A beautiful day

Beat. All I wanted to do this morning was to crawl back into the warm bed and pull the blanket over my head and have sweet dreams... However, duty called and I went to work like a well adjusted citizen of the world is expected to... When I walked home this beautiful spring day (no beanie on for at least one third of the way yey) i came to realise that it had been an interesting day, for several reasons: During a meeting it was decided I will write two articles based on a study I have carried out among students from November to January. Then I went with the media technician to the studio and I was arm modelling for a while. More specifically this means that my arm and hand will be used in a film for educational purposes at Uppsala University. Then I get a phone call which ends up with me finishing up the work day by mingling and taking photos of an event at the university, photos that will published. All in all I am very grateful to have experienced this day.
... and in the evening I discover a great band called The Boxer Rebellion, check them out if you haven't already!
Peace.

Citat

Nyligen köpte jag en bok där följande ord av poeten Nguyen Cong Tru finns med:

På samma plats där jag sitter idag
kom andra, för länge sedan, för att sitta.
Tusen år, ytterligare andra skall komma.
Vem är sångaren, och vem lyssnaren?

Mycket vackert...

Spring ball

Uppsala is a place which honours its traditions. The spring ball is one of them. What an evening/night/morning! We were a company of seven: Clara, Johannes, Gunilla, Joakim, Feven, Gabriel and me. The evening started with a glass of champagne decorated with a strawberry, and was followed up with a five course dinner that lasted close to midnight... It was a feast and it was an honour to be part of it all: the great company (thank you guys!) and the delicious food (part from the slightly frozen chocolate mousse...) all accompanied with the performers that appeared throughout the evening. After dinner steerage dancing was on the menu, the dance cards decided the order of partners. Not surprisingly there is a code for this too, first you should dance with your dinner partner, then with the man sitting on your right side and lastly the one sitting opposite you. After that you are free to choose partner. Some of the men really have impressive dancing skills! Afterwards we went to Gothenbourg nation and danced until the sun came up... Great experience: the athmosphere, the people, the food, the drinks, and to top it all of it is quite something to see (most of the) people in evening dresses/dress suits. This tradition goes back to the 19th century and I hope it has many years to come, including the serenade performed the evening/night before the spring ball by the man to his dinner partner. I doubt it is threatened though, after all this is Uppsala.

Reading about the collapse of a minaret in Meknes...

... made me think about the trip to this city only months ago. People had gathered for the Friday prayer when the minaret situated next to the mosque collapsed. At this point in time 41 persons are reported dead and 76 persons are injured. The reason for the collapse of the minaret is yet unclear, the media and locals claim it was due to the heavy rain falls that has hit the country in the past weeks. However, this statement has been questioned since Meknes has not been affected to a great extent.

When I was in Meknes in June last year it was boiling hot and busy. Wherever I looked or went there were people. The best activity was to sit in a café, order in some mint tea and just savour the athmosphere of this bustling city. So that is what I did, when I did not visit some recommended attraction or observed life passing by in the streets through a window of a taxi. As a woman one has to keep in mind not to look men in the eyes as this is not at all appropiate. One evening me and Carles passed a café when I recognised a man I had chatted with in Moulay Idriss while his fiancée was in the mosque, which he later introduced me to. He was sitting with a number of men outside a café and I looked at him, as to say "hello, remember me?", that was a big mistake. The phrase "if looks could kill" explains it all. I quickly hurried back to the hotel. Not looking a person of the opposite sex in the eyes is a sign of respect, even though it can appear differently to a western woman like myself. Another thing worth remembering is that you have chosen to visit their country; deal with it.

There was a change of plans due to Carles falling ill. Instead of traveling through the Atlas mountains down to the desert and Marrakech we went along the coast with only one stop in El Jadida on the way to Essaouira. It was a much more relaxed athmosphere in this small and cosy coastal town which has been a trading post since 5 BC. Today it is UNESCO World Heritage Listed and also known for its annual music festival Gnaoua Festival of World Music. We were there the week before the festival which lasts for four days and attracts hundreds of thousands visitors. The rumour goes Jimi Hendrix used to come to this place to chill (read: smoke pot). If you ever go to Essaouira, which i can recommend, let me know and i will tell you about a fantastic little restaurant where they make a delicious tajin.

Next stop: Marrakech. Loved it. So much life! It is called the "Red City" due to the reddish colour of the buildings. Fantastic architecture. The famous square Djeema el Fna is an experience in itself with its story tellers, dancers, musicians, snake charmers, monkeys... The medina leading to and from the square is another experience... A maze. Narrow alleys with shop keepers on both sides trying to convince you why you should enter their establishment... We visited a koranic school (medersa) situated next to the Marrakesh Museum, it was breath taking. Beautiful architecture; marble, wood and mosaic meet in a wonderful construction. Sit in a park and watch the scenery, have your mint tea at some café and observe life happening... Walking in this city is well worth the effort. Just bring water... and good shoes! When sitting on the train, leaving Marrakech for Casablanca I wished I would have spent just a little bit more time in this vibrant city. Marrakech grabs hold of you somehow. Fantastic.

