Making a muckle...

Just nu i ert semesterparadis

2011-05-26T03:58:00.000-07:00

Scroll down for English translation.

Just nu i ert semesterparadis

Idag är grekerna stolta. Jag vaknar och småspringer nästan till datorn. Vad har världen att säga om gårdagen? Först blir jag väldigt besviken när jag inser att svenska morgontidningar har absolut ingenting att säga. Sedan kommer jag ihåg att demonstrationen vid Syntagma torget var en succé. Tusentals (Reuters säger 15 tusen. Jag var där och säger 40) atenare samlades för att visa sitt missnöje mot regeringen, utan att några som helst konflikter uppstod. Allt flöt på utan rökbomber, utan stenkastning, utan att en batong höjdes av en enda polis. Inget nyhetsvärde alltså. Men det är ju lite synd att folk inte får höra hur de krisdrabbade grekerna egentligen tänker.

Förebilden är Madrid. Banderollerna med orden “Hysch, väck inte grekerna!” som synts vid demonstrant-ockuperade Plaza del Sol den senaste veckan besvarades med den enda banderoll som syntes till igår: “Vi är vakna. Vad är klockan? Det är tid för dem att sticka”.

Låt oss vara ärliga. Grekerna är ett passionerat folk, och det är inte alltid till deras fördel. Jag tror att en allmän åsikt är att de delvis har sig själva att skylla för den situation de nu befinner sig i. De har levt på pengar som inte finns, säger man. De strör pengar omkring sig och de är alla en aning egoistiska. Och jag håller med! Det finns en uppenbar tendens att kringgå lagar och undvika skatter, precis som det gör att leva loppan. Men nu är vi ju inte såna som generaliserar i Sverige. Som man bäddar får man ligga är alltså inte ett vinnande argument till varför vi bör strunta i grekerna. Låt mig alltså få påminna er om vad det är som händer i ert semesterparadis.

Förutom drastiskt höjda skatter, 150 000 stängda småföretag det senaste året, och arbetslöshet som har nått 16 %, startar nu regeringen ett privatiseringsprogram av typen ”Allt ska bort!”. Det handlar om bankerna, järnvägen, hamnen i Thessaloniki, elbolag, telefonbolag och vattenbolag. Det är egentligen en utmätning, men låt oss kalla det försäljning för följande metafors skull:

I mitt naiva, bortskämda, svenska huvud kan ett land jämföras med ett familjeföretag. Alla som bor i landet hjälper till att bestämma, för det är demokrati, och styrelsen ser till att saker blir gjorda. Alla äger vi aktier i företaget. Och det som är så bra med familjeföretag är ju att alla vill varandras bästa, eller hur? Åtminstone ser man till att ingen behöver jobba 12 timmar om dagen utan lön, samtidigt som man säljer ut företagets egendomar till dess aktierna inte är värda ett jota. Så gör man bara inte.

Nu tar jag mig in till Syntagma igen. Jag hoppas att media hänger med den här gången. Grekerna har vaknat. Säg god morgon!

Right Now in Your Vacation Paradise

The Greeks are proud today. I woke up and ran to my laptop. What would the world have to say about yesterday? At first I was really disappointed when I realized that Swedish morning papers had absolutely nothing to say. Then I remembered that yesterdays demonstrations in Syntagma square were a success. Thousands (Reuters say 15 thousand. I was there and I say there were 40) of Athenians gathered to show their discontent towards the government, without any disorder occurring. It all went on without rock throwing, tear gas or the raising of a single police baton. Not a newsworthy demonstration, in other words. But isn’t it a shame that people don’t get to hear the true thoughts of the crisis-ridden Greeks?

The model is Madrid. The banners with the words “Hush, don’t wake the Greeks!” seen at the protest camps at Plaza del Sol this last week were answered through the only banner in sight yesterday: “We are awake. What time is it? It’s time for them to leave!”.

Let’s be honest. The Greeks are passionate people, and it’s not always an advantage. It is the reason we know demonstrations to be violent events. It is also the root to what I think is a common idea: That the Greeks partly have themselves to blame for the situation they are now in. They’ve been living on borrowed money, some say. They squander and they are selfish. And I agree! There is an obvious trend, in this country, to circumvent laws and get around taxes, just as there is a tendency to party. But as Swedes we’re not inclined to generalize, right? So. ”You’ve made your bed, now lie in it” is not an argument strong enough to stop caring about the Greeks. Let me therefore remind you of what is going on in your vacation paradise right now.

