_{Two of the stones that have been used year after year for competition rock-lifting in the basque country, affect AND effect, and Dille on a video call}

I am in airport Bilbao. The past week I was here in Basque country, for the first time in my life. I came to Donostia to visit Leyre who is doing a residency in Tabakalera. Giong for a little travel like this feels kind of unreal. There is not that many people for which I would do this, but for Leyre I do it without hesitation, that was a beauttiful thing to observe upon my arrival. How to write about the past week? I got to know Leyre with a vulnerability and siliness I haven’t seen in her before. I feel she allowed me in in a way she allows few people, that counts for me too. The residency she is doing is very intense, in activities and personal dynamics, for her to receive me alongside that, and spend almost all her time sharing these things with me is incredibly generous. I also spent a lot of time with the others from the residency, the first night there was a hangout/party at one of their places. We danced and talked a lot, super fun evening. There were also beach hangourts, karaoke, conversations in tabakalera. Yesterday my head ended on someones lap I barely know while sitting in the tabakalera rooms and listening to really beautiful music. She was also really beautiful. It was a very peaceful moment of modest intimacy, in which we both just enjoyed being near each other in this way I think. However subtle, it is a feeling I have barely experienced in all my time in Berlin. And I am happy it came now, after this intense week of social dynamics and trying my best to be present with a lot of people I don’t know. I was so far away from Berlin, Belgium,… I was just being with Leyre and these other people. And I love that so so much. I get kind of emotional when I think about how full the past week was compared to how alone I have been in Berlin. It is both beautiful and makes me realise what a particular time Berlin has been.

Leyre is so much fun, really one of the most enjoyable people to be around that I know. Her silliness stands in stark contrast to how I first perceived her. We are constantly giggling and laughing and she takes herself as unserious as she takes me. she is full human and love. We made a work together, ‘garbo is garbo’. Yesterday we were also laying in one of the spaces at the residency after everyone left. we just laid there listening to music. It was an intense moment of togetherness. Tears came to my eyes as we were listening to the twin peaks theme song, while it was storming really hard outside. It reminded me of the first time I slept at her place in Milan. That evening we each wrote a letter of appreciation to each oher, while sitting face to face at a table. Really special.