Hej Blog Buddies,
Again, I am sorry that this has been delayed, but the past several days have been pretty busy. I realize that this has become a common theme… get used to it… but seriously, I’ll try to continue to post more regularly.
Tuesday, February 10th:
As a part of our program, we read a book (that I actually would recommend) called “Popular Music from Vittula” (don’t worry, it’s been translated to English…) that takes place in the Swedish/Finnish border town of Pajala, which in actuality is about 20 kilometers from the border. Pajala is maybe (??)300(??) kilometers north-northeast from Jokkmokk, so Roland rented a large van and a nicely equipped Volvo wagon, and we were off to visit Pajala.
Along the way we stopped at a northern lights (museum?) display/house in a small town called Porjus (this was a necessary stop because we haven’t seen the real thing : \ but there is still hope…) Here we met the owner/curator, a middle-aged woman from England, who moved to Sweden seeking isolation from the city atmosphere (in Porjus, believe me, she found it..) At the.. place… we saw two short films that showcased pictures that she had collected of various celestial displays and bodies. (Kind of a lame substitute for the real thing, but it was more interesting to meet this woman, she had some interesting stories and perspectives…)
After Porjus, we continued on our way to Pajala; along the way, we drove through a small town, and saw the most immaculate walking bridge that I’ve ever seen. I was unfortunately unable to get a photo of it, but it was unnecessarily massive. It was like the “Bridge to Nowhere” except served (as far as I could tell) even less of a purpose; but it was worth however many million it must have cost, just for its aesthetic beauty alone, if nothing else.
When we arrived in Pajala, we were all very, very hungry (did I mention that we were very hungry?), so we stopped at deceptively good-looking restaurant. Almost everyone ordered what we all thought to be a chicken club sandwich… how wrong we were… Instead, it turned out to be a fossilized chicken wing, with undercooked, crunchy, minute rice and a cold curry sauce. Not too good. You know how bad it must have been when hungry people didn’t even like it. If you ever find yourself in Pajala, eat somewhere else. .25 stars out of 5.
In Pajala, which consists of little more than a few stoplights, a liquor store, a church, and grocery store… sounds like most small towns.. we drove around for a bit, saw the few sights, and found our hostel and checked in. As we were so close to the Finnish border, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to step foot in another country. We drove the 15 minutes it took to get to the border and crossed a bridge that spanned some river, and in doing so, entered Finland. We were disappointed to find the tourist store just across the borders closed. We drove around for, perhaps, 10 minutes, looking for any signs of civilization, seeing none, we turned around, got out of the car, took pictures with the “Finland” sign, and headed back to Pajala.
[I suppose I should mention that all borders in Scandinavia, and I believe all of Europe, are open borders; we didn’t have to go through any type of security or talk to anyone, just crossed the bridge, and that was that. It is amazing how much more convenient and easy this was than crossing the border in International Falls.]
We spent the remainder of the evening making and eating dinner and having some group bonding time.
Wednesday, February 11th:
We left Pajala at 9 a.m. and drove two and a half to a small town called Jukkusjärvi where the world famous Ice Hotel is. It was one of the most incredible things I’ve seen in Sweden. Like the name would lead you to conclude, it is made entirely out of snow and ice. Yes, it is an actual hotel that people pay several hundred dollars per person, per night, to sleep in. Everything (drinking glasses, chandeliers, bed frames, furniture, etc.) except the mattresses, blankets (reindeer hides), pillows, and electrical wiring is made from snow, ice, or snice (snow + ice = snice).
Within the Ice Hotel, there is also the original Absolut Ice Bar, where everything except the alcohol is made from ice as well. There are now 16 Ice Bars around the world that are all made of the very same ice, which is from the river just a few dozen yards away from the Hotel. The ice is crystal clear, and has been tested and proved cleaner than the drinking water of most cities.
Attached to the Ice Hotel, is the Ice Church, which is a Church of Sweden (Lutheran) denomination. So not to exclude people of other faiths, it also holds Catholic masses, and has an Ice Confessional. The church houses everything from baptisms to weddings. (How many people can say that they were married in a church made from ice? Not many, I’m guessing..)
Something I found quite interesting is that they remove the ice in April for the Ice Hotel/Bar/Church of the following winter, and store it all through the summer. This gives them time to begin the months of work it takes to prepare the structure. The Hotel is open from the beginning of January to the end of March. When the ice melts, it just drains back into the river it came from.
