Freedom

Today I ran. Between 9 and 10 Km. Between 45 and 55 minutes. I don't know. I had no music. I had no watch. Just me and the road. It was strange at first it was strange but then I got used to it. I was free! 

That might have been the last training before my next half marathon in a week. I will not be posting here in the meantime as I plan to be busy living new adventures.

See you soon! 

Stories of my world #4

She was a hairdresser in Prague. She was from the United States but had lived in the Czech Republic for almost 10 years. Her number was listed in a website for expats. We chose her because she could speak English and because she had good reviews. The first time we met, she opened the door with a smile. She was wearing only black, including her hair, which she kept long with two small high pigtails and pink bangs. Her arms are covered with tattoos, including hairdressing tools. The most special tattoos are on the side of her lower arms, along her thumbs - two rulers, one in inches and one in centimeters. She always asks the costumers how much hair they want to cut off, showing the two rulers to avoid misunderstandings. The first thing she asked me was how I usually use my hair and how do I take care of it. I told her that I wash it almost everyday, because I train almost everyday, and that I never blow dry it because I don't like it. As always I expected to be shouted at. I wasn't. She told me one should have a hairstyle that fits the lifestyle. Finally, someone understood my point of view! Finally, someone did not try to sell me a million hair products. Finally, someone did not spend an hour explaining how the hair gets rotten if I don't blow dry it (myth!) or how I should not wash my hair everyday because it's gets fungus (myth! - and better fungus than old sweat on it). I became a fan of her work since day one. Johan as well. Her good work was even more obvious in his hair. After her haircut it always grew beautifully, instead of becoming weird. It went from short and cool, to medium and cool, to long and cool. It was impressive. We always went back to her and we wished we could still go there every time we need. She understood hair like no one else I have ever seen. 

In her home hair saloon there is always music playing in the background. Metal music. She always offers beverages to her costumers. She always chats and tells stories about her life, her work, US and her relationship with Czech Republic. She loves her job. WE loved her work. She is the coolest hairdresser ever. She is the best hairdresser we have ever had. She is Dayla.

Photo from here

The Stories of my world will have a small break as I will be off next week. 

You got to love Sweden #11 - Library

I love reading and I read a little bit of everything. It's rare the night I fall asleep without reading at least a few pages just before I turn off the bedside table light. A habit I got since I was a child. Sometimes my eyes are so sleep I only manage to read 2 pages, and sometimes I can read half a book. When I was 13, I went to Portimão, in the south of Portugal, with my sports team and we visited the city library, then newly refurbished. I fell in love with it. It had comfortable sofas and chairs where one could read magazines and newspapers, secret reading corners, areas to watch movies or listen to CDs, and an infinite (for me) book collection. Since then I have dreamed of living in a city with a great library like that. Here, I have been going to the local library, which is somehow comparable in size and features to that library I visited when I was 13. There is also a nice collection of books in English, which is good, as my Swedish is only allows me to read children's book yet (which, by the way, I have been doing). I was already happy with this library until I needed a grammar book that I could only find in the city library of Gothenburg. I went there yesterday, and I did fall in love with it. It was the exact same feeling I had when I was 13. Except this time I can actually use this library and it is ten times better and bigger than the other one. 

