Sangue Dolce

I feel closer to becoming complete person now that I’ve been to Italy to meet my family and find my roots. As I left Italy, I posted this exact Facebook status: “Headed to Italy one week ago knowing that I have relatives there. Left Italy today knowing that I have family there.” It was a trip I will never forget.

My two-week summer vacation began with a week in my favorite Norwegian town, Kongsberg, for a wild time at their yearly JazzFest. My week there also included a day trip to Oslo on the 4^th of July to hang out with Mr. Ian Plaine himself! We made a most excellent salute to the homeland that day and had a great time discussing our experiences of living abroad in Norway. Another highlight of the week was attending The Flaming Lips concert back in Kongsberg, by myself. There’s the saying that “you don’t know the meaning of life until you’ve seen The Flaming Lips live.” I’ve seen them before and thought I understood, but the second time blew the first out of the water. UNREAL. Front row, small venue, tiny friendly crowd (I even befriended a group of real Norwegian guys, which is a rare occurrence for me/most expats), and an unparalleled intimate concert. And then the next morning I began the 12-hour journey to the homeland, Italy (much thanks to the Zachrisen’s for the transportation assistance during those hectic times!).

Car, train, bus, another bus, another train, plane (sat next to the most gentlemanly and handsome young professional opera singer...he was absolutely charming...he even sang to me...I may believe in love now), another plane, one more final plane, and finally home...or so it felt.

I can’t even put into words my crazy emotions when I walked off the airplane in Venice. Excitement, nervousness, a sense of fulfilling a lifelong goal, and the feeling that my grandpa was up in heaven(?) overjoyed that I was finally visiting his stomping grounds. Walking through the security doors, I was nearly nauseous with all those thoughts and emotions…but then seeing Valentina and Andrea waiting for me through the arrival doors was one of the coolest moments of my life. Since leaving California, I’ve been in many, many airports throughout Europe and have witnessed many people saying hellos and goodbyes at arrival and departure gates, families being reunited, people standing with signs and flowers….and watching those moments makes me feel lonelier than ever because I’m basically over here on my own and generally traveling alone. I actually get all emotional and jealous when I watch all the people with their families and friends…I’m such a girl sometimes. So when I saw Valentina, a family member I’ve never actually even met before (but have chatted with many times), waiting there at the arrival gate for ME, I got all choked up. We hugged, we got teary-eyed, we hugged some more. It was so incredible. I wasn’t alone.

From there, we drove into Padova where I (re)met Manuela and Pierro after probably 15 years since their California visit (none of us were quite sure if we had met back then until they mentioned their visit to Alcatraz, which is a randomly distinct childhood memory of mine, and it was determined that was surely with them!). As soon as I walked in their home, a beautiful Italian dinner was already on the table. It was the most welcoming feeling. To be sitting around with family, eating delicious food, sipping real Italian wine, and listening to conversations conducted in Italian….simply divine. To bring the evening to a close, Pierro had me try a bit of his homemade liquor. Too strong for me to handle, yeeeoowww!!! So, after over 12 hours of traveling and a big Italian meal in my belly, it was time for bed. Despite the insane heat and humidity, I passed out hard. I blame the beverages…

My first Italian day began with a Padova tour by Pierro! Because Pierro does not speak very much English, he brought along his friend Guiliana to help with the communication. We visited a handful of churches, accidentally attended a funeral at the Duomo, took forbidden pictures within the Baptistry, did loads of window shopping, HAD MY FIRST COFFEE EVERRRRRRR (which Pierro and everyone else in the coffee shop thought was hilarious) at the “best coffee shop in the city,” and had the most delicious lunch at L’Anfora. Mmmm smoked ricotta and zucchini pasta. Guiliana and Pierro both had a meal with buratta cheese, which they made me try, and with which I fell head over heels for. “Buratta” became a form of communication between Pierro and myself. We would say it for everything! “-Tutto bene?” “-BURATTTTTAAAA!” “-Bion giorno!” “-BBBBBUUURRRRAAAATTTTTAAAAA!!!” It became an obsession.

That afternoon brought about some emotional meetings. First, I met my grandfather’s sister Zia Lidia and her daughter Clara. Now, I knew I was really happy to meet them all but all of a sudden I had such a rush of other emotions, as well…a sense of guilt for having not met them earlier and being so disconnected until then, a feeling of being a more complete person for finally knowing my own relatives, regretting not having a chance to meet my great-grandma who I apparently look like, and the overwhelming sadness when being shown old pictures of Grandpa Ernie and my cousin Matt. I was such a crying mess, and my inability to explain why I was crying created some confusion. That first meeting was the most emotional.

