Rico.

Anyhow, I was excited about this lecture and happy that I had been asked to do it. I stood in front of about 30 seminarians and one nun for over an hour and basically didn't stop talking. A lot of questions raised and the result was an intense discussion and a profound reflection of over 35 Latinamerican souls about the reality we are part of and our commitment to transform it.

At the end we all felt worried, frustrated and, most importantly, committed. I felt this was a good first lecture.

Ingrid Betancourt was finally set free!

I'm so happy. Today is a memorable day for Colombia and the rest of the world. An outstanding woman, among about fifteen other people, got her life back today.

Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by the Colombian FARC guerrilla over six years ago. Recent photos, a letter and a video gave no hope of her survival. I have no doubt this was an incredibly tough experience to survive...I imagine even she wondered, for the over two thousand days she was kept captive in the middle of the Colombian jungle, if she was going make it.

I can't even imagine how horrible it must be to have your life taken away from you in such a cruel and radical way. If you're killed you no longer care, for you are dead. But to be kidnapped...and for so long...it must be the most frustrating experience. Especially for such a person: a prepared woman full hope, strength and the will to make things change in her troubled country. God, it frustrates me to even think about it.

I'm so happy for her and the others (and their families and friends) and I hope that they will recover from this as much they possibly can. I hope Ingrid Betancourt does, and if she does, I know she can make great things happen. I'm hoping for it with all my heart.

July is here! and, I'm happy I'm a woman!

And just like that, July comes upon us with its heavy rains and beautiful afternoons! Every time a new month begins, I feel excited, it's like a little New Year's Eve for me. Related to that is my next thought, which is...I'm glad I'm a woman.

I was talking to a good friend on the phone the other night. We talked for a long time, just like we used to when we were in high school. The subject was pretty usual amongst girls: we were talking about love and about boys...about loving boys. I was pointing out how I thought that when it came to relationships, and life in general (except for the -could be- natural impulse that men have to play the role of the "providers" and "protectors" that even now, that women are emancipating and changing the way traditional families and societies work, it's almost inevitable and must be a huge source of stress throughout their lives), being a man was much easier -maybe I mean simpler- than being a woman: I find myself, and the rest of women, to be extremely complicated. Complicated in different ways and levels, but complicated all the same.

Being a woman implies a lot of rules and expectations. There is a pressure on all women to be true to the idea that the world has created of what a woman is and/or how she should be: what she should think and want, how she should look and behave...this isn't always easy to deal with. And even though today there is a universal effort to make men and women live and work in equal terms and have the same opportunities, this is still far from being a reality.

Being a woman also entails a lot of physical and emotional challenges. Hormones are a real Judas, if you know what a mean.

Anyways, while I continued making my point, I started to see how being a woman, in all its complications, is a blessing. And I'm not saying that being a man isn't, but you see, if you're a woman you will not doubt me when I assure you that a woman's life is filled with magic. We pay attention to the smallest things in everything, we get excited about practically anything, we make each day a magical journey and fill it with emotion, imagination and excitement.

So...I'm happy July is here and I'm happy I'm a woman. I'm conscious about its privileges and complications, and I wouldn't want to experience this world through other eyes than my own. I live in my own world. I love my own world.