Costa del Sol - Donde esta el Sol?

Buenas dias from Malaga – Costa del Sol (sunshine coast). 

I left Umea in a snowstorm yesterday – as you can see in the pictures here, but as the sign says “No Big Deal” – well more or less ;)   

Light packing (for me!)



No Big Deal!



Our plane makes it late from Stockholm

The bus was on time and I got to the airport early – and then I waited and waited and despite being pleased that I would only have carry on – they informed me my carry on was 2 kilos too heavy so away it went – although it was nice to pack my winter coat and think I wouldn’t be needing it J  Despite Umea being amazing at keeping up with the snowfall – the roads were all plowed! - the flight was delayed almost an hour – but luckily I had enough wiggle room in Stockholm to just make my connection J  Stockholm was also snowy so maybe Vickie and I will have a snowy Christmas when we are in Stockholm!  Next flight was to Barcelona.  It was a pleasant change to be on an airline (Spain Air) where I could understand the other language too – mas o menos.  My Spanish is not great, but it is coming back to me – although it’s a different story coming from living in a country that is yet a 3^rd language and so I find myself saying “Tack” er I mean  “thanks” no no uh  “GRACIAS”… muy complicado!

I was quite pleased with my ability to find The Hotel California – figured out catching the bus (which left early so was grateful for the efficiency with which the airport got my checked bag out or would have had to wait an hour until midnight).  Arriving in the evening it was hard to grasp what it all looked like – but what I did see once I got into the city center was lovely.  My bus stop was along Parque del Paseo – General Torrijo square – and up on the hill is something related to Picasso I think (he was born here).  Quite a lovely sight for the evening.  Then a 5 minute walk and I arrived at The Hotel California.

My room (well our room once Vickie arrives – after missing her flight yesterday she had a 3+ hour delay in Dublin today b/c of the snow storm – apparently snow is all across Europe (but not here thank goodness!) is super cute and definitely has a Spanish feel to it, as does much of the architecture in the neighborhood.   

 The Room - which we can see the water from :)  and  Desayuno for one = a lot of food!

The hotel is just 30 m from the beach so after checking in I decided I would stretch my legs a little more and went down to the water – it feels pretty warm J  And I was delighted to see palm trees – you know you are in the right climate when there are palm trees growing – it was +11C at midnight last night J  Oh and I was amused to see a work-out station at the beach – now I know what to do if I am missing IKSU J

Beach-side sports center!



Boardwalk by the beach - just down from the hotel



Proof that I am here in Malaga :)

Today I slept in until 10 am – good thing I set my alarm or I think I would have slept right through desayuno (breakfast)!  Today is WET and WINDY – mucho mucho lluvia – they call it the Costa Del Sol – The Sunshine Coast – but today no se where the sun is!  But I wasn’t going to let that stop me so I ventured down to the city center and went shopping.  There are tons of cute little shops here along all sorts of little interwinding streets.  And the Christmas Spirit is all around – look fwd to seeing when all the decorations are lit up at night J  And happy that I will have to wait until later in the day for the sun to go down – rather than around 2 pm back in Umea!

A view of the city scape from downtown (15 minute walk from Hotel California)



?A nativity scene - I recognize the camels - in the middle of a roundabout in the historic center



It is a treat to see that, as Aida told me, shops here are open LATE – well with a siesta in the middle of the day when they all close up shop.  I am back at my hotel having a rest b/c most shops close from mid afternoon until later in the afternoon and then they stay open until 9 pm here in Malaga.  What a refreshing change from Umea where shops close at 2:30 pm on Saturdays and are closed on Sundays!



Punchbuggy Green - No returns!



Hopefully Vickie finally arrives soon and we will investigate the Tapas – mmmmm – me gusta!  And here’s hoping that we soon see the sun!!!!!!!

Hotel California



A view in the daylight (not so much SUNlight though... yet!)

My Mini (and I!)would like to live this close to the beach too!

Hej da Snowy Umea - Hola Sunny Espana!

