Life as a reindeer rassler

I'm now an offical reindeer rassler. Not even kidding...two weeks ago we were invited by the mother of a Sami boy, Erik-Amma one of our friends, to go wrestle with reindeer. Okay, so it's actually called reindeer sorting, but it felt more like wrestling.
Here is how my day as a reindeer wrangler was spent.
Let's rewind back to Tuesday Decemeber 9th. Around 11:00 am on that fateful Tuesday we had been informed that the sorting was to take place the next day, the 10th. After getting all the details as to what to wear and what to bring, we set a time to be picked up. Our driver, Sonja aka Amma's Mamma as we call her, said she had a denstist appointment and that she would pick us up after it at 10:30. We went home that night and stayed up a little longer thatn usual because we thought well hey we can sleep until 9:30 and be ready to go by 10:30.
After what seemed like only a few hours of sleep, we were a woken by a technoe ringing known as my phone. I quickly checked the clock which read 6:50, forced myself to crawl out of bed, staggered to my desk and grabbed my phone. I had to refrain myself from throwing my phone agaisnt the wall because it had aroused my from my slumber 2 hours to early, but none the less I answered it with a groggy Hello. I was greeted with the most perky ''Good Morning Alyssa'' I have ever heard at 6:50 in the morning. It was Sonja calling to say that it was about -30 degress celius, so we needed to dress extra warm and that we would be leaving at 8:30 instead of 10:30.
If being told that if was -30 degrees celius didn't bring me to my senses, the leaving at 8:30 instead of 10:30 did. I hung up after reassuring her we would be ready to go.
8:30 arrived all to soon and the next thing I knew, we were all packed into the car with Amma and his Pappa and heading to our destination about an hours drive into the mountains. We finally arrived and got out of the car, but there was no one in sight. In the distance we could hear snow mobile engines revving and that's when we knew the fun was about to start. Amma's Pappa motioned for us to follow him, so we set of into the woods after him.
All to soon we found the snow mobiles and the biggest herd of reindeer I have ever seen in my life. Amma's Pappa told us to stay put while he went on. It was at this time Amma explained to us what was happening. He said that the first step of the reindeer sorting was to go out into the woods on snow mobiles and find the biggest herd of reindeer that you could and then bring them to a smaller part of the woods, which they had already done. The second step was to get them into a slight smaller fenced off area, that's the step that we were witnessing abd were getting ready to help with.
After what seemed like ages, they finally got the reindeer to go the way they wanted them to go. It was then that our job was to begin. We were to follow behind and flap our arms and hiss at any reindeer that was brave/stupid enough to try and make a run for it. After this step was complete and the fence was in place, we had to set up another semi-fence in order for the next step to start. Let me tell you that settingup that fence was hard work. The pieces are really heavy, but they have to be because the reindeer tend to get fiesty and try to plow through the walls. After the semi-fence was in place, it was time for step 3 to begin.
Step 3 is known as the running step. You run at the reindeer and try to geta big group into the fenced area. It a lot easier said than done. After a good 20 minutes of running, arm flapping and hissing, we got a large enough group into the designated area. From there step 4 begins.
The goal of step 4 is to get as many reindeer as you can inot a large corral . After you get a large enough group into the large corral you can start step 5, which is flocking them into a much smaller corral. This is a long process as well. It seems like the reindeer know what is going to happen next, so they run in every which way. After much flapping, hissing and shouting, we got enough into the small corral to start step 6.
First I need to explain what they small corral looks like before I explain step 6. Ao you have a small corral and along the sides of the corral there are smaller pens. Each family has their own pen that they share with their entire extended family. This is where you put your reindeer after you have caught them.
Okay back to step 6. At this point each family has built a fire and brought in the necessary supplies they need for the sorting process. The fire is used for warmth and to help confuse the reindeer, smoke confuses them apparently. Now at this point the reindeer are in corral running in circles while each of the families are standing in the middle of it all looking for their reindeer. Each Sami person has their own mark, notches in the ear of the reindeer. After a while the head guy shouts saying that it is now time to get your reindeer.
This is when the actual fun begins. It amazes me how the people can tell which of the beasts were theirss by looking at the marks on the ears which to me seemed invisible. The actual separating is really fun. In order to get the reindeer you have grab them by the antlers. Well they don't really enjoy that, so you ahve to really sneaky and you have to tag team them. Once you get a hold of them, you have to drag them to your pen, well the don't like being dragged either, so they tend to pull back or they dig their hoves into the ground making it almost to pull them.
Let me tell you, these beasties are really strong and at times I felt like they were pulling me more than I was pulling them. Ocasionally some of them would rebel and start to kick, twist and jump until you couldn't hang on any longer and they broke free, but little did they know we would be after them again all to soon.
After the small corral is empty, you go back to the large one and flap, hiss and yell until the small corral is full again. Then the sorting process starts all over again. You do this until the big corral is empty. Then you repeat steps 3-5 until all the reindeer are in their respected family pens. Once all the reindeer have been sorted you have to load them into your trailers. To do this you have to stalk the reindeer and then lasso them by the antlers, pull them through the fence and them shove them into the trailers. You continue this process until all of them are loaded.
It's a really long process, but thankfully there were only 2000 reindeer instead of the usual 6000-7000.
It was really fun and once in a life time experience. At first we weren't really sure what to expect because when we told people what we were doing, they looked at us like we were crazy and would say ''You're doing that...best of luck to you''.
In the end their snide remarks had been forgotten do to how much fun I had and how much I learned during the process

