But what I really love...

Abisko is a small town, but that doesn't bother me so much because I have such a beautiful landscape to explore - and I can go in any direction from my house and find something spectacular. So far, I'd say, it makes for a pretty nice lifestyle.

A few weeks ago, I decided to ski across the lake and back - about 18 km all told.
Here's what I saw:

I made it as far as the ice fissure on the other side of the lake (left). It's common to see skiiers pulling a pulka with gear/and or children in it (upper right). Mount Njullia is in the background (upper right).





Crossing the lake really gives you some perspective. Mount Njullia is to the right. The snowmobile track heads directly to Abisko. You can see Lapporten to the left. Made me realize just how small my little town is and just how much open wilderness surrounds me up here.
















The Abisko River serves as a major ski route for backpackers who stay in cabins along the Kungsladen Trail. Some people use their dogs for help! (above left)


Another weekend, I went on a 7 hour ski tour to an area above the tree line along the mountains by my house. It wasn't steep, just a long, gradual climb. I wore my cross-country skis.

Wolverine track? I still don't know for sure, but others have seen wolverine tracks in the area. The Sami people don't like them much - they eat the baby reindeer. Apparently, the old Sami "lore" said that the 3rd offspring of a bear was a wolverine.

Bird tracks?

See the crazy snowmobiler going up the ravine? Can you find the three people below near the trees, trying to climb up? Crazy people. The snow was real hard, and it was so steep that one person kept falling and rolling down until he caught his grip again. Another person lunged and grabbed a tree as he tried to climb up. Everyone made it out eventually.





We followed this river drainage (Nissunjohka) back down the mountain. Lots of open patches without snow, so we took our skis off and then put them back on a lot. The snow had a nice, strong crust - so you could just glide along the top. Super fun - I turned through the birch trees and felt like I was in some video game!

Valborgsmässoafton

The Eve before May (i.e., April 30)






To celebrate the arrival of spring, the Swede's sing songs and share poems around a big bonfire the night before May 1. They actually sang "La Bamba" in Spanish, which threw me for a loop.








As my friend Henrik explained to me in an email:

"Valborg was a saint, "mässo" comes from the word mässa which means something like "chant", and "afton" means "eve". Its a mix of traditions - originating from ancient european pagan traditions - however, in general and today its mostly about celebrating spring."






The bonfire was followed by music and beers in the pub at the tourist station. Meet "Pika Power", the one-man band! I have to say, it was fun - I did some dancing. Pretty funny though - he covered all kinds of music and had recordings of drumbeats and other accompaniment playing in the background.

At 1 am, the sky was actually dark, though we still didn't need
headlamps to walk home that night. May 1st is a national holiday.
It's meant to be a day spent demonstrating for workers' rights,
though I am told that rarely occurs these days.

Pimpeltävling

Last Sunday, I entered the ice fishing contest amongst fellow residents of Abisko. Early in the morning, the organizers drilled hundreds of holes in the ice on a little bay on Lake Torneträsk. The competition ran from 11 am to 12:30 pm, and you could move around to use any hole you liked. Fish longer than 20 cm could be included in the count.





Most people lie down while ice fishing. It looks super funny. Lake Torneträsk is really clear, so the fishermen watch for fish at the same time as they jig. I looked down the hole as well and it was pretty cool, though I never did see a fish. A friend told me that he doesn't have to watch, but he would be super disappointed if he caught the biggest fish in his life and didn't get to watch it bight the hook! Most people were fishing for arctic char with maggots on a hook and a flashy spoon attached to the line a foot above the hook.
















I still want a spark. I mostly see huskies around town, but I guess the fishing companions include other breeds.




Waiting for the judges to tabulate the results... This building is the field station's wood fired sauna and boat house.

Check out this guy's purple and red snow suit!












I think these men (left) are wearing Sami belts and knives.










Note the reindeer skin rolled up on this person's backpack. A lot of people were laying on the reindeer furs while fishing.

I didn't catch or see one fish. No one did that great. They had to draw names for some of the final prizes - not enough people caught fish! In the end, 12 people won prizes for catching fish, and first prize went to someone who caught 626 g (1.38 lb.) worth of fish.

