things to be

things keep moving along each day here in unexpected ways

in the next two weeks i'm going to be a little busy with these activities going on i somehow got invited to. a woman named Katerina who runs a Sami Homestay project called me this morning, saying she had gotten an e-mail from Eva and in the Area Laponia office about me. she invited me to come out to her place 15 miles outside Jokkmokk to check it out, and she even offered to give me a ride to and from town. i think since it's guesthouse situation, monies will be exchanged, but she said that we'd work out a special deal of some sort. why not...

also, Tom Rutschman, the pastor at the Mennonite church who is also a teacher at the junior high here, invited me to join one of his classes on a 3-day trip to Kvikkjokk, a small town about 150 km east of Jokkmokk. every year he takes groups of kids up there to do nature stuff, but also do these intense workshops that deal with xenophobia and racism, dealing with new (foreign) people moving into these small northern communities. i guess during the whole trip they're only suppose to speak English too. i'm becoming more and more intrigued the more i think about it, and i will most likely join them. it's free, and i get to check out a new town and meet the local kids from my temporary neighborhood here.

i spent all morning drawing today, as i've been doing most of the time that i'm not wandering around town. also, i think it's safe to say i have consumed more coffee since i've been in Sweden than i probably have in my entire life before now. i was not big on it before when i lived in the US, but a few weeks before i left i had some strange chemical change (i guess) and suddenly caffeine started to "work" on me. as opposed to making me tired and sick like before.

well. it's been snowing all day today, and i think i'll start walking back to the other end of town back home before it gets too dark.