50 years a biomedical engineer remembering a long and fascinating journey

Life is like a play, where each of us is in the star role, or at least that is what we think. Many scenes show up sequentially, mixing different events; many vanish inconsequentially, while a few strongly mark our road and remain as indeleble hallmarks. The bad are often forgotten ... when possible. At one point, there is a tendency to look back. If such retrospection is enhanced by friends, one may end up believing that good material is at hand. An early point in this note to bring up, as a message that I did read somewhere sometime back: "You will begin to respect others the very moment you learn to laugh at yourself". It took me many long years to recognize this truth.I finished the last paragraph with a thought; let me start this one by rescuing another, forgotten by me at first and, thereafter, coming back to stay in my memory to and, somehow, unconsciously signalling my life. It is an old German saying: Ich wollte nicht arm sein ... aber Geld würde mich nicht reich machen (I didn't want to be poor ... but money wouldn't make me rich). It transmits a message to be at least briefly considered by the young, since always there is time to discard it if not found relevant.At age 3, in Buenos Aires City, I started kindergarten (German word literally meaning "a garden for children") in the Germania Schule, and for two years thereafter, 1st and 2nd grade at the Humboldt Schule. In 1940, I was placed in 3rd grade, again in the Germania, finishing there the elementary level of my education. It is significant to call attention to those full 10 years: 1935-1944, the Nazi period and the 2nd World War (WWII). I well recall Hitler's picture on the back wall of every classroom. The German community was rather large in Argentina; it maintained several schools, all associated to the Deutsche Schulverein (German Schools Association). Annually, around October, it organized an excellent sports competition held in Vicente López, a northern and cozy suburban area by the River Plate.