Everyone told me when I was coming to Umea that I must leave and get away from the November blues here - b/c it is typically very dark and wet and depressing - very much unlike the snowy bright (well limited hours but at least bright) experience I've had.  So I booked an adventure in Spain with Vickie a new country I've not yet been too that she really wanted to spend more time in :)  And if you're worried about me missing out on work (I'm not - ha ha) - it's actually perfect timing as I have a lull in my lab work waiting for soils to incubate and equipment to free up - so when I come back it will be the perfect time to dive right back in - couldn't have planned it better actually :) 
So now it is Friday morning here and it is snowing and blowing outside and -12 C!  So much new snow that it is piling up along my windows even - a winter wonderland - beautiful for sure - but alas I am still happy to leave for a week!  I will soon be lugging my carry on to the bus stop - and yes indeed I have managed to fit everything for a week long trip in a small suitcase - I am getting better (when I go skiing with Tyler for a weekend I bring a huge duffle bag and then some!).  But I don't plan on needing so much - as I'll be soaking in some sunshine (and possibly some rain) - but the most important thing is that daylight hours are much longer and the temperatures are above zero in the Granada region of Spain!  Yahoo!
My alarm clock this morning was Vickie - who I am going to Spain with calling at 7:30 from Cork, Ireland to say "I've missed my plane" - huh - what - am I dreaming?!  So she will meet me there tomorrow morning instead.  I do think it may have been a wee bit intentional on her part - given that she is rather smitten with a new beau in Dublin - and guess where she is off to today - Dublin - slightly suspect eh Vickie!  Can't blame you though!
I will take the airport bus - now that I think I have figured out where it departs from as it's location has recently changed.  It's supposed to coincide with the scheduling of planes but it will get me there more like two hours ahead of my plane (which I am hoping doesn't mind the snow and takes off on time!), but I'm trying to save my money for shopping and tapas in spain rather than on taxis to/from the airport. 
This brings me briefly to the topic of cell phones here - it turns out your phone here is very utilitarian - not just for making calls and sending texts!  I had a few hassles when I arrived working on getting Don's old Razr phone to work - it appeared to be 'unlocked' back in Canada but upon arrival here it only wanted to be a Rogers phone.  After 10.00 to some unlock website for a special code I got it unlocked and bought a sim card here for 15.00, some prepaid airtime and I was in business :)  I had a giggle that they gave me 2000 free texts to send the first month I had it - that's a lot of texts - I think I maybe got 100 in ;)  Anyhow, I digress (again!).  But it turns out that you can pay for many things in town with your cell phone - just comes off your credit on your phone.  So when I take the bus I can send a text and show the bus driver the reply and it shows I've paid my fare.  The same goes at the local movie theater (although I've not yet gone b/c the movies now playing are behind the North American schedule).  It seems like a pretty slick system - and helps with me avoiding using a credit card here - as there are various exchange & transaction fees on that!
The adventure to get to Malaga airport - and my final desination at the Hotel California in Malaga (I can check in - but can I ever leave ;) - 30 m from the beach tonight - is not a short one (unlike Vickie - sheesh she only had ONE flight she had to make - granted it was rather early in the am!!) - first I fly into Stockholm, then I fly into Barcelona, hang out at the airport for a few hours, and finally catch the flight from Barcelona to Malaga (on the way back I also go through Helsinki - I should be buying some serious carbon offset credits!!).  So by midnight tonight I will be finally there!  Bringing my laptop so will get lots of work done along the way - too bad they don't believe in free wireless at the airports here in Europe - but maybe I'll be more productive that way ;)
Next update I hope to report that both Vickie and I arrived safe and sound in Malaga and are on our adventures in Espana - where I can maybe practicar espanol ;)  Adios amigos!

I've got mail :)

Hej, A couple more sleeps and I'm off to Spain - above zero and more than 6 hours of daylight!!!  I'm just taking a lunch break in my office - perhaps only the second time I've actually sat down in here!  I am eating my lunch in here today for a change - I realize that it is very North American of me, given that EVERYONE here is in the Fika room eating their lunch!  But instead I decided to spend some time with my laptop and enter my latest round of data (feeling a bit disappointed at the lack of exciting results thus far!).