Adoro ler e leio de tudo um pouco. É rara a noite que adormeço sem antes ler umas páginas antes de apagar a luz. Um hábito que ganhei quando ainda era criança. Às vezes os meus olhos estão tão pesados de sono que só consigo ler 2 páginas, outras vez leio metade de um livro. Quando tinha 13 anos fui a Portimão, no sul de Portugal, com a minha equipa da altura e lá visitamos a biblioteca da cidade, na altura renovada há pouco tempo. Apoixeinei-me pela biblioteca. Tinha sofás e cadeirões confortáveis, recantos de leitura, uma área para ver filmes ou ouvir CDs, e uma colecção infinita (para mim) de livros. Desde essa altura que sonho morar numa cidade com uma biblioteca assim. Aqui tenho ido a minha biblioteca local, que de certa forma é semelhante a essa biblioteca em termos de espaço e servicios. Além disso tem uma boa colecção razoável de livros em Inglês, o que é bastante conveniente sendo que o meu sueco ainda só dá para ler livros de crianças (o que tenho feito). Já estava contente por ter esta biblioteca, mas precisei de um livro de grmática e descobri que só existia na biblioteca da cidade de Gotemburgo. Fui lá ontem. Apaixonei-me novamente por uma biblioteca, tal e qual como quando tinha 13 anos. Mas desta vez posso de facto usar a biblioteca, que é dez vezes melhor e maior que a outra.

The Gothenburg library is spread all over 3 floors and it's gorgeous, modern and cosy.

A biblioteca de Gotemburgo tem 3 andares e é linda, moderna e agradável. 

It's cosy, it has reading corners, computers, a cafe and on top of that a beautiful architecture. The book collection is huge! There's books in Swedish, several shelves of books in English and books in many many different languages. I found a whole shelf of books in Portuguese, including many titles I have been wanting to read for a while but I had not had the chance yet. There's a whole section focused on the learning of languages, where I found (too) many books of exercises for practicing Swedish, for all levels and for different second languages (I learn from English, but there's a lot of people learning from Arabic, Chinese, German, etc.). I literally got lost there.

É agradável, tem cantos para leitura, computadores, um café e ainda por cima uma arquitectura bonita. A colecção de livros é gigantesca! Há muitos em Sueco, claro, mas também tem muitas prateleiras com livros em Inglês e muitos outros em várias linguas. Por exemplo, encontrei uma prateleira inteira com livros em Português, incluindo livros que quero ler mas ainda não tive oportunidade. Há uma secção inteira dedicada à aprendizagem de linguas, onde encontrei (demasiados) livros de exercisios para Sueco, de vários níveis e várias linguas secundárias (eu aprendo de inglês, mas muitos aprendem de Árabe, Chinês, Alemão, etc.). Perdi-me na biblioteca.

Of course, I am now a member and I plan to go there many times. I am finally living in a city with a great library!

Claro que me tornei membro da biblioteca e espero ir lá muitas vezes. Estou finalmente a morar numa cidade com uma biblioteca fantástica!

The five senses of Summer

I see the green of the grass and the trees blending with the light blue sky, lighten up by the sunshine.
I feel the heat of the sun on my skin while I touch the grass and enjoy it's coolness.
I hear the wonderful singing of the birds, and the slightly annoying buzz of the mosquitoes and bees.
I smell the aroma released by the sausages on the grill that mixes with the aroma of the roses nearby.
I taste a glass of sweet homemade wine. A very especial glass of wine.

Summer is finally here.
My first summer in Sweden.



Olho o verde da relva e das árvores que se mistura com o azul claro do céu, iluminado pela luz do sol.
Sinto ainda o calor do sol na minha pele enquanto toco na relva e aprecio a sua frescura.
Ouço o cantar dos passarinhos e o zumbido chato dos mosquitos e abelhas.
Cheiro o aroma das salsichas no grelhador que se mistura com o aroma das rosas do jardim.
Saboreio um copo de vinho doce caseiro. Um vinho muito especial.

O Verão chegou finalmente.
O meu primeiro Verão na Suécia.

Learning while having fun

One of the best things about my SFI summer school was the outings we had. We had classes 4 mornings a week and once a week we spent one of those mornings out. The second week we went to see some of the Gothenburg Green World exhibitions. The third week we went to a park to play games and dance music from the different countries represented by the students. The first week we went on a small touristic tour around the river Göta, here in Gothenburg. We first took a boat, usually used to cross to the margin of the river opposite to the very center of the city, and we enjoyed the 20min ride to the last stop. Afterwards, we visited a contemporary art exhibtion in Röda Sten. Of course I took some pictures and you can see them below.

