I hope you remember my article about Chacaltaya. If not – read it now!
Or, at the very least, watch my TEDx video about it:
Alternatively or additionally, you can watch the movie “Samuel in the Clouds” when it comes to a screening near you. The film is named for Samuel Mendoza, whose father operated the ski lift on Chacaltaya and who would love to continue this work – were it not for the disappearance of the glacier.
Seen outside of Restaurant Ciappetti in Mdina, Malta. You can’t say you haven’t been warned.
Take a closer look:
I decided not to enter the restaurant because I didn’t have my parents with me.
Mount Etna (on the left) and the setting sun (on the right). What I couldn’t get on the photo: to my right behind me, Stromboli was emitting smoke as well and to my left behind me there was a rainbow over the long stretch of Capo Milazzo. I didn’t know which way to look first.
Walking up and down the stairs to and from the 10th floor every day helps a lot. (The lift boy already thinks I am scared of this modern technology.) I also walk to any place where I can get in less than an hour, more when I have time. In many cities, walking or cycling is faster than the bus anyway.
I know people who go to the gym, and then take the car to go home and the elevator to their apartment. When they are hungry, they call for food. I never call for anything. If I want something, I have to go out and get it. The farther, the better, because it means I won’t eat that fat hamburger at midnight. (Unfortunately, it’s very easy to store chocolate at home.)
When I want to go running, I go to the park, the forest or the beach.
Over 41 years, I have saved thousands of dollars in gym fees, allowing me to travel around the world instead.
And honestly, almost always when I went hiking with a gym person, they were slow and gave up after 500 meters. Now, I don’t even accept walking partners anymore who say “I am so fit because I go to the gym every day.” I ask them to walk around the block once, and they usually collapse in the process.
Gyms seem to be a scam.
This is how far it has come already: a memorial for printed newspapers or rather for their readers who are dying out. Is the end that nigh indeed?
Photographed in Thessaloniki, Greece.
On my hike to Chacaltaya, I came across a remote and deserted village in the mountains.
The doors of the partially decaying houses are open, but none of them contains anything of use for me. One door is adorned with writing: PROHIBIDO ROBAR (“Burglary not permitted”).
The notice is absurd because
But we are in Bolivia, the land of politeness and respect. This house is really the only one which has not been broken into.
People around the world who are worried about burglars, maybe you want to try this method.
Having said that, I should also mention that when people in Bolivia catch a burglar or suspect someone of being a burglar, they may lynch the suspect.
Reading The Mask of Dimitrios by Eric Ambler in the Central Park in Chișinău in Moldova.
If a city has a quiet park where I can read for a few hours every day, I am happy. Chișinău has even a dozen or so of such parks.
When General Ulysses Grant was described by newspapers as smoking cigars during the Battle at Fort Donelson in Tennessee in 1862, admirers from around the country sent him more than 10,000 boxes of cigars for further use.
He later said:
I had been a light smoker previous to the attack on Donelson …. In the accounts published in the papers, I was represented as smoking a cigar in the midst of the conflict; and many persons, thinking, no doubt, that tobacco was my chief solace, sent me boxes of the choicest brands …. As many as ten thousand were soon received. I gave away all I could get rid of, but having such a quantity on hand I naturally smoked more than I would have done under ordinary circumstances, and I have continued the habit ever since.
Coincidentally, I have the same hat and beard as your favorite general.
Thank you very much for the boxes of cigars in advance!
Sometimes, even I get a question that I haven’t had before and which I need to research. For example this week, when a young guy asked:
Is it true that 14 years is the age of consent in Germany?
Is it legal, for example, for a 19-years-old guy to have sex with 15-years-old girl?
My reply:
Yes, the age of consent is 14 years in Germany (§ 176 StGB). As with other statutes in Germany, 14 is the age when a child becomes a juvenile.
For the partner of the 14- or 15-year old, there is no strict age limit, but § 182 III StGB makes it criminal for an over-21-year old to have sex with a below-16-year old if the older partner “abuses the lack of capacity for sexual self-determination” of the younger partner. But this is normally only prosecuted if the victim – or his or her parents -asks for prosecution (§ 182 V StGB).
The “lack of capacity for sexual self-determination” is a rather vague term, of course. In general, the more experienced and the more intelligent the younger partner is, the less risk of committing a crime. If the older partner is dominating or manipulating in the relationship, this can be an indicator for a crime. The age difference can also play a role. For example, a 19-year old boyfriend with a 15-year old girlfriend is less of a problem than a 48-year old dude with a 14-year old girl.
It is also a crime to have sex with a person under 18 if you exploit their predicament (§ 182 I StGB), for example if the girl missed the last bus home and has to stay at your place.
So, to your original question: If they know each other for some time, maybe are even in a relationship, there is no predicament situation, and the girl knows what she wants, then it’s legal. Obviously, force is always illegal, regardless of age.
Have fun! ;-)
It’s nice that young people nowadays seek professional legal advice before embarking on a romantic adventure.
I guess I might hear from them again in a few months with questions about establishing paternity, child support and child custody.
Links:
The Happy Hermit 