Summer House August 2, 2009

Remembering stuff just isn’t my strong suit! Yesterday as I was flying to Arlanda I put the book I was reading in the pcoket in front of me (you know where the magazines and crashing for dummies are) knowing full well that there’s a good chance I’d forget it. About an hour after landing I realize that is exactly what I did and by then the plane has just left again and so I decided to buy another book. After paying for it, and telling the cashier lady about how forgetful I am I leave the book at the store! By the time I figure this out I only have about 2 minutes left before my train leaves and there’s nothing I can do about. Again.

I would really like to meet the person who’s more or at least as forgetfull as I am without actually being diagnosed as senile or such.

None the less, there’s a silver lining to each cloud and because I had no books to read, I ended up focusing on both my own and the Bears and mine upcoming projects. Always a good thing.

Travelling mishaps aside, the travelling went relativly quick and now I’m at the much dreaded summer house. At least, it was the dreaded summer house until this year. I’ve actually looked forward to it this time around and so far it’s been nothing but pleasant.

Typical of my parents the activities begin as soon as I arrive and as soon as we left the stuff in the house I was whisked off to their favorite mushroom spot. Never been much to care about these kindof things but lately I found myself actually being curious over different the things and people around me so I learnt some stuff *shocker*. My memory, of course, hasn’t miraculously improved since my trip a few hours earlier so I don’t remember what’s edible and what’s not but atleast it was interesting to find out about the different mushrooms that exist in our land. More interesting was testing them one by one, fried with butter, salt and peppar, and rating them, which is what we did with the ones we had plucked. (Anything that involves eating is always a thumbs up for me!) Since I’ve never given mushrooms much thought I never though they’d have such different tastes. Something new learnt.

We drank wine and had an alltogether very pleasant time together. Before going to bed me and my mother talked through about my project and I got to clear my head a little with what it is that I want to achieve. I have her support, which is huge as she’s usually atleast a little dubious about everything I do.

I keep saying pleasant… but that’s exactly what it is here. Pleasant. I know people often use it as diplomatic word to say nice and boring, but I rather really mean it in it’s most positive aspect. It’s nice… and relaxing.

I mean, we pluck our sallad right of our backyard, same thing with the different kinds of berries that my parents like to use for everything, knitting, learning to drive (I wasn’t half bad!), having a morning “run”, having guests and talking about travelling (hey darling, we now have a contact in Ecuador if we’re ever going backpacking around South America as I’d like), and just generally talking about everything between heaven and earth.

It’s all good.

Vacation!

Sweet kisses to all.

Lots and lots of gooseberries! *yum*

Lovely colours. :)

My very lovely parents!

Nearby fishing spot

Our eleven different types of mushrooms

Nautious July 21, 2009

And here I am again, feeling lost and confused with a pit at the bottom of my stomach breaking down my self confidence and making me feel nautious.

Maybe it’s time for a trip to India or some other cheap and warm place soon.

Kisses to all

London June 9, 2009

I have, without a doubt, had one of the best weekends.

Since Friday, I’ve been in London for the first time. The first day, I was walking around, getting stressed by the rush people were in, worrying about my ignorance, worrying that someone was going to either play me for a fool or steal my wallet. I realized that the two years I’ve spent in the lovely little town of Helsingborg has turned me into quite the small town girl. The next day, the old, big city girl in me started re-emerging and I relaxed, and have since then, been enjoying it to the fullest.

I can see India in London. I can see now where they get the chaos, the strange form of eat or be eaten point of view, the decadence. (We’ve had many conversations about the meaning of that word and I’ve come to the conclusion that the way it’s used is very personal, so it’s up to you how you want to interpretate the former sentence.) I’ve been drinking in all the sounds, the experiences and the people of this place. For all my life I’ve thought that the whole of Europe was just different variations of Scandinavia, and thus never been interested in visiting Europe with the same passion I’ve been interested in travelling around Asia, South America and Africa. Ah, the naiveté.

It’s the strangest city, in the sense that people look great and the fashion is wonderful, but then the buildings lack central heating and the doors are the least functional I have yet experienced. It may be a first world country, because they have the economy for it, but behind the façade, the place is falling apart. Quite surprising.

I don’t mean any of this negatively though; it’s a different culture, which makes me love it. The chaos gives it character and variety. I love variety. 

It was the perfect trip with a little bit of culture, a little bit of drinking, a little bit just hanging with friends, a little it of shopping, a little bit a nice trip to do with a loved one and a lot of good food! I’ve realized how much the Bear and me has grown, together and apart. I’ve realized that despite all my happiness lately, I have to stop wondering how others perceive my behaviour because this weekend I haven’t bothered, and I’ve felt great. 

