Maya uställning för de som föredrar att lära sig genom upplevelser...

For once in Swedish in response to an article from Svenska Dagbladet http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/nyheter/artikel_918469.svd

Eftersom det inte gàr att kommentera artikeln pà SvD's hemsida (konstigt det där med hur de väljer vilka artiklar man kan kommentera) sà blir det ett litet inlägg här.

Helt ärligt - jag tyckte väldigt mycket om denna utställning om Maya pà Historiska museet och till skillnad fràn en del andra kommentarer sà har jag faktist sett den. Hur kan man kommentera en utställning men inte ens sett som Carl-Robert gör? http://kulturrevolution.wordpress.com/ Snacka om vriden debatt när inlägg görs inte fràn vad man sett, men fràn en negativt vinklad artikel av en journalist som redan i sitt första inlägg helt sàgade utställningen. Kanske det hade rent av varit mer objektivt av Svenskan att làta en annan journalist skriva denna andra artikel?

Hur som helst, det viktiga är väl egentligen inte sà mycket vad journalister tycker men att utställningen var populär och drog fler än vanligt, och att mànga unga tyckte om den. Màlet var ju som sagt att nà ut till unga sà att museer har en framtid annat än som en pàtvingad skolutflykt där ingen egentligen bryr sig om den stackars guiden som förtvivlat försöker göra sig hörd. Ja, det är i alla fall mitt minne av olika utflykter till museer som barn och ungdom. Kanske det har ändrats pà 15 àr, men jag skulle inte tro det. I stället för att sàga denna utställning sà skulle jag vilja ge den en eloge för att den var annorlunda, och Historiska museet för att de vàgar sig pà att förnya sig - nàgot som inte speciellt mànga museer verkar ha förstàtt betydelsen av. Det är självklart att en utställning inte bara kan vara till för att väcka uppstàndelse och locka en ung publik, men det gör ju inte denna utställning heller. I stället lyckas den blanda nytt med gammalt, väldigt gammalt med tanke pà föremàlen här, och i stället för att man stàr och gäspar framför ännu en sprucken vas eller sà, där man màste läsa en mini-text bredvid för att förstà intresset av detta föremàl, sà fàngas man in av utställningen och lockas att gà fràn föremàl till föremàl och lär sig saker utan att man ens försöker. Och inget stoppar ju en fràn att stanna och kolla närmare pà de föremàl som inte finns med pà den personen man följer... Nyfikenheten är ofta en bättre lärare än pàtvingad information. Men det kanske är skillnaden mellan oss - jag är en sàn som alltid har tyckt om att lära mig saker genom nyfikenhet, genom att leva, genom att uppleva. Journalisterna till denna artikel och bloggaren nämnd ovan är kanske mer den sorts människor som tycker om att lära genom att traggla verb....

Ja, alla är inte likadana och dà är det väl tur att olika utställningar görs pà olika sätt sà att de kan intressera olika människor och grupper!

Sen är det ju olyckligt om Guatemalas ambassadör inte tycker om utställningen. Men fràgan är bara varför hon har väntat till sin slutrapport fràn Sverige med att kritisera utställningen när hon mycket väl kunde har gjort det redan vid dess invigning för nära tvà àr sen?

http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/nyheter/artikel_918469.svd

scary deadlines coming up....

Took some time today to sit down and make a plan on all the things i need to do these coming months including deadlines, tasks etc and it all started to freak me out a bit... well, at least this way i know that i have to get started and try to finish off tasks so that the list starts to look a little bit less scary.... of course, started off the whole thing by cleaning my desk and making some order in papers that have been waiting to be filed. of course, found another thing or two that i had forgotten about, but at least i feel better. i've heard somewhere that a clean desk (though of course everything is relative when it comes to me ;)) helps you to get your mind organised and focused on what needs to be done - in short you get less scatter minded...

did start off two of the tasks on my list though. perhaps the easier ones but still, they also need to be done. a bit interlinked but requiring different forums, both are for keeping different networks alive and more dynamic. one will normally be created on facebook as the google group that we've tried for the last 6 months isn't interactive enough according to the participants. the other will be a different kind of network where a webpage needs to be created etc - a bit of arabic for me but i have some excellent help so only need to contribute some ideas, usage need and information...

anyway, off for dinner in the old town with a good spanish friend of mine that i haven't seen for ages! work will have to wait until tomorrow :)

Kosovo's declaration of independence -1

You know when people talk about important historical events and ask you where you were at that precise moment (JFK, 9/11, the fall of the Berlin wall, the murder of Olof Palme...). Well take this for irony, where was I during the declaration of independence of Kosovo yesterday? and the day before on D-1? In Belgrade!!! An interesting moment for sure to be there, discussing the situation with a friend working at the Ministry of Kosovo in Serbia, with some other more pro-independence Serbs, and seeing a demonstration up front. Here is my report from the weekend, enjoy the photos.

