Next Therese and I went to her apartment. She lives about a ten minute train ride from the city. It is such a nice place and the view from her balcony is awesome! It looks out onto two beautiful soccer fields. We also had the honor of having the great Puff (her dog) with us the whole time. I have met him once before and I have heard so much about Puff when I was in Florida. It was so great spending good quality time with him. He is quite a character and just as great as I imagined.
It has been an eventful Easter. Therese and I went to Spin class. I loved it. It was a great workout and it was funny taking the class in Swedish. We went to ICA (the grocery store) Therese's ICA was huge!! It was sweet because they were selling waffles outside and they had free samples all over the place. I love Sweden! That night we made a lamb roast, with salad, potatoes and an amazing sauce!!! Therese is an incredible cook! In Florida she made some of the greatest meals. The food was delicious! We had dinner with two of her friends and then the next day had a Swedish traditional Sill lunch. I met more of her friends at this lunch and we ate so much sill. Sill is raw herring in different sauces. The herring is best with potatoes and hard bread. The fish looks kind of strange but I actually really like it! It was a lovely lunch and a great night with Therese and her friends. They were all so nice and it was so cool to meet people that she grew up with! I met one of Therese's friends Louise during my sophomore year in Florida; it was four years ago but when I saw her it felt like I had seen her just yesterday. It was so nice to see her again. It is so cool to see her now in Sweden. You really never know where you will end up in the world.
Saturday was a relaxing day which involved movies, a trip to IKEA and Chilis, tons of food and a trip downtown to say happy birthday to Patrik and catch up with Givi.
Overall, It was a great Easter weekend; One of the best I have had and I could not ask a better way to spend it over here. Thank you for everything Therese!!
To top off this amazing weekend. Sweden is now welcoming Leah Blayney into their country today!! Leah is going to be playing for Eskilstuna. When I was home we trained quite a bit together. I love training with her; Leah is just as intense as I am. She is an incredible player; one of the best I have played with. I know she will tear it up over here! Välkommen till Sverige!! Welcome to Sweden!!
Leah and I met a few years back playing for Soccerplus and clicked right away. We both got sent out to play in Boston for the Boston Aztecs and I was invited to live with Leah and Karise's host family. It was by far one of the most amazing summers I have ever had!!! We had a host mom (Cheryl) and we were constantly picking on her two kids Marisa and Maddie. Plus they had an amazing dog; Brady. Leah, Karise and I lived in the basement and called it the pig pen. I cant describe how much fun the summer was. The soccer was awesome but the family we created out there is something special. I love them all! Im excited for our new adventures to come!! Leah put a video together for me as a gift before leaving for Finland. This video is just a small peak of all activities we created and all the trouble we may have caused out in Boston.
Now I am thinking back on Easter last year.. I usually don't go home for Easter because of soccer but last year I went home because it would be my last chance to before I left for Finland. Martina my old roommate and best friend came to my house for Easter to celebrate as well. She tried to surprise me but my mom spilled the beans. She is not very good at keeping secrets like that. Its pretty funny! The day before Easter my family threw a going away party; my whole town, the pig pen crew, old friends, teammates all came and it was one of the best nights I have ever had. When Easter day came my whole family was pretty tired to say the least.. My mom looked up some Swedish traditions for Martina and found that the Swedish tradition consists of a folktale where witches fly around to this blue mountain to meet the devil. Swedish children dress up as witches with scarves around their heads, and their faces painted; they make Easter cards and go around to different houses in exchange for candy. Families will then have a bon fires at night to get rid of the witches and their evil spirits. You can also find feathers on trees as a sign of Easter. I have seen it everywhere here and it is really cool. The typical swedish easter food is Salmon, Patatoes and eggs. My mom, being very creative, made a blue mountain decorated it with peeps and then in a vase we put feathers on sticks. I made some salmon and she had scarves at the dinner table. We wore them around our heads to represent the witches. It was an unforgettable Easter. It was so much fun learning how other cultures celebrate the holidays!
Wherever you are in the world and however you celebrate your Easter day, I hope everyone has an incredible day. Happy Easter!
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