so, this entry is going to be a kind of a rough draft of another entry that will tell more about the market and the things i saw and did, and the people i met. pictures will be included too, of course. but i have some time to kill before i head back to my room in porjus, so i am in the tourist office in jokkmokk using the internet.
actually, i think i'll write about the past 24 hours, which, i think, have been some of the best and most informative since i've been in sweden. i've spent pretty much the past 24 hours hanging out solely with Sami reindeer herders, who by the way have been the only people really to talk to me since i've been in Jokkmokk. i spoke to one swedish man (more on him later), but other than that it has been almost only Sami. i will also take this opportunity to say that, unlike the wikipedia article implies, everyone i've spoken to herds reindeer...the wikipedia thing makes it sound rare, but i don't think that's the case at all, at least not around here.
last night i met some Sami boys from a more southern part of Sweden. saturday night at the winter market is a ridiculously drunk affair...most people live in very rural areas (one of the boys said he lived in a "village of 4 people") and so this is one of the few times of the year when they get to see each other and take a break from work. anyway, we went to their apartments at the Sami school and they put on their traditional clothing in preparation for this big dance for the youths that i also attended with them. i have to say it was really amazing to dance with someone wearing shoes and pants made of reindeer and beautiful, colorful regional jackets. everyone there was dressed this way. i ended up spending the night at the Sami school with a big group of people...i can't say i slept well though, as all night people were climbing in and out of the windows (for some reason the police were not allowing guests into the rooms), and it was quite noisy with all the drunken kids speaking Sami and Swedish and probably Norweigan as well...
this morning, after wandering out in the snow for a good hour trying to figure out what to do till the only bus to Porjus would come at 5pm, i met an older Sami in his 50's, Nils, from Norway in a restaurant and talked with him for many hours. it turns out that his brother is the wealthiest reindeer herder in the world, with 30,000 head of reindeer. Nils himself is a translator for about 6 different languages and worked at the university in Tromso. in my book he drew a diagram of the "brand pattern" (actually cuts) made in the ears of the reindeer that they use to mark their herd. one of the boys last night did as well, and now i have about 4 drawings of the shape of a reindeer ear with these cut patterns in my book. soon we were joined by A., who, it turns out, is another wealthy reindeer herder from Kautokeino, Norway. A. is the only person under 35 (he is 26) in his district to have a certain amount heads of reindeer - his father has many more, of course, but even the amount he has reindeer = wealthy. he is also going to be in a film coming out this year showing at Cannes about the village he lives in, "Kautokeino 1852". another interesting fact - his uncle is Ole Henrik Magga, who was the first president of the Norweigan Sami Parliament, and the current president of the UN permanent forum for indigenous people. anyway, he spoke a lot about his life as a herder. it turns out his family, like many others who work with reindeer, is somewhat nomadic - they live in 4 different places throughout the year, moving with the reindeer from place to place. he kept saying interesting things throughout the conversation like "i like wild animals, because they respect you, i don't like tame ones..." and drawing diagrams of the best ways to skin a reindeer or tips on how to properly train a sheepdog.
...
A. told me all manners of things about Kautokeino and it's history. he said that maybe less than 100 years ago, there was an incident where a scholar took one of the ancient sacred stones, located in the mountain there and put it in a museum in a big city somewhere. he was sick for 20 years before a Sami woman told him if he returned it to the spot he would get better. he did this and sure enough, got better. A. says he passes the stone each year on the way to one of the seasonal pastures, and that he arranges 20 of his reindeer all around the stone so that it might bring him and the reindeer good luck. this stone however, is not originally the main and most powerful stone: the original stone was buried inside the mountain by the Sami priests during past Norweigan attempts to suppress the Sami culture.
earlier yesterday I was supposed to attend high mass in Sami at the church, to perhaps make an audio recording, but I could not tear myself away from such engaging conversation. we sat for about 4 hours or more talking before they left to drive back to Norway. A. had to work - he had three days to slaughter and prepare the meat of 30 reindeer to take to Oslo.
ok, i will stop for now and write more about these things in a few hours when i am back in porjus....
