stockholm, sweden
i'm starting to do that thing where i will be reading and my eyes start going a bit out of focus as i start to unintentionally fall asleep. in theory, katie should be here, well, either now or very shortly. our ride still won't be here until eleven at the earliest, so i need to snap out of it and wake up. i'm still feeling more than a bit ill, but at least my hands have stopped shaking and hurling doesn't feel imminent. on the flight, they served me a spicy pseudo-indian dish and it basically destroyed me. that coupled with a particularly small plane that was actually hot not cold for a change did not make for a pleasant seven plus hours. i was at the window, however, so that helped a little - i could just turn my head toward the window, away from the people and lose myself in the clouds, at least affording myself a breather from my stuffy surroundings. i still feel nauseous just thinking about it, to be honest. customs went relatively quickly and very smoothly, but i was sweating and ill to my stomach so i was over-anxious. the luggage did take quite a while to come out, just as tina had warned, but i couldn't quite put down the rising panic of my luggage not making it until i saw that pink luggage tag making its way around the carousel. let's rewind to the flight - once i got to my row, i wasn't very enthused...i was going to be sitting next to an older looking couple and somehow even in transit i was having flashbacks to being a third wheel like i was for so long, so many times. i told myself to just stay quiet, nonchalant and maybe i won't be in for a two-for-one- special on single-serving friends. no such luck - "so why are you headed to stockholm?" ...and so it begins. their names were terry and ted, early 50s, both semi-recently divorced (but not from each other) from cleveland. terry was really sweet - she has a fourteen year old son, sarah's age, and all she wants in the world is for him to be happy and to succeed (even though his passion is snakes). we talked a lot about travel, and despite the fact that (in theory) her age should make her more jaded than me, she was a breath of fresh air. she made me feel like everything i was going was moving towards something, even if i don't know exactly what that something is. we reminisced about greece and italy (i have to go up north the next chance i get - i am really missing out from the sounds of it) and i told her all about berlin; she told me all about southeastern asia. i watched my big fat greek wedding, only because mike talked about it so much, listened to pet sounds as i drifted off to sleep. breakfast with hall and oates on the continental jukebox, then an episode of the office as we headed into our final descent. with the exception of exchanging money, changing shirts and envying all the hip european children who keep walking by me, that pretty much catches me up to the present. katie is late or didn't see me and i can't seem to spot her either. i've been sitting at this cafe table, too ill to drink coffee for over two hours, just perusing tourist pamphlets, magazines, and brochures. reading about stockholm makes me really want to explore it - i wonder how much of it i will get to see. it seems like such a hip, cool, interesting (aesthetically and historically) city - and looking at regional maps, it is crazy seeing how close i am to helsinki! just thinking about it is making my pulse rise just a little. i've seen a good number of backpackers which means i'm back in the developed world during high season, but i really wonder how they afford it. i really wish that money wasn't a factor. not because i want money to be no object, but rather that i would like to have just enough to not be concerned, to not just scrape by. now that i have been to other parts of the world, however, it is clear that it is all just relative. i've seen more of the world than a good chunk of any given population, but i just want more. maybe that is the american coming out in me, but i just can't get enough. i want to see more, i want to do it right, whatever that means. the more i see, the more i realize how much is out there and i really do have an insatiable desire for knowing it all; it being some indefinite something, all-encompassing, interdisciplinary, cultural, experiential understanding of everything. i really hope this trip turns out well - nothing too ambitious, no added stress outside of the project, and once i have a person who i can speak to face to face and get some real answers, i will feel so much better. not seeing katie isn't really setting my nerves in order.
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as i was writing those last words, i saw katie walk by - her flight was about thirty minutes delayed and then customs, baggage, blah blah blah. she has a pack, about as big as the one i brought last summer and i feel guilty for bringing a suitcase - i just didn't want to live out of a backpack for another month, nor did i want to scrape by from laundry load to load, especially since i don't know if will we have a machine (note: we do). if anything, i'm overprepared, but hopefully that will save me money. i didn't bring a towel and i can't find any, which blows. katie let me borrow hers so i could take a much needed shower, but i will just have to sort it all out tomorrow. tom finally showed up at noon, but the time went by so quickly - partly because of the espresso and partly because of the good conversation. katie is a classicist/anthropologist who is obsessed with the romans, though i think she would like greeks more if she had more than her self-taught ancient greek course in her background (though that is still really a work in progress). she smokes, swears, is a little rough around the edges and a self-proclaimed 'dirty hippie.' plus, she is a vegetarian to boot. tom brought us to the car where gisela was waiting and the drive began. we had to do some paperwork at the car rental place and then started our drive. once we passed through stockholm proper, we stopped at a highway-side cafe that reminded me of corinth. katie and i opted for cheap wafers for lunch, which i offset with a $3 coke. i still wasn't feeling too well and we had three hours on the road ahead of us - it was almost worth spending that much on it. as we were leaving the restaurant, gisela got a call from tina saying that one of the only two ferries that passes from grunna to visingso had crashed into the dock, so we might not even be able to get to the island. we finally got there, expecting the worse (and skipping the stop for a G3 modem so i could have internet on my computer to ensure we got on a ferry eventually), but we were actually able to put the car in line for the ferry that left in an hour, no problem. the little village was bustling, maybe because people were fighting off the lines for transport to and from the area, but i was still surprised. extremely quaint and charming, developed without feeling the least bit contribed, i already had a good feeling. they weren't trying to be anything other than themselves, and i love that. we opted for ice cream to pass the time and i got pistachio and strawberry. we talked about classics, comps, research interests, grad schools, jobs, and a bit about art. i fond out that i'm going to be missing the terracotta army exhibit by five days - damnit. so close, but yet so far - its just my luck. the ferry was invigorating and the island is gorgeous (though the ride on the ferry was a bit, uh, damp). the island is actually about the size of santorini, just flat because of glacial plains leveling the topography about 10,000 years ago. oh, i have spent all day trying to figure out who tom sounds like and i've decided it is a cross between michael mohr and phil ewbank. it was irking me all day! we got to our house, a small 'apartment,' more aptly called a cottage, and it is precious! i don't get my own room, but it so homey and welcoming, i'm looking forward to my time here. katie and i settled in after meeting our landlords and tina, unpacked, claimed beds (i get a queen!) and walked over to the other big house for dinner. no awkward conversations, no odd pauses, just a jovial, convivial family-like dynamic. tina is here with her husband and daughter, who katie and i spent a lot of time talking to and helping/watching her play games. apparently it isn't going to be as easy to get internet as i thought but tina let me send e-mail on her computer, so as long as billy actually checks his e-mail on either account, i should have been able to get in touch with him, in addition to my family. veggie burgers and pasta, then back to the cottage, listening to the sunlandic twins while i finished unpacking and making up my bed. shower and now time for some much needed sleep - see you tomorrow, sweden.
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having katie as a roomate is going to be awesome. she and i seem to have a lot in common and we get along really well. this is the antithesis of albania...i have the best possible companion, and not the worst possible company (no exaggeration necessary). all is well here!
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