These days
There are these days when, for a moment, everything stops. And even if you hadn't planned on it, maybe even tried to avoid it, things catch up with you. And you get time to think. You get time to remember that day when the sun shone so brightly, or that conversation on a random bus that made you think a little extra. Time to remember that special someone, who had such an impact on your life but you hardly realized it until afterward, if even then.
It is a Sathurday night and my qualified guess is that most people have spent the night out, maybe a nice dinner or a club or just a small gathering with friends. I have had time to think... It is a weird feeling, to experience absolute stillness after so many weeks of rush. But it's nice too, at the same time. Time to reflect over your life - scary, sometimes, but it pulls you together.
I think we all need more of these days...
To work in Alexandria..
Ok, so after getting hints that maybe I should write in English I decided to switch language... at least for a while.
I work at the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerse headquarter in Alexandria, right outside D.C. It is a great place to work, Alexandria is beautiful and very pittoresque. So much history remains in the bricked walls, and more than one ghost story is flourishing throughout the city. Still, it is striking to take the metro just a few stops and step out in a completely different reality. According to Morgan Quitno Press, D.C is ranked as the 6th most dangerous city in the U.S. "Don't get on the green line" people tell me, referring to the metro line that goes to the southeast parts of the city.
Isn't it typical, though? I think D.C is a perfect reflection of how the U.S. as a nation has developed its huge gaps between social classes. The most powerful people in the country, not to say in the world, are ruling over Capital Hill, where the grass is green and the birds are singing, and criminality and poverty seem to be so very, very far away. But you don't have to go very far to get into neighbourhoods where even the police refuses to enter, and where Public Defenders come to interview victims more often than not.
U.S is among the 10 richest countries in the world (Sweden is ranked among number 20) yet there are more than twice as many people livning in poverty than the total amount of Swedish citizens. At least to me, it is'nt ok to work three jobs and still just barely be able to pay rent. When I lived in Nicaragua I got used to see very distinct differences between lifestyles depending on income; to se a hovel next to something that looked as it would have cost several million dollars was not unusual. But keep in mind too, that Nicaragua is a third-world country and the U.S. is... well, not. And it does surprise me to see the difference in social-economic lifestyle be displayed so obvious in the capital. Well, obvious at least, if you care to look and find out. Because the thruth is - as long as you're just strolling along the mall or enjoying a nice dinner by the water in Old Town, the only sign of poverty you will see is a beggar or two. No biggie, right?
I work at the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerse headquarter in Alexandria, right outside D.C. It is a great place to work, Alexandria is beautiful and very pittoresque. So much history remains in the bricked walls, and more than one ghost story is flourishing throughout the city. Still, it is striking to take the metro just a few stops and step out in a completely different reality. According to Morgan Quitno Press, D.C is ranked as the 6th most dangerous city in the U.S. "Don't get on the green line" people tell me, referring to the metro line that goes to the southeast parts of the city.
Isn't it typical, though? I think D.C is a perfect reflection of how the U.S. as a nation has developed its huge gaps between social classes. The most powerful people in the country, not to say in the world, are ruling over Capital Hill, where the grass is green and the birds are singing, and criminality and poverty seem to be so very, very far away. But you don't have to go very far to get into neighbourhoods where even the police refuses to enter, and where Public Defenders come to interview victims more often than not.
U.S is among the 10 richest countries in the world (Sweden is ranked among number 20) yet there are more than twice as many people livning in poverty than the total amount of Swedish citizens. At least to me, it is'nt ok to work three jobs and still just barely be able to pay rent. When I lived in Nicaragua I got used to see very distinct differences between lifestyles depending on income; to se a hovel next to something that looked as it would have cost several million dollars was not unusual. But keep in mind too, that Nicaragua is a third-world country and the U.S. is... well, not. And it does surprise me to see the difference in social-economic lifestyle be displayed so obvious in the capital. Well, obvious at least, if you care to look and find out. Because the thruth is - as long as you're just strolling along the mall or enjoying a nice dinner by the water in Old Town, the only sign of poverty you will see is a beggar or two. No biggie, right?
Independence Day
Eller Independence year, kanske vore en mer korrekt benämning.
Idag har det som bekant varit 4:de juli runt om i världen, men det är nog få platser som uppmärksammat den här dagen lika mycket som USA. Som svensk i DC känner man sig kanske inte riktigt lika exalterad som alla runt omkring, men det är ju ändå roligt att delta i festligheterna. USA fyller 232 år idag. Där ser man - lite mer än vad man själv kan stoltsera med. Men en sak måste ändå sägas om det här landet - trots sina unga år som nation så har de skapat sig en maktfylld och inflytesrik position nästan från år ett. ett land att räkna med. Och med tiden som gått har den positionen blivit allt starkare och allt djupare befäst.
Det är väl lite så det känns för mig också, i mitt personliga liv. Att packa väskorna och flytta mer eller midre till andra sidan jorden för ett helt år har fått en att växa på många sätt. Alla de erfarenheter det här landet och människorna i det har fått mig att bli mycket mer självständig, och fått mig att inse att jag är någon att räkna med. Det är helt otroligt vad man kan åstadkomma när man står på egna ben och drivs av upptäckarlust och erövringsbegär. Och vilket opium det är att upptäcka vad man faktiskt kan uträtta. Det är ju kanske lite konstigt att börja blogga när resan nästan tagit slut, när man har det mesta i bagaget och bara kan reflektera över det som hänt. (Tack Marre, utan dig hade det ju aldrig blivit av!) Å andra sidan kanske det blir en bättre blogg, då man kan sålla i informationen och skriva om det som kanske i slutändan betyder något. När tankar om karriär och privatliv har lugnat ner sig och man kan dela med sig av sådant andra faktiskt kan ha nytta av.
För att inte komma in för mycket på sidospår; idag var det alltså Independence day. Vi sveskar från ambassaden och Handelskammaren firade med en god middag på en restauran vid vattnet, sedan var det fyverkerier och utgång. Roligt värre, det var länge sedan man hade en så lyckad helkväll! Människorna man hänger med här är riktigt trevliga, så man har gott sällskap hela tiden. Nu värker fötterna och klockan är mycket, men jag ville iallafall ta någon minut och skriva om dagen. Så vitt jag vet kan ju detta bli min första och enda 4th of July i USA, iallafall i DC. Nu ska jag avsluta den med att se ett avsnitt av The West Wing - en serie jag kan rekommendera (vVita huset på svenska)!
Godnatt!
