Hasta Pronto Auckland
After almost 5 months living in Auckland I started packing my luggage. Organizing what I´m going to need during the next two weeks around the south island, preparing some stuff that I’m going to leave in a friend’s house in Christchurch, like my computer ☺, and leaving the rest behind.
Today, I’m going to have some drinks with the people who I work with and at 9 we have organized our farewell party. We invited all our friends including the genius of Sam, who manages the supermarket in the block where we live; Tara, who runs the post office and John who has the renting car company that I used to go to Whangamata, Wellington or New Plymouth.
Since we lived in the other house, we had a big sheet to cover one of the windows and where Juanx and my self represented us with a draw, to break the monotony of a big brown sheet, (Juanx did the fox from little princes and I did a compass with the south in the north and the big smile). Most of the people who came to the house to stay for couple days, to have a dinner or just to say hello had the same task, representing them self with a simple draw (In the picture below you can see my luggage organized and the mentioned big brown sheet).
During the past week, a friend who is in Hasting, which is a city 3 hours from Auckland, who stayed with her boyfriend for 3 or 4 days, sent me an email saying that a guy who is working with her knows me and had done the vauquita draw from the sheet… Clovis is going to well keep it in France.
Thanks to all of those who has signed it and those who not, but had made our time in Auckland unforgettable.
My flight is Saturday 645AM and I don´t know if I´m going to live again in Auckland, however I’m sure I’m going to return. I uploaded a folder called Auckland to Picasa, enjoy it!
1 comment March 11, 2010
Parques, plazas y esas cosas.
After Do you like changes? I need to post something much more calm because it is how my mind feels now. Since I was in Australia I realized a difference in the parks or with the outdoors activities, which people usually practice down under. I had this post in my WordPress draft folder for the past 2 months and it was time to finish it and to give it life, I only have one left in the draft folder and it is about economics 
Almost everyone practice any sport in New Zealand or Australia, being Cricket one of the most classics in New Zealand and cycling in Australia. Cricketianos meets each Saturday or Sunday, with them white uniforms, to play until the sun come down, meanwhile Melbourne has hundred of different cycling routes or cycling groups. During my past months I played soccer, ultimate Frisbee, I went for running, swimming, sailing, cycling, kayaking and I been surfing and rock climbing once. All of this were not because I´m a very sporty person, it was because someone invited me to go or because I browsed it online and it came up and it was interesting to do. In the south Island I’m staying in a friends of friends house, who used to play frisbee golf… (click here for a video)
Anyway, parks never close and there is not security in them. Secondly the games are not only for kids; they are for teenagers or even adults who use them to “train” . The games seriously welcome you, swinging hamacas or climbing walls (Pictures from Victoria Park).
The floor, where the games are, is a synthetic soft carpet to avoid accidents and most of the games are made by plastic and inox, although most of the parks have some skate ramps. Parks keep people from all ages active, meanwhile they are a great way to connect them with “nature”.
Parks are used to host different public events, such us: bands playing live music, movies or light festivals. At the moment Albert Park (central park from Auckland) is hosting a cool light festival and Victoria park usually is the place where a group of 10 musicians meet every weekend to practice bagpipes, you can listen them from 8 blocks…
Finally, I think in parks there is a philosophy to let kids learning by taking little risks, I can see the future Edmund Hillary climbing one of the climbing walls.
Add comment March 8, 2010
Do you like changes?
A very big change is coming in this post, for that, I invite you to read it slowly, taking it as an inspiration, not expecting less from you or from your future changes.
I have decided to stop Chapter 25. I stopped one of my big journeys for a great opportunity, which came up, I putted the breaks on to make a change and reorient to a new way, different than before, but my way now.
My work with RESULTS.com was sincerely awesome, I learned tons, I feel I fitted perfectly with all of them and what is more important I can clearly see the potential of what we are doing.
Last year they settled up offices in Canada and on April the company is going to start her operations to conquest US. Joining the expansions was something very exciting and I knew I had something different to contribute with.
