Smoothie rakas is smoothie

The past 20 days since the last post have been hectic and the upcoming week is about to get even worse but finally i found some time to write. Or i think i looked back and reflected and i finally have something to write.

We spent a lot of time in class building hydrological models and simulating various things such as net radiation or relative humidity but the most interesting part of these courses but also the most time consuming both physically and mentally was the field work. As usual the teams were completely random. And by random i mean the same people were in the same groups...It's hard to infiltrate groups of people that grew up together and studied in the same masters. So i was left with Fabian, Shahar and Paulina. Fabian is not what you would call my best friend but he is very smart, hardworking and efficient. I would pick him in a group any time. Paulina is more or less the same and she really likes her Excel files to be tidy and compact.

During the field we had to be in that farm for hours. Building, measuring, walking like little robots around the pumping wells. The Groundwater modeling course was completely disorganized. We had to improvise in order to measure things like water discharge and use crappy equipment but i guess it is a good thing as you have to be creative and get the job done. The first time the weather was crystal clear and warm. As i was moving the equipment back to the university provided van i stopped dead on my tracks.

Sometimes when i look around this country i am awed by what i see. Sweden is truly an extraordinary place to live both as a society and as a testament to Earth's natural beauty. And that is exactly what happened here. An endless sky of light blue with clouds in any kind of shape that looked distant and otherworldly. They stood there in formation like a thousand battleships straight outside a science fiction movie. I gazed there in awe with my jaw dropping while i caught myself saying "Wow dude, you live in an amazing place". Scenes i had only seen in movies, pictures or video games. And since then every time i look up i feel like we are in a little tiny ball and our town is shrunk and the sky and clouds reign supreme and massive like a juggernaut above us.

A friend said that the windows XP background picture was taken in Sweden. I believe that.

Good times. Then we entered the small abandoned meteorological station. A dusty old house with leftover equipment and signs of previous life. It looked and smelled like a bunker from World War II. It also had one of those old hippies Volkswagen vans that was there for years and you could see the stickers on it from its past travels all around the world.

The next week was even more stressful. Jasper, the dutch guy that wrote the previous amazing article about making beer from dinosaur bones was arriving and i promised to show him around. On the same time i had my essays. Not only that but i was also supposed to babysit Shila, Mr. Andrea's cute little beagle (flight ticket pun intended). She is totally the best person i have only met 3 times. Also my fox was arriving one day later which made for a really action packed schedule. But first things first.

Say hi Jasper!

I met Jasper in our department at the Geocentrum after class and i quickly showed him around. I learned he found an overpriced home to live but i guess it is a good start as housing is a real issue here. I also introduced him to our supervisor Susanne but none of the other classmates because when i tried, frankly they didn't give a fuck. Oh well. We headed for the Evolutionmuseet of natural history but it opened at 13:00. So we went to the cafeteria where i found a baboon, a guy that dresses like a woman recently, a guy that i was not sure he still existed, a guy with rotten potatoes for hair, a guy i had met but had no idea and a girl that had too many tequila shots in Snerikes last night. The baboon was no other than Holger and he made fun of my clothes telling me i looked like a sitcom guy from the 80's that wears this clothes to get laid.

"In that case i should lend you my clothes so you can get laid finally too". Always prepared to strike back. Everybody laughed except from the Belgian hangover girl that was sleeping on the table.

Afterwards we went to the Swedish and Scandinavian fauna museum followed by the dinosaur museum. I hoped to see more dinosaurs but there were these amazing Pentaceratops and T-Rex skulls that i could fit in their mouth and sleep it was scary and also awesome. Jasper took a thousand pictures it was like his favorite playground it was nice to see that. He also knew many of the bones names and anatomy so i am sure he will have a great time in the Paleobiology master.

We went to my place to check on Shila and take her for a walk as we were supposed to pick up a temporary nation's card for him. It was so funny when Shila was in the house for the first time she barked and the girl that lives across the hallway asked me:

"Kostas did i just hear a dog or did you bark and i am going mentally insane?"

Hilarious. Anyways we headed out and it started raining but i still had to show Jasper around. We went to the center, we ate some dirty food from MAX's and i showed him the student nations. Time passed, the rain was soaking my clothes and we were greeted by even worse news as it is virtually impossible to bypass Swedish bureaucracy. Jasper was denied a temporary nation's card as his evidence of being a student was not enough and he is admitted officially from this September. Understandable but bullshit if you ask me. He said that in Amsterdam you would be welcome with open arms. I had to get back home so he decided to hang out in Palermo where he met a retired Finnish professor and another guy and at least had his fun.

Back home Shila was like a wet cloth. I took the hair drier and cleaned her up. She fell on the ground like a dead cockroach enjoying the heat of the drier. I love dogs. I slept and slept and slept because the next day the fox was coming from Finland. In the morning i made a mistake and as usual i made a mistake and went out for a walk 1 hour earlier than i intended. That meant a huge walk in the park with Shila and the consumption of 2 ice creams and a bar of chocolate.