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Thursday, February 01, 2007
the winter market, day 1
so many things have transpired since the few days i've written..where to begin?
yesterday i attended the last day of the historic sami market in jokkmokk. this is the smaller of the two markets which the Sami reindeer herders have been gathering together at for the past 402 years. the purpose of the historic market is to show how the markets of the past used to be like, as well as to celebrate more specific events relating to the Sami culture before the big main market begins.
i'll backtrack for a minute, just in case. from wikipedia:
"The Sami people (also Sámi, Saami, Lapps and Laplanders) are the indigenous people of Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. Their ancestral lands span across an area the size of Sweden in the Nordic countries. The Sami are one of the largest indigenous groups in Europe. Their languages are the Sami languages, which are classified as Finno-Ugric. Traditional Sami occupations are hunting, fishing, reindeer herding and farming, though only a minority of today's Sami make a living from these activities alone, and virtually none live in a natural economy nor have a nomadic lifestyle. The population is estimated at about 85,000, although it is difficult to establish the exact figure."
the day started at a pleasant -15C. this temperature was so significantly better than the day before's -22C it was mindboggling. i started the day out at jokkmokk's Attje Museum, the best museum about Sami culture in the world. it had some amazing dioramas and was very thorough (from what i could read in the english translation booklet), AND the exhibition halls were laid out in the shape of a reindeer corral (circular with different rooms branching off of it). i think the highlight of it for me was the beautiful room of cases of taxidermied birds of Laponia - not only were the birds presented beautifully, but the magnificent cases were unlike any i've ever seen
i then went to the forest where the historical market was taking place and met up with a fellow hostel friend, Vito, an Italian photographer on assignment. i stood by a fire for a long time and observed the amazing, amazing surroundings. among the things available at the market were herbal medicines from gamela apotheket (old pharmacy) made by the students of a local natural medicine school, various reindeer food/clothing/anything products, and amazing clothing, mittens, hats, and fabrics. many of the Sami were wearing their traditional local costumes, usually reserved for special occasions. i observed many people wearing it in some form throughout the market.
sami guy
the historical market
man making a drum
we stayed for the inaguartion of the traditional market after dark. then attended a very crowded opening at the Sami school for an exhibition of handicrafts made by students - silver smithing, weaving, millinery work, working with furs and skins, etc. about a half hour later i realized i had lost my cellphone at the opening, mere minutes before the last bus to Porjus was to arrive. Vito suggested i go back and that he would come get me later with our hostesses' car, so i walked back in cold dark to the school.
a group of Sami people were standing around and i asked them if they'd seen it. with the help of a boy named Aslak i actually located it (someone else had found it), and i hung out with him and his girlfriend for a while, who were selling some handicrafts at the market. they said they came from a village 15km outside of Jokkmokk, population 140, and their full-time livelihood was reindeer herding. they never left their village except for once a year to come to market in Jokkmokk, and that is truly the purpose of the traditional market - the time to stock up on stuff, everything from socks to tools and stoves, over four days. at one point I started to excuse myself for fear of taking up too much of their time, but they said that during the winter they don't really see anyone else but their relatives for months. we talked about the market and the things they were selling (belts made of reindeer skin and silver jewleries). as a general rule, most Sami crafts are incredibly expensive, by the way. i asked Aslat what he would do with $1,000,000 dollars and he said he'd pay someone to take the reindeer to graze when it was -40C, but not during the other times of the year because he liked to be outdoors then. in regards to the losing of my cellphone and meeting them, he said "perhaps you didn't lose anything, but gained something"...
after i left the school i had to go wait in another building for my ride back to Porjus. while i was waiting i got engaged in a conversation with a miner from Jokkmokk who worked in the iron ore mines of Kiruna and Gallivare. he told me he was also a stock car racer and mechanic and that his teenage son was also racing cars. he also spoke about some sort of car racing on ice (?), but our mutual language skills were a bit limited...after an interesting night, i finally got home around 12:30.
ok, i'm really tired now, and this site is being really slow, so i'll post more photos from the market tomorrow. god natt!
yesterday i attended the last day of the historic sami market in jokkmokk. this is the smaller of the two markets which the Sami reindeer herders have been gathering together at for the past 402 years. the purpose of the historic market is to show how the markets of the past used to be like, as well as to celebrate more specific events relating to the Sami culture before the big main market begins.
i'll backtrack for a minute, just in case. from wikipedia:
"The Sami people (also Sámi, Saami, Lapps and Laplanders) are the indigenous people of Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. Their ancestral lands span across an area the size of Sweden in the Nordic countries. The Sami are one of the largest indigenous groups in Europe. Their languages are the Sami languages, which are classified as Finno-Ugric. Traditional Sami occupations are hunting, fishing, reindeer herding and farming, though only a minority of today's Sami make a living from these activities alone, and virtually none live in a natural economy nor have a nomadic lifestyle. The population is estimated at about 85,000, although it is difficult to establish the exact figure."
