The first thing I should say is that I fell in love with Europe and Sweden in particular that first moment that the clouds parted and I saw the city of Stockholm from the window of the matatu of a plane I was travelling in. I am telling you nothing I have seen yet has topped that sight. Anywhoo....So I am in Sweden. Finally. After a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears I made it here. I think I should start this series of notes by describing my journey. And the first bit is dedicated to Kenyan police. Those guys all need a thorough beating. So I was at JKIA on sunday 8:40 P:M and I wanted to check in then chill a bit with my parents before going into the waiting lounge. I asked the policeman at the entrance whether it was possible and he replied quite courteously that I would be allowed back out. So I did get in. To my shock, on trying to get out again, the KAA people refused for me to be let out! But I forgive the policeman. HE probably had no idea what the hell I was asking (they usually don't)
SO I had 3 hours to wait to get out of Nai. Which I spent discovering the duty free section of the departures terminal. Quite an interesting place actually. Before I knew it, it was time to get into the plane and shortly after that we started moving. I actually consider myself lucky coz the guy who was to sit next to me decided to move to the row of empty seats that was next to our seats, so I got a whole two seats to myself. I utilized that chance to stare out the window throughout my flight. Which was coolest coz I got to see Abu Dhabi at night. And that was spectacular! My favorite sight that whole trip was Palm Island. it actually looks like a lit palm tree :-D
I made it to Brussels Airport by 6:10 A.M and it was kinda cold. But not out of the ordinary cold. That airport rocked. They had art all over the walls and in the terminals. And very very hot cars too. My favorite bit was the horizontal escalators. They were so good for dashing across the airport. I covered the 1.5 or so K.M in less than 10 mins. Passport control had a funny policeman who was cracking jokes with everybody like we was all his friends. :-D I spent 2 hours in Brussels then got transported across the airport again by bus to where the plane was. I had expected a nice big-ish plane like the one I had come in, but they duped me and took us to a small one...which shall be referred to henceforth as the matatu. The flight could be termed as a local one, which is why I think we got such a small and crappy plane. The pilot flew it like he was flying a fighter jet. Dude was doing turns so sharply! and his landing at Stockholm Bromma was horrible. The Swedish students who were in the plane with me complained so much during the landing coz the descent was pretty sharp and the pilot kept on making the plane sway form side to side as he tried to do who knows what. As you can imagine, the landing was bumpy. Very bumpy.
Stockholm Bromma Airport is almost the size of JKIA. Which was surprising coz I'd been told it was a small airport. Can't wait to see the size of Arlanda. I got out of Bromma within a few minutes of landing and got my face frozen waiting for the shuttle to Stockholm Central Station. That place was cold!!! Stockholm Central Station is now like the size of two Westgates put one on top of the other. Literally. And the burger I ate at the Burger King there still has the numero uno slot in my 'best burger' ranking. After figuring out whre to get a ticket, I chilled only a bit before getting into the train to Kalmar. Now the train was nice. Very nice. Not what I expected, having gotten used to Kenyan trains. And it could move pretty fast too. Average 100 KM/H. I can't tell you much about my train journey from Stockholm to Kalmar apart from the change over at Linköping coz I was asleep most of the time. At Linköping, I almost got left by the train to Kalmar coz I couldn't figure out where the hell I was to take the train! ´The information boards were in Swedish. But a kind lady helped me out thankfully and I made it across the station just in time. I arrived in Kalmar at about 8 in the night. Then I met Henrik and Tommy, my two sponsors a few minutes after that and thus my Swedish experience began!
Side notes:
My room in Falkenberg 25 is HUGE! In comparison to the closet I usually sleep in when I am in Nai. It's the coolest :-D
Swedish cable TV rocks. I eat breakfast while watching re-runs of the original Knight Rider and eat dinner watching 2 episodes of Simpsons. And yesterday the remake of Knight Rider was on. Tonight it should be the Terminator:Sarah Conner Chronicles. Can't wait for Chuck on Monday.
My sponsors are the coolest white dudes I know. First thing I was shown when I arrived in Kalmar; the town prison :-D
It snowed on my first day here. It feels like little rocks hitting your face. It was too cold to make snowballs then. I am praying it snows again one last time on Saturday morning so that I can hunt Henrik down and get him good with one snowball.
The funniest thing I have seen since I arrived here: A whale's tail rising out of the ground in front of a building. It made me stop and laugh. I gotta ask what that sculpture represents.
My bedspread has a drawing like the ones the police make around a dead body with a chalk. Hilarious :-D
The architecture around here is really nice. Many photos soon!!!
My first take off and landing were spectacular. One, they really were good. Two, I had classical music playing that set the whole mood.
Thank God for Swedish people speaking English. I would have never made it out here without them.
Keep tuned to this channel for more of the Chronicles of Kalmar!
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