The online space of Caroline Bach
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Sudden 6am messsage from Den who currently lives in Costa Rica.
“Hey, what was that joke we said we would remember? The one you told when we couldn’t sleep?”
So, referring to when Den visited me in Barcelona in 2011 and we stayed in bed, babbling all night. At one point, half asleep, we got to telling each other bad jokes..
It was NOT that one. Haha.. so the search continues in the dungeons of memory.
Good morning!
Leaving a beautiful little wooden box and a letter emphasising I will see you very soon, the Cicirella, goblin, frogdog, jackalope sister announced her departure from the building and is now on her way to cold and distant Nordic lands. I’m very happy that she came, we had a wonderful time and I will miss her mucho mucho mucho.
Once again trying to squeeze everything I own back into my backpack. Despite my little helper it actually won’t work this time, impossible.
The happiness I felt when moving in here and the amounts of love I have felt for this family and little Ava since, have now been replaced by a profound sadness. Having a new family in Mozambique has been of huge value and I have been inspired and learnt things that I will never allow myself to forget. I will miss this home a lot.
Two evenings ago, when putting Ava to bed, she asked me to tell her a story.
So I started by saying “Once upon a time there was a little ladybug sitting on a flower” immediately thinking to myself that this was the most boring intro to a story ever.. so the ladybug was sitting on the flower, which was her entire world, and her friends and family would come visit her sometimes to hang out.
One day, a little girl came and took the flower, taking it to her house far, far away. The ladybug didn’t know what was going on and she was both afraid and curious. But when the girl saw the ladybug, she took her out to the garden and put her on a big blue flower. The garden was huge and interesting, and a lot of different insects and animals approached the ladybug, one of them a scary looking blue headed lizard that proved to be a very good friend. So the ladybug had fun in her new world and she loved her new friends, but she was always missing her old garden, her family and the little boy who lived in that house, Gabriel.
“-But wait, I know Gabriel! So.. the little girl must be me!?”
The other ladybugs said that Ava and Gabriel actually go to school together and that it would be a chance for the ladybug to get back home.. so she jumped into Ava’s backpack, and after a long and dangerous adventure, jumping between the backpacks of 6 year olds, the ladybug finally made ir back to her old garden and her family. However, knowing now how to go beyond her life on the flower, the ladybug would now sometimes jump into Gabriels backpack to go back to Ava’s garden to meet her sweet ladybug friends, and the blue headed lizard she always misses so much.
It wasn’t supposed to be this cheesy, it just happened. Most important is that Ava liked it, and I noticed only afterwards what I had actually told her, realizing that improvising stories brings out a lot of subconcious feelings.
I got this letter today:
“Caroline I love you greetings Ava kiss and hug”
So I’m not leaving Maputo yet, but I’m already somehow on my way. There have been no indications convincing enough for me to know that I will be staying, not yet, and my mind is starting to adjust to the thought of going back to the cold. Maybe even accepting it as an inevitable fact. Let’s see.
Growing up with an affection for the voices and beats in R&B and soul tunes, I have been struck by euphoria to DJ Jesaja’s music in different clubs in Malmö since I was 15 years old. They say that he plays R&B, but he always makes sure to throw in some marvellous oldschool soul track, or surprise with some classic hip hop, dancehall, New Jack Swing or funk, and I can’t help but loving even the most cheesy parts of it.
One evening in 2005, when I was sitting in front of the computer while on vacation in Poland, Jesaja called me on Skype. He was playing in a club in Sweden, and instantly managed to turn my boring Saturday evening into one of the most memorable music experiences I have had. Dancing with headphones ftw.
Today, Jesaja wrote to me saying that a stream of his latest radio mix was available online, and I instantly began swaying. One and a half hour later, when reaching Koffee Brown’s After Party, I died a little from nostalgia overload. This is just wonderful, so I’m sharing. Do enjoy.
Downloaded one of my favourite animated movies and just watched it together with Ava. An American Tail by Don Bluth and Steven Spielberg from 1986 is about the mouse family “Mousekewitz” who emigrates from Russia to the United States. While on the boat, the little boy-mouse Fievel gets lost and while his family thinks he has drowned, he must find a way to reunite with his family again.
I cried a little, it’s such a great movie – and now Ava finally knows my “Never say never” song that has been omnipresent in my head for all these years. :)
Here´s us watching my favourite scene when the two siblings are in different parts of New York, believing that they will reunite, singing the same song. It’s in Swedish, as I know it.
And here´s the “Never say Never” song, from the original version:
So, never say never.. again!
On the train to Copenhagen again. This was a very short and intense visit but I managed to take care of all my errands, spend time with my mother, have coffee in the sun, and dance with the people I wanted to dance with. My bags are huge and heavy again and It’s very much worth it as I am bringing lovely treasures back to my home in Maputo.
See you soon, Mozambique! Thank you, Malmö! And thank you mami for always being super effective and super supportive. Kocham Cie.
