Another Beautiful Day

I feel guilty staying inside to do ANYTHING when the sun is shining so brightly outdoors, but I had things to do, so I can’t complain as I enjoyed the sunshine through the window. Kory, on the other hand, was invited out to go sailing with the husband of one of The Praying Women, so he scored big time today. He had to set aside his to-do list and take part in the rough life on the sea (see photo.) I’m glad he had a good time.




I drove Kaleb to school this morning because he slept in so long he missed the bus. When I drove out to pick him up, I told him he had to come home and do his science homework before he could go play with his friends. “I knew you were going to say that,” he said, “so while the rest of the class was watching ‘Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang,’ I went to the computer room and did my homework there, so now I’m done!” Oh, I love it when he outsmarts me like that. I drove him right up to his friend’s neighborhood and didn’t see him again until dinnertime.



There were only three of us Praying Women this morning at the prayer meeting, but boy-o-boy was it a powerful time in prayer. Kristen, the usual hostess, has had a bad headache for about eight weeks now. She saw the doctor and they ordered up a CAT scan or something, but she must wait several more weeks before her appointment (such is the ways of socialized medicine.) We prayed for her and then spent a good deal of time just thanking God afterwards because her headache was totally gone and she felt infinitely better. Hallelujah! I love to pray with those women.



We invited some friends over for dinner tonight – one of the couples owns the cabin we just borrowed (an old childhood friend of Kory’s), and the man from the other couple is a third cousin to Kory. They are so fun to be around as they have a great sense of humor and they just think we are the cat’s meow. For dinner tonight I made the best seafood chowder I’ve ever tasted in my life and I can only attribute it to the fine dairy products available here in Norway. I’ve made that soup many times before, but never has it tasted so good. They all thought so too, so I was pleased to satisfy their palate. If there weren’t so much cream in that recipe, I’d make it often, but Kory is trying to eat “heart-healthy” so I gave up making that soup a few years ago. When he asked me this morning what I was making for dinner I told him, “Something I hope won’t kill you.” He didn’t appreciate the snicker that followed.



I had to shop a bit for all the ingredients today and it was then that I realized why I don’t need a pantry or large freezer – everything is nearly at my fingertips with the mall attached to our building and all. Of course, it’s not open as often as I’d like, but still, it’s pretty darn handy. Tante Kari says she just keeps her groceries in the cart, puts the cart in the elevator and wheels it right on into her kitchen to unload the groceries, then takes the cart back later. Talk about the ultimate convenience.



One thing that’s different here from America is that many things are sold in standard packaging sizes. Take sour cream, for instance. Every company that makes sour cream sells it in the exact same size container. Sour cream sits on the table for nearly every meal here in Norway, so many other companies make a very fancy wooden container that conceals the standard sized plastic container purchased from the store. That way, the table looks fancy and formal, without the hassle of taking out the sour cream and putting it in its own dish (like they do for jam and many other things.)



Ice cream has that same feature. It comes in a plastic box with a nice fitting lid, (which is often used like Tupperware afterwards) but the container itself fits inside a decorative wooden box purchased elsewhere. When ice cream is served in the living room, sitting around the coffee table after dinner, it looks very nice and all the ingredient information and bar coding is hidden away. Often those decorative boxes are carved or painted with Norwegian patterns. Norwegians like things to look nice, which I appreciate, but having been raised in a trailer court, I can’t fully adjust to. I just put things on the table as they come from the store. There is a constant battle raging inside me between the Norwegian half, and the Ozark Mountain Hillybilly/Trailer trash half.  It's not clear just yet who is winning.

Happy Half Birthday, Kaleb!

I’m in love with my dishwasher. Not just because it washes all the dishes up AFTER a dinner party, but because it gives me a place to put the dirty dishes BEFORE the company arrives. I had such a tough time keeping the kitchen looking clean before I had a dishwasher. All the dirty dishes just gathered by the side or in the sink, but now, I can have a sink full of dirty dishes, and just stuff them away in my secret hiding place and the kitchen looks sparkling clean. Oh, what a lovely invention that dishwasher was.




We had Cousin Axel and his wife, Kari over for dinner tonight, along with the new pastors (husband and wife) of the Philadelphia Church. We also invited Tante Aslaug (Axel’s mom) at the last minute when I realized I made way too much food. None of it was leftover, however, as it all tasted so good everyone had seconds. Whew. I always get a little nervous when I cook American food, not knowing if the Norwegian palate can handle anything other than salt as a seasoning.



We love to have company, and we feel so blessed to have such a great place in which to host the events. Fitting eight around the table in our little kitchen here is way more comfortable than squeezing eight around our dining room table back home. And fitting eight around our coffee table for dessert here is actually possible. At home, it is not. Hmmmm.



I made salmon, pasta, cauliflower and a salad for dinner. I steamed the cauliflower and put a cheesy curry sauce over the top. Boy did I get compliments on that one. Cauliflower is a standard food here in Norway, but it’s always just steamed, served with no sauce or other flavorings. I was a bit worried that I dressed it up a bit too much, but everyone loved it. It was in the discussion of all the foods that are steamed here in Norway, that I found out there is a new appliance now available for purchase – a steamer oven. Just put the food in, and the oven somehow steams it right in the serving dish, and out it comes, ready for the table. It’s the latest thing and all the new kitchens being built now have one. Go figure. I’m not sure that would be a top seller in America, but the women tonight were pretty excited about it.



I woke up with a huge to-do list today and only accomplished half of it before I had to start getting dinner ready. Kory accomplished much on his to-do list but was a little disappointed he didn’t do more. He recaulked the kitchen counter and bathroom shower door and put new grout in some missing places in the bathroom floor. He also finished putting up all the trim pieces on the new wall and bought all the material to make me a little towel rack for some cool retro towels I got from Tante Ruth. He still has several items he feels rushed to get done, but such is life. One step at a time.



We are still unsure what we will do with our condo when we leave. We found out the hospital would be happy to use our apartment for visiting doctors, but they want us to have individual agreements with each one, as they don’t want to be responsible for its use. That’s not exactly what we want, so we will keep putting the word out there until something fits. The Good Teacher Inga told me her friend is living in England for a year and she just up and left her house, all the furniture as is, and got an agreement with an air ambulance company to rent it out for about $2,500 a month and they will only use it every now and then. That kind of thing would be EXACTLY what we are looking for, so we just trust God to drop something like that in our laps. But the clock is ticking. I’m not stressing about it though because based on past experience, I know that God is rarely early, but He’s never late.



(The photo today is one I took holding my arm in front of the windshield while Kory was driving last Saturday. I couldn’t even see what I was aiming at, but I knew what was in front of us. I thought it was a better picture than another one of us sitting around the dining room table with our company.  It's hard to take a bad photo in Norway.)

Sunny Days and Sundays Always Make Me Smile

The house still isn’t in order after bringing in all the things from our time at the cabin. It’s incredible how much stuff has to be packed up, then put back. I didn’t have enough time or energy before heading out to church this morning to get it all done, so now it sits waiting for me tonight, when once again, I’d rather be sleeping than cleaning.




We would have gone to Philadelphia Church this morning, but Kaleb called and invited Toban to come with us to church, and since he agreed to go, we went to Agape Church. It’s closer to his house and would be easier for him to attend after we are gone. He’d never been to church before so he didn’t know what to expect. On the way there I overheard Kaleb telling him (in Norwegian, of course), “You’re really going to like this church, Toban. It’s not like other churches. You can feel God there.” Toban responded with, “Oh?” and I saw his eyebrows rise up a bit. Kaleb warned him the music was loud, “like a concert.” I think he liked it.



Agape Church sings a lot of English songs so all throughout worship time Kaleb was leaning over and translating the words to Norwegian for Toban, so he would know what we were singing about. I wish I could have heard some of the words he used, as “Christian-ese” sometimes is pretty hard to understand, even in English. They did just fine and dismissed out to children’s church while we heard another wonderful sermon from Pastor Mark. Mark stopped in the middle of his sermon, after Kory shouted out a loud and appropriate, “Hallelujah!” and he said how wonderful it was to have Kory back at church so he gets some immediate feedback. He also said he hoped somehow our trip back home would be delayed so we could be here in Aalesund longer. I shouted a loud, “Amen” to that!



Kaleb spent the rest of his day at Toban’s house just hanging out, being buddies.



After church, I packed up a backpack with an “enganggrill” (one time use grill) I bought yesterday, and some food leftover from the cabin trip and Kory and I met up with My Pal Vestina and her new boyfriend, and we all headed for the beach. Unfortunately, the place she wanted to go to was the same hike I’ve been on two times already in the last month, but she’s never been and wanted to know how to get there. I would have preferred another place, but it’s never a bad time spent out on the island of Vigra. As is true with most cool places in Norway, unless someone points out the trailhead or even how to get to a park, it’s impossible to find. Norway is seriously lacking in the sign department, so almost every place we go to, we had to be shown how to get there by someone the first time. I guess it’s how they keep the foreigners out.