Following meeting Zia Lidia, Manuela took me to meet Zia Gina. Upon arrival, we found sweet Zia Gina in her dining room wearing a tank top and underwear! I was actually so, so thankful for the comic relief because it took my mind off how much of a wreck I was that day. After we met, she clothed herself despite the stifling heat and joined us for some ice cream and more (emotional) picture sharing. Zia Gina has a new boyfriend whom she loved to talk about and was an excellent mood-lightener for me to hear about. Also, she kept insisting that next time I come visit, I will stay with her…Manuela pointed out that would be an adventure since Zia Gina speaks no English and I speak no Italian. She was such a funny, funny lady! And looked so very similar to Grandpa Ernie, which made looking directly at her a bit hard for me. I felt like I was seeing my Grandpa alive again though, not only because they look so similar, but the humor was spot-on the same.

To finish off my first full-day in Italy, Manuela and I went to Valentina and Andrea’s home in the countryside for a delicious (most accurate word to describe most everything I ate in Italy) dinner, along with Valentina’s co-worker, Jacopo. Good times were had, much wine was consumed, and the mosquitos flourished. This was when we discovered that Italian mosquitos have a thing for me (if only it were Italian MEN)…despite wearing repellent and burning two incense sticks, I was getting attacked nonstop. It was determined that I must have sweet blood…or “sangue dolce.”

Waking early the next morning, Manuela and I were off to Venice. What an enchanting place!!!!! It looks like one big postcard after another. Arriving early, we were able to roam the little streets nearly by ourselves. Having my obsession with Venetian masks, of course I bought one. I found the small shop which made the mask my mom brought back for me from their family trip a few years ago and thought it to be most appropriate to buy myself one from there, as well. For much of the day, we wandered the canals and alleyways doing a bit of shopping and dining (had my first cappuccino) until we ended up at St. Mark’s with the rest of the tourists. From there we water-taxied through the Grand Canal and headed home for an afternoon nap. Post-snooze, we began cooking! That night, Manuela and Pierro hosted a party of about 15 people, including one young family friend who just recently returned from a year abroad in Iowa. It was a great night, full of even more wine and good food, which came to an end when a major lightning storm moved just over us. I seemed to be the only one hesitant about having lightning bolts lighting the cloudy skies above us…we all survived though, so I guess they were right to just chill…

The following day consisted mainly of me catching up on sleep. It had been a hot and hectic trip thus far (starting in Kongsberg, where I wasn’t getting much sleep already) and I was still recovering from an illness. Manuela was the ultimate host…every morning she would leave out a homemade fresh fruit salad, fresh-squeezed orange juice, yogurt, and cough syrup for me. All of which, even the cough syrup, was unbelievably tasty. After a bit of breakfast, I braved the insane heat and humidity for an hour of sunning in their backyard. That was sweaty. Whew. The rest of the day was mainly spent reading (House of Spirits is a great book! Lots of type-o’s though since it was translated from Spanish) and then getting ready for the big family dinner that night at La Scuteria. WOWWWW good food. That was where I had my first Italian pizza experience. In the words of Grandpa Ernie, “Ouuuch.” It was so cool just to be there with so many relatives – it felt like a natural, casual family night out despite the fact I was just meeting most of them for the first time. And they all gifted me a real Italian Charm Bracelet with my name on it. So beyond sweet of them all. :))))

Wednesday was possibly the most memorable of them all…I set out on a morning train, entirely by myself, headed to Verona with a sign reading “Angelo, sono Emily.” I was to be met at the train station by a relative, Angelo, who I’ve never met nor seen a picture of… Upon arrival, my awkward self stood around with the sign for a while until I eventually saw someone running over to me, waving. What a relief! For a second there I thought I had gotten off at the wrong station. So, Angelo…I could immediately tell he is the sweetest man ever despite our inability to communicate. As soon as we got into his car, he gifted me a book about the operas performed at the Verona Arena and then sang along for me to the opera CD he had playing as we drove to who knows where. This man loved opera - that much I could tell.

The first stop of our day was to visit Zia Ada at her nursing home. Cue the waterworks arrrghhhhh dangittttt I just couldn’t help it! She looked so much like my Grandpa, and seeing her in such a setting, surrounded by adorable, helpless old people was just too emotionally overwhelming. And then going into her room and seeing the “Ada Vernizzi” nametag on her bed and a picture of my family on her shelf…too much. I felt so terrible for not having met her sooner.

