The Perfect Storm

At least it’s not as bad as Seattle had it last weekend, but we had quite the downpour all day today.  It’s the day before Norway’s biggest holiday of the year – 17^th of May – their Constitution Day – so the mall was completely packed, not just because people were buying food and flowers for tomorrow when all the stores will be closed, but because it was raining and I’m sure there wasn’t much else to do.  Many took off work today and some schools had free - so the mall was insane.  The lines in the grocery store were immense.  I only needed a few things but it took a lot of patience to get them.  Uff.  It’s no way to start the day.

Kory went to a meeting today with Tante Kari and Cousin Kari regarding Tante Ruth.  Ruth has been in the old folk’s home for one year now and it’s customary to meet with her doctor and caregivers to go over her health issues and how things are with her once a year.  She wasn’t present.  Kory said they just told the family her health statistics, her blood pressure and blood count, what meds she’s on and how she’s doing.  It was a bit shocking to find out she’s down to 36 kilos – less than 80 pounds.  At one point she weighed 195 pounds, so she is certainly withering away.  At least she has an appetite now so everyone brought her candy, as she has quite the sweet tooth.  The antibiotics worked to clear up her urine infection so she’s able to sit in a chair again and feeling much better, but still looking like death warmed over.  Uff.

One of our neighbors came by and introduced herself today so we invited her in for a little visit.  Her daughter and grandchildren stayed in our place in March for a few nights.  She’d asked Tante Kari if we would rent it out for the weekend since she didn’t have a place for them and we said we would – so she came to pay up on the rent today.  She was so sweet I hated even charging her for it, but she insisted.  I can’t remember her name but Kory was asking a little about herself and she said she had a “samboer” for 30 years (someone she’s been living with).  She must be in her 80s.  Kory asked her why she wouldn’t just get married after all these years and she said it’s because of Norway’s inheritance laws.  They were both widowed with grown children when they moved in together and by law, if they were married, one third of their estates would go to their spouses and the children would get the other two thirds.  She had much more money than her “samboer” so she didn’t want to have her children miss out on their full inheritance if she remarried.  It’s not allowed in Norway to write a will and overrule that percentage split… so the two of them went to an empty church up on a hill in the Canary Islands and said their vows before God, exchanged rings and pronounced themselves married.  They wanted God in on it but they had to leave the Norwegian government out of it - for money’s sake.  Sad, but sweet.  I guess there are many reasons why people don’t get married around here, that obviously being one of them.

Daniel’s dad, Are (pronounced Ar-ah), came home from the hospital today.  We went over to his house to pray for him again and to bring him and Tina the leftover seafood chowder I made yesterday.  I figured Tina had her hands full taking care of Are, she didn’t need to worry about what was for dinner.  It was a good decision.  I guess that’s not a normal thing to do here in Norway so it was nice to share some American hospitality with them.  They felt blessed. 

Are is looking much better today than on Saturday but he was pretty drugged up since they knew he’d be in pain from all the movement to get home.  He was feeling no pain when we saw him, but that’s because he wasn’t moving.  It only hurts if he moves.  He’s now just supposed to heal at home and the doctor said he should be back at work in 15 days!  I looked on the internet and it said it takes at least 6 weeks to heal those bones and the poor guy can’t even feed himself.  Are said the Norwegian health care system won’t allow anyone to be off work for more than 15 days, no matter what their problem is, so he just has to go back after 15 days and tell them he needs more time off.  That’s just how their system works.  Weird.  But now the stress is on Tina because he needs full time care and she has to go to work, too, so there’s a problem they’ve yet to figure out.  We prayed for quick healing.

This afternoon both Kory and I took a much needed nap as Kaleb went home with Henrik after school and played for a few hours.  Just before dinnertime we were treated to a marching band going down the street in front of our condo that woke us up (see photo below).  The circus is in town!  Right next to our condo is an empty lot where the big tent was erected this morning.  Flyers appeared all over town and just in case someone didn’t see those, the marching band was preceded by kids carrying big posters pointing the way to the circus.  I guess this must be a tradition that goes back to the days before modern communication techniques.  It’s traditional that during Easter and 17^th of May the circus comes to town for a few days so we’ll be having elephants and lions for neighbors, it seems.  I prefer the little old lady that visited us this morning.

Daniel came over to spend the night tonight.  There is no school tomorrow and Kaleb was bored once he got home, so we went and picked him up and the boys actually played outside for a while once the rain stopped.  I said he could come over if he didn’t bring his Nintendo, so they were in a panic wondering what to do without any electronics.  They managed just fine. 

Kory has been drawing faces all day.  He’s not very good at them so he’s trying to get better.  I sure look old and fat in the one he drew of me.  I think I’m in denial, so he might be better at it than I'd like.

