swedish christmas presents

i went to a beach party last night (merry xmas!) that blared techno late into the early morning; Ruta abandoned me promptly at 10pm, and the only person i knew there was a local beach bum we had met earlier that day, who had appointed himself as my guardian after Ruta jokingly told him to look after me. (i could’ve killed her). it was all well and good until he told me he loved me and would i please be his girlfriend—then i needed an out, and fast. thankfully i caught the eye of a friendly foreigner, and immediately set about making friends with him and the couple he was travelling with (a bunch of swedes, it turned out). they were great, and we were heavy in conversation when it became increasingly apparent that i had not shrugged off my guardian-turned-stalker just yet. he started hassling me, telling me my new swedish friend was no good, to watch out because he puts pills in girls’ drinks…it was nuts. we decided to leave the party (and the slightly psychopathic unwanted company) and continue our conversation down the beach, which would’ve been pleasant under the radiant full moon had it not been for my loyal guard dog tagging along. there was no way around it, he knew where i was staying; he followed me to my door, and proceeded to tie a palm leaf around the gate (to lock me in, presumably), and guarded the door for 15 minutes before drunkenly stumbling back to the party. i was shocked and appalled, and gave Ruta a real what-for when she asked how it had gone (well someone had to take the blame!). i would have been really pissed about the whole misadventure if it hadn’t been for our wonderful new friends, with whom we ended up spending the next 10 days, sharing meals, stories, dice games, and a lot of laughter.