Sweden = Black Lotus

Not of the car but rather a land of black metal, which is the metal of screaming, growling, and rapid guitar riffs. Carl is a fan. We are staying in his dorm-like room in Flogsta, a suburb of Uppsala. Every morning so far, while taking a shower, I can hear the bass drum pounding away from Carls choice of tunes. For those of you that do not know, Sweden is THE homeland for black, death, and hard metal. For all their passive politics, the music sure is angry. This is my sarcastic observation that makes me laugh. I hear the growling and I just cannot help but laugh!

Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself. Sweden is gorgeous. With a somewhat flat terrain reminiscent of Ohio, everything is green and blooming. The weather is cool to warm and the sun barely sets. Last night it did not go down until around 10:15pm. It rises before 7am. If I were awake earlier, I would give a more accurate time but with the black shade that Carl pulls over his window (I finally see why it is there) I can hardly tell the time of day.

I arrived yesterday at the Arlanda airport that lies on the outskirts of Stockholm. It is so far out in the bush that my thoughts upon approaching landing were: grass grass tree road grass tree tree Runway! I am not sure of the geography of Stockholm but there is a giant river running through and around with many small and large green islands. It looked like a dream that Alice in Wonderland would come across in her travels.

A bike is necessary around here. Without a bus card, the bus is expensive running about $7 bucks a shot. Carl and I are on a mission to get one by hook or by crook (really, by hook!). In the meantime, I have to walk to town. It is about an hour from Carls place to the main square where I met him today. Carl has two more exams so he had to run to town for a partner study session.

I will have to write more later. Carl and I did a lot of running this evening and I am beat and hungry. We are off for Kebabs, Turkish food. Bye!