Anyhow, just wanted to report on my mail status :)  Yesterday when I arrived home I was pleased to discover that I had gotten a card from my sister - I had guessed on what area code I needed doing some googling and apparently it works - so the good news is if you are one of those people who gets their Christmas card in the mail by christmas time then you can send mine here :)

Pedagoggrand 11C, Apt. 201
90 730 Umea
SWEDEN

As Jenaya can attest from our days of writing crazy long letters back and forth during our formative years when I was in boarding school and she was home in Edmonton, I am a HUGE fan of the old-fashioned mail system and love the excitement of getting mail (when it's not bills!).  Of course emails are also most welcome - whatever your preference :)

Life is good in Sweden, as always, and this morning with fresh snow having fallen I was pleasantly surprised to discover that indeed the bike paths had already been plowed - so on my trusty old bike (hasn't failed me yet!) I ventured into school incident free :)  Tonight I am going to join the 'knitting cafe' group and see if I can venture beyond the comfort zone of my nifty knitter and somehow make mittens and a hat with a 'simple and easy' knitting pattern Kelley gave me - we shall see! 

For now it's back to the lab work.  This morning that consisted of taking super fine ground forest floor (looks like cocoa but not nearly as tasty I would imagine) and trying to put it into tiny little 2.5 ml vials - good times... Not so much ;)  I am always amazed at how I seem to be able to make more mess doing any task, than anyone else in the lab does!  Good thing they like me here so they tolerate my messiness ;)  But not to worry - the dirty dishes don't stay dirty long - I put them in the dishwasher - have I told you lately how I heart my dishwasher (ha - I only wish it were mine and I could transport it back to the Quideau lab before I do all my labwork there in the new year! ;)
Look forward to my christmas cards - hint hint!  Hej da!

Lights to combat the dark? - Höstljus Fest

It seems like there is always something going on in Umea - and I have been doing my best to fight the urge to hibernate in the cold and dark and instead to venture out into the great white dark cold :)  This Friday night it felt much colder than the -10C that my thermometer was reading as I biked downtown to meet up with some friends from school.  I felt very Swedish when I managed to view a text on my phone while biking and not paying so much attention to the ground - however, after getting off my bike downtown and walking I realized perhaps it was not such a wise choice - the paths and roads are super slippery!!!  I need a helmet!!


The main shopping street downtown alit with beautiful white lights

This weekend it was the beginning of Höstljus Fest - which is an AUTUMN light festival. I think it is intended to combat the DARK (the sun rose at 8:23 this morning and sets at 2:26 - so we are just about to go below the 6 hour mark!  And still another month to go to the darkest?!).  I find it amusing that this is meant to be an autumn light festival given that there is so much snow on the ground and I don't see evidence of it melting before spring!  It feels much more like a winter light festival than an autumn one to me!  But *normally* this time of year the snow is replaced with yucky wet rain and it feels much bleaker and darker.  Many people say that November is the absolute worst time of year here (yes I know- this is the time I chose to come ;).  But this year appears to be an exception- which I am delighted about!  The snow makes it seem that much brighter with all of the sun (when it is out) reflecting off of it :)  Etsuko made reference to someone saying this will be the coldest winter in 1000 years - I'm wondering what they're basing that on but hoping it doesn't get TOO cold?!  

Can you feel the love tonight - all I'm feeling is COLD ;)


Apparently this year's light festival theme is Love in Umea - oh la la ;)  Love is in the air - or at least in the lights ;)  There are a wide range of light installations put in place and I have only seen a few thus far (in the end it was too cold to stay outside, so instead we went to the pub and enjoyed some warmth, good company, and tasty (but $$$) food :)   Below you can see the lights in front of the landmark church downtown - these are made by the kids at daycare, including Michael and Kelley's son, Stellen :)  Very beautiful and magical :)
Despite all of the charm of November in Umea this year, I am looking forward to December and the countdown is also on to my week away in the land of Espana - warmer, longer hours of daylight and good company and culture and TAPAs with Vickie should be a blast (Granada, Spain on Friday) :)



All the candles alit from the daycare kids - the kids trying to find theirs in the mix

 

Do you see the frost on me - brrrrr indeed! 