After that emotional overload, Angelo and I were off to the Verona city center to see the sights. First, we went to the Opera Arena…and it was then that I finally realized he had been trying to explain to me the whole time that he works there. We walked right in the tourist exit and he started introducing me to anyone and everyone that worked there. I must have met at least 20 people just during my time in the Arena and upon meeting me, nearly every single person skeptically asked Angelo if he speaks English or if I speak Italian…he would say no….then they would all sort of laugh like, “holy smokes, good luck you two!” It was pretty entertaining. Anyway the tour was awesome! We first walked to the top row of seats to get the whole view then continued down into the backstage area where we went into the props rooms, the costume rooms, and the ballerina rooms. I wanted to touch everything! Especially the opera dresses….whoa. Before leaving the arena, we went into a souvenir shop where Angelo asked me if I liked this one shirt that said “100” (marking some sort of anniversary, still haven’t totally figured it out), I politely said yes since the girl he was simultaneously introducing me to was wearing one just like it…and then he bought it for me! I’m tellin’ ya, this guy was spoiling me, he was so nice! And the shirt has turned out to be very comfortable, too, so I love it.

En route from the Arena to Juliet’s house, he lead me into a random flower shop and introduced me to some more friends of his. Angelo knows everyone in Verona, I swear. And they gave me a very pretty bouquet of purple flowers to accent the dress I was wearing that day. Italians are just the best. Then we continued to Juliet’s house where everyone and their mom was packed into the little courtyard, all trying to get pictures with the Juliet statue. It was cool to be there (especially because of the terribly corny and wonderful movie Letters to Juliet that my college roommates and I would shamelessly play on repeat as we studied), but wayyy toooo touristy for this little travelling diva. So we went in, greeted more of Angelo’s friends in the souvenir shop, snapped a picture with the statue, and headed outta there! Afterwards, we strolled the old streets back towards the arena, where we stopped for a cold beverage. While sitting there, Angelo was greeted first by a beautiful lady who turned out to be the lead opera singer in Carmen and then an American lady who is the lead ballerina in…I think Tosca?...either way, Angelo knows everyone.

After the Verona tour, we drove a bit out into the countryside to meet more family members for lunch. Little did I know that the chefs of the restaurant were actually my relatives (communication was really quite difficult…most of the day felt as if I was just “along for the ride,” which was pretty exciting). Lunch really felt like I was a part of the gang – casual, no tourists anywhere near, just a big family lunch. Zia Ada was able to come from the rest home, as well, and this second meeting of the day was a lot less emotional although I did tear-up a bit again when it came time to say goodbye. But lunch was great! As I had for the past few days, I ate as many plates of tomatoes and mozzarella I could get my paws on. Cousin Elena is a trained pastry chef and her desserts did not disappoint. Her husband, Fabrizio was celebrating his birthday that day so everyone sang to him when he came out from the kitchen. He also brought over an olllld cardboard model of the Golden Gate Bridge that (I thinkkkk….possibly lost in translation…) was brought over from my Grandpa many years/decades earlier and has since been on display in the restaurant.

Lunch came to an end, ciaos were said, cheek kisses were exchanged, and Angelo and I were off to who knows where again. A while later, we were atop a mountain overlooking Verona, parked illegally but parking rules are for tourists and we ain’t no tourists. We’re Italians. I snapped a few pictures, tried to understand the history Angelo was explaining to me, and then we were on our way to….? Apparently higher mountains! It was quite a scenic drive past fields, vineyards, marble mines…and then the car overheated RIGHT as we reached the summit. CLASSIC. I mean, I pretty much thought it was hilarious with the timing and all but I can’t say I was too surprised – it was a HOTHOTHOT day and that was a long upwards drive. So we got to the top, within feet of the view, but we turned right back around, turned off the car and coasted back down the steep, windy road riding the emergency break. We eventually found another human on the mountain and got some water in the engine, but the problem was not fixed. We continued to drift back to the city and eventually, somehow made it back to Angelo’s house where we let the car cool down as we watched the last 15km of the day’s leg of the Tour de France. Before heading off to the train station to send me back to Padova, Angelo showed me a bunch of skiing pictures from the past winter – it was pretty hilarious, he’s such a funny, generous, amazing guy. And then I was on the train “home.”

Wednesday was such an eventful day because soon after arriving back in Padova, Manuela, Valentina, Andrea, and I were off to the Sherwood Festival. The previous night, The Flaming Lips played there (note that they had just come from Norway, as I had)! But Wednesday was a super cool, chill night and I met a bunch of Andrea’s and Valentina’s friends, as well as Andrea’s brother Alberto and his girlfriend Claudia. The festival had some really great craft booths, too! I finally found my dream purse…handmade from Italian leather…totally foxy…45 Euro. Worth it. After the festival, I changed home-base location to Valentina and Andrea’s house out in the country.