I’ve returned home to Helsingborg loving the trip and London as a city, at the same time loving the fact that I live in a smaller town like Helsingborg. I’ve returned home re-energized and ready to face my challenges again. 

Couldn’t be better.

Sweet kisses to all.

Intense May 4, 2009

Despite the fact that this weekend was three days long instead of the usual two, it’s been so busy I don’t feel like I got a chance at beeing with my bear and rest up. Partially because today I’m ending the weekend with a double work shift, partially because despite my very social behaviour, I can’t handle being social for more than a few hours at a time and it usually ends with me greatly enjoying my alone time. Because of this, I’m playing hooky from my apprentice work meaning I’m only working my evening shift at my part time job.

Anyway, so what have I done? Thursday I came home from work and shared a bottle of wine with the Bear, which totally messed me up and I slept long into the day on Friday. Around noon I helped someone move his and his girlfriends’ separate stuff into their new, joined apartment. 

Later in the evening we went off for a coffee and a movie “state of play” with another couple. It’s actually not that bad by the way.

Now, to the interesting part of the weekend. On Saturday, I flew up to a place called Ostersund for a banquet with the company I work part time with. It was 8 other girls, our boss, her husband, and me. Being a girl of usually no make up and baggy pants (and the occasional skirt), I find it especially fun with occasions that give me an excuse to play dress up. I looked awesome, as did most of the other girls and boys at the place. 

For the first time I found out a little more about what the company is all about. I ended up enjoying the drive the company showed itself to have considering how it’s grown exponentially in the two years it’s existed and I ended up feeling like I wanted to be a part of that, and see how far I could go within the company. It’s a good feeling. The girls in Helsingborg had nominated me as the newcomer of the year. I knew though that I had no chance to win because we were a small group of 15 in Helsingborg while they were a huge group of 150 in Ostersund who had barely heard of us. None the less, even if my name didn’t come up in Ostersund, I was flattered that they had nominated me down here. Very good feeling. 

The boss’ husbands’ humour finally got to me at one of the night so I let him know I didn’t appreciate it. He said sorry, I took a cigarette and when I came back in, we were OK again. All good. If there’s one thing I’m very glad I’ve learnt from my therapy, it’s that it’s much better to just be open about my feelings instead of walking around with a chip on my shoulder or the worry that I’ve done something wrong. Life has become very much simpler because of it. 

I got to know my sister”‘-in-law” a little better as well and had a talk with the boss about the possibilities of working enough to not have to take a loan from the government anymore. By the end of the night my feet were so swollen from my high heeled shoes I was about to cry, I was in a good mood and I fell asleep knowing I was going to have the kind of hangover one usually only has after a new years eve party. 

I was right. My head was hurting, I was partially too warm and partially having non-stop shivers, and I was constantly hungry. (Why do we do this to ourselves?)

While waiting at the Stockholm airport though, I realized that my mom was on her way home to Sweden from Finland that same day and looked up when she was to land. She was to land 17.55… the same exact time that my plane lifted. A pity, because I would have loved to see her face expression if she saw me as she off boarded the airplane.

Coming home, my wonderful Bear was making dinner with plans of having muffins for dessert.

Being a girl who needs her alone time, it’s quite obvious why I’m badly in need to just hang at home before getting to my daily routines. I needed a break, and by Sunday I was really quite tired of my colleagues (not because they’re bad people, but because I need my alone time) and was ready to come home. The need for some alone time is part of the reason I’m skipping work today.

Sweet tired kisses to all

Welcome 2009! January 8, 2009

Everyone’s been writing so much about the past year which I really don’t want to do. Instead, I want to look into the future because I feel there’s so much good stuff to look forward to.  

Starting this new year in India has made me so much happier, that much more positive, and much more energy. I have for the past years lost myeslf, the person that I was so proud of being… and about a month ago things started making sense to me again. Now, with my depression at bay once again I can think even clearer and I’ve realized there’s so much to look forward to.

To give a few examples I’ve got an apprenticeship in about a month I can’t wait to get started with, a chance to a new summerjob now that I quit as a waitress at dunkers, a very dear friend, the bear and I have quite spontenously decided to travel to london in april or june, and I feel for the first time in two years that I can stop worrying so much about what others will think or say about my behaviour or the way I dress. I don’t know why I started caring so much after moving here, but I did. And theres so much more I can do, plan, and be a part of if I want to.