The proposal that I accepted was simple and clear, giving me the possibility to grow and it included relocate my self in Los Angeles, California, for at least two years and starting on April. In the beginning I’m going to be one of the first persons in the US and I know it is going to be a huge challenge, however I already love it and I’m looking forward for it.
For the end, two last things, when I was thinking which decision to take, I projected two Sebastians. One who continue traveling, learning and meeting new cultures, who was a little more hippie than the other Sebastian, who was coming back to the business market in the US. I decided myself for the second option because I know I can affect positive much more people; just imagine the possibility to be able to transform business potential into extraordinary RESULTS.
Secondly, but not less important, CHAPTER 25 was an exiting part in my journey and it seriously lifted my bar higher, I learned piles, I met wonderful people, I been in beautiful and very remote places and it helped me to know my self better. If one day I can finish it, it is going to be with the same philosophy. Meanwhile is going to be very well recordado, que significa en latin volver a pasar por el corazon (it is going to be very well remember what in Latin means pass again by your heart).
As I said in a previous post about RESULTS, this blog represents my own opinions, and does not in any way represent those of them, except coincidentally. To read more about Results.com.
Add comment March 4, 2010
Internet is moving fast, so fast, almost at real time.
Couple weeks ago I read a very interesting article comparing the Industrial revolution with what they called Internet revolution. For few seconds think being while the industrial revolution: imagine seeing all the changes and how people had to adapted to them, people migrating to cities, working in factories instead of farms or avoiding the feudal system. Imagine the mind of a person deciding to move from London or Paris to America, 200 years ago, because he believed there were better opportunities there.
Today we’re living the Internet revolution, which started only fifteen or twenty years ago,
so who are more than 25 years old still remember how everything was before.
Can you remember people going to banks to pay bills? Do you remember the first website that you loaded? Or have you though possible 10 years ago the idea to be hosted while you travel for free by people in the more remotes parts of the world thanks of an online network? I had printed on my mind a teacher from high school who told us that she had to study what email or chat were because they were “on theory” when she was at university.
Internet changed people and how we communicate. Internet became the platform to link, in the beginning the linking was between people only by emails, then by chat, when social media became popular, Facebook or Linkedin let you keep most of your contacts tracked and today, twitter, buzz or the project where yahoo is still working, are letting you keep all your “links” updated and what is more impressive, everything is happening in real-time. The world is moving fast, so fast, and now search engines are moving them platforms to offer real-time searches to adapt to this new stage.
This speed affects everything and in completely different scales; I remember a group of musicians playing on Queen St (one of the principal St. from Auckland) the day after the earthquake in Haiti, to raise money in New Zealand to send to Haiti. Couple weeks ago I wanted to buy an Internet domain, I didn’t do it in the first time, and a week later it was sold, and couple days ago I started receiving comments on pictures that I uploaded, don’t even 1 minute after the loading bar had finished.
Today everything is happening at real-time, which is teaching us how to take fast decisions with the most information available, because if not someone else is going to take it before us.
Updating this post I want to add two videos about internet and the social media revolution showed by a friend, thanks Simon!
Add comment March 1, 2010
Over the clouds, Mt Egmont.
Last Saturday, Juanx, my friend that I was traveling with, returned to Auckland to leave New Zealand 4 days later. I picked up him at the airport and we drove to New Plymouth. I had been there but I hadn’t reached the summit of the Mt Egmont so that was the reason that we returned.
Mt Egmont is 2518 mt over the sea, what is not a lot comparing other mountains, however it has one of the borders on the sea so you have to start at almost the sea level. Māori legend says that Taranaki (Mt Egmont) previously lived with the Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu mountains of the central North Island but fled to its current location after a battle with Tongariro.