#Instabeagle.

Shila is not really fond of buses and i m surprised she was so quiet in the bus ride to Arlanda. As i entered terminal 2 there was a girl looking at me and Shila all the time smiling. So i did the responsible thing and let her pet her. She was really happy and then her boyfriend arrived. I said bye and waited for the fox. She had a terrible packed flight full of screaming kids so we just took the bus back home.

The next 4 days were simple really. Take Shila out, watch a movie, go out to Storken's for fika, leave Shila to the next babysitter, watch some more movies and eat ridiculous amounts of candies. Ahhh the perfect life. It is also worth noting that we went to the O'learys Irish pub in Uppsala and had the best fish and chips and cheeseburger with BBQ sauce ever. It is expensive and you will pay an arm and a leg but every once in a while or even if you are just a sports fan its a great sports bar.

Don't mind me just taking my Shila out for a walk.

On Monday the little coconut left so i was back to square one with my only company being Twitch, the death of Murllll in the Outer Heaven Network that streams only Metal Gear games relentlessly and my essays. Loads of essays. And statistics. Gah. It is also my name day and it was heartwarming as usual to see how many people that never talk to you just send you a random message or tag you in a post with another 350 people and say happy name day. For the rest that actually sent me a message thank you very much, even if we don't talk a lot i appreciate it greatly.

Other than that i don't really have any other news. I guess a fun fact is that Marta, the old woman that rents me my room forgot once more what i study and what nationality i am. I live here for a year but its ok. I also told her that i liked this winter and it was not so bad. Her reply was "I don't remember how this winter was". I wish at times i had such a bad memory about some things.

Well, wrapping it up it has been a busy and interesting May! I am still looking for more writers! Please if you live in any place in the world and you feel like writing about anything sent me a message or leave a comment! It is really a great way to express yourself and a relief.

Until next time, bye Sweden! Bye world!

Jurassic World - Helsinki

"It's 9000 miles..back to you...I still feel like home is in...your arms".

Home sweet home. Or was I already at home in Finland minun Carita?

I am back in Sweden. I just arrived this morning after a tiresome trip that involved loads of buses, sleeping on radiators and eating kanelbullars. My biological clock is disorganized totally since i slept during the day and then woke up just to eat and join a weird Halloween party for 2 hours. And i guess i want to share the other part of my adventure in Helsinki and satisfy you 4000 monthly readers that love my sarcastic tone!

Approaching home around 9 am with heavy legs and frozen hands, eyes ready to close and no real food for a day or so i found the energy to take one more picture. Every season looks to be even more beautiful in Sweden. Dress well, winter is coming.

Right outside my house..

What about Finland? Until Wednesday it involved quiet things, mostly staying inside, watching silly movies, cooking loads of different food, eating a lot of garlic bread and taking Ippu to the dog park. I like this life. I felt relaxed and not in a rush to do anything else, to go to clubs and drink until dawn. Sometimes the world needs a little old-fashioned.

Then we moved to Espoo, a fairly large area near Helsinki. It was a 1.5 hour drive and we listened to horrible music on the radio that made us want to gouge our eyes out. We stayed at her parents house since my flight was really early in the morning and the airport was about 30 minutes from there. Her parents were on vacation though and we only had the little sister in the house. Our dialogue was amazing and involved me talking about dogs and her nodding.

So we watched even more movies as i prepared for the last exciting day in Helsinki. Should i make a list of what we watched? Yea sure why not. If you are a fan of bad movies that are so bad that they are good yay!

Airplane! (1980): 10/10 They just don't make movies like these anymore. Ridiculous dialogues, epic fails, shit that hit the fan, inflatable drivers, alcoholics and idiots coupled with rotten fish. A must watch.

Bad Granpa (2013): 9/10 This made us laugh so hard sometimes that the whole building must have shook from it. Over the top farces and gags coupled with cheesy lines and ending make it a nice movie.

Shutter Island (2010): 5/10 Hmmm this movie had a decent enough concept and a lot of plot twists, but the acting was weak at some points. It seemed that they were trying too hard.

Equilibrium (2002): 3/10 A Matrix wannabe. It tackles some interesting points that were better pictured in V for Vendetta but the special effects are weak and the fighting ridiculous anno 2014.

Warrior (2011): 8.5/10 A great movie for MMA lovers and one with a strong background story regarding the importance of family, bonding and struggles.

Bruno (2009): Either 0/10 or 10/10 If you are a fun of really ridiculous movies, racist jokes, sexism, rednecks and public mayhem then this movie is for you. If not and you find that offensive...ehm better stay far far away. It does make a mockery though out of stupid concepts like gay conversion or psychics.

Jumanji (1995): 8/10 The special effects show their age but it is a pretty entertaining movie. A classic.

Jurassic Park 1 (1993): 8/10 The special effects are incredible for a movie that is 20 years old. Some of the actors were horrible and i don't think i even remember who is the lead actor. Good movie.