Fiskesuppe

Kaleb woke his friends up early this morning so they could finish up whatever electronic game they were playing last night when Kory told them to quit and go to bed.  I don’t think his friend’s were too happy with their early wake up call, based on the sour faces I encountered at the breakfast table.  I made fresh scones for breakfast, and yet again, faced the “acquired taste” problem and neither Daniel or Andre would eat one, after tasting just a nibble – even covered with strawberry jam.  At least I tried.  Kaleb appreciated them anyway.  I think Andre might lose weight when he’s with us for three weeks this summer.  I keep telling him he has to learn to try American food, but he just smiles and says, “Taco Bell,” like that’s all he’s going to eat when he’s in the U.S..  Maybe it will be.  I know I find great delight in fresh bread and white cheese when I’m here, so I can’t really fault him if he finds something he likes and sticks with it.

We had a big discussion about which church to attend today because we have yet to go to Philadelphia, where both Daniel and Andre attend, but they didn’t want to go to church at all.  Kaleb wanted to take them to Agape since he gets extra points for bringing a friend and he was looking forward to a little prize today if he brought two friends, but we couldn’t get them to agree to go there, either.  Finally I called Daniel’s mom to say we’d bring him home before church but she said he needed to go, so she was the one that decided for us all.  We went to Philadelphia.  The boys sat up in the loft and we didn’t hear a peep out of them so I’m sure there were some electronics involved in their Christian teaching today.  Hmm.

Kory stayed after church for the café hour, but I had to get home and start making dinner for his mom’s two cousins and their wives who we invited over tonight.  They are always having us over, so it’s nice now we can repay the hospitality.  I made seafood chowder and it was deeeee-licous!  I’m so glad we have leftovers.  It took me all afternoon to make dinner because I also made some biscuits, salad, blueberry cobbler and a twice baked potato to go with it, in case they didn’t like the soup.  Good thing Kory helped a little or I’d have never made it on time. 

It rained like the dickens all afternoon so Kory took the boys over to Andre’s house where they watched a movie together.  Kaleb had to ride his bike home and was soaked to the core by the time he made it to our place.  After we’d all eaten dinner and were visiting in the living room, he curled up with a book in his room and promptly fell asleep about 7:30, so I know he didn’t sleep much last night.  I kept telling him to go down to Tante Kari’s and practice the piano, but he kept putting it off.  How convenient.

We had a lot of good laughs with our guests tonight, as one of the couples are the parents to Bjørn, our host in Turkey, so they are grandparents to those crazy twins.  I showed them some of the videos and photos I’d taken while we were with Bjørn’s family and everyone just roared with laughter, as that Markus belted out a few rounds of Hallelujah!  He’s a funny kid, even if one isn’t related to him.

The ladies tried not to eat too much food tonight as the 17^th of May is in just two days and everyone is worried about fitting in to their bunads (traditional Norwegian dresses).  I guess that’s as good of motivation as it gets to keep one’s weight in check year after year.  One night last week at Bible study, the women must have spent the first 15 minutes just talking about the pressure of fitting into that dress every year.  It’s designed to “expand”, but if they don’t try it on early enough and have enough time to do the sewing to expand it, they are stuck wearing it like a corset where they can barely breathe the whole day, or opting to just buy a nice black dress to wear instead.  It’s pretty comical to hear the discussion around this tradition.  One woman told of a time she was totally humiliated when she realized the entire day she’d had her blouse on inside out – and no one said anything.  Such is the politeness of the Norwegians.  So if any of them didn’t like my fish soup or twice baked potatoes tonight, I’ll never know.

(The sunset tonight, around 11pm, provided quite the dramatic sky, as seen from our balcony in today’s photos.)

Necessities

When I saw the weather report a few days ago I had big plans for today.  It was supposed to be warm and sunny and we were supposed to be up on a mountain or down at the beach… but then the day came and the rain showed up.  It drenched my spirits for having a fun family day on one of the few days we are here in Norway with nothing else on the calendar.  Bummer.

We used the time this morning to do several necessary things however, like clean Kaleb’s room.  Poor guy, he has very little space so even just one or two things lying around makes it look a mess.  But the real problem was we hadn’t yet identified a place for everything, so everything COULD be in its place, so that happened this morning.  He has his t-shirt drawer and long sleeved shirt drawer and pants drawer, and hangers in his closet for his shirts and hoodies.  He has a bin for all his Pokemon stuff and a place to put his books and magazines.  It’s all so nice now I wonder how long it will stay that way.  I haven’t yet reminded him we have a few boxes of his stuff still in the basement, however, as there is no place in his room for it, and I’m hoping I can get rid of it before he remembers. 

