it's my birthday!
:: a day to reflect on the positive sides and all that is good about our world
it is my birthday. we have gone through quite a bitter time since march 2000's nasdaq bubble bust and it seems that nothing fun nor positive has happened since. the world around us has really been shaken and our feathers have been ruffled. but i have had enough of negativity and bitterness; i want to focus on all that is positive and good around us.
so here we go: why am i greatful? for many many reasons.
First of all, I am glad to be in Canada. I am glad to have a wise prime minister. I am glad that he was elected by the people and not by our supreme court. I am proud that Dino ;) served under a great prime minister like Pierre Trudeau, who knew how to stand up and to live harmoniously beside the friendly giant to the south.
I have an eery feeling that Jean Chrétien will be the last Prime Minister that will have the "chutzpah" to stand up for Canadian values.
I am honoured by the privilege of being Canadian. I am grateful for having immigrated to this great land where people from different social and ethnic backgrounds can live together in peace and harmony. I am grateful for living in Montreal, a great vibrant City. Fun to live in, with an unequaled latin Joie de Vivre.
I am grateful for speaking several languages, so that I can understand others and see the world in various angles. I am grateful that I was lucky enough to have a father that allowed us to
travel to so many different countries to discover foreign cultures.
I am grateful for a having a loving mother and a responsible father who thought of the future and took us out of a country taken hostage by fanatical madmen. I am grateful that I briefly lived through a glimpse of war as a young child. I am glad that I got to see the horrors and the terror unleashed by the bitter light show of overnight bombardment, sirens and casualties.
I am grateful to have lived in Spain. I am grateful that I was able to go to school in Spain. I am glad that I had the opportunity to go to a mixed school in the heart of Madrid. I am glad that my parents encouraged me to take cathechism classes in order to learn about a foreign religion. I was glad to go to the chapel with the rest of my class. Although at the time I was not, I am glad that the kids called me a *moro*. It felt special to be the only immigrant in the school. I am glad that I provided the opportunity my class-mates to have a glimpse into the future of their countries. I am glad that I may have offered the chance to my classmates in Madrid with their first contact with their first foreign friend. I hope I helped them become friendlier to the masses that were to follow!
I am glad to have moved to Montreal at an early age in order to have a neutral accent! I am glad that I got to live through Quebec's immigrant immersion educational program (classe d'accueil). I got to learn french and discover other cultures. Met friends and discovered other children from human-created disaster stricken countries such as Vietnam, Loas, Chile, Cambodgia, Iran, Iraq, Bangladesh, Haiti, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, El Salvador and the list goes on. I am proud that I learned french in four months and moved to the *regular* educational program and started truly discovering the intricacies of Montreal and Quebec society. I am glad that I met by best friend, Fernando at École St-Léon in 1984.
I am happy that I moved in an area of Montreal lived by the majority of Montreal's jewish community. I am glad that I got to meet and have morrocan jewish friends. I am glad that I went to the Montreal Protestant School Board's french school Westminster in Côte St-Luc, and learned english! I am fortunate enough to have gone to one of Montreal's Lycee Français, College Marie de France and met great french expat sons and daughters and a great proportion of the french wannabes on the Montreal Island.
I am glad that many of my best friends today, are people I met throughout high school. I am proud that I am able to keep those human relationships and link active and vibrant. I am glad that way more people have good things to say about me, even when I am not there. I am happy that I never got in a fight. I am happy I was always the first to jump in and separate guys fighting each other. I am glad that they always appreciated it.
I am glad that I had great close friends throughout high school. I am fortunate enough to have been invited to a bar mitzvah of a good friend, and very glad to have been in one of Montreal's most influential synagogues. I am happy that I was accepted in one of Quebec's leading CEGEP college, College Jean-de-Brébeuf and met so many great people that will become the leader's of tomorrow.
I am happy that I got to work at Donini's Pizzeria in the Gay Village of Montreal. It opened my eyes to the rich and diverse lifestyles of Montreal. I am glad that I met Maude there and got to visit Venezuela and treavel to Amsterdam with her. It felt great to go back to the old continent after 10 years.
I am privileged to have gone to McGill University and graduated with Great Distinction. I am pleased that I managed to finish the program earlier than planned while working full time at the Essaris Group's Café Suprême and Metropolitan Parking. I am glad that I was financially independent and got to travel to Latin America. I am happy to have met Billy and visited together Cuba for the first time in December 94.
I am grateful that my cousin encouraged me to add MIS to my Accounting degree. I am lucky that he pushed me to discover the Internet, IRC and Mosaic in 1993. I am glad I met Benoit who encouraged me to go to Arthur Andersen for a summer stage that ended up lasting five years. From audit to consulting. I am happy to have met Jihad, a great guy and mentor who is still at Accenture. It was really good to meet and maintain a friendship with Cyril, a super kewl boy and Elie, Miguel, and all the trouble-makers that know themselves! I am glad that I met Benjamin and founded neogenera and gave the first tuesday organisation a shot in the arm.
I am happy that I got to visit the neighborhood that I lived and went to school in Madrid with Tamsin. I am glad that I visited Barcelona, Paris, London and Bournemouth with Tamskipoo.
I am glad that I decided to launch CIMTI in 1996 and am very happy to come back full-time on board since July 2002. I am proud of our business and how we are helping Cubans in Cuba and their families cope with their tough life and separation. I am glad to receive all the positive feedback from our clients and their friend and loved ones in Cuba.
I am glad of the success of our local real estate operations and having happy and satisfied tenants.
I am glad of the potential and challenging career at Industrielle Alliance.
I am fortunate for having a close-knit caring family, great friends from a rich and diverse social, religious and ethnic backgrounds.
I am appreciative for being healthy and appreciating it. I am glad that we have a great healthcare system with tremendous opportunities for improvement!
I am also relieved that I have not yet won the 6/49 million jackpot but because I know I will need it more in the future than now or the past!
