Hello lovers,

I have been to Norway and back again since last time.

Like the professional groupie I am, I took the trip to support my team competing in the Nordic Championship in Larvik. They came in 4th, disappointingly, but we’ll do better at the European Championship next year.

But that was not all. I also went to Oslo to visit my good friend who was also an exchange student in Indonesia at the same time as me.

She has a few Indonesian friends in Oslo (I have not found any in Odense, I only find people from Greenland, and that’s not quite the same!) so she arranged for me to meet one of them, a really nice girl who took us to a statue park and then made us a ridiculous amount of Indonesian food a couple of days later.

Here I am at the statue park pretending to kick some children around. Seriously?

My gymnasts

On my second day in Norway I went to see the Nordic Championship. So much beautiful gymnastics. An Icelandic team won the senior ladies competition so they played the national anthem. To my wonder and amazement I knew all the words to the lyrics and almost cried a little.

Stortinget

My friend’s husband works at the Norwegian congress as a PR agent for a big political party. I got a politicians picture taken in front of the congress building. This is not it.
Because of my networking (haha) I got to go in and he showed me around. We saw a body guard in the lobby which means one of the big three were in the building, either the ministers of Defense or Justice, or the beautiful mr. Jens Stoltenberg himself, but unfortunately I didn’t see anyone in the hallways.

'Fire Alarm'

So I hung out at friend’s husbands’ office for a while and helped design the cover for his party’s alternative budget for next year, which was kind of cool. And then I found this fellow, it says fire alarm. Obviously they are very worried about fire up there.

Politicians picture

Maybe I should become a Norwegian politician. I look great! Very serious and pensive. Let me lead my people to greatness!

Sailor

Most of my time I spent wondering around and looking at people and enjoying the cold, crisp air. Every now and then I went into bookstores to read the backs of books I’ll never have the time to read and dream of a holiday somewhere far away warm where I could bum away my day with a paperback in hand. Not that I don’t like medicine, I love medicine. I would never want to do anything else, but I also miss reading for fun.

The road ends here

On my last day I went to the Nobel museum, which is dedicated to all who have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize. It was really inspiring. I think my new goal will be getting a Nobel Peace Prize. Why aim low?

Ill be home for Christmas, and all I want is love. No, just kidding. I am way more materialistic than that. I have decided that my family will give me a Kindle for Christmas.

Kindle

Look at this beauty!  My own portable library, and you know how your fingers have to be in this really uncomfortable, awkward position when holding a paperback open? Hah! Not mine! Not after Christmas. This baby will be read in bed, on the train, held under my table at school and while I go to the bathroom at gymnastics trainings (ok, maybe not during trainings) and it will be read with one hand, left, right, don’t matter! And lying on my back! With one hand! Without pages constantly falling on my face. (First world problem?)

Off to bed.

sara

The last few weeks have been crazy. School is going well but my exam is in two weeks. I had a teeny tiny little knee surgery a week ago, so I’m hanging out at home a lot, which is nice. I still have some smoked trout from Iceland, and I just ate the last of my kokteilsósa so life is pretty sweet.

I had a great time in Iceland, it was pretty, as always.

Sandy beach

Hung out on the beach…

Ice climbing!

Climbed some glaciers…

Gymnastics

Did a little gymnastics in my old gym…

So pretty basic. Then I came back to Denmark for school. The coolest thing ever was that during my surgery last week the doctor let me watch the whole thing on a screen. To make a long story short, my knee looks so much cooler from the inside than from the outside!

Surgery-Sara

According to the girls on the gym team all I got was baby-surgery, haha. I just had some mucosal membranes in my knee trimmed a little, they get proper ligament-reconstruction-menisci-fixing-full-blown-all-out-surgeries. I’m really happy with mine though. I should be up and tumbling again in a few more days. Right now I can do pretty much most things, though.

This weekend there is a Harry Potter festival in town. Yesterday I saw the symphonic orchestra play songs from the movie and today I went and learnt some magic tricks at the main square.

A hopeful waiting for a letter from Hogwarts

Saw this kid wielding his wand outside the Leaky Cauldron.

Death Eater

Saw this young Death Eater hanging around, looking for innocent Hogwartians to torture… A moment later he got on his broom and flew away. True story.

Look!

Love this one! Dobby and a little girl hanging out.