Kaleb even crawled under his bed and washed the floor with a wet rag, since the dust was getting pretty thick in there.  Somehow, it makes our whole place feel cleaner.  We hung up a few wall decorations and made it look a little more like home.  I love it.

Kaleb was anxious to get over to his friend Andre’s house today so Kory drove him over there and then Kory and I went to the hospital to pray for Daniel’s dad.  I guess that’s not real common here - for people to show up and pray for the sick - so they were surprised by us doing that.  But God showed up too, so that was the most important thing.  Poor Are, he’s in terrible pain and they won’t give him much pain medication until they know the full extent of his injuries.  They know he broke his collarbone in one place and shattered his shoulder blade in several places, but that’s not enough for them to know he’s in so much pain he’s nauseous and needs some relief.  So we prayed.  And while we were praying, he felt a huge flood of healing go through his body and the pain totally disappeared!  Hallelujah!  He was crying, he was so relieved to be feeling a little better.  We will continue to pray and trust God for total healing.

Are said he was going to work yesterday, full force, which is the way he rides his bike.  Some car was blocking his vision as it pulled out of a side road, so he didn’t see a woman walking on the path he was on, until the car pulled out and then he smashed into the woman.  She was ok, but he went flying off his bike.  Fortunately, he landed on his left side, since he’s right handed.  He looked pretty tough but he was thanking God he had on a helmet and his legs are OK.  It will hopefully just take some time to heal all his wounds.  Uff da.

With Kaleb gone, Kory and I worked on hanging things on his bedroom walls, straightening up a few things in the house and going to the mall to get a few household items.  It turned out to be a terribly boring day with not much activity, but I did make banana bread only to discover neither Daniel or Andre like it.  They came home with Kaleb at dinner time to have a “double sleepover” here tonight.  I thought I’d treat them all to some warm banana bread right out of the oven, and they both took one tiny bite and wrinkled up their noses and shook their heads.  Kaleb was pleased, because it meant all the more for him.  It’s funny how many things are an acquired taste. 

After dinner tonight Kory and I went for a walk.  The rain had stopped and the setting sun provided some incredible landscapes (see today’s photos).  We then stopped in and visited Tante Kari for a while.  She’d been home alone all day with no one stopping by – not the norm for her.  Often her children, in-laws, ex-in-laws or grandchildren will buy a cake or something from the bakery and show up on her doorstep. She makes the coffee and a nice long visit ensues afterwards.  That’s pretty much her life.  She’s lucky.  Many older people in our complex get no visitors whatsoever.  I can’t imagine such a lonely existence.  I do enjoy our social life here quite a bit and wish we had more of it in America.

It’s nearly midnight and the boys are still up, playing their Nintendos.  We tried to get them to play Mexican Train or to go down in the parking garage and play hide and seek among the parked cars, but the addiction to electronics is just too hard to break. When we were out for our walk one day we saw a sign that directly translated to “Olsvika (the neighborhood where we walked) has many children, but none to lose.”  It meant of course, to drive carefully, since children are playing around in the streets.  But it was an old sign with the paint peeling off.  I’m certain now, with the invention of hand held electronics, the children are already lost. 

Friday the 13th

We don’t pay much attention to superstitions in our house, but after today, Kaleb was nearly convinced that bad luck does indeed happen on Friday the 13^th.  Before he even left for school this morning we got a text message asking for prayer for the dad of his friend Daniel, who fell off his bike as he was riding to work.  We didn’t know for hours what all had happened but for now we know he bruised his ribs and broke his shoulder blade in many places.  He may need surgery and certainly a long time to recover.  We prayed for him and are waiting for more updates.

Kaleb rode his bike home with Andre after school and Andre hit a crack in the road and fell forward so that the center bar on his bike slammed up against certain private parts, which caused him much pain.  Kaleb laughed, but knew it wasn’t funny.  Then Andre hit another crack in the road and fell off his bike, but didn’t get hurt.  Since it had been raining pretty hard all afternoon, a big puddle of water was on the road right near where he’d fallen so he got completely drenched when a bus happened to drive by as he was getting back on his bike.  Again, Kaleb laughed, and had to agree with Andre that bad things happen on Friday the 13^th.  I’m just glad none of them happened to anyone in our household.

I had a prayer meeting to attend this morning so I was gone for several hours.  Those Praying Women love to pray and I love to be part of it.  We also had quite the discussion about Confirmation, Infant Baptism, Christians living together without getting married, and the changing boundaries set by the Church in Norway where now women and homosexuals are allowed to be priests.  We all wondered what God’s take on all that is.  It’s hard to know.

