Fire in Skarpnäck
If you have checked the news sites this morning, or been in the south of Stockholm and felt the smoke, you have probably heard about the fire in Skarpnäck where I live. It went on for several hours this morning before fifty firefighters managed to get it under control. Luckily no one was seriously hurt, but now 63 apartments are damaged either by fire, smoke or water, electricity and heat does not work, and about 200 people have been evacuated according to SR and some don't know when they can return home. It's not the first time you hear of such a thing, and far from the worst, just take a hurricane in the U.S. as an example, that has caused huge devastation whose scale you can hardly imagine, or the storm in India, which also required several lives and destroyed a lot of homes. But when an accident happens a few streets away, it becomes so real. One of my nightmares, to see my home and all my possessions destroyed, became a reality for many people in my neighborhood today. My brother has friends who had to run out in slippers and see the house burn, and some have been told that it will take at least six months before they can move back home. It's so horrible that I want to cry just at the thought of that experience. Mom and I filled a lot of bags with clothes to bring to the location where many of the evacuees are currently staying. Although we got rid of lots of clothes before the renovation, it was still not difficult to collect a decent bunch of clothes, winter coats and shoes. It's two different ways to think, "do I need this?" and "someone needs this more than I do." The last-mentioned made it so much easier to get rid of things and it really struck me how much we have at home that we don't use, but think that we have the use of. I really use two pairs of jeans, not eight.
Tomorrow mom will go there again with covers, pillows and other items that may be needed. Many will get help from their insurance companies but it still takes time for these things. Seven families have no insurance at all and has been taken cared of by the church so they can have roof over their heads. They have nothing. If you live nearby, collect clothes and stuff and go there tomorrow, it never hurts to help.
Instagram - September & October
The flowers after they had bloomed. And I end this post with a picture of us and a "tihi".
Instagram: lanakarat
Instagram: lanakarat
Friends Arena
Yesterday me and mom went at the opening ceremony of Friends Arena, and wow, what a huge arena. Mom who has worked with the economy around the stadium has followed it's construction from start a few years ago, and she was as proud as if it was her own arena, haha. The show included a lot of dancing, light shows, fireworks, hanging acrobats and even cars and motorcycles. The performers included Loreen, Agnes, Danny, Icona Pop, First Aid Kit, Roxette and other known and more unknown Swedish artists. And then Princess Victoria pronounced the arena opened. Given that it was the most expensive stage event in the history of Sweden, I think there should have been more of the famous artists and less musical/opera numbers, but I won't complain, it was still a cool experience. Now I can't wait to see Swedish House Mafia there, i won't be satisfyed if I don't come home with a headache after that!
Of course Zlatan's smile was shown on the mega screens of the new national arena. 
The sweetheart of Sweden, Loreen. Still can't understand how the Eurovision will be held in Malmö, instead of here, absolutely unbelieveble...
Fall
Bajram
Svi smo na nogama kad krene muzika
After two tough weeks with a lot of studying, renovation of our home, me being ill and in pain of various kinds (what haven't I suffered from last week?) it was finally time for a well deserved weekend and p-p-p-party! And finally, I remembered to take some pictures with my camera. It was a really fun evening yesterday with better pre-party than clubbing. Unfortunately, the music in the club was crappy, but what to do. Worse was having to get up after only a few hours of sleep in order to go with my family to Ikea. Now that the walls and floor are complete, it was time to buy some new furniture. I really can't wait until everything's finished, it's mentally tiresome to live in this kaos. I think my mom is close to a psychosis.
And I get a psychosis just by the thought of that it's already Monday tomorrow.
Bosnians on tour
Yesterday's qualifying matches really put their mark on all social media, even today. Sweden had a unbelieveble match against Germany. I, however, followed Bosnia and as usual I cheered and wished that I was there. It's the only time I'm really interested in football and cheer with all my heart, and it's such a great feeling to stand in the crowd. Right now Bosnia is the lead of the group, I hope it continues at the same rate. Next year, I'll probably do a couple of trips! I looked through some old pictures and thought I should publish some flashbacks. We all love that, don't we?
