Entry One: Past and Present

~Aurora Veléz~

My name is Aurora.

To my closest friends and family I am Rori, to the general public I am Aurora or Señorita Veléz, and to the press I am a WAG. They call us ‘beauty and the beast’.

I never imagined my life would be like this. I didn’t expect to have paparazzi stalking me, to become the envy of thousands, or to fall in love with a footballer (let alone have them love me in return). But life is funny like that. It turns in the strangest directions. Long before I met my fiancé, however, my life was far from the perfect little image that the press has constructed.

I was born in Columbia, a country known for political unrest, and being unsafe. What few know is that while that is true, it isn’t just the drug lords we have to fear there. We also fear the United States, as they were the ones who accelerated the downfall of our lands. And it all started with something as simple as the banana. What started as a business turned into an empire. And, like most empires of the past, it became corrupt.

Before we could say “mierda”, the government was in upheaval. I was born into this, but because of this, my parents were determined to get out. They wanted a better life for me.

With every penny they saved, they got out.

They didn’t stay in Sudamérica. In Argentina, there were the deseparaciónes, and other countries like México and the Guatemala had their own dictators, courtesy of the United States. Instead, they fled to Spain. The reign of Franco was over by that point, and things were settling down. Sympathizing with the region, my parents settled in Catalunya.

I grew up in Barcelona, in the outskirts. Things were peaceful there, for the most part, as the small nation worked to gain recognition and independence.

I ended up at the University of Barcelona, and majored in business. My parents showed me hard work was key to success, so I got my first job as I worked my way through my Master’s degree. I eventually worked my way up to manager of the famous Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Barcelona. That’s where I am now, earning enough to support myself. My parents moved to the country for retirement, leaving me to live in the city along.

I was comfortable, living in my condo. I could afford everything I need, and then some.

But then everything changed when I met him.


~Eva Castell~

I didn’t always used to live in a house, have a bed to sleep in, and a guaranteed meal every day. There was a time when none of that was certain.

For a part of my life, I was homeless. It wasn’t that I didn’t try. I worked full time, and I earned a college degree. However, the economy wasn’t in my favor, and despite all of my hard work, I ended up as a maid (called cleaning attendant in this politically correct world).

I wasn’t born into wealth, in Barcelona. My parents worked multiple jobs to get by. But then my mom divorced my dad, leaving him to go live in wealth in the United States. My dad tried his hardest to support us, but ended up getting cancer. All of my money went to the hospital bills. At last he passed away, and my mom refused to acknowledge my existence.

I covered the funeral costs then, but that meant rent was forgotten. I was evicted, and found myself on the streets.

All I had with me were several outfits, my work uniform, and the small amount of extra cash that went towards food. I learned to appreciate all that I had, for it wasn’t much.

It is a past that was, fortunately, not turned up by the press. I told about it on my own terms, and my fiancé has partnered up in helping the homeless in Barcelona. Looking back at things, I would have never guessed that I would have ever ended up in a king sized bed. I used to carry my life in a single backpack. Now I have a closet full of clothes and suitcases in which I can put them.

But all of that might have been different, had it not been for a single cup of coffee.