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.

Learning Swedish #7

At the pharmacy cashier, while waiting for my turn, a second cashier comes and says that if I was paying by card I could pay at her side of the counter.

After a few seconds my brain actually realised that I only had cash. I told her so. She replied, that in that case I would have to wait and pay at the other cashier. Then, I thought that since the pharmacy was inside the supermarket I could probably use the card from the supermarket. I asked her if I could. She said yes. I paid and left. At the door of the pharmacy I stopped and I thought:

That was Swedish!!!!! The whole thing was in Swedish!!!

I had just come out of my class and I was still in Swedish mode, and since it was vocabulary I knew, it felt normal. 

That made me really happy! There's hope!

Estava eu no balcão da farmácia à espera para pagar quando apareceu uma segunda empregada que me disse que seu ia usar cartão podia pagar na caixa dela.
Uns segundos depois percebi que só tinha dinheiro e disse-lhe isso. Sendo assim teria que esperar pela minha vez na outra caixa. Como a farmácia era dentro do supermercado lembrei-me que se calhar podia pagar com o cartão do supermercado. Perguntei-lhe. Ela disse que sim. Paguei e fui-me embora. Ainda à porta da farmácia parei e pensei:

Aquilo era sueco!!!!! A conversa toda foi em sueco!!!

Tinha acabado de sair da minha aula de sueco e ainda estava com o modo sueco activado. Uma vez que na conversa foi usado vocabulário que conhecia, aconteceu tudo muito naturalmente.

Fiquei muito feliz! Afinal ainda há esperança!

Back to being myself

Yesterday, we had a school outing. We went to the park, played games and danced. Each person was supposed to show a dance. We went from salsa, through rumba, bugg, arabic dances, samba (the one I showed) and others. It was so good. I danced like no one was watching me and we all did it for over 2h. 

Yesterday, I realised I have not been myself in years. It was time to go back. It felt good to go back! I think I am slowly putting all the ghosts from the past behind my back. It was more than time for that!

I'm happy.

Ontem tivemos uma saída com a escola. Fomos até ao parque onde jogamos jogos e dançámos. Cada pessoa tinha que mostrar uma dança diferente. Houve desde salsa, a rumba, bugg, danças árabes, samba (a que eu mostrei), entre outras. Foi tão bom. Dancei como se ninguém me estive a ver e dançamos por mais de 2h. 

Ontem percebi que há anos que não era eu mesma. Já era tempo de voltar. Soube-me bem voltar! Acho que aos poucos começo a pôr os fantasmas do passado atrás das costas. Já não era sem tempo!

Estou feliz.

Stories of my world #2

The first time I saw him he was wearing a black leather jacket, black jeans and boots. He sat down and took off his jacket, showing off some tattoos covering his arms. He seemed to be tough on the outside but I knew he was nice in the inside. He is the bad boy I mentioned on my first post about my swedish classes. Don't ask me how I knew he was nice, I just did. There was something about him that made me want to know his story. We talked to each other on our third class and many other times after that. He is from Iran. He came to Sweden 5 years ago, searching for a better life. He used to be a History teacher, but now he cooks in a restaurant. He doesn't like cooking. He likes Mickael Jackson, which makes the cooking easier. He likes football, but he doesn't like Ronaldo. He likes Carlos Queiroz, a Portuguese coach in Iran. He is shy and he doesn't like to be in the spotlight. He is one of my nicest colleagues. He is Hamid.

He is young and shy. Most of the time he is quiet. He is from Syria. He came to Sweden in the beginning of this year, searching for a better life. He tried to stay in Turkey, but he could not find a job. Then, a relative advised him to come to Sweden. It took him over 3 months to get here. He traveled through Georgia, Russia and Finland. He found a temporary job here, in a company of chemicals, but now he is unemployed again. He doesn't like Sweden. He longs for his land where he could do what he loved. He graduated in Naval Engineering and he misses being out in the sea. He wishes his country would be safe again so he could go back. He misses his family. He told me all this with a smile. He smiles a lot. He is Fadi.