the day started at a pleasant -15C. this temperature was so significantly better than the day before's -22C it was mindboggling. i started the day out at jokkmokk's Attje Museum, the best museum about Sami culture in the world. it had some amazing dioramas and was very thorough (from what i could read in the english translation booklet), AND the exhibition halls were laid out in the shape of a reindeer corral (circular with different rooms branching off of it). i think the highlight of it for me was the beautiful room of cases of taxidermied birds of Laponia - not only were the birds presented beautifully, but the magnificent cases were unlike any i've ever seen
i then went to the forest where the historical market was taking place and met up with a fellow hostel friend, Vito, an Italian photographer on assignment. i stood by a fire for a long time and observed the amazing, amazing surroundings. among the things available at the market were herbal medicines from gamela apotheket (old pharmacy) made by the students of a local natural medicine school, various reindeer food/clothing/anything products, and amazing clothing, mittens, hats, and fabrics. many of the Sami were wearing their traditional local costumes, usually reserved for special occasions. i observed many people wearing it in some form throughout the market.
sami guy
the historical market
man making a drum
we stayed for the inaguartion of the traditional market after dark. then attended a very crowded opening at the Sami school for an exhibition of handicrafts made by students - silver smithing, weaving, millinery work, working with furs and skins, etc. about a half hour later i realized i had lost my cellphone at the opening, mere minutes before the last bus to Porjus was to arrive. Vito suggested i go back and that he would come get me later with our hostesses' car, so i walked back in cold dark to the school.
a group of Sami people were standing around and i asked them if they'd seen it. with the help of a boy named Aslak i actually located it (someone else had found it), and i hung out with him and his girlfriend for a while, who were selling some handicrafts at the market. they said they came from a village 15km outside of Jokkmokk, population 140, and their full-time livelihood was reindeer herding. they never left their village except for once a year to come to market in Jokkmokk, and that is truly the purpose of the traditional market - the time to stock up on stuff, everything from socks to tools and stoves, over four days. at one point I started to excuse myself for fear of taking up too much of their time, but they said that during the winter they don't really see anyone else but their relatives for months. we talked about the market and the things they were selling (belts made of reindeer skin and silver jewleries). as a general rule, most Sami crafts are incredibly expensive, by the way. i asked Aslat what he would do with $1,000,000 dollars and he said he'd pay someone to take the reindeer to graze when it was -40C, but not during the other times of the year because he liked to be outdoors then. in regards to the losing of my cellphone and meeting them, he said "perhaps you didn't lose anything, but gained something"...
after i left the school i had to go wait in another building for my ride back to Porjus. while i was waiting i got engaged in a conversation with a miner from Jokkmokk who worked in the iron ore mines of Kiruna and Gallivare. he told me he was also a stock car racer and mechanic and that his teenage son was also racing cars. he also spoke about some sort of car racing on ice (?), but our mutual language skills were a bit limited...after an interesting night, i finally got home around 12:30.
ok, i'm really tired now, and this site is being really slow, so i'll post more photos from the market tomorrow. god natt!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
polar express & icehotel
*warning: lots of pictures
last night i took the Connex Norrlandståget train up to Lappland, a 16 hour train ride in the night through most of Sweden. the train was sparsely populated, and as i'd missed my train the day before, i had to make due with just a regular seat instead of a couchette. i had the seat across from me to myself, but any rest i got was more of a compromise between dead exhaustion and cold awkward seating positions. though there was heating blasting near the windows, anywhere 6 inches beyond that was frigid and most people slept wearing their winter coats and hats, if they had any. most of the night i spent staring out the window, observing the strange light show created by the blue sparks of the train upon the snowy landscape. around 6:30 in the morning, i watched the sun come up from the dining car and for the first time i saw true winter. an hour later we crossed the Arctic Circle and reached the Gallivare station at 9:30am, where my hostess Patricia was waiting to collect me.
