Category: Love
Sleepless in Lund
Too many juicy stories to tell and too little time! An entire night of talking suddenly turned into morning and wifey has just left to board her flight. The new wigs shall be safe until next time we meet – and that time there will be dancing, no excuses. Time to get some sleep now, I’m back in Malmö and the sun is up.
Copenhagen
I absolutely adore this city and I love my friends here. Spent the entire day with Maria yesterday until Leonie joined us after midnight, just like the Cicirella she is. (get it? Cinderella + Cicirello.. haha) and we stayed up talking until 5am.
Today, I visited the UN house, said hi to friends and my old office, had lunch, had catch-up’s and felt extremely nostalgic about the whole thing.
Do you know the little peacekeeper? He has been at Copehagen’s UN House with his owner for a while now and really wants to see Mozambique, so I took him with me across the bridge to Malmö.
And here I am now. In my city. Driving home on the right side of the road. With Wifi. Without a Swedish phone number but with a million errands to run. And friends that I can’t wait seeing. Very busy and very, very happy!
Green Rabbit
So my amazing, sweet, beautiful and killer-smart Maria picked me up from the airport and has just left me to sleep for two hours (which I really need) before we go out to indulge in all the Copenhagenness around here.
Instead of sleeping, I am here in this amazing apartment with designer furniture, strawberry showergel and super gadgets, enjoying the eclectic choice of decoration so much that I instantly decided that I want to live here.
But.. where is the owner of this green little rabbit? :(
Note
I got this note for my birthday in 2007, one of many birthdays to come that I would be celebrating abroad, far from my closest one’s. I had been living and studying in Warsaw for only four months at that point, but I had already met beautiful people that I stay in touch with until today.
The note is a kind of Carpe Diem shout out in Polish telling me to “Take what’s best from life!”. It’s simple and straightforward, and it was given to me at a point in life when I was still in the phase of dreaming big and not really knowing what I wanted to do with my life.
Five and a half years later, I still keep the note in my wallet. Not to be reminded to take what’s best from life – but to be reminded about the years that have passed and that I actually have been doing so since. And that good friends can be found at any time and any place.
Okay, that’s all for today’s cheesy feel-good entry, I can’t take myself seriously anymore. Haha, have a great Sunday!
Killing Saudades
Me & children in a school in Chibuto. Gaza province, Mozambique
The matte veil of whateverness that had been blurring my existence the past month was suddenly pulled off as I clicked the confirm button on the BA homepage, buying my ticket to Europe.
I woke up in the middle of the night in Chibuto, off the grid, accompanied by nothing but the full moon and a strong wish to see my mother. I thought about all the people I had met, children orphaned by deadly diseases and families separated by the struggle for employment and survival. I couldn’t find the logic in deliberately putting myself in the state of missing my close ones so much it would hurt me. Of course, one could argue that the price I had to pay for my flight can’t be justified for the few days I will get in Sweden. For me, however, happiness has always had a higher value than money and experience has taught me that the rest always can be sorted out with priorities. In other words – I’m coming home, baby.
I bought my ticket already the next day in the car on the way back to Maputo, using my phone as a modem. When I had confirmed the payment and received the e-ticket in my inbox, everything suddenly made perfect sense again and all grey feelings disappeared as if they had never been there.
I happily informed family and friends, and was met by excited and heart-warming hurraying. Friends are arranging their flights, my mother is asking what I would like for dinner. All this love, I’m so overwhelmed! I am working on a schedule to make sure I get all my millions of errands arranged, I can’t wait!
Knowing that I will spend a week in Sweden gave sense to everything else and has filled me with new energy to continue doing what I do. I am already starting to long back to Mozambique, to this beloved job, to the summer that is approaching, and to spending more time with the family I have become a part of.
What I was suffering from was clearly the state that in Portuguese is referred to as saudade. A very strong feeling that there is no real translation for in English, but I can assure you it’s a pretty damn real one. Anyway, that’s all gone now – I’m back!!
Ser valiente y aprender
Our fridge in Barcelona once got crowned by an improvised poem by dearest Carmen from Venezuela.
I don’t know why, but the fridge poetry somehow triggers my thoughts about having my own place. A place to live in, own, and decorate. First of all, I would invest in a good sound system, because sound is number one. And I would get an LP player, because there really is something about vinyl. I would make sure all my gadgets were interconnected and I would finally hang up that huge, beautiful hammock I once bought in Bolivia. I would buy strange art and expensive shampoo and spoil myself with things one just can’t prioritize when living somewhere only for a short period of time. I would get many more of those huge tea cups I love, and stock up with many kinds of nice tea. And then I would always, always have a place for friends to come and visit. For a cup of tea, or for staying an entire month. Porque la vida es dar y recibir. And you know I love you tons.
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Writing this made me dream about the discs I would want to have on LP. The first one’s that came to my mind were Moon Safari by Air, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and Little Girl Blue by Nina Simone. I would try to get hold of Hurry up, We’re Dreaming by M83, and I would of course get Purple Rain by Prince, just because that show still beats all concerts I have ever been to.
Archives, love, and a glass of wine.
Had a quick look through my photo archives, just like recommended in the handbook for professional procrastinators.
Found some golden moments, here’s one of them:
I was 15, he was 16, and we felt like we never ever would be able to live without each other. Our parents didn’t agree, neither did the very different realities we came from. It was us against the world and we fought it for three years until it all ended with goodbye’s full of tears as fate pulled us apart against our will. You know the feeling, right? That’s just the way pure and overwhelming puppylove is supposed to feel.
Now back to my veggieburgers, work and a glass of wine. Tomorrow I will be sleeping somewhere in Gaza. Let’s do this.
Surprise!
Moja Babcia
Babcia means grandmother in Polish. My grannie likes to look at the photos in my blog and send me cheesy PowerPoint jokes and funny videos. We email almost weekly and sometimes I call her from Skype which makes her really happy. Today, I figured I would make her a little surprise and write a note in Polish here – because she’s the best gradmother there is, and because I miss her.
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Kochana Babuniu,
Właśnie napisałam wszystkim o tym, jak do siebie często piszemy maile, no i o tym jak za tobą tęsknię. Jesteś najlepszą babcią na świecie i mam nadzieję, że się niedługo zobaczymy! Na razie nie wiem do końca jak będzie ale niedługo zadzwonie i wszystko opowiem. Uściski dla wujka i dziadzia, widzimy się na mailu!
Kocham mocno,
Twoja Carolinka
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