Estonia - Bosnia 2009, Tallinn
This trip to Estonia is still among the funniest and craziest things I have ever experienced. It was three intense days with cheering and partying from beginning to end. We took the ferry from Stockholm to Tallinn and the whole boat was a big party, in all cabins, all passages and discos. Tallinn was crowded by Bosnians dressed in blue, yellow and white. And we won the game.
Look how little we were! Or maybe not, but three years feels as an eternity ago. Two 17-year-old girls among a bunch of fanaticos.
People threw their drinks, waved their sweaters and scarves, glasses were smashed, people were standing on tables and chairs, and each other, screaming the last they had left of their voice after the game.
Here is a clip of many. Oh, it was such an indescribable energy on that boat all night! I save you from the rest, although there are crazier clips, our singing (screaming) is bad for your ears.
There was not a single boring minute of the journey. Even when you just went to your cabin you met happened a bunch of singing fools in underwear, appropriately singing "ovdje niko nije normalan" meaning "No one here is normal." I have many more clips from this sick trip, I still cry with laughter watching them, but I will get slaughtered if I publish them..
Sweden - Bosnia 2010, Stockholm
We had all been waiting this match. Home country against home country. Even though it was a friendly match, we were many Bosnians from all over Sweden who gathered, making the arena feel like home arena to Bosnia. The finest moment was when we all applauded after the Swedish national anthem. It was obvious that it was a friendly match, it was a wonderful atmosphere but not at all like the qualifier games. Bosnia lost unfortunately, but win or not - with so many Bosnians in the place, the after-party was a must.
France - Bosnia 2011, Paris
Here we were real fighters who went to Paris over one day, with no hotel or packing, just for the game's sake. It was among the most exhausting I've been through, but worth everything! We were unbelievably many Bosnians who went there to support the team in this crucial match. Although Paris is much larger than Tallinn was, you could still see blue, yellow and white everywhere.
This was such a powerful sight. We were about 20,000 and took up a quarter of the arena, and managed to overpower the French. The happiness when we scored and took the lead was indescribable, everything exploded.
But of course France scored with an unfair penalty. Now that we are number one in the group with the most goals in Europe, we really got the hope of getting to play in the World Cup this time. I'm so damn tired of stumbling over the finish line and meeting Portugal in the playoffs every time. But this time... This time.
Work hard, party hard
Time to make som noise. I'm alive, miraculously after this weekend. It was over in a second and I remember about half of it. We were a big crew went out on Saturday, it was very fun and for some reason everybody went crazy, probably a bit to hyped after a tough school week. The have pumped us with tasks in school, hence the absence here. We have a task to complete each day and it has to go fast, fast, fast. It's been tough, but oh how effective we have been. I think I have produced more last week than we did in a month last year. And I really do my best to avoid weekend work, unfortunately, I have to sacrifice some weekday evenings. I haven't had time to go to the gym this week, even though I started so well with working out twice a week. This week seems to be worse. School vs. life, you can not have both, apparently Tonight, however, I refuse to work, now it's time for my bed, cookies, Revenge and phone date with my person, Karin (you who are watching Grey's Anatomy understand the expression "my person", Meredith and Christina are each others person). Good nighty.
I love my education
Oh I'm so happy! Today they introduced the first project and we got to meet our new teachers (each group of 20 people have two architects and one artist as teachers) and they seem to be great! The entire schedule and project is so organized and structured as opposed to last year, and our teachers are so clear with everything that we almost was stunned after the meeting. We are more used to looking like question marks. The school has really been working hard to follow our wishes. And I'm so hyped about getting started! Not only that, our teachers have already suggested a study trip: Alexandria in Egypt! One of our teachers have been offered this opportunity because our school is starting a cooperation with an architecture school there, and we'll have a workshop with the students. He started talking about what we can do there, and that we also can go to Cairo (I was so sorry for not seeing the pyramids last year, this has to be fate) and I wanted to scream YES!!! before he even finished the sentence. I don't want jinx anything but... it would be so wonderful to visit one of the world's oldest cities, with so much to see! The sun and the sea won't be so bad either.
