"Someone Still Love You"

In these glorious times of IT tremendous development, I would like to publically praise a dear and wonderful companion that faithfully followed me in my latest missions: my radio.

Few years ago, while I was complaining about the difficulties of being in the middle of nowhere, without TV and fast or reliable internet connections, rapidly running out of literature (excess luggage is not always fully refundable), my patient interlocutor most wisely advised: “Get yourself a radio!”. So this is what I did: I took the most expensive world band receiver I could see on the shelf and got home, happy as a kid in his new shoes, and started enjoying the best investment I have ever made.

Actually, I must admit that I had never been a keen radio listener before… I remember my father standing up for hours against a corner of the bedroom, holding his receiver in very uncomfortable positions. It was the only way he could follow the Italian football league from abroad. Rather, my generation was more TV-based and the radio lost a lot of its importance (“Video Killed the Radio Star”), except maybe in the car…

Since I got addicted to information and press, and started spending time in unadvisable countries, it is obvious that this highly neglected media has gained a new, considerable importance in my everyday life: in the mourning when I wake up, while I have my siesta, during my lonely lunch or dinner, and before I smoothly drop in my night-time dreams.

My radio is a fantastic traveller: very user-friendly sized, easy to feed (DC or batteries you can find everywhere) and very performing in its duties. Of course, you cannot blame it for the quality of the signal or programs, but you can bet that it does its best to make sure I can hear the stations I am interested in.

My radio also adapts very well to the environment. When I am home, we spend together memorable times in FM, supporting our Barça, or having intensive cultural sessions on the specialised Catalan public station. When we find ourselves in difficult or remote places, we practically always manage to catch at least the main AM international broadcasts in English, French or Spanish (respectively BBC World Service, RFI or REE).

Gray, in a nice black handcrafted leather case, my radio is actually a beautiful piece of Japanese technological design, but is not vain or selfish. It does not show off useless lights or buttons, or demand my full and constant attention: its company is perfectly compatible with other activities, like writing trivial articles about…receivers!

No, I am not crazy or depressed. Not yet. Actually, I must thank you for this, dear radio. For your being around, for keeping me in touch with intelligible languages and familiar cultures, for being sincere and always reporting the info you get, good or bad news. Yes, I know, we would both like to hear more of the first…Let us just hope that in our next duty…station, we would also catch good music, the one we are missing here in Socotra.