Now definitely Wednesday, just north of Scotland:
I couldn’t sleep. Sure I’m tired, but at the same time my body clock is certain. For the last four plus months, I’ve been in places where it’s only fifteen to ten at night now. Barely early bedtime.
So I thought I’d spend this last hour and a half before stepping onto Swedish soil again, not remenicing (because that will only make me sad), but listing things I have to look forward to.
The people goes without mentioning. I’ve slept too little during the last thirty hours or so to be writing anything profound. This is all about the small things.
Scandinavian dairy. Especially the cheese. I don’t know how many times I’ve tried to explain the wonders of the hard Swedish cheeses, the really strong tasting ones, to all these cheddar eating Americans. They just looked at me as if I was nuts.
Just in general, finding things in the grocery store that are NOT fat free, but that have no added sugar. (Seriously, I don’t get the logic – isn’t it general knowledge that sugar is bad, but fat sometimes even necessary for health?)
The Swedish public radio. Seriously, the dialects, the easily accessible new knowledge, the music. I’m really looking forward to starting to work at the archive again, sorting papers and listenng to podcasts.
Library books. Now that I have my recent airport purchases, I really won’t need to borrow a book for a very long time. But I think I will give the Stockholm main library a visit anyway. It’s one of my favourite buildings in the world.
Having my own computer. Because, what I’ve learned on this trip is that for a person who takes as many pictures as me, it is crazy to think you can survive without a device by which you can empty the camera from time to time. Luckily, I’ve met some really great people on the way: Frida, Diane, Karin, Lori, Miles, Leslie, Eric, Sarah, Sandra and Vladimiro have all been generous enough to let me borrow their computers. But I might not always be that lucky. Next time I go off spelunking in the world, I know I’ll have to bring one of those small laptops with me.
Being the boss of my own kitchen. I have been allowed to cook and use different kitchens during my trip, but it’s not the same. Not at all.
Stockholm in summertime. Swimming in the lakes.
Being able to WALK, bike or take public transportation to places.
It’ll be good to be back. I think. Hope. Wish.
Katja Malmborg 