sunrise from the dining car
murjek station
a fellow passenger
as soon as i arrived, Patricia asked me if i wanted to go to the ICEHOTEL, since she had to go to Kiruna to collect someone at the airport there. i hadn't been too interested in the past, as Kiruna is 2 hours from Porjus and it is kind of expensive even to visit it, but i decided to anyway. luckily i still had energy at this point. the extreme cold soon fixed that, however. we got into the car and one of the first things i saw as we drove through the countryside was a reindeer sitting in a snow drift alone. Patricia later told me that the winter has been quite strange, and since the snow came so late and melted and then snowed again, the reindeer have been unable to graze and many of them are starving. this is at least the 3rd time global warming concerns have come up in conversation since i've been in Sweden, by the way. within the last week it has snowed a lot, and the temperature today was a pleasant -22 C, which, i must say, is one of the most intense things i've ever felt. there is no way to convey the entirety of the chill that takes hold, and once it does it is very difficult to shake unless you can find a substantial heat source. inside the icehotel though, it was only -8, which seriously felt great after being outdoors. here are some crazy photos of the hotel and me relaxing for a moment in the $600+ a night ice suites...
entrance to icehotel
lobby of icehotel
fancy ice hall
ice fireplace in one of the rooms
reindeer and rabbit skins are my best friends in these temperatures
sculputure in one of the rooms
bed
relaxing in my favorite ice room, one with some crazy icespeakers (background), a projector, a screen, and a stage with what looked like frozen trees and plants inside
circular bed
ice church
now i'm about to go lie down for a bit and take a nap so that i'll be able to wake up and hopefully see my first northern lights later on!
last night i took the Connex Norrlandståget train up to Lappland, a 16 hour train ride in the night through most of Sweden. the train was sparsely populated, and as i'd missed my train the day before, i had to make due with just a regular seat instead of a couchette. i had the seat across from me to myself, but any rest i got was more of a compromise between dead exhaustion and cold awkward seating positions. though there was heating blasting near the windows, anywhere 6 inches beyond that was frigid and most people slept wearing their winter coats and hats, if they had any. most of the night i spent staring out the window, observing the strange light show created by the blue sparks of the train upon the snowy landscape. around 6:30 in the morning, i watched the sun come up from the dining car and for the first time i saw true winter. an hour later we crossed the Arctic Circle and reached the Gallivare station at 9:30am, where my hostess Patricia was waiting to collect me.
sunrise from the dining car
murjek station
a fellow passenger
as soon as i arrived, Patricia asked me if i wanted to go to the ICEHOTEL, since she had to go to Kiruna to collect someone at the airport there. i hadn't been too interested in the past, as Kiruna is 2 hours from Porjus and it is kind of expensive even to visit it, but i decided to anyway. luckily i still had energy at this point. the extreme cold soon fixed that, however. we got into the car and one of the first things i saw as we drove through the countryside was a reindeer sitting in a snow drift alone. Patricia later told me that the winter has been quite strange, and since the snow came so late and melted and then snowed again, the reindeer have been unable to graze and many of them are starving. this is at least the 3rd time global warming concerns have come up in conversation since i've been in Sweden, by the way. within the last week it has snowed a lot, and the temperature today was a pleasant -22 C, which, i must say, is one of the most intense things i've ever felt. there is no way to convey the entirety of the chill that takes hold, and once it does it is very difficult to shake unless you can find a substantial heat source. inside the icehotel though, it was only -8, which seriously felt great after being outdoors. here are some crazy photos of the hotel and me relaxing for a moment in the $600+ a night ice suites...
entrance to icehotel
lobby of icehotel
fancy ice hall
ice fireplace in one of the rooms
reindeer and rabbit skins are my best friends in these temperatures
sculputure in one of the rooms
bed
relaxing in my favorite ice room, one with some crazy icespeakers (background), a projector, a screen, and a stage with what looked like frozen trees and plants inside
circular bed
ice church
now i'm about to go lie down for a bit and take a nap so that i'll be able to wake up and hopefully see my first northern lights later on!
Sunday, January 28, 2007
24 hours 48 hours in stockholm
hey. so i'm in stockholm right now, i spent the night last night with these wonderful gals, elisabet and sara. elisabet attends an art academy in stockholm, and sara is a photographer working for a magazine. they picked me up at the train station and we made dinner and i slept like the dead after my long series of flights. in other news, today i missed my train to gallivare. it's almost 2 hours later now and i can't believe that it really happened. i had to buy another ticket (cheap, but it's not a bed like my original ticket)...i think i can actually get a refund from the company somehow, but their offices were closed today. now i am back on elisabet's couch, about to fall asleep again - trying to run up this giant hill with my pack and down to the subway and into a taxi and then back with all my stuff trying to make it to the train was one of the most exhausting things i've ever done....in fact, i might start this entry and finish it later i am so tired...so much to write about though!
anyway, here are some pictures from my time in sweden so far:
elisabet, sara, and miriam
gummy candy aka "exotic snacks"
sara cooking porridge
elisabet with magnolia tea
keeping it real near the old city
there are tons more interesting pictures but i'm going to pass out. more later...
anyway, here are some pictures from my time in sweden so far:
elisabet, sara, and miriam
gummy candy aka "exotic snacks"
sara cooking porridge
elisabet with magnolia tea
keeping it real near the old city
there are tons more interesting pictures but i'm going to pass out. more later...
