The sandwich thief

My trip wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t start off my morning with a mix of pure Debs bad luck/ American ignorance. At breakfast, a lot of people were packing sandwiches to enjoy later on in the day. I made myself a tomato and cheese sandwich, and my friend Bryan and I put our sandwiches in a Ziploc bag. Just as I began to place it into my backpack, one of the women that works at the hostel swooped in out of nowhere and began to chastise me for making a sandwich. I was so embarrassed and apologized profusely. Indeed, sandwiches to-go are frowned upon by the Swedes.

But this wasn’t enough. I figured I’d just take my sandwich and leave, having learned my lesson, and would never continue with my terrible ways of sandwich pilfering. On the way out, the woman chased me down from the other side of the room and grabbed hold of my arm. Shaking it up and down she kept asking me with a panicked frenzy “WHERE IS ZE SANDVICHES!!!?” I took the bag out of my backpack, explaining that I didn’t know what to do with the sandwich. She looked at me absolutely horrified, and told me I could throw out the sandwich now at the dish return or she’d fine me. I returned the “goods”, but I’ve become dubbed the Sandwich Caper by my friend Erik, and now I’m afraid to set foot in the breakfast lounge. And while the rest of my class enjoyed sandwiches, I was reminded of the old adage that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

After my breakfast adventures, we visited the neighborhood of Hammarby. Originally an old industrial area, it was reconverted into an eco-village in the late 1990’s in attempt to win the bid for the 2004 Olympics. This project is funded by a mix of private and public interests and designed by over 30 developers. The 26,000 residents live in the most incredible and environmentally efficient homes. Within the grounds it has schools, offices, shops, restaurants, community centers, day cares, a church, library, and even a ski slope. Hammarby also has public transit to and from the other areas of Stockholm, buses, ferries, bikes, and plenty of pedestrians. Cars are allowed, but it’s honestly stupid to have one. There’s so many alternative methods of transportation available to everyone for free, so why even bother? Easily, the most incredible part of Hammarby was how it deals with waste. Each housing complex has a 3 trash bins (organic waste/ combustible waste/solid waste) that connect to an underground vacuum system that relieves the residents of its waste. After placing the waste in its respective receptacle, the tube takes the waste to a central area where it waits for a main trash truck that takes it where it needs to go: composting, incineration plant, etc. As a result, trash trucks don’t have to drive nearly as much to pick up everyone’s waste. Similarly, the waste is all broken down and converted into energy to be used for future use. It’s absolutely awesome how even waste is viewed as a resource and is part of the equation of fueling the city.

P.S. Photo cred to Peter!