I’ve basically realized that there isn’t actually anything or anyone stopping me from being all I want. Ah, life can taste so good when one takes it by the horn and dares to do something with it. *yum*

So, dear 2009, bring it on!

Sweet kisses to all!

Back in Sweden January 3, 2009

Oh man it’s nice to be home. The biggest reason probably being that it’s nice the big trip home is over! I haven’t actually missed the little kitties while we’ve been gone since I knew they were in good hands but it was very nice to see them again! I never realized how much they’d grow in 2 weeks! …plus they’ve got their winterfur now so they’re ultra furry! Adorable. 

First thing I noticed as soon as the parent-in-laws left though was how quiet it was! It’s hard to explain about all the sounds and noices that surround us everywhere in Trivandrum. In town it’s a chaotic bussle with for example all vehicles using their horns at every possible moment.

At home, on top of a hill you’d think it would be quite quiet but since we’re pretty much surrounded by forest there are all sorts of animal sounds all around us as well as very bad isolation meaning we hear the temples and churches (Indian churches not very much like the European ones) as well as anything else going on at the bottom of the hill.

So, it’s our first day back in Helsingborg and I’m dealing with a stomach that’s been getting worse as the trip got on and the Bear woke up with a cold. It’s good to be home.

Sweet Kisses to all!

Happy New Year! January 1, 2009

 

Klick to see more!

The last day of 2008 I spent as a perfect tourist! We went for lunch at a restaurant I had promised myself last time I was here (4 years ago) that I had to try out next time I came here because I found it just before we left. After that we swam at the beach (for the first time since getting here!) and then continued on at a nearby swimmingpool (for only the second time since getting here!). I also got to do my tourist shopping for the first time since getting here so as we left the beach my bikini was the only thing I was wearing that wasn’t bought that day. The only thing I didn’t get that chance to buy was a necklace because we ran out of time in the end. No problem though, I got the tourist day I’ve been waiting for since getting here! (Click on the picture to see more )

 

On the way home we had dinner at a cozy little italian restaurant (my stomach has given up on the indian food for this time around) and then came home to sit on the balcony with beer (for some), good company and good conversation watching all the millions of stars we actually get to see from this hill top! Quite nice.

The last couple of years I’ve been starting the new year with a staggering hangover so this/last year was quite nice just to sleep with my bear next to me, just listening to those fireworks outside. Ofcourse, it wasn’t completely by our choice, we have our last dentist appointment today, at 10.30, and I’m on antibiotics so no alcohol for me. But as boring as it may sound to some, it was pleasant, calm and cozy. And even without all the drinking I still feel a kind of renewal of the new year. In fact, I would even take it as far as saying that I feel that renewal more when I can think straight! Heh

It seems a few are wondering why I’m spending so much time at the dentist on my vacation and there’s two reasons for it: 1) Why I’m doing it: It’s very cheap and our teeth get a more thorough work-over done here than they would at home. 2) Why it’s so often: Our dear dentist is working around our very busy (and very tight) schedule. Proof of that fact is that today is our last day in this very warm corner of the world and as I mentioned earlier, we’re going to the dentist. But it’s all good. I’m thinking that I’m getting the chance to start the new year with a new smile.

So, tonight we pack our bags with maybe not as much new stuff I thought I would have (although this time the mans got more new stuff to fill the bag with than the woman), but instead a new bag to pack it all into. I leave this place late (or early tomorrow depending on how you think of it) feeling renewed as usual, ready to face on the world. I’ll be arriving home (atleast this time the trip in only 1 day instead of 3!) to meet the real world with our adorable cats, with our responsibilities as a student and good experiences!

Happy New Year and Sweet kisses to all!

Sick (again) and Tired December 24, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serves me right for being so cocky yesterday… I knew as I went to bed that I was probably about to get a cold but I just refused to believe it (can you blame me?). Waking up this morning I knew I wasn’t feeling well, had some breakfast, cancelled the cab and went back to sleep. Damn it. The thing is, a slight cold is managable in Sweden, here though, with all the strange bacterias, the heat, and the sweating a slight cold can turn me into zombie aweful quick. Feel better now though, and ones the worst of the heat passes (around 3pm) me and the bear are gonna go into town and again attempt to do some shopping in town. Yesterday the supporters of the communist party (the party in power) was having a demonstration (the peaceful kind, which Indians are famous for) so most of the roads were blocked and we pretty much ended up spending the afternoon in the car. All one can do is to go with the flow here and try again another day.