Thursday morning began with breakfast (pastries and coffee) with Andrea’s amazing parents! Despite language barriers, it was still very clear that they were entirely lovely. Post-breakfast, Valentina and I headed into the city center for a bit of touristy things and a lot of shopping! Mmmmm ohhhhh it pains me to think back on how incredible the shopping was in Italy compared to here. All in all, I only bought two shirts (one was a serious splurge but I adore it), a scarf that I wear way too much, and some perfume…honestly, I don’t remember what perfume I bought…I wrote it in my blog notes that I bought perfume buuuuut….hmm mystery. But other than shopping, we also visited Saint Anthony’s Basilica. WOW that was overwhelming yet I didn’t want to leave because it was so impressive. If I remember correctly, Saint Anthony of Padova is the saint of lost things…and along his tomb people have left pictures of loved ones they have lost. I literally couldn’t even look at the hoards of pictures because I was getting all teary. This trip, I tell ya, I was just emotionally overloaded being in Italy, with all the family significance and such. Catholicism makes me emotional, also. I just feel like it’s part of my identity in such a way, being many relatives and ancestors are religious, but I just can’t make the connection…nor am I sure I want any such connection. Internal struggles, I tell ya. And as much as I wanted to say the prayer, and put my hand on his tomb, as nearly everyone else around, I just couldn’t do it. Too much for me to handle…next time though, I’ll be more emotionally prepared. Other than that interesting moment, the church was beautiful! Except maybe the small, shriveled, enshrined piece of flesh that once was Saint Anthony’s tongue. That was just a bit gross.

That night began with a tramezzino and a spritz in the Padova city center, followed by a delicious, very Italian dinner at Andrea’s parent’s house. Despite mosquito sprays and candles burning, I was the only one being eaten alive. Common theme of this trip. Can’t help it, it’s just my sweet blood! OH and this dinner had the BEST background music…I think only Andrea and I heard it because we were the only ones commenting on the hilarity and singing along – the TV just inside the window was on MTV which was having some sort of 90s throwback music video sesh. The 90s was an unfortunate decade for music (and style and most other things), but oh how it has a place in my heart…Our visit to Andrea’s parents’ house ended with watching them salsa dance for us. I can’t even begin to tell you how cute they are…

Following dinner, we were headed out to a bar along with Alberto and Claudia to meet up with a bunch of all of their friends. We ended up at a giant outdoor bar where I met more people than I can even name. Everyone was so nice, and Andrea conveniently knew the bartender (I swear his name was Lucas), who was particularly friendly and called me his “special guest.” Grammy’s don’t read this: it was a blurry night full of free drinks, meter-long straws (only person at the entire place with one like a looooser), and wonderful Italians! Especially unexpected moment of the night: so this whole time I pretty much thought I was the only non-local at this bar, but while in line for the bathroom a guy walked up to me and commented on the length of the line, in English! Chatted him up a bit and found out he’s the drummer of a band I know (Kasabian) and they were all there just hanging out after they played a show that night…whatttt. That was cool. And then Andrea, Valentina, and I headed home.

Friday morning was rougher than most. We woke up pretty early and headed into the city for a bit of strolling and shopping with the family. Ahh I miss the smell of the markets in the plazas…so many fresh fruits and vegetables, then the little stands with meats and vegetables galore. Mmm. Post-city was a much-needed naptime, which was then followed by a most excellent event in the evening – Festa del Redentore in Venice!

Upon arrival in Venice, we went off on a long trek across the city, originally aiming for the main square but changed our route to go meet up with Andrea’s parents on a sailboat docked on the other side of the city. In order to get to such a place, we crossed the once-a-year floating bridge constructed specifically for this occasion. But first we strolled the alleyways, had a spritz along the Grand Canal, observed the high tide flooding the edges of the canals and the lowest bits of the city, including parts of Saint Mark’s square and church itself. Then we continued on, crossed the Rialto Bridge, window shopped to our hearts’ content, then continued on to the boat. We picked up some pizzas and beers along the way and settled in for a great night.

