Jokkmokk Winter Market

Yesterday, at 4:00am, I boarded a double decker coach bus headed north of the Arctic Circle to Jokkmokk. All this week, there is a winter festival put on by the Sami (history of Sami = history of Native Americans - but with warmer clothes) with street vendors, exhibits, food, and fireworks. Minus the 4am thing, it was definitely a fun trip. Hugh can now tell people he finished dog sledding only to call shotgun in a helicopter and take off. Though I didn't do the dog sledding (I can do it with Jenny in a couple weeks) or the helicopter tour (I'd rather fly a plane), I did get to pet a reindeer...as well as eat one (they're actually pretty good). I also got to watch a reindeer race where two reindeer are hitched up to their own sleighs carrying a random person from the crowd. They then race in a big circle where a group of people jump on a trailing rope at the finish to stop the sleigh and the reindeer from crashing into people. In all honesty, reindeer racing is probably the only real entertainment needed in the world.

I'd also like to point out that I miss snow...lots and lots of snow. Luckily, Jokkmokk had snow...lots and lots of snow. I may have been a bit more excited than everyone else, but seriously, I haven't played in snow up to my knees in a long long time. No one should live like that. I should probably also thank Jana for the gaiters which kept my feet completely waterproof (did I mention Gore Tex is the greatest invention ever? - yes, even better than sliced bread). I should probably also mention that I'm sorry to everyone else that was not waterproof and thereby ended up soaking wet by the end of the day (due to my shenanigans...and snow tackles).

Other than that, this morning I had one of those moments where you wake up and it just occurs to you that life couldn't get any better. I love it here.