So this is a pretty picture heavy post… Enjoy

xox

Today 29 years have passed since the beginning of the Sabra and Shantila massacre in Lebanon. I have been planning to write about my very good Palestinian friend for some time, but I feel like I still need time to put my thoughts and feelings into words…

I’m sorry I haven’t written for a long time, school has started, and I’m a little busy. We are learning about the brain. Isn’t it amazing that a hundred people in an orchestra can, with the help of only their eyes and ears, connect to form something as magical as classical music? Isn’t it amazing that a certain smell can bring back memories of hot summer days, that colours can remind you of a person, that we can learn, and grow and have feelings and emotions? I think its pretty cool!

A lot of people lately have accused me of being stubborn just to be stubborn. To try to prove a point because maybe, just maybe, I feel like I have to be extra strong because I am a tiny little female, or to refuse advice from men because I am this militant feminist who always needs to be right. And I guess I am. But here is the thing:

If I never did the things people warned me agains, where would I be?

I would not have seen the world, I would not speak Indonesian, I would not have gone to Lebanon, I would not be in medical school, I would not be learning arabic, I would not have friends in every corner in the world, and I would not be the person I am today.

When I was considering going to Syria for my last weekend in Lebanon, a friend of mine asked me to please not go. Partly because he was worried, mostly because he just wanted to hang out. That made me very mad. I won’t have some guy dictating what I do or don’t on a whim. So he accused me of being too stubborn, of not listening, of endangering myself… Whatever! I’d rather be stubborn than miss out on an amazing travel. But I spoke to a few other people, read some articles, did some googling and found out, on my own, that it probably wouldn’t be the best idea to go there, so I didn’t. Then he got really pissed that I hadn’t trusted him.

But here is the thing, I want to figure things out for myself, and I want to make my own decisions, and I wont let people who love me boss me around or tell me what to do. I will listen to their advice, of course, but I will do my own research, and I will decide what is worth a risk and what is not.

If I had listened to my grandmother, I would not have been an exchange student in Indonesia. If I had listened to the ministry of Foreign affairs I would not have made so many amazing friends in Pakistan. If I had listened to my friends I would not have chosen to spend a good chunk of my money on traveling around for one year at nineteen and I would have missed out on all kinds of fun. If I’d listened to my Icelandic friend I would never have gone out to bars in Beirut, and never have experienced the fantastic and often incredibly crazy nightlife of Lebanon. Not saying that I didn’t listen, I just decided that some things were worth the risk, and they really, really were.

I guess what I am saying is: please don’t tell your baby girls and boys not to go traveling by themselves, or not to move to another country or not to go pursue the education or career of their dreams. I did, and I turned out well. And chances are that with a little common sense and a friendly smile, everyone else will turn out well too, if they get to do what they want.

The Hyppodrome in Sour

So Sour is a city in Lebanon which is really, really close to Israel. Which might be considered dangerous by some. But I went there anyways and I loved it.

My class

People told me I was crazy to study arabic, and even crazier to do it in Lebanon.

My new family

This really cool family picked me and my friend up off the street in a reserve, drove us around for half a day and bought us lunch. Some people say you should never get in a car with stranger, I say go for it (OK, so just use common sense, people!)

Local food

I eat the local food, I don’t even ask what’s in it. I might get sick sometimes, but its totally worth it!

If you smile at the world, the world will smile at you, people! So smile for fuck’s sake!

love,

sara

I promised to write about my last days in Lebanon.

I went to Byblos, which is probably my very favourite town in Lebanon. Its so nice and everyone is friendly and fun, there is lots to do for tourists, the beach, skiing in winter, museums, ruins… So nice!

I met my friend at the fish fossil shop and we decided to have lunch. I suggested a really nice cafe just down the street called Phoenicia, but he was waiting for something so he couldnt quite just leave. So he asked me what I liked from Phoenicia, I said the tuna sandwich. He went away for two minutes. Ten minutes later a waiter from Phoenicia comes to the shop with two gigantic trays loaded with food. He put them down on some steps right next to the shop and then he left.

I said: ‘I didn’t know Phoenicia did take-away’

My friend grinned and said: ‘They don’t!’

Phoenicia doesn't deliver

Here is us getting ready to indulge.

Then he drove me up to the mountains to show me the sites and let me ride an ATV. That was fun and so scary at the same time. And I saw some sort of an eagle. Win!