 

Some of the lit candles - up close view :)





Elisabet & Katie on the walk home from the pub by the candles

  

ICA MAXI!

ICA Maxi is the first place I went with Etsuko when I came here two summers ago for the boreal forest ecology course - and on this go round after I went on a walking adventure to find it a couple of weekends ago I've gone back a few times on my bike (which limits my carrying capacity!).  ICA is the same chain as is in my local shopping center, but that one is small - it's no MAXI ;)    I know I talked about the grocery store in my last blog with respect to translation- but food is a staple of my life here and mult-faceted, so can't hurt to talk about it some more right :)

Rosehip soup that I bought by accident & blueberry soup - also fruit soup - apparently popular apres-ski?

As I've mentioned in previous blog posts the food has been a bit of a mystery and mistakes have been made - but I have not (to the best of my knowledge!) eaten anything that I would feel unhappy about (horse sandwich meat, for e.g.).  I have also been unsure of particular swedish foods and what they are all about - so today I went with Etsuko and Petter in their subaru so I could really stock up and understand what I was stocking up on (after they dropped off their old microwave for me to use - microwave popcorn mmmm - which I had to buy tonight from the local chinese 7-11 b/c I forgot to ICA - but I digress!).  We went at lunch time - turns out people are not eating their lunch on Saturdays around noon - they are instead shopping at ICA-Maxi - it was BUSY!  But that didn't stop us from some photo opportunities ;)
As Margo would appreciate there is a whole section of caviar - I like salt - but not enough to appreciate why eating fish eggs is thought to be a good idea - I will stick with fully grown fish, and keep my eggs to the chicken variety - makes for better cookies ;)

Etsuko is showing off just one of the many varieties of caviar shown!

Then there is the squeeze tubes of Ost (=cheese).  I never knew they could have so many kinds and variety - I mean they have whisky ost, rum ost, mushroom ost, and my personal favorite which I was mildly tempted to actually buy and try - bacon ost.  Alas I just couldn't do it!

Yes sir - you heard me - cheese with whisky, rum, and even bacon...

Lakris = black licorice and the Swedes LOVE the black licorice- I think this is an understatement!  I remember at Halloween when we'd get those it was straight to dad - but here everyone would likely be fighting over them!  Filmjölk is a staple of the diet here that I fully embrace and eat for breakfast every day with some granola - very similar to yogurt but with slightly different bacteria and sold in a variety of flavors - including pepparkak - which turns out to be gingerbread - rather than pepper-flavored, which was making me shy away from it.  I will be trying that one next!  Alas, apparently lakris-fil has not caught on - so maybe we're on to a new invention and this is the get rich quick scheme I am always looking for - lakrisfilmjolk mmmm?!



Licorice-flavored ice cream anyone?

I share the love of Sweets that the Swedes have - apparently they have one of the highest sugar consumptions - where that statistic comes from and the context for it I am not sure - but I do see a LOT of evidence around for it - there are aisle(S)! for Godis ("goodies"), even in my local ICA store :)  Now I know the swedish fish really do originate here, along with a kazillion other sour and sweet and every color and shape under the rainbow options in between :)  On Saturdays it's Lördagsgodis - which translates literally to Saturday's Goodies/Treats, which apparently is meant to be a special day when kids get to go to the candy store.  As you can see in the picture below - both kids and adults fill bags (whose size is getting into the territory of SUPER-sized as the years go by) with a wide variety of godis - both lakris and lakris-free.  I have been making a concerted effort to try a wide variety, although I don't really discriminate based on the day of the week - and I don't really think the Swedes do either - although perhaps a slight uptick in candy purchases on Saturdays ;)



Petter and Etsuko skipped the candy aisle - but many more did not - this is only one of many candy aisles :)

Every day should be Lördagsgodis day - well it kind of is for me while I'm in Sweden - when in Rome as they say - Sweden in my case ;)  And not to worry - when I don't forget my shoes AND my yoga pants - yes I did this earlier this week! - I am spinning and pumping iron at IKSU so it's all balancing out - more or less I hope!  And I should comment that despite the sugar consumption the Swedes look to be some of the healthiest people around - everyone is biking and walking and working out - makes you feel lazy if you don't! Exercise, eat sugar, and be merry - well aside from that sugar crash!

