Tuesday thoughts

I understand essentially everything my Swedish teacher says. Of course, she is speaking slowly and using simpler words, so it is not a huge brag for me to say so, but it is still a little bit of a brag. She still manages to use some words I don't know on occasion, but I can always hear what word she is saying and look it up. Hearing what word is being said makes all the difference. When normal people speak Swedish, I hear a new word and ask what does dayjorja mean? And the problem is that they were saying three simple words that I know and can use properly.

And here is a thing. The bathrooms in my school have some sort of weird feature where sound just travels between them (they are individual rooms, Sweden isn't really into a stall-system) incredibly well. The other day it sounded like a person was standing next to me talking on their phone. And today, just as I was about to flush the toilet I heard someone start chanting? I'm not sure what was happening, but I felt SO disrespectful to just flush a toilet in the middle of it.

Anyhow.

Today is another super hot day. I 'cooked' veggie wraps for dinner. Sometimes I start thinking about how there are days (maybe consecutive) where I just don't eat vegetables? I've been trying to avoid this by eating a carrot appetizer if there is not a vegetable included in my dinner choice. Today's veggie wraps had spinach, zucchini, cucumber, red pepper, red onion, avocado, and a pesto+mayo spread. Pretty delicious. Pretty friendly for a warm day.

Yesterday Greg started a trend of playing classical music while dinner is being prepared. I continued the trend today, because I like the idea of giving myself some musical education. Yesterday was a little Bach, today a little Vivaldi. Did you know that Vivaldi was a Catholic priest? And that Bach was influenced by Vivaldi's work (even though Vivaldi was only 7 years his senior)? The things you learn! Thank you wikipedia.

Did you know that rocket boots are a real thing? Leonardo DiCaprio knows it. Apparently a friend of a friend is 'rich and has fun toys' including a set of these things.

Enough topic changes without segues. Time to publish!

back home

Friday we packed up a lot of our equipment, and I hit the road on saturday. The rocket integration is not completed, but my advisor is there overlooking things now so that I can have some time to do work at home.

On the ten hour drive back I listened to the same radio station the entire time. It was very good. It was a station that plays only music for hip kids. I called it my ten hours of musical education. I heard a few songs I recognized. I also heard a lot of songs that I have come to recognize and like in these past five weeks of being spoiled with xm radio. In an attempt to figure out what these songs were I was writing little snippets of the lyrics on the back of my maps. I haven't yet looked at it to see if I will be able to decipher the writing, but hopefully I'll get a few out of it.

Last night I got home, took a shower, and went to sleep. The saddest part about my return was that I forgot that the hot and cold directions of our shower knob were switched. In fact I'm still a little suspicious that it somehow got changed while I was gone, because I really just don't remember that. Then, I woke up this morning and didn't know where I was. That has only ever happened to me if I am staying in a hotel, and now it has happened in my own home, how sad. But aside from that, I am so so happy to be home.