Colors fade, memories remain
Come and take a walk on the wild side
Good start of the week! The day began with a study visit to the Woodland Cemetery. How convenient for moi, I could sleep in and and be there in ten minutes with bike instead of taking the subway. Imagine if every morning could start with a bike ride in the sun. After the visit, we finished for the day. Our schedule this week is too good to be true, and I'm just wondering what the catch is. TELL ME, WHAT'S THE CATCH?! My classmates told me to shut up and be happy, so I will do as they say. Because I know that this is the calm before the storm since the first project starts next week.
Today I also got a haircut. Finally. Now I feel fresh. And I have a new coat that has made me glad about the autumn. And I have started working out for real. Yes, it's true.
Q/A
Here's a few months late post with answers to the question post which I foolishly published before I went away on holiday. Some of the answers got very long, so I have not included all questions, but some might already be answered in the last Q/A post which you can find in the same category.
Hello! Very good blog, I love to read about your school projects and such... But now to my question: how big is your blog? And would you say that you are putting much effort into your blog? Do you think about it a lot, or do you just blog when you feel like it and have time to spare?
- Thanks! Compared to all other blogs, my blog is a small drop in the ocean. Earlier I had about 1,500 unique readers a week with about 500 unique daily (the number is a bit lower since the summer) which is little compared to others, but a lot to me who don't know who all these people are! I have many readers with origin from the Balkans, and that world is quite "small" so it often happens that someone I know has a friend who reads my blog, or that somebody recognize me on a Bosnian concert/party or even when I am in Bosnia or Croatia. So for me, it can sometimes feel bigger than it is (like, what if somebody is watching me now? O.o).
I feel no "duty" to blog and therefore I don't do it when I don't have the time or will, but I often think of it during the day. I do it automatically after several years of blogging, and it doesn't take very much time or energy. What takes the most time is to edit photos, to "design" the post, the order in which the images are coming up, etc. (if you only knew how picky I am with details), so I put a lot of effort that part, but I think it's fun.
I feel no "duty" to blog and therefore I don't do it when I don't have the time or will, but I often think of it during the day. I do it automatically after several years of blogging, and it doesn't take very much time or energy. What takes the most time is to edit photos, to "design" the post, the order in which the images are coming up, etc. (if you only knew how picky I am with details), so I put a lot of effort that part, but I think it's fun.
Do you earn money on your blog?
- There's no advertising (except blogg.se's annoying ad) or sponsored posts here so no. I get a few bucks when I upload videos through VideofyMe, but it's not something I even count, I only use it because I don't want my videos on YouTube. I don't have that ambition with my blog.
Which countries have you visited? Which countries would you like to visit and why?...
- Well, let's see... Bosnia, Croatia, Italy, Spain, France, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Egypt and Japan. And Beijing airport in China, hehe (I have a Chinese stamp in my passport, so it counts a little!).
Oh, there are so many countries I want to visit in every continent! I want to do a coast to coast road trip in the U.S., I want to visit Japan again, Singapore, Malaysia, China, United Arab Emirates, Mexico, India, Brazil, Turkey... I could go on forever. There are so many beautiful and different places to see, so many other environments, culture and architecture to experience. I'm very interested in how other people live and think, it doesn't matter if I'm in Japan, Germany or Egypt, I can sit and just watch people and try to imagine living their lives, what they think, what they think about me from Sweden and so on. I'm a little extra into Asia and would like to visit cities there because it's so awesome to see people living in modern cities in the same way as we do, but still have a culture that differs so much from the West.