Christmas is Jule (pronounced Yule) - and this is christmas "skum" - aka Santa marshmallows! 

It being Maxi it has more than just food and I also bought an electric Christmas Swedish Style Candelabra - but I will come back to that when I talk about the lights festival et al. in my next blog - stay tuned :)

God natt (good night!).

Lost in Translation...

Hej,

I have been thinking I should write a little story about my experiences with Swedish vs English.  I have alluded to some challenges I have been having - i.e., where does the garbage go and how does the washing machine work, but overall I've been figuring out things sort of (?slags).  

The grocery store is where I run into the most problems - I bought some soppa nypon - well you would think I would have clued in that SOPPA = SOUP given that a lot of the translations are very literal - but I didn't - so it turns out I bought some rosehip soup?! - alas I thought I was buying cranberry juice :)  Not that I would have thought people actually drink soups of such varieties but apparently blueberry soup is a staple to have when you go skiing here - personally I was thinking that Canadian Poutine was the chosen essential!  Etsuko brought some over for supper last night (I managed to make lasagna with very limited dishes!) "tranbä dryck" and so now I know the proper wording and will pay more attention and try and get my beverages from the drinking section rather than the soup section!

It seems in particular for me buying a cut of meat is challenging here - and b/c there is hamburgare - which sounds like hamburger to me and is what you would order at McDonalds here you would think I'm safe in buying that.  But at the grocery store hamburgare is in fact HORSE meat in the meat slice dept and I really do NOT want to inadvertently buy that.  So I've been overly paranoid in making my selections and writing down the swedish word before I go - problem is that they don't always match up.   I wanted some köttfärs (ground beef - not hamburgare ;)) for lasagne but all I saw was Nötfärs - so I finally asked someone and they said it was the same... how was I supposed to know ;)   

Another challenge is figuring out at the store when things are on sale how it works.  They had chocolate bars on sale last week and who was I to say NO to those (I'm using my regular visits at IKSU as justification to indulge in all sorts of decadence!) - so I bought some - but they turned out full price b/c I hadn't bought 3 of the same exact one, just the same brand - so you have to read the fine print carefully - but alas I can't read Swedish - but I am trying ;)  And in the end I still had my chocolate so I was happy!

One of these days I will have to go to IKA-Maxi (the big grocery store here - like a superstore or fred meyer) with Petter and Etsuko and see if my inferred translation of somethings are real or not :)

I have been learning counting backwards from the instructors at IKSU - although most of the time it is a blur and I'm not sure whether there are 10 or 1 reps left! 

The best thing to help with translation that I have learned thus far is translate.google.com - it is my new friend :)  Michael showed me the google translate toolbar - which I promptly downloaded onto my computer - you can click on a button to always translate web pages - so now I have a whole new country's worth of websites I can *mostly* understand :)  Hurra! 

Hej då - I've been saying Hej do - but that is just the way it sounds - I've also been struggling to understand the fancy o and a's with dots on top of them - but until I understand them better I will sign off - but know that Hej då sounds like "Hey Dough" and Umeå sounds like UmeOH.

Dessert with Etsuko and Petter after I purchased dinner ingredients despite language challenges (although I never did find parmesan cheese (?parmesan-ost) and had to make do without it!



Fika Time!

