Power Passport

Posted on June 1, 2017 by Åsa Giertz under My Travels, Our World

We all know that there is nothing fair about where in the world you are born. Some of us are born in countries with peace and economic prosperity, while others happens to start their lives in poverty and in the midst of conflict, without us having anything to do with this ourselves. The same is true for our passports. While some of us have the luck of holding passports with which we can enter most countries without a visa, others have to spend long hours waiting at embassies only to find out that they needed an additional document to apply and have to come back another day. When I lived in Moldova, my friends who wanted to visit countries like Sweden, which’s embassies in Bucharest covered both Romania and Moldova, first had to apply for a visa to Romania through what was at the time a highly arbitrary system, and then travel to Bucharest to apply for the visa and come back and pick it up a week later. An almost Kafkaesque process!

I am one of those born with luck. For decades, Hemleys & Partners have published the Visa Restriction Index and as every year, Sweden came out on the top also in the 2017 ranking. A slip from 2014, when the Swedish passport topped the index, but second only to Germany. The Passport Index in their 2017 Global Passport Power Rank confirmed the ranking and apparently, I can travel to 158 countries without a visa. Not bad! Tomorrow, I’m however heading to an embassy in a first of what I suspect will be several visits to apply for a tourist visa. I am so excited that I will get to visit this country in a few weeks that I am more than happy to spend some time at their embassy here in DC. Which country it is? I won’t reveal it yet, but given that it’s a country that I need a visa to, I guess I have now narrowed it down to about 50 countries with this post…

Stockholm at its Best

Posted on May 15, 2017 by Åsa Giertz under My Travels

Going to Stockholm around my birthday has become a bit of a tradition, and so I booked a trip also this year. Not just for my birthday, I was actually here for it – but for Swedish spring holiday Valborgsmässoafton. Or Valborg, as usually refer to. The history behind this tradition is a little vague, but we lit bonfires and sing welcome songs to spring, and then eat dinner with our neighbors while teens are out partying. A main concern around the country that is frequently brought up in the media is to make sure that no hedgehog is sleeping in the stack of leaves and branches before lighting the bonfire. Sweden is quite a peaceful country…

I didn’t go to a bonfire this year, but Jonas and I had Valborg dinner at Villa Godthem on Djurgården, one of the national park islands in Stockholm. As the evenings are already light, it is a beautiful time of the year to visit! Here are a few evening pics from our way to Valborg dinner:

Snapshots from Zambia

Posted on April 12, 2017 by Åsa Giertz under My Travels, On Agriculture and Food

I’m back after a week in Zambia, where I together with one of my favorite colleagues from Uganda held a training on agricultural risk management. The impacts of risks such as droughts, floods, pests, and diseases are increasing around the world because of climate change. This, in turn, impacts people’s livelihoods but also food supplies and food prices, and it sometimes cause countries that normally would export surpluses to neighbors to close their borders. This training was about how it’s possible to develop effective ways to measure the impacts of these (and other) risks, and how they can be managed better.

I was only there for a week but the actual training was located about an hour outside of Lusaka, in the middle of a wildlife reserve, so I got to see some of Zambia’s nature. It was beautiful, of course! The last morning, before we left for the airport, we went on a one-hour tour around the park, so I got to see a few new animals that I’ve never seen before. That – and the fact that I thoroughly enjoy holding trainings – made this a very pleasant trip!

As always, there are more pics on my IG @asagiertz

Up in the Air: When a 14 h Flight Seems Like a Bliss!

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Åsa Giertz under My life, My Travels

It’s early morning and I’m in Doha, about to get on my second flight. I can’t wait for 14 more hours up in the air! No e-mails, no-one interrupting, no social media, and with hours and hours to truly disconnect and be able to work for hours consecutively, with the only interruption being meals and a movie or two! These days, my phone (including data streaming) is free in some 170 countries or so, so I am rarely disconnected. I know I am not the only one at work who is not overly enthusiastic about flights with internet, although it seems like many travelers are eagerly waiting for free wifi up in the air. But it’s just so nice to for once be completely unreachable, if only for a few hours. I know it’s today’s first world problem; yet, at the same time, it is so bizarre to long for a 14 hour flight just to be able to focus on – that’s right – work!

On-flight office…

A Bientôt Ethiopia!

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Åsa Giertz under My life, My Travels

I’m saying goodbye to Ethiopia for this time, but it seems like I will be back soon again, and probably many times over the next couple of years. It’s been a good stay: work has gone well, I’ve seen a little bit of Addis’ surrounding as I went on a day trip to Adama, some 100 km south-east of Addis (although I didn’t meet any farmers this time), had Ethiopian food for lunch and dinner several days, and had lots and lots of fantastic coffee. I also managed to see a few more places around Addis, including a little art gallery with some intriguing paintings.

