Its a DogS Life
Well, things are tough in Maputo and also in Oslo. We are living in chaos, but surprisingly not so much anxiety in it. In Oslo everything is in boxes, most of our things go to our flat in Reykjavik and will be collected on Monday. That means packing. The packing itself is not the biggest problem, it is the taxonomy of what goes where? What do we desperately need in Mozambique and what do we need in Reykjavik and what is to be in Oslo. To Africa we only take 20 kilos per person plus hand luggage. I am sending teaching material to the school in the post.
Luckily we did a bit of a cleanup in our life when we moved to Oslo 4 years ago, selling the house and getting rid of many of the material things. That was also part of the trend of having less things and enjoying more events and activities. Experience is nicer than things. We have definitely come to that conclusion. The biggest vice is books. Now Google is scanning like hell and I am leaving all the classics in Iceland since they are available on the web. No more carrying of the complete dialogues of Plato and Sir Bannister Fletcher is not needed in Africa since he did not consider Africa part of architectural history.
We are operating with various projects, mostly linked on web, in networks with many people, most of whom have become friends. Fortunately is our work not so linked to localities but to activities. This might sound strange, but . . . Like now we have two projects to do in Maputo and we are very eager to work on those. At the same time are we developing the DIG-Equality project, have got funds for first startup and dissemination work. I am designing a farm in the West of Iceland, a private house on the outskirts of Reykjavik, Networking various social and strategic projects, I have to write the bid for the Nordic-Baltic Network project ‘Cirrus’ that has to go in before the 1st of March, and I have a working meeting in England next week about a book that we are establishing. Oh! And a few lectures to prepare etc. Most of this happens on computers, with the use of mail and web systems. The only really important thing for us is internet to operate and also to link ourselves emotionally. Life is great and should never be too easy.
February 7, 2009
Posted in: PONDERINGS