After an especially lovely "Fika" on Friday I thought I would explain the Swedish concept of Fika.  The Swedes love their sweets and also enjoy breaks - Fika is their word for coffee time - although it can also be used as a verb - as in "Let's Fika".  So in the morning for a half hour and again in the afternoon for half an hour (sometimes more) everyone congregates in the "Fika" room - the catch is you have to be on time b/c everyone comes and goes right on schedule (although I've had a hard time figuring out the schedule myself - just too busy working hard in the lab and running the beloved dishwasher to take time out for Fika!).  The powers that be are very encouraging of this as it is meant to foster healthy sciencey discussions among colleagues - although don't worry, we are often not talking shop :)   The Dept has fancy coffee (and more importantly hot chocolate for me!) machines that provide you with a wide assortment of options for Fika :)  During one Fika, Michael had a troubling story about the powdered milk in the machine at a University in Stockholm getting poisoned with a nerve agent by a disgruntled Masters student who was not accepted to be a PhD student?!  This story has not dissuaded me from drinking the Cacao Crema that my body needs around 3:00 every day - I think people in the North of Sweden are too nice to conceive of such a thing!

On Friday one of my labmates, Abdul, announced that we would have torta at Fika - how could I say no :)  Turns out in addition to his lab skills Abdul is a talented baker - I was sad to not have a camera to capture the beautiful chocolate covered cream and fruit-filled decadence that he created!  I even got in trouble for taking too small a piece the first go round, so when he told me to have another piece I didn't say no :)  

I should emphasize that Fika is certainly not restricted to working hours, and is a very common social activity pretty much every day in Sweden - a good reason to get together with friends and enjoy something sweet too (The Swedes LOVE sweets - they are my kind of people!) :)  Today, in the spirit of Fika, I had my own while I was out shopping mid-day and tried another type of torta that is very Swedish- Prinsesstårta - marzipan, cream, cake et al. - Deliciously delightful too - and with my six days in a row at the gym I think I've earned a piece - or three or four ;) of cake!) :)  Let there always be cake and godis (goodies/candy) and an excuse to eat them!


Who needs proper lunch when you can have fika cake :)

UPDATE: As I posted this blog I got an invite for Fika tonight - so it is not just a daytime activity - will tell you more about night time Fika after I partake :)

I am back from Night-time Fika hosted by Aida (my office mate), Nacho, and Patum (their lovely pup).  The Fika was a merging of Catalan and Sweden - as it was held to belatedly celebrate ‘La Castanyada’ - a fall party in Catalan to celebrate Autumn (in Sweden it felt like more of a winter party ;)  Alas I don't have a picture of Aida dressed up as the chestnut lady coming down from the mountains (Castanyera)- but she looked quite the character - when she opened the door I was thinking - what kind of party is this - was I supposed to dress up :) The cookies were delicious, getting a good chestnut was meant to be orgasmic, the company was great, and I got to lounge on a sofa - which is a luxury here given my apt lacks one! :)  Muchas gracias Aida & Nacho!

Enjoying all of the Catalonia panallets, sweet potato, and roasted chestnuts :)

Biking in a Winter Wonderland!

Hej!
Well I went to bed last night with just a light dusting of snow and awoke to Winter Wonderland!  WOW!  This is what I was pleasantly surprised to see from my bedroom window:

Meanwhile, since arriving here I had been thinking about whether I should get a bike or not - the paths are everywhere and everyone has a bike and I thought it would be a nice way to get around town.  However, only being here a short time and mostlly in the snow I thought - maybe not such a great idea - walking works too!  Especially when a very average cruiser bike will run you 150.00 and putting spike tires on makes it even more crazy expensive.  So after a visit to the second hand bikeshop that had plain OLD bikes for ~200 I figured I would stick to walking.  Then as luck would have it, I was out at the pub last Friday (the walk downtown was about half an hour) and my friend Natalie explained that she had not one but TWO bikes that had been given her to use :)  So she doubled her boyfriend back home and I rode one of her bikes home (took only 10 minutes max!) and then when he left at the end of the weekend I scored the use of this bike - it's quite possibly an antique - although rides pretty decent overall - although not sure when the last time I used a back-pedal-braking bike - grade five maybe?!