My Pal Vestina also wanted my opinion on her boyfriend from Lithuania. She likes that she can speak her native language with him, but otherwise, she’s not really thrilled with him, and it shows. I told her he was nice enough, but I didn’t see any spark between them. Who knows how long this one will last, but for now, she’s just happy to have someone to pal around with (see photo of them on the beach.) She was on her best behavior with him around, so we didn’t have the usual “chick time” together where we crack each other up. Kory was along too, so the biggest laughs Vestina had was watching the two of us interact. We planned one more get-together before I leave, so hopefully we’ll have a little chick time then.



We were supposed to have dinner tonight with The Good Teacher Inga, but we rescheduled to Thursday because she had to leave town today for a meeting. That woman is busier than any I know as she is on several educational boards throughout Norway. I had to reschedule a road trip I was taking with Turid on Thursday, so I could fit in dinner with Inga. Our last two weeks here are completely booked, and now it’s just juggling schedules if one bump hits the road. I think I’ll start praying for the volcano in Iceland to act up in a few weeks, so we have a little more time here. It beats the heck out of Kory breaking his back last year and giving us an extra two weeks. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

Alt for USA

All the boys were awake before Kory and me this morning. I’m sure they only slept about four hours. They were up playing a board game before we even had a cup of coffee. It’s was another gorgeous day, for which I was very thankful. Keeping those boys inside all day would have been no fun at all, as Kory was worried sick they would do something to hurt that otherwise unblemished cabin. I had them eat and drink everything out on the porch, and even then, I needed to wash down the deck. Boys can sure be messy.




I brought some props to the cabin to create a kind of birthday party feel for the weekend. Normally, for Kaleb’s huge birthday parties back home, we have several games and competitions. I didn’t plan anything ahead before we came to Norway, so I had to make do with things I found in the boxes we had left here. It worked out pretty well. I decided to copy some of the ideas from that “Alt for Norge” TV show and also do some standard American games. It took several hours, so it was good to give them a focus, and I think they had a lot of fun in the process. None of them liked losing, however, especially Kaleb.



I called it “Alt for USA,” and they competed in a watermelon eating contest, an egg toss, water balloon throwing, shooting hoops with balloons, English speaking competitions, little wind-up car races, a scavenger hunt and a lot of other things too difficult to explain. We never did have time to go for a hike. One boy, Henrik, was way behind in points, so that’s when I thought of doing an English speaking contest, because he’s very good at that. I took each boy aside and spoke to them very slowly in English, “If you can understand me, say ten words in English, not using any numbers.” One boy looked around and said things like, tree, rock, house, lake, sky, birds… things he could see. Another boy just repeated back my sentence, which I thought that was pretty clever. When I gave the instructions to Henrik, he responded in English, “Oh boy, this is going to be easy!” Then he proceeded to rattle off some story he had read, using very old and difficult English terms. It was pretty funny. There was such a difference in the boy’s English skills. As it is, Henrik’s parents are divorced so he watches a lot of TV, being that he’s home alone a lot. Most all of the TV shows here come from America and they have Norwegian subtitles, so the kids who watch a lot of TV, learn quickly. (For that portion of the contest, I made Kaleb give me ten words in Spanish, even though he’s never studied it. He did just fine.)



After serving them a standard party lunch of hot dogs and brownies, Kory took the boys down to the lake (see photo). Some jumped in the ice cold water with all their clothes on. I stayed behind to clean the cabin. We got on the ferry to come home at five o’clock, then had to rush to get to the store to buy food for tomorrow, clean up, and get over to Odd and Turid’s for dinner.



I was so thankful I didn’t have to cook, as I was pretty tired. Turid is such a good cook too, so it was a special treat. Kaleb fell asleep just as we were sitting down to eat, so he missed out on dinner. He curled up on the couch in Odd’s living room, and that was it for him. We all huddled out on the balcony, drinking wine and talking for several hours. Odd’s opinion is, “If it’s summer, we sit outdoors,” (no matter what the weather.) This is why their household has wool sox and wool blankets at the ready. It helps.



They days are so long now that when we were driving home at midnight tonight, there was a bunch of kids playing volleyball in the sand by the beach we passed. Summer in Norway does have its advantages. I’m so sad we are leaving in two weeks.

A Long Awaited Day

About three years ago we were invited for coffee up to Kory’s friend’s cabin. Ole-Petter showed Kaleb all the secret passageways and hiding spots and Kaleb has been dreaming ever since then, of having his friends over to see that place. Today was the day he’s been waiting for. He talked about this cabin every time we talked about Norway. He’s riding high right now, and probably won’t sleep much. Five of his friends all brought their sleeping bags and hopefully a toothbrush to spend about 30 hours up in the mountains with us, at a very quaint and lovely place. Life is good.




All morning I spent planning, packing, loading up the car and shopping for last minute things like fresh bread and frozen pizza (our freezer is so small it won’t hold a single one.) Kaleb set the menu and schedule of activities and at the last minute, invited one more friend. We had room for Kaleb and two of his friends in our van so we picked them up right after school and another parent drove the other three kids over around dinnertime.



We had nothing but blue skies and sunshine today so that was a good thing. I am now sitting out on a covered porch, surrounded by snow covered mountains, the lake’s edge at the bottom of our driveway. The ground is still wet from winter’s snowmelt and little white flowers are smeared like frosting in every little nook and cranny among the rocks and trees. Every since we got here, there was only about fifteen minutes I didn’t hear the background chatter of children, because they took a little trip down to the lake to throw rocks in the water. I sunned myself and enjoyed the quiet. I heard the birds and felt so warm and comfy, I fell asleep. Kory said he heard me snoring, which must have been pretty loud because he’s hard of hearing. It’s nice to have a little piece of quiet.



Kaleb has been in hyper mode all day. It’s not the norm for him to hang out with a gang of kids back home, as he just plays with one boy at a time in America, so I’m thankful he has that group dynamic experience here. Fortunately for Kaleb, Norwegians are trained to be very tolerant, and that works in his favor, otherwise I think sometimes he’s a little too irritating to be around, but the kids here just sluff it off.



I bought “Kubb,” an outdoor game that was invented by the Vikings and has been played non-stop since that time. It’s made of wood and it involves throwing sticks from one side to the other, trying to knock down the opponent’s square blocks. It was a surprise for Kaleb but he didn’t appreciate it because it interfered with the schedule he’d worked up. All the kids here love to play it and they immediately started a tournament, which took way more time than Kaleb wanted. It was good for him to not be in total control.



All the kids brought their Nintendos and Kaleb was pestering me all day to play them. I told him he could play it “later,” which ended up being around 11:30. It was still light outside, but the kids came inside anyway and went up to the cozy loft, covered with foam mattresses. They spread out their sleeping bags and settled in for the night, clutching their hand held games, which they were able to “link” together so they were all playing the same game. Kory and I are now heading to bed (it’s one in the morning) and they are still hooping and hollering as they play. We are all going to be pretty tired tomorrow, but no one is complaining.

Preparations

Tomorrow is the big sleepover at the cabin up in the mountains, so a lot of energy and time was spent today getting things ready for that. Kaleb had a hard time settling down to sleep tonight, even though he was super tired, because he’s so excited to show his friends this very cool cabin. All the boys are riding high, according to the parents I’ve talked to, so it should be interesting. I’m just praying it doesn’t rain.




Some of the women that attend the night time Bible study I held at our place last night, are also part of the Praying Women group I attend. Last time I was there I offered to have the next prayer meeting at our place so everyone could see where we live, and to give Kristen a week off. I didn’t realize until after ten o’clock last night, that I would be hosting it at ten o’clock this morning. The house was already clean, so that wasn’t the problem, but what to serve for lunch - now there’s a perplexor. I thought the grocery store opened at eight o’clock, but I was off by an hour, so that meant I had less than an hour to shop for food, prepare it, present it properly on the coffee table, and get several pots of coffee brewed and in thermoses in preparation for the seven women that were to come. I was scrambling, but I put on a pretty good show. It was almost as good as Kristen does every week – I even had fancy serving dishes and fancy little spoons and serving knives (all from the second hand store.) The candles were burning when they walked in. They presented me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers (see photo), all nestled in a tight bouquet with what looked like a bird’s nest surrounding it. It’s so Scandinavian looking, I love it, but it was then that I realized I didn’t have a vase in the house. Somehow I missed shopping for that. It’s now on the final “must have” list.



We had almost three hours of soaking and praying this morning, so it was time well spent. Kory came home toward the end and was able to meet the women I call my friends here in Norway. How lucky I am to know such fine women.



After they all left Kory and I hurried into the city because I saw a locksmith place yesterday that I thought could solve a few of our problems. We only have one car key, so we needed an extra one made (I thought $15 was a bit much, but those are Norwegian prices). I also have a built in lock on my bike, but the key to it was stolen last year when we were in Prague (along with that extra car key). The bike has been helplessly locked up since then. I went to a bike shop to see if they could help and the guy’s response was just to chuck the whole bike and buy a new one because mine is about 20 years old. Right. I thought the locksmith could help pick the lock, but he tried for a few minutes and gave up. It was a bit too rusted inside so he suggested just taking a hacksaw to it. That’s now on the “must do” list for Kory.