Life 200 km north of the Arctic Circle

I have not been keeping up on documenting my life in Sweden lately. I'll see if I can catch up. I moved to Abisko on May 31. So far, life here has been wonderful. So much nature to explore, right out my front door. In this picture, I am standing on Lake Torneträsk looking back at town. Well, the town is quite small, as you will see, but I highlight the key public places. The grocery store is just to the left of the restaurant, and that's about all we've got! Note the beautiful view of the famous Lapporten (U-shaped valley) in the background.



This is the entrance to my apartment building. Note all the bicycles and the "spark" (Swedish), which means kick. People ride these like you would ride a scooter, only on snow. I like them a lot and hope to buy one for next year! Also notice the huge shovel propped against the building - you just slide it along the ground to move a lot of snow at once.





The only restaurant/bar in town is on the first floor of the yellow building below, and the school is the red building (bottom, right). There are 14 students from age 5 to 15. Once you are 16, the closest highschool is a 1.5 hour drive away in Kiruna. Most teenagers live in an apartment alone and come home to their families on the weekend. We use the school for aerobics and yoga, and they even have a small swimming pool!















There are still some Sami people and traditions in town. Reindeer meat is left hanging to dry outside an upstairs window, and everyone uses reindeer hides regularly - ice fishing, snowmobiling, on benches outside. I have to say, they are very warm to sit on! I just bought my very own at our local gas station for 380 SEK (a little less than $50)! The Sami people have herded reindeer for centuries, and maintain their tradition and livelihood today... though with new challenges and new benefits.















The gas station (upper left) also sells fishing gear, reindeer hides, and camping gear. This is where I bought my reindeer hide (today!), and I also bought some ice fishing equipment to participate in the local competition last weekend. I'll make a separate blog for that. But for now, check out this Swedish Pimple (left)!

It weighs 1 kilo! My dad always jigged with these and I even brought some smaller versions to Sweden with me. I had never seen such a huge one in my life! I also learned that "pimpla" means to jig, so now the name of the bait finally makes sense to me! I also heard that it is very similar to a dirty word, so I should just stick to the English.




















This volvo in front of the train station is the nicest car that I have seen here! Pretty cool. In town, you are much more likely to see a big tractor or bobcat, ski-doos (as they call them here), or station wagons. You are also quite likely to see moose! These guys were hanging around town a lot over easter. Note that there are 2 moose, lots of people around them, and a dog that continuously harrassed them. They didn't spook until a train came into town, and then EVERYONE scattered. I watched the whole sequence from my balcony and window.


















This is not the best video, but I chose this one to show how the moose just walk right through town. This lady happened to come out of her building and start walking down the sidewalk... then she looked up and saw this huge moose walking past her and stepped back. Now I have started to look up more often when I walk through town - you never know what you might run into! I had just come home from the restaurant and walked right past that spot. Then I walked onto my balcony and noticed that the moose was right there all along!



Easter already passed by, but I wanted to highlight some traditions that struck me. To the left, you see the easter tree - a leafless tree with a bunch of brightly colored, fake feathers glued on. It actually looks quite pretty. The women at the station brought a small birch branch inside and glued feathers on it as well. Now it is actually leafing out.

Another tradition - the kids dress up like witches and go around to peoples' houses to get candy or money. Sound like Halloween to you? Me too, but I guess they don't really celebrate Halloween here, so you have to get it in somehow! I think the witches are quite different, though. Two braids, rosy cheeks and freckles painted on their faces, and a bonnet and peasant dress. No black witch hats...





The book bus comes to town once a month! I went in the beginning of April and rented a few movies (Hotel Rwanda, Manchurian Candidate, and American Gangster). They didn't have any books in English, but the lady was very nice and is going to hand pick some English novels to bring up next time. The bus distributes books from the library in Kiruna to a bunch of little towns further north. They stop in Abisko from 5 to 7 pm. It was very crowded!



I have started baking my own bread. Our little grocery store has a lot to offer, but no freshly baked bread. So, I figured it was time to start. I have tried 3 times now, and they have all come out quite well. The first time, I burned my hand really badly. You are supposed to heat up the pot first so that the bread doesn't stick. I used hot pads to pull the pot out of the oven, but as I prepared to plop in the dough, I grabbed the pot with my bare hands. Oops! Hope I don't make that mistake again.