It’s Easter in Sweden and spring is on its way. The snow has melted, but the winds are still cold. My dad got restless on Thursday and there was somewhere he just had to go. We took the train and traveled north, …to Smögen, my mother’s island on the West Coast of Sweden. My dad [...]

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We are still in Sweden, preparing for a trip south. We are all eager to go back home (to West Africa), but while we are here, there are many beautiful places worth visiting and it’s nice enjoying snow, mist and cold for a change… There will be enough heat awaiting in Niger during hot season [...]

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Smögen 2010 An old classmate of mine (from my elementary school days!) just sent me the sweetest email. She wanted to send me some encouragement in all that we were going through, and sent some beautiful pictures of Smögen, my mother’s home island. I have no memories of having experienced these parts of my roots [...]

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After we had been skywatching on Ven earlier that day, Anette and I had supper with Julie (owner of Sheba’s sister and aunt) and her family, in their beautiful home in Ystad. After a warm and sunny day, the sky promised a beautiful ending! The ridgebacks however were equally fascinating! Sheba would have LOVED to [...]

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I am off to my mother’s island Smögen today to share a moment with family and friends and to hold a presentation about Eden’s work in Niger to the very first Friends of Eden (dating all the way back to 1985!). Talking about Eden is one of the things I love best in Sweden, because [...]

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Yesterday, Anette and I went pre-shopping for our nine month stay in Africa, which is only five weeks away. It has been a while since I saw her, since we’ve both been busy working, but during my first month in Sweden, I took the train to Varberg twice. I love traveling when I have someone [...]

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Despite it being the least developed country in the world, I always miss Niger when I’m away. It doesn’t matter how well functioning my native Sweden is on the outside – I miss the simplicity of the bush, the blueness of the sky, the joy of a stranger’s laughter as we meet for the first [...]

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On my second day off this week, Hanna and I visited the parents’ of a fellow friend of ours: Björn – who stayed with us in Niger in 1998 and later married Hanna’s cousin Jennifer. His parents Claudia and Anders left the city a few years ago and bought a farm, where they now raise [...]

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My grandparents live in Norway, but have a summer house in a little community some 20km from Falkenberg. A little while ago, when we were celebrating my grandmother’s birthday, the sky offered a spectacular display! It started with a beautifully painted blue & white cloudy sky, …which turned intensely golden as the sun prepared to [...]

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Tonight, Anette is coming down from Varberg so that we can have a skype conference and attend the Garvi Family Formula 1 Grand Prix in Africa – which is so cool, since some of us are more than 8000 km away! Last time we had a girls’ night was a couple of weeks ago, when [...]

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Since arriving in Sweden, I’ve had a hard time adjusting to the food culture that the food industry has been pushing for a long period of time now. I never used to think so much about what I bought before, but after reading a Swedish book entitled “Äkta Vara” by food journalist Mats-Eric Nilsson (which [...]

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With my favourite Chinese restaurant located in Kano (Nigeria), it no more than right that my favourite sushibar should be located right here in Falkenberg (Sweden)! A few days after arriving, my father, Hanna and I had been shopping at Gekås, and coming back to Falkenberg, my father took us out for dinner. After nine [...]

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Last Sunday, Anette and I went on a fabulous excursion (arranged by Sheba’s kennel) to the island of Ven, together with a pack of Rhodesian ridgeback dogs (mostly Sheba’s relatives) and owners. It was a lovely day! Anette and I took over 800 pictures, and here are the skywatch highlights! The boat that brought us [...]

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After the celebration in church, the newly weds hurried off to take pictures, while the rest of the guests assembled outside the feast location. My father and sister The bride and groom arrived under full sunshine, which is not something to be taken for granted for, especially not considering the weather that had just been. [...]

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