Finding North

Swedes like to mark the occasion on the evening between the 30th of April and the 1st of May during a holiday called Valborgsmässoafton. Apparently it is celebrated throughout a few European countries and its meaning varies according to several factors, including location and religious myth. Here, many people commemorate by burning bonfires or fireworks, this tradition being linked to the concept of light and spring, the very literal symbol of " burning the old and making room for the new ". Personally, I was quite fond of that idea... Our celebrating didn't involve starting any fires, but it sure had plenty of light, fresh air and nature. We went to a friend's house to have an outdoor barbecue and it was a most magical evening. I got to feed sheep for the first time in my life, enjoy delicious food and be in the forest again. Couldn't really ask for anything better from this experience, which was the first in many ways. My heart fluttered for the entire ti...

The birds are chirping, the sky is infinitely blue and most importantly, the sun is shining ( don't worry, this isn't about to turn into a Disney movie ). April started cloudy and cold, as I reported in one of the previous posts, but spring arrived unannounced and the weather changed abruptly. As you can probably guess, I was more than delighted .  I welcomed the warmth with open arms and started to enjoy the cozy garden sofa we put out on the balcony. I sat there with our dog almost every morning for a week, listening to music and soaking in the sun. Whenever I'm out there, I feel much happier and light. A slight breeze goes through my hair, keeping me cool under the hot sun and it makes me smile. Life is beautiful and I'm lucky to be alive. It's a blessing that I intend to treasure and this glorious weather makes me that much more thankful .  Our dog really loves it as well, so he takes advantage of any little sunny spots he can find. As soon as ...

I started learning Swedish on the 27th of September of 2017. Almost two years later and I don't think I have much to show for it, but I have made progress and it is important to celebrate that! It's not even close to enough, but I'm slowly getting there ( or so I hope ).  Since I'm fluent in Portuguese (my native tongue) and English, this becomes my third language. But learning those two languages was exceptionally breezy compared to this time around. I was born in Portugal and therefore learnt how to speak before I even knew what the world was and I studied English at school from the 5th to the 11th grade, which gave me a pretty solid base to my current knowledge. That base was then later on strengthened by the world around me (tv, movies, music, books) and talking to my boyfriend or friends from other countries on Skype/Discord. Long story short, I had quite a bit of guidance when it came to learning those two languages, but where Swedish is concerned, I feel like...

«Door number two, I've already gone through.  I wanna see what's behind door number three...» Spring is upon us, much like anywhere else on the top half of the world. Here, that means the sun is getting warmer, but not nearly there yet. All the ice and snow are melting away ( although the fields are still almost completely white ), creating little streams of water in the most inconvenient places. But they're also not melting fast enough, which means the ground is still slippery, muddy and wetter than ever! Some days are amazingly sunny, the sky of a pure, deep blue, which makes me ache for proper spring to come: being able to go outside and enjoy the sun on my skin ( without wearing a massive jacket, which is currently how I can attempt to do that ) and feeling the green grass under my feet. But other days are cloudy and grey ( it even snowed a little yesterday ) and the setting around me looks incredibly brown, dirty and dreary. It's hard to define which season...

Ever since I created this blog, I have been thinking a lot about what defines me. I struggled to find words to describe myself in the "About Me" section and that caught me by surprise. Don't I know who I am? What is important to me? What is it that makes me different from others and sets me apart?  I stared into my screen, my mind working at ultra-sonic speeds to grasp at any sort of words that might come my way. Everything that came out of that search were relatively banal things, like my age and a sum of the things I love and are important to me. And that begged the questions: is that me? who am I after all? I'm convinced that at twenty-four I still don't know what to reply, because I simply have no idea. I really am still trying to figure everything out . What would be the fun in having all the answers anyway? ;) But today something surprised me in a good way. I put forth these questions and asked my boyfriend how he would describe me. He said I was k...

«Strength means blessed with an enemy» I received the dreaded letter on the 22nd of March - the refusal . Sweden couldn't assign me with a personnummer because I hadn't been able to get my S1 form or show any "reliable proof" of my health insurance cover within the EU. It seemed like it was over... After a two-month wait, I felt ready to accept defeat. There was no way for me to get my hands on that form, which was the only thing that was missing.  I was shocked when I received the news. Part of me had always known that it was an option, but had never really prepared for that possibility to happen. I was ( still am ) mad, frustrated, scared. What did this mean for me? Would I have to give up and leave behind the idea of living in Sweden? And what would happen to my relationship, my boyfriend currently dealing with a particularly fragile mental state, unable to move anywhere with me? My mind flooded with questions and I decidedly wanted to roll into a ball and...

This year, spring started on the 20th of March for the northern hemisphere ( in theory at least ). Here in the north, the day started with a lot of snow. I walked the dog in the morning under heavy snowflakes and was mesmerized by the way everything outside looked so peaceful. All nature seemed to be asleep under this mantle of white and it was almost like time had stopped. With a slow, deep breath and the fresh wind in my face, I stood in the middle of the road to take it in.  But as the weather is known to be whimsical, it completely changed without warning. It looked like spring had indeed arrived... After lunch all the clouds had astonishingly cleared and the sun was shining again - something that hadn't happened in a few days. Because the day was so beautiful and I needed to get rid of some stress, I decided to go for a walk. But nothing could've prepared me for the stunning sights I was about to see. Witnessing nature at its best put me in a great mood and brought th...