My own Music Journey part 2

Living in Badia was an adventure, nearly every day something happened, and many times it was way too close home, maybe was something to do with having at the time 25.000 people living there, with tower blocks everywhere, this population was all living on the same square kilometre, so chances are that one would have a lot of friends, and a lot of enemies, so one usually learn to walk around with one eye scanning one half of the street and the other eye scanning the other half..
By studying in Badia’s college I earn some medals, I made some very good friends that later on would prove to be very good sources of fun and music idealism sharing. Some of this people could play an instrument, and some others could sing very well, so some times we would end up trying to play music with our Spanish guitars and harmonicas, but nothing really amazing ever happened.
I was nearly 18 years old by then, and I was doing very well in college, but because I was nearly 18 years old and in Spain if you were a Spanish 18 years old male, you would have to fulfil your duty with your country and do 12 months (AKA year) in the National Service. I could of get away from doing it for another 3 years because of my studies going so well, but I just wanted to get over with it, and I have to confess that I was a bit excited about it.
By then I had grown my hair quite a bit through the years, and the idea of having a skinhead didn’t really appeal to me, but I knew it had to be done and there was no point in worrying about it, specially after all of your friends that were doing the National Service or have already gone through would tell you a bunch of crazy tales about it.
At first I though that I would eventually get killed by some crazy maniac in a base full of them, and then I was certain that that would be the best thing that could happen. Seeing that I didn’t had a driving license and I was on the mountaineers section of logistics, my near future was looking pretty dark and smelly, and I wasn’t looking forward to climb mountains pulling from a mule loaded with supplies to the possible front lines. Then, when my name was called out to be told where and what I would be doing I couldn’t believe my luck, they decided that in 1990 they would try out a new sections for that company of “Transporters”, a few of us where told to form the brand new section in our company that would be dedicated to escort the convoys wherever they were vehicles or mules, so we were responsible for the MG’s, the German made automatic machine guns of a 7.62X51 calibre very similar if not the same as the ones used by the machine gun teams from the German army of WW2.
So, we had teams of 3 men, one gunner, one loader, and one supplier, and the three of us had to know how to use all this kit... I had a lot of fun in the firing range.
When I was there, I got a lot of musical influence from a lot of the boys, I discovered “Death Metal”, and “Rock Radical” witch is a form of rock that was produced by mostly independent labels and that would have strong and direct messages, normally would be a way to show your problems your middle finger.
Within a month of me starting the “National Service” I got my guitar to the base, and I was a bit concerned about its safety, but it turned up to be an excellent ice breaker and in many situations it became an argument stopper, people would argue and then notice my guitar on my bed or hanging about somewhere else in the company’s room and some one would smile and say something stupid and somebody would start having a go at playing the guitar, specially the flamenco lovers.
The day I left I felt like a big load was taken from my back, but at the same time I felt like some sort of brotherhood was left to very rarely find back. Even today I feel like I belong to Huesca’s “Brigada De Cazadores De Alta Montaña”, and the places and adventures that went on through that year will never be forgotten.