We got back to the city and I lost a game of Backgammon (for the first time since Mette left, almost) and then I went back to Beirut to hang out with some people I know (more on that later, and Palestine).

10 minutes into the night I looked like this:

Moustache

I can literally not explain how this happened. I walked around like this for the rest of the night. As if being pale as a ghost doesn’t get me attention enough, haha.

The next morning I had breakfast with my peeps at the institute where I study. This happened:

Sebastien and Claudia

This French guy (whose name is obviously either Sebastien or Jonathan, all French guys are) found a turtle in one of the flower beds and started doing this zoological presentation. Like, this is Claudia, she is verrrry shy arrround strrrangers, and she loves carrrrrots… (Imagine this with a very heavy French accent).

My class

And the last picture is the part of my class that stuck it out until the final exam. Pretty people!

love and happiness

sara

So Im back in Denmark after a long trip. Thankfully I met a really lovely Lebanese girl in the airport, she was going to Denmark too because she is moving to Sweden, so we hung out together between our flights. And now Im supposed to go visit her in Sweden very soon. Lovely!

This picture is a soldier that stopped on a red light on one of my first days. He looks so awesome!

Mette and roommate Paula

One of our first roommates was Paula from Argentina who lives in Qatar. She was so much fun we took her out to see some sights all the time.

Playing at the refugee camp

We went to a refugee camp in Beirut, where the Palestinians live. They were playing a table football game.

The Secret Handshake

Mette decided that they needed to learn the Secret Handshake. It took a while but when the kid got it he followed us around for a while demanding she would shake his hand.

Sushi at Japanese, Please!

They have the cheapest sushi in Beirut! And so good! 20 pieces cost 16-20 thousand LL which is about 50 Danish Kronas, or 1000 Icelandic. Cheap!

Yesterday was my second last day in Lebanon and it was amazing.

I want to write about it properly, when I get back, with pictures and everything. And to have my thoughts gathered and to know what to say.

There is so much going on in my head and in my heart right now. I have fallen head over heels in love with this crazy country and I cant believe I have to leave so soon. But this is just a fairytale world and I need to get back to my reality.

I will keep writing about Lebanon in the next few days and Ill upload some pictures that are too big to upload here.

Happy Ramadan everybody!

sara

So, a lot of the people I love here asked me please not to go to Syria. I am still in Beirut and not really regretting that since, apparently, things are heating up a little bit.

I guess seeing Damascus would be coloured by the situation and it would just be frustrating.

I am using my time well here, playing some backgammon, drinking some beers and chatting with some people. Today I went to the Sunday market with one Belgian guy and one Iraqi-German-British guy who needed some second hand shirts with big prints. I bought to watches, each one cost me about 3 dollars. Haha. Those watches will be passed between generations in my family for decades to come.

I definitely need to stop shopping now.

I went to Byblos on Friday to see my friends there. I got to stay with Christine and in the night we went out with some of her friends. We ended up at this press girl’s birthday party (She’d interviewed Christine at some point and thats why they knew each other) in this tiny little beach pub right on the ocean.

So… Dancing to Shakira on a sandy beach in Lebanon with a pop star by my side at 4 am? Check. Very nice.

We had a saj (a very special Lebanese sandwich) at 5 am and then we watched half the sunrise before we went to bed. The next morning she decided to drive me back to Beirut since “No friend of mine takes the bus if they don’t have to” so I could take Jennifer to the airport and say goodbye.

Life is a little sad right now since most of the people from school that I love so much have gone home. I guess I didnt quite think this through with the lenght of my stay. The days I had after school was out are too few to travel to another country, but too many just to bum around, pack and shop. So I dont really know what to do with my self. I think I might go back to Byblos tomorrow to hang out with Christine and then have the Tuesday afternoon in Beirut for last minute packing and such.

I cant believe this adventure is almost over, but at the same time Im glad Im going back to routine, gymnastics and rye bread. Its just hard now, since I know Im leaving I just want to leave right away, the waiting and falling even more in love with Lebanon is just to agonizing.

Got to go, Im going to have the very last beer with some friends.

love

Hey everybody!

Passed my exam yesterday with a mark that said ‘excellent’ which made me very proud until I saw that everyone in class had gotten the exact same mark. Oh well. Haha.