Historically, Norwegians believe that once a baby has been baptized, they officially become a child of God and are assured a place in heaven.  I asked what happens if a baby dies before they get baptized and I was told that doctors are certified to perform emergency baptisms in case a priest can’t make it to the hospital soon enough.  Boy is that a stretch. 

One of the Praying women told us that she lived with her husband for many years before they were married.  She felt they were married in the eyes of God and the piece of paper making it legal was only for the benefit of others, not them.  After they had their first child they went to the State Church to get their baby baptized and the priest wouldn’t do it because they weren’t married.  Her now mother-in-law marched right in there and told the priest a thing or two and insisted that her grandchild not be left out of heaven because of the choices of his parents made, and they next day, the Priest called them to say he would baptize their baby.  So much for standards.  Times are changing fast in Norway.  The old is gone and the new has come.  They also said that in the old days, kids could actually flunk Confirmation and have to repeat it another year if they didn’t know all the memory work that was required.  Now, there is no memory work whatsoever.  Kids are only required to attend church eight times in the course of a year and the only somewhat Christian thing they must do is read through a list of prayers and decide which one the Priest will say over them as they are being confirmed.  It’s become more of a fun and games type event for all 14 year olds than any kind of religious study.  Sad, but true.

As much as I wanted to go for a walk today, even in the rain, I needed to spend the few hours I had “free” today, preparing a meal.  We’d invited over Cousin Axel and his wife Kari, and their daughter Miriam and her family for dinner and there was much to do.  I need to find easier recipes as I think it’s just wrong that it takes four hours to make a meal, but it sure tasted good.  Fortunately, I’d already bought all the ingredients before we went broke at the thrift store yesterday.  Kory was happy to have food in his belly. 

Axel and Kari were the witnesses at our wedding, nearly 20 years ago, and they will be going with us on the ferry up the coast of Norway next month on our anniversary trip.  It’s always fun to hang out with them and catch up on what’s happening in their lives.  We don’t see them as often as we’d like, but tonight we had a long evening of just chatting about all kinds of things, so that was nice. 

Our days our quickly slipping by here as we are now at the halfway mark and we don’t have many free days left on the calendar.  We’ve yet to decide what to do with our condo once we leave, as we won’t be coming back for at least 12 months, so we are praying God gives us a plan – whether to rent it out as a business rental or have someone just move in.  I hate the idea of packing up all our personal things and putting them in storage, but we might just have to do that so we won’t have to eat hot dogs next year when we come back.

(I didn't even take any photos today so I have to use some from my inventory taken on previous days...)

Feeding the Habit

I think my addiction to buying things at the Thrift Store is averaging me about a hundred dollars a week.  Never before have I had such a problem.  I was trying to stay away this week, just to be sure we’d stay within our budget, but I’ve been back in Norway now for three full days without once going to the Thrift Store.   (I tried to find some in Turkey, too, but they didn’t have any.)

All I could think of today is all the things that must have shown up during the week we were gone, and I just couldn’t help myself.  I decided to take my little “fresh air” walk down to my favorite place to see what I could see.  I wasn’t disappointed.  The problem was, however, I didn’t pack enough cash with me, so I had to call Kory to come bail me out.  There were treasures galore.  I got table cloths ($2-4 each), a new stool I can use outside when I’m trying to pick up an internet signal from the library ($7), a new computer desk chair (big splurge at $22), some really cool bowls ($2 each), 8 matching glasses (free), a few metal serving trays ($2 each) and a very cool little shelf all hand carved with a Norwegian design ($20).  I even bought a few kid’s books for Kaleb ($1-2 each), a decorative plate of Trondheim ($2), a very old copper pitcher ($13) and a Hardanger table runner ($4).  I really splurged on a few things and was quite “fornøyd” as they say here in Norway (satisfied.)  I don’t know why I get so happy shopping at that store.  I think it’s a combination of affordable items and also unique things that certainly could never be found in America.  And all the money I spend goes to missions!  I wish I knew the prices I could get for some antiques, because I’m sure I could resell many of the items in that store for a good profit, if I only knew.  I was in there two hours today.  I really can’t go back for a while as I spent all our food money for the week.  I think we’ll be eating those hot dogs I bought on sale yesterday, for dinner.

Poor Kory, he so wants a new drill motor, as he swears he can’t do a thing without one, but they are at least $300 and I feel we can’t afford one for the occasional screw he’ll be using it for.  But he said nothing when I spent $100 at the thrift store today.  He’s a very good martyr.   And I spent $50 on plants today too because EVERYONE in Norway dresses up their decks and front porches with flowers for 17^th of May, which is coming right up.  I hate to seem like a stick in the mud, so I had to splurge and buy some red, white and blue flowers so I fit in with everyone else.  The rebel in me even bought some purple and yellow pansies that don’t match anything else, but they were cheap so I need to get those all potted up and ready to grow.

