Of time capsules and questionnaires.

My best friend, the historian, surprised me with something completely unexpected. As I opened a brown little parcel that came from across the ocean (all the way from Bolivia!), I did not expect what I was going to find.

"A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a method of communication with future people and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists or historians." 

When I removed the paper and found an old journal from 2001 it was like traveling back in time, to my 3rd year out of home, my 2nd at university.  This friend is the one who incited me to write journals (of which I have at least 8) and initiated me in the art of collecting useless trinkets for future recollection. Funny, in many ways I'm still the same, and in many others I just want to tell that girl to "don't do that".

And speaking of friends, old and new, the lovely Bex and Roz, from The Olive Dragonfly, whose support has meant more than they know, have nominated me for a blogger award. I felt so honored (and I kind of love these games). You know how it goes, you say some random things about yourself, you answer some questions, you pass it along. For the random facts I am going to cheat by leading you here and here (I promise you, you'll find what you want) and I will show you some  pages of my life from October through December 2001.

As for their questions, here you go:

What is your favourite song in the whole world and why? 
Difficult question. A happy song from Mika: "Lollipop"? "The origin of Love"? Or some old song from the 90s: The Cranberries' "Daffodil lament", REM's "Losing my religion". Or Suzanne Vega's "Gypsy". Yes, most probably that last one. All of these songs remind me of moments, some make me happy, some take me back in time. It's like our lives have a soundtrack.

If you were invisible, where would you go?
Mmm... I guess I would go to an ice-cream shop to steal some? Or skip lines and get myself to the front everywhere, no waiting for me please.

What is your favourite way to relax?
Baking. Or having a cup of tea, and reading a book (though lately I have trouble just letting myself sinked in, my mind is constantly busy). Taking long walks with the boy is also a good method. And nothing beats a warm shower.

Salted or sweet?
Sweet for sure. I didn't even have to think. But give me some tzatziki and I'll eat it in one go.

What was the last film that really moved / disturbed / thrilled you and why?
This is going to sound silly, but I cried helplessly  after "The odd life of Timothy Green". It's a Disney movie for adults and it ends well. Yet it made me so sad. It touched all our soft spots:  how badly we want our baby to come, how painful it is not knowing what will be, why, or, if it will at all happen. While the world keeps turning, while you start thinking you must be an alien.

What book are you reading right now?
The God of Small things, by Arundhati Roy. I am still not yet halfway, but it has a way of capturing you, taking you to India, feel what the characters are feeling. It slowly introduces you to the people in the story, all members of a family, and you know something happened that changed them, but it's kept a secret as you read.

What would you call yourself if you could choose your own name?
Yulia, I think. It was going to be my name until a last-minute change of mind.

If you could have any animal / creature, what would be your ultimate pet?
A unicorn. An ocelot. And while we're at it, a miniature goat too.

What's the next planned event you're looking forward to in your life?
We're going to California yeah! (Or should I say getting pregnant and having our own baby? That's what I really want. I'm just putting it there for superstitious reasons, you know in case wishing for things out loud is some kind of magic. See I am still the innocent girl from 12 years ago).

What was your favourite toy as a child....and now?
Then, roller skates. An ice-cream maker that didn't really make ice-cream. Or My Rainbow Brite doll. Now... it's probably my KitchenAid.

When was the last time you cried laughing and why?
When I am really sad the boy always finds a way to say something funny and crack me up. Silly cats make me laugh as well. This was the last one, the boy says I'm just like that. (Enough is enough). My mom agreed. (You might have to refresh the link for it to work).

And now, if you would like to be part of this, just feel free to answer these questions. But I am passing it to those who I think will most likely answer : 

Varekai

Invincible Spring

The Nomad Cooks

A Georgia Peach Abroad

The Dutch Tales 

Bits and Peaces

The Celebration Girl

Dainty and Ivory

Lily Wanderlust 

Life in a state of wanderlust

Holland daze

And my questions are: If you could live anywhere, where would that be? Given the chance, which magic power would you choose? If the genie-of-the-lamp appeared to you, what would you ask? Do you recommend any books? What made you start blogging? What is making you happy right now? What is your favorite food? Favorite fairy-tale? Are you a nomad or do you feel bound to your "roots"? The best place you've ever visited? Happiest memory from childhood?

Of Utrecht and new friends

There is something magic about Utrecht. It is one of those cities where you can just feel the energy in the air. I felt it the first time I went there, already 5 years ago, when I visited the boy in Holland for the first time, and I keep feeling every time. It is so beautiful, historic, medieval. You can tell the city remembers the lives and stories of countless men and women that must have lived there. And no wonder. It was founded by the Romans very early, in 47 AD, was then populated by Christian Franks, later by Vikings and finally by the Dutch. It has survived fires (1254 AD)  and tornadoes (1674 AD), but its imponent Dom tower is still standing proud, an emblem of the city.

