Work party, scientific celebration and World Cup

The week that just ended was a week of much work and scientific work, but it is something I enjoy and like very much. The above is the result of my work, as director of Knowledge Management at the Institute of Geology and Paleontology/Geological Survey of Cuba. One of my responsibilities is to organize events, conventions, symposiums and scientific workshops that aim to disseminate geological knowledge to the whole society.

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On the other hand, I have been waiting for a long time, as a good sports lover, the celebration of the XXII edition of the World Cup Qatar 2022.

In this seven-day period that concluded, these events came together and made me spend a weekend of scientific-labor entertainment and enjoy one of the most popular and followed sporting events in the world: the Soccer World Cup.

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The scientific workshops, as a prelude and pretext to the labor party.

From November 14 to 18, a group of scientists and researchers from the country's universities, research centers, geomining companies and our institute were convened to deal with elements of three topics that constitute research projects in our center: the preparation of the Geological Map of Cuba at a scale of 1:50,000, the Quaternary Monograph in Cuba and the Elevation Index of the mean sea level.

They were five days of very intense work in which interesting proposals and debates were made on the part of the scientific community that governs the destinies of the Earth Sciences research in the country.

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Saturday, November 19, 2022.

On this day we stripped off our scientific attire and set out to have a nice time. It was very difficult for us to live up to that maxim, but we tried. The main objective was to enjoy this hard week of work, to celebrate the birthday of 4 colleagues who celebrated their birthdays in the workshop, to recognize outstanding colleagues in the research work and to spend some time among friends and this great working family that we form.

I can assure you that we had an excellent Saturday at the Comodoro Hotel in Havana, Cuba. We had an excellent day at this resort. Our colleagues, most of them are adults and senior citizens; but they are cheerful and have fun. On this day we enjoyed an excellent dinner provided by the general management, as a result of the excellence of the workshops held.

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Sunday, November 20, 2022

Everyone who knows me knows that I am passionate about sports, not because I have been a good sportsman, but rather as an amateur. For a long time I have been looking forward to this day, to enjoy an event that more than sports is a great cultural event.

It may not be what people most want to enjoy, but watching a great soccer match or other sporting event gives me a lot of pleasure and feeds my soul. Unfortunately, for some colleagues I was unable to attend a trip they had planned, but telling them what I had in mind put my mind at ease.

As expected, I was able to see the entire opening ceremony of the World Cup, which I enjoyed very much and of which I would like to highlight:

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• It was an enjoyable ceremony, brief, colorful and with a great technological splurge.

• It was a journey through the customs, culture and traditions of the host country.

• The show used soccer as a common thread for the fraternity and respect among the countries.

• A very beautiful and nostalgic journey was made through several world cups using the musical themes that presided over them and adding the mascots that identified them.

• National musical interpreters fraternized with others from different countries, as a sample of brotherhood in art, with sport as a pretext for it.

• The dialogue established between the American actor Morgan Freeman and an important Qatari influencer, talking about tolerance, respect, fraternity and everything that soccer provokes in terms of feelings, was very welcoming and important.

• Very beautiful to listen to the musical theme of this World Cup and the united and intertwined parade of the 32 flags present at the sporting event.

• The mascot of this World Cup was shown dressed with the Qatari attire and the predominant white color that, in my case, I think that beyond its meaning symbolizes the peace that sport gives us.

Likewise, I enjoyed the opening match of the World Cup between Ecuador and Qatar, won by the Ecuadorians 2 goals to 0.

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Final reflection.

It was not a weekend of much partying or great physical intensity. Perhaps, these activities are not to the liking of some people, but the beauty of life is its range of opportunities and the multiple enjoyment that people can have, to have fun, recreate and rest while enjoying.

Saturday's activity gave me great pleasure because I was able to share with people who are paradigms of scientific research in the country and to contribute to a moment of joy in their lives gave me great pleasure.

Sports Sunday was quiet and pleasant, but of great sentimental emotion because I could perceive the values that sport creates and the feelings it provokes.

For me they were two unforgettable and unrepeatable days.

Note: All photos except one were taken with my Samsung J2 phone.
The last two were shot on the TV at the time of the opening ceremony.