Kaleb came home right after school today all frustrated with the amount of homework his classmates have been given.  He said it’s pointless to go home with anyone after school since they are all taking an hour or two to get their work done.  He’s been helping a lot of them with math and English homework, but he doesn’t like sitting around waiting for them anymore, so he just came home.  I gave him a little homework to do himself, just so he doesn’t feel left out.

We saw in the paper that a cruise ship was in town this afternoon, so Kory had the big idea to go down and try to sell some of his artwork to the tourists.  It was drizzling a bit and they were all heading back to their ship by the time we got there.  Kory and Kaleb set up a little table on the corner of a street, but they had no signs, so it didn’t go over too well.  I told Kory he should just go into the souvenir shop next door and see if he could leave some things there on consignment, but he wouldn’t listen to me.  Then a local guy came by and admired his work and they had a little discussion about it.  The local guy told him to go into that souvenir shop and try to sell his stuff on consignment, and next thing I know, Kory is in the souvenir shop working out a consignment deal with the shop owner.  Go figure.  So at least Kory now has his art being distributed.  We’ll see how it goes.  He’s very hopeful and I’m just thankful he listens to somebody, even if it’s not me.

Kory visited with Tante Kari tonight while Kaleb was practicing his piano.  I think it’s an odd time for two people who are both hard of hearing to be having a conversation while piano music is blasting right next to them, but somehow they manage.  There’s a lot of head nodding but I’m not sure either of them can hear what the other is saying.  It’s kinda funny.

“Russ” (pronounced Roose) is going on right now so it’s an interesting time in Norway.  All the kids that are going to graduate from high school have 17 days in May to do crazy things and act very wild.  They all wear red overalls and many pool their money to buy old red mini-vans painted with all kinds of things on it, including the names of the “Russ” kids who own it.  The vans get recycled year after year and insurance companies sell insurance just for these 17 days in May when the kids are driving them. 

The Russ kids (graduates) attend parties non stop where they all get challenges to accomplish during this time.  They have funny hats they wear with a tassel on it, and for each challenge they complete, they get some weird object to attach to their tassel to show they did it.  As I’m writing this at midnight, there are a bunch of Russ kids out in the roundabout near our house, tooting horns and holding up signs asking people to honk their horns.  I think they get points for the number of honks they get.  The other day when I was walking alone on the sidewalk, a Russ van went by and someone threw a water balloon at me.  It didn’t hit me so I’m sure they didn’t get a point for that, but it reminded me to be very careful when I’m out in public, as one never knows when they will encounter a Russ kid with a challenge to complete.  I’m thankful the 17 days are soon over.

Tonight I attended the women’s Connect Group with Agape Church.  Our fearless leader, Synnøve, had a birthday yesterday so we all met at a local restaurant for “kvelds mat” (night food).  I wasn’t hungry so I just ordered some pita bread ($10), while the others ate a full meal (after 9pm!).  We had a nice time of sharing and talking about stuff going on in our lives.  It’s good to be connected.

One Time Grill

The sun was shining brightly before I even woke up at 5am.  There’s not much night this time of year.  I was happy to fall back asleep, even with the bright light outside my window.

Kory took off before Kaleb did this morning as he had an appointment for our car to get the every-other-year check that’s required on all vehicles here in Norway.  It’s not a cheap endeavor as they inevitably find something wrong.  Such was the case today.  But lucky for us, the guy that owns the mechanic shop is a childhood friend of Kory’s so he’s being more than helpful. Apparently, this guy arranges to put the car on the back of a flatbed and drives it to another country to have the work done for about half the price, if we have the time to be without it for a week.  We do.  We’re going to Israel in two weeks, so I’m sure it will save us thousands of dollars.  Car repairs aren’t cheap.  The work that needs to be done isn’t critical or even bothersome, but they have their rules here about all cars being in tip-top shape, so it’s still cheaper than trying to buy another car.  It’s just the way it is.  Ugh.

While Kory was gone I did boring things like grocery shopping, laundry, bill paying and checking Kaleb’s homework.  I also finished up a photo book I’ve been working on and I got that ordered, which took way longer than I wanted it to because the internet access is so slow here.  I also spent some much needed quiet time with God.  The morning was gone before I knew it.

Kory went for a long walk while waiting for the car to be done.  He filled the gas tank on the way home to the tune of $180.  I’m sure we won’t complain about gas prices when we get back to America.  But here, we don’t drive as much.  I think our gas bill for March was over $600 at home.  So far here, it’s only been less than $300, even with gas prices being over $12 a gallon.