While we were in town I wanted to show Kory a large needlepoint piece of art that I saw yesterday at the second hand store. Kory loved it more than I, so we bought it today. It cost more than most things we’ve purchased so far (a little over a hundred dollars), but it really is incredible. (See other photo.) We had one bare spot on our living room wall that needed something, and this was just the ticket. We only have a few more things to buy and do, and then I think we can call our second home complete, but I’m sure we’ll be working up to the bitter end.



Kaleb stayed home today after school to get some homework done and to help with the sleepover preparations. He wanted to go to the grocery store with me to be sure I bought the right kinds of pop (pear flavored is his favorite), and all the right snacks. He wanted orange colored napkins. It’s kind of his half birthday party celebration, so I’m letting him call the shots. Tonight I made a kind of white cake (not at all like we have in America), that tomorrow I’ll top with some kind of creamy vanilla pudding stuff and fruit. It’s my first attempt at a Norwegian cake. I also made brownies as a backup, and I made “boller” (sweet rolls with cardamom in them.) I had a package mix for each thing I made, as it was quick and easy, but nothing really turned out as I expected. The rolls taste heavenly, but look terrible because they stuck fast to the plastic wrap I put on them while they were rising (the directions never said to butter the plastic!). It felt like the episode last week on “Alt for Norge” where they had the contestants making fish cakes and the best chef in Norway was the judge. He spit out everything he tried and gave them quite the lecture on how bad of a job they did. I’m hoping the kids tomorrow won’t notice that what I made looks NOTHING like boller, but the taste is right on. Maybe we’ll play some kind of blindfold game at the cabin, and then they’ll never know.



Tonight was the final episode of “Alt for Norge.” The guy from Seattle won so he got to meet his Norwegian relatives (most of them were fourth cousins – same as I have here.) In his dialog afterwards, he made many of the same observations I made when I first came here, like how amazing the bread is and that Americans have no sense of a rich heritage that provides so many traditions. Being the melting pot that America is, we gain a lot, but also lose a sense of identity. Here in Norway, it’s all about identity. I just hope mine isn’t that I made some weirdo looking cardamom rolls.

A Better Day

I had to redeem the feeling that I can’t afford to buy anything in Norway, so I went shopping today at three different second-hand stores. I got so many lovely things for such cheap prices, it was a fine day for me even though it rained non-stop. I so love buying all the handmade Norwegian “pynt” (decorations). I even scored on a 19” second-hand flat screen TV. It wasn’t at one of the stores, but was advertised in Norway’s version of Craigslist (finn.no). I paid less than a hundred bucks for it and I couldn’t be more pleased. Now assuming tomorrow we get it hooked up, we can watch the final competitions for “Alt for Norge.” I’m not much of a TV freak, but that show has me hooked.



Before I headed into the city this morning, I managed to unpack a few more boxes I’ve had stuffed down in our storage unit. I still have plenty of boxes to unpack that are earmarked for Kaleb’s room, but his space is limited, so I’m not sure how we’ll handle that. Perhaps our storage unit can become his annex.



I had a few things to do downtown, so I spent the afternoon there shopping, having coffee with The Good Teacher Inga, and going to the bank. It was great to see Inga again. We only had an hour together, but she invited us over Sunday for dinner, so we’ll have more of a chance to catch up then. Her life is pretty busy, and today she had an appointment to be Vestina’s model for a haircut. Inga loves to keep tabs on her students.



Kory worked on house projects all day. He got some of the trim up around the new wall and he met with an electrician (his cousin, Ketil) to figure out why our bathroom floor doesn’t heat up. Turns out, it was a bum control panel. We are thankful for Ketil’s expertise in the matter and his ability to buy the new part at wholesale prices for only a hundred bucks. He did the work for free, but Kory promised him a good dinner before we leave. Fair enough.



I only saw Kaleb for a total of about ten minutes today. He got up late for school and ran to the bus stop, then came home while I was away, and went right back to his friend’s house. He didn’t get home until after ten tonight because I had a Bible study at our condo, so Kory and Kaleb needed to be gone. Kory went to a men’s small group meeting and Kaleb went to Andre’s house, since Andre’s mom was at the Bible study with me. He’s going to be super tired tomorrow but he sure loves hanging out with his friends.



At our Bible study tonight I asked the women what it meant to have “childhood faith” (barnetror). It’s a common expression around here that I’ve heard a few people use and I didn’t fully understand its meaning. I’m not sure I even understand it now, but it was a good discussion. Tante Berit, in Spain, was talking about her husband dying two years ago and she sounded almost proud when she said that, “He never lost his childhood faith.” Tante Kari said almost the same thing about her daughter that died over fifteen years ago. Her daughter was not in a good place with God when she died, and Kari has been haunted by that a lot, but her son, Odd, reminded her that his sister “still had her childhood faith” when she died.



Basically, what the women at the Bible study told me, was that people are looking for some way to be comforted in their grief. They know that each child raised in Norway, attending public schools, has been taught that God created the universe and then sent His son to die on the cross as forgiveness for our sins. They were taught that, therefore, it’s assumed they believe that, and having that knowledge, somehow makes them think the deceased are now in heaven. Weird. If that’s the case, then every person lucky enough to be born and raised in Norway, is in heaven, but unfortunately, that’s not what the Bible says… so I was even more confused after the conversation. I guess those grieving are just glad someone told the person who died, about God. Whether they had a personal relationship with Him or not isn’t really the point, it’s that they died, knowing there is a God who loves them. Okay, then. That’s not a bad thing to focus on - God loves everyone - but what we do with that love, is the point. We live with all kinds of choices, but when we die, there are no more.

Work, Work, Work, Crab, Crab, Crab

Today wasn’t much fun at all. Everyone was crabby for one reason or another, even though the sun was shining and the day couldn’t have been more beautiful.


We went to visit Tante Ruth first thing this morning and she was all worked up over a few things and cried and cried on Kory’s shoulder. I felt horrible for her. The sisters are all spatting over little things and now the one that’s been helping her pay her bills, won’t do it anymore. Ruth is helpless and doesn’t know what she will do since she can’t see. Kory prayed for her but I told him he should offer to help. He wouldn’t do that because we are leaving soon. Poor Ruth. I’m not sure what the solution to that problem will be.



We used the rest of the day to shop for things we still need for the condo, like a bunk bed for Kaleb, a hallway mirror, and a kitchen sink faucet. We finally had to special order a bed for Kaleb that is ten centimeters smaller than the standard size, but it was our only option because his room is so small. Fortunately for us, it was on sale, as was one of the mattresses, but I have a sinking feeling the double sized bottom mattress is going to bite us in the butt. In a country where just a shower head can cost a thousand dollars, I never know just how much money can be spent on a single item until I get to the store. I thought two hundred bucks was too much for a kitchen faucet though, so I might have to live with the one we have. Shopping around here is so depressing, unless it’s at the second-hand store, but there are just certain things that can’t be found there, unfortunately.



The condo is getting closer to being done and the way we want it, but I think we’ll be working right up until the time we leave, doing things to it. I would so like to go climb a mountain or just get out and go for a walk on a day like today, but the to-do list took precedence. It took Kory several hours to install window locks on our bedroom windows this evening. He wasn’t happy about that. While he was grumbling, I was unpacked more boxes that I had previously set aside. At least I had a place to put things, so I’m not as crabby as Kory.



When Kaleb got home from school today he insisted on playing with his friends before finishing up his homework or practicing his piano. I wouldn’t budge on that one, which caused him to flip a lid. He pitched one of his little fits that he does sometimes when he doesn’t get his way. I held firm. He calmed down. He did well on his piano and science test and off he went on the bus up to his friend’s neighborhood. I don’t know why he just doesn’t get that he isn’t going to win when it comes to certain show-downs.



After dinner tonight we took the ferry across the fjord to meet up with Kory’s childhood friend, Ole-Petter. (Today’s photo is of the fjord we crossed. The foreground is all wild blueberry bushes.) Ole-Petter is loaning us his cabin this weekend so Kaleb can have his friend’s sleepover. He wanted to be sure we remembered how to get there and to go over a few things with us at the cabin. Kaleb is really looking forward to this because the cabin has many secret hiding places and passage ways, which make it fun to play Hide and Seek. Kory nearly wiped the sleepover off the calendar today because of the way Kaleb was behaving earlier, so I hope nothing more happens between now and then.



