Good morning!  It has been five days since I last wrote, and they have been among the most relaxing five days of the entire trip.

I somehow made all my connections, and because Falun is not very large, Maria, Kerstin, and Maria’s father were waiting for me at the station.  We jumped into the Audi, laughed about the fact that I was actually in their town, and drove to Kerstin’s house.  A few of their friends were there when we arrived, including CC and another person whose name I no longer remember.  I was a little sick, so I had only one beer before we all went to a bar called Marians, or something similar, where I had another drink.  We laughed and talked, and I met several more people that night.  We eventually went our separate ways, and I wandered back to Kerstin’s house.  A spare bedroom had been prepared for me, and I slept extremely well.  Kerstin left early to see the doctor and woke me around 11:00am when she returned.  We had breakfast on her balcony and then met a few more people.  Maria, Kerstin, CC, and I went to a cafe and then to the lake just outside town.  I finally had waffles, which were delicious.  We also saw the cottage that Kerstin’s family had recently bought before returning to town.  Back at the house, Kerstin and I ate moose for the first time.  It was served in a stew and, for all I knew, could have been beef.

We wandered downtown, where they gave me another tour, and eventually went to CC’s place to watch Layla 4-ever.  It was a very sad but well-produced film about a Russian girl being trafficked.  Afterwards, we all wandered home, and Kerstin and I talked in the kitchen about life, feminism, and the good stuff before going to bed.  I barely remember what happened the next day. I think I went to Maria’s fairly early, and we simply wandered around while I wrote plenty of emails.  Kerstin brought my things over later because she was leaving for Oland, an island east of Sweden.  Maria and I had dinner with her parents and brother, then went to a bar and met more people, including a woman named Rebeka.  One man tried to teach me a Swedish pickup line, prompting Maria to shake her head immediately. I later learned it was a local joke that did not translate especially well.  We wandered home and fell asleep.  I will call the following day Movie Day.  We spent much of it relaxing, although in the afternoon we visited the former copper mine. It was interesting, though similar to other mines I had seen.  I also spoke with Ana online. She happened to be on MSN when I checked my email, and we talked for about an hour. I was enjoying her company and looking forward to meeting her in Prague on the 27th.  Maria kept walking in and laughing at the enormous smile on my face.  We had pizza for dinner, then watched The Sum of All Fears and The Usual Suspects.  Maria fell asleep during the second film, but I finished it before going to bed.  I woke around noon the next day, ate, watched television with Maria’s dad, wrote emails, and wandered around town.  At about 4:00pm, we had meatloaf for dinner and then watched films for the rest of the evening: Rain Man on television, Two Weeks Notice with CC and Rebeka, and then Road to Perdition.  After writing thank-you cards to everyone, I fell asleep around 2:00am. I woke fairly early, at about 8:00, showered, and was dropped at the station for my 9:13 train.  Now I am on my way to Munich, and I am going to eat a sandwich. Goodbye!