Last Friday was the last day of the first phase of my Swedish course here in Uppsala. The first group was a very nice one and we had great teachers, Annette and Cecilia. Tomorrow new students are coming in and we start the second and final phase. That means another three weeks in Uppsala. Then I will be on the road again.
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Uppsala is a very pleasant place to visit during summer. Those that have seen Ingmar Bergman's film "Fanny and Alexander" may have an idea how the city looks like. Many of the external scenes in that film were shot here.
On the photo beside you can see the house where Fanny and Alexander moved to, when their widow mother married the local bishop. Today it is Upplands Museet.* * * * *
Ingmar Bergman himself was born in Uppsala 90 years ago (14 July 1918). His father was a priest. Religion is one of the themes present in many of his movies. Maybe his most admired film is "Smultronstället". The literal translation is "Wild Strawberries", which is how the title was translated in all languages that I could check. However "smultronställe" is also an idiomatic expression that means "favourite place", which would be a much better translation to the film's title. In it the favourite place of Prof. Isak Borg is the house where he used to spend vacation during his childhood.
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My friends would probably not hesitate to name my "Smultronställe". It is the countryside house that my grandparents had in Águas de Lindóia and where I used to go on vacation when I was a child. Very often I visit it on my dreams, one of those just two days ago. This house was sold in 1976. It is one of my deepest wishes to buy it back one day.
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Past times, people and places that populated them, a lost happiness. Somehow in my mind this connected with the great news that came from Colombia this week: a very successful operation, led by the Colombian army, rescued 15 people that had been kidnapped and held hostage by the left wing FARC guerrilla during many years. Among them was Ingrid Betancourt, a former presidential candidate. She was the most important hostage at the hands of the guerrilla. She holds a dual citizenship (Colombian and French). This fact and her family political connections helped to make her case well known around the world. During years the Colombian president, Álvaro Uribe, was under pressure to negotiate with the guerrilla at any price, in order to have Betancourt freed. He was firm in his decision of fighting the guerrilla militarily, weakening them first before entering negotiations. This year his strategy is paying out: the guerrilla has suffered a series of blows, including the death of three of its seven top commanders. The freeing of the 15 hostages this week was the latest and strongest one.
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I feel particularly glad to see that this absurd nightmare, the FARC insurgency, may be coming close to its end. It has only caused sorrow to Colombia and its citizens. Colombia is my favourite country in Latin America. Colombians are amongst the nicest people that I have ever crossed. They deserve peace, development and a better future. The end of the conflict would not only be great news for the country itself, but also for the whole Latin America.
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I saw on YouTube many videos of Ingrid Betancourt's release. I was touched by the images when she met her mother first and her children the next day. During all these years I have often thought how tough it must have been for all of them. The kidnapping and the long captivity were an endless nightmare for the hostages as well as for their relatives and friends. That is still the case for all those that remain at the hands of the guerrilla. Many times I wondered how difficult it had to be for Ingrid's mother, children and husband. They couldn't know whether she was still alive or not, whether they would see her again or not, and when it would all be over - and how it would end.
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"Wishing you were somehow here again
Wishing you were somehow near
Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed
Somehow you would be here…
Wishing I could hear your voice again
Knowing that I never would (…)
Too many years fighting back tears (…)"
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These are lyrics of one of the songs of "The Phantom of the Opera". It is my favourite song in this musical. Certainly many of us have had in our lives beloved people that for whatever reason either left or we lost contact with. The ties were broken or they just went missing. This is why this song talks so deeply to my heart. Each time I listen to it I think of those that I wished were somehow here again. Whoever is in this situation can only think how wonderful it would be to see the beloved person again, to hold him or her in our arms, to hug them again. Sometimes it seems that it would just be the greatest possible happiness. This week the relatives and friends of 15 people could experience this fantastic happiness. The moment that they have longed for just arrived and their dear ones were somehow there again. We should all be glad for them!
Wish you a great week,
Maurício
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