living a swede life

Hey all,

I know that is have been a long time since I last updated and so much has happened since my last post. Our routine has changed a lot lately because we are now in such high demand. All the teachers who teach English classes want us in their classes and some teachers even want us to come to their class more than once during the week. So it's been crazy trying to get use to all the schedule changes that are being made. A normal day for us goes something like this.... get up at 7:00, get ready, leave around 8-8:15 and spend the rest of the day at school in various English classes and then return home around 3:30.
On a different note the kids are really starting to warm up to us. We barely make it into the school before we get mobbed by random students who want to say Hej and give us hugs as if we have been gone for years. They invite us to go with them to random classes all the time, which is a huge step for us. At first they would just talk to us and then scurry to class when it was time, now they want us to occpany them. We also get invited to join people at tables during lunch. At first we would just sit there as a team and the kids would walk by, say Hej and keep right on going. Now we get asked to sith with people or if they can sit with us, which gives us a warm fuzzy feeling inside.
On Monday on Friday we attend Swedish class. It's been going okay, but it's not my favorite way to start off the day. It's a little bit frustrating. We try so hard, but it feels like we aren't making any progress. We feel that the teachers are talking at us and not with us. During class they will only speak Swedish with us, and I know that it's going to help us in the long wrong, but when we have no idea what is going on or what being said, it becomes frustrating. The teachers will say something to us in Swedish or ask us a question and because we only know a few words, we get lost very easily. So we give them the ''deer in the head lights'' look and they proceed to repeat what they said, but a little bit slower. To me it makes no difference how fast or slow it's being said if I don't understand the language at all and it makes me feel really stupid. I think the reason I feel this way is because I'm angry at myself for not being able to pick up the language quickly, but I guess all of these feeling come with learning a new language.
Earlier I mentioned that all the kids are starting to warm up to us... well I lied. We seem to be having some problems with the 9th graders. They were gone the first week we were here and then the second week was fall break, so we didn't meet them until a few weeks ago. We had heard rumors that they were all jerks and thought that they were better than everyone else, but we thought they were just rumors. Turns out the rumors were true for the most part. There are a few who I really enjoy, but the rest I can't stand, especially the boys. There is one group of boys in particular that I just can't stand at this point. They cuss and yell all the time and have no respect for anyone. As if this wasn't reason enough to dislike them, Sam and I had a run in with them that caused me dislike for them to grow. One day Sam and I were watching ping pong and the boys were yelling and cussing as usual, when all of the sudden things got quiet and they started speaking in Swedish, because up until this point they had been ''speaking'' English. We had a pretty good idea that we were the topic of their hushed discussion. Sam and I finally got sick of not being able to understand what was going on, so we decided to make up our own translations and whisper them to each other. We were laughing and having a good time when out of the blue one of the boys points at me and starts yelling at me in Swedish. One of my new friends told me that he was telling me to shut up and to quit laughing. So I looked at him and sweetly said Nej. He proceeds to yell at me again in Swedish and again I said Nej. He continued to yell the Swedish version of shut up at me every few seconds and I just ignored him. This seemed to anger him even more, so he switched to English. Finally I snapped. He had just finished telling me to shut up for about the 100th time, when I glared at him, pointed at him and said in a stern voice ''No you shut up! I'm sick of hearing you''. He looked at me in shock and aww. He had never had a teacher figure tell him to shut up and mean it. Later he came up and apologized to me, I was very shocked and impressed that he did that. While that was going on with me, Sam was having problems of his own. The other boys in the group kept telling him he sucked and called him other various names. Finally we got sick of it and left.
Later on of our new friends told us what the boys had been talking about and we were correct, they were talking about us, saying that we were stupid because we didn't know Swedish. This just added to our frustration. We are trying really hard. We've only been here for a month. Do they honestly think that we could become fluent in a month. And to top it off, everytime we try to speak Swedish with them, they laugh at us, which makes us very self conscious. I am hoping and praying that thing will start to get better with the 9th grade boys, because at this point I just want to smack them all. I know that we shouldn't let the opinions of 15 year old boys affect us, but being foreign and not knowing the language and having them point that out to us makes us even more self conscious. So I truely hope things get better with them and the teachers insist that it will.
Anywho, next week is English camp with the 7th graders and I can't wait. I am really excited to see what it's all about. I've heard rumors, but I can't wait to see what it's like for myself. Tom told us that we travel to the mountains about 2hrs. north of us and stay at a camp for a week and the whole point of this camp is to speak English. It will be great to finally be immersed in English all the time and not just in class.
Grottan is still going good. I enjoy it a lot. It's a great place to meet new people and just sit and chill. I really enjoy talking to the youth of the town that come.
On a different note, I am starting to feel more and more at home here. I have made lots of new friends and they come over almost every night. We just sit, have fika, talk and occasionally watch a movie. I know I have said this before, but I will say it again. Everyone is really nice. We get invited for dinner frequently, which is very nice. We also have people who check up on us all the time and tell us to let them know if we need anything. It's the people like that who make me feel so at home. It makes me feel so great to know that the people here really do care about us and only want what's best for us. I think I am falling in love with this town. :)

Well that's all for now. Many blessing!

-alyssa

random fact: the sun sets here at 3:00 everyday and the moon never goes down during the day

Guys, are we still in Jokkmokk...?

