Umeå Part Ett (1)

Intro Sami Culture Day 1/16/15

Yesterday morning we began the day with breakfast from the hostel. The jam is delicious! However, the cold cuts for breakfast isn't my favorite. First item on our agenda was a visit to the migration board to receive our study visas. We used the buses to get there and got lost trying to find the office. But eventually we found it!

Left to Right: Me, Mackenzie Sorensen

Snow climbing in the parking lot of the migration board office waiting for it to open.

Our group waiting for our turn at the migration office. 

Afterwards we went to the Tráhppie Cafe for fika (coffee time). The cafe is a cultural center for Sami people. There was an exhibit of Sami art and craft. A professor of Sami culture at Umeå university, Kristor, was our guide and I purchased his yoiking CD (Sami singing). For lunch we ate at a nearby cafe in the Vasterbotten Museum. I tried a smoked reindeer toast sandwich. So yummy. 

 

Left: Thumper (Hannah) reading swedish version of Bambi and pointing thumper, named Stampe in Swedish. 

Right: Me eating my reindeer sandwich. 

Then we got a tour of the rock art exhibit by a local archeologist. Along the water, indigenous populations carved into rocks during the stone age, often depicting reindeer and hunting. Another exhibit was the history of skis. On display was the oldest skis in the world, found in a bog. 

Pictures of the rock art and the blue signifies water

Worlds oldest ski

To keep the costs down, a lot of us bought groceries and are cooking dinner in the hostel. One of my favorite cheap meals is chili and rice aka hobo food. To end the night we all played cards and got to know each other. It is a great group and I am so excited to spend the next months together. Everyone is comfortable with each other and can hang out with each other.