Here are some quite interesting pictures from Belgrade taken Saturday during a demonstration against the declaration of independence of Kosovo the next day. This demonstration was quite calm though it included lots of singing and screaming, but no throwing of rocks as the day after. First picture shows the assembly of some of the participants to the demonstration having been brought in by buses. The picture is taken in front of the National Parliament.

Second picture is taken on the front of the demonstration at the pedestrian street in the middle of central Belgrade, where most people were busy with Saturday shopping until the demonstrators came by. The wording on the banderol reads something like "It shall remain ours" (though I cannot remember the exact translation), and you can see a mixture of football fans/hooligans who for the occasion of the day had decided not to wear their club emblems (they are normally enemies) and what looks like representatives of the Serbian orthodox church. You also see religious pictures and emblems, and on the right hand side some reporters filming the event. The photographers were running in front of the demonstration and were hence next to me and out of the picture.

Third picture is from in front of the Slovenian embassy where the demonstration started. On the picture you can see some of the policemen left behind to protect the embassy. It is interesting to note that this place, though next to the park of the famous fortress of Belgrade, is not the natural starting point for demonstrations in the city, which normally takes place on the central square of "The Horse", however because of the Slovenian EU presidency the demonstration was moved here.

Last picture shows a famous statue in the park of the fortress of Belgrade which was raised after WW2 in commemoration of the collaboration between France and Serbia against the Nazis. The normal inscription praising France has been covered with a white sheet with large letters stating: A la France avec qui nous version notre sang et qui faisait part de nos prières mais QUI N'EXISTE PLUS!!! So in short, to France who we fought with and supported, but who does not exist anymore. The text is written in Serbian on one side and French on the other… I think the pictures speak a lot for themselves.

a dream in pink :)

this is the cutsie little baby girl that i spent the weekend with last week. one of those smiles brings you to wonder how there can be anything evil in this world... wow... a beautiful little girl in pink, or in blàsa like her brother likes to call it :)

of course, a view like like this of the mountains including mont blanc surrounding chamonix is not too bad either.... these are taken from my cousin's chalet...

Slapping fight over a dryer...

Must write down what i witnessed yesterday. Went to do laundy - always as much fun, but at least when going to a 'laundromat' it's possible to do 2 months worth of laundry at the same time... was just finishing drying the stuff that goes in the dryer, when this couple came in and waited for their washing mashine to finish its cycle. a woman came in and started to put her laundry into the only empty dryer, and the woman of the couple (let's call her crazy W) started screaming at this other woman that it was their dryer, that they had reserved it (not really possible in this place!). the her boyfriend (crazy M) added that you can't just come in and dry your stuff since the people using the washing machines have priority on the driers... (not true, do such rule, and everyone pays for everything so illogical!). the other woman protested slightly, wondering why they the crazy couple had not already taken the machine if they were waiting (answer: another 3 minutes before their washing was done.... so not even finished yet!!), but then gave up the machine and waited the one minute it took me to empty the one i just finished using.

that's when it got interesting... another man comes up and starts putting his stuff into dryer 1 - crazy W starts screaming at him, saying again that they have reserved it etc etc. he doesn't react at first but then turns around and in a bad french says that well, he also needs it (and yes, he had been washing his stuff in the place so that argument did not work...), crazy W continues to scream and argue while walking towards him and then without any reason slaps him!!!!!! just because he doesn't respect the crazy couple's "reservation". he hesitates and then slaps her back (and though i am against violence of any kind i must say i understand him, having been slapped without any reason). crazy W looks chocked as most probably not used to anyone saying no to her and for sure not standing up to her when she takes to violence. crazy M wakes up and goes up to "protect his woman" (he is a big guy, crazy M). luckily a few people intervene stating how ludicrious it is to fight, literally fight, over a dryer... a woman screams at the 'bad french' guy that he can't hit a woman, and i add that well, the woman can't hit him either... anyway, i end up leaving quite quickly as not much a fan of fights, but as it looked everything had been calmed down by another laundry-service user standing in between the men...

i must say, people are really crazy sometimes. to an extent where it really scares me!!! imagine, the whole thing could have ended in a fist fight over a dryer!!! when another one would probably have been empty within 5 minutes.