Ole-Petter told us we can buy a pre-loaded ferry card that gives a discount on the passenger rates and takes half off the fee for a car. I thought it sounded like a good idea, so we bought one of those cards tonight as we often have to use the ferries around here, being that Aalesund is on a peninsula and a ferry is required to go practically anywhere. I was a bit shocked, though, that the card cost nearly five hundred dollars. Fortunately it doesn’t expire, but I had to swallow hard on that one. One trip to Bergen in the car, however, will cost at least five hundred dollars in ferry fees there and back, so now it will be about half that. There’s something “good” to think about so I won’t start to feel crabby, too.

Monday, Monday...

Finally, Vestina had a free day from her job and our schedules collided so that we got to spend the entire day together! It was like having a daughter hanging around in the house, we are so comfortable together. She still cracks me up like no one else can. It was SO good to spend time with her again. She hasn’t changed a bit – still wondering what to do with all the men in her life and still contemplating all her options. Fortunately, she takes what I say seriously, so I was able to give her some of my opinions to further chew on. I also helped her find some “models” for future haircuts she must give as part of her training. I didn’t realize she had to spend so much time finding people who want a free hair cut. Around here, I’d think people would jump at the chance to save the $100 a haircut costs, but people are leery of trainees and foreigners, so she has two strikes against her. Fortunately, we’re pretty well connected here so I found several people who will trust their hair in her hands. They won’t be disappointed.




I invited Valesca and her husband and daughter over for dinner tonight too (see photo) and it was such a joy to have them here as well. We mostly talked about the difficulties in being a parent (they daughter is 2 ½) so it was very educational for Vestina to hear our perspective. When I suggested Valesca and her husband need at least one date night a week, I had no idea the going rate for a babysitter was over $20 an hour, and with the cost of a movie (forgetting eating out because that’s prohibitive), they said they tried it once but just being gone a few hours to a movie cost them over $150, so they can’t have too many nights like that. They are from Brazil so they have no family here to help out with childcare. Man, did I feel their pain.



Kaleb didn’t join us for dinner because he was off doing his own thing again. He went back to school today with his old classmates. I loaded him up with school work, which he did when the other kids were doing their book work portion of school, otherwise he joined them for all the lectures. He loved it.



When I dropped him off this morning I walked him to the classroom just to be double sure it was OK. All the kids that knew him from before broke away from the groups they were hanging with and nearly mobbed Kaleb. It was so nice to see all the smiles welcoming him. He came home and did his piano lesson, then went right back up to play with his friends. He was supposed to come home for dinner, but Andre’s mom agreed to feed him so he continued to hang out there.



A very nice young guy from Agape Church started a small group for boys 10-12 years old. They will be meeting every other week, doing “guy things.” Kaleb wanted to go to the first meeting tonight, so he invited Andre along. I’m glad I wasn’t part of it. They “skinned and gutted” (according to Kaleb) three geese, then roasted them over an open fire and ate them (they had hot dogs too, just in case). Afterwards they practiced some target shooting. Kaleb thought the best part was when the guy’s dog nearly wolfed down one of the geese, and its jaws had to be pried open to get the goose out of it’s mouth. I wonder what’s in store for the next meeting. Kaleb can’t wait.



Kory continued to work on house projects today. He installed the new bathroom light we bought in Spain and it’s perfect, so that was one more thing crossed off the list. He also bought some window guards – things that control the opening and closing of the bedroom and kitchen windows. Before he installed them, the wind would make the windows flap open and shut, so that wasn’t good. Now we can keep the windows at just the right opening, without fear of break-ins or strong winds. We also spent some time early this morning looking for a bunk bed for Kaleb’s room. Now that the closet is in there, it’s easier to see how things will work. Currently the closet door won’t open all the way because it sits near the end of the bed and the bed is too long, but as we found out today, the bed that’s in Kaleb’s room now is the shortest bed available. All standard beds are four inches longer, so now we have to rethink the space a little bit and see what our options are. If it’s not one think, it’s another….



We head back home three weeks from today. Our time here is just flying by. All we can think about is coming back next year and being here for three months, which right now, seems longer than the seven weeks we are here, but I’m sure, it too will seem way too short. Oh, how we love this life.

The Lord's Day

Kory decided it was a day of rest for him, so he slacked off on house projects today. Of course, he still wanted to eat, so it was no day of rest for me. Funny how that is. I made the best of it though and invited over one of Kaleb’s second cousins, Miriam, and her family. They have a foster son Kaleb’s age, so at least by cooking a meal, I got to spread the love around a little.




We went to Agape Church this morning. I was hoping to take Kaleb with us, but when I called him at Andre’s house he begged to stay with his friends. He said, “I feel so much closer to them now…” and that got to me, so I relented and let him stay there among his mission field. I did tell a few people at church what happened yesterday with Kaleb and they announced it from the pulpit. Applause and shouts of Hallelujah erupted from the crowd. I couldn’t have been more proud, or weepy, as all during the service I just kept thanking God for Kaleb and that He is able to use him to impact the lives of his friends.



The sermon this morning was pretty good. Pastor Mark was comparing being a charismatic Christian with being a charis-maniac Christian. He’s pretty leary of the latter, as he admits he’s a “Charismatic Christian with a seat belt on.” I thought that was a pretty funny way of describing his sense of reserve and caution when dealing with the power and might of the Holy Spirit. He’s a funny guy.



After church today Agape held their annual “grill” out at the beach. When we went last year with them, Kory brought his big BBQ and everyone laughed at him being so American, since Norwegians just use their little lasagna pan sized “enganggrill” (one time grill) to cook their hot dogs. Well, apparently Kory sparked someone’s imagination and this year one guy brought his big American sized bar-b-quer off his back porch and cooked hot dogs to sell to those who didn’t bring a grill. When he saw Kory, he nodded and said, “Now it’s my turn to bring the grill…:” and they both laughed. I thought it was funny that Kory had such an influence. Who knows what the future holds for beach parties in Norway now.



We had picked up Kaleb and his friends Andre and Toban to go with us for a few hours to the beach because it was such a spectacularly beautiful day (see photo of Kaleb and pals). The boys entertained themselves by throwing Kaleb’s crocs in the river that feeds into the fjord, then waiting for the incoming tide to get the shoe close enough to grab it while leaning out over the rocks. I was sure one of them would fall in, but it never happened and it kept them busy for a good long time. It just warms my heart to see him pal around with a couple of kids, doing what kids do.



Kaleb wasn’t the least bit happy about having to leave Andre’s house this afternoon, then not the least bit happy about leaving the park to come home. He begged incessantly to be able to continue playing with those boys, so I called their parents and they all agreed to let them come to our house for the rest of the day. They were unexpected company for dinner, but fortunately I had enough food to feed them, as well as Miriam and her family. Four boys running around for several hours was all the better.



Kaleb told me tonight that Toban is now worried about all their friends not being Christians and he thinks they should talk to everyone personally and tell them they need God in their lives. Kaleb encouraged him to start with Andre, so Kaleb left the two of them alone while Toban prayed for Andre. Kaleb told him he can’t pray wrong, it’s only talking to God, and when he prays he should “feels different.” It was pretty cute to hear him giving instructions like that. Who knows, maybe the whole school will have a revival, as many have never even heard of having a personal relationship with God – He’s just an historical figure around here. We’ve been praying for Kaleb’s school pals for over a year, so maybe this is the harvest. He’s heading back to school tomorrow for the last three weeks, so we’ll see what God has in store. Hallelujah!

Back Home Again

We visited a little too long this morning for Kaleb’s liking with Kory’s mom’s cousin and his wife, but we managed to make it back to our condo right at noon. Kaleb had already lined up a sleepover at Andre’s and an afternoon playdate with Toban, so he had no patience for our second cup of coffee and the relaxed atmosphere spending time in a mountainside cabin requires. Soon enough we hit the road and drove home through probably the prettiest road I’ve been on in Norway. It’s impossible to take a photo of its grandeur because the mountains just jet up from both sides of the car and no camera has that kind of peripheral vision.




Something happens to my soul when I drive through the Norwegian countryside. I do think the Norwegian half of me has beaten out the Ozark Mountain Hillbilly other half because I feel so at home here and never stop appreciating the beauty of the mountains, the fjords, or the small little farms that dot the coastline. Inland in Norway the farms are huge, the barns are huge, the houses are huge. Years ago, those farms had to support the families year round, but the farms along the coast are much smaller since the sea provided most of the food for the families. It’s such a contrast. (I took this photo today out the car window while going fairly fast… it’s of a little village at the edge of the fjord about an hour away from home.)



It was good to be home. We weren’t in the door two minutes before Tante Kari came up to check on us and find out how our trip was. Kory spent some time with both Tante Aslaug and Kari, telling them all that we did. I unpacked and started the washing machine before driving Kaleb over to his friend’s house. This afternoon, the time was filled up with grocery shopping and household projects. Kory spent more time than he cared to, getting the dishwasher to work, and the pressure was on to finish it before the stores closed and he might need an extra part. I have been blessed this day, for THIS is the day I no longer have to wash dishes by hand. Hallelujah! I shouted out, “Thank you, Jesus!” after the first load got going. Kory replied, “No, my name’s Kory. You can thank Jesus, but I’m the one that installed it.” Ha ha.



