I am Anna. My life was most of the time exciting, never boring and sometimes hard; nevertheless, I belong to the blessed and fortunate people. I was born in 1983 and a short time later my brothers and sister followed. They mean everything to me. My closest companions back then and still today. Definitely.

I was addicted to gymnastics ever since I was born. When I was 13 I slightly changed elements and started performing my gymnastics into the water. Platform diving. I liked it, but it seemed not high enough. Still not the end of the road. So I started with cliff diving. I tried it for the first time during a trip in Jamaica when I was 17. We made quite a good team, those genuine, strong Rasta men with their joints between the lips. And me, the naive and innocent young girl. Since then, a lot has changed but I still hear the words one of them told me, kissing my hand farewell. Milady, it was an honour to dive with you...

I always loved the naked cliffs, the salty wind, the height, the sensation of danger, the cold water with its thousand needles piercing my skin. A moment in which I feel more alive than usual.

However, this is not everything to me. I am very grateful for the people who crossed my path. In everyday life as well as during my trips. Those Jamaican divers. An old Bengali lady praying for me to find a husband eventually. A Caribbean fisherman telling me about his business. This is why I study languages -they give me the opportunity to catch a glimpse at unknown thoughts and minds, they make me see what it means, to be not like me. For a moment I can dive into another universe. Wearing Shari, enjoying their food, speaking my friends’ language, I am no longer me. I am universal. Wherever I leave my hat is my home. Who sang those beautiful lines?

I also used to play a small role in the theatre in my hometown Mainz. Back then, life had been comfortably normal. Until the moment, I stumbled into merciless confrontation, loss and disorientation. Almost drowning in despair, fate sent me to Madrid. There, things were surprisingly different, ‘though not easy and I went on playing theatre in the streets and plazas to earn my living. I got back on my feet, found myself and a new horizon. At the same time, my beautiful first love, that had been left behind with my old life, slipped slowly and incessantly out of my hands. One thing for another.

Then I returned home. Later the same year, I met hurricane Wilma on a training camp in Florida in 2005. She was furious, but again I got away unharmed. Two years later I signed up for an excursion to the Dominican Republic with my studies and we all together stumbled into a gunfight. The memories of those experiences make me tremble with hysteric euphoria. I am grateful for my privileged life. For the ones who love me in a way that I can never compensate. For the tears and laughter dedicated to me. For the souls who crossed my way and made me understand. For those who join me long ways standing my peculiarities. And I agree with Patrice. Everyday is good because of being alive, alive, yeah.