Author: Anna

I am lucky! Such beautiful weather even though it is October. These weeks are very, in a way, beautiful. I might be, and I feel, boring, but somehow I have to do this. It is very nice to feel time. Not having the pressure of a deadline for an exam. But I have set dates for finishing.

This reminds me a lot of studying in Uppsala. I don´t know why, but when it was on the edge for an exam, I locked myself in and just studied. I went to different libraries. Sometimes I studied together with friends. Had coffee and chats. The library below is one of Sweden´s most beautiful libraries. And it keeps a lot of old treasures with a lot of stories to be told. Old history. Exciting history.

Behind the library is Engelska parken, close to departments of chemistry and physics. My very first contact with the University in Uppsala was at “Siegbahn salen”, close to Engelska parken. When I was in school in Sala all students were invited to go to the University for sightseeing. I learnt where the name “civil ingenjör” derives from.

Uppsala slott is beautiful. I have been there on balls. There are a lot of traditions to follow on the 30th of April.

Yesterday, I needed to see something new so I went to a library I have heard of in Stockholm. I went to Anna Lindh´s library at KTH (Kungliga tekniska högskolan). I have been there for two days when I was seventeen years old. My father arranged so I could stay with a woman from north part of Sweden, Maria, who was studying for her PhD. I remember we did some experiment on heat, calories, and I also remember we had pizza for lunch with her colleagues ;-). I think my father wanted me to become an engineer.

Today, I watch a beautiful blue sky from my window and I write. Even though I write slowly. I have just discovered the beauty of writing in Swedish and Swedish words. I miss English. More words to choose between. Easier to be precise.

Je vous embrasse,

Anna

PS. Thinking of how to become better and get better speed for running…Any suggestions?

Why is it so difficult to talk about period? I don´t like talking about period, but today I challenge myself by talking period. Stepping out of comfort zones.

Period, period and period.

I remember the very first day I got my period. That was the same day as I started high school. I had a lot of pain and I didn´t know where the pain came from but I realized when I saw blood. Many things to think about at the same time. Starting high school. Meeting new teachers. Having new friends. Period. Not going by bicycle to school but to learn to travel by bus since I lived in the countryside. Many changes on the same day.

How did I know what period was? I think I got the information from my mother and auntie. They grew up in Tärnaby and nobody had told them anything so they wanted to tell me. But somehow, they had learnt what it was and how to handle it. And so did I. I think I talked period with my best friends. Because I remember I knew precisely what it was when I got it.

When I was about 20 years old I suffered from PMS. I still have some PMS but not as much as at that time. I was very tempted to learn more about PMS when I was going for PhD studies, but I ended up by studying brain reward systems. To learn about mechanisms of actions of alcohol and nicotine. From a biological point of view it is interesting to understand why you have PMS. Men must learn more about PMS to understand that there is a biological reason why women may change mood and become aggressive. To hamper environmental effects and conflicts. There are some pharmacological tools that can be used like certain serotonin re-uptake inhibitors and the vitamin B6 (Pyridoxin).

Today I have pain but I know where it comes from so it is just fine by knowing. So for me, today, it is just perfect to stay at home with pain (ok, I know there are painkillers 😉 ). To write and just accept the fact that I am a woman.

Wishing you a Happy Thursday!

Anna