Kristina with a “K”
Today is exactly two weeks since I returned from vacation in Croatia. During my two decades of living in England, I have always been happy to return to my Croatia for a vacation, but this year it was more than a vacation. In the context in which the world found itself during the Covid pandemic my trip to Croatia filled me on a completely different level.
The pandemic brought us closer to something we did not want and certainly did not hope for, and that is sudden and unexpected deaths. The nearness of death is always terrifying for everyone. At the same time, the pandemic has taken us away from travel, meetings, hugs, socializing… And that is why we are now, perhaps more than ever, aware of how much all that we almost lost means to us.
My vacation was not only a break from work, everyday life, but also a mental break from listening to the news. After listening to the news every day for a year and a half, sometimes several times in the same day, during my vacation I spontaneously disconnected from the world. Not even two weeks ago, after returning to England, I had no need for news. Instead of news, I watched the beautiful Canadian series “Anne with an e” every night with my Sara, which I warmly recommend to everyone. The series is based on the “Anne of Green Gables” books, where the main character is a girl Anne, an orphan who is adopted by an older brother and sister who, after years of her suffering, give her a warm home and a lot of love. The series touches on almost all important issues that were relevant in the 18th century, but are still relevant today: racism, the role of women in society, the class system, sexual orientation and different kinds of love. Anne was happy in love, and I learned that slow-growing love has its own term in English; "slow burn." That cheered me up, but my Sara then clarified "Mom, they have to end up together for it to be "slow burn" love, otherwise it's called unrequited love."
The day before yesterday, again spontaneously, I broke my mental isolation from the world and for the first time in more than a month I listened attentively to everything that was happening in the world. Of course, the events in Afghanistan are in the centre of the world’s attention. That is why I chose a very famous photo for my profile picture on this blog that shows three Afghan women in miniskirts in Kabul, in 1972.
Some Afghans protest and say that the photo is very selective and does not show the real situation in Afghanistan at that time. Others say that this was a golden age in which Afghanistan prospered as a free and modern country. President Trump was reportedly so fascinated by the photo that it even influenced his decision to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan in the fight against the Taliban. The photograph speaks a thousand words here, and it is not surprising that this photograph has become widespread throughout the world. What kind of country Afghanistan will become, time will tell. The world was a very different place 50 years ago and I can only hope that in another 50 years the world will be a more beautiful and more peaceful place.
Love,
Kristina
Saturday, August 28th, 2021
Kristina sa "K"
Danas su točno dva tjedna otkako sam se vratila s odmora u Hrvatskoj. Tijekom dva desetljeća života u Engleskoj uvijek sam se rado vraćala u Hrvatsku na odmor, no ove godine to je bilo više od godišnjeg odmora. U kontekstu u kojem se svijet našao tijekom pandemije Covida-19, moje putovanje u Hrvatsku ispunilo me na potpuno drugoj razini.
Pandemija nas je približila nečemu što nismo očekivali i čemu se zasigurno nismo nadali, a to su iznenadne i neočekivane smrti. Blizina smrti uvijek je zastrašujuća za sve. U isto vrijeme, pandemija nas je udaljila od putovanja, sastanaka, zagrljaja, druženja ... I zato smo sada, možda više nego ikad, svjesni koliko nam znači sve to što smo skoro izgubili.
Moj godišnji odmor nije bio samo odmor od posla, svakodnevnog života, već i mentalni odmor od slušanja vijesti. Nakon što sam godinu i pol dana svakodnevno slušala vijesti, ponekad i nekoliko puta u istom danu, tijekom odmora spontano sam se isključila iz svijeta. Ni prije dva tjedna, nakon povratka u Englesku, nisam imala potrebu za vijestima. Umjesto vijesti, svaku sam večer sa svojom Sarom gledala prekrasnu kanadsku seriju “Anne sa e” koju toplo preporučujem svima. Serija se temelji na knjigama "Anne of Green Gables", gdje je glavni lik djevojka Anne, siroče koju usvajaju stariji brat i sestra koji joj nakon godina patnje pružaju topli dom i mnogo ljubavi. Serija se dotiče gotovo svih važnih pitanja koja su bila relevantna u 18. stoljeću, ali su aktualna i danas: rasizam, uloga žena u društvu, klasni sustav, seksualna orijentacija i različite vrste ljubavi. Anne je bila sretna u ljubavi, a ja sam saznala da sporo rastuća ljubav ima svoj izraz na engleskom; "slow burn". Ja bih to prevelar kao “ljubav koja polako gori.” To me razveselilo, a moja Sara je tada pojasnila "Mama, moraju na kraju završiti zajedno da bi to bila “ljubav koja polako gori", inače se zove “neuzvraćena ljubav”.
Prekjučer sam, opet spontano, prekinula svoju mentalnu izolaciju od svijeta i prvi put u više od mjesec dana pažljivo sam slušala sve što se događa u svijetu. Naravno, događaji u Afganistanu u središtu su svjetske pozornosti. Zato sam odabrala vrlo poznatu fotografiju za svoju profilnu sliku na ovom blogu koja prikazuje tri Afganistanke u mini suknjama u Kabulu 1972. Neki Afganistanci protestiraju i kažu da je fotografija vrlo selektivna i da ne prikazuje stvarno stanje u Afganistanu u to vrijeme. Drugi kažu da je to bilo zlatno doba u kojem je Afganistan napredovao kao slobodna i moderna zemlja. Predsjednik Trump navodno je bio toliko fasciniran fotografijom da je čak utjecala na njegovu odluku da zadrži američke trupe u Afganistanu u borbi protiv talibana. Fotografija ovdje govori tisuću riječi i ne čudi što je ta fotografija postala široko rasprostranjena u cijelom svijetu. Kakva će država postati Afganistan, pokazat će vrijeme. Svijet je prije 50 godina bio jako drugačije mjesto i mogu se samo nadati da će za sljedećih 50 godina svijet biti ljepše i mirnije mjesto.
S ljubavlju,
Kristina
Subota, 28. kolovoza 2021.
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