Bodega, fam.

2012 - Boston. My family was either in Spain or back in the midwest. I moved in pursuit of an academic and professional challenge and only found the former. 8 months after landing with my dog Neo in tow and bidding Raquel (my then gf - now wife) a tearful goodbye, I found myself jobless, and as time passed, losing hope.

I had made some amazing friends, but the truth is that I was facing a very dire expiration date. I didn’t have but “two pennies and a ball of lint” in my pocket so I grit my teeth and decided to do whatever. And that I did. I packed my degree in Advertising and Public Relations and my MS in Advertising in my back pocket and started cutting down trees and painting houses. The bills didn’t stop, Neo needed to eat, and I…well I just needed to make it.

I started mixing with the local art scene, painted graffiti here and there and pretty soon I was spending more and more time at the melting pot of young creatives in Boston. I was spending more and more time at Bodega.

Bodega is so much more than a store.

Dan joked a lot about it being a sort of non profit, but it was more a home than any of the owners* will ever realise. They attracted people from all over the world, and the lost souls stayed. I had the pleasure of sharing the roof with the team for almost 5 years.

5 years in which I saw Bodega build an incredible foundation of what they have turned into now.

This post is inspired by the fact that today I unboxed a DS pair of Chukka Footscapes: my holy grail. Not only because it’s an amazing, beautiful shoe, but also because of everything I associate it with: friendship, talent, admiration and a very rough, yet happy time in my US adventure.

11 years after its release I have it in my hands, and it means so damn much.

Enjoy the shots.