Love in the Time of Taksim

By Gabriela Sosa

When Marcela got the news that she had been accepted in the Climate Reality Leadership Corps in Istanbul she rejoiced. This was her opportunity to save the planet and her love life. Now all she had to do was to find a way to get to Turkey.

Many fundraisers later, Marcela found herself at the feet of Al Gore, the world's #1 environmental super star, and her lifelong crush.

Love in the Time of Taksim is the a story of a jaded idealist who sets off on a quest to get a ring and sound the alarm about Earth's destruction, only to tumble into a budding civil war, lose her man and find another. Join her, and all the characters, risking their lives for what's worth fighting for: love, love for freedom, democracy, love for life as we know it, and love between two people

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gabriela Sosa
• Release date: Sep 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301258468

Gabriela Sosa

Gabriela Sosa, former diplomat of the Republic of Panama, transitioned to the realm of mass media, hoping to bring the topic of climate change to a bigger audience. She has been living in Los Angeles for the last 13 years, where she has worked as a newscaster for Univision’s KMEX, a radio producer for Radio Express, and an independent producer, earning herself an Emmy in Field Production for the Oscar-nominated documentary film, “Which Way Home.”Currently, Gabriela has become a Climate Leader and volunteers with the Citizens Climate Lobby, Organizing for Action against Climate Change and Tree People, among others. She has written multiple screenplays, plays, musicals, radio shows, news reports and speeches, and starred in several films and theater productions. Gabriela is also a guest blogger featured on Vélo Vogue. If you ever happened to need an interpreter at the Federal or State Courts of California, you may have run into her. She has studied 11 languages and loves to travel, cook and garden, as well as to practice martial arts.Gabriela’s ongoing project is called “My EcoVillage,” a TV and online show, highlighting ecovillages and sustainable living across the globe. She hopes to build an ecovillage and live in one in Panama someday.

Book preview

"We delve into the emerging genre of 'cli-fi' in order to escape the

global climate horrors starting now. Gabriela Sosa's work intertwines real climate projections, real social conflict and a real love story into one.  

Her novel is a harbinger of what may come, the real climate chaos down the road, so let's stop it now while we can and celebrate love."

-- Dan Bloom, CLI FI CENTRAL archivist, http://pcillu101.blogspot.com

"A heart warming love story in the midst of a people's uprising. 600 people from 97 countries, under the leadership of Al Gore; all committed to fight against climate change find themselves in the center of another fight... What you hope for does not necessarily happen, but then life has other surprises and you may find love at an unexpected time & place...

-- Taner Aksel, author of Kritik Eşek (Critical Threshold)

I enjoyed it. I really liked her honesty and sense of humor.

-- Gabriel Romero, Actor, Love & Light, Inc.

LOVE IN THE TIME OF TAKSIM

by Gabriela Sosa

Copyright © 2013 by Gabriela Sosa

All rights reserved.

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

First e-Book Edition, 2013

ISBN forthcoming

Published by

Gabriela Sosa

at Smashwords.com

http://www.LoveintheTimeofTaksim.com

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

DISCLAIMER

Life is not what one lived, but what one remembers and how one remembers it in order to recount it.

- Gabriel García Márquez

Do not let the title mislead you. This book has nothing to do with the disease cholera (cólera) but a lot to with fury, also cólera; fury against frustration, injustice and flakes. That is where the similarities with Gabriel García Marquez’ masterpiece end. I was a much greater fan of One Hundred Years of Solitude myself. My mini personal masterpiece flows a lot faster but won’t likely win me a Nobel Peace Prize. Hopefully it will win your heart.

This book is based on actual events. To protect the privacy of the persons involved, some names and details may have been changed.

Science is not only a disciple of reason but, also, one of romance and passion.

~Stephen Hawking

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1- June 12th

Chapter 2- June 13th

Chapter 3- June 14th

Chapter 4- June 15th

Chapter 5- June 16th

Chapter 6- June 17th

Chapter 7- June 18th

Chapter 8- June 19th

Chapter 9- June 20th

Chapter 10- June 21st

Chapter 11- June 22nd

Words of Gratitude

About the author

PROLOGUE

They say love happens when you least expect it. Actually, I expected it, only with someone else. I had a plan. I was going to meet my lifelong crush, Al Gore, and make him fall in love with me. I would return to the U.S. from Turkey with an engagement ring and move onto his plantation in Tennessee. I even did a fundraiser. My family was happy to contribute, especially given the title of the last film I starred in was The Spinster, and you know how art imitates life.

It all started with an email. Al Gore sent me an email! The subject line read, Work with me. When I clicked on it, my heartthrob was inviting me to become a Climate Leader. Despite having been an environmentalist since I can remember, (I studied Environmental Studies in college and was forever pitching a show on sustainable living, called My EcoVillage), like everyone else, climate change seemed too huge a task for just one person, so I did what everyone else did; I recycled.

Earlier in the year, my father started putting together a team to bid on an ecotourism project in Panama and they needed me on the team, I imagined, to green wash their group. Excited at the prospect of working with my dad and having the opportunity to return to my native land to do good works, I agreed to be their poster child on all things green.

While updating my resume for the ecotourism project, I received the email that temporarily set my life on a different course. Former Vice-President Al Gore, the man who, thanks to Inconvenient Truth, put climate change into the consciousness of mainstream America, was holding a training session in Istanbul, Turkey the following month. Here was the man, whose books I all owned, who I campaigned for, whose movie I was first in line to see, writing me! Of course I’m not so naïve to think it was a personal email, but I still felt it was for me and me alone.