Kory also began to assemble the closet we bought for Kaleb’s room last week. I’m hoping to unpack Kaleb’s boxes and thin out his inventory before he comes home tomorrow and starts to remember all that he has here. When Kory unwrapped the closet, he saw one of the pieces was broken so we had to rush it back to the store for a new piece before they closed. While we were there we bought a living room rug and happened to run into one of my old classmates, so I invited her and her family over for dinner Monday, when My Pal Vestina will also be here. We’ll have a little reunion of some of my favorite people from my Norsk class. Woo hoo.



A bigger WOO HOO was when Kaleb called this evening to tell me that he started talking to two of his friends about the “point system” I invented to help him with a little behavioral modification back home. They questioned him on why he needed to do that and he told them it was because it was easier for him to see if he was being “Christ like,” because he’s a Christian. They asked what it meant to be a Christian and he told them that he’d asked Jesus in his heart and he tries to follow Jesus’ example, even though it’s nearly impossible for him. Both of his friends, Toban and Karl-Andreas, kept asking questions that he answered the best he could, until they finally told him that they wanted to have Jesus in their hearts, too. Kaleb said he was a bit surprised and didn’t really know what to do, but he prayed with them and told them to ask for forgiveness and to just invite Jesus into their lives. He said while he was praying for them, he got a “really warm tingling feeling” going from his arms all the way through his body. He was pretty excited to tell me about it, and I couldn’t have been more surprised myself. Our little missionary in Norway – who knew?



Kory and I enjoyed a very typical Norwegian dinner tonight – boiled potatoes, boiled carrots and salmon (baked though, not boiled.) It’s as fast as food can get on the dinner table because he was hungry. Most foods here are boiled or steamed. I was surprised when we cleaned out Aunt Ruth’s things and found that she owned, not one, but five steamers. At first I couldn’t believe it, then I realized you can cook an entire dinner, something different in every pot, just by steaming – steamed lamb, steamed potatoes, steamed broccoli, etc. It made me laugh, but also thankful I’m not THAT Norwegian – we only kept two of them. The other funny thing about her personal effects is that there wasn’t a single coffee mug in the entire house. Mugs are considered rather crass and a bit rude and no one really uses them. Even Norwegians, sitting home alone, will drink a cup of coffee out of a fine china coffee cup (with saucer) that holds less than four ounces. I think they love the process of refilling the cup after nearly every sip. Me, I’ll take a twenty ounce mug of steamin’ joe any ol’ day and drink it until it’s cold. OK, that may be the Ozark Mountain Hillbilly finally rearing its head. Kory will agree, I am a bit crass and rude sometimes, and not just while drinking coffee. But my son, he’s a class act all the way.

Angels to the Rescue

We were up earlier than usual this morning in order to have time to eat a bit before Berit drove us an hour to the airport. It was a little sad to be leaving, but Kaleb was getting restless as he’d had no interaction with kids all week. The drive to the airport passed by several salt works places as this part of Spain has a long history in that industry. We also passed by an area that is as famous around here as the Skagit Flats are in the Northwest for bird migration. We saw thousands and thousands of flamingos and other shore birds just hanging out by the marsh's edge, doing what shore birds do. People come from all over Europe to see them, as it’s a spectacular sight.




We arrived at the airport in plenty of time to do a little tax-free shopping, so we took advantage of the wine prices and loaded up our backpacks with the legal limit (3 bottles each). The wine we bought was only about four euros (around five dollars at today’s exchange rate), but in Norway, the cheapest wine possible to buy (and it tastes pretty cheap, too), is around 25 dollars a bottle. Six bottles won’t get us through the next three weeks as we have several dinner parties planned, but it helps.



The flight back to Norway was smooth and uneventful, just like one would hope a trip thirty thousand feet in the air would be. We arrived smack dab on time at three in the afternoon and even then we knew we were pushing it to get home by midnight. I figured the drive home would take longer than the drive to the airport on Monday, but I had no idea just how much longer it could be. There was much road construction, lots of camping vehicles, no place to pass, and even a huge accident that delayed us nearly an hour. I was starting to worry about driving so late, being so tired, and dealing with the last few hours to Aalesund being the most dangerous, but I trusted God for safe travels.



When we stopped to eat a quick dinner at a grocery store cafeteria, I was a bit stressed about how long it was taking Kaleb to finish his dinner, as I was in a hurry to get home. Kory had already driven two hours and was nearly sleeping at the wheel, so the plan was that he would sleep after dinner and I’d drive for about three hours, then he’d take the last two. Well, my three hours turned into five because of all the aforementioned delays. God surely heard the cries of my heart, and then my phone rang.



One of Kory’s relatives heard we were taking that long drive from Oslo to Aalesund in one stretch, and they thought it sounded a bit too dangerous. They just happened to be spending the weekend at their cabin in the mountains about two and a half hours east of Aalesund. They called and invited us to stop over for the night and have a good sleep, before we finished the journey home. Both Kory and I shouted a loud HALLELUJAH in the car, as it was more than a perfect solution to our dilemma. Hotels around these parts are few and far between, and at three hundred dollars a night, not really an option for us anyway. We were elated and so thankful for the invitation. Kaleb put up a little resistance as he was still thinking we’d get home at midnight and that wasn’t too late to go to a friend’s house. He finally understood the gravity of driving late when we were so tired, and he relented. I began to prepare him for life in a cabin, and I told him we might have to use an outhouse, but I was pretty sure they had electricity. I had no idea what was in store.



Walking into their “cabin” was like walking into a Norwegian travel brochure with all the classic knotty pine walls, floors, ceilings, decorations and feeling (see photo of just the kitchen). It was like heaven. Really, it was another blessing beyond our ability to accept it. The place sleeps 15. We asked them how they even knew we were on this trip, and they said their son, Bjorn (our old neighbor, Kory’s second cousin, and step-father to Tobias), told them. We stopped by his place last Sunday to check on the condition of the volcano in Iceland (he’s a pilot and has access to all kinds of websites) and he showed us on Google earth the cheapest place to park our car near the airport in Oslo. In talking to his mom yesterday he told her our travel plans and she decided it wasn’t too smart to make such a long drive after such a long flight. Lucky for us, she knew better. And this is why I love Norway so much – it’s not just the beautiful scenery and high standard of living – it’s the whole “it takes a village” mentality where everyone watches out for everyone else. People REALLY care about other people.



Once we arrived at the cabin, an entire “kveld’s mat” (night food) meal was waiting for us, along with a bottle of very good red wine. We slept well.

Time Goes By Too Quickly

This was our last full day in Spain. We head back “home” to Norway tomorrow. We had never stayed with Tante Berit before so we wanted to be sure not to overstay our welcome. Three full days was certainly not long enough for us, but maybe it was too long for her – she’s not used to having a rambunctious kid in the house. She hasn’t complained at all, but I’m a bit worried she is losing steam. She’s a very gracious hostess and took us to the beach again today, and in to town to do more shopping. Kaleb wanted a new Wii game that would play on the European version of Wii (we found out the games he brought from home aren’t interchangeable with the Wii systems here.) Berit took us to a very large store that is sort of a Super Wal-Mart on steroids. They have 54 cash registers and entire aisles of just one product, like dried pig legs (with the feet still attached) hanging from hooks. I also noticed the bagged salad was just around the corner from the ladies bras and underwear - that’s the kind of thing that happens when stores sell everything under one roof.




Kaleb and I were looking for Spanish candies to take back to his school chums in Norway. Most of the candy was the same as can be bought all over Europe, so it was hard to find something unique. Finally, as we were leaving the store, we saw a little boutique near the entrance to the store that sold all kinds of candy in bulk. It was called a candy store (Dulce), it looked like a candy store, but it sure didn’t smell like a candy store. The minute we walked in, our nostrils were assaulted with the acrid smell of various and sundry types of olives in their brine – sitting among the mounds of gummy candy we came to buy. It was the strangest thing, and for what reason candy and olives are sold in the same store, I have no idea. Apparently olives in this part of the world are a real treat. We managed to breathe through our mouths so we could stay long enough to pick out some real sweets, and then left in a hurry. Weird.



Tante Berit took us to an International Park in the center of town so we walked around there a bit and I naturally, took dozens of photos. It was all quite picturesque with fountains dotting the landscape and the entire park surrounded by various colors of bougainvillea woven in and out of the fencing. The center of the park has a huge pond that represents the Atlantic Ocean. The outline of the map of Europe created one of the pond’s edges (best seen from the air). Flags representing each of the European countries were properly planted in their spot. It was a clever idea and certainly one that celebrates the unity that much of Europe feels toward their neighboring lands.



Before we ventured back home again (see photo of Kaleb in Berit’s backyard), we stopped at a neighborhood restaurant for some lunch. I requested the left over Baccalou for dinner tonight so we opted to take it easy and go out for lunch. There was a British Pub not far from Berit’s house, so of all things, we ate English food while staying in Spain. Kaleb loved his “Bangers and Mash” (sausages and potatoes), Kory ate some poor little lamb and I had fish cakes. Can’t go wrong with British food and a cold beer on a hot day (Berit drinks the kind without alcohol because she’s the driver).



