Bye, winter

This photo is from Dominique's visit in January - the mountains look pretty much the same as now in April.

I don't know what's happening with time, I think it's sped up since I turned 25, two years ago. Now I'm 27 (what) and I feel like Dominique was just here and I've just been working a bit and studying a bit since then. Then again, when I think about it, since January I have gone househunting, found a new house, moved all my stuff over to said new house and met new housemates, I've started studying Spanish in my spare time and I've gotten new tasks at work. Oh, and I've turned 27, and I've started noticing how much I've changed since I started this blog at 19 (nineteen!).

In other news, I really do need a new camera.

Confused? So am I

Dina last summer

First of all, what happened with time? How did four months just pass like that?

Second of all, why did I ever update to El Capitan for my Mac? Why, seriously why? My entire workflow was broken, and to be honest, that's not the biggest incentive to get back into blogging or to edit photos. At the moment I'm trying to figure out a new workflow for my photos, while at the same time being in a Christmassy holiday mode where I'd rather drink tea and eat gingerbread than shout at my laptop.

Let's see how it goes, shall we? 

More parties because

 there should always be parties, especially family parties

 because there is so much leftover cake that we're still finishing it a week later

 and I get to be with my sister and nephew

 and one grandmother after another

 Andreas gets to sleep on his grandmother's lap

and practice his posing skills with me (we're both slow learners)

As I've mentioned a few times already, I've been spending more and more time with my family this past year or so. Ah, I suppose that's what comes from being older, and from knowing that you're going away for an extended period of time. 

One big party, my grandmother's 75th

 we started off filling the table with as much food as possible

 Including my mum's paella and my aunt's couscous salad (not pictured here)

 Before we moved on to cakes and more cakes

 more cakes, and one grandmother Eva

 then, next day, we had more food

 we picked some of the first apples of the season

 and my dad taught his granddaughter how to use a knife to peel apples

I don't have any photos from the two volleyball games we had, or from going to the beach with my cousins, my uncle and Dina to fish crabs and then throw them into the sea again, or from swimming with my niece and nephew, or playing cards with my aunt and cousin, or anything else, really, because I was too busy doing it. This is a good thing. My camera mostly came out at meal times, while we were waiting for all thirteen people to sit down in one place together at the same time. We also had a lot of rain and almost-rain when we stayed inside, getting almost-bored and reading books. Anyway, a good weekend was had by all.

Tea, of course

 Last Saturday, my parents and I went to a tea garden in the city centre

 And guess what, we had tea

I could probably write volumes about tea and my relationship with it. I started drinking tea when I was thirteen, although it had nothing to do with tea really, and was more hot drinks made with fruity things inside tea bags. I started drinking black tea (what English people call "tea") a few years later, I know I must have done, but I can't remember much of it before going to study in England. Nowadays, I visit people and ask for milk in my tea, and they look at me with a strange look until I explain "Oh, but you know, I've lived in England", and suddenly it's all right. It's still a quirk, but at least they know why I'm acting so strange.

Ringvassøya, Skarsfjorden, Klokkarholmen

 On a family trip on Ringvassøya (Ringvass Island) outside of Tromsø

 we passed this, which I thought was man-made, is a vertebrae from a whale (it's big enough to sit on)

 my dad ate his salmon on a flat stone, because who needs plates when you have stones lying around

 We admired the view from Klokkarholmen

 and admired it in another direction

 We had lots of coffee and laughter (this is my cousin and my aunt)

and we went to a beach with deceivingly clear and inviting water and beautiful sand

Skarsfjorden is where my dad and his three siblings grew up, and Klokkarholmen where my granddad grew up. We all like to walk there in summer (there is no road, and there are no people living there permanently anymore), but we always seem to do so at different times, seeing that we are four families within our family, and several smaller groups inside these families again. This year, my dad and cousins hatched a plan for a long walk, an overnight stay, and inviting all the siblings and their children, grandchildren etc. We ended up being eleven people, barbecuing out there on Saturday night, talking, laughing, eating, laughing a bit more, and sleeping in tents for the night. The next day, we went past a beautiful beach on our way home, and had another barbecue there, tested the beautiful but oh-so-cold water, and went home. 

