What did you do in 2015 that you hadn’t done before?
I moved to San Juan, worked at a museum, went camping (in a tent! In the rain!), saw a fox, and got a smartphone which I ended up spending a disproportionate amount of time staring into.
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
“I think I should stop smoking but…what else am I supposed to do with my hands??! Maybe I should just start putting them in my pockets, thus, I resolve to only wear clothes with pockets. #2014”
I did not only wear clothes with pockets, nor did I finally quit smoking. I’ve been smoking less though.
This year, I need to make less resolutions and just GET SHIT DONE. Although I do resolve to be more generous with myself and those I love, even if it means compromising my chances at living into my 80s and 90s. Who the fuck needs grandchildren anyway.
3. What do you wish you’d done more of?
More thesis. Less work. More liquor and wine, less beer.
4. What was your greatest musical discovery?
The ladies dancing in this video.
5. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 30! I arrived just in time, at midnight from Antwerp via Brussels, where I did a week long summer school with the people of the RCA-Antwerp and Lokaal Nul Een. Found my bag and cleared customs. The boy I was seeing/talking to/chilling with at the time was there to pick me up and gift me with an orchid (now deader than that relationship) and we had early breakfast/late dinner. The next day, I had laksa with my dad.
Things are getting quieter around here.
6. People:
With employment at institutions came further resolutions about the kind of work I wanted to go and (more importantly in this context I guess) who I want to work with… So Patrick Flores was a big part of this year, as were my advisers Flaudette May Datuin and Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez. Peewee Roldan and the Garibays have been kind enough to give me work. Those doing the hard work behind the scenes at the Prince Claus Fund, Haus de Kulturen der Welt, and the Goethe Institute, thank you for everything.
My Barcelona family at El Rancho – Christian, Rosa, Idoya, Raquel, Alba, Arthur, and the cats; Trinka Lat and Florian Essig in Berlin; Frederik Vergaert, Pascal Gielen, and everyone who made the last week of my twenties in Antwerp possible – especially Valerie, Alison, and Cat, without whom my luggage and I would have been soaked through.
Valerie and Merv: thank you for the best meals I had this year. So much love went into the meals you prepared, love, love, love!
Alice Sarmiento 