Schrijver, vertaler en redacteur Carolina Pihelgas uit UNESCO City of Literature Tartu, Estland is een maand als writer-in-residence in Leeuwarden. Lees hier wat ze in onze stad meemaakt.
The view must not be underestimated. Everything depends on the red wheelbarrow, and the view. The house where I live, is very new, the doors open with chips, everything is electronic, even the bathroom lights go on automatically. Hi-tech. But, ah, the windows! They’re huge, and they open to Oude Meer canal, which is to say, there is a view indeed. I’ve become something of a bird watcher here. Mostly it’s ducks, seagulls, doves, and coot. But just at this moment a big goose is happily pecking away across my window. I don’t think I’ve seen a goose in a city before, let alone that close. A cormoran spreading wings near Leeuwarder bos was quite a spectacular sight the other day. Oystercatchers chirping loudly in Waddenzee. White swans on green fields.
And the water, there is water just about everywhere.
Sito pointed out, that in Waddenzee many have built their houses not on the safe side of the dam, but on the edge, towards the sea. People here are so used to live near water, living together with the water, not against. But also in the city: canals, ditches, pools, creeks. Wind blowing from the sea, bringing another drizzle, another dream, another shiver of reality.
There’s one bird I didn’t mention. Every morning I hear roosters. At first, I wasn’t quite sure if it’s possible to hear what I’m hearing, but when I realized there is a petting zoo next door, things started to make sense. This rural soundscape makes a nice juxtaposition with the hi-tech atmosphere at the student apartments. Often the roosters crow competitively also in the afternoons, their voices making the view alive.
