It's the middle of the afternoon, I'm going to put something in my room at the youth hostel, and I discover my new roommate. A guy in his fifties, Argentinian, who seemed nice at first glance, except that there's a little detail that's slightly embarrassing for me because he's... naked. But like naked, naked, naked... In a mixed room.
Well, I'll skip his paraphernalia for a moment, and we'll introduce ourselves.
I wish he'd put his towel around him before shaking my hand, but okay.
And then we carry on chatting, except that the gentleman doesn't want to get dressed. Eventually, he sits across from me on his bed, legs spread. And I'd love to tell you that I remember what he told me, but I was so focused on looking him in the eye and being like, it's okay that I have no idea what he's doing, why he's there, etc., that I couldn't even imagine what he was doing.
It reminds me of my childhood memories in my father's soccer locker room, where it was normal for everyone and a bit weird for me.
Well, I'll stop blogging about it, we're all human, it's beautiful to be natural and all that and I'll be like, that's normal.
On the other hand, Sir, I don't mind if you keep your hand somewhere else, above the belt for example...
I'm going back to work.
I spend a delightful evening with a group of 6 people, an Irishman, a Frenchwoman, a Greek woman and a Danish couple. Our recently divorced Irish friend is a psychologist in the navy, with a daughter who wants to follow in his footsteps in psychology. He's taken 3 months off to travel, and he's moving between countries and experiences at the speed of light, 2 days in Mendoza, 3 days in Cordoba. Naturally, I share with him my experience of 2 months in Mendoza and 3 months in Cordoba. And I also explain the importance of taking your time when traveling.
I ask him what he thinks of holistic therapies and tell him about my practice. He tells me he's fascinated by these practices and has had the opportunity to experiment a little. And his answer surprised me to no end: to hear a psychologist sharing, accepting and interested in my practice warms my heart.
The Danes tell us stories of growing up in their country. They tell us about their ceremonies when they leave school, where they hire a pig truck (apparently, there are plenty of them in their country). And the tradition is for all the students to drive the piggy truck around each parent's house, drinking one or more shots at each stop. On this atypically assumed tradition, and strangely close and yet at the same time distant from the film Drunk. He tells us he comes from a village of 70 people with a brothel. Except that the villagers aren't happy, because a Romanian has taken over the house and is making a mess of things in the village. His wife comes from the big city next door, with its 1,500 inhabitants.
Our Greek friend is traveling alone, and has just returned from a motorcycle trip where she was on her own for two days, but on the way to return the bike she met a group of seven bikers who suggested she join them. After some hesitation, she ended up extending her motorcycle rental and joining them on an expedition up a pass, inevitably roadless. I can't deny admiring the guts she had to do it.
Our Frenchwoman has been traveling alone for the past 4 years, after having decided to live freely at the age of 30. She's the kind of person who speaks 3 languages perfectly, who writes, and therefore inevitably inspires me. We represent the people around us. So I asked her to room with me and my sister for a month and a half.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to share my news for the day, following a meeting with the people from Cordoba Accelera whom we met in October. They're organizing a conference to which we've been invited to give a workshop on corporate well-being.
The first meeting we had together had to be in English, as I was unable to speak Spanish. It was with great surprise that my colleagues at Cordoba Accédera welcomed my proposal to hold the meeting in Spanish. They offered me the chance to be interviewed by a journalist from one of Argentina's biggest national radio stations, Cadena 3. We're recording on March 21, 2024, a week from today.
After this balmy evening, around midnight I return to my room to find my afternoon roommate. He's dressed - well, he's wearing boxers. He approaches me a little closer, and talks to me again. And everything was fine, until he started putting his hand down his shorts while talking to me. Energetically, I felt an aggression and told him "energetically" to calm down. And right away, he removes his hand.
I leave to shower, and in the meantime a new roommate arrives. A bit drunk, and a bit noisy, but at the time, I'm quite happy to have a new person in the room. He tells us he's hungry and is looking for something to eat. He settles into bed on top of me. I'm on my phone because I can't sleep. He tells us he wants to smoke weed and eat and a few minutes later... BOOOOOMM.
My top bunkmate just crashed to the floor. He wanted to get down because his food had arrived, but wasn't too successful. He's going out to get his food.
My naturist roommate takes the opportunity to come and talk to me. In itself, the scene was so atypical, and fortunately inconsequential. He's still in his shorts, but comes a little too close to my bed with his hand in his shorts, which makes me particularly uncomfortable.
I energetically invite him to calm down and go back to bed. He goes straight back to bed. But like a mosquito being threatened, I feel his energy tickling me. And I'm glad to know that my hungry roommate returns thirty minutes later. They start chatting amongst themselves. He takes the opportunity to take out an electronic cigarette with 99% THC oil and smoke it in the room.
I fall asleep and I don't hide the fact that I was ready to smash the guy's face in if he made a mischievous attempt on my bed. Because what I was feeling, his erotic desires... And no, nothing weird has ever happened to me in a youth hostel, until today. (Our naked friend asked me this question).
The next morning, my bedmate joins me for breakfast. He's off to Iguazhou and then Brazil, with no idea how to pay his way back. I feel a very heavy energy and understand that he has a problem with his brother. I'm doing something else, and I don't feel like playing therapist. So I don't say anything, I just do a little thing to ease his shoulder because it bothers me when I'm working.
I meet him again at 2pm and we end up chatting about our naked flatmate from the day before. He tells me that he can't stand people who talk to you while scratching their balls, and that it reminds him of his brother and annoys him to no end.
Well, if I was still looking for an entry point to talk to her about her brother, here it is. We start chatting and I tell him a bit about my life. I take the opportunity to give him a more complete treatment and help him to feel better. I get a lot of information about things they could work on to get better.
I thank him for messing up last night, and that I was glad he was there last night.
He thanked me for helping him see the situation with his brother in a different light. It turns out that his brother is the same age as me.
On this strange night and these beautiful coincidences, we part on a kiss before he takes his bus!
English 
Français 
Español de Argentina