Vyn över Gällivare:

Första snön (29:de september):

Berget på ett konstigt humör:

If you really, honestly and completely, have nothing to do, go buy some apples, a needle and some string. Slice the apples as thinly as you can, thread them onto the string (making knots in between so the apples don’t slide together and hang up.

In two days, they’ll be done. They taste much better than they look, almost like candy!

Nu när vi inte bor där längre kan jag blogga om stugan vi bodde i. Inte för att det troligen skulle hända något, men det känns lite sådär att säga ”jag bor på siochså gata, och här är en bild på mitt hus!”

Vi bodde i en månad i en stuga på en skidbacke – kändes ovant lyxigt, förutom åkturen ditupp (bergvägar är sidu branta) och saknaden av en tvättmaskin och, konstigt nog en ugn. Några bilder tagna från vårt fönster, samt en bild av en modell av berget:

Receptionen hade gratis trådlöst nätverk. Och en björn.

Tyvärr, kära läsare.

Sorgligt nog måste jag meddela att bokrescensiondelen av min blogg är nedlagd. Har den varit sedan… maj, faktiskt, men jag hade tänkt börja igen efter sommaren. Jag har hållit med rescensionskrivning sedan jag startade bloggen, var därför jag startade bloggen faktiskt, men i de snart två år sedan dess så har mitt intresse sinat.

Konstigt nog, när jag nu är så ofattligt bra på rescensionskrivning.

Livslevande guldmalm, från den lokala gruvan.

Efter att ha bott på Rallarrosen var vi definitivt ute efter något annat – vad som helst! Så, vi besökte den lokala kåkstaden, i Malmberget.

Här går Stephanie och letar bostad:

Men, eftersom det stod mycket tydligt att man inte får bo där, fick vi söka något annat. Äsch, och det som såg så fint ut efter var vi hade varit! Här är några bilder till:

Here’s the deal. I’ll write posts when I think of them, I’ll publish/schedule them all when I have internet access. Blogging is tough in this internet-barren land.

Last updated: 7.11.2009

Almost the only other occupants that ever lived in Vandrarhemmet Rallarrosen, lovingly dubbed ”the Indian Reservation”, while we were there were construction workers from Czech and Slovakia. They spoke neither Swedish nor English but were very friendly and polite. Not that we knew what they were saying.

One time a bunch of them were sitting out in the shared main area, and we thought maybe they’d like this bar of chocolate we had that neither of us really liked. We brought it out to them, they thanked us profusely, and we went back in our room. A few minutes later we heard a knock on our door, and when we opened *all* of them were crowded around the door and offered us two plates of juicy hunkin’ meat! Really manly stuff. ”No, no, it’s OK”, we tried to say, but they had these big grins on, so proud to offer us this ”delicacy”, and said ”Yes! Yes! For you!” We took it, but as soon as we got it inside and the door safely shut we burst out laughing, as quietly as we could.

We ate it, and it wasn’t half bad. They must have had a piece left over though, as a week(!) later they still had a plate in the fridge, note the fork and knife:

The pot beside it is, according to our best guess, chicken blood soup, a black, nasty smelling concoction.

All this might have been livable – they were nice guys, and not too noisy except for on weekends – but we did kind of wish they would stop walking around in their underwear.

As it’s hard to find an apartment in Gällivare, we decided to rent a room at the hostel, at least for the first month. However, after being there only one day we started looking for something else. They don’t have any pictures of the place on their website, I wonder why?

Then, in the middle of the grounds, they have an old abandoned orphanage. Scribbled on one of the bed posts in our room was: ”Look out for the orphans’ ghosts: they’re coming to get you!” Not likely, but the place does look kind of spooky:

Our windows didn’t open, there wasn’t any way to clean the place (we were the only ones who even tried) and the paint was peeling off the walls. Those were minor things though, the three main problems were:

1) The Bathroom

Yes, that’s mold.

2) The Kitchen

The dishes were greasy, the cupboards were filthy, the rags and towels had never been changed, and there weren’t any proper cleaning materials. The worst part was the oven – the first time we turned it on we thought it had started on fire. Soon we became braver, as we realized that was just normal.

3) The occupants (more here)

To the defence of this place: even though it was an outrageously expensive monthly price, she had given us a discount, and most of the living in Gällivare is overpriced as there’s a major lack of housing (the wait time for an apartment in town is several years). The furnishings are new, with a new table set and leather sofa, a big screen TV and an AC unit. The rest, supposedly, is on it’s way, as the place has recently changed hands and is apparently under renovation now.