Oh, there are so many countries I want to visit in every continent! I want to do a coast to coast road trip in the U.S., I want to visit Japan again, Singapore, Malaysia, China, United Arab Emirates, Mexico, India, Brazil, Turkey... I could go on forever. There are so many beautiful and different places to see, so many other environments, culture and architecture to experience. I'm very interested in how other people live and think, it doesn't matter if I'm in Japan, Germany or Egypt, I can sit and just watch people and try to imagine living their lives, what they think, what they think about me from Sweden and so on. I'm a little extra into Asia and would like to visit cities there because it's so awesome to see people living in modern cities in the same way as we do, but still have a culture that differs so much from the West.
...And mention your favorite building and why it is! :)
- I don't really a favorite yet, but to mention one anyway, I say the first that comes to mind and that I have seen IRL - the Prada store in Tokyo. I fell for both the outside and inside. Everything from the simple entrance to how it is constructed, how it is lit at night, the luxurious fitting rooms, the grid of "bubbly" windows... Genius. Here you can find more pictures.
For how long do you think you will be blogging?
- That's difficult to answer. My interest for this is not how it once was, but I would find it hard to close the blog as it has become a small part of me. I write less than before but I love to take pictures and prefer to post them here before Facebook and Instagram since my blog my own little creation where I control how everything looks. I guess the updates will just end over time, if I don't decide to close it before then. But I will not say "I quit blogging" and then start blogging after a month again, so when I tell you that I quit blogging it will probably be the first and last time.
What is the nicest anyone has done for you? What's the worst? Do you visit Bosnia every year? To which cities do you go?
- Loved me unconditionally, that is the nicest. The worst thing someone has done is to force me away from my hometown and country. Yes, I usually visit Bosnia in the summer. Earlier, I used to visit Banja Luka (my hometown) with my family, but I have not been there for two years now. The last five years I have gone to Sarajevo.
Lana, How do you get such a beautiful tan? I was looking at some of your pictures from vacation and it seems like you get dark pretty fast . I am really struggling with that, it seems like I cannever get dark fully. Please give me some tipss. :)
- It’s genetical I guess, I don’t have any good tips to give since all I do is just being in the sun. I try not to get burned and I always use sunprotection in the beginning. My mom has really freaked me out about skincancer, so my tip for you is to not try too hard and find some good self-tanning products!
Lana ... with your student finance, how do you afford trips, fun things and nice clothes? I feel that I already have panic before becoming a student just because being "limited" is not my thing. I have been working throughout my high school years and have always had plenty of money because I live at home, but when you start studying at university everybody say that I will not have time to work and if I do, I'll need that time to rest.
- It's all about priorities and how you distribute your money. My student allowance is higher than the one you get in high school (for you who are not from Sweden, in Sweden all students get about 280 € per month if you study at the university college) and I don't need any loans because I live at home. Since I love to travel, I always save some of the money I get every month to some trip, and sometimes, for example the study trip to Tokyo, my parents help me financially. Some months there will be more left for shopping and festivities, and sometimes less. It can go months without any shopping if my economy doesn't allow it, I just have to live with it since there are other things I prioritize. During summer I work for a few weeks to afford summer holidays.
If you can work or not depends on yourself and what you study, all programs do not require as much time in school and if you are good at planning and determine how much time you need to study, I absolutely believe that you can work and study simultaneously. Otherwise, you simply have to learn to be "limited" and remember that most people are much more limited than you.
What do you think about Bosnians?
- Well, what do I think about myself? Haha. It is impossible generalize an entire population, and also put myself in the same category, but if I will try to make a generalization in comparison to the majority of Swedes, I think Bosnians show emotions in a more intense way. To love, party, fight, joke - everything is more intense and I love that about us Bosnians. Znamo sta je merak. It's no wonder that I love our mentality since I have grown up in a Bosnian home. However, there are some sides that bothers me, that is more common among Bosnians than Swedes, and this I think applies for all societies where the group is of a more importance than the individual - where family, relatives and surroundings plays a big role. For example, it's more common that people interfere in the private lives of others, and there is more bigotry and judgement. But far from all Bosnians are like that, you just have to make sure you are in the right company.
