Category: Sweden
Moonlight & Bach
As I am spending another still Sunday in this cold and melancholic country, I give you Debussy’s masterpiece Clair de Lune as interpreted by very talented Angela Hewitt. Drag it up to 1080HD quality, wait.. and indulge in the details and tones as they completely fill your mind, if you let them do so.
I always end up with Debussy or Satie when starting to youtube piano videos. This time, I was inspired as a friend posted the following video to Facebook, it’s an interesting walkthrough of Bach’s Goldberg Variations by Jeremy Denk. Go to 02:15 if you don’t understand anything of what he’s saying or if you are very impatient and just want the music. I’m pretty happy and proud to be sharing last name’s with this genius.
I wish I was alone at home right now so I could go sit by my piano and see if I remember anything.. it’s been very long since I played.
Anyway, Elma sweetie, this post is for you! :)
The choices you are forced to make.
The lady next to me on the train looked much younger than she later told me she actually was. We started speaking after I had invited her for a cookie and some small talk, and what I got in return was a story about choices, war and a life on the run.
She told me about her childhood in a country always on the verge of war, living in a disputed area only a bridge away from the enemy. She was dreaming of studies abroad and awarded a visa for doing highschool overseas in the far west when war suddenly cancelled all visas and she was forced to stay. She and her family had to leave their home in a simple car, leaving all their belongings behind.
“It’s just such a stupid detail.. but I was 17 and remember that I had just bought a pair of beautiful Lee jeans, they had the perfect fit! I wanted to wear them for the first day at school.. so I decided to leave them in the house because I was so sure I would be back, but I never saw those jeans again..”
Some years later, she was on the last flight to leave the country as all airports were closed during very critical times, with the pilot getting live reports during the flight and telling everybody through the speakers about what was happening on the ground.
She went back a year later to find her country transformed. She studied. Fell crazy in love with an intense man. Got married. Had a child. Started working.
Then things worsened again. Escape. Illegal smugglers. Dangers. Fear.
“One of my girlfriends ended up in jail with horrendous conditions. /…/ I was too afraid, I couldn’t risk it with my baby.”
He went first, she came after. And then finally, of all places, cold Sweden.
Things were good. A small village in the north. Friendly people. Completely new language. Free education. Helpful strangers. New friends. New reality. New possibilities. Support.
But the person living in her home was still causing fear. Betrayal. Threat. Abuse. Psychological oppression. Pride based violence. Irrational ambivalence.
Lawyers didn’t help. Social services tried. Manipulation won.
“You can’t win a battle against a proud person if you don’t let them believe they are actually the one’s winning it.”
The realisation of rights. Custody. Another escape. Freedom.
Then she told me about life after freedom. About tranquile comfort and love without passion. About cultural differences and boredom. About work, about people, about friends, about the future, about dreams and other little details.
“You know, people always talk about choices and how the choices you made or didn’t make have shaped your life.. and I agree, I have made many choices that have changed the course of my life completely – but what about all those choices that you are forced to make, or the choices that are suddenly taken from you?”
I never asked for her name as I understood she had been given a new one.
We just hugged good-bye.
Non solo bar.
Brrr…
STHLM WKND
I have spent the weekend here in Stockholm with my beloved childhood friends who now are all grown up with serious jobs and pretty apartments.
There is a lot to do in this city and I’ve had a great time so far.. we have danced, walked around, celebrated Miruna’s birthday – and this morning Avina made the world’s best banana pancakes for breakfast.
Three days left here and I have meetings, lunches and stand up comedy in my schedule. Let me know if you’re around for coffee!
Taking it back
Train Reload
New Year’s Eve 2013
At some point yesterday, I decided to put that short dress on and make this year’s New Year’s Eve celebration a spontaneous and unforced one, a much better alternative than cancelling the night to stay in and listen to music. I think that every reason to dance and celebrate life should be taken, ending a fantastic year and starting a new one is reason enough, no matter how uncertain the future seems to be.
So, a friend picked me up and we had our own little pre-party where I kept him company while he was ironing his shirt and choosing the right watch. Then I took a short walk from his house just to find myself in a fantastic dinner with a group of people I had never met before, invited by this new friend I very briefly met in Mozambique. The food was amazing, so were the hosts and after a couple of hours I took another short walk and got into another unknown apartment where Josie welcomed me with a hug and the world’s best dessert. There was a countdown, midnight struck, friends called. And then I grabbed Camila and we were taken to a some kind of secret nightclub none of us had ever heard of. We danced to dancehall, reggaeton and other kinds of backbeat tunes until the clock turned five. I jumped into a cab, got home without any fuss, and concluded that it had all been simple, unplanned and great in its own way.
I guess there’s no need to make it extraordinary every year.
Happy 2013
Thankful for 2012 and all that it brought. An entire year in Africa, who would have thought? My friends are on a beach, drowning in euphoria and Mozambican sunlight. Myself, I might just be cancelling tonight.
Wishing all of you a sparkling New Year’s Eve wherever you are. I hope you will be surrounded by loved one’s, and find yourselves to be exactly where you want to be in life when all the noise and fireworks pop a silent vacuum around you, creating that magical moment to contemplate.
Let 2013 be a year of exciting surprises and opportunities, where things happen because you made them happen and where self development, success and fresh experience lead your way to happiness, love and balance.