Sweden

While I was in Denmark, I only went to Sweden once, despite it being so close to Denmark. It takes a mere 10 minutes to cross the Ørseunds Bridge to get there! I almost went a second time, in fact, the first day I came to Denmark (I almost got on the wrong train headed straight to Malmø central station, but that's another story...)

In any case, this time, the Brissons graciously invited me to accompany them to Malmø to see the opera, Carmen. I hadn't seen it before and I was REALLY excited. To top it off, we were going to eat at a traditional Swedish Bakery before the opera, so I was looking very forward to it.

Sunday morning, Maggie, Jørgen, their son David, their current host student, Ruby, and I all piled in their car. It only took us 45 minutes to get there from their house (which is outside of the city to the west of Copenhagen). Maggie made a comment at one point that it would take us longer to drive to the Copenhagen Opera because of where it is. Probably true!

In any case, we drove across the bridge and into Sweden. Really, Sweden (or at least that part) is pretty much exactly like Denmark. Flat, cold, with an occasional willowy tree here and there, but not incredibly diverse as far as terrain is concerned. The most exciting part of the journey for me, I will admit, was seeing an IKEA, IN SWEDEN. For some reason it seemed like some strange coincidence to see one there, you know, in its motherland.

Anyway, we got there, parked, and walked to the cafe. It was a Sunday, so of course, it was totally packed. Maggie guided us to the counter where we all selected a smorgasbord sandwich. These things were HUGE. I chose one with lots of baby shrimp piled high. It was garnished with Tomato, Cucumber, and Lemon. (I didn't eat the cucumber and tomato, but I did garnish the heck out of it with lemon juice). It was one of the best things I've eaten since I've been here.

Midway through our meal, one of Jørgen's colleagues from the Embassy in Mali met us to pick up some things the Brissons had for her. Perhaps this is a good time for me to tell you that Jørgen works for the Economic branch of the Danish Embassy in Mali. He lives there for about 6 weeks then comes home for a week or two. I have no idea how they do it. They are both very strong people. In any case, Jørgen's colleague, Angelique was very interesting. She was a Rwandan refugee who sought Asylum in Denmark about 10 years ago, and who ended up working for the Embassy in Mali. She's now studying for her masters, I think. In any case, she was explaining her thesis to us and it was very interesting. She has developed a model for predicting if African societies were ready for democracy. Really interesting!

Anyway, we talked and talked, and ate cake and hot chocolate. And by the end of it all, I felt like I had eaten about 3 days worth of food. It was actually quite nice to go outside and get some fresh air, even if it was FREEZING! Here I'll point out one major difference between the US and Denmark. On our way to the opera, we passed a park. It was no more than 35 degrees outside. If you were in the US, you would be hustling to get inside as soon as possible, probably. But Maggie suggested that we take a nice walk around the park (we had time). We did, and it was fantastic. David and I found a huge saucer swing and took turns pushing each other on it. We enticed Ruby to join in as well. It was fun to feel like a kid again.

After our play session, we headed into the opera. We were still VERY early, so we waited a bit. Jørgen pre-ordered our drinks for the intermission (I have never heard of such a thing, maybe it happens in the US, and I'm just ignorant of it). In any case, he pre-ordered them, and they were promised to appear on one of the lobby tables when we came out. Finally, they allowed us in the theatre, and we found our seats.

The first act was good, except the words and subtitles were in Swedish! I have never heard of such a thing before! I expected that it might be in French with Swedish subtitles, but alas, not so. It was funny hearing Swedish being squeezed into the popular tunes! In any case, we enjoyed ourselves (except David who kept getting the evil eye from a guy in front of us because he was explaining the plot to me a little too loudly during the first act). It was set in a very modern way, which helped us to understand it more.

As promised, our drinks were on the table during intermission. I had a Swedish brand cola which was good. We went back to the theatre to finish it up and something very interesting happened. Right after Carmen gets involved in the underworld with the nomads and such, that scene is depicted as being in a pole-dancing bar! The girls were covered up, but not very much! It was a surprise to see that in the opera, and I'm sure my American-ness was totally showing. Europeans in general have very little problem with nudity and sexuality, but I was totally blushing. Blame it on my raising! In any case, we finished the opera, which was completely depressing, of course, and went home! It was a really great time - I'm very glad we went.

Lots to tell about my biking adventures in Copenhagen, but that will have to wait until another day!

The (Swedish?) Adventurer!