He is in his 40's. He speaks either in a very broken English or an even more broken Swedish. He starts every sentence by "In Albania...". He loves Albania, you can see that in his eyes. He says "in Albania we have too much" of a lot of things. For instance, olive trees, because when a couple gets married they plant a tree for good luck. He has a beautiful wife and two children, a boy and a girl. No need to say he misses them terribly. The first time he came to Sweden, he came for two months, July and August last year. In July it rained for 25 days straight. He didn't like it and he thought he would not come back. But he did. He doesn't think it's so bad anymore, but he misses eating beans. With a spoon. Here, people only use a few beans in the salad and spoons are only used to eat soups. He wants to eat a lot of beans and sauce over rice. With a spoon. He is always cheerful and good humoured. I hope Albania has too much of them like him. He is Eduard.

So different and so similar.
All together in Sweden.
All united by the learning of the Swedish language.
All the same now, but so different still.

PORTUGAL, the European Champion

The EURO 2016 for me started in May, when we visited Malmö. We bought the official panini album to collect stickers of the teams and players. I have never done it before and it was fun.

 Sticking the first stickers in our albums

A few weeks later, we were all together again, opening more stickers packs when I said, joking, "If I get any Portuguese player in this pack, Portugal will be the champion". There were 5 stickers in the pack and I got not one, but TWO Portuguese players.

A month later... Portugal won!

Portugal is the European Champion!!!

Photo from the internet

For those outside of Europe who are really confused right now... we are talking about football (soccer in US)! But not only! Because today, Portugal was also the European Champion in Triple Jump and in the half marathon race, both as a team and individually with Sara Moreira winning the gold. What a great weekend for Portugal!

Hradec na Moravici - Czech Republic

Hradec na Moravici is a small town not far from Ostrava (post about Ostrava here). Our friend Martina told us about this place and advised us to visit it, because of it's coziness and charm. The highlight of the town is its castle, sitting on top of a hill, and the very green and beautiful surroundings of the Czech countryside. We chose the weekend Martina was organising an art event there, with art workshops and a concert with her own band. The whole thing involved 4 different artists, herself, Ana Lagidze, from Georgia, Lesya Demchenko, originally from Ukraine but living in Turkey and Takako Morishita, from Japan. They all have different styles and it was great to observe them working and instructing the participants. 

Hradec na Moravici é uma pequena cidade não muito longe de Ostrava (post de Ostrava aqui). Foi a nossa amiga Martina que nos falou e nos aconselhou a visitar este lugar, por causa do seu charme e ambiente acolhedor. O ponto principal é o castelo, que fica no topo de uma colina, e os arredores muito verdes e lindos dos campos Checos. Fomos lá num fim de semana em que a Martina estava a organizar um evento de arte, com workshops de arte e um concerto dela e da sua banda. O evento integrava 4 artistas, a Martina, a Ana Lagidze, da Georgia, a Lesya Demchenko, originalmente da Ucrânia mas a morar na Turquia e a Takako Morishita, do Japão. Todas elas têm estilos diferentes e foi muito interessante poder observa-las a trabalhar e a ensinar os participantes.

The teeny tiny train who took us there... It is a small town...

O comboio pequenino que nos levou lá... era mesmo uma cidadezinha...

The guest artists listening to Martina and Trio

As artistas convidadas a ouvir o concerto da Martina e Trio

Martina at work / Martina a trabalhar

 Takako Morishita

 Ana Lagidze

The day ended with pizza, wine and a lot of laughter with the band, the artists and a few more friends. We spent a lovely weekend!

O dia terminou com pizza, vinho e muitas gargalhadas com a banda, as artistas e mais alguns amigos. Foi um fim de semana muito bem passado!

Portugal na final! Rima e é bonito!

O equivalente ao "viking clap" dos Islandeses para Portugal seria um piquenique de sardinhas assadas e garrafões de vinho no relvado do estádio, ao som de Tony Carreira. Como tal não foi possível arranjaram um megafone aos jogadores. Não me consigo lembrar de nada mais português que pudessem ter feito!

Estamos na final do Euro 2016 e eu estou aqui roída de inveja porque o que eu queria mesmo era poder ir a Portugal ver a final. E comer sardinhas. E beber vinho de um garrafão. E berrar a um megafone.