Except the drastically increased taxes, the 150 000 businesses which have closed in the last year, the cancelled pay and pensions, and the unemployment which is now up to 16 %, the government is now introducing a privatization program with the concept “Everything must go!”. This includes the banks, the railway, the port of Thessaloniki, the power company, the phone company and the water company. In reality it’s the dept-for-equity deal from hell, but let’s call it sales for the sake of the following metaphor:

In my naive, spoiled, Swedish head a country can be compared to a family business. Every family member working at this company helps make the decisions, because there is democracy, and the board makes sure things get done. Everyone owns some stock in the company. And what is so good about family companies is that everybody cares about each other, right? At least no one will force anyone to work 12 hours a day without pay, while at the same time sell the company’s property until the stock isn’t worth squat anymore. You just don’t do that.

I’m gonna go back to Syntagma now. I hope media keeps up today. The Greeks are awake, say good morning!

The Frame Project

2011-04-18T08:56:00.000-07:00

I AM planning to return. I'm just not in the mood to make confessions about all the not so "good" things I've been doing lately (like forgetting all about recycling). I don't know. I guess I need some kind of motivation.

At least I can show off the result of my frame project. Do you remember it?

BEFORE

AFTER

The Match Against Poverty

2010-12-15T02:46:00.000-08:00

My bf finally got me to go see a football game. Or no, actually it was the second time, but the other time was at Camp Nou and Zlatan was playing..whole other deal. Yesterday I went to Karaiskaki. Olympiakos' stadium. Also called The Tempel, by bf. Why would I do this?

It was the Match Against Poverty. A match arranged by Ronaldo and Zidane to raise funds for the people affected by the earthquake in Haiti and the floods in Pakistan. Worth it? Yep. Even though it was freezing and all I did for two hours was try to identify all the famous players (Can't they stand still just for a minute?). Made bf happy and helped raise money for people in need, check and check. Good deed OF THE WEEK!

Saving my friends from freezing to death...

2010-12-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

Ok. This is totally wrong I know. But.

I am going to use the blog for selfish reasons now. Though not only selfish. I want to do something nice for some of my best friends. Sort of like a Xmas present since I won't be able to go back home this year. And I want to see them because I miss them.

I am in a contest arranged by Swedish travel company Apollo. If I win I get to spend a week with three of my best friends, guest reviewing an all inclusive hotel in Rhodes. It includes flight tickets for my friends and everything. If you follow THIS LINK and click on the orange button that says "rösta" you will help me win, and I will love you forever. (The more votes you give me the more I'll love you. You can vote once a day and from all computers even if they're using the same network)

And you will give my friends something to dream about up there in the cooooold.

The situation in Haiti

2010-11-25T02:59:00.000-08:00

The situation in Haiti is getting out of control. Follow this link to donate money. Or if you are a doctor or a nurse, think about helping out on site...

Join the soft toy movement!

2010-11-25T00:26:00.000-08:00

We got an apartment! And life seems a bit easier. The new place will cut my living expenses down a bit, which was necessary, but is also bigger than my old studio. And what does this mean? About a thousand trips to IKEA.

I've always been a fan of IKEA. I'm Swedish so it's sort of a given. But since I moved abroad being a fan has developed more into an actual addiction to the company. The kind of fanatism that makes me want to talk about IKEA All. The. Time. They sell Swedish food, they have pictures of Swedish landmarks on the walls, there is Swedish written everywhere. It even smells like Sweden when you walk through the doors and is greeted by that big "HEJ" sign. Oh, and then there's the nice super cheap furniture...

But now to the part of this story that makes it relavant for the blog. IKEA has a campaign going on together with Save the Children and Unicef. For every soft toy you buy 1 euro goes to helping children around the world get an education. For some of the stuffed animals this means every cent goes to this good cause, and That means money is coming straight from IKEAs pockets, and THAT means I have yet another reson to love them. Also, for about a week up until christmas they will expand the campaign to include all the products in the Children's IKEA department.