A funny thing is that everyone I meet here knows about Sweden and shine up when I tell them that’s where I’m from. Ah – Sweden! Good country! I guess the around 1 percent of GDP a year that Sweden provides in development assistance has paid off in at least one way!

Finally, I am very happy that I met the taxi driver that took me around this time – he spoke English fluently and told me so many interesting things about Ethiopian culture and history! If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have learned as much about Ethiopia as I did during my eight days long stay there!

More pics on Instagram @asagiertz

Four Hours of Sightseeing in Addis Ababa

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Åsa Giertz under My Travels

After having started my Saturday with a 9 o’clock meeting and then spent the rest of the day in the office, I snuck out in the afternoon to do a few hours of sightseeing in Addis. Upon the recommendation of my taxi-driver, who has taken me to and from the office all week, I went to see the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Actually, my driver really thought I should see Lucy, who was of course found in the Awash Valley in Ethiopia in 1974, and who is here at the Natural History Museum, but I wanted to be outdoors after the few hours I was off work. When I got back from the guided tour, my driver asked me if I enjoyed it, and I told him that my guide had shown told me bible stories about the pictures in the stained glass windows, and told me to go to see a palace in Northern Ethiopia where one of the figures allegedly was from, to see for myself that archeology proved the bible stories true. My driver smiled and said “I think that here, you have learned about 10 percent of our history, but now you need to go and see Lucy!” Not very impressed with the bible stories, in other words!

After that, I met up with a colleague from a partner organization and we went to a little crafts center, where women were making traditional Ethiopian textiles, baskets, and jewelry, and also giving classes. It was very nice and I bought a textile bag.

We ended the day with dinner at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant. Since I am garlic intolerant, Ethiopian food can be tricky, but the chef managed to make a delicious meal for me, with vegetables wrapped in injera. So four well-spent hours off work! Here are a few pics, with more on my IG: @asagiertz, including why the Holy Trinity Cathedral has a fresco of the League of Nation’s Assembly Room in it’s dome!

Shopping at Salem’s and dinner at Yod Abyssinia.

In Ethiopia for the First Time

Posted on February 21, 2017 by Åsa Giertz under My life, My Travels

I’m in Ethiopia for the first time! Or I’ve probably been at the airport at least 30 times these past three years, but I’ve never actually stepped outside until now. As always when in Africa, I’m here for work. This time to support two of projects on nutrition-sensitive agriculture and since I have a lot to get done during the eight days that I’m here, so I doubt that I will be able to see much. Nevertheless, the city has already made a few impressions on me:

Addis Ababa, or Addis, is situated 2,355 meter above sea level, and is thereby one of the highest elevated capitals in the world; fifth after La Paz, Quito, Thimphu, and Bogota. It’s actually noticeable. I get dehydrated really easily and probably drink about three times as much water as normally. And I run out of breath easily wen taking the stairs. My colleague said that some people have difficulties adjusting, which says something about how high up it is.

Addis also gives an air of change and things seems to be moving rapidly. For a development worker like myself, it’s a bit of a nightmare getting on top of things because there is so much going on, but this is of course a good thing. Construction of new buildings are taking place all over the city and roads are being expanded and paved, much of it through Chinese investments I’m told. It’s very inspiring!

Otherwise, the daily joy here is the coffee. Even if I drink it espresso-style, it is the best coffee I’ve ever had anywhere! (And I can compare with 50 other countries!) Fantastic coffee and perfectly foamed milk in a delightful combination whether a cafe latte or macchiato! I believe that regardless of high we set our goals and what we want to accomplish, it’s enjoying the little things along the way that make us happy!

My First Visit to Kenya: People, Coffee, and Urban Agriculture

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Åsa Giertz under My Travels, On Agriculture and Food

Sometimes life goes so fast that it’s difficult to keep up! This is essentially what has been the case for me since last time I wrote. I will spare you a tedious recap, although I might write now and then about things that I have done in this period, because a few of them have been quite interesting. But for now, I’ll remain in the present because enough is happening in he next two weeks to hopefully keep your interest up. Just like last June, I’m on a multi-country trip, visiting four countries in Africa this time, and three of which are new to me. So it should be an interesting trip this time!
My first stop was in Nairobi, where I’ve spent these past two days. I wish I could say that I visited the national park in the middle of the city, which Nairobians are very proud of, or that I went to a coffee roaster, or took a sightseeing tour. Or even went on a local bus! But no – I did none of that! After I arrived on Saturday around midnight, I stayed at the hotel all Sunday together with a colleague, preparing for a very busy week with a full agenda in three countries. And today, we’ve have had back to back meetings in between which I’ve tried to catch some impression of the city life through the backseatof a car window. Our main tourist stop was at The Junction (a shopping mall) where we picked up a cup of coffee at local coffee chain the Dormans, and I walked out with some very fashionable pieces of Kenyan garment.