:)

Stories of my world #1

She was wearing a pink flowery summer dress. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. They are siblings. She is tall, blond and beautiful. The kind of person we associate with Sweden. He is small and cute, as only a child can be. I don't know how old are they. Maybe 7 and 4? She is energetic and free. He is too young to wear glasses but he does. They were playing in the park, where I was reading a book in the sun. They probably don't know but they are my neighbours. I used to observe them every morning through the window of my kitchen while I drunk my cup of black tea. They would be in the patio getting ready to go to school. Their father has a bicycle with a tray in the back, where the two kids go. I enjoyed how the three of them had done that same routine so many mornings that they knew exactly what to do and where to stand. Including the little boy. He knew exactly when he had to raise his arms, so that his father could pick him up and place him inside the tray-car. Then, he knew he had to take the blanket, that was next to him, and lay it over his and his sister's legs. That was his task. At the same time, the girl put on her helmet and by the time the blanket was done, she would put another helmet on her brother's. The dad would be fixing the tray to the bicycle and somehow, they all always finished their tasks at the same time. It was all so beautifully synchronised! 

Now there's no school. I can't observe them anymore every morning. I could observe them in the park, where they also got cycling with their father. They were playing freely, barefoot, with their feet on the grass. They looked so happy! Then and there, I thought, perhaps now, the little boy has grown up and he can put on his own helmet. Maybe next school year I will be observing a completely different routine. Maybe one day I will observe them cycling on their own to school. Maybe one day they will be observing someone else's children through their window. Maybe...

Stories of my world

Às Voltas no Mundo has always been a blog about myself. It might sound egocentric but it's true, because it is my blog and I like to write about themes that interest me and things I enjoy, like travelling, running, food, etc. I could write about trips I never did or sports I never tried, but I don't because I enjoy the most writing about my own stories. Partly, I do it for myself, because one day I will have a place to go and read about episodes of my life long lost within my memory. However, my stories are not only mine, they are shared by others who lived them with me. When I look through my photographs I recall not only the places, the emotions or the smell of each place, but also the people with whom I shared time and space during those moments. I also want to tell their stories, because one day I will want to remember them as much as mine. I have come across so many beautiful stories, sad, happy, peaceful, funny, all so interesting, and it has been fantastic to meet people that grew up so differently than me and still share similar interests and experiences. I want you to know about them! You, my dear readers, and you, my older me.

All this to say, that from now on, every Wednesday I will post about someone whose life path has come across mine. Some I have talk to, some I didn't. Some I met for just a few seconds, some I shared hours, days or weeks with. Some posts will come with a photograph, some won't and you will have to imagine them yourselves. 

I hope you enjoy reading about the people of my world, as I will call them. You most likely have met with your own share of stories and you too have the people of your world. We all do. Feel free to share them as well, here or in your own blogs. I love to read good stories.

What's your story?

Learning Swedish #6

The teacher writes 8 sentences on the board, all taken from a text we had written the previous day, to see if we can identify the mistakes and correct them. It took me 5 seconds to understand they had ALL been written by me and my group (out of 6 groups). We were three people in the group, but I was the one who actually wrote the text, first on paper and then in the computer. Brilliant... 

Maybe I should add that I'm the student with less experience in my class. I had classes for 3 weeks (I had to go to Portugal and I missed a week and a half), while others have been studying for 1 to 3 months. Still it didn't feel great!

Other than that I have been enjoying these classes a lot. The level zero is over and now I'm attending a summer school, with a different teacher, in which english is only allowed in extreme cases - when explanations for dummies, mimicking and drawing don't work.


A professora escreveu no quadro 8 frases, todas tiradas de textos escritos por nós no dia antes, para nós identificarmos os erros e corrigi-los. Demorei 5 segundos a perceber que as frases tinham sido TODAS escritas por mim e pelo meu grupo (entre 6 grupos). Éramos três pessoas no meu grupo mas fui eu que escrevi o texto, primeiro em papel e depois no computador. Brilhante...

Se calhar devia dizer que eu sou a aluna com menos experiência na turma. Tive aulas durante 3 semanas, porque tive que ir a Portugal e perder uma semana e meia, enquanto que os restantes têm entre 1 a 3 meses de aulas. Ainda assim foi mau!

Tirando isso estou a gostar bastante das aulas. Já acabou o nível zero e agora estou a ter aulas de Verão (?! - summer school). A professora é diferente e agora o Inglês só é permitido nas aulas em casos extremos - geralmente quando explicações como se fossemos crianças, mimica e desenhos não funcionam.