Now usally I am torn when it comes to this kind of projects. It's obvious that many companies will do this sort of thing just for commercial purposes. Also I don't like the idea that buying these items may settle the conscience of people and make them think they've donated something to charity. This when they've actually just been doing their shopping; and contributing to our crazy consuming that may even hurt children in poor countries in the long run. However, it's christmas time. You're all going to buy toys and stuffed animals for your children anyway. So why not do it at IKEA? It's cheap and the quality is good. So just do it.

Give something

2010-11-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

This is pretty much my old life I've gotten back to. Sure I have alot of stuff going on, but then I read about the cholera epidemic in Haiti, and how much worse it has gotten since I last wrote about it. And I feel like a jerk again. This wasn't suppose to be me anymore...

I guess the least I can do is mention what's happening. 1034 people has died, and at least 16.799 are sick. There is war going on in the streets, after rumors getting out about the cholera coming from UN soldiers. It's just totally crazy. As I've said before, cholera is an easily treated disease. We can help by donating money to Doctors Without Borders. Follow this link to donate online (min. amount 5$).

Where I am

2010-11-10T01:04:00.000-08:00

I guess I should explain myself.

This blog is a project I really want to go on with. It's something I thought about for a long time before starting it and I think it's a pretty great idea to be honest. So I'm not saying I'm quitting. I mean, saying I'm quitting would be like saying I'm not a very good person and I accept it, right? That's not okay.

However, my life is pretty messy right now. I have to deal with basic stuff like where to live and making money for this living, and it takes all of my time and energy. Finding time to blog is hard, not to mention time to do all my good deeds. So, this is me raising my hand and asking if we can please take five.

I'll be back.

Dare me

2010-11-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

I need inspiration. Seriously. I have such a crazy load of things for my mind to process every day right now that I can't think of any good deeds. That's also why it's been quiet here last few days. So help me out? Tell me a good thing I can do tomorrow and I will do it. I will.

Did you forget?

2010-11-02T05:35:00.000-07:00

Oh by the way, something I think you all might have forgotten. DO let the commercials on this blog catch your eye. Every time you click on them you help me get money for charity. That's sort of the point here.

K?

Obsessed with fairtrade

2010-11-02T05:30:00.000-07:00

The thing about Fairtrade is it makes you feel good about yourself when you eat. And for a girl especially, that doesn't happen often. Exept for the Foer book my mom also got me some sugar and candy with Fairtrade labels from Sweden. So now I'm eating unhealthy, BUT with a clear conscience. Thank you mommy!

For you with less amazing moms, visit the Doing Good Accessories Store.

Let's talk this through.

2010-10-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got some weird looks as I bought a kid something to eat. She came begging for money but when I offered food and something to drink her face lit up. It sounds all nice and in order with my thoughts on begging, doesn't it? So why did people act like what I did was strange? I would really like some answers here, because I might be missing something! Perhaps there are factors I didn't consider.

Carnivore yet again

2010-10-31T00:49:00.000-07:00

So to sum up my vegetarian experience.. Well, there were no revalations. I like vegetarian food! I like vegetables, pasta, beans etc. I knew this. I didn't try doing something with soy product or quorn, but I know from before that I don't enjoy it much. Anyway, this is the conclution: I could be a vegetarian. I won't though. Why?

I am one of these people who have a pretty strong intuition about things being wrong, but not strong enough to do something about it. It's embarrasing, being one of these people. Someone who's low on principles. My blog is a way of trying to change this! I want to turn my thoughts into action. Respect my own values. The problem with vegetarianism is that it's difficult in social situations. And by that I mean anything from parties to going out to dinner to eating at home with my boyfriend. It's alwasy more difficult to change things when it might affect people around you. So I think I'll probably go on being a part time vegetarian, but that's it.

My mom gave me the new book by Jonathan Safran Foer, called "Eating animals". I read only the first few pages so far. He starts by describing how he's been an on and off vegetarian all his life, and the feeling I was talking about: knowing it's wrong to do it but not finding the willpower to resist. I love Foer and the subject couldn't be more fitting, so I'll probably write a review within the next few days. Good enough? Let's see where I'll end up...

The Real Good deed

2010-10-27T15:02:00.000-07:00

Let's not forget to report about Fairtrade coffee day! I had coffee and sticky yummy chocolate cake with my boyfriend. The Fairtrade labeled coffee I found tastes really good! Better than the Jacobs I usally drink. And the cacao was just like any other cacao.