1. Your father is an architect, so does he make lot of houses and stuff? are there any pictures of things your dad have made that you could share? I'm sure he's really good when you already in Year 1 at university are doing like cool and advanced buildings! 2. where do you buy your clothes? so nice style! 3.How long is the training for architects? 4. How much does a trip to Croatia cost? love this blog, such an inspiration!
- 1. My dad works mostly with renovation of buildings and does very different jobs, it's been everything from bank offices and attic apartments in the city to the rebuilding of a crematorium at a cemetery. Architects very rarely work alone in a project, so he didn't do everything by himself.
2. I mostly buy my clothes at H&M and Zara. Thank you!
3. The architect program is 5 years, but on average it takes 6-7 years since it is recommended to work/practice at least one year.
4. It is difficult for me to answer because I never fly directly to Croatia, I usually travel by bus from Bosnia. It also depends on where you go, if you stay in a hotel or rent an apartment, and in that case, how much you spend on food and other things. Thanks you very much!
Do you have many exams in architectural education or is it just projects like those you have shown? You are really awesome!
- No, we have no traditional exams, the only exams we have are those we write at home, otherwise we have projects that you can read more about the architecture category, located under the header. Thanks so much!
How much did your RayBans cost? :) What size and model are your RayBans? :)
- The model is RB3025 in size large. They cost 1500 SEK (about 150 €) which I once thought was far too expensive for a pair of sunglasses that I probably will break directly, but they are still intact and so worth every penny!
1. Where do you want to live in the future? 2. The most beautiful city in the world? 3. Which boy names and girl names do you think are the nicest? 4. How did you travel to Sarajevo and what did the ticket cost and which company?
- 1. Oh, I don't know, but I like it best in the big city! I like the speed, energy and activity. Maybe Paris, Tokyo, New York, you never know... I think that Sweden is a great country for my future children to grow up in, and I love Stockholm. It's just that depressing and long winter that speaks against.
2. Very difficult to answer because I have not been to all the cities in the world!
3. I don't know, I do not think too much about it, but I like short names, like for example Mia, or my own, haha.
4. I took a flight, a single ticket cost me 1500 SEK with Norwegian.
Apologies for delivering the most boring question (probably the most common as well) but what camera did you use in Japan? T
- Q/A posts are for questions! I used Sony NEX-3. And as usual, I would like to remind you that the brightness, color and contrast in my pictures are edited.
Green Harmony
A sunny saturday without any obligations means time for a trip. We took the car to Tyresö castle where we walked around in the park and had a picknick by the water. So nice and peaceful. Just what I needed this weekend.
Stvarnost nam je crno-bijela, a buducnost siva
Vagabond
Instagram - August
After a month abroad, it was a great to come home to Stockholm and meet all friends again. As usual, Natalie was the first person I met, for updates and brownies.Tradition is tradition.
However, it didn't take long before I decided to go on a little trip again, this time to my dear Jasmina, and the weekend was spent in Falköping and Gothenburg, where we had a lot of fun.
Some days me and my boyfriend didn't do anything else but just being lazy at home. We started our annual Harry Potter marathon a bit earlier this year and got mindfucked by too much watching (I seriously thought that I saw a Death Eater as soon as I walked past a man in a black cloak). The second picture is of my little crib that I build one day (long live the child within me!), it didn't take long though before my hajvan brother threw himself on it and ruined it.
I've had some really fun nights out this month. I came home at dawn, tired but happy, every time. I have a bunch of blurry iPhone pictures from all those nights.. Many are still a mystery.
I been on many BBQs and double-dates. And I bought a new necklace at H & M.
Walked around at Riddarholmen and other nice places in town. And ate at Vapiano again, I can't get enough of pollo piccante!
I been to many coffee houses and also made a visit to Ikea. Hopefully my little room makeover project will start now in september, I'm living in a mess right now.