Hej,

So another week has past, and we have had some more exciting adventures. Tuesady we had Svenska class again and then we got to hang out around the school, where we spent our time playing ping pong and checking emails. Then in the afternoon we worked with a class of 10th grade girls. They were still kind of shy, so not to much was said. On Wednesday we had a class at 8:45. This class was a of all 10th grade guys. They were really talkative, which was really nice. As it were, it turns out half of the stuff they told us was false. For example one of the boys in my group tried to convince me that his name was OKAY, so i was like oh okay... and he proceeded to correct me...NO it's OKAY. I should have told him that I knew that his real name was Viktor, but I decided to play along with it. Also during this time, one of the boys decided to explain to me what Midsummer is and this is the discriptiont that I got..."We dance around a stupid tree and I hate it!". By the time class was over, we were all laughing and joking around (in English) which was really fun. When we left they had to make sure that we were coming back again, because they really enjoyed talking to us. After the class had ended my craving for students speaking English to me was satisfied, even if they were lying half the time. The rest of the day was spent in Svenska class and then at school where we once again played pingis (ping pong) and checked emails. Thursday morning was spent with classes 6a and 6b(6th graders). All I can say is these kids are talkers and I loved it. This was the first time a class seemed interested in speaking English with us, besides the 10th grade guys. We laughed and talked a lot and even play some games. After the classes were done, we sat down in the commons area, but this time we had the kids we had just got talking to, swarming around us. It was the greatest feeling, knowing that some of the students actually want to learn enligh and knowing that we were appreicated. I learned that the 6th graders like me!! Hurray!! After lunch we had 7b, they were talkative, but unfortunately not as talkative as the 6th graders were.
Friday we had Svenska class again and then we helped out with the 7a class. This group really frustrated me because they didn't seem to want to talk at all and they were really rude about it, so we sat there in awkward silence. I would ask my group a question and one or two people would respond and then we would sit in silence again. Finally I told them that their teacher would give them homework if they didn't talk, that worked for a little while, and then it got quiet again. Finally I gave up and forced them to play a game, I felt bad, but that's they only thing I could think of doing to break the awkward silence. That night we had Grottan. Once again it turned out to be really fun, even though not as many people came. We played pingis again, talked a lot and even play TELEPHONE PICTIONARY, which was a blast. I love teaching people new games, especially this game.
Today, we had a free day, so we decided to go on a walk. We found ourself by the lake, which is beautiful. Then we decided to take a walk through the woods. It was very peaceful and calming, which was exactly what I needed. It was nice to be able to get out of the house and go exploring the woods, I love being in nature. I took lots of pictures, but unfortunately I left my camera chord back at the house, so I will upload the pictures sometime soon, so you may all see Sweden at it's finiest.
Next week, is week 44, which is a vacation week. We decided that we are going to go to Luleå, which is about 2 hours away from us, so we can get some winters boots and other warm items because it is cheaper to purchase them there. I also hope that during this time we get to explore the area around us somemore.
Life in Jokkmokk is still going great. I feel like I'm actually starting to settle in, which is a very nice feeling, it's almost like a home a way from home kind of feeling. I also feel like everyone here is starting to see us as their neighbors and not as the team that came from America.
Well this is all I have for now and I will add the pictures as soon as I can!!

-alyssa

Hej Hej från Jokkmokk

Hey all,

Well as most of you know, we finally made it to Jokkmokk last Tuesday around 3:30 pm Swedish time, so about 8:30 am back home in the states. The flight here was good, extremely long though about 8 1/2 hours and I think that I slept for a total of 30 minutes because I was so excited to finally be heading to Sweden. Since I couldn't sleep, I think I watched about 3 movies and listened to some Swedish techno that the plane provided. The only thing that bothered me was that everyone spoke Swedish, so I got really confused. Thankfully the female flight attendants realized we didn't understand Swedish, so the would speak to us in English, except for the male flight attendant. He refused to speak to me in English, so I would give him a really confused look and he would proceed to point at what he was talking about and continue to rattle on in Swedish. Thankfully we had made some friends in the form of an elderly Swedish couple, and thankfully they sat behind me, because they would translate what he was saying for me. I'm pretty sure that he thought I was Swedish and that either I just did't want to talk to him or that I wanted to be incredibly difficult. We finally landed in Stockholm around 7:45 am, so 12:45 am back in the states. The airport was kind of confusing and once again everyone spoke to me in Swedish, so I got a little bit frustrated. Finally after much confusion and aimless wandering, we reached our terminal. It was at this point we decided to take a nap. When we woke up it was time to board the plane that would take us to Luleå, so at 11:10 sharp we boarded. We landed in Luleå around 12:10 and Tom was there to greet us. We collected our baggage and made the trek to Jokkmokk.
Jokkmokk is the most beautiful town I have ever seen, as soon as I get some more pictures of the town I will post them. It is located in between some mountain ranges and is about 10k above the article circle. The weather here is cold. The on the first day we were okay just wearing light jackets, but one day two we had to bust out our winters coats, gloves and scarves. One day I mention that it was a little bit cold outside, and they all told me that I was in for a big surprise when the winter season starts.

Any who... here is a summary of what we've done so far.