Recepie for my sticky Swedish chocolate cake:

Set oven temperature to 175 degrees
Melt 100 g of butter. Add 2 eggs and 3 dl of sugar.
Mix 3 table spoons of (Fairtrade labeled!) cacao, a little bit of vanilla in the form you prefer and a tiny bit of salt with 1,5 dl of flower. Add to batter.
Pour the batter into a baking tin (greased with butter) and bake it for 30 minutes. You know it's ready when it looks ready on the outside. The inside should be sticky! Serve with whipped cream. Yum!

Witches, Shrek, Timon and Pumba are all welcome for dinner! That's todays good deed.

2010-10-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

Everything isn't bright and shiny happy here in good deed land. It's not like I expected everything to go according to plan. Mostly because I am ME and lately very few things do go my way. But. One thing that really bums me out when it doesn't go right is cooking. Yesterday is a good example.

You know how as you get older you learn to like food you used to hate? Last night I made spinach soup thinking that it is a healthy veggie meal, and it was probably one of those things you hate when you are a kid but can like as an adult.

It wasn't one of those things.

Green and slimy food. Still no hit.

Taking recycling into my own hands

2010-10-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

I found this huge old frame yesterday when I was taking out the garbage. It's dirty, some small pieces are missing and it has gotten some pretty bad repairs already. But I'm sure I can do something with it.. uuhm..

Still a vegetarian

2010-10-25T10:27:00.000-07:00

Vegetarian pasta today. Made pennes with a walnut sauce I have been meaning to try. It was nice, but I would have enjoyed it more together with some prosciutto. It got boring before I got got full. Added some sun dried tomatoes to spice it up, and it helped. Anyway, here's how to make the sauce:

Roast 170 g of walnuts in a dry pan.
Use a mixer to make a paste out of the walnuts, a slice of bread, 1 & 1/2 decilitre of milk, 1/2 a crushed clove of garlic and 25 g of parmesan.
Add some olive oil, salt and pepper and mix again. Add some water from the pasta if the sauce is too thick. Top with chopped parsley. Done!

I've discovered a big plus in vegetarianism that nobody tells you about. It's very cheap! Super.

Shape up Greece!

2010-10-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

I found two Fairtrade labeled products in my supermarket! It's one brand of coffee and a cocoa. I was so happy to find them that it took me a while before I started thinking about why I haven't seen them before. But it's actually pretty obvious why, and the reson is annoying as hell.

These products are in the supermarket as they are organic and have been placed on the shelf with "organic foods". You can not find the organic coffee next to the other coffee brands. Only in this specific part of the store. Imagine that my supermarket is as huge as... probably 500 sq.m It has 4 floors and I don't know how many hundreds of customers in a day, and they have 2 things with a Fairtrade label. These aren't imported for the label. That I was able to find them was a total coincidence.

This article, written by Katia Antoniadi, confirms my suspicions. For those of you who don't read Greek, I can tell you that the article also says 65 % of the Greeks don't know the meaning of the words "fair trade". And that from the few Greek companies that even replyed to a survey, made by Consumers International, the commercial directors didn't know what products were in this category.

It's clear to anyone that this is an area in which Greece has to improve. I will do my part. Friends are hereby invited to my Fairtrade Coffee on Wednesday. Shall we say around seven?

Free shipping at Amazon

2010-10-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

A small tip. If you buy things for £25 or more from Amazon right now you get shipping for free to these countries:

Greece, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Andorra, Finland, Gibraltar, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Vatican city and Poland!

So if you were planning to buy some stuff from my Doing Good Accessories Store for example you should do it now!

Veggie Weekend

2010-10-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

Veggie stuff

I admit, I made one mistake. Had lunch out and ordered a sallad that had chicken in it. Yummy as it was I didn't remember my vow to eat only vegetarian food this week, until it was already gone. But it won't happen again! Above is last nights dinner. Potato and onion soup, bruschetta and sallad.

I love this soup. It's the easiest thing to make, really tasty, healthy and cheap. Here's how I make it:

Chop yellow onion (1) and leek (4) and fry them in butter in a big pot.
Peel potatoes (1 kilo) and throw them in the pot together with water, a bouillon cube, salt and pepper.
Boil until the potatoes fall apart, mix with a hand blender and add some cream. Done!

Fairtrade Challange - so awesome!