Its name comes from joining 'Uut', the Old-Dutch word meaning "down-river" and "Traiectum" the Roman name for the city, marking the northern limit of the empire, at the Rhine. The cathedral (until 1580), now a Protestant church, was built circa 630 by Frank missionaries. Its cloyster is one of those places that attracts me like a magnet (I have a thing for cloysters, sometimes I wonder if I was a rebel nun in other life).

Last Sunday I was in Utrecht to join the expat blogger brunch organized by Kaitlin and Lily. It is always nice to meet new people and I am always curious about how others experience somewhat similar situations, even if we are all at different moments in our lives. We got to drink lots of coffee and tea, enjoy the sun, walk around the city, brought to life with music and dancing and meet quite a few new friends. I really hope we'll meet again, and if you are in The Netherlands and would like to join, keep an eye on Lily's blog, as she will host another meetup sometime in May. 

Photo courtesy of Kaitlin

Learning a new culture, by studying a language.

  This post was written as part of the Intercultural Blog Carnival that will take place on April 17. The aim is to provide advice and support for those just settling in a new country. This post is a short, general version of a post I wrote on what helped me learn Dutch.
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I have lived and studied in 4 different countries (5 if you count my birthplace) and understand 6 languages (4 in which I am fluent, 2 which I can manage quite well). Moving around has made it clear to me that learning the local language is a crucial part of understanding the new culture: it's not just the words, it's the philosophy, the cosmovision, the way of seeing life that you slowly start to understand, all of which are incredibly helpful in the process of adapting to a new country. You will probably end up as a citizen of the world, because every time you take a little bit of every place with you, you understand better, you see how similar we are, and how different at the same time.

Sure, there are countries where you can manage to survive speaking only English. But I can only recommend making an effort and going the extra step, you will not regret it and the locals will appreciate it. Here are some ways in which to tackle language learning, aside from the obvious and unavoidable lessons, which are inevitably needed to master such basic things as grammar and spelling:

 -Go to the local library or bookshop and get a good thick dictionary. I find conjugation dictionaries particularly helpful, and pictionaries are a nice extra for your collection. Then go to the kids’ section. As a start, children books can be a great tool. Try reading those before moving to literature in the language of your new country. And speaking of literature, I am a strong advocate of, when at all possible, reading authors in their original language. At some point I was naive/arrogant enough to buy Goethe's Faust in German because I thought I was going to learn in 8 months. I still own the book, but needless to say I haven't read it. And if I weren't reading translated authors I would have missed geniuses like Milan Kundera or Leon Tolstoi. At the moment, I am really curious to start reading Dostoievski.

-Get immersed in the culture. Watch TV. Listen to the radio. Read the newspapers. Visit museums and art galleries. Even seemingly "silly" stuff can help. Get a magazine subscription and try to read all of it, even if at the beginning all you do is look at the pictures. Search the TV guide and look for programs made for children, they tend to be simple and easily understandable. Find out your favourite music in the local language and try to write down the lyrics. If you have kids, learn children songs’ and sing along with them.

 -Don’t be shy and start talking. At first you’ll only be saying things like: “Thank you” and “Please”. Then, you will be able to ask for the bread exactly as you like it at the bakery and soon you will be talking to the people in your neighbourhood.

It might seem an overwhelming task, and it will for sure require time and effort. You will get frustrated. But slowly and surely you will start noticing progress and you will not regret it. Meeting new people, learning new cultures is an experience and an opportunity that, as an expat or traveler of the world you should not miss.

Ephemerous summer

And just out of the blue the sun decided to shine and warm us up. I am talking about 20ºC-celsius-degrees. The feeling was better than that of a holiday. Happiness was floating in the air. The boy and I went for a very long walk, there was light until 21h. I was wearing a sleeveless top and he kept looking at me like he had never seen me before. He says the sun changes me, that I was made for it. That I looked better, that I was glowing. I certainly was ecstatic to finally be able to take away the million layers of sweaters I have to wear or else I freeze.

Oh N-acetyl-methoxytryptamine, I love how you make us feel. Arguably the most primitive part of our brain, the pineal gland, evolutionary speaking as old as the lamprey eels (a group of jawless fish), is still going strong, still has strong effects over us.

Photo from Reuters via The telegraph.

And finally, finally, some flowers are starting to bloom and I saw some buds showing their faces at the end of long branches. A ladybug decided to sit in my hands for more than 25 minutes. I am not exaggerating. She stayed in my hand while I walked, she strolled over my hand, and then finally, she flew away. I am taking her as a definite sign. I might have given her a name. You can take this as proof that I am completely losing my mind.

