Strictly speaking not a botanical garden – but I still want to say I really loved the way the park next to the castle in Kalmar had been designed. Small, but meticulous, with a mix of open lawns and well-tended flower beds. And it was high spring: the colors amazing, bright green and pinks andContinue reading “the Kalmar castle garden (mid-May)”
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visiting Kalmar (mid-May)
One beautiful spring Friday in the middle of May, I took the train south down to Kalmar to visit my cousin Ellen and her son Kai. I had never been to Kalmar before, but I liked it. It is an old town, with a long and important history. The oldest parts of the castle wereContinue reading “visiting Kalmar (mid-May)”
spring wrap-up (May)
After coming back from Ghana, I spent the rest of the spring cleaning and harmonizing the data that I had gotten from the Ghana Statistical Service. A lot of spreadsheets, numbers, maps, logging of cleaning procedures. Sitting in front of the computer and staring at my two screens. You have to start enjoying the littleContinue reading “spring wrap-up (May)”
returning to spring (early May)
Traveling and adventures and working in exotic places is all fine, but. I can’t remember a time when I felt more relieved from returning home than last May. Oh, was I happy. And arriving in a Stockholm that had just exploded into spring bloom, the sun shining through bright green leaves. It was like enteringContinue reading “returning to spring (early May)”
on my street in Asylum Down (late April)
Coming back to Accra for a couple of days in the end of April felt strangely familiar. It is funny how quickly one creates routines for oneself, despite all aspirations for adventure. When it comes down to it, we just want to create a home for ourselves, wherever we are. In Accra, I stayed inContinue reading “on my street in Asylum Down (late April)”
Zebilla moments (late April)
Zebilla is a calm little town in north-eastern Ghana, and I spent some time there last spring doing fieldwork. I always take so many photographs when I go places. There are always so many incredible details that I want to share, things that excite me – but it isn’t always that the photos come withContinue reading “Zebilla moments (late April)”
when the rains come to Sahel (late April)
Rainy season was just about to start when we left Zebilla in northern Ghana. The first drops of rain fell on our very last day in the field. Oh, the drama. You can’t miss the rain’s arrival to the Sahel (although, strictly speaking, Zebilla is slightly south of the proper semi-desert). It is like theContinue reading “when the rains come to Sahel (late April)”
the baobab fruit (mid-April)
It is a tree like no other, the baobab. A symbol for the African savanna, with its massive trunk and flaky crown. In Burkina Faso, they harvest the baobab leaves, dry them and put as flavoring into soups. The fruits, however, had until quite recently been completely unchartered territory to me. One afternoon in Zebilla,Continue reading “the baobab fruit (mid-April)”
when temperatures lose sense (mid-April)
About halfway through our fieldwork period, I got sick. Fever, sore throat, aching joints. I was doing OK during our last days in Tenkodogo, Burkina Faso, only feeling a bit faint, but after the bumpy ride across the border down to Zebilla in Ghana, the sickness got a proper hold in me. Just standing upContinue reading “when temperatures lose sense (mid-April)”
a harvest of hearts (mid-April)
During my field visit, southern Burkina Faso was entering mango season. These magnificent trees, dense, deep green crowns. Looking even more extraordinary in the otherwise barren, end-of-dry-season landscape. And their fruit, light green, a promise of sweetness. Like a heart, hanging from a vein. It made me think of something written by Catherynne M. Valente,Continue reading “a harvest of hearts (mid-April)”
Katja Malmborg 