Vacational reflexions...

...
always this issue of blogging in English or Swedish when you have a lot of international friends. Up until now I have avoided the decision by not defining the language of preference. I think I will stick to that undecisiveness a while longer, and decide the language post-by-post.

Vacation goes on. Really, it is not vacation - but "pappa ledighet", or parental leave. But that is mainly semantics. Has economic implications of course, but it is still the same kind of leave. No vacation is real old school vacation with relaxing beach holidays or spa weekends when you have small kids. Nono. There is still 5.30 a.m. bottles to be fixed and dipers to be changed and worries to be had and doctors to be visited. And for the older one it is friends to be visited, candies to be bought, fights to be taken and explanations to be given of why we ever moved to Africa when all friends are still back home in Uppsala... But it is still very nice. And I savour every moment I have that I am allowed to spend with my family. Our children are godsent and when death has come so close several times for some of us, you learn not to take little things for granted - like time, smells of newly bathed infant, laughter, hugs and kisses, but also tears and sorrow. All the moments and feelings that makes life complete.

Now we have spent a couple of days in my mothers house where we have taken over a large space and spread our stuff everywhere. My family has been here since beginning of June and it is getting a bit uncomfortable living in a non-permanent state for so long. One part of me would like to go back to our house in Addis where all our stuff is, furniture, garden and all that. Another part is enjoying swedish summer very much.

Now we are getting ready for crayfishing in Hjälmaren next week. We have found some good recipies for boiling those animals alive with Porter-type beer and crown dill. Nice.

Hope you all are enjoing vacation still.

regards
...