The sun was so inviting today that both Kory and I wanted to go to the beach.  We drove out to Kaleb’s school (he gets out at one o’clock on Wednesdays) and picked up him and Toban, Andre and Henrik, and headed out to Emblemsanden – a gorgeous park only about five minutes from their school.   The boys all had homework to do but they figured they could do it after dinner because it was just too nice to be inside today, anyway.

I’d bought some hot dogs and buns and an “engangsgrill” (one time grill) so we could have a little cook out at the beach, Norwegian style.  I love those grills – they are just a couple of bucks and they fire up so easily and are disposable.  It’s basically just an aluminum lasagna pan with briquettes in the bottom and a little wire mesh over the top.  They work great and cook the food quickly. Every park has a special metal container just for throwing them away so they don’t mix in with other garbage and potentially start a fire in the trash can.  People even take them hiking up in the mountains, but they are most often used at the beach.

I also brought along some snacks we bought in Turkey, so it was fun for the boys to have some time together doing something a little different after school.  From what I gather, they normally just jump on trampolines or play their Nintendos.

I forgot to bring drinking glasses today so I showed them how to pour the pop in their mouths without touching the rim of the bottle, which none of them had ever done before.  It turned into a very fun challenge for them.  Who knew.

Toban had to be home by 4:30 for a soccer game, so everything ended way too soon, but it was still fun to have a few hours outside.  I never did have time to go for a walk, though.  Kaleb stayed on at Andre’s house until 7 tonight.  He didn’t want his fun to end, but mostly, I think, he was postponing piano practice and his own homework.

After we took the boys home, we stopped at Odd and Turid’s to pick up some of our mail and they invited us to stay for dinner.  We weren’t hungry but we sat and chatted with them while they ate.  They are heading off to Copenhagen tomorrow for a long weekend.  It was just announced today that Denmark is going to close their borders and start doing passport checks again.  All of Europe has open borders for years, but apparently there has been too much crime between Denmark and Sweden and Germany, so things are reverting back to the way they used to be.  Odd also told us that Norway is talking about a new law where no one will be able to buy anything that costs over $500 with cash.  Too much “black money” is being used (generated from illegal activities) and the government wants to crack down on that.   I’m a cash kinda gal so that law might put me in the slammer at some point.  When I’m out of cash, I know I can’t spend anymore.  It’s so much easier to manage money that way, but then, I’m not often buying things that cost $500.  In this country, though, it’s not hard to do.

Back Home Again

Kaleb flipped a coin this morning on whether he should go to school or not.  He said his stomach hurt a little, but mostly, his shoulders were sunburned and he didn’t want to be packing around his backpack full of books.  The coin toss decided he’d be going to school afterall, so I lightened his load and only gave him two books to work from today so the pressure wouldn’t be too great on his back.  He was appreciative of that, and somehow, his stomach started feeling better.

Markus told us a few days ago that when it rains, it means that God is peeing on us.  Fortunately, Kaleb made it to school before the peeing started.  Even then, it didn’t last long and I was able to hang out some laundry to dry.

Kory went to the store first thing today to get bread and a few other items.  I continued to unpack and put things away.  I went to the library to post my blog and load up some photos onto Facebook and was shocked I was there for nearly three hours.  What happened to the time?  I made sure I stood up often and stretched and thought of Emil.  I guess my back got in the shape it did from sitting far too long at the computer.  I’m going to try minimizing further damage.

While I was at the library, Kory ran into Josef Kloven, a guy from Seattle.  He’s been working with YWAM, a Christian organization here in town, but now is working as a metal worker and they have a job they are doing to some flashing on the building next to us.  Kory invited him up for lunch so they had a good chat and got caught up on a lot of things happening with mutual friends here and there.  I missed the whole thing, including lunch.

Tante Kari came up to welcome us back this afternoon and then sat and looked at some of the photos and watched the video of Markus singing out Hallelujah every few minutes.  He still cracks me up.  Kory took Tante Aslaug over to visit Tante Ruth.  Ruth looks like she’s on death’s door and I do think she’s hoping she’s there soon.  Kory took a photo of her and it was a sad sight.

Kaleb went home with his friend Henrik today after school.  He called to tell me where he was and to inform me that he got beat up by Morten today - punched right in the eye, while it was open.  “First time I saw stars,” he said.  Apparently Morten pushed him into a doorframe and Kaleb didn’t take too kindly to it since it hurt his sunburned back.  He grabbed Morten by the arm and asked him why he did that.  Not big on explanations, apparently, Morten just punched him in the face.  Kaleb cried and then Morten told the teacher Kaleb hit him first.  Such is life.  It was a repeat of last night at the airport when I just kept telling Kaleb to “let it go,” when someone does something irritating to him, but he escalates it every time to his own detriment.  I’m praying he learns soon to steer clear of trouble, rather than stir it up.

