MONTSE BOND: OUT HERE ON MY OWN

Montse Bond and her scrapbooking works

Montse Bond. Cheerleader. Vatican City. 

I'm Montse Bond. I was born in Rome because there aren't hospitals in Vatican City. I'm from this country, the smallest in the world although one of the richest and more powerful. 

I was a diver but I decided to change my working life and now, I'm a cheerleader. It's not easy to be a cheerleader in Vatican City because is one of the places in the world when the presence of women is limited but I like challenges. I love reading and make scrapbooking.

-Good morning, Montse Bond and thanks to attend us.

-Good morning. It's an enormous pleasure.

-How's life in Vatican City?

-Well, it's like in other places but in a smaller version.

-Is difficult to be a woman there?

-No, it isn't. It's difficult to arrive to a workplace of responsibility inside the Diplomatic corps or the Catholic Church because, of course, all of them are for men.

-And?

-You must cross borders and search an your opportunity in other place.

-Are you optimistic?

-Yes, I am. I believe in believing. Without hope and trust in yourself you start your race in a position less than zero. You must believe. Believe in yourself; believe in your ideas; believe in your projects. If you don't believe, it's very difficult to reach something.

-Your message seems a coacher's one.

-I like coaching. It's something that I control and I'm good at this. I enjoy a lot.

-Who's your favourite coacher?

-It's impossible to choose. I like Gandhi, because he carried all his nation to freedom; Martin Luther King, because he was proud of his people and his culture and fought for them; Nelson Mandela, because he learnt how to live in peace and respect with her own oppressor and broke the chains that joined with him when he had his chance to do it and Pere Casaldàliga, because he fights for keeping the native cultures of Mato Grosso away from speculators and multinational enterprises.

-If you had to choose only one...

-Charles Chaplin.

-Charles Chaplin?

-Yes. Charles Chaplin put cinema on the top of art with his mute films. Expressing feelings without voice is very difficult. He was a master of communication, a genius of interpretation and a critic voice in front of injustice and abuse of power. He suffered a terrible prosecution because of McCarthyism and he had to exile. He was an uncomfortable voice in a world that only wanted to listen to comfortable and beautiful messages.

-You think that we are not prepared to listen to bad things, don't you?

-Yes, I do. People want to buy happiness and this is something that you can’t buy with money.

-Why do you think people are not happy enough?

-I don't know but I can see that, in general, people don't appreciate little things which are the most important: a sunrise, a good moment with your family or your friends, an afternoon making scrapbooking...

-How can we fight against this?

-Every person has his/her own vision of life. It's difficult to say a good advice for everybody but I can say what I do and I enjoy my life day and night, perhaps, this is the reason I'm a cheerleader. I want to share my happiness with the rest of the world.

-How is possible to change from a diver to a cheerleader?

-Why not? Searching a work is not a question of who you are, it's a question of what you are able to do, which are your skills and how much resistance you are able to offer. I had always wanted to be a diver but I had a terrible experience with a shark. Shark is a dangerous animal which lives in oceans and rivers and finds its prey with its sense of smell. I was swimming and I found one in front of me. It was a terrible experience. I thought I was going to die and since that day I think in life with other terms.

-How do you feel being a member of The Bond's family?

-It has been a fantastic experience. I'm very shy and when I was a new member of The Bond's family I feel a little strange but it was a feeling of five minutes. They're very good people and you can trust on them. This is very important.

-How is a normal day with The Bonds?

-We haven't got normal days. Every day is a new day and a little treasure that you must enjoy.

-How long have you been studying English?

-Since the Primary School. I speak Latin and Italian. Both of them are Romanic languages and it's very difficult to study English because we have a different phonetic.

-What can you explain about your life with The Bonds?

-The most important for us is travelling and knowing new cultures because we believe in diversity, respect and tolerance.

-Which is your best memory with the family?

-It's difficult to choose only one but I remember when I talk about miracles and beliefs. It was a good experience that I remember with a lot of happiness. It was a joyful day.

-You like reading, don't you. Recommend me a book...

-I'm reading three books at time. One is about sinister and disturbing stories of people obsessed with blood; another is about Levi Strauss, the man who invented the jeans and the last is about Christopher Columbus who believed that the Earth was round and decided to sail west from Spain in August 3rd 1492. He was travelling for ten weeks when a sailor saw a bird, followed it and arrived to the island he named San Salvador.

-Which is your philosophy in life?

-Albert Einstein said that "creativity is intelligence having fun". I like this quote and I would add that you must be out of your own.

-Thank you very much, Montse Bond.

-You're welcome.

Sometimes I wonder where I've been,

who I am, do I fit in.
Make believin' is hard alone,

out here on my own.
We're always provin' who we are

always reachin' for the risin' star

to guide me far
and shine me home,
out here on my own.

Irene Cara