Sergei, Bolivia

What concerns me most is how we are stuck in a system that revolves around profit and not around human beings. A system that comes at the expense of the liveability of our world. It is one of the reasons I want to return to my country. I want to go back to something simple, to the things that matter.
I'm going to settle in Cochabamba, a valley I come from in the Andes Mountains in central Bolivia. It is located at an altitude of 2,000 meters. There I want to start a cafe, with good service and better coffee. I am now packing a container with stuff I need. I collect vintage furniture and also acquired four large barbecues. I will take that all with me. I just not sure yet when exactly I could leave.
I have been living in Europe for twenty years now, including in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp. But every time I came back to Leiden, where I lived most often and the longest. My stepfather is Dutch so it was a logical step to come here when I was eighteen years old. I will never forget that day because it was the middle of winter. I had never experienced so much cold. It seemed inhumane to live here! Now I'm used to it of course.
I studied Latin American Culture and Literature for some years. I love languages very much. Dutch is a very beautiful language, for example. It fits well with your culture. But the local languages in Bolivia are richer. They are poetic and each word has multiple meanings. The real history of a country can be found in its language, but I feel we are slowly losing that. The beauty of implicit communication is disappearing.
I've done all kinds of things, including running a cafe before. At the moment I work in construction. With a small team we restore old monumental homes in the center of the city. Myself, I also live in such an old building, which is something I love. I feel at home there exactly because it is a bit worn down. Not everything in life has to be perfect.
At the moment, I'm trying to save as much as possible. I live cheaply and work hard – anything to make my big dream come true. Europe has treated me well, I have learned a lot. But I'd rather spend my days in a hammock with my face turned to the sun.