* I met someone who was detained in a famous hostage crisis that took place in the 90s of last century. He was lucky enough to be in the first wave of hostages who were freed after few days. Many others were released few months later. It was interesting to hear a firsthand testimony depicting how feelings of shock, rage, defiance and despair were experienced. According to him, what remained distinctively in his memory were the unexpected reactions of many hostages whom he has already known as friends or acquaintances. Those who thought to be big and strong collapsed. Others expected to be calm and confident became hysterical. And some frail-looking ones surprisingly composed themselves. The contrast between what was perceived and what was proved in his days of detention overshadowed the other feelings he harbored in that difficult experience.
* I was waiting for my companions to finish their grocery shopping in Mercado Municipal de Magdalena when a blind girl wearing the traditional dress and selling candies on the sidewalk caught my eyes. She looked quite poor. Every passerby tried to give her money without taking candies in return, as a gesture of help or compassion, was firmly turned down. There are many very kind and dignified persons but they might not be visible in the fog that shrouds everything, and small beautiful acts like that touch me and restore the lost faith. I just wanted to tell her "Thank You".
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