Uma das melhores coisas da escola de Verão do curso SFI foram as excursões. Tive aulas 4 manhãs por semana e uma das manhãs foi sempre passada fora. Na segunda semana visitamos parte da Gothenburg Green World. Na terceira semana fomos até um parque jogar jogos e dançar musicas dos países de cada estudante. Na primeira semana fomos numa pequena visita turística pelo rio Göta, aqui em Gotemburgo. Primeiro apanhamos um barco, geralmente usado para atravessar o rio para a margem contrária ao centro da cidade e aproveitamos a viagem de 20 minutos até à ultima paragem. Depois disso visitamos uma exposição de arte contemporânia em Röda Sten. Claro que tirei fotos, vejam em baixo.

 The Lipstick / O batom

Clouds, my favourite / Núvens, a minha favorita

Opal, a mineral that slowly changes over 10000 years... or a way to show of how human life is so short.

Opal, um mineral que demora 10000 anos a mudar... ou um modo de nos mostrar o quanto a vida humana é efémera.

What a nice morning and what a nice way to improve our Swedish!
Que manhã tão agradável e que maneira tão boa de praticar Sueco!

You got to love Sweden #10 - SFI

SFI stands for Svenska För Invandrare, or Swedish for immigrants. This is the Swedish language course I have been taking. It's free for any new comers. Or not so new, as I know people who decided to take it after living in Sweden for 5 years. I asked a few people about it before I started and some people enjoy the course while others not so much. I was told it depends a lot on the teacher and the class in general. People who work usually get an evening class once a week, while unemployed people get 3 or 4 classes a week, which is also a big different. So far, I have enjoyed the classes. The level zero was a little bit slow for me but definitely a good start. Then I had a 3 week summer school which I really enjoyed. We were pushed more than in the first class, but each student could do as much or as little as wanted. Of course, people who put more effort on it have a faster evolution but it is all based in the fact that we are all adults and it's up to each student to decide how much they want to learn.

I think it's a very good thing to have a free language course for foreigners and I know that this is not that common in other countries. From my part, I will try to do my best and learn as fast as I can, and I am very thankful for the opportunity, not only to learn Swedish but also to meet other people in a similar situation.

SFI significa Svenska För Invandrare, ou Sueco para Imigrantes. É este o meu curso de sueco. É gratuito para pessoas novas no país. E também não tão novas porque conheço pessoas que o começaram 5 anos depois de terem vindo para cá. Antes de começar perguntei a algumas pessoas o que pensavam do curso. Disseram-me que depende muito dos professores e da turma. Além disso, pessoas que trabalham só têm aulas uma vez por semana, enquanto desempregados têm 3 ou 4 aulas por semana, o que é uma grande diferença. Até agora gostei das ulas que tive. O nivel zero foi um pouco lento mas definitivamente uma boa forma de começar a aprender a lingua. Depois disso tive 3 semanas de escola de Verão das quais gostei bastante. Estas eram mais puxadas mas ainda assim cada aluno podia fazer o quanto quisesse. Claro que pessoas que se esforçam mais evoluem mais depressa, mas o curso é baseado no facto de que somos todos alunos e cada aluno sabem de si e decide o quanto se quer dedicar à aprendizagem da língua.

Penso que é óptmo o facto de existir um curso gratuito para estrangeiros e eu sei que isto não é assim tão comum noutros países. Pessoalmente vou dar o meu melhor e aprender o mais depressa possivel e estou muito grata pela oportunidade, não só de aprender como também de conhecer outras pessoas na mesma situação que eu.

Learning Swedish #8

After showing off (some of) my Swedish to a native speaker his comment was that I sound just like Marta, the football player.

She has been considered the best football player in the world a few times. She has been playing and living in Sweden for years but she is originally from Brazil.