Kaleb has had trouble this week focusing much on school work, but I’ve gotten him to do a few things. I keep reminding him these little trips are why we homeschool him and just because we aren’t home, doesn’t mean there is no school. Have school, will travel.



Berit’s swimming pool feels better every time we jump in. Kaleb and I played in it for a few hours after we got home, and I couldn’t be more sunburned, but I’m not complaining. Except for the itching, it feels good to be warm. Kory split his time between napping and installing a garden hose hanger for Berit. He just can’t get away from his handy-man fix-it life because he’s the kind of man that needs to fix problems all the time and he gave up on fixing me a long time ago.



We wrapped up the evening watching another hilarious version of “Alt for Norge” (Everything for Norway), the “Survivor”/”Amazing Race” sort of reality show that was filmed last summer in Norway with a bunch of Americans hoping to find their Norwegian roots. It’s full of incredible Norwegian competitions and it certainly contrasts the hardy lifestyle Norwegians live versus the wimpy sheltered life the basic American has. (I think it’s possible to see clips from this show on this website: http://www.tvnorge.no/programmer-tvn/alt-for-norge .) It’s worth having a TV in Norway, just to watch that show. I’m sure, after every episode, the Norwegian national pride goes up just a little bit. To think they can make Americans look like such idiots without even trying has got to be the highlight of their week.



(For some reason, it wouldn't upload a photo today - I'll try again later.  I feel like such an idiot!  Ha.)

Second Day in Paradise

We enjoyed breakfast out on the patio again this morning, followed by Tante Berit’s routine walk along the beach with her dog. Kaleb and I didn’t even try to keep up, as we headed right for the sand and started looking for treasures. He was pretty pumped yesterday after he found a perfectly round “marble” that used to be some kind of glass, but got shaped by the waves and coastline rocks. It was a pretty incredible find, and certainly one that would be hard to top. Today he found a pretty cool shell, but I forbid him from picking up anymore sea glass because we already have too much weight for our carry-on luggage. We picked up very light volcanic rocks instead. How it will all fit, is beyond me, but I still have a few days before that’s a big concern.




We went to a Scandinavian bakery today and bought some good bread, rolls and pastries. Across from that bakery was a Norwegian food store where nearly everything one could be missing from their homeland, could be purchased. Tante Berit just bought the daily newspaper, even though she has a special antenna on her house that picks up all the Norwegian TV channels there are. One can never know enough about Norway. She does admit to getting lonely from time to time and she genuinely seems pleased we are here. Her husband died two and a half years ago and she’s now been living in Spain full time for seven years (she’s 73). She always just buys a one way ticket in the summer when she returns to Norway to visit family. If the weather is too bad, she says, she gets on the next plane back to Spain. This sunshine and perfectly warm (but not too hot) climate is very addicting.



Kory is enjoying the time to get to know his aunt, and we are all still enjoying the perfect weather. Tante Berit took us to an open air market today that only happens on Wednesdays. We saw a similar market with similar wares when we were in Rome last year. I like the prices best, even if the selection is limited. We bought a few things, but really had to restrict ourselves because we didn’t pay for checked baggage and we can only have one carry-on item for our return trip to Norway. Too bad, because the Euro is VERY cheap right now. Last year we paid about $1.68 to buy a Euro, today I bought some for $1.22.



While we were sitting eating ice cream at one of the many beach side restaurants, some people Berit knows from Norway walked by. That woman’s ex-husband is the grandson to one of Kory’s mom’s cousins. I think the whole of Norway is related, one way or another. She was also entertaining guests down from Norway, as this is the Promised Land for those from Scandinavia and Great Britian that need an escape from the rain. Spain made a good move when they offered totally free health care to all resident retirees. Even though Scandinavia also offers free health care, the incredibly long wait to get any kind of treatment, frustrates many, and many die while waiting months for their appointment. (They joke in Norway that those in prison get better medical care than the elderly, but it’s not far from the truth. They deny the elderly much care because its socialized medicine and they watch their expenses.) It’s not so around here. Berit lives very near a super new and modern hospital and medical center and getting appointments are no problem, so that is one of the big draws for the migration to this particular country.



The open air market we went to today was a bit north from the neighborhood where Berit lives so we got a chance to drive around and see several neighborhoods in Torrevieja. She showed us where she lived her first three years here and it was in an incredibly beautiful place right next to the beach. I absolutely love the architecture here – all the while railings and brilliant bougainvillea blooming against the while stucco backgrounds with blue and while tiles accenting steps and walkways – it’s heaven for the eyes. The houses are mostly duplexes or entire blocks of houses connected one to another with the same style balconies and trim and fencing – it’s all well planned and quite balanced in appearance. I noticed some neighborhoods we passed today had the entire block walled off with a main gate to enter onto the street, then each individual house had its own entry gate for the car and pedestrians. Even though it seems a bit prison like, it’s all part of the charm of the city because it’s so well done and beautiful.



Tante Berit took us on a long walk along a real boardwalk by the sea, and it seemed a little like Atlantic City, a little like Hawaii, a little like Puerto Vallarta and a little like Greece… but really not exactly like anywhere else, so I guess this is Spain. We stopped and ate lunch at a seaside restaurant and Kaleb entertained himself with an entire outdoor gym set up in the sand in front of where we were sitting. It wasn’t electronic equipment, but it all worked just fine and gave him a good workout with a knock out view.



While we were waiting for our meal, the vendors came around trying to sell their (probably hot) goods. Musicians wandered by playing the accordion or clarinet, then asking for donations afterwards. Practically every person that passed us while we sat there had a dog on a leash (the majority fell into the Toy Dog category). Tante Berit doesn’t go anywhere without her dog either, and they are welcomed in many places, but not on the sandy beaches.



On the drive back to Berit’s house she stopped and showed us a tower that was built in the 1400s as a watchtower to keep an eye on the Barbary pirates that used to invade this coastline. It’s the only super historical place around here because 400 years ago this town on the southeast coastline was demolished by a very strong earthquake. In Berit’s opinion, it’s a pretty new town, but then she’s used to Norwegian history where many churches in Norway are between 700-900 years old.



Tante Berit’s pool felt especially refreshing after all the time we spent walking in the city. Kaleb and I goofed on in her pool while Kory replaced some light fixtures and Berit made Baccalou for dinner. She had asked Kory if he liked Baccalou and when he told her he LOVED it, I was a bit sad because I would have rather gone out to eat tonight since I’m not real fond of that stuff, but after I tasted her version of this very popular Norwegian dish, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. WOW! (It’s made with klippfisk – a type of salted, dried cod, potatoes, red peppers, onions and lots of olive oil.) She also made caramel pudding, baked in the oven the old fashioned way. That woman can cook! I think she’s in the market for a man, too. I’m sure if Kory weren’t related to her, he might consider a trade-in.

Our First Day in Spain!

Let’s just say this weather here agrees with us. Tante Berit thinks so too, and even though she may miss her family and friends in Norway, the weather in Southern Spain is so spectacular year round near the Mediterranean Sea, she just can’t live anywhere else. It’s understandable – she has a pool in her backyard, the beach just a short distance away, and good food at every restaurant in the neighborhood. I’m glad she invited us here.




We had breakfast out on the patio this morning, then took a long walk with the dog along the shore. Kaleb and I found ourselves lagging behind collecting sea glass. We must have gotten about five pounds of it before Kory and Berit turned around and came back our way.



Sandy beaches in this town are rare, as uneven lava coats this coastline. It is nice to look at, but difficult to walk on without shoes. Kaleb was excited to get his feet wet in the Mediterranean Sea and I was excited there were so many beautiful things to take photos of all day.



We spent the afternoon at Berit’s house and sunned ourselves a bit too long. We are all red as tomatoes, but no one is complaining. The heat felt good, the cool pool felt better. Being the handy man that he is, Kory offered to do any needed household maintenance things for Berit. She did need a few light fixtures replaced, so after a while, we headed into town to go shopping. Spain recognizes the afternoon Siesta time where all businesses close for several hours, then open again in the cool of the evening.



All along the shore, in the center of town, is a wonderful walkway, not all of it is made of wood like the boardwalk in Atlantic City, but some is made of terrazzo tile, (a kind of a mosaic pattern.) It was very special, and beautiful. I was surprised by how modern this city is and how many new buildings and public areas there are. Tante Berit said they have gone through a big building boom, but now it’s a bust as they are experiencing a 20% unemployment rate since the economy collapsed nearly two years ago. A lot of building projects just sit half finished, but there are plenty that were done before the downturn. Near where Berit lives is a very modern desalinization plant that cost over 28 million Euros. It takes the water from the sea, pulls out the salt and sells it, then sells the fresh water to all the farmers in the area that grow citrus trees. It’s a real win/win business, but it’s kind of odd to see mountains of salt piled up all over the place. How would they clean the salt if a bird pooped on it? It’s not like they can wash it.