On the tuesday that we got here, Tom gave us a brief tour of the town and then we had supper at his house and met his family.
On Wednesday we got to "sleep in". I say it like this because I am still having trouble adjusting to the time change. I find myself going to bed at 12am and waking up at 2am ( 5pm and 7pm in the states) and not being able to go back to sleep because my body is telling me that nap time is over. Around 10:30 am Tom came to take us to lunch, they eat lunch really early here. After lunch we were brought over to the school and introduced to the faculty and staff. Once we had been properly introduced, we had some free time and got to use the computers. Then we headed home for a short period of time and then went to make traditional Swedish sandwichs for the Bingo players (bingo is the cool thing here...especially if you are old)
Thrusday we started our work. We helped out at the snack shop at the school for a while and then were told to mingle with the student. We ended up teaching them the only card game we know, SCUM. As it were, one of the students, Nicolas, knew how to play, so we would tell him the rules in English and he would translate it to Swedish for his friends. It was a little rough at first, but by the time the kids had to go to class, we were having a blast. They are very quick learns and they are very competitive. After that we helped teach English to a class of Columbian immigrants. I never thougth I would hear Spanish being spoken in Sweden, let alone use what little Spanish I know, but I guess you are shocked by something new everyday. It was at this time we recieved our first dinner invitation from a Columbian by the name of Andres. So our night was spent with his family enjoying a traditional Swedish meal (potatoes, cheese and sausage all mixed together).
Friday was our first time actually working in an English class with the Swedes. It was a little bit awkward at first because they are shy and don't like to speak English in front of their whole class. So the teacher decided it would be for the best if we took 4 students at a time and talked with them. The first group didn't turn out so well, but by the time the second group came in we a discovered which questions were okay to ask and the ones that weren't, so it went a lot better. After that we ate lunch with Melissa, Turcan and Emelie, some of the girls that have become attached to us. When we came finished lunch and came back to the school, it was like someone had flipped the "The Americans aren't weird, let's invite them to play ping pong and talk to them" switch. It was great. I got owned in ping pong. Turns out that they are all really good at it. Then evening came around and it was time for our first Grottan (youth center) experience. We were all a little nervous and didn't really know what to expect. The way Tom had made it sound was that there wasn't going to be anyone our age there, they were all going to be young and not many people came. All of these things turned out to be wrong. It was a little slow at first, but soon we had a least 30 people there. It was a blast. I spent most of my time playing a ping pong game in which there are 4 or more people, two on each side, then you serve the ball and run to the other side. The point is to not let the ball hit the ground or to be the one that messes up, because you only get 3 strikes and then your out. You continue this until there are 2 people left and then you play normal ping pong. Well the Swedes are very competitive, so things got pretty intense. After playing ping pong for what seemed like ages, I sat down and talked with one of the Afgan refugees, named Salin. This peaked the interest of some of his friends, so they would ask him questions for me in Swedish and he would translate for me, then I would respond and he would translate for them. After a while some two of the guys that would speak in Swedish decided to try English... it was a bit broken, but I understood enough to get what they were trying to ask without to many miscommunications. All in all I thought it was a good night, with a good turn out and I can't wait for the next one.
Saturday was spent helping paint Andres's parents new house. After we had finished Andres invited to watch a moive and eat pizza at his house. I learned 2 things about Swedish pizza that night 1. It's freaking huge and 2. It's the best pizza I have had, besides Giordano's of course.
Sunday we went to our first meeting (church service). It was all in Swedish, so we didn't understand anything, which was very frustrating. Finally Tom and Disa came to sit with us and translate for us, which was very nice and helpful. After the service, we enjoyed some fika (snack time, they have this all the time here). Once fika was finish, we were introduced to the congregation. Before the meeting they had us write 4 facts about us that are true, and then they would guess which fact belonged to who, it was fairly intertaining. After the guessing had finished, they all prayed for us and welcomed us into the church. The afternoon was spent at school watching the Jokkmokk floor ball team crush some team that I don't know they name of. Floor ball is basically floor hockey, but instead of a puck they use a ball. It's a very intense and vicious game, I love it. I found myself cheering when they would do good and wincing when someone would get slammed into the wall or hit with a stick. That night we ate a delicious meal of fish and potatoes at Tom's house. After dinner, we chatted for some time and Emelie and Elis, church kids and our new friends, came over for dessert. Once dessert was finished we chatted some more about our interests, for example Elis (Emelie's older brother) loves to play football (good thing I brought one with me). Then it was time to go home and while we were getting in the car, Elis comes running over and tells us that you can see the Northern Lights. So he took us to the spot where you could see them the best. Wow they were beautiful! I have never seen anything like them. Elis then informed us that the colder it gets the prettier they become, so I can't wait to see them in the dead of winter!
Monday we had our first Svenska (swedish) class. It was really confusing yet fun at the same time. We learned how to ask what someones name is, where they live and where they came from. We also learned the alphabet and how to respond to the questions we learned to ask, I felt like a little kid starting school for the first time, but instead of being terrified of the first day, I was super excited! After our classes were done, we ate lunch and then headed back to the school where we spent the afternoon playing ping pong and talking to the students. That night we had a free night, so I decided it would be a good idea to go on a bike ride. It was really fun, except for the fact that I haven't been on a bike in about 8 years, so I was a bike wobbley at first. The ride was good, but I couldn't really see much because it was dark out, which kind of sucked. I hope that sometime in the near future we get time to explore the town in the light.
Today we had Svenska class again. We learned animal names, for example lodjur is bobcat and gås is goose. We also learned how to count in Swedish and write out simple math problems in Swedish. Right now we have free time, so I decided that this would be a good time to finish my blog. Around 1:15 we have a meeting with Tom, then more free time. One of the girls asked us to hang out with her today and I think/hope she is going to cut Sam's hair!!! After that we have to go to a concert. As you can see we are very busy.
Well this is my life in Jokkmokk so far, and I try to keep you updated as often as I can.

Adjö

-alyssa

And then there were three

Hey all, sorry I haven't blogged in such a long time, so here we go.