We ate pizza, we drank wine, I tried some octopus, they grilled some sea beam, and all was well. Valentina and I had the most amazing conversation that evening – she told me about my great grandmother and how she was actually born and died in Venice and our relatives are a part of the Murano glass industry. It just blew my mind to be finding this out while sitting on a boat in Venice, my great grandmother’s turf. This was her home. As if the night couldn’t get any better, the fireworks then began over the water and it was just beautiful. Venice was alight with pyrotechnics. I took some vid’s…maybe you’ll see them sometime, somehow. When the night was through, we meandered the hidden backstreets of Venice for at least an hour until we reached the car and exhaustedly headed home.

And so the next day marked my last day in Italy. It began with the ultimate Italian breakfast of delicious mini pastries (dessert for breakfast, Italians know how to prioritize) and a cappuccino, followed by more shopping (a major part of the trip), then we went to Manuela’s for a goodbye lunch.

The trip ended in reverse order as it began the first night, a cozy homecooked meal (this lunch was pasta with pesto, melon with ginger, chicken, buffala, tomatoes, vino mmmm) with Manuela, Pierro, Valentina, and Andrea then off to the airport with Valentina and Andrea. Saying goodbye was hard. Even though we’ve pre-planned my return in February, it felt like I was leaving home, like my real home, again. Italy and the family definitely struck a chord with me…I’m hooked.

Even now, over two months later, I can still clearly hear Valentina’s ciaos, Manuela’s great under-her-breath remarks while driving the crazy streets of Padova, and Pierro’s gentle “tutto bene.” I can still taste the pine nuts, the fresh fruit cocktail Manuela made every morning, the cough syrup she gave me for my nagging illness. I can still feel the intense humidity, the sense of being surrounded by so much history, the nagging itch of the mosquito bites…the whole time, people kept repeating that I must have sweet blood…and it’s true. I left Italy with a real awareness of my “sangue dolce” – my Vernizzi blood.

As many of you know, lots has happened since my Italy trip. My next blog will cover my visit from Robb Wills and our trip to Trolltunga, a short trip with friends to Voss, a weekend surf trip in southern Norway, and a fjord excursion in hot pursuit of fall colors….and maybe more. I’m off to Croatia Thursday morning so hang tight!

Love,

Emily

"Life must be lived as play."

At the end of the last blog, I forgot to mention that Leslie sent me a Betty Crocker Yellow Cake mix. Sweet Jesus, my favorite cake. Conveniently, one of the fancy grocery stores here carries the frosting, but not the cake mix. I had a taste of America in Norway and it was goooood. And noticeably sugary. I guess America will taste a bit differently when I return.

To start, the days of this past week were the longest days of the year. Possibly of my life. There were said to have been 55 minutes of darkness each night, but I took it upon myself to observe such an occurrence and it never really happened. It was like perma-dusk or perma-dawn. Never did it reach complete darkness. Everybody always asks for more hours in a day….they just need to spend their summers at a different latitude!

So, as normal as my life seems from the day-to-day, I’ve been lucky enough to do some really, really amazing things recently. Although “recent” means like the last few months now since I’ve been so bad at keeping up on blogs.

ADVENTURE TWO (list cont’d from previous blog entry): My friend from Cal Poly, Andrew, visited towards the end of March and we had QUITE an adventure-loaded week. I gave him the walking tour of Bergen one day and the following day was entirely spent driving around Norway, admiring the beauty of Steinsdalsfossen (“fossen” means “waterfall”), Vøringsfossen, Hardanger Fjord, and so many beautiful spots along the way. We got a bit lost en route between waterfalls and found the most idyllic, storybook spot along the fjord….the reflection was INSANE and there was a perfect fog that formed horizontal stripes hovering over the water and hugged the fjord’s sloped walls, which was all then reflected in the perfectly still water. The water was SO clear and SO flat, it was the perfect mirror. Definitely one of the top 10 most beautiful places I’ve been in my life. Then we found our way to Vøringsfossen and were given a nice reminder that we had reached the mountains…deeeep snow, not showing any signs of melting. The coast hadn’t seen significant snow for some time so it’s easy to forget that just a couple hours away is still on snow lock-down. After driving so far, we were not about to let our improper, cotton attire to keep us from reaching the falls. Without snow, this may have been an 5-minute stroll, but with the thigh-deep snow, it turned into about a 25-minute trudge each way. For the most part, we were able to shimmy our way across the top, but sometimes the snow was weak and our legs would break through. My jeans and shoes were soaked. Absolutely soaked. But it was WORTH IT. At the end, we had a breathtaking (and private because not many people are crazy enough to trek that far in that much snow) view of a huge valley full of waterfalls. It was a good day.