The route that we took it was quite hard to hike it but after 5 hours we reached the summit. On the way up we crossed only a few people and a man who was 83 years old. He told us that for the past three years he had been saying this is going to be my last year, however I don’t think he’ll not come on 2011. Believe me it was not an easy hike and being 83 years old and reach the summit it was a big endeavor! The 360 view from the summit and the snow in the valley were awesome.
On the way to Auckland we stopped at three sisters, a rock formation recommended by a collage. It is on the cost and there are some caves and a beautiful three rocks formation. Tide was low and I gave a second possibility to the ocean caves, this time everything was fine and we enjoyed a black sand beach.
We returned to Auckland on Monday, met Clovis and some friends from UK, and we all had some drinks at ponsonby social club. Later for dinner we cooked corns that we bought on a small town and the day after Juanx took his plane to Buenos Aires (Feli ya no lo tenes que extrañar mas y en el futuro viajaremos de a 4:).
It was really easy traveled with Juanx and we got very well. It seams yesterday when we started traveling, however time flew, and there is lot coming forward!
Add comment February 22, 2010
Society for Entrepreneurship in Latin America
I have participated in some entrepreneurship competitions or summits since my late teens. Last year I was selected one of the 30 delegates for the Society for Entrepreneurship in Latin America (SELA) at 
Stanford University and it was one of the best summits I ever been. Applications are open for 2010 and I want to encourage all of you to participate.
The SELA Summit is a week-long conference organized by the Society for Entrepreneurship in Latin America, an undergraduate student organization at Stanford University. It provides students from around Latin America with a unique chance to meet and learn from successful entrepreneurs.
I´m still in contact with most of the participants on 2009 and they all were one of the core values of the summit.
Add comment February 19, 2010
We need your help, Idealist.org
Last week I received a very nice email from the director of Idealist, Juan Cruz Mones, and I want to share part of it with all of you to see how we can all help them.
Idealist.org is an umbrella organization who works to 
support non profit organization to exchange resources, ideas, locate opportunities and supporters. They been doing an amazing work and they have filled an empty niche in the non governmental sector since 1995, I personally being involve with them for the past 4 years and now is time to all do something.
Since the economic crisis last year the incomes of the organization dropped 50%. Most of the income were raise by ads sold to US companies whom were interested in advertise job opportunities with them. Because of the recession fewer employees are seeking and lot of companies move to no cots platforms, which produced a struggle time with the idealist incomes.
There are three ways to help:
- Donating on http://www.idealistas.org/donar (Super Thanks in advance)
- Sharing this information with your people by emails, twitter, facebook, linkedin, or all the social media that we daily use.
- Both
(Much more Thanks)
They really need us, please do your part!
Add comment February 16, 2010
Chapter 25, second part starting.
Last weekend I bought my tickets to leave Auckland and two weeks later New Zealand.
On Friday 12th I’m finishing my work with Results and on Saturday morning I’m flying to Christchurch, which is a city in the middle of the south island on the east cost. I’m going to stay until Monday, when I have a ticket to take the Trans Scenic, a train which goes from Christchurch to Picton, which is a town in the north of the south island, called Tasman bay region. In Tasman bay I’ve planned to do a 3 days tramping (it is how kiwis refer to hiking) and one of the most famous ocean kayaking circuits in the world. Later I’m going to start going south, all around the west cost, spending couple days at Mount Cook and Milford Sound. Mount Cook is the highest mountain in NZ, and if the weather conditions allow it, I’d love to try to climb it.
I have no idea how I’m going to travel all around the south island during the two weeks, except for the train from Christchurch to Picton, but I really don’t care a lot about it and I think hitchhiking is going to be a good index to see how nice people traveling in NZ is J.
On the 28th of March I’m flying from Christchurch to Sydney and the day after, I’m flying to US where I’m going to stay for 3 weeks. In US I’m meeting with one of my brothers, Santi, and his girlfriend, May, meanwhile we all spend gorgeous time with little Benja. I know all of these is going to let me recharge my batteries for the second part of chapter 25!
