Bouquet of Books and Brooks

"As a traveller, we always get to trust in our own intuitions wherever we go, or any false step can lead us into fascinating or, otherwise, terrible choices. The places we see, the people we meet, they all make part of our stories (...)

Daniel sat on my left side. I asked him about his origins. He said he was Jewish. "No kidding?" I thought to myself. That I knew since the night before when I explained to him about the origin of Halloween, a pagan party, where people dressed up in disguise for the main purpose of mixing up with the dead, and not being so noticeable (all the contrary on our days). His great grandpa was from Romania. "My grandfather was born in Romania," I said with an exclaimed expression. Then I knew that we were really meant to meet.

Maybe my grandpa and his grandpa's dad planned the whole thing up during the Halloween trick or treat. By my right there was an agnostic man (don't even start with why I was by his side, when all that I do is to believe). So there I was, a Catholic, beside me a Jewish man, and an agnostic with the Muslim all talking to each other about that beautiful and divine place.

Then at the hotel, watching CNN on cable, I found out about another Daniel, whose family name is Barenboim, an Israeli composer who was being interviewed. And he was talking about Andalusia as the only place in the whole Europe where Muslims, Jews and Catholic can play along. I have that account for a fact!(...)" Excerpts from my book "Stigmas Enigmas and Stereotypes"


Daniel Barenboim assembled an orchestra consisting of young Arabs and Israelis. A month ago, he was awarded honorary Palestinian citizenship after holding a concert in Ramallah, which made him the first man to have both Israeli and Palestinian citizenship.

Chillin' Out with "TICO TICO NO FUBA":