Sweet September Sun
Apparently, I got one more day with shorts, yesterday the sun surprised us with lovely september heat. I started late and was able to meet up with my boyfriend for a lunch on the pier in Old Town before we headed off to our universities. The best places in Stockholm are by the water, and completely free to enjoy. Oh, I really hope for more sunny september days and opportunities like this, I'm not ready to let go of the summer yet!
Afternoon in Old Town
I'm doing my best to enjoy the last days of "summer" in beautiful Stockholm. I prefer to stay in town after school and I'm not coming home before late in the evenings. You have to take the opportunity before the darkness and tiredness take over the days. I'm also pretty sure that this was the last day I wore shorts...
Rome - part 2
Third day in Rome started with a visit to the Colosseum, which was one of the absolute highlights. The Vatican and the Renaissance in all its glory, but we are both more fascinated by ancient Rome and how Romans lived 2,000 years ago.
Here we unfortunately didn't have any prepaid skip-the-line tickets, and we refused to wait a few hours in the queue but wanted to get in (a tourist's gotta do what a tourist's gotta do) so we paid a extra for a guided tour and to enter directly.
The guided tour turned out to be the best we could have done, the visit was so much more worthwhile and interesting with a guide that could tell the story behind the Colosseum, about gladiators, the area around it, how it all happened, why it got destroyed and so on. It's a much better experience this way, if you love ancient history like we do.
The movie Gladiator is one of my boyfriend's favorite movies. You can only imagine what was going on in his head when we walked through the same entrance as the gladiators entered. MAXIMUS!!!
Can you imagine that there were lot of animals down here which they lifted up to the arena through trapdoors, and that they had functioning toilets at the top of the arena. 2000 years ago. I would like to tell you everything we were told but you have to make the visit yourself!
Most of what you see in the picture above, from the Colosseum to the long track, lies in ruins today. In the pictures below you can see how the Colosseum looked like once upon a time. It even had a flexible roof. And this was before the Viking Age in Sweden...
We also got a guided tour of the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Afterwards we walk around among the ruins.
A failed attempt to smile. He was too angry since we for the third time had lost too much money on no food at all... We only got eight freaking ravioli pillows each! With a service fee of 5 € also. Never eat at Piazza Navona. Never eat at fancy tourist spots whatsoever. Eat at McDonalds. Just some tips.
The best thing about being there in the summer were those nice and warm nights, perfect for walking. The worst thing was that we saw more tourists than people from Rome. When I am abroad, I love to see how people there live, how young people hang out and what they do, how it would be if I myself was living there. Since we mostly spent our time on tourist spots we unfortunately saw very little of that.
Beautiful Trevi Fountain, where it's usually crowded by tourists. We had to get there fairly early in the morning for me to get my own space by the fountain. Of course we also threw coins, which means that we will return to Rome.
Not far away are the Spanish Steps. I was a little disappointed when I saw that they weren't covered with flowers like I've seen in pictures, but that is apparently in May. Note to self: Go to Rome in May next time.
Nearby the Spanish Steps is Villa Borghese, Rome's largest green space. In the middle of the park there is a small artificial lake where you can take a boat trip, which we did, of course.
I was totally excited when we discovered a few turtles in the lake, we even got a baby turtle on our oar (along with a lot of seaweed). Then we noticed that there were turtles everywhere!
Wherever this yucky seaweed was, you could also find a lot of turtles chilling in it! I've never seen so many turtles, we couldn't even paddle by without touching them.
Rome is really the city of scooters. We wanted to rent one so badly, and would probably have done it if either of us had a driving license, even though it is dangerous in that traffic. But it seems so nice! Next time...
And that was the last of our wonderful trip this summer!
Back to the University
After three months of vacation, it was now time to head off to the School of Architecture again. Feels like I was there yesterday. However, there was a bit new for us - new examiners and new groups. It was really fun to meet everyone again and even though I didn't want my old group to shatter it feels good to get to know other people in the class a little better. Something else good is also that the first project does not begin until October. The whole schedule and layup seems much better this year. A good start in other words.