I do recall, when I first arrived in Switzerland, how much it amused me the way this Europeans were obsessed with the sun, like ring-tailed lemurs, the sun worshippers, running, heading out, when according to me it was not even warm at all. Now I understand. Now I'm just like them, wearing my summer clothes as soon as I can, because it might be my last chance. Was it warm in your corner of the World? How did you enjoy the weather? *

** Second image: Melatonin's functions summarized adapted from Hardeland, R., Cardinali, D., Srinivasan, V., Spence, D., Brown, G., & Pandi-Perumal, S. (2011). Melatonin—A pleiotropic, orchestrating regulator molecule Progress in Neurobiology, 93 (3), 350-384 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2010.12.004 via Ego Sum Daniel

A day in Sneek

Last Tuesday I was in Friesland for the first time in my life. I think other than Volendam it's the further North I have ever been. Going there was a last minute decision... a friend was staying over with us, the boy came home at 13h, and said: -"Hey, I have to visit a project in Friesland, I am driving there right now, wanna come?"- Of course we weren't going to miss the chance. It was a busy day, as in, it was Free Cone day and I was determined to get my free ice-cream. That meant on the way back we had to race to Leiden to get there on time (the Ben & Jerry's people were kind of late, so we made it). I do not regret making the detour to Leiden because, double bonus, we found out about Happietaria, a temporary restaurant that is raising funds to bring water and sanitation to Afghanistan. I think we will be going there sometime soon.

Sneek is famous for its watergate, and is part of the 11 states that take part in the mythic ice skating race linking different cities that has not taken place in I don't know how many years... because the canals just don't freeze anymore. 

"Sneek was founded in the 10th century on a sandy peninsula at the crossing site of dike with an important waterway (called the Magna Fossa in old documents). This waterway was dug when the former Middelzee silted up. The dike can still be traced in the current street pattern and street names like "Hemdijk", "Oude Dijk" and "Oosterdijk". Sneek received several city rights in the 13th century, which became official in 1456. Sneek was now one of the eleven Frisian cities. This was also the beginning of a period of blooming trade for the city that would last until about 1550. In 1492 construction of a moat and wall around the city began. In those days Sneek was the only walled city in Friesland. The waterpoort and the bolwerk remain today." (From our friend, the wikipedia). 

What have you been up to? Any exciting plans for the weekend?

The crowd waiting for free ice-cream. We tried the new flavor: Peanut butter me up, with raspberries, choc and peanuts.

Fiadoe. Surinamese rum-and-raisin rolls.

This is a recipe that the boy had been begging me to make for ages, except I was not able to really find a recipe I understood or trusted. However, knowing how I love to bake, the other day my mother in law brought me  a cookbook (De surinaamse keuken by Ilse Marie Dorff) that used to belong to the boy's grandma and showed me the recipe. It was a good exercise, trying to understand it (it was all written in "creols" style, that is: -'add a little bit of that, and do this until it resembles such and such'- What? I need precision). But I decided to experiment and the rolls did not come out bad at all. So I am sharing here the recipe with the slight modifications I made. There was an ingredient, succade, that I was not able to get hold off, so I just used orange zest instead. And I did not have rum, so I used cognac.

 Ingredients
7 gr (1 envelope) dry yeast
3 tbsp. sugar
250 ml. lukewarm milk
4 eggs
vanilla essence
250 gr. butter, softened (I left it out the whole day).
500 gr. flour

For the filling
150 gr. sugar
cinammmon, powdered ginger and nutmeg
250 gr. raisins, soaked in rum
The zest of 2 oranges
100 gr. finely chopped almonds

What to do
Mix the flour with the dry yeast. Beat the eggs with a drizzle of vanilla essence and the sugar (3 tbsp)  until obtaining a thick mixture. Add 2 tablespoons of butter. While mixing (I used the kitchenaid with the hook attachment at this point, but this is totally doable by hand) start adding the flour, little by little, alternating with the lukewarm milk as moisture requires, to form a dough. You know it's ready when the dough starts separating from the bowl (or from your hands), but it is quite a sticky dough. I did not need all the 250 ml of milk, it was more like... 200 ml?

Let the dough rise for about 1 hour in a warm place (until it doubles its size). I usually cover it with plastic foil or a damp cloth. In the meantime, for the filling mix the sugar, cinammon, powdered ginger, orange zest and almonds. Flour and grease a springform pan (I used a 10 inch / 27 cm pan). When the dough is ready preheat the oven to 220º C. Flour your hands and working surface and roll the dough (it might need a little bit of kneading, but it should be easy to handle if there is just enough flour around). Cut a circle of dough  the size of the bottom of your pan and cover it. Roll out the rest of the dough to a large square, spread butter all over it, then sprinkle some filling and raisins over it. Roll the square in spiral and cut little slices of it. Arrange the rolls in the spring form (if you have some extra rolls you could just bake them individually in a muffin pan).

 Let the rolls rise for another 20-30 min. Add a little bit of butter on top of each roll, and bake for 40-50 min. And that's it, you are ready to enjoy. If you'd like, at this point you can glaze your rolls (I would use a mix of powder sugar and orange juice) or soak them in syrup (rum infused syrup if you are being naughty).