The Frozen Tundra

Yesterday we packed up the hostel rooms which had been our home for the last five days and boarded our first bus which would take us from Umeå to Jokkmokk. The first bus ride was about 5 hours long and brought us to Luleå. We missed our connecting bus from Luleå to Jokkmokk by five minutes, causing us to have to wait about three hours for the next one. We arrived in Jokkmokk around 8 pm. Upon exiting the bus, we could immediately tell that we had traveled a good distance north just by the temperature. After a little exploration, it was determined that Jokkmokk is a small town, not unlike my home town of Paynesville, with a population of about 2,500.

The dorms are pretty interesting but also in my opinion, pretty great. Our dorm, "the old dorm" has the laundry facilities and a sauna in the basement. The best part? The shower is in the kitchen. Yes folks, you read correctly, where one might suspect the pantry to be is in fact the shower. I took my first pantry shower last night, though decided not to cook anything simultaneoulsy. I do have three weeks after all.

Today was spent in fantastic discussion of Hugh Beach's book, "A Year In Lappland." It's so fascinating and I'm loving every minute of this experience. It feels as if I have been here so much longer than just a week, and I could not be happier with the dynamics of the group. I am in the presence of some truly wonderful people.