The next day marked the beginning of our trip south in hot pursuit of Preikestolen. Andrew, Alex, Mariann, and I piled into the car and headed out on a gorgeous drive full of ferries and “panoramias” (our panoramic pictures taken inside the car). The drive took forever, but I was able to successfully deliver everybody safe and sound to the small town of Tau, just outside of Stavanger. There we met up with a friend of Mariann’s dad who proceeded to give us a 5-minute tour of the entire town and lead us to the cabin we would be staying in for the next two nights.

The cabin belongs to another friend of Mariann’s dad and it could not have been better. It was located right on the water of a small fjord and was literally within sight of the entrance of the road up to the Preikestolen hike’s starting point. The only downfall of the cabin, which actually made it kind of fun, was the lack of a shower. We were pretty stanky by the time we headed out a few days later…

We rested up our first night there, meaning I slept on the hardwood floor with no blanket or pillow. Pretty typical of me and, yes, I know it’s a bit odd. Don’t freak out, it’s not like I sleep like that all the time though. So the next morning, we awoke to some great weather with perfect, dramatic clouds. March is early for Preikestolen season so we were very lucky it was not snowing or hailing (yet…it did later…).

The hike up “PreikPreik” was not the #1 hardest trek of my life, but deffffinitely not the easiest. There was one particular that, from the bottom looking up, looked like absolute torture. I’m talking it looked like some giant boulder rockslide down this tight gap between peaks with a small creek running underneath then out through the boulders…and that was the trail. After we made it up that nasty-looking, but actually fun, section, we were basically on top of the bare rock mountains and just had to work our way around to the fjord wall. Cue the rain/snow which continued lightly the rest of the day, but didn’t really bother us because, well, three of us live in BERGEN and the fourth in Oregon. We have some experience with handling precipitation.

On the way up, we only saw maybe just a handful of other people along the trail. When we finally made it to Preikestolen, for the most of our hour or so up there, we were alone. I can’t even begin to describe to you the feeling of being up there. After seeing pictures of this rock for years, and to finally be there, and also to be able to stand up there alone, no guardrails, no crazy tourists, a nearly perfect view of the fjord for miles….in the words of the late and great Grandpa Ernie, “oooouuuuccchhhhhh.” It was so, so wild. We spent soo long just laying on our bellies with our eyes peaking over the edge, trying to mentally grasp the lack of anything between us and the water 604 meters below. It was intoxicating and nauseating. We couldn’t look away.

We took a trillion pictures then eventually headed back as the rain began to intensify. That night we lounged around, ate a warm dinner of risgrøt, and about 90 macaroons that were on major sale at the nearby store. The reason we bought so many is because we all had a buncha 50 øre coins (similar to the US penny but actually worth like 8 US cents), which were to be eliminated from circulation the following month…so we spent them all on cheap, delicious macaroons. Wise? Yes.

That night consisted of no sleep for me. My brain was just restless and then we were up at 3am and out the door within a half hour anyway. We had to reach the earliest ferry to Stavanger to give us enough time to get to the airport for Andrew’s 6:30am flight. Zombie status. We made it though! And then Andrew departed from the land of trolls and nugatti.

From there, Mariann, Alex, and I headed into the nearest small town, Sola, to park at a random store and sleep a bit more in the car. Stupid me did not have any blankets and only one jacket…and in springtime Norway, even in a closed car, in direct sunlight, and with two other people in proximity, I was freezing. Like, teeth chattering, hating life kind of freezing. Mariann and Alex slept like champs though so I gave ‘em a couple hours before I cracked. So then we got some food and freshened up as much as we could in the store’s bathroom (remember we haven’t showered in a few days and had the big hike the day before). Lack of sleep plus lack of hygiene was just such a nasty feeling, but the trip continued on awesomely nonetheless. We drove into Stavanger and did a couple hours of exploring, shopping, “panoramias,” and taking the world’s best fake picture of me on PreikPreik. Stavanger has such a picturesque city center with so many little streets of colorful, old wooden buildings. We dug it big time.

And as we left, we got away with murder by finding a way out of the parking structure without having to pay! At Preik, we had also gotten away with free parking. STICKIN’ IT TO THE PARKING GODS. So then we joyfully drove up near Haugesund to stay a night at Mariann’s family’s cabin. But when I say “cabin,” I mean insanely incredible cabin compound of 3 glorious cabins with cool lofts and epic views, a new dock, a boathouse, a mini soccer field, and absolute privacy. Wow. Pinch me. So we strolled the property, made waffles topped with a brown cheese spread (“prim”) mmm, and napped in the main cabin while we waited for Mariann’s aunt and uncle to arrive with the keys to “our” cabin.