Oh, and I just realized that it was christmas (Swedes celebrate is on the 24th) so merry christmas to everyone, and hopefully I’m well enough tomorrow to celebrate it as planned with some acquaintances. 

Until then, sickly sweet kisses to all!

It’s All Good December 23, 2008

Awesome trees growing in the middle of trivandrum

 

Mukkunni Malla (our home in India)

India is truly the country of paradoxes. For example, we live in a 900 m2 house on top of a hill with a beautiful view, we have internet ,we’re surrounded by forest and a driver that drives us around… but as the bear put it, it reminds of camping. No running water, used toilet paper should be thrown into the garbage can instead of in the toilet, gas stove for cooking and a dirt road that’s near impossible to drive up to give an example. The mosquito tent over the bed is both a reminder of a camp as well as a luxury as it increases the cozy level by about 100.

 

The country itself is a paradox as well. India as a country is one of the richest countries around, yet 90% of the people are living below humane standards. It’s a country full of vibrant colours and beauty yet I have yet to visit a country that is as dirty and smelly as this one. 

But all of this is part of the Indian charm. The fact that I, a middle-class girl in Sweden, can enjoy luxuries like a four star hotel and everything that implies for one day and then the next sit at a very regular corner restaurant and pay 6 kr for an equally enjoyable meal is quite remarkable. 

I read in what I think was the lonely planet book some 4 years ago that India is the type of country you leave feeling either spiritualized or badly in need of a vacation. The extremes of the country ensures it and I love it.  

What am I doing right now? Sitting outside enjoying the shade and the warmth with my mum’s little puppy and my big bear. Soon we’re off to town to do some minor shopping and then eat some good home cooked food at my grandma’s. Perfect.

Tomorrow? Oh, I don’t know, haven’t decided if we’re going for a swim by or in the beach and maybe do some tourist shopping or stay at home and just enjoy the weather. What aweful choices there are to make here. *wink*

Sweet Kisses to all!

India, At Long Last! December 22, 2008

Abu Dhabi Airport - Click to see more!

 

 

Finally in India and my god was the trip long! We left on Friday and arrived early sunday morning. We had 15 hours to kill in Abu Dhabi, a place we both expected more from, so we thought we’d leave the airport and look around. After 6 hours we realized we were much to tired to keep walking (we had been awake for over 24 hours at this point) and decided to head back to the airport and sleep off the last few hours. I even doublechecked that our baggage was on the right plane. After a decidedly spicey pasta we got on the final airplane and arrived to Trivandrum at 4 am.

Me thinks the Indian god(dess) of travelling (if they have such a god) has a grudge towards me though! Every other time I travel to India my baggage decided to stay behind or travel somewhere else. This time is no different. But it was no problem since we got them back today and we’ve had a lovely couple of days none the less. The bear’s in my dads clothes (who’s double his size) and I’m in my moms very Indian clothes. I’ll put up pictures of that and all the rest of it when I get home next year.

 

nice bedroom view eh?

None the less, once we got home and got a oh-so-wonderful cold shower we got into a bed with a mosquito net “tent” (very cozy according to me) and blacked out in about 2 seconds. After 4 hours (jetlag’s a bitch) we got up to eat a long, very tasty Indian brunch at a 5 star hotel overlooking the beach. Not having a swimsuit (it being in my lost bagage) I made a few desperate rounds around the area to finally find one of the most awefully fitting bathingsuits I’ve ever set my eyes on and took a dip in the most perfectly temperatured swimmingpool and counted my lucky stars for all the luxury I’m enjoying. We even met two very friendly acquaintances to my parents and thus got invited to a christmas party, so as usual something works out for christmas anyway (we hadn’t planned on celebrating it).

 

After a day of luxury we went home and went to sleep, only for me to go through THE worst stomach pains I’ve ever experienced in my whole life. Found out later the guard thought someone was getting tortured from all the howling I was making and called in a worried state. Sweet of him to react.

Today I feel much better and we went to the dentist to see if I can get my teeth fixed for cheaper than Sweden and got our baggage. Indian people can be extremely hard to deal with so I ended up going on a war path but it all worked out in the end! Heh.

If it’s possible to fix the teeth I’ll be coming home with a set of beautiful teeth, a tan to die for (and hopefully a few kilos lighter). I’ll be one of those ladies “going of to vacation” only to come back botoxed, stomach pumped, and I don’t know what else. Except I’m actually on vacation and just taking advantage of the situation! Perfect.

There’s just too much stuff to write about, and I want to share it all, but I’ll have to share more later!

Sweet Kisses to all!