Bye Geneva, here I come Belgrade...

hmmm perhaps that title sounds a bit too drastical... but indeed, am leaving Geneva this evening for a week in Belgrade. 1 day meeting, 3 days conference, and 2 days off (next weekend) staying at Sonja's place. I new city to add to my experience, a good time ahead of me with knew things to learn, young people of the conference to spend time with, and hopefully some visits of the town and perhaps even some shopping... I'm also hoping to bring along the beautiful sunny weather from here which should make the time there even better. Brought both sunglasses and an umbrella, that way i'm covered no matter what...

off to buy some swiss cheese and chocolate for my host. all packed already. more or less ready at work - probably lots of things left to do but cannot concentrate anymore so...

will write more about the experience once back. wow, i love to travel!!!! although i already miss my darling teddybear :)

sneezing my brain out...

caught this cold from my cousin's little boy, and am feeling quite tired although the sun is shining from a blue blue sky. felt good this morning, but just getting into work took part of my energy away, the other part left once i started sneezing all the way from my toes and up... brrrr hope i'll get better by tomorrow as i want to go skiing and enjoy the sunshine!

except this complaining - i did actually make it out for a couple of hours yesterday evening (after 2h siesta) and went to the CD-launch concert of a friend of a friend's. it was a great concert. check out her music and next concerts here: http://www.petagammie.com/

sunny but bad morning...

well at least it started out bad. ok, not really, it actually started out really well wakening up in the arms of my loved one, cuddling for about an hour before getting up and feeling good. but then for some mysterious reason i got into this absolutely awful mood like a 3-year old or something, feeling ugly, nothing fit me, my hair looked awful and i couldn't face trying to fix it, i felt stressed because we were late and a comment about if i wasn't ready yet just made me snap. so a bad morning mood put me into a probably quite scary angry tantrum - screamed a bit at my loved one, and slammed the door on him once he left, and then it even got worse for a little while before i calmed down, put something on and went into work even though i only felt like staying in bed the whole day... the sunshine did help making me feel better, and so did the music in my ears walking in... anyway, the mysteries of moods - perhaps it was because i'm a bit sick with a sore throat, cough and sneezing, which also makes me tired, all together reducing my patience...
anyway, no reason to scream at someone who was only beeing nice... hmmm anger management course anyone??

Shrove Tuesday

What can I say - pancake with goat cheese, mushrooms and honey covered chicken, pancake with with ham, onions, mushrooms and goat cheese, pancake with raspberries, bananas, chocolate sauce and mövenpick vanilla ice cream.... topped up with a beer and some glasses of wine. result: a stuffed green fairy ;)
but wow was it yummy - miam

no dress but....

two tops... hmmm cheaper as they were the main reason that we actually never made it up to kookaï where the 'belle' dress was waiting to be tried on. oh well, a sexy top for the beach/bikini season and a cool one for going out now - not too bad, though anyone having seen my closet (or helped me move - you poor people) would say that i do NOT need any new clothes!! anyone else that can go more than 2 months without washing because of too much choice? ;)

hey, it's a new year ;)

Wow, just realised that i have not written anything here since late last year, and now we are already February 2008. No wonder that I got a request from a friend living far away for some updates on my life. As so many times before i promise to try to start write some entries here a bit more often, perhaps this time it will work....let's call it my February resolution ;)

so a quicky before i go off for a shopping spee with vinnie in 10 minutes (i guess my resolution to try to save in on my food expenses by not eating out every lunch and dinner is being counter-attacked by having the time to go for shopping spees instead and then have a soup in front of the computer once back at work... hmmmm).

january was a nice month. a lot of things to do at work, not at all the slow coming back to work that i had last year at the same time, but now rather preparing project proposals, writing reports, meetings, and the most interesting and motivating for me - a promotion :))) finally one could say as i was promised that this would happen about 7 months before it did, but now i don't care anymore - i'm just happy to have a higher position with more interesting tasks and responsibilities!!

otherwise, january has been skiing at least once every weekend - twice in chamonix with beautiful conditions (fresh snow and sunshine!!), once in la clusaz where it was better than most skiing days last year but nothing compared to the fantastic conditions the weekend before so we were a bit grumpy ;), and a weekend in flaine which was really nice among friends and the portuguese maffia ;)) Last weekend was in chamonix at my cousin's place. Went up with her and her husband and two beautiful but a bit sick children on Friday evening, had some dinner and then spent a hour or two playing first a game of bowling and then many games of tennis on their Wii (and i thought it was a stupid boring old thing - until i tried and got hooked that is..). Saturday was a calm day with snow coming down outside, a sick boy who couldn't take a no inside, but who in between was lots of fun for playing, some nice moments with a baby girl in my arms (i got to give her the bottle at night - i love that, you feel so close) and lots of smiles from her :)), and an excursion to the norht pole! well, perhaps not exactly but it sure felt like it... then my amor came up saturday evening to join us for a homecooked dinner of boite chaude ;), some more hours of tennis (he also got hooked), and then a beautiful day of skiing in the sun on fresh snow sunday! a wonderful weekend among family - how to better spend your time off?

so that's it from me right now. perhaps some more info after the shopping to let you know if bought that beautful dress i saw yesterday from kookaï...