The last week and a half of orientation has flown by. I don't really remember all that was said or done, but I do remember it was super fun.
There is one thing at is embedded in my mind is last Friday. Dorothea and I went to the Shedd Aquarium, it was a pretty good time. I think we had more fun making fun of the fish than actually looking at them and reading about them. After the aquarium we headed to meet up with the rest of the group. We were all to meet at a restaurant called Cafe Too for our final goodbye meal as a group. Cafe Too is a restaurant that takes homeless people who qualify and train them in the cooking arts. The meal consisted of 3 courses. For the first course I had portabella and goat cheese on bread, which was exceptional. For the second course I had ribeye, which was quite possibly the best ribeye I have ever had in my life. For the last course I had a chocolate tart that had coffee beans in it, and it was amazing.
To end the night Krista took us on a walk to a mystery location. The night was cold, but we trudged on because we were anxious to see where we ended up. There had been some talk of going to the Hancock Tower, but as we continued to walk, it became apparent that the top of the Hancock tower was not our final destination. We continued to walk, we heard the crashing of waves on the shore. We climbed up a small hill and found ourselves on the shoreline. It was gorgeous. We climbed down the steps that led to the beach. Krista told us to sit, so we sat in a large circle. She proceeded to tell us that we were going to pray for each team. So each team got together and stood in the middle of the large group while the rest of the teams put their hands on the team in the middle and prayed. After each team took their turn in the middle, we circled up again and sang.
When we finished, we took some pictures, broke off into groups and headed home. My group consisted of Craig, Krista, Tyler, Lee, Becca, Kristen and myself. We walked for what seemed like ages until we finally reached the "L". At this point we were all tired and freezing, so it was a silent ride on the "L" and the walk home from the "L". We finally reached home and went to bed. The next day rolled around and I said my goodbyes to the England team again, then left with my family for the day. We didn't really have a set plan, so we found ourselves in Millennium Park, my "second home". After walking around, playing in the fountain and taking random pictures in the bean, our parking time expired, so we left with a new mission, which was to go to the Hancock Tower. We drove and drove and drove and still no Hancock Tower. We eventually found ourselves in Greektown and on a normal day that would have been fine with me, but we really wanted to go to the top of the Hancock Tower, so we followed random streets and eventually found ourselves at the base of the Hancock Tower.
We parked and headed to the lower level of the tower. We walked into the Northface store that is at the bottom of the tower. This turned out to be a bad idea because I have a strange obsession with Northface. After prying me away from the store we wandered around until we found the elevator that would take us tot he lounge on the 96th floor. We reached the top and looked around. The view was amazing, but we didn't really want to pay for food, so we went to the facilities, as it were the view in the women's washroom was beautiful.
After taking numerous pictures, we got bored and made the descent. We left and headed for our next destination, which was Navy Pier, but not before purchasing gloves and an ear warmer from the Northface store. We made it to Navy Pier and decided to eat at Bubba Gumps, which was great. After satisfying our hunger, we walked around, took tons of random pictures and decided to head back to the hotel my family was staying at. After stopping there for a short while, we headed to IKEA to get the Swedish cookies that I adore so much. For supper, we went to Mr. Greek's to get Gyros. We went back to the house and partook in the Gyros, which were delicious as usual. After that my family decided to head back to their hotel, so we made plans to meet the next morning at 11.
I went to bed satisfied and awoke the next morning and began my usual routine. It was then that I realized that sometime was different, we were missing Rachel, Kristen and Lee. It was a very strange feeling, but it was one that I would all to soon become accustom to. Any who my parents came to pick me up and we went to get deep dish at Giordano's and then got dessert at Artopolis. After we finished, I said my goodbye's to my parents and spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry and other various activities.
The next morning came about and it was time to say goodbye to the Brazil team. It was very sad to see them go, but also good because it meant that they would be beginning the next chapter in their adventure. It was during this time that it was said "And then there was 9... soon the be 3". It was then that it hit me, that after Tuesday there would only be 3 people in the house, which was a very strange thought. Any who, it was shortly after the Brazil team left, that Sam and Bethany found out that their visas had been approved, which led to a Swedish team "Happy Dance". After the dancing was over, the rest of the day was spent with the Paraguay team. That night as a final goodbye, we went to a deep dish place called Gino's, which was delicious.
The next morning was spent saying goodbye to the Paraguay team before we set out for our first service project. As soon as the Paraguay team rounded the corner, the Swede team in unison utter those 5 words... "And then there were 3". After standing there for a while we headed to Vital Bridges, which is a food pantry that helps HIV/AIDS victims. Instead of giving them random food items, they give them food that goes with their medications. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and I can't wait to go back again on Friday. When we finished around 4, we headed home and walked into an empty house. We even walked into the house and called out hello before we realized that no one was there to respond. It was the strangest feeling knowing that the house had once been full of people and is now only occupied by 3. It was kind of depressing, but we have some how found a way to manage. The rest of the night was spent at a Battlestar Galatica forum, which was very interesting.
Today, we went back to GADS Hill. It was really fun being able to play with the children again. I got to go back into the class that I had been with before. It was really exciting to see the kids again. The day went by super fast, and soon it was time to head back. We were all exhausted when we got back, but we needed to get some food so we wouldn't go hungry, so we got some food. When we got back, Sam and I crashed for a while and by the time we got up, it was supper time. The rest of the night was spent relaxing and watching movies which was really nice.

On a different note, WE ARE LEAVING FOR SWEDEN ON MONDAY AT 4:25 P.M. and we will be arriving in STOCKHOLM around 7:45 am Sweden time have a lay over there until 11:10 am and then arriving in Lulea around 12:30 and then driving for about 2 hours until we reach JOKKMOKK!!! If you can't tell I'm super excited!!

Well this is my life thus far and I will update again soon.

-alyssa

service and solitude

On a regular basis, we as a group do a thing that is known as "Dutt's Disciplines". It is during this time we discuss different areas of discipline in our lives and then practice them. 

Thursday disciplines included service and solitude. For the service aspect a group of 6 of us, Tyler, myself, Dorothea, Dan, Kristen and Sam went and helped clean a garden called the African Garden.

We arrived early, so we sat and waited for our instructor to come.  We didn't know much about the person, except for that she was a woman. When she finally arrived and stepped out of her car, I knew this was going to be a fun day. She looked like the stereotypical gardener, you know the one with the big floppy hat, special gardening gloves and the pants only one would wear while gardening.

  She introduced herself as Ellen and  gave us our assignments and we quickly got to work. I got the privilege of being able to talk with her for the first part of the day because she was working next to me.

As we talked, I set the stereotype aside and saw that God was truly working through this woman. She had retired a few years back and joined the City block gardening club of sorts. She explained that they got grants form the city to build gardens to make the neighborhoods look nicer and look more inviting. 

She informed me that she is currently works at 26 local gardens, which is insane. I saw God in her willingness to give up her spare time to work in gardens trying to make the neighborhood look nicer, even if it's not in the best part of town. I was also amazed at how dedicated she was to this "job". She says that she goes to the gardens at last once every two weeks and to the African Garden at least once a week. 