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
three days
hey. i'm flying to sweden in three days. i'm still in the process of doing a lot of last minute things, including buying a super compact digital camera, bought an external hard drive, exchanged some coat and testing out my 35mm camera. um. i still have to get travellers checks and insure all my equipment through my mom's homeowners policy, among other things.
i received a wonderful gift in the mail today from julian's mother - an red and black plaid LL Bean hat with rabbit fur inside. it is the finishing touch to my snow outfit, which officially comprises of 9 pieces of clothing, 1 hat, 1 scarf, 1 pair of gloves, 1 pair of mittens, snow boots and heavy socks with sock liners. here is a picture of me being silly with my awesome hat. tomorrow i'll post a picture of myself wearing everything...!
ps. it is -16 °F / -27 °C in jokkmokk, sweden, right now
i received a wonderful gift in the mail today from julian's mother - an red and black plaid LL Bean hat with rabbit fur inside. it is the finishing touch to my snow outfit, which officially comprises of 9 pieces of clothing, 1 hat, 1 scarf, 1 pair of gloves, 1 pair of mittens, snow boots and heavy socks with sock liners. here is a picture of me being silly with my awesome hat. tomorrow i'll post a picture of myself wearing everything...!
ps. it is -16 °F / -27 °C in jokkmokk, sweden, right now
Friday, January 12, 2007
TCB - Taking Care of Business
Today has been crazy so far, and it's not even over. Errands all morning, figuring out credit cards and traveler's checks. Then I spent about 3 and a half hours at REI in Saratoga being outfitted with some of the most crucial stuff I put off buying till the last minute. The employees at this store were exceptionally friendly and helpful by the way. I still have to go back at least once/to another store to get more stuff (lots of things out of stock or not in my size), and head over the North Face as they have more selection in children's boots (yeah yeah...)
stuff I got today:
-1 Gregory Deva 60 pack
-5 pairs Merino wool hiking socks
-1 pair REI Wind & Waterproof outer shell pants
-1 pair REI 3-in-1 Overmitts
-1 REI Polartec fleece
-1 Princeton Tec headlamp
Things to do still:
- go to Fry's Electronics and get memory stick, external hard drive and blank media
At the risk of stating the obvious: going to the Arctic is really, really expensive
stuff I got today:
-1 Gregory Deva 60 pack
-5 pairs Merino wool hiking socks
-1 pair REI Wind & Waterproof outer shell pants
-1 pair REI 3-in-1 Overmitts
-1 REI Polartec fleece
-1 Princeton Tec headlamp
Things to do still:
- go to Fry's Electronics and get memory stick, external hard drive and blank media
At the risk of stating the obvious: going to the Arctic is really, really expensive
Thursday, January 11, 2007
16 days until departure
It's true. Things are coming together. I left most of my purchases of big items till the last minute (on purpose), as moving from Chicago to California there was not one extra inch of space in our packed car, not to mention three bicycles on the back!
Today I took my laptop to the Apple store to get cleaned, as the white MacBooks have this problem with staining on the keyboard areas. I would hate to go to Sweden and have people think I have grubby hands...
For anyone who's interested, here is partial list of stuff I have acquired so far in preparation for my trip - there are a few big/crucial items missing in each category, which should be either on their way to me or bought by the end of this week. I already own some small things (like socks, scarves, hoodies) that aren't listed.
Computer/Programs:
-Apple MacBook
-Final Cut Pro Studio
AV Equipment:
-Sony HDR-HC1 HDV 1080i Camera
-M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 2-Channel Digital Recorder
-Yashica T4 Super 35mm
Clothing:
-North Face Varius Guide Jacket
-North Face Redpoint Optimus Jacket
-L.L. Bean Mad Bomber hat
-2 Patagonia Capilene base layer shirts
-1 Patagonia Capilene base layer pant
-2 Gap jeans
Bags:
-Timbuk2 x-Pac messenger bag, small
Other:
-Swiss Army Knife, Huntsman
-International cellular plan
-Lonely planet guides for every country, except Canada (using Nunavut Handbook)
Certain things - like shoes and pants - have been a bit of a problem to find, as I am 4"11 with a size 4 W / 2.5 M shoe. Oh, to be able to get a pair of fleece-lined Carhartts! Oh, and large purchases make me very anxious, I've realized. I tend to leave things in the box for a while after I get them to further make sure it's the perfect thing I need these days...