Once in our cabin, we settled in, showered, made dinner, were gifted a very nice bottle of wine from Marzi’s familyfolk, and watched a terribly mediocre movie. Such a solid night of relaxin’! Despite the fact that the cabin had 3 bedrooms, all 3 of us opted to snooze up in the loft together anyway. I mean, why would we waste a perfectly awesome loft?? Vi var såååååå koselig.

When we woke up the next morning, we had absolutely nowhere to be at any certain time and that felt AMAZING. We took our time with breakfast and cleaning then eventually hit the road to the Haugesund city center to see a bit of Marzi’s old life. In truly Norwegian fashion, we ate soft-is (their version of soft-serve ice cream that is far from guilt-free) despite it being bone-chillingly cold and slushily raining. And then we headed back to Bergen.

It was the smoothest, luckiest, and most flawless trip imaginable.

ADVENTURE THREE: The month of April consisted of lots of regular life, likely with some hikes and fun nights peppered in, but now that it’s June, I couldn’t really tell ya much of what I did so long ago. However, the most notable event by far was the Easter trip up to where Solfrid grew up in the Sogn og Fjordane fylka (like a county). It was stunningly beautiful!!

The Øvrebø property is just unreal. The house is giant and awesome, and sits right at the base of a mountain, which is also part of the property. On the mountain is a well-established gravel road/trail system perfect for ATVing. There is a quaint little creek coming down the mountain, which goes over two pretty great waterfalls, and flows into the river in front of the house on the other side of the road. Across the road is more property, including a boathouse on an idyllic lake. From the top of the mountain, there is a view of it all: snow-covered mountains, lakes, islands, ocean…basically my dream location.

Cato gave me the tour de property from the back of the ATV and it was absolutely terrifying. This ATV is not meant for passengers. No back seat, no handles, I was just flying around every time we hit a bump, which was rarely unintentional (Caaaatttooooo -_-).

Our second day there included a trip to the family’s fish farm, just a couple minutes walk away. So many salmon! There were 12 pools of 20,000 fish and 1 pool of 90,000. Whew! And those fish had a serious view, as well. Later that day we all rode up the mountain, explored a few of the side trails, then came back to the house to play 3999 rounds of hide and seek with Emil and Mina. Emil also learned how to ride his bike without training wheels that day! He hadn’t quite figured out how to brake yet but he has since gotten the hang of it. The day came to a close by watching Beethoven in English. Wowww that made me feel old.

Easter morning started off with traditional giant eggs full of candy for each kid (I was included in this category yesss) hidden somewhere around the house. That was fun to see the Norwegian version of an Easter egg hunt! I was never very competitive in the American style hunt…Anyway, so then we went to Solfrid’s best friend’s house in Dale, where we had some great food and I had a really, really cool choking/coughing episode due to the skin of a walnut in my throat…that wasn’t embarrassing or anything…After the meal we headed out on a Easter stroll along the fjord to visit the family’s sheep. Along the way, we broke off many an icicle to lick rather than carrying a water bottle. It was probably the most Norwegian I have ever felt! Such a beautiful town, fjord, country….


That night, I rode the ATV to the top of the mountain to watch sunset all by my lonesome. It was borderline a spiritual experience. At one point, I randomly glanced up and spotted three birds flying together sooo soooo far up in the sky, I can't even believe I saw them in the first place. This doesn’t sound too spectacular, I’m sure, but it was seriously one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. I watched them for so long until I looked away for a split second then could not find them again for the life of me. I even tried taking pictures of the sky and zooming in all over, but they were SO high up my camera could not even capture them. And then the sun set and I watched the last bits glow on the mountaintops and the orange turn to red turn to dark blue. I felt so alive.

Since then, much has happened. As many of you know, and as I mentioned in my last blog, my mom came to visit for two weeks. We went to France and a bit of Norway. But, all of that will require an entire entry in itself and this one is already terribly long. I’ll write that bit sometime soon, I hope.

But other than my mom’s visit, life has been unfolding. Lots of fun nights out, lots of new places visited around Bergen, lots of good times. But also, Mariann and Alex have left Bergen and I’ve been a bit lost and weird without them. I have since become closer with other friends and made quite a few more, but I still miss them terribly. On a more positive note, we have been having the most amazing weather (until like now) and I have even gotten seriously tanned here! Not much ozone and lots of sun makes for a dangerously fast tan. And during this amazing weather spell, the city had their big festival, Bergenfest, which I never quite figured out what it entirely consisted of but the place was so lively! One of the last events was a philharmonic performance of Grieg’s work, which Annemarie and I attended. Spectacular! Can’t wait to go to some more of those shows.