I also saw God working through a 77 year old woman named Doretha. She is the woman in charge of the African Garden. Despite her age and some physical limitations, she still tries to make it to the garden at least twice a week to make sure that everything looks good and to fix the things that need to be fixed to the best of her abilities. This woman has a true passion for gardening and trying to make the area around the African Garden a better and safer place to live. 

This takes true dedication and I hope that by the time that I'm as old and wise as she is, I've found something that I'm that dedicated to.

Solitude:

That evening the discipline was solitude. We met up with Krista Dutt in the church and she gave us the "Rules" of Solitude. These Rules included:

1. Absolutely no talking, unless of course there is an emergency.

2. No T.V., which was very hard to let go of do to the fact that the season premiere of The Office was on.

3. No computers. 

4. No ipods.

5. You may leave the house if you want, as long as you are back at a reasonable hour.

6. Be alone, basically don't be with someone from the house, unless you are a girl and you are planning on leaving the house, then you must take a buddy.

As she explained the "rules", I tried to conceal my emotions on the outside, but on the inside I was thinking, "How in the world am I going to do this? How am I going to go for roughly 15 hours without talking?"

As most of you know, I'm a people person. I love talking, laughing, smiling, joking and interacting with the people around me. The more I thought about it, the more daunting it seemed. I live in a house with 15 other people, how in the world was I going to pull this off. Then I realized that I wasn't in this alone, all of my housemates were in the same boat.

Before it reached the set "no talking time" Dorothea and I had made plans to go to a quaint little park next to the Sears Tower that I had been to previously during the week.

So we, all 16 of us, at supper in silence and then headed out. It was almost dusk when we finally reached the park. I had only been there during the day, so it took my breathe away when I saw it in the dusky light. 

It was a fantastic sight. The skyscrapers were all lit up. We made our way into the little park and took seats on the island that was in the middle of the park. I sat and listened for a while. I don't know what it was, but there was something so peaceful about sitting in the city, watching it change as night falls. I loved watching all the lights turn on and listening to the way the traffic sounds change from fast, bustling and rushing to slow, meandering and nonchalant. To me this was a whole new experience. I 'ma country girl, and have never really seen a city go from being fast paced and task oriented to chill and relaxed.

The more I sat, listened and watched, the more relaxed I felt. It was strange just being an innocent bystander, so to speak, because I'm usually one of the people bustling about trying to complete everything at a reasonable hour. 

In the end the solitude discipline turned out to be exactly what I needed. I've been so preoccupied with worrying about finishing orientation and going to Sweden, that I hadn't taken the time to sit back and chill. As it were, it turns that the task that proved so daunting at first, turned out to be so simple and the right remedy to my stress and tension.

Until next time.

-alyssa

Every little thing that I say or do

Well it's week 3 here in Chicago and I can hardly believe it. Time here has gone by so fast. This Sunday is the last Sunday here for the England team, which is crazy to think about, because this means that my team could be leaving in the near future if their visas make it soon, so I'm praying that they come within the next week.

Okay, so here is a summary of what I did this past weekend. 

Friday:

During the day, we got a visit from Gordon with MC Canada. He came to talk to the Paraguay and Brazil team about life in the South American countries that they will be living in. So the England and Sweden team had to go to the library to look up stuff about our respective countries. This was fun for a while, but then it kind of reminded me of school and once that thought popped in my mind, I lost all interest and it became really boring. After that we came back to the house and had some free time. I decided to utilize this time to the best of my abilities, so I took a nap. Around 5 we headed to a Mexican restaurant. When we got there we ordered our food. I ended up getting a massive burrito. It was amazing. Then we took a tour of the neighbor and looked at wall murals, which was really neat. All of them told different stories, which was also neat. Then we headed to a park and talked about our covenant.  

Saturday: 

This was our free time day, so during the morning Kristen and I decided to head to Target to get some supplies that we needed (aka sock, band aids, scissors and tape). So we asked Scott how to get there. Well some how some of the directions got lost in the translation, and we ended up walking over 12 blocks to Target. On the way there though, we found a book store and we each ended up getting books about traveling through Europe. All in all despite having walked over 12 blocks, we still had a good time. When we finally got back to the house, we decided what to do with the rest of our free time. We thought it would be best to wait for the some of the other girls to get back to the house, so we could do something as a group. When they got back we decided that we wanted to go to Greektown and eat a Artopolis for supper. I had an amazing sandwhich and the best Canolli known to man kind. All I can say is that the food was amazing the the waiters looked like models... After we got done eating, we decided to go to Navy Pier. Navy Pier at night is so beautiful. Dorothea and I stayed for a while, but we were both really tired, so we decided to head back early, but not before we got some Haagen-Dazs ice cream, which was excellent. On the way home though, we got incredibly lost. It was slightly scary, yet a fun adventure all in one. We finally made it home, and by this time I was so insanely tired that I made a few phone calls and headed straight for bed.

Sunday:

I spent the beginning part of my Sunday at The Living Water Church. This was a whole new and different experience for me. The music was really good, but the sermon was so different for what I'm used to. It was really short, sweet and to the point. I really enjoyed the way the pastor related the sermon to a story about a friendship that she has that has lasted for over 30 years. She also talked about how sometimes God places intentional friendships in our life.

