Saturday 28 May, Family Reunion Day

We slept like the dead. I woke up at around four-thirty or so and saw that it was already quite light out. I think I might have fallen asleep again for a bit, but we were out of bed before six and we had a bit more of the quiche that Eva was kind enough to make for us. James was curious what their Saturday morning children programming was like and we saw the most bizarre music video of a man and four women dressed up in baggy cat outfits meowing and singing in a disco video. James tried out the outdoor shower and ran out of cold water very quickly so he took me over to the community shower. It's pay with tokens, Magnus gave us about eight tokens for during our stay. Got ourselves all ready for Magnus to show up. After having breakfast with him he suggested we put together sandwiches, etc. for a picnic lunch while we were out looking at old family homes, etc. He drove us all over the area, pointing out where his mother was born, etc. We met several people and he purchased a book written by someone in the community to give to me. It was a history of who had owned properties and whom they had been sold to so my family name showed up in there several times. He also took us to see a Bronze Age house. After a few hours we found a picnic bench with a great view of the sea and had lunch. After lunch he continued to show us different houses and then he took us to the place where my great-grandfather had been born. We met the people who owned the land now and the wife walked out with us to show us all that was left of the house. Part of a stone wall and a large stone with a door hinge on it. It was up on a bit of a hill and I stood for a while looking out at the green fields and the nearby glen. We took photos and thanked them for letting us visit. Then it was time to go to the family reunion.
There were so many people there, almost thirty adults and some children. Everyone formed a long line to come over, introduce themselves, and shake our hand. It was surprisingly hot out and I wasn't dressed right at all. It had seemed chilly when I picked out clothes at around six in the morning. I don't think they have any concept of skin cancer there. We spent virtually all day standing or sitting in the sun. It was really nice getting to meet everyone though. I got to meet another Petra! We went on a walk through the forest. They had a game set up on the walk through the forest with multiple choice questions tacked to trees. It was a beautiful area, right next to the lake. After that it was time to Bar-B-Q the Ka-Bobs we assembled and they told us that we should be instructing them on how to Bar-B-Q since we're Americans. We told them that my Father is really the master meat griller in the family and that we generally just contribute the meat to be put on the fire. They told us that we needed to stay for much longer and suggested that we call our work and tell them that we would not be coming back. It was nice feeling so welcome by family, they really wanted us to be there. =) I spent quite a bit of time sitting with Magnus going over the photos that I brought for him and the family tree scroll that he was carrying around. I blanked on a couple of the little kids names. They were shocked when they saw the photo that my grandmother had taken of their ranch in Red Bluff when it was snowing. "You have snow?!" Hehehe...well, yes. Some places in California actually do get snow. I thought I was going to pass out for a while there. I ended up having to retreat into the little park house with a restroom and a kitchen just so I could down some cups of water and be out of the sun. Magnus arranged for a nyckelharpa player to be at the reunion so James could speak with him and try out the instrument. The performer, Lennart Dunér played several tunes for us, it was lovely. All of my family was sitting around on chairs and on the grass listening to the music. It was so kind of Magnus to arrange that performance. He really went out of his way to make sure that we felt welcome and got to see everything that we were interested in during our brief stay. I want to learn Swedish. I am going to go ahead and buy the language CDs through my store and see if I can't get myself to at least know more than a few phrases. Ate a lot of good food, they had a lot of desserts, and I ended up drinking a cup of coffee. I liked it. Course, it had milk and sugar in it, but I liked it. When I tried it I turned to James and told him, "My Father is going to laugh at me. I like this." (He did. He said he was going to bring me over to the Dark Side yet). We were there till about nine-thirty or so and then Magnus drove us back to his little cottage in Frosakull and made plans to be there at around eight-thirty the next morning so he could eat breakfast with us again and then he would drive with us part way in the direction we needed to go to get to Goteborg and find our hotel. I gave him the pen that I had bought at B&N for him. He insisted that I use his cell phone to call home and talk to my parents. I wasn't really feeling homesick, I was more tired and sun exposure exhausted than anything else. Poor James' face was really sun-burnt and part of the top of my head had gotten it too. I ended up falling asleep on the couch in the sitting room for a bit while James took a quick shower. Aside from all the sun and the surprising heat it was really a wonderful day.