Elise, you are the best (seriously)

 On the 15th, my friend and housemate Elise ran the Tromsø Ski Marathon 

(this is a lake just behind my house, and a random man in the middle of the photo)

 And this is her being amazing

 After doing about 20 out of 26 miles

She still manages to look as cheery as this.

That's all. All my admiration and respect.

As if you could get enough of babies

 We had a surprise baby shower for my friend Astrid a few weeks back

 With a blue theme, very gender biased

 Lots of presents

and lots of games, including Astrid's babyshower bingo (above is correct Norwegian spelling)

And all the cake in the world. I gave (or, really, lent) Astrid some hand-knitted jumpers (top photo) that I wore about 24-25 years ago. Her baby also got Superman jammies, so he's prepared. Astrid is the first girl in my group of pre-uni friends getting pregnant, so even my mum and Christine's grandmother are knitting jumpers and little socks for her boy. All the excitement. 

You probably thought you'd seen enough baby photos with the ones of my niece and nephew... But no!

Mountains and babies

 A few weeks ago my mum and I took a roadtrip

 From Tromsø to Setermoen, to see my sister and her children

 Namely, Andreas, aged almost nine months

 and Dina, aged almost four years

 And let's have another photo of Andreas because of baby cheeks

What did we do? We bought food, we made food, we ate food, and then we played around and watched films and baked and sang songs and pinched cheeks. Oh, and we celebrated mother's day, so Dina and I both made cards for our mums.

Me looking awkward

but trying to look happy

Because I'm going to Spain in April! Oh, and to Germany. ALL THE TRAVEL and all for me.

So let's forget that my laptop doesn't recognize my external hard drive with all the photos I should have edited, that I am still paying rent for this house but will be gone one month, and that I could have used the money differently:

I now get almost one week with my grandmother in Germany, and then I get two and a half weeks volunteering with language practice with a Spanish family. I'm volunteering through Workaway again, and hoping that I have found another good family to stay with.

Until then... Work hard, buy less and save up.

Snow

 just for you

 just for show

...

A weekend at home

 Look! The sun! Still such an amazing sight.

 It was up for more than two hours

 During which I cleaned out my old room a bit

And realised how much stuff I've got from my Falmouth years

Now all the posts you get are one or two weeks old. This was the first weekend of February. After clearing out a lot of stuff, and giving bags and bags away for charity, I still have these heavy boxes with workbooks and notebooks and folders and paper from Falmouth. One day I will be brave, go through them and get rid of what I don't need, but you know how it is... I need memories. Even though I haven't really opened these boxes the past two years.

Happy (Norwegian) Mother's Day!

 Me and my mum sleeping in the sun in Skarsfjorden last summer

 My mum and me in Germany, May 2011

Nina (mum) looking at a glacier in Svalbard last July (!)

Today is mother's day in Norway, because we don't want to celebrate it with everyone else. So this is a celebration of my wonderful mum, whom I love so much that it gets gooey when put down in words. I am looking forward to not only this year's travels with her, but also to all the tea we will consume and films we will watch together. Mamma <3 p="">

Christmas presents

 Also known as mussels

 eaten by Ida

 fish soup, eaten by me

And a lot of other food (duck, more mussels anddd one more thing) eaten by Astrid, Christine and Cathrine. We've started a tradition where, instead of everyone buying everyone sort-of-all-right Christmas presents every year, we go out for a meal and spend our money on that. I love this tradition.

Sami National Day!

Alternative map of the Arctic, centered around the North, with place names in Sami

Today is the Sami National Day, which I am hoping to celebrate with the children in day care, but also by going to a seminar about Mining Activity on Indigenous Land, which should be interesting because they are also tying in Latin America and issues I've written about before. 

Sun and Red Cross

 Tromsø, 24th January

Frank-Gøran and Ingrid, Oslo, 25th January 

Did I mention that the sun came back over the horizon on January 21st? For the first time since November 21st? And I happened to be at the airport around noon the following Friday. I can't find the words to explain the immense joy within any northerner when we see the sun again.

Then I went to Oslo, to learn how to be a Red Cross Youth instructor (which I am, partly, already, but now I will be one officially). I met a lot of amazing people, photographed only two of them, but should be going back in March for the second weekend of the course.

Sunday

equals computers and photos and editing

And tea and food and catching up on all the things I didn't do all week.

Also, listening to travel podcasts.