where to start? I feel like I have been at Rosenhill for 2 weeks now, yet only one day has passed. you have heard about last night’s events so I dont need to explain our complete exhaustion today. nevertheless, we all attacked our daily activities with such enthusiasm, you would never guess we were jetlagged.

we woke up at 8 and ate a breakfast of homemade bread and butter, cheese, cucumbers, and turkish yogurt and granola with great conversation on the side. the people here are so insightful and opinionated about what they think is best for Sweden and the world. No need to worry about apathetic citizens here. so then we have morning chores to get ready for customers visiting the cafe. the cafe has a lot of sweets and is well known in Sweden for its apple cider, which is alcoholic. after chores there is another meeting where we decide what everyone will do for the day. hanna, elizabeth, and I started out picking wild strawberries on an overgrown pathway. it was hard to find them, but we picked so many. Ingrid, the cook, will use these strawberries to make jam. YUM. after a successful strawberry trip, we began to weed the onion and carrot fields. let me tell you, that is a back breaking job. but we got a whole row and a half done! then the bell rang for lunch, which consisted of pureed cauliflower soup, bread, and this potato and bean salad. eating like this makes me feel so healthy. then we took a break to swim in the chilly lake just about 600 meters from the farm. we laid out on the deck and relaxed which felt so nice after a days work. Lars, the part owner of the farm, along with his wife Amelia, boated up to the dock with a worker from the farm, Johann. they jumped in to swim ashore. they got out and, to our surprise, they were both wearing white tighty whiteys. no big deal. Valkommen till Sverige! after the lake we weeded more then went in for supper which we helped cook with Lars. had a few cups of apple cider then played badminton! my first game ever and we all laughed so hard. I looked around and noticed that we were playing with people from Germany, Sweden, and Ireland. I love it. soooo sorry this has been so long. I just have so much to say! basically, it is amazing here.

- Virginia

p.s. this is a picture of us picking strawberries:D