No, peeps, it’s not clickbait. I’m consuming again. Not the hard, scary, expensive shit. No, I’m talking about the drug that’s more accessible, relatively cheap, and will kill you and your ambitions and dreams more slowly. Can you guess what it is? Yes, it’s Netflix. It’s Netflix. And yes, that’s why I haven’t posted a word here in over a month.

Next episode

Nowadays, you must think twice before you start watching a new show (especially if it already has 3 seasons with at least 60 episodes each). There is an excess of content online, and I’m easily distracted. I love watching movies and series, but I get how people see online content as a vice, an unhealthy form to cope with our daily lives and kill time we don’t have (yes, I’m attacking myself here). 

Hooked

So what have I been watching nonstop, every day, whenever I get a chance? My husband teases me about it being a telenovela (and he might have a point; no season of a series needs 60 episodes). Let me back up and take you, lovely reader, back in time, 12 years ago (it feels like a blink). Remember the article I wrote last year about being 21 in the Netherlands? Here is the link. Take a look (you have time, don’t you?). In 2013, I spent a lot of time in front of a screen (I even blame that for my then-bad melasma), watching hours of online content that made me instantly feel good, but that is the thing with instant gratification; it usually doesn’t last long. It fades away, leaving us feeling helpless, out of control, and hungry. 

OMG, say the name of the show already

I loved the plot so much that I couldn’t stop (till there were no more episodes to watch because the YouTube channel stopped loading them. Still, I wanted to know what happened so badly that I did what any student living in the Netherlands would do. I immediately went to bol.com to order the book. Of course, the book wasn’t available, but they did have the English version. My impulsive ass ended up buying the English version. I think it’s hilarious that I can’t remember anything about the book now, either. Last week, I searched through all my books, but couldn’t find it. I could have sworn I brought it with me when I moved back to Aruba in 2018. I thought wrong and must have left it on my ugly, cheap (but handy) Ikea bookshelf.

It’s Rosario freaking Tijeras

Fast forward 12 years later, I’m hooked again on the same series. This time, I’m watching the Mexican version of 2016. ‘Rosario Tijeras’ has been proud ced so many times I can’t keep up anymore (slight exaggeration). I’m still figuring out what has drawn me this time to watch as many episodes as I can in whatever time I had left of my day (from the moment I got up till I went to bed). Was it stress from work, everyday life?, or my love for Mexican culture (or at least what ‘El Canal de las Estrellas and Televisa fed me as a child)?

I remember one of my best friends mentioning a Colombian series to me in 2013 starring the beautiful María Fernandez Yepez. She might have also mentioned it in high school, but my almost middle-aged brain can’t remember. The series is based on a novel by the Colombian writer Jorge Franco (do you know what series I’m babbling about now?) By then, I hadn’t read the book yet, but I always wanted to. I started watching the 2010 version of ‘Rosario Tijeras’ (yes, there are many versions).

Don’t get ridiculous

The last time I felt this was at the beginning of 2018 when I started watching ‘Sin Senos Si Hay Paraiso.’ I couldn’t stop, but that series got ridiculous with each season, and I never finished it. I feared this might also happen with ‘Rosario Tijeras’ (2016-2019). I’m watching the last season now, and there is no sign of stopping (even though it’s a complete cheese fest. at times).

It’s a telenovela, after all

My husband may tease me that this is a telenovela. Still, the recurrent themes are pretty much relevant in the present day and illustrate the everyday struggles of people living in Mexico, and not just in Mexico, but the rest of LATAM and the Caribbean for that matter (but yes, I guess the unnecessary sex and other drama makes it a telenovela). And I know I should take such a series with “a korreltje zout,” but just like any book you were forced to read at Colegio Arubano (or any other high school), there is some truth there. The stories often mirror our society.

Come back soon

Did I make you curious about this article? Come back tomorrow. This article is getting long, and I’m trying this thing where I don’t make articles too long. I want you to keep coming, so see you soon.

And do share what you have been consuming. I hope only greens and good protein (please, no double entendre).