Northern Lights and a Dominique

 I'm far too impatient to take good Northern Lights photos, I just snap them and then run inside

 But hey, the lights themselves manage quite well

And Dominique was pleased (even though she doesn't look it in this photo) so I'm happy

When Dominique came to visit me in January, it was the first time we saw each other since June 2011. After the first ten seconds of disbelief, it was pretty much as if time hadn't passed at all. We still agree - and disagree - about the same topics, and are so different that we become similar. 

Every night, we went out to look for the Northern Lights, but we'd only see late night ski-goers (this is Tromsø), snow, and stars. On the third night, I got a message from an acquaintance who had seen my comment on Facebook, saying that there were Northern Lights outside quite early. We ran out, and it was really amazing and grand, and even I was a bit awed.

More photos might be on their way!

Some weather for you

At the marina visiting my sister's boat, December 26th

Sunset on December 27th

After a really slow winter, we finally got some snow in December. I'm confused as to whether I like it or not, and I've been missing Cali and the heat they have there in December. At the same time, I know how to deal with the snow and the wind and the cold, and I can feel that this is where I come from. 

Christmas 2015 at my sister's house

 My niece and nephew had a lot of christmassy energy going on

 Even though my sister had limited their number of presents this year

 Andreas, two and a half years old, will be a famous portrait photographer

 Or a famous paparazzi?

 Andreas, me and Dina waiting for the opening of presents. 

Andreas was wearing a shirt, but it disappeared.

 Some indoors skiing, trying on his sister's new ski boots and skis

 Sister helping out, documenting her brother's skills with an ipad

 "I'll film you first, then you can film me afterwards"

 Trading of skis and ipads

Andreas with his paternal grandfather (i.e. not my dad), enjoying his new books

Christmas with my sister, brother in law, and niece and nephew (respectively five and two years old) was a rollercoaster of an experience, as it is when you throw expectations, sweets, sugar, presents and late bed hours into the mix. It was so good seeing them again, and realising how much they've grown in the past two months. Also being with children at Christmas is beautiful - the past two Christmases I've spent in Colombia and Spain with all grown-ups. Being with children I get to show more of my childish side and go back to my own childhood Christmases, which is nostalgia heaven. 

Spain more Spain then some Spain

 We had one rainy day, which made us feel a bit down.

 So we decided to go somewhere else!

 On a "glass boat", as we used to call them when we were younger. I named one of my dolls after this very boat - Gavina - when I was little.

 The boats have a glass bottom in the middle, where you can see a lot of sand, some rocks and finally - fish!

 There were no fish to be seen at first...

 And then they magically appeared when the crew threw some crumbs into the water.

My cousins, obliging as always, at The Other Beach which is similar to Our Beach, only further away.

We used to go to this exact town in Spain when I was little, so anything I do there brings up memories. The best memory this time was when I bought a pastry I vaguely remembered the look of, and as I bit into it I was transported twenty years back in time and actually started laughing out loud. Not lol-ing, but laughing. Out loud. Ah, childhood memories. 

Now let's get ready for some Christmas time!

Summer throwback

 To my family holiday in Tossa de Mar, Spain, in September. (Not my family on the photo).

 Where my cousin Mats was happy to be photographed at any given moment.

 My aunt Mette tried to find a hat that didn't make her children laugh.

 The mannequins were brilliant.

 I found Atlantis!

 And there were other tourists about.

 You could buy all the bathing equipment you could imagine.

And my cousin Elisa was also happy to have her photographer cousin around.

Stay tuned for more! As I'm writing, it's dark outside my window in Tromsø, the snow is whirling about, and I'm preparing to go visit my sister for Christmas. So why not look back at summer and sunshine? *Pretends it's not because she left blogging off for four months* *Coughs*.

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? 

Cecille

 Then my old friend Cecille came to visit me in July

 And took the opportunity to go paragliding from one of our mountains

 Running off the mountain with her tandem partner

 And flying off into the horizon

Or the forest, or the sea.

This year, I've known Cecille half my life - I got to know her when we started the same school, in the same group, and took the same school bus, when I was thirteen. From now on, I will have known her more than half my lifetime, which is pretty fantastic. She now lives in Copenhagen, but came back to Tromsø to visit me, and even though she only stayed here five days, it felt like a lot more, and we did lots of nice, fun, and slightly exhilarating stuff.

Red Cross Youth Camp

 I was there

 With my friends Jonas and Edward, and upcoming delegate Ida

And my Red Cross Youth accomplice Dasha

Inbetween homecoming seminars and going back to Tromsø to attend weddings and the youth camp, I managed to hold on to my head cold a full four weeks, and they sent me home from the camp after I'd been there one day. Anyway, it was nice to be back in Norway, working with "my" Red Cross and seeing all the other delegates again.

The final, green photos of green things being green in the Amazon

 "Sunni, this is completely harmless. Are you sure you don't want to hold it?" I'm fine, thank you. "It's just a centipede." That's all right, I don't need to. "It won't hurt you, it's not poisonous and it can't bite, are you sure?" I'm fine, thank you please thank you I'm fine let me just take a photo.

 There were trees. They were big.

 My guide, Reinaldo, an indigenous ticuna man who spoke Spanish as his second tongue, and way better than my Spanish (as my third tongue).

 OH MY WORD A TARANTULA but it kept itself safe inside it's den and wouldn't come out. 

I was fine with that.

Me, in my canoe, on the small river that left off the big Amazon, being allowed to paddle along at my own speed, listening to the roaring noise of the toads, the cicadas, the birds and the insects on my last day before returning to the roaring noise of the cars, the music and the people in Cali.

That's it from the Amazon, babes.

Dolphins and swimming in the Amazon

 Don't focus on the boat. Focus on the grey spots ahead of the boat.

 Look, there are dolphins! 

I didn't see the pink ones, but the "regular" grey ones were brilliant and playful.

 "Do you want to swim in the river?" Of course I do. Are there things that can bite me? "No, there's nothing dangerous." But are there no things that can eat me? "No, Sunni, it's safe." But are you saying that it's completely safe? "Yes, Sunni." Okay. SPLASH. Nothing ate me.

 I just have too many photos of this because it was too beautiful.

And the sun set and my heart was breaking with the sheer awesomeness and amazingness of it all.

Creeping things (look away, mum)

 No, just kidding, further down for that. This is me, learning how to make bracelets.

 From a brilliant Ticuna woman who told me that they got this material from a tree, 

and the colours were all natural as well.

 Then I went on a night walk. This is not a spider. Nor is it a scorpion. And it's harmless. "Will you hold it, Sunniva?" - No, thanks. "But it's harmless, Sunni." I'm fine, thank you, Reinaldo.

 Another day, we crossed the river and waved at Peru. 

As you can see, it's a completely different country.

 Then we went to the second largest city in the area, Puerto Nariño.

 A big, big city.

 Amazon! Peru! Excitement!

And every other tourist in the Colombian part of the Amazon.

I was staying at the Yoi Ecolodge, which was expensive, but everything was included, from picking me up at the airport, the boat to the lodge, all the activities and travelling on the river I did while there, as well as all the yummy meals I got. And after all, I was paying to stay somewhere far into the jungle, far away from the towns and cities and people, and the only time I saw this amount of people (see photo above) was in Puerto Nariño and in Leticia, where I didn't stay long. I am absolutely recommending it for anyone thinking about visiting the Colombian Amazon, because it is definitely worth the experience.