Finally ! ! ! !

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing..... the new newest member of the medical workforce in Sverige!

I finally have the job! ! Yipppeee! 

Had an interview with two of the bosses at the hospital. One is the studie rektor and the other the chief of the section I will be working at. After a few minutes discussion (during which I killed so many Swedish buffaloe that they soon will be even more extinct here), I was asked to wait for ten minutes. The one who called the meeting then came and told me that I had the job and introduced me to the department chief who will be my immediate supervisor. Of course I will start at the lowest rung in the ladder but that is okay. That is how I will learn about the system and psychiatry in Sweden. I am so looking forward to working again!

The funny thing with the language is how fast it flies out of your head when you do not use it regularly. Though I had observed that my swedish had deteroriated, I was amazed at the extent of deterorition when I tried to speak with these people. They also spoke so fast that I wondered if everyone else I have been speaking to had been making a conscious effort to speak super slowly and tydligt. Well, here I come. I am also looking forward to finally learning and speaking even better swedish. They say I can start as soon as the paperwork is finished. Hi hi hi!

So, as part of the celebration, I will be meeting another invandrare doctor friend to talk about all this and to give her her wedding present. Many of my friends (other doctors) from the language course have been very interested in keeping in touch and filling each other in on how we are doing job or careerwise. I will send smses to a few of them. 

Yipppeee! 

Now I hope that I will be able to prove that I know what I know and what I am doing, på svenska! :-)

Another hole in my lovely jaw.

The tooth is gone! Still have a bleeding wound and all but no more stupid rotten tooth! Hurray!

Now I look forward to years of non-painful visits to the dentist. 

Only downside is that I have been told not to eat for several hours. 3 to be exact. I am however hungry. Guess I will just go and sleep. Hope it does not hurt too much when the anaeasthesia wears off.

The dentist, a new and absolutely lovely one says I will have some deficit in my chewing. I think I will have a big deficit. So maybe I can start practicing with mashed potatoes and fish for life.

Hudfärgs betydelse

Har precis lyssnat till en intressant diskussion om hudfärg. Kort men väldigt bra. Jag håller med alla och hoppas att den här diskussionen kan fortsätter i Sverige.

http://svt.se/svt/play/video.jsp?a=1274788

Amsterdam, here I come!

I am going to Ansterdam today! Yipeee! My first holiday in more than a year. Granted it is a short ine and the weather prognosis is wet and chilly but I am determined to enjoy it. 

I have been to Ansterdam countless times. But have never seen the city. Well, you see I have always restricted my movements to the corridors and shopping of Schipol, the international airport. Now I get to see the city. 

I can't wait to get on to the canal bus, wander through the streets. Sit at the cozy cafés, find great bookshops and spend hours there, see the museums, the old church. The list is endless and I hope the weather allows. Of course there will be no stopping my excursions, come rain or high water. Though I should not really mention the latter as it may happen and given that I will be below sea level for a week, it is not a comforting thought.

Books I want to read

Thought I would write these down before I forget. You know how it is; you see a wonderful book and say to yourself that you would definitely like to read that. Before you know it you do not recall what the title was, let alone th author. All that remains is a lingering memory of having despeately wanted to read some exciting book. Now, I should stop with the rambling before I actually forget what I REALLY want to write:

Satanic Verses

Kalla det vad fan du vill

Gomorrah

Snabba cash

 This list will grow as I recall (hopefully!) the others and as I find new ones.

Have realised what a blessing, or whatever one would call it, it is to be able to read in three languages. Unfortunately there are not so many books of genre that I like written in Luganda. But that's okay. 

Enjoying bed solitude...

Well, I should be sleeping but the wonderful sleep is being elusive.  Since I had not written yesterday, tough this would be an opportune time. My significant other is at the moment sleeping in the couch while I work from the cosy warmth of our bed. No, it is not I who banish him to the sofa- Though I do not mind hogging up the whole bed. :-D. It is infact his favourite place to sleep- Though he would vehemently deny this. But only because I think he feels it would not be right to admit that he enjoys the discomfort of cramping his 6ft plus body in a narrow and hard 3ft sofa with his nake cranked at an impossible angle. He would think it was especially embarrassing to admit that he enjoys this more than the warm comfort of his bed with a soft body close by. Well, T,V and the couch always win. I am getting used to it and started actually enjoying it. So I do not bother to wake him up anymore. For who would not bask in the luxury of a big warm bed all to oneself? Hmmm.... :-D 

Wanted to write a little more. But I am starting to feel sleepy. So I will doze off. Or at least try to. More about the job hunt and the Tanzanian guy in med school tomorrow. Tra la!

Of hair and guilt

As most women do now and then, I had my hair done. Cannot really say what I did. For then all would know the secret of my new radiance. Suffice it t say that I now understand how Beyonce, Rihanna, Lil' Kim, Tyra Banks and all those other African American ladies manage to have gorgeus hair that is longer than anything I have seen on an African head. :-D. Now, you might be thinking, "Well, here she goes, another grandiose woman." But no worries, I do not in the least look like any of them. A little shorter and less curvaceous many would agree. Now I have a full head of beautifully soft and glorious hair and plan to enjoy it while it lasts. 

The whole hair thing got me reflecting on the topic of preoccupation with hair. Most women ( I envy the few who are not included) have a love-hate relationship with their hair. Of these women I would say that women of African descent have a more troublesome relationship with our hair. Being bombarded with beauty images, movies and all of women with long flowing hair, we incorporate this idea of beauty into our subconscious. We then strive to achieve it. And believe me, this is no mean feat. The biggest hurdle to our gorgeousness (or so we think), is this amazingly kinky hair the majority of us are born with. See there, "kinky" is the word that is often used to describe the tight curls that cover our heads... and other regions. But is that not a negative word? "Kinky"?  Well, we of course have to go from kinky to soft, flowing and beautiful. The hours and money put inot this endevour are enough to support many kids in any one village with food, shelter and school fees for several years if not a lifetime. 

Having said all that, even though I am usually a sane and reasonable person, I join the insanity of trying to change my hair into something it was not meant to be. And waste resources in the process. But oh! How beautiful the product is! (Sometimes! ;-D). Today was one of those insane behaviour days. 

I struggle with the reality of the selfishness of the hairdo, but marvel at, piroutte and run my fingers through my gloriously soft and long hair. Well, mine for now. And I blame the hairdresser who reminded me of how the money I spent on doing the hair could support several children through school for years for this bad conscience. Maybe I should put to use an equal amout of money for a worthy children's cause everytime I spend on hair? Going to seriously consider this. Maybe with this I will convince my dearly beloved that dreadlocks are a wonderful idea.

Speaking of dreadlocks, why is there still such a big negative fuss about them in Sweden? Whenever I have talked about getting short lovely ones I have been told that it would not be looked upon favourably, especially in my profession. Give that I have not yet reached the self actualization level, I am conforming.