Today I took my laptop to the Apple store to get cleaned, as the white MacBooks have this problem with staining on the keyboard areas. I would hate to go to Sweden and have people think I have grubby hands...
For anyone who's interested, here is partial list of stuff I have acquired so far in preparation for my trip - there are a few big/crucial items missing in each category, which should be either on their way to me or bought by the end of this week. I already own some small things (like socks, scarves, hoodies) that aren't listed.
Computer/Programs:
-Apple MacBook
-Final Cut Pro Studio
AV Equipment:
-Sony HDR-HC1 HDV 1080i Camera
-M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 2-Channel Digital Recorder
-Yashica T4 Super 35mm
Clothing:
-North Face Varius Guide Jacket
-North Face Redpoint Optimus Jacket
-L.L. Bean Mad Bomber hat
-2 Patagonia Capilene base layer shirts
-1 Patagonia Capilene base layer pant
-2 Gap jeans
Bags:
-Timbuk2 x-Pac messenger bag, small
Other:
-Swiss Army Knife, Huntsman
-International cellular plan
-Lonely planet guides for every country, except Canada (using Nunavut Handbook)
Certain things - like shoes and pants - have been a bit of a problem to find, as I am 4"11 with a size 4 W / 2.5 M shoe. Oh, to be able to get a pair of fleece-lined Carhartts! Oh, and large purchases make me very anxious, I've realized. I tend to leave things in the box for a while after I get them to further make sure it's the perfect thing I need these days...
Sunday, December 24, 2006
december in california
i'm finally back at home in california, getting everything in order and counting down to my departure to sweden on january 26th. amongst the most recent of my ongoing travel preparations was the removal of my four wisdom teeth yesterday, which was necessary but inconvenient, to say the least. solid foods are my friends and i miss them! still, it's going to be worth not having toothaches on the road, far away from home.
here's some updates on my intinerary and various things i've got together for the trip so far:
1.) depart: friday, january 26th, 2007: san francisco international: one way
arrive: saturday, january 27th: stockholm-arlanda, sweden - spend night in stockholm
2.) jan. 28th: overnight Connex Norrlandståget train to Gallivare, sweden
jan 29th: arrive in Gallivare and head to my accomodations in Porjus, sweden, approx. 60 km north of the Arctic Circle
jan 29th/30th - feb. 4th : attend the 402nd annual Sami Historical/Winter Market in Jokkmokk
3.) things to look forward to at the market in no particular order
+taxidermy championships
+films in Sami and in English about everything from constructing the northern railways to historical films about shamans/bear cults, the market tradition, and yoiks (trad. Sami singing)
+ high mass in Sami on sunday
+tons of dancing - "folkmusic in the barn" and "disco"
+textiles, arts, crafts, food
+everything!!!
for more info about the market, visit here.
....looks like i'm going to have to continue this post later, as my achy teeth implore me to go to bed this minute. more updates very very soon!
here's some updates on my intinerary and various things i've got together for the trip so far:
1.) depart: friday, january 26th, 2007: san francisco international: one way
arrive: saturday, january 27th: stockholm-arlanda, sweden - spend night in stockholm
2.) jan. 28th: overnight Connex Norrlandståget train to Gallivare, sweden
jan 29th: arrive in Gallivare and head to my accomodations in Porjus, sweden, approx. 60 km north of the Arctic Circle
jan 29th/30th - feb. 4th : attend the 402nd annual Sami Historical/Winter Market in Jokkmokk
3.) things to look forward to at the market in no particular order
+taxidermy championships
+films in Sami and in English about everything from constructing the northern railways to historical films about shamans/bear cults, the market tradition, and yoiks (trad. Sami singing)
+ high mass in Sami on sunday
+tons of dancing - "folkmusic in the barn" and "disco"
+textiles, arts, crafts, food
+everything!!!
for more info about the market, visit here.
....looks like i'm going to have to continue this post later, as my achy teeth implore me to go to bed this minute. more updates very very soon!
Sunday, November 05, 2006
hello
thanks for visiting. this will be a public on-line journal documenting my preparations leading up to my departure to the Arctic, as well as what happens when I actually get there. check back soon!
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