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Hello and welcome to Embarqué.e.x!

 

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In this video, I take you

 

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in a Ukrainian trip

like no other.

 

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I'm going to a techno party

in the capital, Kyiv.

 

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This is the hidden side

 

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of a country at war, where life goes on

in spite of everything.

 

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I'm on the platform

Warsaw train station,

 

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the capital of Poland,

and I board this train.

 

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15h journey for 680 kilometers,

 

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It's going to be a long one.

 

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It's been a short night.

 

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It's been twelve hours since I left.

 

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It's now 9 a.m.

 

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I still have 3 hours to go

 

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Here the train crosses

the Ukrainian countryside

 

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in the early morning.

 

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It's hard to realize

that I'm in Ukraine,

 

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that the country is at war,

 

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and that I'm going to a rave.

 

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Welcome to Ukraine!

-Welcome to Ukraine!

 

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Lots of families visiting

 

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to relatives.

 

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You can feel how moved people are

 

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to come back here.

 

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At the end of this rotten street

 

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well, this is the most mythical club

in Kyiv and it's called Closer.

 

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Now we're in preparation mode.

 

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The festivities are tomorrow and Sunday.

 

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The reason I'm here on the eve

is to find Martin.

 

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Martin is a German DJ.

 

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He's been living in Switzerland for 20 years

 

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and is one of the few DJs

who still dares to come and play in Ukraine

 

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despite the war.

 

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So I'm looking for it.

 

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But I don't know where it is.

 

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We just heard

 

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the sound of sirens

sirens.

 

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You've just finished your sound check

 

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arrived safely in Ukraine?

 

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I've been here for 3 hours, yes.

 

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What are you doing coming here?

 

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Just listen,

 

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I've been coming to play here in Kyiv

to play here in Kyiv.

 

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I tell myself it's

I'm not coming,

 

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because I don't want to cut my ties

my ties with the people here and I say to myself

 

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I come to play in Kyiv, I'm going to continue

to keep my relationships with my friends.

 

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Because they're my friends.

 

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I've fallen in love with the people here.

 

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So that's it, for me, it's family.

 

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There was a moment,

everyone wanted to come and play here.

 

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All the big stars.

 

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All the people wanted to come to Ukraine

because

 

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Kyiv became

the most important place

 

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for electronic music

in Europe.

 

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Everyone was

hot to come here.

 

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I was a little surprised that nobody wanted

to go back.

 

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Everyone's afraid to come back

back here.

 

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What I understand very well

 

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and I don't want to judge

people who don't come here to play.

 

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But....

 

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we don't come here

just to make money, you know.

 

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We come here because

we're supporting

 

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society, artistic

artistic, cultural

 

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of this country.

 

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Closer,

it's been around for over twelve years

 

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and it's one of the clubs that has become

one of the most famous in the world.

 

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Ukraine's techno scene,

 

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it was partly with this club

that it was born.

 

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Everyone knows each other,

it's like a real family.

 

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Now we're talking about a real community.

 

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When the war broke out, nightlife and clubs

and clubs obviously closed down.

 

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But it only took a few months

for the techno community to bounce back

 

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and keep going.

 

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Crazy place.

 

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I can't even imagine

what it will be like tomorrow.

 

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They're expecting 3,000 people.

 

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I thought my first day

day of shooting was over.

 

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But on the way back to my hotel,

I discover that the city is very busy,

 

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a far cry from the image one might have

of the capital of a country at war.

 

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There you go,

 

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I'm on the famous Maidan Square.

 

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All around me,

there are lots of people outside.

 

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It looks like a peaceful city.

 

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Yesterday was the national holiday

 

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and the Ukrainian authorities

 

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destroyed Russian tanks.

 

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This is for the victims

 

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Ukrainian side.

 

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And just now, there was an alert

 

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from the anti-aircraft forces.

 

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No one seemed to mind.

 

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Nobody moved.

 

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Everyone got used to it

 

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to the new rhythm of life here.

 

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First evening in Kyiv, first

curfew.

 

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The deserted streets resound to the sounds

of army bombing alerts.