Biking in minus 12 on Monday  before the big snow fall - brrrr!!!

Me after my blustery ride in this morning!

Anyhow, with the sight of the snow this morning I was excited to try out the concept of biking in the snow (the day before I biked in minus 12 with my snowpants on - so why not!).  Well needless to say I was a swerving mad-woman out there and in the end I think I likely pushed my bike more than I rode it!  So I left the spinning to IKSU work-out for the rest of the day and walked home.  You can see just how much snow fell today!  I will dig out my bike tomorrow - after they have hopefully sanded and plowed - b/c it is super duper slippery out there - even when walking in my winter boots I almost fell multiple times!  Kind of amusing watching everyone trying to walk and having near misses!

How much snow fell today!

Hej do!

Lab work is still lab work - even when it's in Sweden ;)

With field work wrapped up my home away from home is now the lab!  The lab here has a lot of fancy new equipment which is super nice to work with- but alas they still have not invented robots for the mundane tedious activities such as sieving.  Yes - in essence what I did for a week was strain/sieve the forest floor samples through a 4-mm spacing big sieve in order to remove the roots et al.from the humus.  Fun times ;)  Especially when you are dealing with super soaked spruce humus - yuck!  But I have finished up that task and now I will be on to actual analyses - which should prove less tedious and more interesting :)  


I feel like a baker - with my sieved samples ready to get cooked!

 As I mentioned the lab is very modern and updated - my personal favorite piece of equipment in the lab is the DISHWASHER - b/c back at U of A the only dishwashers are us with our own two hands - which can be particularly painful b/c washing of lab equipment doesn't just involve the washing - it involves the soaking in acid and then rinsing multiple times with tap water and distilled water - so this machine is super duper slick!  I think we need one back in the Quideau lab at U of A!!!



The automatic dishwasher - I'm in love as I have 180 samples and related equipment to wash and not by hand - yahoo!!!



I am already looking forward to seeing what kinds of interesting results we find with the samples - but of course first I have to do the analyses :)  We have the radio on to "Mix Megapoll" - a local station that seems to love the Europop - a mix of old and new and very eclectic - one minute we have the dance pop beats of Robyn or Bruno Mars and then we have mixed in The Killers and Green Day and then occasionally Tina Turner.  Keeps it interesting and varied that is for sure ;) 



Kelley working away on her own repetitive tasks in the lab :)




Weighing samples for incubation & nutrient analyses - forgot to wear my lab coat!.



I also have an office - with a window :)  Of course the significance of a window is less and less given that the daylight is already waning and I'm usually in the lab anyhow!  I share my office space with Aida - who is from Catalonia and super nice.  I have to reaffirm that pretty much everyone I've meet here is super friendly and makes me feel very welcome :) 


My office - my desk is on the left - not so very lived in just yet!



I K S U = Y M C A :)

Well back home as Tyler can attest I've been talking about joining the YMCA for a long time - too long!  Apparently it took winter in Umea to make me finally take the plunge!  They have the most amazing of facilities here - IKSU (no idea if that stands for something! - http://www.iksu.se/?lang=en - and they have some video at http://www.iksu.se/2010/01/15/iksu-sport/) - and conveniently it is a few minutes away from my lab and right on my walk home.  And with repetitive mundane lab tasks sometimes a mid-day workout is a welcome reprieve!  A friend here doesn't use their membership card so they've given me their card to use which is great (otherwise it would be quite pricey - I think it is 20.00 for the day if you don't have a membership). 