In town, I managed to buy a few small souvenirs while walking around, and I even bought a new light for the bathroom in our condo in Norway. I’m sure I can fit it in my backpack for the trip home. It was only $12 (10 Euro), and the same thing in Norway would be at least a hundred dollars. Kory just shook his head, but he didn’t believe I could fit a bathroom sink in our luggage the year we brought that home from Norway, either. Berit found lights she also liked so tomorrow Kory will install them. I was so impressed with all the beautiful light fixtures available here. I never thought of Spain as being so hip and artistic, but there are several things I’ve seen so far that are very impressive. They have some cool fountains and incredible gardens and artistic designs in the center of the large roundabouts on the main highway. They also have plenty of graffiti and unkempt looking places too, but overall it’s not at all what I was expecting. It’s much better.



In the neighborhood where Berit lives, all the yards have stucco fences and gated entries for both the car and people, right at the edge of the sidewalk, so each yard is very private and blocked off from public viewing. The houses all have bars on the windows just to be on the safe side, and nearly every house has a pool. Many Norwegians live around here. It’s their version of the snowbird migration to Arizona we have in the States, plus, it’s MUCH cheaper than Norway. We went out to dinner tonight (where we coincidentally sat next to a Norwegian couple from Bergen who told us it snowed today there) and we enjoyed a four course meal (which included a bottle of incredibly good house wine) and it was only 12 euro a person (about $14). That same meal in Norway would have easily been $150 per person, and in the States, maybe about $40 a person. I’d never cook again if I lived here. What a treat.



I took years of Spanish when I was in college, but boy is it hard to remember now. Kory caught me saying a sentence using half Spanish words, half Norwegian. Kaleb keeps correcting my Norwegian grammar, when I’m talking to Tante Berit, which I appreciate, but I’m thankful he can’t also speak Spanish because I’m just downright embarrassing. When we were at the lamp store, we kept flipping between Norwegian, Spanish and English. The Spanish employee that was helping us spoke quite a bit of Norwegian (which is quite telling as to how many Norwegians actually live around here). He heard me trying to communicate using all three languages and I was pretty proud when he complimented me on my ability to speak English so well. He had no idea where we were from.

The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plane in Norway

We made it! We were up at four this morning and out the door 43 minutes later. I only slept about three hours so I was pretty rummy, but I made up for it later on the plane. It was a six and a half hour drive (locals said it would take at least eight, but they always factor in lots of stops to drink coffee along the way.) Kory drove the first two and a half hours and we ate and drank coffee American style, while we were driving, then I drove the next two and a half. We finally stopped to stretch our legs for half an hour next to a lake and had a little food, then ninety minutes later we were at the airport – more than three hours before our departure time. It’s never a bad idea to allow some flex time, especially when driving over three hundred miles to get to a destination. We decided to drive to Oslo, rather than fly, because it cost as much for us to fly to Oslo from Aalesund, as it cost to fly to Spain from Oslo (we got a screaming deal on those tickets – under $500 for round trip for all three of us). And because of the volcano’s uncertainty, we thought it best to have just one flight cancelled, rather than two. It was a good decision.



Kory and Kaleb both slept a little on the drive to Oslo, but even though I was tired, I just couldn’t bear to close my eyes and miss any of the Norwegian landscape. It’s not like I haven’t been on those roads before, but every time we drive them, it’s a different time of year, or day, and the lighting changes things so much, I still wanted to take it all in. The saddest part for me was we couldn’t stop to take any pictures. I did my usual “drive-by shooting” out the window, but not often, as we were going pretty fast. There wasn’t another single car on the road for the first four hours. Unfortunately, there were several traffic speed cameras so we couldn’t go more than fifty miles an hour, but that wouldn’t be smart anyway because then one would miss all the landscape. (See photo of our drive through the ultimate “Grand Canyon” in Norway about 5:30 this morning – with steep mountains all around – those are tall tree tops at the bottom of the photo, to give some perspective – I pointed the camera UP, not OUT. )



While we were driving we saw several deer and elk and even a moose right next to the road. I’ve seen hundreds of warning signs for moose, but never once seen one in Norway, but sure enough, they aren’t just an advertising prop. We even saw what looked like wild emus. It’s hard to believe they are just roaming around Norway, but I think they are. The places we saw them were far from any farm land so they couldn’t be pets. We also saw two red foxes, which got Kaleb excited – both times they were crossing the road. Unfortunately, we killed two birds on our trip. Life is tough in the fast lane.



Our flight to Alicante, Spain was about three and a half hours long. We arrived tonight right on target at seven – no ash came our way so everything was as smooth as it could be. Thank you, Jesus! Kory’s Tante Berit met us at the airport and drove us forty minutes to her house in Torreviejo in Southern Spain, right next to the Mediterranean Sea. She left Norway several years ago in favor of the year round sunshine and warm weather this place offers. It was nearly 80 degrees when we landed and she is sporting a rather dark tan for a Norwegian.



Aunt Berit is now a widow and lives alone with her little pup, Carmen. Carmen took to Kaleb right away, which was a good thing for both of them. We don’t know Berit too well, as she is a half sister to Kory’s mom; the daughter of Kory’s grandfather he never knew. His mother was illegitimate and she never knew her father – she was raised by the father to her other sisters, Ruth, Kari and Aslaug. So this is branching into a whole new world for us to meet people Kory is closely related to, but has no history with. Berit couldn’t be nicer or more hospitable and we are looking forward to our days with her – and the sunshine and warm weather. So what do you call a vacation, when you are already on one? I feel guilty sometimes our life is so good, but when God says he will pour out so many blessing we cannot contain it, He really means it.

Pinsedag

Pentecost was in full swing this morning at the local Pentecostal church we attend across the street from our condo. It was an incredibly special day for us because both Pentecostal churches in town decided to join together for one service on this very celebratory day. I am sure part of their reasoning was because it’s a three day weekend and attendance would be very low at all churches in Norway, but it was a great idea, nonetheless. I joked with Kory as we looked around at the people in the sanctuary, when I said, “These are all the people in Norway who do NOT have a cabin.” About 42% of all Norwegians own a cabin, and most certainly, they were all at them this weekend.




Both Agape church and Philadelphia church were under one roof this morning – and since we split our time between the two of them when we are here, we had our whole church family together worshiping God. It was very cool and exciting to see everyone at once. Kaleb and I were elated the Agape worship team sang our all time favorite song “Uten deg” (Without You). Oh man, that song makes me cry every time I sing it. Translated, the words to the chorus are: Without you I am without hope, but with you, I have everything.” If that doesn’t encapsulate the Christian experience, I don’t know what does.



We invited cousin Axel (Tante Aslaug’s son) and his wife Kari over for coffee after church because there was no café time after the service (which is normal), being it was a holiday and all. They were heading out to visit Tante Ruth and didn’t want to go back home for a little bite to eat, so I informed them I had a little food at our house that needed to be eaten up before we are gone for the week. They didn’t hesitate to accept that invitation, so they came over and had this left over (but incredibly good) salmon/cream cheese spread I make and put on crackers, and Kaleb made waffles (the typical food served with coffee here in Norway.) After a nice little chat with them, I drove Kaleb over to Andre’s house for the afternoon so Kory and I could pack up and get ready for our trip to Spain while Kaleb had some extra play time with his pals.



We haven’t been in contact with too many people since we’ve been back in Norway this time because we’ve been waiting to have the condo done and ready for “viewing,” plus we’ve been pretty busy. But now when we get back from our week in Spain, we will only have three weeks left in Norway, so we need to book up as much time as possible for visiting friends and family. I texted one of Kory’s childhood friends to see about scheduling a time for them next week, and he called us right away, all excited we were in town, and wanted us over for coffee tonight! It was quite a push to make it there but we really wanted to get together with them, also. Getting to their place involved taking a ferry to cross the fjord, but they picked us up on the other side so we didn’t have to pay the $30 fare each way for the car – just the $15 for us. That ferry ride always provides jaw dropping views (see photo of farms lit up by the setting sun), but tonight they were a bit diminished by the low lying clouds in the area. It was still gorgeous.



We mixed a little business with pleasure on our visit with them, as Ole-Petter is one of the head guys at the biggest bank in Norway, so we inquired about all kinds of financial things to help us understand the system here a little better. Ole-Petter also owns one of the coolest cabins in the land, and Kaleb has a huge desire to spend the night in it, so we asked if we could borrow it for a night in a few weeks so Kaleb could have a sleepover with his friends there. They said “yes” before I even finished asking the question. They are the nicest folks. But now Kory is a bit worried about what may happen to their place with boys running loose. It’s not like they will be there without us. It’s also a little half-birthday bash for Kaleb. He otherwise LOST his big summer birthday party because of previous defiant behavior, but after that he made a pretty big turnaround so I promised him some kind of celebration. We otherwise don’t do much on his real birthday in December, so I felt a little guilty about pulling the plug on his summer one. This should do just fine and will cost a whole lot less.