When we got back to the house there was no one there and I had laundry to do, so I waited for a little bit, and still the rest of my housemates hadn't showed up, so I decided to go by myself. I did okay, until a fight broke out in the parking lot of the laundromat and the cops were called. It was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. Everyone was outside watching and commenting as to what was going on. It sounded awful. I'm glad that I stayed inside. Other than that and the occasional funny looks that I got, everything else went fine. I made it back in one piece and found the house to be empty once again, turns out the the rest of my housemates decided to do laundry and I had just missed them. After they returned, a group of us decided to go to little Italy for supper. Well we found it without to much trouble, but as it were the only places that were opened were ones that had jags, audis and land rovers parked in front of them, so we decide not to eat there. Then we found a quaint Thai place, called the Thai bowl and Lee, Sheralynn, Sam and I decided to eat there because the prices were really reasonable. The food was great and we had a good time talking about random things. When we got back, I showed some of my new friends pictures of my family and my Iowa friends. Then we headed to bed. 

Well that's all I have for now, but I will be sure to post, sometime within the next few days.

Alyssa  

photos anyone?

 












 

      

So I finally mastered the art of adding pictures to my blog, so here are ones that sum up my life in chicago thus far. However, I do realize that half of you that read this don't know who any of these people are, and i apologize for that, but I can't figure out how to get the captions to match up with the pictures. So if you have the urge to find out who they are, just let me know.

tears, laughter, relaxation and a very happy birthday

Hey,

So week two has been going great. So here is a summary of the week so far. 

On Monday Darrell came to visit us and we were asked to journal about "What do we think faith is? "Who or what do we believe God is," and "What the church means to us." Then we shared with our map groups.  

The rest of the day was spent telling our personal stories/personal faith stories. This was a very emotional for all of us. We split up into our teams, and my team along with the Paraguay team went with Rev Dutt to the church and began telling our stories. I think that at one point all of us were in tears and at other points we were all laughing. It was very good listening to others stories. I learned so much about my house mates. It was a very good learning experience and a good bonding time. Then the rest of the night was spent playing games and watching the office.

On Tuesday  Darrell came to visit us again and we were asked to go to the local prayer labyrinth sometime during the day, so we basically had the morning free to go to it whenever we wanted. It was during this time that Dani, Becca, Bethany and I decided to go to Garfield park to chill for a while before we headed to the labyrinth. We arrived at the park and searched for a place to set up our blankets. This task proved harder that expected. It had rained a lot during the weekend, so we had to search for a dry spot.  We also had to be mindful of where the geese had been, because it would have been most unpleasant to set up our blankets in geese poo. After chilling at the park and listening to some really good music, Becca and I decided to head to the labyrinth while Dani and Bethany went food shopping for food for the house. The labyrinth was really relaxing experience. I had a lot going through my mind during this time. So I prayed about all things that had been running through my head as I headed to the middle. Once I reached the middle I felt really relieved and calm. Then I made my way back out. On my way out I had a bunch of phrases running through my head telling me that things were going to be okay. It was a really relaxing experience, I can't really explain who or what it was telling me these things, but I felt really good after I was done. Then later that night my cool Manitoban friend, Scott, and I headed to the Chicago Public library downtown. We returned what we needed to return and got some new things and then left. We decided that we wanted to walk around some more and found ourselves in Millennium Park. Millennium Park is beautiful at night. We took lots of pictures, which I hope to post soon. After that we headed home. All I can say was I had a blast! The city at night is so completely different than it is during the day. It was very peaceful. 

 

On Wednesday we did Myers Briggs tests, which was very interesting to say the least. We learned what personality types we are. I learned the I'm an ENFP, and to most of you who are reading this, these letters mean nothing to you, so I'll explain the best I can. It means that I'm an extrovert and that your very friendly and open. It also means that you're a little bit scatterbrained and I believe that is sums me up. After we spent the better part of the morning doing that, we had some free time. During this time Sam, Lee and I had a mission to take a movie back to the library. So we set off to find the library, which we thought was just a hop skip and a jump down the road. We walked around for a while, got frustrated and started to head back. Then on our way back we ran into Bethany, who gave us precise directions. So we headed back and as it were the library was about half a block away from the point in which we turn back. So we were very frustrated and it was uber hot, so that added to the frustration. Then we went to Emmaus Ministries, which is a place that helps out male prostitutes. We heard stories about some of the people that Emmaus helps. This was really interesting because it was the directors of the program sharing the stories and they told it through songs. Then when we got back we took a test that tells us how we receive love. I learned that I receive love through touch, which basically means if you want to show me love, you better do it through a hug :) After this, the rest of the night was spent out on the balcony with Becca, we discussed lots of things. It was nice having someone there to listen to all my concerns. 

Today, which is Thursday, is my birthday and it was really weird because it was my first one celebrated away from home. It started off with my family calling me at 7 to sing me Happy Birthday. Then I came down for breakfast and was wished happy birthday by everyone in the house. Then we had some one come talk to us about Anabaptism. After that we had free time, so Becca, Dorothea and I decided that we should go shopping downtown. It was a riot, I had so much fun. We danced on the train and sang random songs, all in all it was a good way to spend my afternoon. When we got back it was time to make supper, which was baked potatoes and things that are commonly eaten with them. When supper was finished cooking, I had sometime to check my emails before we sat down to eat. I was the last one down and when I got there, Bethany we like we are going to sing God is Great. So here I was all ready to sing God is Great, when my house mates burst into the Happy Birthday song. It was great and I was so surprised. As it turns out, they had made me cupcakes the night before and I couldn't help but smile. I felt so loved. 

All in all it was quite possibly one of the best birthdays I've had and I would like to thank all my new friends for making it a great and memorable one.

Until next time

-alyssa 

rainy days and festivals.

Hey all...

Sorry for not posting in a while. As I said in my last blog, life in Chicago is great! It's been fun getting to know my housemates. The past few days have gone by really fast. So, I'll give you a brief summary.

On Friday we went to a green restaurant. It's place that uses only things that will help the environment.  The food there was amazing. I had some southern fried chicken and it was amazing. 