Umea is a super active healthy community (aside from all the sugar consumption ;) - it seems like everyone goes to IKSU and/or runs and/or does some other kind of exercise (I heard some girls outside the gym Thursday even talking about curling!).  And of course everyone walks or bikes too.  It is very motivating! 
There are tons of classes offered at IKSU - you just swipe your card and click on the class you want and away you go :)  So far I have tried "Afrodance" - which is a good fun cardio work-out, "Core" - which showed me I have muscles I forgot about!, & "BodyPump" - which is a mix of cardio and weights.  I somehow keep managing to avoid going to the spinning class but tomorrow I will be finally doing that one with Kelley as my mentor - it scares me though b/c it sounds super intense - hopefully I will be able to walk home afterwards!  Today I will go to my first Yoga class and see what that is all about :)
In addition to all of these classes they have simulated golf (Don and Tyler would be all over that!), a climbing wall (Sheelah, Jaime, & Vince would be all over that!), a swimming pool, and the list goes on and on!  Innebundy is a form of floor hockey that seems like a national sport of Sweden! 
OH and it being Sweden of course all the instructors are speaking Swedish - so it is hard to judge for me whether they are saying only 20 more or 2 more - ha ha - keeps it interesting!  I think I am slowly learning to count backwards in Swedish although 2 "två" - sounds like four the way it is pronounced and one is "ett" which sort of sounds like eight to me!  Being a foreigner I had a giggle seeing the "Sex" bus - which is just the #6 bus ;)  But I will work on learning!  Time to do some Sunday morning yoga now :)

Gratitude (TACKiness in Swedish?)...

There are times when being away somewhere new and exciting cannot compete with the feeling of wanting to be at home with loved ones - including Miss Molly!  As I write this I am waiting for the best dog ever (imho), Molly, to start to recover from a bout of old-age vestibular disease.  I got a call yesterday from home telling me that she was in rough shape - throwing up and when she tried to walk she'd just collapse.  My heart was racing and I could think of nothing else but Molly and how much I wished I was no longer in Sweden and instead back home with her!  Added to this was that it has now been a year since we lost my dad so I already had been thinking a lot about him.  I really couldn't bear the thought of losing Molly too. 


A picture of dad and Molly on Mary's Peak, Oregon

Molly is in the loving hands of my family and they whisked her off to the vet and in the end they called me back with GOOD news - that rather than my worst fears instead it appears that this is very much curable and in a couple of weeks she should be back to normal.  Poor Daryl was at the vet's when they started talking about the vestibular disease and he was telling me how he was thinking 'this is exactly what they said dad had at first too - not good' - but luckily Molly's prognosis is much more positive - no progressive supranuclear palsy for her.  So now I am waiting to hear that she is improving, but at least I know that she will improve.  I can't begin to express what a relief it was to get the news that she'll be okay and still has lots of life left in her - I am so grateful :)  If only PSP and other diseases could have that positive outcome too...


Molly came to the field with me to collect samples to take to Sweden :)

I'm grateful to Maja here who were very supportive while I waited for the dreaded phone call that turned out to be a happy phone call - she did a good job of distracting me in the lab :)  I have discovered that the upside of boring repetitive tedious lab work is that it is mindless, and so leaves the opportunity for talking.  I've been having some really great conversations about life and loss of loved ones and appreciating what we have in life and I am very tack-full for my lab-mate friends I have here to talk with :)
It's hard to believe that my dad has been gone a year already.  Recently my mom commented that I was a lot like my dad - he was always wanting to travel the world and didn't want to just stay put in one place (I think my mom is also pretty adventurous so I get it from her too :).  So I think he would have been pleased that I am here in Umea on this journey.  I feel in a way like I am following in his footsteps as he finished up his medical school at University of Leiden, Holland.  Of course I am here for a much shorter time and my days of becoming a Dr. are still a couple years away and unlike him learning Dutch to do his schooling there  - I'm struggling to pick up any Swedish at all and glad that most people speak english to me here :)

Dad did see me become a Master if not a Dr...

Well time to sign off.  Wish I could give Molly a cookie and a belly rub and have her sleep on my bed with me tonight - I'm even missing all of her sheddiness - so clearly I'm missing her a lot :)  But rather than focus on who I'm missing I am focusing on all that I have to be thankful for - as I am very lucky in so many respects (including having the opportunity to be here in Sweden).  A huge thanks to my family for keeping a watchful eye on Molly as she continues to overcome this illness - thanks for always being there :)  And thanks to ALL of the wonderful people in my life for being yourselves and for all the love and support you give me!