The Sights and Sounds

Here are those pictures that I promised all of you! I planned on getting a lot more on here but we're having some technical and time constraints that limit what I can do. We also have some really awesome videos that we're goin' to upload soon (the internet here is entirely in Swedish so we have to figure out how to get it to English in order to get them uploaded). So without further ado, here is small sampling of what we've been up to the last few days. Bear in mind this whole site is in Swedish so these pictures may not be uploaded in the best way...also bear in mind that these pictures are in no particular order due to lack of free time! Enjoy!

Here's an awesome pitcure of downtown Stockholm.

Ditto.

An amazing castle in the hear of Stockholm where the Nobel Prize is given out every year!

Here's a pic of Jamie pulling weeds outside of the church this morning.

A Swedish girl shows of the lion mask she made (in honor of the "Daniel in the Lions Den" story we told today)

A picture of the fountain in downtown Tranas, taen during our walk on Thursday night.

Sweden is home to some truly massive slugs and snails! This a picture of one of the many giant black slugs we've seen here. Snails are everywhere here! You can't go walking anywhere in the woods without seeing dozens and dozens of them!

Nate and Heather hard at work on the roof for the church's sign.

The VBS kids try out their new kites on Thursday morning.

Some delicious Swedish desserts! Berry cobbler, coconut brownies and some crazy chocolate pudding.

Ariana and Heather are weighed down by various Swedish kids during a game of Duck, Duck, Goose!

Another picture of our thrilling Duck, Duck, Goose game.

As of my last update I honestly really wasn't very aware of what the girls had been up to. The guys and the girls have generally had very different tasks to accomplish. So Jamie decided to write up a little something about what the girls have been doing lately. I'll try to keep up with them a little better so I can write aout both sides from now on. Here's what Jamie had to say:

"Arianna Garofalo and I spent most of the afternoon helping one of the interns, Mary Beth prepare for what is called American Girls Club. The interns meet with local Swedish girls around 12 years old and teach them American things, such as recipes and games. We had a Christmas in July theme today so we iced cookies and strung popcorn while watching a Christmas movie. It was a very inetersting experience because most of the girls spoke very little English. Most of the people we have been around so far speak better English than we do! While we were doing that, Ariana Gubba helped another intern babysit kids from the church. She was on cloud nine. Tonight the girls went to dinner at a family from the churchs house. The food was again really amazing. We are getting ready to attend an orientation on Swedish politics. And its starting now!! So bye!"

The group agreed that yesterday was a very successful ay and we got a ton of work done. We got the chance to talk to a very intelligent man by the named Andreus (not really sure if that's spelled right...) about the state of the Swedish church and and it's socialist government. That meeting turned out to be very informative and interesting. It's amazing how a society that looks so much like America on the outside can be so very different on the inside. Later last night we headed into the heart or Tranas to check out the sights and go into a Swedish gorcery store. We got some pretty amusing and tasty items them! Today is shaping up to be equally successful day I'm happy to report. The guys have basically finished the trench down by the baseball field and have managed to clear away quite a bit of brush from the surrounding area. Nate and Heather are almost done with the roof for the church's sign and the girls have made a lot of progress on the weeding out in front of the church building. We'll be finishing up these tasks for the next few hours (it's about 2PM on Friday over here) and then we're all going out for some good old fashioned Swedish pizza in downtown Tranas. Well that's all I have time for today, but hopefully i can get a lot more pictures and videos to you soon!

-Adam Shaffer