Kory and I managed to get in a 35 minute walk before I made dinner.  Kaleb came home just as we were sitting down to eat so we had a fast meal, then down to Tante Kari’s for piano practice.  I had to listen to Kaleb play today since he didn’t play all last week and I was sure he was going to be sloppy.  I was right.  So Kory visited with Kari outside on the balcony, while I cracked the whip with Kaleb.

I had a Bible study group meeting tonight and we were there over three hours!  We had such a good discussion on prayer, fasting, faith, forgiveness, salvation… it just kept going and going, then we prayed and talked some more.  I love how serious people are here about their relationship with God, if they have one.  It’s very encouraging to me and I’m so thankful to have so many opportunities to “gather together” with fellow believers.

I walked home from the meeting tonight because I wanted a bit more exercise and it was still light out at 11 o’clock.  I love the long days of summer.  It’s even better when God stops peeing.

The Journey Back Home

There were a few last minute to-do things this morning before we all packed up and headed out of town.  I had my last massage with Emil (see photo!) and nearly danced down the street afterwards, as I felt so good.   I found myself praying for him during the massage, trusting God to reveal the Truth to him.  I wouldn’t mind meeting him again in heaven where I’d actually be able to tell him what a wonderful thing he has done.  The only English words he can say are “pain, good, stress and relax.”  The main office guy that takes the payments speaks English pretty well.  He told me to be sure to do some “gymnastics” every day to keep my muscles limber.  I will, and I’ll be thinking of and praying for Emil when I do.  Hallelujah!  I can’t believe what a difference it’s made.

Kaleb wanted a few local snacks to take home so we went to the grocery store together and spent the last of our Turkish Liras.  I also bought a beach towel with a few American dollars.  Inger and Bjørn bought more clothes and all the kids just hung out at the house, packing up their things and cleaning up a bit.  It’s a huge four bedroom, two-story condo that easily sleeps 10 so it was a very comfortable place to stay for a week, but really, a week wasn’t enough.  There was much more to do in the area, but after looking through a tour book, it reminded me of being in Rome and going from one church to the next… after a while they all looked the same.  I think that could be the case for the ruins in Turkey, as the old towns are laid out in a similar fashion and they all have amphitheaters, etc., so we saw a few ruins, a few amphitheaters, and if we would have seen more, I’m thinking it might have been too much.  So, we didn’t have too little of anything or too much of anything, it was all just right, and we are very thankful for the opportunity to have spent time there – and none of us got sick! 

Inger is staying on for another week as three of her friends are arriving tomorrow morning to be with her.  Inger’s grandmother just died, so the timing was terrible for her and she wished she could return home with us and attend the funeral tomorrow, but she can’t.

Our trip home was pretty uneventful, which is always a good thing when flying (photo below is of the coastline in Turkey.  The last photo is of our area in Norway).  We were a little delayed here and there as we had to stop in Stavanger while they cleaned the plane.  The boys were tired and Kaleb was sunburned and crabby, so that wait inside the airport got a little tense as he wouldn’t stop pestering the twins. Eventually he settled down after I had a long talk with him and we made it back to Aalesund about 10:30, just as the sun was setting. 

When we arrived, the battery on our car was dead, for some reason, so Bjørn had to give us a jump.  All the stores were closed so we couldn’t get fresh bread for the morning, but it was still good to be home.  I guess we missed the warmest day of the year here today as it was over 80 degrees.  Rain comes in the morning.  Our sunburns will keep us all plenty warm however. 

Tante Aslaug heard us arriving home at 11:30 so she popped in to return my roses, which still looked great, and to welcome us back.  She said Tante Ruth isn’t doing too well, she’s gotten a bladder infection and is just lying in bed, not wanting to eat anything and just waiting for Jesus to take her home.  I’m glad we made it back before He did.

All Good Things Must Come to an End.

I’m contemplating buying Emil, my massage therapist, a one-way ticket to America.  My life would be much improved if I had him around on a regular basis.  The pain in my lower back has completed gone away and the one in my shoulder is about 95% better.  I had to give him a hug today, as I just felt so good after my “medical massage.”  I hadn’t realized before how much stressed out muscles affect overall health, but I’m certainly going to do my part now to keep them more relaxed.  Daily stretching is a must.  I’ll be thinking of Emil every time, and praying for him.

