Today was SMAK FEST in Tromsø, which means that we have met our lifetime quota for delicious food that we can actually afford. It started out with us making a mad dash for the antique shop because I had found a traditional norwegian cast-iron waffle maker last week and for some reason I didn’t buy it, probably because I thought it was too heavy, but then Tyler made me see that that was a stupid reason to not buy something so authentic so we had to get it before someone else did: I hope this run-on sentence helps convey the urgency of the desire for this waffle iron. We got it. Thank The Lord, because Tyler was threatening to hold it over my head forever if it was gone. 

It continued with buying ski boots that should have cost $164 but were on sale for $38, so now I’m ready for snow. 

The food festival was mostly centered on Norwegian cuisine; things like fiskesuppe (fish soup), reindeer, and of course lefse. Lefse is a sort of flatbread made from potatoes, and most Norwegians fill it with gjost (a sweet dark cheese). I sampled every single station that had lefse, and then when we got to the end I sampled them all again. And then I bought a box of it to bring home to my friends on the farm… But mostly for me because I literally couldn’t eat any more. I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture of lefse, I was too busy cramming my face.

  
  
Ty is standing next to a display of torfisk, a traditional way of preserving fish by hanging them out to dry. After we sampled some of the amazing food, we got some coffee at our favorite place, and enjoyed it in a Sami tent (they call it a lavvu)  that had been erected for the festival. 

  
We also found Harry potter in Nyorsk. Yay!

  
Things I learned today; 

1. People who work for Amnesty International will laugh at you if you tell them that the only thing you know about Amnesty International is that JK Rowling worked there.

2. When walking toward someone, Norwegians want to go to the right. Always. If you go left, they hate you.

3. I need to learn the Nyorsk word for “excuse me.”