As for agriculture, I was happy to see that fallow urban land in the middle of the city had been organized into small garden lots, so urban agriculture in other words! Whether this was mainly for household consumption, or for any commercial activity, I wasn’t able to see, but it was enough to make me feel inspired and confirm my conviction that agriculture can be an integrated part of the urban space in any city. Otherwise, I had lots and lots of delicious Kenyan coffee, which also proved very effective in curing jet-lags!

View over Nairobi’s skyline from mmy hotel room // Sunday work location at the hotel – kind of ok! 🙂 // fruitfilled brekfast with fresh sqeezed mango juice and favorite mini bananas // rose decoration in the bathroom // an attempt to capture street food stand from a moving car // Kenyan coffee! Last but not least: Furahiya chakula chako – enjoy your meal (Swahili)

I definitely hope that I get to go back and see more one day because Kenya such a fascinating and beautiful country! Even just driving around town gave a glimpse of richness of the flora, which many Kenyans also seem to cherish and I saw ample of roadside stands with pots and plants, and even cut flowers (no doubt from their very successful cut flower export industry) in a way that I have not seen in any other country as far as I can recall, except possibly England. I also had a chance to meet quite a mix of people in the short time that I was there, and Nairobi (and probably Kenya as a whole) is such a melting pot with people from all over the world, from those who came with past intercontinental trade routs and during the colonial era, to migrants from all over Africa, and with the Chinese investors and company employees being the latest addition to Nairobi’s population. A true cosmopolitan city in other word! But, alas, my curiosity over Kenyan culture and Nairobi’s urban agriculture will have to be kept in check for the moment as I am now on the flight to Gaborone, Botswana, which is the next stop on my itinerary.

Stop No 6: Stockholm

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Åsa Giertz under My life, My Travels

On my way back to DC, I did another quick stop in Stockholm. I still have my old apparent there, which I got right after university, and it’s so small so it has barely had a functional kitchen. And what room in a home is more important, especially for someone working in the food sector?? So I decided, long overdue, to put in a new kitchen and I passed by Stockholm to make the last arrangements. Admittedly, there will still not be a room for the kitchen as the apartment is a studio, but at least I will have a place with proper room for cooking and baking and somewhere to keep my pots and pans, which until now have been stored in my closet when not in use. Or the entire apartment will be transformed into a kitchen depending on how you see it…

Stockholm was lovely, as always, although I got sick before leaving Almaty on my way back from Dushanbe (probably the result of eight flights and five cities in less than a week), so I didn’t do much else than fixing with my apartment. But I still had time to see a dew friends and neighbors, which was nice!

In my apartment (I got a rose on the flight from Almaty) and at our courtyard, with my neighbor on his new balcony.

Stops No 3, 4, and 5: Central Asia, or “It’s Friday so We Must Be In Dushanbe”

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Åsa Giertz under My Travels, On Agriculture and Food

The final week of my trip was in a way the craziest because of the many stops, but I had at the same time completed a lot of work and since we our presentations during the week had to be translated into Russian, also these had been completed in advance. Our first stop was in Bishkek, followed by Astana and Dushanbe. Due to the flight connections, we ended going through Almaty several times, and even stayed there one night on our way from Astana to Dushanbe. It was a lot of airports… But I LOVE Central Asia so I was happy to see so many places! It was also my first time in Tajikistan, and I wish I could have seen more but due to the flights we didn’t arrive until Friday morning and with a presentation Friday afternoon, we didn’t have much time to see much more than the office and the conference room. Still, we did have lunch at a small canteen where I got both a glass of kompot (sweetened fruit drink) and syrniki (cheesecake), so I was happy. Unfortunately, I didn’t take many pics, but here are a few:

From the top: View from my hotel room over Bishkek with its traditional circus and a mosque // Children’s Day in Bishkek // View of Astana from my office // Lagman and dumplings – traditional Kyrgyz food // The grandiose conference room in Bishkek where our stakeholder meeting took place // My name written in cyrillic (or almost at least…) // Kazakh chocolates // Dushanbe’s airport // The Alay Mountains seen from above // Sunset over Almaty // Night view of Almaty and good bye Central Asia for this time! More on our actual work can be found here.

Food and the World

by Åsa Giertz

Category Archives: My Travels