Bjørn and Kory finished up painting the last of the hand railings today so they both joined the rest of us around the pool for some R&R.  We didn’t leave the pool all day as the sun was hot and everyone just wanted to chill out.   I’m not sure how relaxing it really was with all the water wars going on between Kaleb and I, and Tobias and the twins, but we did our best to keep water off those who weren’t participating.  It was pretty fun, but we all got rather toasted in the process.

At lunch today I suggested maybe we should take the twins on a little trip in the neighborhood over to see the new playground.  Markus said (in Norwegian, of course), “Why don’t we take a little trip up to heaven to see God?”  He’s been fascinated by God and heaven ever since he started shouting HALLELUJAH on a regular basis after spending time with us last summer.  Poor Jonas, he’s gotten kind of tired of it over the past year and when anticipating spending time with us here in Turkey he asked his mom, “What are we going to do with both Kory and Markus shouting HALLELUJAH all the time?”  Kory hasn’t said too many of them this week, as Markus has said enough of them for all of us.  It still makes me laugh when he does it, which only encourages him to do it more, I’m sure, but as I told his parents, there are worse things he could be shouting.

Inger finally convinced Tobias to get a haircut before we leave so I went with them down to the salon and Inger and I got a manicure while we were waiting – for a whopping six dollars each.  We realized it was Mother’s Day back in America (and here, too, but not in Norway), when a neighbor got flowers delivered to her today.  So, we treated ourselves to a little Mother’s Day pleasure.  I think I’ve had a manicure only once or twice in my lifetime.  It’s just so decadent, but for six dollars, I feel I’m worth it.

While we were getting our manicure, a couple of camels walked down the street in front of us.  They were on leads and were dressed up for the tourist business, but it’s still funny to see.  There have been many funny things I’ve seen in Turkey – like traffic lights in the city with a big digital count down clock next to them reporting how many seconds until the light turns green – as if the drivers need time to rev up their engines in preparation.  I’ve also seen two camels sitting down in the back of a pickup truck driving down the freeway.  That was a weird sight.  As was a guy sleeping on top of a tarp, high up on a small semi-truck barreling down the freeway.  One good slam of the brakes and he’d go sailing off that thing.  It made me shudder just looking at him.  I’m sure he wasn’t there just to hold down the tarp. 

The freeway has provided much entertainment as well as handy shopping opportunities.  There are several little stands on the side of the road either selling fresh fruit or cooked corn on the cob.  We haven’t tried the corn, but we did stop to buy 20 pounds of oranges so we could have fresh OJ every morning.  (I think we’ve gone through at least 50 pounds of oranges this week alone.)  One of the funniest things on the freeway is that they don’t have any directional markings for east/west/north/south, but just after passing through a city, there is a sign with the name of that city and a big red slash through it – meaning – this direction will NOT take you there.  It’s pretty comical.

Tonight for dinner we went to a restaurant right on the water and watched the sun go down.  The environment couldn’t have been better.  There was no wind and a very comfortable temperature.  Kory and I had a “hot pot” meal for two where they put chicken pieces and veggies in a clay vase, and cook that in an oven.  They have to break open the vase at the table to get the food out.  It was a genuine Turkish dish so it was fun to have some kind of local food with a little flair.  It was a long evening at the seaside and someone down the shore shot off big fireworks as we ate our complimentary fruit plate after dinner.  The hospitality around here is impressive and the prices are pretty reasonable and sometimes downright cheap.  It’s nice to be able to buy a popcicle for 40 cents here, rather than $4 in Norway.  Many things are even cheaper than in America.  And there is a strong police presence everywhere, so it feels much safer than I expected.  I’m sure this city wasn’t even a city 20 years ago as it seems it was all built around the ruins for the European tourist trade.

Over 150,000 Norwegians travel to Turkey for vacation every year.  It’s the number one vacation destination for them, and it’s easy to see why, since everything is so cheap and they have lots of warm sunshine – two things often lacking in Norway.  The other thing they have, that I love, are streets scented with the smell of honeysuckle and other fragrant flowers.  It’s absolutely heavenly to walk through neighborhoods and breath in deeply.  It’s almost like being in a perfume factory as the smell is so strong.  I haven’t gotten tired of that one bit.

We walked slowly back to the car after dinner tonight and Inger and Josephine did a little jewelry shopping along the way.  The main part of town really comes alive at night.  The currency here is Turkish lira, but they much prefer taking Euros and all the signs are posted with that currency.   Several places take dollars, too, which I found odd since we haven’t run in to a single American tourist since we got here, but Bjørn said all the Russian “new rich” only use American dollars.  Interesting.

We were late getting home tonight.  All of us felt stuffed from dinner and our bodies are radiating heat from our recently acquired sunburns.  I told Kaleb it’s a good time to leave Turkey – when we now feel like one – stuffed and over cooked.  We leave tomorrow.