Lulea

We have been out of computer contact for the last several days, but I am now back and ready to report on Stora Sjoefallet and the start of our tour in Lulea.

We spent a wonderful day with Lars, our friend from Gellivare, yesterday and drove to the National Park of Stora Sjoefallet. I thought I had seen snow and ice, but I was wrong. The waterfalls that would normally release water from the mountain tops were frozen into falling ice floes. Amazing.

Last night, we had the opportunity to hear from a real Sami young woman and see the wares of her people. The Sami people are fascinating and remind me a lot of our American Indian tribes up in the Northern U.S., including the Iroquois. We learned about the way of reindeer herding now employed and we saw how SHE marked her reindeer's ears. I can't give my animals their medicine and this young woman carves out the ears of her reindeer to make sure they are identifiable. After the talk, Inger, our hostess who just happens to own the lodge, provided us a wonderful meal of local delicacies. For a starter, we had herring, (of course), along with whitefish and arctic char. Also on the starter plate was moose -- yes, moose -- and reindeer, two varieties each. I really liked both, especially the moose sausage. After dinner, we tried "Punsch", which is a smooth liquer. It was very good and we were especially glad to have this since it is reserved for only special occasions.

This morning, we had a good breakfast and then set out by car to Porjus, to the Arctic Couleur Museum. While en route, we saw a female moose walking through the forest. She stopped for a moment, considered us, and then moved along her way, treading carefully through the snow. I know how she felt, considering the number of times I have stepped onto what I thought was solid ground, only to end up up to my upper thigh in snow. At the museum in Porjus, we met an English lady who specializes in photographing ALL types of Arctic light -- not just the Northern Lights. We then drove on to Jokkmokk.

Jokkmokk is unique in that it has had an open air market in February each year for over 400 years. It has never been cancelled and, if you want reservations in Jokkmokk during that time, you have to book one year in advance. In Jokkmokk, we went to the Sami museum and learned more about their culture, including their religion, which is facsinating. After Jokkmokk, we jumped the reindeer to get to the other side of the Arctic Circle and headed into Lulea.

This evening, I attended a ballet class at the local academy. Thankfully, ballet is ballet, no matter where you are and, although I couldn't understand all the teacher said, I knew what she wanted her students to do. Tonight, we had a sumptuous dinner with some representatives from the local Rotary club. Dinner was lovely and the conversation very pleasant.

Tomorrow is our first vocational day here, so I must get some sleep. We are even going to a basketball game tomorrow night, where two American players are the favorites. I will try to keep my trash talking down to a minimum, but these folks probably want to get an authentic American experience and we are just the ones to give it to them. I don't think it will make any difference that the ONLY thing I know about basketball is that you try to get the ball in the basket. I will let you know what happens. Hopefully, I won't cause an international incident. Apparently, one of the group that came last year to Sweden got sent home. But, that is a story for another night. Tack so mycket!