soon after my meal, i got a message from upwork - the guy who sometimes pays me to take photos of random addresses in marseille (i don't ask why) sent me the full address for his newest task. it was a bit far from my house, but it was close to the museum of contemporary art - which i had still never been to. since it was also near a beach i like, i decided to make a day out of it. i packed my things and was on my way!
i arrived 2 hours before the museum closed, so i started with that. i realised 2 hours was way too little time for everything because i was enjoying the exhibit so much i kept stopping at everything and reading all the descriptions.
there were paintings, sculptures and video installations. one of the video installations made me really emotional - it was called Khtobtogone by Sara Sadik, a young local artist. the video followed the life and thoughts of a young moroccan man in marseille who had fallen in love. it was animated in the style of GTA, with music in the background and the man's inner monologue narrated by a voice that together made it sound almost musical. he started out talking about his friends and how much they meant to him, but now, he had found a woman to love and he would have to learn how to share his love and his life with her, his friends and himself. the scene that really got me was where he was working. he worked as a food delivery guy, and rode his motorcycle across the city and its surroundings, narrating how he felt like he was "in another world" while he worked. he thought of it as a video game, where each delivery was a new challenge he had to beat as efficiently as possible, and the quicker he did them all, the more money he would earn. he seemed to get a lot of satisfaction out of it, but sometimes he would realise from his interactions with customers that they looked down upon him. he would then remember that, in many people's eyes, he had failed in life. this would make him depressed. we then see him ride his bike to the coastal cliffs, as he narrates his fears and struggles - all he wants is to be happy, but sometimes life feels so hard it makes him want to die. he takes out a ring he meant to give his girlfriend and flings it into the sea.
later, he returns to the coast. he dives into the water, and tells us how under the waves, he feels calm. he regains contact with himself. i could relate to that a lot. he retrieves the ring.
the video ends with him and his girlfriend standing on top of the hollywood-style marseille sign at the edge of the city, and proposes to her. they live happily ever after.
it was really beautifully made and written, and honestly i recognised a lot of my ex in this guy's thoughts and feelings. i felt sad that my ex hadn't been able to find himself in time.
once i got kicked out of the museum, i went and took the photos i needed to send to the guy and then walked to the beach. the water was perfect. i swam for a while, and then floated around the shallow rocky area with my goggles and stared at fish. i got out, mostly to make sure my things were still there, and rested and dried off a bit. a guy sitting nearby started talking to me and we conversed in french. he was older and very chatty so it wasn't really that much effort on my part. i went back in the water just to look at the fish, and decided i really need to buy myself a cheap underwater camera. we talked for a while more when i got out, and this time i managed to practice actually speaking french more as well. he seemed like an interesting guy but also a bit full of himself the way older men often are. eventually, i started to feel hungry so i decided it was time to go.
i got some chocolate ice cream and decided to walk along the coast. and then i just kept walking until i reached home. had some spaghetti. now here i am. it's 11pm, so i might just read for a while and then go to sleep. goodnight.
