New Year's in Paris

January 1st, 2008. A night I remember so very clearly. Juan and I were with Luisa and Fernando in Paris, standing right in front of the Eiffel Tower as fireworks burst into a thousand shades of colours. Everyone was smiling, laughing or just simply celebrating the start of a brand new year, happiness thick as the smoke in the air.

I was crying, because the next day I would leave Paris to return to Mannheim, Germany, where my luggage was in my hostel, and from there I would depart with my roomate Faye for Singapore. I didn't know if I was going to see Juan again.

Looking back, it seemed silly, especially since I am now living in Argentina, in the same country as Juan. But back then, the stroke of midnight and festivities hung a thick cloud over us. This sketch, which I drew shortly after re-locating in Buenos Aires, has elements both sad and happy as we embraced that New Year's night in front of Paris' most iconic structure.