100 Days in Denmark – A Brief Recap

I can hardly believe it, but today I’m completing 100 days here in Denmark. Time is flying by, the past few days went by way too fast and lots has happened. So, let’s get right to it, I’m going to try to sum up what’s been happening these past few weeks.

I think the best thing is to start off with the bad news and then finish the post on a lighter note. I’ve actually been avoiding thinking about the subject, but it’s inevitable, so here goes. Two weeks ago, on the 18th of May, one of my cousins, Aldo, passed away. There was a gas leak during the night at the apartment he was living in and he never woke up. It was a shock to the whole family. He was only 18 years old, he was  just starting his life and suddenly it was over. I think about him every day, about how unfair this is and the pain his family must be in. To be honest, this really shook my faith. I’ve always believed that things happen for a reason, but here it just doesn’t seem to apply. What could be the reason that a playful, healthy, kind boy, who was at home, the place where he should be the safest, just dies, so suddenly?

I talked to my brother about this just yesterday, and he said something that is true – we’ll probably never really understand what happened, but what we can learn from the situation is that we never know what can happen tomorrow, so we always have to make the most of today. It’s not enough of a consolation and it doesn’t ease the pain that I feel, but it is something to think about. I pray for his family every day, that they have the strength to deal with this loss and pain and that young Aldo may eternally rest in peace.

Aldo at Nego’s 60th birthday party.

On the weekend that I got the news about Aldo, my homesickness really hit hard. But, I was lucky enough to be at Kimberly’s house that day, my best friend here in Denmark. Since the weather was getting warm, we spent a good part of the weekend walking around and enjoying the sun. On Saturday, we went to the Royal Family’s summer house, Marselisborg Slot, and on Sunday, we went to Risskov beach to meet up with some friends who are also here on exchange programs.

The Marselisborg Slot Garden.

Risskov Beach – Much to our surprise, here in Denmark nudity is permitted at all beaches, so on this day we saw lots of interesting things. Unfortunately (or not) we didn’t capture it on film.

As incredible as it may seem, the weather continued to warm up during last week and we even got a few days with almost 80ºF. It was great, and I managed to go to the beach the entire week and even got a bit of color, it didn’t even feel like I was in Denmark.

Lucas, my brazilian friend, and I. Did you know it is ilegal to fly a flag from a country other than Denmark? Nudity yes, patriotism no!

One day, my Danish course teacher even decided to have our class outside, so we  could enjoy some of the rare heat. We went to the park by the library and sat by the canal. It was wonderful.

An interesting thing here is that due to the position of Denmark on the Earth (almost at the North Pole), the sunrise and sunset times, during the summer, are extremely different from anything I have seen before. The sun is now setting around 11 p.m. and rising around 4 a.m. It’s an incredible phenomenon and it makes me want to stay up all night just so I can see it.

Grenåvej, the main avenue by the house, at 10:30 p.m.

And along with all the heat and light, Denmark gets more and more alive. The street festivals start to pop up, the bars stay open until later and people start to go on picnics and to barbecues. This weekend, Kimberly and I are going to Copenhagen to a festival called Distortion. We are CouchSurfing again, we’ve already found a group of friends who live together and are willing to host us. Since the tickets to Copenhagen are pricey, we are hitchhiking there. It’s fairly common practice here, and there is even a site full of tips to help us out: http://hitchwiki.org/en/Aarhus. To save even more money, we are volunteering at the festival, so we won’t have to pay any entrance fees and we still get food and drinks. I think it’ll be a really cool experience, very different and memorable. And of course, I’ll make sure to register it all here so you guys can keep up.

Have a great end of the week and a great weekend. I hope you are all well and enjoying each and every moment of your lives.