Saturday our teams got "kidnapped" and dropped off around different parts of the city and had to find our way back to the house. It was a pretty exciting time, we got a little lost, but found our way back. As we emerged from the train, it started to pour. Sam, Bethany, and I didn't have an umbrella, so we got soaked. Later that afternoon we had some free time and a group of us decided to head to the Celtic festival. It was a rather exciting and fun time. It rained the whole time we were there, so once again I found myself drenched. We decided to try some Celtic food and decided to have a sausage roll and a scone, which was magically delicious. Then some of us went for coffee and on a quest to find me an umbrella. Then went to Millennium park, checked out the fountain, decided that it was to wet to play in and went to the bean and took some cool pictures. Then I ventured back to the Celtic fest and watched two amazing bands, The Elders and The Great Big Sea. It rained the whole time, but that didn't ruin it for us, us being Dorothea, Becca, Dan, Scott, Tyler and myself. The night was fantastic despite the rain. 

Today we went to church, which was good. I felt so welcome. The service was good and afterwards we were invited to stay for lunch. All I can say is that the food was great. After lunch David, Sam, Tyler, Lee, Bethany, Kristen, Rachel and I went and did laundry. All I can say about that is it was a good bounding time. After laundry, Sam, David, Tyler, Dan, Rachel, Kristen, Lee and I headed to a quaint little craft show. I ended up getting a necklace with a heart and a unicorn and a necklace made from an old typewriter key.

Over all the first week has been good. I'll try to post on a regular basis. 

Thanks for reading

-alyssa

CTA's, trains and aimless wandering

Hey all,

I hope that this post find you all well. As most of you know, i traveled to Chicago on Saturday with my parents so they could drop me off for orientation on Sunday. Traveling went better than expected. We made it here in about 3 1/2 hours, which was good. Then we headed downtown... and then to a quaint little Irish pub for supper. Then on Sunday we left the hotel and went to IKEA and then headed to orientation.

Orientation thus far has been interesting to say the least. On the first day I met my fellow teammates, Sam and Bethany, which was super exciting. They are both lovely people and our time in Sweden should be very fun. I also had the opportunity to meet the teams that are going to England, Brazil and Paraguay. The first day was pretty much a get to know you day... which was good. It was exciting to learn where all my fellow house mates are from and what they like to do. 

On day two we worked on our house covenant, which is basically a list of suggested rules that we should abide by while living in the house. It was a very extensive process and tiring as well. The second half of the day was basically CTA and bus route training, so we can find our way around the city when we have our free time. Then we went to the library to get our very own Chicago library cards, so if we have to urge to check out a book or movie we can. The Chicago Public Library is huge. I've never seen anything like it. The trip to the CPL wasn't the greatest because it rained the whole time, which made the walk to the train very unpleasant. After we went to CPL, we came back and my team, with the help of the Brazil team made supper. That was a very exciting experience.  I was in charge of making dessert with Sam and Dan... well one thing led to another and the oven got turned off, so we had to bake our lovely DUMP cake for another hour. The whole thing was really funny. Then I spent the rest of the night playing blokus, a very addicting game to say the least. 

Day two was spent wandering around our neighbor while using our new found mapping skills to find various locations. During this process we met some very interesting, but helpful people. The locating part was slightly stressful, but we managed, up until the point when we were suppose to return. We decided that it would be best to walk out Central Park St. and look for a bus stop. About 2 miles later however, we found ourselves at the park in which we needed to be. This was very stressful, but it also turned out to be a good learning experience because as it turns out there is no bus that runs along Central Park St. That night we went to get hotdogs and fries at a local stand. The hotdogs were okay, but the fries we so amazing that I had share another bag with my fellow housemate, Lee. After that, we headed back home and played blokus once again late into the night. After the game had ended, we watched the Office.

Day three, which was today, was spent out wandering the streets of downtown Chicago. We had yet another scavenger hunt. For this we were given new teams and mine was Craig, Sam, Dan Becca and myself. This part of the day was very exciting. Not only did we get to see the downtown area, we got to go to Lincoln park which happens to contain a zoo. After walking around the zoo with Dan, and consuming lunch, we broke up into our map team, which consisted of Scott , Sheralynn, Lee and myself. With our new quest in hand, we took to the streets of Chicago again. This was when the day became stressful. We needed to get to Division Street, so we hopped on a bus that would take us there. We rode it for about 45 minutes and still hadn't found it. So we began frantically looking out the bus windows in hopes of finding our street. Then a man sitting next to us ask me we needed any help. I said yes and told him our destination and he proceeded to tell me that the street that we were looking for was 2 miles that opposite way. So we quickly got off the bus, found the train and took it to our destination. Turns out that our mishap got us to our destination sooner than expected. At this point I was in dire need of coffee, so Lee and I took off to find some, we found it and then headed back. Once we got back our huge group headed to millennium park and and found out we were to eat with just one dollar per person in our group. It was a little weird, but in the end, it was okay. During this time, Sam, Bethany and I walked around for a while, got our food and went back to our house

So this concluded my extremely long blog. I will hopefully update tomorrow.

  

pre-sweden jitters

Hey hey,

Well as you know, I will leaving for sweden in october for the year to be an english tutor for a year!!! It's crazy!! I can't believe that this is actually happening. Words cannot even begin to express how excited I am!! I nervous yet pumped, scared to leave my family and not see them for a whole year, but yet excited to expirence something so completely different from what i like to call the "norm".
The past few days have been crazy. I'm trying to make my rounds(visiting family, hanging out with friends,donating plasma, working two jobs and trying to find time to sit down and decide what to take). I'm leaving in 10 days, and I know that it would seem like I have plenty of time to do all of this, but it's not. There is so much that I want to do here in good old Iowa before i leave and it seems like i don't have the time in the the time frame that i have to work with.
But on a different note, i would like to thank all of you for all of your support(donations and prayers!) This wouldn't be possible without you! Thanks again!!!
I be sure to update you all as much as i can!!!

-alyssa