This trip is a memory for life.

Birthday Celebration

On the 12th of December we celebrated my birthday at Brasserie Höganäs and later on some of us went dancing. It was truly a great night, thank you all! Enjoy the photos...

Amanda

Förra helgen flög jag söderut, till vackra Skåne, för att för första gången träffa min systerdotter Amanda. Namnet betyder "den älskvärda" och det är hon med all säkerhet. Hon är en pärla. Under julhelgen får jag hålla henne igen, men jag misstänker att det lär bli konkurrens från hennes mormor och morfar!

Experiencing Morocco- Casablanca and Moulay Idriss

Morocco is fascinating. First stop was Casablanca. After being ripped off by the taxi driver, who to his defense gave us a bit of a tour while driving us to the hotel, we arrived at the hotel which is situated by the gorgeous Atlantic ocean. We went for a stroll along the boulevard and observed the people in the new environment. Already at this point the contrasts appeared foremost in the way people dressed; some use djillaba, others jeans and a top; some use a hijab, some do not. The other observation made was the way men and women behaved in public; according to our guide book one should not show affection in public which many times was the case, but on the other hand it was not uncommon to see (young) women putting their arm under their partners arm while the men kept their hands in their pockets. It was a sunny humid afternoon and it was refreshing with the cool breeze. We decided to try one of the national dishes; tajin. There are different versions but this particular one was with pieces of very tender meat (cow) in a sauce made of olive and argan oil (nutty flavoured oil, sometimes called the new olive oil), tomato sauce, plums, onions, garlic and who-knows-what-spices. Delicious. There are also versions with chicken or fish. Meat tajin became my favourite, especially the one with plums and almonds. Yum! The next morning we were served a nice breakfast (including freshly squeezed orange juice, yey!) on the terrace overlooking the Atlantic ocean, not a bad way at all to start the day... and which gave us a lot of energy for the train journey north, heading for a small place up in the mountains called Moulay Idriss.

After an amusing train ride of about three hours, including chats with a Moroccan woman living in Canada and a bunch of farmers who had a party on the train and invited us for a Coca Cola, we arrived in Meknes which is the fourth largest city in Morocco. From there we took a shared taxi, that is four people squeezed into the back seat and three in the front seat of a silver couloured Mercedes, to this magical place called Moulay Idriss. It is hard to pinpoint what makes this small village situated in the mountains special, but it is. Small streets. Food stalls. Plenty of donkeys carrying various things, including their owner. I figured out why donkeys are said to be stubborn while sitting looking out over the village one afternoon. The most staggering about this place, even though the landscape and the views from the hills are breathtaking, is the mosque. Unfortunately it is not allowed for non-muslims to visit this place, even if i respect this rule, but when entering the medina (old town) there are two places where one can get a glimpse of its glory; bright white walls, mosaic and fantastic architecture... A true pleasure for the eyes. We strolled around in the small medina, it is easy to get lost in them, we finally found a spot where we had a good view over this small town in the mountains. After taking photos and drank some water it was time for my cooking course; tajin with chicken was on the menu! The woman who prepared the meal did not speak any French so i simply had to observe, smell the spices, touch some of the ingredients and take notes! When the tajin was simmering, we were invited for an afternoon tea including the mandatory mint tea with four different cakes! Delicious. We were a bit concerned though that after stuffing ourselves, would there be space for the tajin? No worries, the tajin simmered for about three or four hours... Yes that chicken was teeeender... The next morning we were served breakfast on the terrace outside our room, from where we the previous day had experienced a celebration to a newly born baby in form of a traditional musical performance. After the breakfast we strolled around the town a bit, when Carles fell ill due to the heat. While he was resting i all of a sudden heard men singing what to me sounded like a mantra while walking across the mountain, it was a funeral. Amazing. When i turned around i saw the owner of the B&B splashing some liquid on Carles forehead which turned out to be orange blossom mixed with water which is said to be good for headaches. I got some too, just to try it, i smelled good afterwards! She was worried and kept speaking to him in French and all he wanted was to sleep. However, the owner was very kind and she let us stay about an hour or so on the terrace until Carles got better. When he had recovered a bit we packed our bag and got into a shared taxi heading for Meknes. What is the matter with the taxi drivers in Morocco? There are no words to describe their driving skills! Skills is perhaps not the right choice of word here though. Anyway let me just say we were VERY happy when we arrived in Meknes!

To be continued...