Because we have to get up early tomorrow to drive to Oslo, we thought we’d try to get to bed by 8:30 so we had a few hours sleep before the alarm went off at 4am. That didn’t happen. We had less than three hours for our coffee visit with our friends before we had to go get Kaleb and head home. When we showed up at Andre’s house, his mom had made us a carrot cake, so she invited us to sit down and have coffee and cake with them! We didn’t get home until after ten. Kaleb went right to bed, but Kory and I still had a bit of packing to do so Kory was up until eleven, then I couldn’t sleep so I am now up until after midnight. It will be a long day tomorrow, but I’m excited about the trip. Now I just hope I can sleep.

Pinseaften

So begins another “oval helg” (long weekend). Tomorrow is “pinsedag” – the day of Pentecost, celebrating the arrival of the Holy Spirit after Jesus ascended into heaven. It’s a holy day around here – so much so that many things were closed today, because it was the day BEFORE the holy day (Norwegians like to celebrate things early), and of course tomorrow, all things are closed anyway because it’s Sunday, so then in order to really have a holiday, they celebrate the Second Day of Pentecost on Monday, so everything will be closed then, too. These Norwegians, they like their holy days.




When I realized we will be driving to Oslo on Monday (when all the country is shut down) to catch our flight to Spain, I had to make a mad dash to the grocery store early this morning to be sure we had appropriate road food for the eight hour trip to the airport. I love the fact I can take the elevator from our condo down to the first floor parking garage, walk to the other end of the garage, and come up in the grocery store. I didn’t even need a jacket, as it was drizzling a little. I stayed warm and dry the whole time. That convenience is the main reason why our condo is high priced real estate around here.



Last night Kory and I walked to the other grocery store, across the street, and because of the sky bridge that connects the two malls, we didn’t go outside once then, either. The grocery store across the street closes late - at 9pm, so we headed out at 8:30 to get a few things for the dinner we made tonight for Tante Kari and two of her sons, Odd and Rune, and the women they love. When we got to the store, not a single person was there except the employees. I guess grocery shopping on a Friday night just isn’t the hot thing to do around here. Any other time, the store is like a bee hive of activity, so now I know when to go.



I spent most of the day today preparing tonight’s dinner and cleaning the house. The dinner was something special, as I really wanted to treat Odd and Turid for all the dinners we’ve eaten at their house. Also, Rune and his girlfriend, Sol, gave us our kitchen table and chairs and two sofas and coffee table last year, so we are always feeling indebted to them, as we love that furniture. It was a good pay-back time and we had a wonderful evening. Kory bought some small lobsters fresh off the boat yesterday while we were downtown. He ate some of them for snacks, but had enough left over that I used them in a “twice baked” potato recipe that is to die for. Our dinner guests thought so too, so I am in good graces with them after that meal. Kory grilled up some yummy chicken and veggies and I made a salad and we had lots of wine (brought with us from America). I made a blueberry cobbler for dessert, severed with vanilla ice cream. The potatoes made the whole meal special, though, so I’m glad I took the time to make them.



Kaleb was gone all day but Odd brought him home when he came for dinner. He had a great time with his friends and wanted to go back after he’d eaten, but I could see he was tired so I suggested he stay home. He didn’t argue.



Kory put up the wallpaper (that textures the wall) for Kaleb’s bedroom today. The glue has to sit a day before it can be painted, but that wall is feeling rather comfortable already. It’s such a great solution for an extra bedroom. Tonight, Kory and cousin Rune installed our “new” dishwasher, but come to find out, we need some kind of ¾” to ½” adapter before it will be functioning. It looks perfect in the kitchen and after spending over an hour after everyone left, washing dishes by hand, I can’t wait to get it up and running.



Turid is going to call the hospital on Tuesday to see if they have any need for our condo for short term rentals to doctors (specialists) that come over from Sweden to work for two to three weeks at a time. It would be the ideal thing, since they would pay way more than a normal rental situation. The hospital has housing available for that need, but most doctors won’t stay in their building because it’s so dilapidated and depressing. Maybe we can get some kind of agreement with them to use it exclusively for visiting doctors. That would be sweet, but I’m not getting my hopes up. I’m still waiting to order an internet connection until I’m sure we will have income on this place once we are gone, as I need to keep our expenses to a minimum.



Tonight we talked a lot about the wonderful life we and everyone else has here in Norway. Tante Kari is adamant that we move here for good, so is Cousin Odd. He says, “Sell everything you have in America; come live and die here in Norway.” It’s tempting.

Visiting Tante Ruth

If Kory had his way, he wouldn’t leave the house until that wall was completely finished and the furniture put back where it belongs. But I had a little of my way today and I dared him to stop in the middle of a project, get out of the house, and finally go visit Tante Ruth. I felt terrible we’ve been here for over two weeks and haven’t been to her new place. When we walked in and gave her a hug, and she figured out who it was (she’s totally blind now and can hardly hear), she said, “Imagine that! That you have the time to come see me!” I think it’s the kindest way I’ve ever been dealt a guilt trip in all my life.




I talked with her just a bit in Norwegian and she complimented me on how well I’m speaking the language (I’ve heard that a lot lately.) She then said to me, “But you don’t speak the local dialect. That’s OK,” she said, “We have enough people that do that already.” I thought that was funny. Kory had a nice chat with her, but Kaleb and I were in the wings, not making any noise so she could hear better. She can only hear if the person talking is about six inches away from her ear, so Kory spent a good ninety minutes on his knees in front of her, bending over to talk loudly into her good ear. She spent the whole time holding one of his hands and rubbing up and down his arm with the other. It was pretty sweet, but I guess Tante Kari hates that she’s so needy and clingy now. I think it’s understandable. Kory didn’t mind a bit. (Today’s photo is much better of her – we told her to smile.)



Tante Ruth asked Kory what she ever did in her life to deserve to go blind (she has glaucoma.) That was a tough one, for which he had no answer. She also wondered about who would be paying the rent now on the condo, and Kory assured her we would take full responsibility for it. She was relieved. She has no idea her stuff is all gone as she was telling him just where to find certain things in the condo. It was a bit odd since her sisters had told her that her things had been split up in threes, but I don’t think she understood what that really meant. All she was worried about was that no one have any arguments or cause any trouble over her stuff. It was so sad to see her in such a deteriorated condition (and so thin!), but her spirits were good and she insisted she not complain about a thing, because, she said, “You didn’t come here to hear me complain.” I thought that was ironic since her whole life she’s been a hypochondriac and has always been sick and complaining about every little thing (Kory even said once she was sure she had arthritis in her ears), but now that she really has cause for complaining, she’s chipper as a bird. Strange.



It was a scorcher of a day today so it was sad we were inside so much, but the visit was important and we certainly won’t wait two weeks to go back, even though those old folk’s homes give me the creeps with all those half dead people sitting around in chairs in the lobbies, not moving a muscle.



Kory drove Kaleb and I to the library in the city afterwards so I could get some more farm history books. I’m on a roll with my friend Stuart’s family. I’ve gotten nearly every branch back to the early 1600s (between eight and 13 generations back). I think I’ve entered over 500 names in his family’s database on my computer. Talk about roots! Before I started, all he knew were the names of his grandparents that all came from someplace in Norway called “Romsdalen” (a place very near where we live.) When Kaleb asked why I like to spend so much time doing this kind of research, I told him it’s like putting a puzzle together, but I have to go find all the pieces myself, they don’t come in a box. It gives the “detective” part of my brain something to do.



We dropped Kaleb off at his friend William’s house to play for a few hours after school, then he took the bus up to his best friend, Toban’s house to finally have a sleepover with him. Kory and I used the alone time to do a little more second-hand store shopping, but didn’t find much of what we were looking for. When we got back home we visited a bit with the other two Tantes, then Kory spackled all the nail holes and joints in the wall he built while I sunned myself out on the deck. I took a bold step today and sat out in just my bra (yes, I do own one), knowing only Kory and Tante Aslaug could see me (from time to time she peeks her head over the wall that separates our balconies.) I instantly fell asleep in the heat but I’m sure neither of them paid me any attention. Good thing, I’d hate to offend anyone.



This morning I got the “what-for” from the woman with the big boobs that lives downstairs that offends me when she suns herself. I was told by both Tantes that we can’t shake our rugs out over our balconies because the dust lands on the balconies below, but I was told it was OK to shake them out over the courtyard on the other side because it’s just common walkways on each floor below us. So, I had to shake the sawdust out of one throw rug this morning and that big boobed woman came out and yelled, “IKKE LOV!” (NOT ALLOWED!) Tante Kari said she’s also been yelled at by the same woman who screamed at her that it wasn’t allowed to hang rugs over the balcony railings either. Tante Kari said that neighbor woman is especially “sour.” After having seen her nearly topless, I’d have to say she’s right about that –both inside and out.