Full schedule for the blueberry

Yesterday I went to Hagaparken in Stockholm with one of my dearest friends, Johan. We had a lovely lunch in the sun with a refreshing Champagne. I ate a delicious halibut and Johan had zander. We also exchanged some music and literature and had coffee. Could not have spent the day in a better way. Later on I met up with Lisa for a stroll in Gamla Stan and a short review of the last period of our lives before my departure. The evening I spent with Katina in her roof-top apartment, but we went to bed quite early since I had a long day ahead of me. The last day in Sweden pampered me nicely!

My plane ride was as smooth as can be. I took the bus from Stockholm to Arlanda Airport and checked in without any fuss. I had 7.5 kg overweight and had to pay for 3, which I accepted. No hustle with the security either. You could argue that it is ridiculous when the plane is half full, but on the other hand it is Luftfartsverket and not the airline that sets those rules.

In the gate I met the loveliest lady from Stockholm who looked slightly confused since it was a bit unclear on where we should enter. I told her that I had it under cover and we started talking while we waited. It turned out that she had reached the respectable age of 80 and she was heading to Israel to spend a week with her granddaughter with family. The lady spoke no English and her relatives had sent her off with a note written in English to show off at the different stations during the travel! It was refreshing to see and she is a good role model for other ladies (or people in general) in the same situation who wants to come and visit. No names mentioned...

They had boarded the lady down to row 30 and I had row 9 and since the plane was half empty I asked if the seats beside me were empty and they were so she sat down with me instead and we had wonderful conversations about life and love and everything. Couldn't have asked for a better travelling company. The passport control went smooth. The girl asked about my purpose and I said that I was going to stay with my Israeli boyfriend and she stamped me for three months. This time it will only be 1.5 months, but when I get back after our summer holiday in Sweden it is time to apply for something more permanent.

As I said before, we went to Zikhron Ya'akov to pick up wine and the main street was shut off for the Shavu'ot celebrations and it was full of people, although Shavu'ot is not really until Friday. Shavu'ot commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Not that we will celebrate it in a much more religious way than Swedes celebrate Christmas, but there will be a family dinner on Thursday. No time to waste! Better get down in the lions den all at once.

We are sleeping under a sheet only now, since the night time temperature has also stabilised. It goes up towards 30 in daytime and stays well above 20 in the night-time but this is only the beginning. They are offering really cheap fans at an outlet and we will go and buy a couple. This house has no air-condition, but I am not such a big fan about that anyway. The air gets too dry and cold and you catch a cold in no-time. It is enough to use the air-condition in the car.

This afternoon I have my first Hebrew lesson, or Ulpan as they call it here. The guys I am going to join is about one semester ahead of me, so this is the big test to see what I have achieved on my own at home. I have looked at the Hebrew by different means since last summer, but the last few months it had to give in for my thesis. Now the Hebrew is my focus! I can tell that I have learned the Alphabet since I was here the last time. I cannot read, but I can at least recognise the letters, which is more than nothing...