A good week.

I've had the week off from classes to do research on my final project for the semester. And I have done a bit of that but mostly I've been relaxing and enjoying the good weather. And trying to plan some trips.
I'm going to be going to the far north of Norway, way north, to the province of Finnmark, where the country meets up with Sweden, Finland, and Russia. I'm going with a classmate of mine and luckily we were able to get some funding from school to pay for most of the travel costs to get there. Otherwise, it would have been too expensive to go. I guess it's similar to going to the north of Canada. We want to do stories on the Sámi, the indigenous people of northern Europe. Traditionally they were reindeer herders but now only about 10 per cent of them still do this.
They are the people who see the effects of global warming first-hand. This year, the Norwegian government had to import food for the reindeer because the erratic weather didn't allow the reindeer to access their food sources.
I am also really interested in the preservation of Sámi language and culture. They have a university up there where Sámi youth from Russia, Sweden, Norway and Finalnd attend (The Sámi inhabit all four of these countries). I'm hoping to be able to go check it out.

I also found out this week that I got some money from Ryerson that I applied for to go volunteer at a newspaper in Moldova. So that's what I'm going to be doing for a month at the end of June, when school finishes here. I think it will be a challenge to be somewhere where the freedom of the press is somewhat less than what we have. And it is also the poorest country in Europe.
I'm hoping to go to Austria on my way down, and then take a train to Romania, and from there to Moldova. And maybe once the month is done, make my way through the Ukraine, to Russia, and back to Denmark to visit friends before I go.

But for now, Barcelona. I am going there for one week tomorrow, by myself. We have another week off from school. This time for play.
I hope I don't get bored talking to myself..