Miss Kolka

Its official and now scientifically proven: Women's brain stop functioning normally during pregnancy but - wait for it- in the long run having a child does boosts female brain power! That is great news. And its not all. Men also become kinder and and smarter when they have children. (although I can not imagine a kinder and smarter Pan).

You dont believe me? - read it for yourself:
“Pregnant women do undergo a phase of so-called baby brain, when they experience an apparent loss of function...Women often report problems with memory and reasoning after they become pregnant. A 2002 study by Angela Oatridge of Hammersmith hospital, London, reported that brain scans of pregnant women showed a 4% decline in size. Last year, two Australian researchers reported that pregnant women consistently performed worse on tests for memory and verbal skills.”

AHA, I have noticed that I look more for my words, especially in french, but I thought this was because I wasn't speaking it so much, since I haven't been to work for over 3 months now. But it's all worth the trouble.. since apparently I can expect to become five times faster at finding food (ok I don't think going to the supermarket takes that much time?)  and I might also become braver - which is lucky seeing my last name.

and later on the article goes to say that  “if anything employers should be seeking out women who have a family.”

That is terrific and frankly makes me very happy. I have always believed in science. The evidence didn't say however, if these brain powers get better every time you have a baby - if it does, then my plan of having eight little ones doesn't seem that crazy anymore, does it?

The other article about Kinder daddies is not all positive though... Some fathers become so over-sensitive that it can affect their behaviour:

“ A growing body of research shows how new dads undergo a series of hormonal changes that may boost their nurturing instincts, make them kinder, more concerned and attentive to the point of obsessiveness... New dads aren't mentally ill, but they do tend to fuss - often on typically male matters such as whether the car seat is strapped exactly right. Over-attentiveness can be one problem - and postnatal depression is another...As far as Mother Nature is concerned that's small price to pay for turning millions of men into smart, caring parental partners.”

I dont think that this is going to be a problem in our case... Pan worries sometimes that he had pregnancy-like symptoms in the beginning of the pregnancy such as a little bit of weight gain (like 90% of men have actually according to a new study) but since he is totally back on track I am sure he is going to handle fatherhood perfectly. Motherhood, on the other hand worries me sometimes. Will I be attentive enough and talk enough to the baby (talk? talk? but in which language???? French or Icelandic??swahili perhaps?) or will I be so obsessed by my new "brain powers" that I will go off to try to save the world?

The neighbours are driving me crazy. Well, the neighbours in the building or the restaurants all around the block or maybe both. Its clear we are in France, people are cooking ALL the time! And not some just scandinavian dishes like smorrebrod, cold sandwiches, smoked salmon or "hafragraut"  for lunch, that is things that dont smell - at least not into other peoples appartements. No,  here it has to be some roastbeef with onions and carrots, or roasted chicken or lamb curry.. I could probably guess the menu of the week just by SMELLING it.  Even on sundays when the local brasserie is closed - then its the grandma on the other side of the corridor making lunch for 4, starting half past ten in the morning. Or the little old lady next door making butter chicken... who knew butter had such a strong smell? She should beware of too fatty foods actually that old one. (A few nights ago we heard her almost choking in her sleep- making strange sounds and screaming at 4 in the morning. I was out in the corridor in my bathrobe ready to check up on her when I realised by the rythm of her breathing that she was fast asleep. And since then she has reappeared alive luckely.) I should be happy though that we are not in a spicy country like India or China.

Why am I so annoyed by these smells? Maybe its because they make me nauseaous... and I know its part of the wonderful pregnancy cycle (even the lady next to me at the doctors smelled weird, of coffee and I swear cigarettes - and when I asked her about her belly she was 5 and a half months pregnant! shame on you!). But perhaps its also because we cannot cook whatever we fancy ourselves. For weeks now the heating plates in our living room that pass for a kitchen have not been working properly. We bought new ones and thought rather naively that now we could cook two things at the same time, lets say pasta and sauce. But little did we know that it would take around 45 minutes to get the water boiling and that the heat does not stay on. I have started to cook now around four o clock in the afternoon so we can eat around 8. Is that really what you want to do to a pregnant woman? Really? Think again and in the meanwhile you nasty neighbours - Cut it off!

I might have a lot of time at home but that doesn't mean Im the perfect housewife. How can these briefs be so big? They are supposed to fit a 0-3 month old baby. Ok I know we are having a viking but COMMON!

There are moments when you should be proud of yourself. When you get a better grade than expected in an exam or when you're offered the job when you thought the interview went so bad. And then there is the crucial moment at the monthly check-up at the hospital during the pregnancy. When you have to stand on the scale and that number appears. This time I was very pleasently surprised. "Miss" said the new midwife, this one totally within normal weight limits: "you have gained one kilo since last month". Hurrah. (I knew there was something fishy about the scale or was it sabotage by the other big midwife?Will we ever know?) 
Announcing the news to the doctor two hours later (because that is how long it takes) he only had this answer: "Well, you must have been quite hungry". Maybe I was, but no not really, I just have cut down on the desserts, although I can feel that it is the baby's favourite thing. Babylicious moves the most when I eat sweet things, not when it hears funny songs or when Im touched by strangers on the belly (thank god). So I cant stop the sugary treats all together, that would just be mean and unfair. Dont worry little baby, that will not happen.

Less prouder moments are the ones I spend crying on silly things. In two days Ive "only" cried 3 times but Im completely aware that its due to the hormones and its not the real me talking. First I cried because I was so sick of the news, then I cried when I saw a story about a big american eagle flying for the first time from the top of the Mont Blanc. It had been born and raised in captivity and learned to fly with its trainer, go figure where the true moment for the tears lied. The third time was watching a lebanese film "Caramel" about women working in a beauty parlor in Beirut. Girls experiencing the tough rules of society in a middle-eastern country. Where they cant live by themselves - but have to live either with their parents or husbands, where a women is expected to be married a virgin and were they dont really control their own destiny. Anyway, I was just so relieved to be born in a country and culture where I could be myself and wouldn't have to abide to some absurd rules made by men...that I cried.

Now Im just laughing at myself.

Iceland, Islande, Ísland... I didn't think I would hear people talk about it so much ever, but it seems that the little Island up north has become a symbol for the international crisis all around the world. Often dubbed "The first national casualty" of the crisis or "when the happiest people in the world became sad" (well I haven't really seen that title in a newspaper article yet) - but the media just loves to recall that this once poorest country in Europe, turned "rich" or with the highest living standard in Europe has now become victim of its own success, or believed success at least. We had it coming though, I think that is pretty obvious, and I remember talking about that to friends not so long time ago - after I discovered that actually you can live on the money you earn, and not always on some absurd credit - that Icelanders might be heading for trouble - living a life they cant afford. You have to go away to realise actually how bad it is. But Im not saying "I told you so", its just easy to point fingers at Iceland, seeing the small size of the country. The lifestyle there is not so different from what you see in the US or UK, its just that it has a more direct effect on such a small economy. How such a small number of people could take so high risks and plunge a whole country into a deep economic crisis is just ludicrous. But as every Icelander says, with their everso optimistic cool: "its going to be ok"- Þetta reddast!

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