It was extremely tiring to walk that far with tents and sleeping bags and all the food, but very worth it. This is the place that we all connect with, that is deeply ingrained in our minds and our family history. I also just enjoy spending time with my family, getting to know them better, and laughing about all the silly things.

And then...

 Winter was properly here on Tuesday morning

And today, after the winter winds have settled a little, it's even looking quite pretty

I am excited by the snow this year, seeing that I was away most of the winter, and haven't been close to  snow since January. I am also already exhausted by the snow, realising that it means six months of hoping our neighbour will come and clear our driveway in the morning, of starting every car journey ten minutes earlier in case you have to clear off the ice and snow, of getting stuck, of darkness, and so on.

Snow is very nice at midday, when you have daylight, when you don't have to go outside, and you have your book and your tea and your sofa and your cat. Other than that it can be a bother. I remember that. Still, at this moment I can enjoy it. (It is midday. I am inside. I have a lot of the aforementioned things.)

Some title

My newly made bed, even if it doesn't look that newly made

Here, a photo from a few weeks ago, when we still had sunshine and a nice autumn. We've now moved into late autumn, which has all the rain and wind, and all the leaf-less, sad-looking trees.

I've not edited the photos from the North Cape. Nor have I transferred the photos from my last visit at my sister's. For now, you'll have to enjoy looking at my room. Very yellow, isn't it?

Tomorrow I'm off again, holding a volunteer training for my Global Dignity volunteers, this time at Finnsnes, a two hour drive from Tromsø. Here I quote my mum: "When you consider how awkward and shy you and I were in our teenage years, isn't it a wonder how we're both enjoying having presentations, trainings and courses in front of lots of people?" Thanks, mum. I do agree, though.

Throwing Northern Lights at you

 Because tonight, as I was sat by my computer, in the very lit-up house

  My dad sent me a text saying "Show her Northern Lights outside now"

So I woke Sammy up (poor thing) and went out to look at this beauty

And it was amazing. Northern Lights are usually quite nice, kind of small, green waves in the sky, maybe it looks like a small cloud and you're not quite sure whether it actually is the borealis or no. AND THEN you get nights like these, when the Aurora Borealis takes leaps, the castles in the sky exist, and you're afraid to wave at it in case it steals you away, like in the old stories.

These were taken less than an hour ago, just outside my house.

Norway, old friend

A recent, not too good, photo of my most photographed view

So, what's it like? Being back in Norway? This Thursday, I'll have been home six weeks, and it feels like nothing.

Because from the second day I was home, it felt completely natural. Maybe because I've travelled before, lived abroad before, and I've returned to Norway from England about nine times while living there. I'm used to things being different at home than abroad. I expect it.

And I fall, quickly, easily, into old routines of toast and juice in the mornings, eating lots of bread, wearing woollen jumpers, black tights and a warm scarf in July, going to cafés to see friends, going out, staying in, seeing my family again.

Nicaragua is suddenly far away, even though I'm writing about it every day (I am spending a loooong time writing one essay).

It's far away until there's a warm breeze, which is almost unheard of in Tromsø (we're used to cold winds, thank you), and a warm evening walk in the breeze with my mum, and I tell her all about the time at Rocky Point when there was a strong breeze, days on end, and we didn't know whether we would be able to take a boat over the lagoon to visit our friend. 

Then I am filled with sadness, because I want to be both places at the same time, and there are laws of physics that say I can't.

Christine, Christine

Last Saturday, we decided to go for a drive in this very nice car

 We went near the airport

 But you would never guess how close we actually were

 By the beauty of this place

Especially in summer.

You know you're Norwegian when

(near Kvaløyvågen, Tuesday 23rd July)

you can't stay inside if the sun comes out. Even after Nicaragua, getting plenty of sun, I'm a very Norwegian Norwegian.

