The Swede Life of Jo and Simba: 23 1/2

Saturday was my half birthday!!! It also means that I have lived in Ljungby for just over 6 months. It is amazing how fast the time has passed. I can’t believe that our season is going to be over very soon, and I will be returning to America. In some respects, I can’t wait to come home. On the other hand, I am going to be extremely sad to leave here. I have made so many friends. I can’t imagine not seeing them every single day. It makes me sad to think about it right now even! So enough about that and back to my half birthday!!!

I like my half birthday more than I like my real birthday. My real birthday is September 3^rd. It normally falls around Labor Day, which is nice because in school it meant a 3-day weekend, but I actually don’t like it still. My birthday is too soon after the start of something new. When I was in school, it was always the 2^nd week after school started. I normally have the first birthday of my friends from when the school year starts. There is too much novelty around that time that nothing special normally happens for my birthday. It was the same way here in Sweden. My birthday was the first weekend I was here so I wasn’t really friends with anyone yet. This is how it normally is for my birthday, but not for my half birthday! By the time March 3^rd rolls around, I have lots of friends in the new place that I am in. This year was no exception. I had a fantastic half birthday!

It started out by traveling to Lund to coach the B team. Meghan and I went to Lund back in November (you can still read my blog about that crazy adventure). I remembered seeing a mexican restaurant on our drive back to Ljungby so I asked our driver if we could stop there on the way home. He said yes! Anyways, the B team played really well, and we won in 3. Every girl got to play, and every girl played really well. I think it was the best we have played all the way around. Our communication, defense, and offense were all really good. And the girls had fun playing too!

Now I have to take you back to my tragedy on Wednesday night so that you can truly understand my happiness from Saturday. Two weeks ago, I met an American guy that is living and studying in Ljungby. It’s really nice to hang out with someone who understands all of my jokes and references! Erik, Meghan, and I went to Harry’s on Wednesday night to have a drink. I was also a little hungry so when I saw on the menu that there were nachos, I decided I needed to get them. It said that it came with 2 dipping sauces too. I thought it sounded great! I can’t even describe to you my disappointment…

As you can see, it was simply cheese-flavored chips with fake guacamole and sweet chili sauce. They literally bought it from the grocery store and just put it in the basket. Did I mention that it cost over $10?! I was so upset.

Ok, back to the happiness of Saturday! After the match we stopped at Taco Bar: A Small Piece of Mexico.

I didn’t want to set my expectations too high after my disappointment on Wednesday. I was amazed to see that the only menu items were nachos or nachos deluxe, but I was not disappointed in the food this time! Of course, it was no Chipotle. It was by far the best Mexican food I have had in Sweden (I don’t include my own cooking in this haha). I was so happy after eating it. I was as full as can be, but I was so happy that I didn’t care!

When we got back to Ljungby, I took a nap. It was also the best nap that I have had in a long time. It was one of those naps where you are completely out! If Meghan hadn’t woken me up, I think I would have slept all the way until the morning. It’s a good thing that she woke me up though because it was time for my ‘party’! We had balloons all over the apartment, and our friend, Joel, was coming over. We had a lot of fun with the balloons!

I made Kickin Tequila Shrimp (click on it for the recipe) for dinner. It was really delicious!

Meghan’s mom had mailed her some Funfetti cake mix so Meghan made Funfetti cookies for my half birthday too! She even decorated them and had candles too. They were super yummy.