Since we have the same native language, Portuguese, I guess it makes sense that I sound like her.

It's still a good compliment!

Depois de demonstrar (algum d) o meu sueco a um sueco o seu comentário foi que eu falava tal como a Marta, a jogadora de futebol.

Ela já foi considerada a melhor jogadora do mundo algumas vezes e joga e mora na Suécia já há alguns anos. Uma vez que temos a mesma língua materna, Português, suponho que faz algum sentido que eu fale como ela.

Foi um bom elogio! 

Prague bucket list #14 - shoes throwing

No one really knows the idea behind this (sort of) tradition or even what is it actually about, but the truth is there's always a bunch of shoes hanging from the electrical cable on the top of Letná park, near the metronome, in Prague. I have heard two different versions. One says the shoes are thrown by teenagers when they loose their virginity. The other one says that the shoes belong to people who have lived in Prague but had to move away, and before they moved they left something behind as a symbol. Of course I prefer the last version, so in the last day of our stay we headed to the metronome to leave there a pair of shoes each. I chose my aerobics shoes and Johan left his floorball shoes, both old and both associated with good memories. The throwing itself was more difficult than what it seemed, but after 20 (me) and 8 (Johan) attempts we made it.

Ninguém sabe ao certo a ideia por detrás desta (espécie de) tradição ou como é que funciona exactamente, mas a verdade é que há sempre um molho de sapatos pendirados num cabo eléctrico no topo do parque Letná perto do metronomo, em Praga. Eu ouvi duas versões diferentes. Uma delas diz que os sapatos são deixados por adolescentes quando perdem a virgindade. Outra diz que são pessoas que moraram em Praga mas que tiveram que se mudar que ali quiseram deixar a sua marca. Claro que eu prefiro a ultima versão e assim sendo lá fomos nós no nosso ultimo dia em Praga deixar um par cada um. Eu escolhi os meus ténis de aeróbica e o Johan os de floorball. Ambos velhos e ambos simbolos de boas memorias. Atirar os sapatos foi mais difícil do que o que parece, mas depois de 20 (eu) e 8 (ele) tentativas conseguimos.

Mine on the left with the blue sole and Johan's on the right, white and black.

Os meus à esquerda, de sola azul e os do Johan à deireita, pretos e brancos.

Here is Johan throwing his shoes / Aqui está o Johan a atirar os seus ténis

There it was. Although temporary, we left our mark in Prague.
Ainda que temporária, ali ficou então a nossa marca em Praga.

Stories of my world #3

He is from Lebanon, but had left his country many years before I met him. He was wearing a pink t-shirt and introduced himself with a smile. He was going to be my flatmate. We shared a house for the first 6 months I lived in Brazil. He had a lot of nervous energy and he was loud. I got used to the phone calls he made to his mother and the Arabic music coming from his room. I remember very well one Saturday morning, when I woke up and I opened the door of my room and he was there just outside. He was almost in panic because he had to pee, but there was a dead cockroach in the bathroom and he wanted me to take it away first! He had been waiting for over 3h, but he didn't think he should wake me up. We used to work in the same group. He was a theoretician and he was scared of being in the laboratory. He worked constantly and he was very good at his job. He still is, I'm sure. I remember a conversation about him that I had in the lab with my colleagues. They were sure he was gay. I asked them why? Just because he wears pink and he is loud? I had lived with him for two weeks then and I had not thought about that, so they surprised me with their assumptions. They showed me his status on Facebook. He was (is) gay. It was then and there that I realised that being gay or not was not something that mattered to me. It was exactly the same. He also didn't care about other people's comments. Truth being told, he is so likable and funny that even the ones who took longer to tolerate him got used to his personality. It's impossible to not have a good laugh with him. We became good friends and I could tell you a thousand other stories about him. Like the time I made codfish cakes and they were so good that he couldn't resist but steal a few (maybe even a lot!). Like the time HE had to do a stomach exam, and I ended up fainting, so when he woke up from his anesthetics he was the one consoling me and not the other way around. Like the time he was scared of a moth but I couldn't remember the word for it in English so I described it as an animal that eats clothes and he shouted in the middle of the whole department "We are going to be naked!!!!!".