On Tuesday, seeing how warm it was outside after work, I cancelled my swimming and went to Kvaløyvågen with my dad instead and had a tiny barbecue. On Wednesday, we went to Skarsfjord on Ringvassøya, where my dad grew up. On Thursday, my gran came over for dinner and tea on the patio. Friday, we also had dinner outside and stayed out long afterwards. Today, I was supposed to clean and tidy my room for the first time since I left in January (and I didn't do it very thoroughly back then). 

But there was sunshine! So instead, I sat outside reading, I went to the beach, I had a swim (medal for swimming in Arctic Sea, please), Christine came over and we went out driving in her dad's convertible and took lots of photos and now it's late and sleepytimes and the sun is still up.

Photos will come, unless there happens to be lots of sunny weather the following days...

Movika

 View of Tromsø, looking south. The city is on the island to the right

 Kvaløya, looking west(ish)

Yesterday, Saturday, I went up one mountain with Christine. Today was Sunday though, and as all Norwegians know, if it's a Sunday, and the weather isn't too bad, you need to go on a Sunday Hike/Trip, preferably with your family.

So my parents and I drove to Movika, about half an hour from our house, walked forty-five minutes to the top of a hill, absorbed the marvellous view, and walked down again.

Pretty, eh?

GRATULERER MED DAGEN

Norway Day 2012, random person, Ingrid, Christine, me and Xiomara

Today is Norway Day, if anyone had forgotten. And I'll be celebrating it in a minivan with the girls in my group, but also with our coordinators, one of whom doesn't like the nationalism implied in celebrating the constitution day. I'll try to eat some ice cream and cake if I can find it.

Here's a greeting to all Norwegians and friends-of-Norwegians (so that's all of you then): Hurra! Hurra! Hurra!

Tromsø

 View of the early afternoon moon from my dad's office (about 3pm)

View of the north end of town from my dad's office

Mostly because he works in the city hall, a few floors above the mayor, doing property planning stuff, and the new city hall is all made of windows and hardly any solid walls.

Also, look, more winter, more darkness early in the afternoon.

Wintertime

Good job, Tromsø. You managed four months without any snow at all.

Of course, on Saturday, we drove further into the country, away from the sea, and they get more snow there. Still.

It's gone now, but the damage is done, we're in wintertime.

Because things

I'm perfectly fascinated by rivers, like this, Målselva, close to where we go to autumn and winter camp. I realise that in this photo it looks very similar to a fjord, maybe especially when you're not used to such things. The river is different in that it's always flowing, and it's smaller, and it's just completely different because you know it leads somewhere - an odd statement perhaps, since the sea can lead you even further. I'm not even really sure of what I'm trying to say, except that I like rivers, as they are different from my daily fjord.

Harstad, you're looking fine

 Precious is on a boat (I mean ship) and she's happy

 Precious and Siren from Harstad, eager for their pizza

 Chicken! And sweet chili sauce! What every pizza should be like (we had gone hungry for a while at this point)

 Harstad is a lot like Tromsø in many ways, here's their cormorant

(we've got one too (ours is a restaurant) (and we have the proper birds as well))

 Harstad is a lot like England in one way, they have an old English telephone box

And hey, they've got mountains and stuff too.

Precious, Munya and I went to Harstad because it is part of our district (Troms), even if it's three hours away with boat. Or six hours away with cruise ship, which we slept on on our way there. We then wandered straight from the ship on Saturday morning into the hotel, got our hotel rooms ridiculously early, and went to sleep again.

We had a good meeting with Harstad Red Cross Youth, followed by pizza (because this is the Red Cross and this is what we eat).

Because there are no boats back on a Saturday evening, we stayed until Sunday and watched at least three romantic comedies in a row in our hotel room.

Then we went home and slept some more.

Of course, in the middle of all this nice social stuff and food and sleep, there have been problems and issues and discussions on different levels, and while my body came back from Harstad very well-rested, my mind did not. I've had to take some mornings off work to balance myself again, and as you can see, only on Tuesday evening did I have the energy to edit photos and do some blogging. I see this as a very good sign.