2010-10-23T01:46:00.000-07:00

In Sweden, where I'm from, Fairtrade is arranging something awesome.

On wedensday, the 27th of october, anyone who wants can join in having a coffee break with Fairtrade products. So far 306.842 people have reported that they're going to join in! To join you simply invite your friends to your house for a coffee / bring sweets to work and have a coffee break with your colleagues or whatever. You use one or more Fairtrade labeled products. You let fairtrade know you are having the coffee and afterwards you report your result. It's so simple and a great way to spread knowledge about the difference you can make when you choose the right products.

The person who invites the most people, the supermarket who invited the most other stores to join, the one who uses more fairtrade products and the one who gets the best pictures of the event, will win some really nice prices. You might for example get to visit one of the producing countries working with fairtrade!

I think this is a fantastic idea, and I'm jealous of all the swedes who get to be part of it! So don't you miss this!

By the way, maybe it isn't impossible for me to join. I just gotta find some fairtrade labeled stuff. All you greeks, are you interested in something like this?! If I invite you, will you come to my fairtrade coffee? (I know you're reading, so just post a "yes" or "no" in the comments field. Be anonymous if you like.)

Delicious greens (read cheese)

2010-10-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

Right now I feel like the vegetarian thing might not be difficult At All. Or how does greek sallad, egyptian pita with feta cheese & tomato, and fries with roquefort sauce sound? Quick quiz for all who knows the island I'm currently on: Where am I going for dinner tonight?

My cousin Manfred the Mighty is going to get it right, I know that. She's also a vegetarian by the way. But the weirdest vegetarian in the world. She doesn't like vegetables.

Cholera outbreak in Haiti

2010-10-22T00:21:00.000-07:00

You would think the people in Haiti already suffered enough. You would think.

We all know that over a million people were homeless in Haiti after the earthquake in January, which also killed 250-300 thousand. Many of us made donations. But what have we been doing since then? I admit I've done nothing.

A disaster like this has a massive immediate response around the world, but it scary to see how fast compassion fades. It has only been months sice the capital Port-au-Prince was destroyed. The global relief effort meant numerous nations and volontary groups sent help. But did we fix the country? Except from the obvious fact that nothing can bring back what Haiti has lost, did we give all we can?

There are huge camps around Port-au-Prince where homeless people live in tents, with terrible sanitary conditions. Many aid organizations have warned about how fast diseases might spread in these camps, where clean water is a rarity. And now here it is, the second disaster. A cholera epidemic is spreading in Haiti, killing 135 people so far. 1500 others are sick, and waiting in the streets outside the hospitals for help. And this is the situation now, before the epidemic has reached the camps around the capital.

Why is this happening? Because the resources aren't enough. Cholera is an easily treated disease, and all that's needed are hospital beds, rehydration salts and in some cases antibiotics.

Considering everybody knows about the situation in Haiti, I find this unacceptable. We have to help out more. We CAN help out alot more.

Oh, I'm serious!

2010-10-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow: The exception. Weekly lunch at my grandparents house means lemonato or giouvetsi (both meats). Out of my hands.
Weekend: Will make a big batch of my potato soup. Sallads etc.
Monday: Pasta with walnuts and parmesan
Tuesday: Spinach soup with eggs.
Wednesday: Chili sin Carne with bread and feta cheese.
Thursday: Fishsoup with bread.

I'll get you recepies.

Fish soup. It's not too shabby.

Part vegetarian - Is it a thing?

2010-10-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

I should become a vegetarian. I really hate what the meat industry is like. It is horrible. But this blog is meant to document all the small things I'm doing to change, and things that everyone can do. I am not going to go to Africa and do charity work, or give up on the small income that I do have in order to donate it all. And I don't think I will go all vegetarian anytime soon at least. Because it would mean a major and difficult change in my life! And I really really love meat.

But perhaps I can go half-veg? Is that a thing? Lets say I eat meat only a couple of times a week and allow fish and sea food during the rest. I've been surfing around reading recepies today, and I got inspired as always. Eating more vegetarian food will also mean eating more healthy! Wich I reeaally need to do. You greeks all know how easy it is to get the souvlakia menues out when you're hungry in Athens.

I'm deciding right now (without boyfriend knowing, but he needs a punishment for using a paper filter for the coffee this morning anyway): I will try eating green for a week starting tomorrow.