So my thesis field work has become quite the adventure. Basically
every site I go to has a fence I have to get through. All are electric to keep
the cows in and then some add barbed wire to that. I have mastered getting past
fences…kind of. The other day I was trying to be very quite getting through the
fence because there were cows in the distance. I don’t care what people say,
cows are f-ing scary. So if the cows see me, I turn around and don’t set traps
up at that site. Anyway, I was getting through the electric and barbed wire
fence when I lost my balance and my lower back landed on the electric fence. Of
course it shocked me and I screamed which made the cows be aware of my
existence. All that work and pain to get over the fence and I had to go right
back through it because the cows were coming. Ugh. Some pastures are wetter
than others. A few times I have gotten a boot stuck in the mud and my foot has
pulled fully out of the boot. I then have to balance on one foot while I try to
pry the boot out of the mud. I have been lucky not to fall into the mud…yet. When
I am not being chased by cows or electrocuted, I am falling because the ground
is covered with rocks and roots. I was setting traps in a forest and I got lost
for about a half hour before I found the car. My heart was racing. I knew I was
going to be ok because I had a gps, but I was still freaking out that I was
never going to get out of there. I was parking on the side of a dirt road and I
didn’t see that there was a small ditch. I got the car stuck in it. I had to
walk 2 km to the nearest houe and bother the cutest Swedish couple on their
holiday to help me. Thank god the dude was a car guy. They pulled my car out
with a rope. They were really nice. When I go back to take the traps down I am
going to bring them a present for saving my life. Another encouter happened
today when I got a flat tire. My first flat tire. I looked for the car manual
to find directions on how to change a tire and I couldn’t find it anywhere. So I
googled “how to change a tire.” I was in the process of lifting the car with
the jack in the pouring rain when a guy pulled over to help me. He didn’t speak
English so I had to speak in Swedish. It was awesome. I am confident that I can
survive on Swedish now. He was a pro at changing the tire. I have been very
lucky to not have these problem out in the middle of nowhere, where some of my
sites are. I have been seeing a lot of wild life. Deer, rabbits, a weasel, and a
muskrat looking thing. I have a good time doing my thesis, but it is a lot of
hours driving and being out. I am trying to get all the traps up as fast as
possible so I have been pulling 10-12 hour days. I think I have 3-4 days left
and then I will be able to chill for about 2 weeks before I have to go back out
and take the traps down. Enough of thesis stories. Our apartment threw a 4th
of July party and it rocked. There were like 12 of us and we had a nice bbq
paired with American drinking games and American song singing. We made s’mores
for the Swedes. They liked them. We had sparklers too. It doesn’t get pitch
black here ever in the summer and
the darkest point in the night is at like midnight so we did the sparklers in
the light. But they were still awesome. We ran out of beer so I had to keep the
party going. I chose to get everyone to play Catch Phrase. It became so
intense. It is really fun to play with people who don’t speak English as their
first language because the way they try to explain words can be quite funny. I took
a day off from thesis the other day to chill and went to Berg which is like 15
minutes away from Linkoping. There is a small beach by a lock in a canal. It was
really nice. The other relax time I spend watching Games of Thrones (which is
awesome). That is all for now. I am going to go be so Swedish and eat some
salmon and potatoes. Peace and Love.
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