After US I’m flying to Cairns, north of Australia, where I’m going to try to find a boat to go to Papua New Guinea, until Cairns is where my plans go for the moment. Later I only know the time that I have to travel and that I’ll really want to see Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar (maybe), Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Taiwan and Japan. Choosing one of those destinies to volunteer at a local non-profit organization.
I don’t have any contact, even friend of friends of friends from Indonesia, Myanmar or Laos so if you have any email or contact to share with, it is going to be more than welcome.
There is a lot coming the following months and it is going to be completely different from the past seven. I’m really looking forward to starting with it!
Add comment February 12, 2010
It´s always about people
They are who make each experience different and unforgettable. I remember a 2AM conversation with some friends in Melbourne discussing about people, it was amazing see all of us, with a completely different background, religion or culture finding similitude and differences between people and all of us. Below there is a list with some of the memorable people who I’ve met during my past 6 months.
- I’m working with the past entrepreneurship organization president of New Zealand.
- I had couple lunches with a guy who has a twin, he is married with a woman who also has her twin and they both have together two daughters, who are twins. He is co-founder of the second most important paragliding company in the world and he has more than 4000 jumps.
- I interchanged emails with two writers of books I read.
- I met two women who had been partners for 12 years and I became friend with two British guys who been together for 22 years, they got married last year.
- I attended a piano and violin concert and they gave me a CD as a gift.
- I met a girl from Germany who was completely intolerable, I´m very patience and I just shared with her a dinner however it was too much time… Juan do you remember Niña?
- I interchanged emails and some ideas with a senior fellow and director of social computing lab from HP in California.
- I had my first flat mate, he is a guy who stopped his studies to follow his dream and become a sailor.
- I met a friend who is 23 years, she is a biochemical engineer speaks fluent Spanish, English, French, Italian and Portuguese and she wants to live in Africa.
- I had couple drinks with an UK diplomatic who ran for the European parliament and he is going to cycle from New Zealand to Japan and from Japan to UK, during the next two years.
- I was in a bbq with a guy who was married, his wife and his girlfriend (two different persons) were at the same bbq and they both are good friends.
- I traveled with two friends from Taiwan, one of them has to live in Australia because is what his parents want for him.
- I missed my family and friends (sometimes a lot)
- I met a friend who has a daughter, she is 12 years old, and she sells smoothies every weekend at her father’s restaurant to pay her next year dancing classes.
- I been in contact with most of my people thanks of Internet, skype, etc.
- A Musulman friend explained me why they let them father’s married them or why is important to respect the Ramallah
- I learned Colombian thanks of four friends and amazing trips together; they all are changing Colombian prospective in the world.
- I started new years with very cool people, one of them whom participated in the Olympic winter games in Turin.
- I met someone who told me he was a spy.
- I met the writer of whale’s rider and I hope we can set up a cafe during the following weeks.
We concluded our conversation thinking that in each nation, culture or religion there are people with same patrons and what make nations, religions or cultures different is which of the patrons is more predominant.
There are always some who wants to be a writers, those who wish build a family, some who work in a farm, those who want to sing, dance, paint or act, some who born to dedicate to politics or businesses, there are also people who follow them dreams until the end and those who doesn’t, there are bad people, people who make science progress, and a there are a few more, however what matters is those more predominance or those who can lead a change. I hope continue meeting wonderful people forever!
1 comment February 9, 2010
Maori Performance, late at the museum.
Similar of noche de los museos in Benos Aires, Auckland Museum comes alive on the first
Thursday each month with, LATE at the Museum. The series features enlivening discussion on contemporary themes, with bands and DJs performing in the Museum’s galleries.
Last Thursday was the first time that I´ve participated and it was fantastic. I went with Clovis, a friend from Argentina and her boyfriend from Chile. The discussion was about Maori presence in the New Zealand´s every day culture and the performance was lead by Whirimako Black with jazz, blues and Maori music as you can see in the video below. I hope you enjoy it!
2 comments February 7, 2010
