In the garden from Vigo that divides the parallel avenues of Rúa Montero Ríos and Avenida de Beiramar, sitting down, is Mayke. Two Quechua rucksacks surround her. One is hers and the other one belongs to her son Miro. She holds a Mahou can with a hand. She dresses up with printed jacket and hairband, a pink T-Shirt and greyish trousers. Her serene energy is the one that a pilgrim owns just by watching life pass by at a city which is orphan of hours and minutes. She observes, smiles and lights up the atmosphere with her crystalline and peaceful gaze.
Mayke’s American Shot. Conversation in Vigo, Spain. Source: www.ritapouso.com
Mayke and her family are from the Netherlands. They live in Belgium, at an area which is close to Maastricht. Mayke and her eleven-year-old son, Miro, are doing the “Camino de Santiago” also known as The Way of Saint James. Vigo is the city which will connect them by train to their next destination: Oporto. There, Mayke will meet up with his husband and her two other sons. Mayke is writing a book. It will be for her son. It is the third time she writes a book because she thinks that 3 is a good number, a lucky number.
What is happiness for you?
I think happiness is a moment that goes. It goes away. Happiness sometimes overflows you. I am very grateful if that happens. I used to strive for happiness all the time when I was around 20 or 30. Then I realized you can be happy anyway all the time so I just grasp the moments a little bit more. Actually, it makes me even more happy to realize that this life is going up and down anyway and that it is better that I enjoy the good moments.
(Mayke, Spain. 1st of August, 2015)
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