 

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all night long.

 

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It'll be like this for the rest of my

of my stay in Ukraine.

 

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The particularity of these holidays

 

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at the moment, during wartime, is that

they last from 2pm to 10pm,

 

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because at 10pm, it's curfew

and everyone goes home.

 

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I'm going to test the famous

Ukrainian techno party vibe

 

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and see what happens.

 

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We come here because our lives are

a bit rotten

 

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and we have to make it as rich as possible

 

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with interesting events,

interesting people

 

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and attend parties like this one

where people from different social strata mix.

 

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Here you can meet new people

and above all dance and let loose.

 

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It's an escape.

 

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This is the first time in two years

that I've gone out to relax. 

 

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I try to ignore

the rest.

 

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To tell the truth, I'm one of those people

who go down to the shelters all the time.

 

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Every air raid scares me

and I go and hide in the shelter.

 

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For me, being here is the only way to ignore

to ignore what's happening.

 

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I have a lot of friends on the front line.

 

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To tell you the truth, I'm afraid.

I'm afraid to join them.

 

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It's a beautiful community

 

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with a projection

with a vision,

 

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a political, social and cultural concept

 

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and it's part of the whole society

 

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which is changing.

 

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Main idea,

 

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is to feel free,

 

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it's everyone's freedom.

 

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It all started with the Maidan

revolution.

 

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That's when Closer was born, yes.

 

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The two events coincided

with the same youthful energy.

 

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It was a magical moment.

 

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That's when we felt

that we had to create something.

 

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The war came and changed us.

Holidays changed too.

 

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We're more focused,

more worried, we think about it all the time.

 

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It's a moment when everything changes.

 

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How to have parties now,

when so many people are dying?

 

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People who are fighting on the front

come to our club

 

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and say: we're fighting

so that you can still have these parties,

 

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so that life can go on,

so that there's still joy.

 

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That's how it is.

 

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We've learned to

enjoy the moment.

 

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If we go to these parties, it's to show

that we're not afraid,

 

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that we don't stay cooped up at home

and that we're fine.

 

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You should also know that most of these parties

 organize money collections

 

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for humanitarian

and the military.

 

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So we're also going to these parties

to support this collective effort.

 

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We are very grateful to the

who protect our country.

 

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We are grateful

because thanks to them

 

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we can lead an almost

an almost normal life.

 

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So we support them

any way we can.

 

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In the evening, we're more sober

and more aware than before.

 

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We listen to alerts,

we follow the news

 

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to find out if there's a drone or a missile

and in which direction it may arrive...

 

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Fortunately, we haven't yet

the situation of a strike very close to an evening.

 

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Thank goodness!

 

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There. It's 8:45pm.

 

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I've been here for eight hours.

 

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I was impressed

by the energy of the Ukrainians.

 

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I was expecting something big,

but this is it,

 

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it was huge.

 

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There are bullet holes everywhere.

 

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When you see this, you know

 

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the intensity of the fighting.

 

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My fear with this report,

is that you might think

 

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that life in Ukraine is rather gentle

and that youth is casual.

 

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Absolutely not true.

 

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During the five days

I spent in the capital,

 

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the anti-aircraft alerts

never stopped, night or day,

 

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Yesterday, a Russian missile destroyed homes

on the outskirts of Kyiv.

 

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Fear is there all the time.

 

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Young people are literally

front line in this war.

 

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No one is spared.

 

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So, when they can,

they celebrate, they commune

 

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and they turn to culture

 

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like a shining beacon

in these very, very dark times,

 

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Not to forget

forget the harsh reality of this war,

 

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I'm in Irpin and Borodyanka, two towns

50 kilometers from Kyiv

 

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which were ravaged

a little over a year ago.

 

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It was in these two cities that international artist

artist Banksy left his

 

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several works.

 

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This is a little boy fighting

against an old man.

 

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And the old man is beaten.

He's already beaten.

 

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That's it, this video is over.

 

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If you like it: like, comment and share.

 

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And I'll see you soon

for new adventures.

 

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Ciao!