I applied one day before the deadline and waited anxiously for the response. By doing so, I had to commit to give ten presentations on climate change in the following twelve months, not to mention, get my behind half way across the globe!

Nervous that my resume needed clout, I contacted every possible climate change group in Southern California. I had to know what possible outlets there could be to give my talks. Suddenly my calendar was filled with committee meetings, poster making, rallies, protests and conferences with elected representatives.

It felt great! I was finally doing something to combat climate change! Sitting around bemoaning the fact that we are doomed is depressing enough and not doing anything is worse. Granted, living in Los Angeles, it is easy to get swept away in fantasyland. I felt I had been escaping in LA LA Landia for way too long. Time to take action!

The problem with LA is that the only time one really notices the pollution in this picture-perfect-weather city is from far away, like looking back at LA from Catalina Island or from the mountains in Big Bear. Luckily the Clean Air Act worked to some extent; the smog isn’t what it used to be in the 80’s. Yes, rush hour traffic is a constant guilt-trip, but then there is some audition or a celebrity sighting to get excited about and climate change is stored in the recesses of the brain until the following day at 5pm.

Then the acceptance email arrived: Hi Marcela,

Congratulations! On behalf of The Climate Reality Project, I am thrilled to welcome you to the Climate Reality Leadership Corps. Your application to attend a unique three-day training with our Chairman, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore on June 14-16 in Istanbul, Turkey has been accepted.

I was ecstatic and panic-stricken at the same time. Of course I had to go, but how? I immediately shared the email with two good girlfriends and one suggested using the website GoFundMe. That same night I created my fundraising plea online and my girlfriends were the first two to contribute. I was one step closer to saving the planet and getting married to Al!

***

If you’ve lived for any length of time in Los Angeles, you will understand why (other than the genius hotness factor) I had my eyes set on Al Gore. Mr. Gore is from the South, and in my fantasies, a southern gentleman, not to mention rich! That always helps.

In LA, all I had experienced thus far were broke dudes with erectile dysfunction, sexual ambiguity or both. I guess one explains the other. Hey, if you are gay, don’t waste my time, figure it out with a guy and then let me know. Every single lady in LA says, "LA men are flakes’ (sorry guys it is true, that women say this, not that all of you are) and I was done with flakes! Let me define, by flake I mean, someone who doesn’t have the courtesy to call or text back, someone who leads you on and doesn’t have to guts to be honest and disappears, someone who thinks you are a disposable commodity. (Was chivalry dead?)

People in LA suffer from a someone hotter, younger, better connected is coming down the pipeline syndrome.

Unless you are 12, there will always be someone younger and careers come and go, nonetheless, the syndrome is prevalent; hence, LA is a very lonely place. Well, I would never be subjected to booty calls again, I ain’t no hollah back girl; I was going to meet a Southern gentleman, someone established, who knew how to treat women. Heck, compared to him, I’d be a spring chicken! You’ll always seem younger if your man is 25 years older, right?

So I began my campaign in earnest. I spammed all my poor friends on Facebook (I wonder how many have blocked me, better not to know), I tweeted, I twittered, made posters, held fundraising get-togethers, asked mom and dad, went to the farmer’s market with a hat, (yes, I stooped to begging) but all for a good cause.

The clock was ticking. As an independent contractor, I did not get paid vacation days. Fifteen days without earning my keep meant Hell to pay once I got back to LA if I went to Turkey. Meanwhile, the emails from the Climate Reality Leadership Corps staff requesting my confirmation got more and more insistent. There is a planet to save, lady, commit.

Two things convinced me to respond in the affirmative. One was an email my dad forwarded to me from his old college roommate, which I will copy/past below (feel free to skim, I did). Thank you Mr. Forest.

*_AND THEN IT IS WINTER_*

You know. . . time has a way of moving

quickly and catching you unaware of the

passing years.

But, here it is... the winter of my life and

it catches me by surprise...How did I get

here so fast? Where did the years go and

where did my youth go?

And so...now I enter into this new season of

my life unprepared for all the aches and

pains and the loss of strength and ability

to go and do things that I wish I had done

but never did!! But, at least I know, that

though the winter has come, and I'm not sure

how long it will last...this I know, that

when it's over on this earth...it's over. A

new adventure will begin!

Yes, I have regrets. There are things I wish

I hadn't done...things I should have done,

but indeed, there are many things I'm happy

to have done. It's all in a lifetime.

So, if you're not in your winter yet...let

me remind you, that it will be here faster

than you think. So, what ever you would like

to accomplish in your life please do it

quickly! Don't put things off too long!!

Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can

today, as you can never be sure whether this

is your winter or not! You have no promise

that you will see all the seasons of your

life...so, live for today and say all the

things that you want your loved ones to

remember...and hope that they appreciate and

love you for all the things that you have

done for them in all the years past!!

Life is a gift to you. The way you live

your life is your gift to those who come

after. Make it a fantastic one.

My dad hinted that I was ending the summer and entering the autumn of my life. What?!

Already? The pressure was on.

Another, more supportive message, came from a work colleague:

"If you truly believe in something, go for it y no te arrepentirás. (and you won’t regret it)

Patti"

So I clicked confirm on my participation page and prayed for the best, i.e., funds.

***

So now I had committed, yet my GoFundMe page had registered about $500 at that point and my goal was $6000. Of course I got some smack for the goal amount, but aim high, right? I also received a lot of indirect criticism about flying to Turkey for a training session about climate change. The haters were mostly ragging