Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Leaving Norway
I can't believe that it's already time to leave Norway. My time here has been wonderful - I loved reconnecting with old friends and being part of a family! Kate and Thor have two beautiful little girls and so it was fun to act like a nanny and help out the family. I got a chance to see their ministry to native Norweigan teenagers up close and I was encouraged and inspired because working with people from a different culture is not always easy! Christmas was great because we were invited by Kate and Thor's friends to eat moose for Christmas Eve dinner - it was delicious! I also had to try every kind of Norweigan dessert and was not disappointed! We hiked a bit in the fjords and drove to visit a bunch more which helped me understand just how beautiful Norway really is. Perhaps I'll get a chance to come back here and go on some more outdoor adventures! I was also really grateful to have unlimited access to the internet, central heating, American movies, and the chance to use a free phone line to call the US = all things you take for granted but when you're holed up on somebody's farm in Italy you don't always have access to them!
Today I fly out of Stavanger into Paris where I'm excited to meet my friend Brian from college who attends grad school at the University of Paris. My friend Jess is flying over from the US to meet there as well. She and I will spend the next three and a half weeks traveling around Europe! I was thinking that the title of my blog, "gets the boot" is no longer relevant since I'm not actually in Italy anymore, but rest assured, I'll be back there soon! In the meantime, I hope you had a blessed Christmas and have a Happy New Year - I'll be celebrating in Paris this year!
Today I fly out of Stavanger into Paris where I'm excited to meet my friend Brian from college who attends grad school at the University of Paris. My friend Jess is flying over from the US to meet there as well. She and I will spend the next three and a half weeks traveling around Europe! I was thinking that the title of my blog, "gets the boot" is no longer relevant since I'm not actually in Italy anymore, but rest assured, I'll be back there soon! In the meantime, I hope you had a blessed Christmas and have a Happy New Year - I'll be celebrating in Paris this year!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Stavanger
Norway is cold. and dark. I arrived here last night and am so happy to be staying with my old Young Life leader Katie and her husband Thor, and their two children, Hannah and Nora, here in Scandinavia. Katie and Thor are on Young Life staff in Stavanger, Norway (www.younglife.no, or www.younglife.org) and are so great and encouraging to be around!
The last two weeks I was in the Lazio region of Italy in a small town called Marta. The place was fairly rustic (no internet access hence the lack of blog updates) and rained heavily almost every day but I was fortunate enough to have a few days of sun to ride a bike through the Italian countryside and visit the ancient town of Tuscania. I also felt like I was in a two week Italian immersion language course because the family I stayed with had three children (Tommaso 9, Cecilia 7, Constanza 5) who didnt speak English and were the best Italian teachers a girl could ask for!
In the meantime I am so excited to be in a new place where its incredibly clean (unlike some of Italy) and instead of seeing a lot of dark haired, short, olive skinned people, I'm meeting plenty of tall, pale, blonde hair, blue-eyed Norwegians! I am also very happy to be in a heated house, have plenty of internet access, an american phone line, a dryer, and english tv shows! I will be spending four days of Christmas on one of the Norwegian islands with Thor's extended family so that should be wonderful for experiencing real Norwegian food and culture. The sun is only out for a bit during the day this time of year but that's not so bad - it's fascinating to really see the effects of living this far north!
I'll update more later, hope all is well back at home!
The last two weeks I was in the Lazio region of Italy in a small town called Marta. The place was fairly rustic (no internet access hence the lack of blog updates) and rained heavily almost every day but I was fortunate enough to have a few days of sun to ride a bike through the Italian countryside and visit the ancient town of Tuscania. I also felt like I was in a two week Italian immersion language course because the family I stayed with had three children (Tommaso 9, Cecilia 7, Constanza 5) who didnt speak English and were the best Italian teachers a girl could ask for!
In the meantime I am so excited to be in a new place where its incredibly clean (unlike some of Italy) and instead of seeing a lot of dark haired, short, olive skinned people, I'm meeting plenty of tall, pale, blonde hair, blue-eyed Norwegians! I am also very happy to be in a heated house, have plenty of internet access, an american phone line, a dryer, and english tv shows! I will be spending four days of Christmas on one of the Norwegian islands with Thor's extended family so that should be wonderful for experiencing real Norwegian food and culture. The sun is only out for a bit during the day this time of year but that's not so bad - it's fascinating to really see the effects of living this far north!
I'll update more later, hope all is well back at home!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Deruta
Ciao again from fantastic Assisi! I only have two days left here at Casa Faustina and I will definitely be sad to leave! The olive harvest has been put on hold for the past few days due to bad weather but that leaves plenty of time for relaxing and exploring the surrounding towns. My social circle, or new family here, consists of an Australian family (Dan, 53, Sue, 54, Tom, 13, Nina, 11 - see picture of us looking into one of the many sweets shops in assisi with our matching hats!), and my Italian hosts (Giordano, 35, Tamara, 30), and so on a rainy day we all headed out for a tour of some local sites!
First we went to Deruta, which is world famous for its ceramics. Giordano was friends with one factory owner and so we took a private tour! It was amazing to see this man make ceramic pieces on the wheel in less than a minute. It's a true gift to watch someone do something that they are really good at. He had been making ceramics for over 50 fifty years! We also saw one store owner who made ceramic guitars which were absolutely beautiful.
The next place was hilarious - a wine store where they actually sold wine from pumps. Americans may be paying for gas by the gallon, but I think Italians have got it right - just fill up with wine! I was lucky enough to get a few free glasses from the pump and it made for some great pictures.
We ended the day with a night stroll in Assisi and pizza for dinner.
Enjoy the pictures and I will soon attach pictures of the olive harvest!
First we went to Deruta, which is world famous for its ceramics. Giordano was friends with one factory owner and so we took a private tour! It was amazing to see this man make ceramic pieces on the wheel in less than a minute. It's a true gift to watch someone do something that they are really good at. He had been making ceramics for over 50 fifty years! We also saw one store owner who made ceramic guitars which were absolutely beautiful.
The next place was hilarious - a wine store where they actually sold wine from pumps. Americans may be paying for gas by the gallon, but I think Italians have got it right - just fill up with wine! I was lucky enough to get a few free glasses from the pump and it made for some great pictures.
We ended the day with a night stroll in Assisi and pizza for dinner.
Enjoy the pictures and I will soon attach pictures of the olive harvest!
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