Jurassic Park 2 (1997): 1/10 What do you get when you have a movie with 3 of the actors i hate the most, shitty plot full of holes and a lust for money? I guess a sequel. I despise Vince Vaun, the guy that plays the dinosaur guy and Julian Moore.

Jurassic Park 3 (2001) We didn't finish that one but it was way better than the second one. Also why does every movie have to have an annoying screaming kid? Oh and that wife there, i wanted to punch her in the throat. Unknown lead actor from first film returns.

As you can see i spent my time as a family man. And i loved every second of it. And this is how the post switches direction and will be more of a photo-show again to better illustrate my day in Helsinki. I cannot show all the 300 pictures i took, but feel free to visit here, like, leave a comment or tell me to go to hell :D

I also had a try on the sauna. Being in 55 Celsius made me so sweaty and wanting to kill myself for a cold shower. I thought my contact lenses would melt into my eyes and crabs would eat my flesh and make me look. The cold shower after was priceless.

We took the scenic route as usual and took bus 165 from Espoo to Helsinki main station. The ride was pretty expensive at 5 euros per ticket for a 40 minute ride. It actually was cheaper than Uppsala-Arlanda which clocked at 60 crowns.

At a big central square.

The day was lovely. Sun and clear sky everywhere and around 10 Celsius which is great weather for Finnish standards. First we walked a bit towards the Finnish Museum of Natural History. If you visit Helsinki and not go there, i will hunt you down and force you to do it. The entry is 5 euros for students and 10 euros if you are a mongrel like me and brought no student ID.

Entrance to the museum. Big moose and giraffes.

Getting inside we paid the ticket, got ourselves a map and then the adventure started! We were greeted by a massive elephant that reminded me of the jumanji movie and we headed up the stairs. I wish i could show you all the pictures!

Do not poke the elephant. Wildboar cameo too.

Oh this paper guy too.

I really need a haircut.

The first floor was full of history stuff, from rocks and fossils to animals and the big bang. It was the next floor that i wanted to see!

They actually had live fossilized stuff in the jars.

We made our way to the top to see the finnish and global fauna and flora, a sight that was absolutely astounding. I was running around like a little boy taking pictures everywhere i could!

Getting ready to snap the pray.

A little boar family.

All my favorite animals in one building. I am so excited just to think about it!

Majestic creatures.

What, did you think there would not be snakes?

Not everything involved flesh eating beasts.

And then my favorite part. A childhood dream coming true. Dinosaurs!

I think i just jizzed in my pants.

I think i can die happy now!

A triceratops too!

Just look at the size of the megalodon!

Then there was a common finnish household that gave me the creeps.

No thank you.

We moved to a room full of skulls and bones.

These actually reminded me of the skeleton monkeys in The Mummy Returns.

Carita also decided to poke a man in the eye.

She actually tried to remove his jaw and brains.

Closing in a nice picture i took in the local fauna room.

Feeling foxy today?

Oh we are hungry so we try to GPS our way to a place called Fafa's that serves fallafel. We fail so hard and when we finally make it there it looks horrible. So we do the right thing to do in times like these and we enter a candy shop where i fill a bag with tons of tutti frutti.

We try to find a pizza place and we end up in Pizza Hut. For 11.40 i got the worlds most depressing pizza. Like really depressing. So small i wanted to dance and do the chacha in front of everyone. And the view was amazing as a van parked right next to the window. So i ate way too much candy.

Then we walked and walked around the city until the sky consumed the sun and the cold was penetrating our coats. We headed for an Irish pub and drank even more beer. That+candies=bad combo.

The most famous cathedral there.

It's time to go back. We run to catch the last train and we barely make it in. I am probably going to vomit candies, pizza and beer. But it's alright. We get the train ticket inside and everyone is looking at me like i am a maniac, since i keep laughing, smiling and having a good time. My friend has a blast as she is not used to this and we get off the train and walk back home. In every neighborhood apparently there was a murder and we made it to the playground where we sat on the swings like little kids.

Back home we ate more, drank more, watched the horrible Jurassic Park movies and we did not sleep. At all, because we were afraid we would miss the flight.

At around 4 am we started our journey to the airport. We arrived at 4:40 and my flight left at 6:55. Carita spent over an hour to keep me company and i was really worried for her safety when she drove back home. She is safe now :*

We made a mayhem in the airport, or better say, i did and she laughed at it. I just sat there in a seat playing Assassin's Creed: Pirates on my tablet and entered the airplane. Apparently it is also easy to leave Finland as you need just a boarding pass, no identification.

What is it with me, planes and strange people? The flight was good, the air hostess tried to ask me 3 euros for a bottle of water and when it was time to leave i turned around and saw the worlds most angry man glaring at something. I made a quick escape to the bus stop, where i took bus 801 back to the city center.

There i devoured 2 kanelbullars and rode bus 7 home. And then i died for 12 hours. And i am going to do the same now since i am so tired and bored.

Leave a comment, like, share and follow me through the widget in the right! We will talk soon as it is Halloween and something interesting will surely show up!

Goodnight Sweden! Goodnight my Carita!