Life brought us apart but I know that I can count on him, the same way he can count on me. I hope he knows that. Because he is special. He is unique. He is Elie. 

Art here and there #4

The Reincarnation, by Tetsunori Kawana.

His vision of the installation is that of a tranquil, floating cloud. 

"I wanted to give new life to the beautiful dead trees and roots that I found at the dump here in Gothenburg. And mix them together with the young, green bamboo. In this way they get a new life, and together they create a new unity, a new energy on the location. A reincarnation of nature and the dead trees are given  a new context to live in", says Kawana to describe his work.

Quoted text in Gothenburg Green World's webpage.

 Milleniumplatsen in Gothenburg

Gothenburg Green World 2016

Swedish people have a passion for nature in general, and worry about sustainability and the protection of the environment. Gothenburg Green World is a program that shows this care on many different levels. There's the call for attention on how green spaces are important in the cities, with several pop up gardens in the main avenue of the city. There's the appeal to live a more sustainable lifestyle by growing more vegetables and edible plants and flowers in our gardens, helping the bees as well. There's also the showing off of how beautiful nature can be, by highlighting and advertising even more the gardens, parks and green spaces throughout the city. For me, Gothenburg was already a green city, as it is surrounded by forests, parks and reserves. Since the July 12th it became even more green with all the exhibitions and activities (gardening workshops, nature photography exhibitions, activities for children). 

The environment was the theme of the second week in my summer school and on our outing that week we visited a few of the green spaces. See the pictures below.

Os suecos são, em geral, apaixonados pela natureza e preocupados com questões de sustentabilidade e protecção do ambiente. Gothenburg Green World é uma iniciativa que tem por objectivo mostrar isto mesmo de modos diferentes. Há o chamar a atenção para a importância dos espaços verdes nas cidades, com vários pop up parques na avenida principal de Gotemburgo. Há o apelo a uma vida mais sustentável, ao incentivar toda a gente a cultivar mais vegetais e flores somestiveis, ajudando ao mesmo tempo as abelhas. E há ainda o lado belo da natureza, chamando a atenção das pessoas para os jardins, parques e espaços verdes já existentes na cidade. Para mim Gotemburgo já era uma cidade super verde, rodeada por florestas, parques naturais e reservas. Desde 12 de Julho tornou-se ainda mais verde com todas instalações verdes e actividades (workshops de jardinagem, exibições de fotografia em natureza e actividades para os mais pequenos).

O ambiente foi o tema da segunda semana de aulas da minha escola de verão e na excursão dessa semana fomos ver alguns dos espaços verdes deste programa. Deixo algumas fotos.

Aveny - (Main avenue/Avenida Principal)

 Fresh herbs / Ervas aromáticas

Plant exchange, bring yours and take something new.

Troca de plantas, traga uma leve outra diferente.

Bee hotel / Hotel de abelhas

Trädgårdsföreningen 

The leaves of this plant are very similar to the eagle represented on the Albanese flag, therefore in Albania it is called the eagle plant.

As folhas desta planta são parecidas à águia desenhada na bandeira albanesa, assim sendo na Albânia esta planta é conhecida por águia.

 One of the teacher feeding a bird / Uma das professoras a alimentar um passarinho

This post could as well just have been in the section "You got to love Sweden", because it's wonderful to see how much they take care of nature and the environment. And this way we learn new things while practicing Swedish.

Este post poderia muito bem ter sido escrito na secção "You got to love Sweden" porque eu adoro ver o quanto a natureza e o ambiente são importantes aqui. E assim aprendemos coisas novas enquanto praticamos sueco.