The hotel must have had close to 100 rooms, each with a different theme and unique artwork (made of ice, of course). These rooms were amazing; they had huge ice sculptures. It seemed each room was more impressive than the last. It was challenging to get good pictures, but I tried, they are posted on here. I hope you enjoy them. If you’re wondering about our sweet outfits, they were free, awesomely warm jump suits… mine was wayyyyy too big…
After leaving the Ice Hotel, we drove a few kilometers to the mining town of Kiruna. After 70 years of mining in Kiruna, the company claims that they have found the worlds largest reserve of Iron; they say that they have no idea how big it actually is, as they have not even approached the end of it. The only problem with this is that the deposit is directly under the city of 22,000. They think that to mine under the city would be too risky to the structures above ground. To deal with this “problem?” they are undertaking the massive job of moving each building nearly ten kilometers away.
This just seems preposterous that they can fund the moving of an entire city and still turn a profit from the iron below. Among the things to be moved, is a massive, historic church. (See attached pictures) What people will do for money, eh?
After we left Kiruna, we drove about three hours south to Jokkmokk.
I also did my laundry.
Thursday, February 12th:
Today was our final full day in Jokkmokk, and therefore the final of the class (the collection of all journals, as well as a paper about Nils-Aslak Valkeapää. I will attach a short excerpt from the paper to the end of this post, if you’re interested in reading it. The final copy, which was significantly more polished, had to be hand written…)
Friday, February 13th / Saturday, February 14th:
After doing laundry Wednesday evening, all of my clothes were nicely folded. (Mom - - I was able to fit them in my bags, it was a tight fit, but I did it. You’d have been proud of how efficient I was.. : )
After a few “housekeeping” items, as well as some actual housekeeping we said goodbye to all of the friends we had met during our time in Jokkmokk. This goodbye was more emotional for some, but I was pretty much ready to get to a larger city.
We boarded the bus at 5PM, which took us to Boden, where we climbed aboard our train (8:30PM), which after a slight delay departed for Gällivare. This overnight ride, which took us south, ended up being about 12-13 hours long. Luckily, and unluckily, we had sleeper cars (triple bunk beds) and of course, I had the top one, where the curve of the train made the bed even more snug than the others. What made matter even more interesting, was that I had to share the sleeping car with four random people and one other from my group. I ended up watching “Pan’s Labyrinth” on my computer until quite late. The train was pretty quiet, actually, yet due to other factors, I ended up getting very little sleep.
After another bus ride, and another train ride we finally arrived in Mora, at about 12:30PM on Saturday. We were greeted at the station by Lennart (our teacher for the next month) and Anne (the coordinator where we stay…).
We walked from the station to the Mora Folk Högskola (kind of like a community/trade college). We got our rooms, and situated into them. We eventually went for a late lunch/exploration of the city. After being in Jokkmokk for three and half weeks, Mora (~11,000 people) feels like a town of 50,000 people. There is actually a downtown area, with real shops and more than two restaurants and bars. I think I am really going to like Mora.
We had dinner with, and met a few students. They were telling us about the town and what we can do here. Apparently, there is a lot of different athletic equipment for rent, skis, snowshoes, etc. They also told us that an hour and a half away is Norway, and a great downhill skiing place, several of us agreed that a trip there is in our future.
I have spent the rest of the evening skyping with friends and family. As you all may or may not know, the internet on my computer has not been working, so I have had to borrow others’ computers for all of my internetting needs. Luckily, I will be going to a city, Falun, on Tuesday to get it fixed, FINALLY!
I’m not quite sure what we have tomorrow, but make sure to check back for updates!
Missing you all,
Andrew
P.S., Here is a little bit of my paper on the Sami:
Though the Sami have faced centuries of discrimination and oppression, they have just recently begun the reclamation their culture. In part, this is due to the removal of pressure from governments not to be Sami, but it is also due to a change in attitude of the people themselves. They seem to have a newfound sense of pride, in their heritage, in their language, and in their traditions. It is this self-respect and sense of self worth that has given rise to the Sami K-6 schools, like the one in Jokkmokk, and other places in Scandinavia, among other programs.
Valkeapää saw this hope for his culture and he describes it beautifully, “I can hear it/when I close my eyes/I can hear it//I hear somewhere/deep within me/I hear the ground thunder/from thousands of hooves…//And I can hear it/even when I open my eyes/I hear it//Somewhere deep within me/I can hear it/a voice calling…” This conjures up imagines of an old man, nursing a once bright flame, back from near extinguishment. Inside the man, he has the vision that one day the flame will once again burn brilliantly.
When Valkeapää wrote those lines, the Sami flame was quite dim, but with the tinder that he and others were adding to revive the culture, he saw a future in which there was hope for all aspects of Sami life.
His artwork on page fifteen reflects this dream of his; one where the Sami people are back living in harmony with each other and with nature. This is shown by the body language of the people. For example, several seem to be raising their arms in joy. Also visible in the background, is the hunting of the bear; which was (and still is) a very special and sacred ritual for the Sami people.
Valkeapää wrote “…what could I do/I am a simple man…” Though he was just one man, the difference that his life made for the proliferation of Sami life and culture has been immeasurable.
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