So now school is out and I go home Tuesday night. What do do with myself? I thought about going to Syria but Im getting some very confusing information about the safety situation. So Ill ask around again tomorrow morning. If something happens it happens today, since PrayerDay (Friday) is the big revolution day. But I think it probably wont happen though.

It would have been very nice to see Damascus though. Muhammed the prophet passed by Damascus once and refused to enter, saying he only wanted to enter Paradise once, when he died. Thats how pretty its supposed to be.  But I guess I could always come back when the situation is better.

Yesterday everyone went out to say goodbye to Coco the Brit, who thought she was leaving tonight until she checked her ticket and found out she was leaving last night.  So we went out for a couple of drinks.

Then I went home cause I was so tired because Id only slept 3 hours the previous night. Was it because of my crazy partying ways? No!

Ok, actually I got home around 3 or 3.30 but only because I was sitting at school learning how to play Damm into the night (Im so much better at Backgammon than Damm, its a stupid game!) so when I got home I was ready to pass out in my bed. Which I did.

Just before 5 two german-lebanese girls come barging in shouting at each other, having a really heated argument. They are both wearing some sort of wooden clogs or heels and start stampeding around the dorm, turning on the lights everywhere they go and shouting profanities at each other. Then one goes into the bathroom and turns on the shower. At 5.15 in the morning. All the while screaming into the next room at her friend. Who then joins her in the shower, still screaming. They shower.

Then they move out to the balcony still screaming at each other but the tone is different. Now the one is threatening and loud and the other is pleading and begging. I assume one is threatening to jump off the balcony. I lie in bed exhausted, consider going out to tell her to fucking jump already so I can go back to sleep. I fumble around to try to find earplugs but only find one. Thats not really helpful. Then I start thinking, what if she jumps? As a medical student its probably my duty to run down without shoes on and try to give first aid for a bit. Which would also ruin my sleep. Is it even my duty if she was being annoying? Crap, probably. Dont jump, man!

Eventually they fuck off to bed so I can sleep. For a couple of hours until the lady in the next bed (60 year old French woman who wears a fanny pack) wakes up and starts packing and repacking her luggage. And all her things. Are. In. Plastic. Bags.

Thanks, that was great. Haha.

I miss you all,

love, sara

First of all: My heart goes out to all the people in Norway.

In my opinion multiculturalism is something to be celebrated, and I think that it is possible to hold on to your own culture, share it and still make space for others.

And now back to Beirut.

Last night Jennifer, Coco the Brit and I went to a lesbian bar for really expensive beers. It was really nice but I had to go to bed early because today I went on a trek with Belgian Sophie in the Chouf mountain.

The Chouf is where the Lebanese cedar grows. The Lebanese cedar is the tree on the flag, I would tell you more about it but I’m too lazy and sunburnt to open wikipedia. You will just have to live with it.

We went from school at 10 and two taxi rides and a minibus later we got up into the mountain where the air was crisp and clear, the trees green and the people, for some reason, redheads. We first walked two trails that took maybe 40 minutes and then headed for a longer trail that was supposed to take us back down to the main entrance, from where we wanted to take a taxi back to civilization. The first hour and a half we walked with a group of Lebanese teenagers, presumably on a school trip. Then they sat down next to a really ugly manmade lake, which Sophie and I didnt appreciate so we kept walking. Then we got to a crossroad, one path was wide and one was narrow. We chose the narrow path, and we walked and we walked and we walked. And then we walked some more. Then we ran out of water. Then we walked some more.

After a really long walk we finally started hearing traffic. We were happy. We walked into a windy road. Two cars drove by, then a taxi came and we waved to him and hopped in. At that point we were so hungry we were basically ready to pay any price asked by the driver. Then we found out that apparently, he was a taxi driver, just not on the job, but rather driving his family around. So in the car with us and the driver was his wife, and his two kids, his daughter is an English teacher in Saudi Arabia on holiday visiting her family.

They were hungry and we were hungry so they decided to take us out for a huge Lebanese buffet style lunch: tabbouleh, hummus, potatoes, rice and meat and fruit for dessert. Then our driver decided to offer us arak shots (strong Lebanese alcohol) so he washed the meal down with two small glasses and we hopped back into the car (cheers to the Lebanese drunk driving policy, which apparently doesn’t exist).

And then he drove us the whole way down to Beirut and dropped us off and told us to call if there was anything, because now we are family. Yay!

Goodnight little people.