On a dreary, foggy Monday in Cleebourg, France, the Mayor dials into Campo Grande, Brazil. Two dots on a map; one conversation about survival—less machetes and palm fronds, more mindset and modern street smarts. Ritesh from Bangalore can’t make it, which nudges the theme away from a geographical compare-and-contrast and toward something intimate and universal:…
When historians finally write the story of Brida’s autumn of 2025, they’ll face an impossible question:Was it a coup?Was it a comedy?Or was it just another week in the world’s most delightfully chaotic community? While the Mayor packs for his first holiday in a decade, the Brida Council reels from two simultaneous crises: a peaceful…
Waking up in the morning, depends from person to person. Are you still half asleep? Are you annoyed to be awake? Are the birds singing too loudly? Whether you are happy, grumpy, angry, tired, excited, motivated or just meh! You cross a mirror somewhere. What happens in mirror time? You find two eyes staring back…
Monday, late morning. Alexander dials in from Bavaria in Germany; the Mayor sits in a small Alsatian village, Cleebourg, with the November light trying its best through cloud. The question arrives as simply as coffee poured into a familiar mug: Are you an optimist or a pessimist about the future?“I’m an optimist,” Alexander says. He…
Let me start with the boring part of things. Friday night dinner was Chinese take-out, we didn’t feel like cooking and this was our choice, a bit healthier than pizza or burgers. Watched movies and went to bed. Normal boring routine. Saturday was spent lounging around and watching rugby and movies. And the chaos unfolded…
Two dots on the map. Northern Germany. Northeastern France. Rain tapping on two windows, steam rising from two mugs. It’s Monday morning, and the Mayor—our host in Cleebourg—opens the week the Pineapple way: with a warm, slightly mischievous conversation about learning something new. On the other end is Ralf, a barbecue romantic with eleven grills,…
In a previous meeting we spoke about receiving letters from friends and this reminded me of a box of letters I have stacked away in the top of my closet. Letters from friends, old love notes and letters from past time boyfriends and some other trinkets and memories from my school years. I have been…
I’ve become quite the armchair traveller lately. Brida’s modest footprint — stretching across perhaps eight or ten countries — allows me to feel both worldly and environmentally virtuous. I tell myself I’m doing my bit for the planet, staying put while others chase sunsets. Of course, our digital footprints hum away in data centres, each…
In recent events and to the knowledge of most of you, I have started running. A way to get fit and in shape, take care of my health, but also a way to keep me focussed, relaxed and motivated. Some other reasons include not being a couch potato and getting outside a little more. Because…
In my little fruitloopy world of happiness and rainbows and roses, I focus a lot on mindset and how to think in a different way but also be open minded and open to change. Sometimes this is exhausting, I kid you not. But then I do things I enjoy, like reading, this is my favourite…