Other recent notable occasions have been Emil’s 6^th birthday! Wooo he’s gettin’ big! And the Sankthans Celebration, which is the Norwegian tradition for the summer solstice. There was a large gathering on our neighboring island where loads of people walk to the beach, BBQ, hang out, play music, and have a HUGE bonfire. Really charming and lots of fun! And most recently, this past Sunday was spent with Lydia (from Martinez!) and a group of other awesome girls at the Bergenfest music festival! It was the most mellow, tiny festival I’ve ever seen. We got to see Kings of Convenience, Ingrid Michaelson, Ane Brun, and Emeli Sande and we got our groove on. We were so obviously not Norwegian because we were dancing hard. Such a good time with new friends!

Also, EuroCup is going on! SO MUCH FUN to follow while in Europe. Norway never even made it in the tournament but it has been great times following the rest of the games. People really take soccer seriously on this side of the pond.

Okay, I need to cut it out and go to sleep….I’ve been a bit sick. My next adventure is soon but I’ll really try to cover my last adventure before I head out! Vi snakkes!!!

PS like the Norwegian tunes??

If you can't be good, be careful.

 It’s not you, it’s me. I’ve been nonstop! I can’t help it though, the weather has been amazing so naturally I’ve been outside as much as possible. I’ve done some really great hikes around the area (Google Ulriken….kicked my butt. We started from sea level, in the city center, walked across the entire city then up the whole mountain, which didn’t have much of a trail. Rough.) and got to experience my first day of boating. Lots of big news, too. It has been decided that my stay in Norway will be extended until spring/summer 2013! Also, two of my close friends (one here and one at home) have recently informed me that they are pregnant! I’m not sure their status on public announcements yet, so I won’t blow the surprise for them, but I’m pretty excited! My friend here was the first to tell me and she’s actually my first friend to be pregnant, sooo that was a new kind of news for me! And then the day AFTER that, I get the news from home! Baby season! So anyway, I started writing this blog about a month and a half ago and didn’t quite have a chance to finish it until now…so I’m going to start where I left off….

ADVENTURE ONE - You know you’re in Ireland when the signs don’t just advise “Don’t Drink and Drive,” but not to drink and drive the following morning because you’re most likely still drunk.

This past March has been the wildest month for me, probably ever. As I last blogged, the month began aboard an Arctic cruise. Then mid-March brought about my long-awaited trip to Ireland for Saint Patrick’s Day! The flight was a Christmas present from the Zachrisen’s and it was quite possibly the best gift I have ever received. The trip was WILD.

I was lucky enough (luck of the Irish?) that a girl from my sorority (who I never had the chance to meet while at Poly because she was new as I was graduating) was going to be there at the same time, so we actually stayed together during the weekend in Dublin. We literally MET at the hostel for check-in! And our hostel was incredible. We had such nice rooms with super comfortable beds, ohhh it was more of a low-end hotel than a hostel so we were soo excited! Livin’ in luxury.

Julie and I spent the first few hours of the trip just hanging out in the room, relaxing after hours of crazy traveling, and getting to know each other. She’s so rad, it’s unreal.

That evening started off with dinner and a round of Guinnesses in a 4-story bar (while there, we developed the now-legendary “double claw hands then point” motion which I thoroughly over-used and abused that whole trip but has since become such a funny memory) before we explored the insanely crowded and festive Temple Bar area. We ended up spending the majority of the night at some huge bar I never learned the name of where we befriended a very large group of Basque Spanish guys. They were the BEST. So much fun to hang out with and they actually all had girlfriends so they weren’t creepin’ at all! Just simple, nice, fun people. There was also this one Austrian guy who was drunker than anyone should ever be who just kept buying more and more whiskey shots for all of us….he’s either really rich or really regretting how much he spent that night. He got a little weird so the Spanish guys shooed him away. It was an absolutely excellent night of dancing and hanging out before we headed back to the hostel in the wee hours of the night.

The next morning was Saint Patrick’s Day! The majority of our group took an all-day bus tour to Galway and the Cliffs of Moher, but I stayed in Dublin with one of the girls who is actually from Sonoma State University. We started the morning off with an amazingly nice Irish breakfast in the hostel, which was accompanied by some adorable old men playing Irish tunes. I somehow managed to forget my annoyingly green outfit in the dryer back in Norway, but luckily I had stashed a dark green AO shirt in the bag at the last minute! AO to save the day! I was almost GREENLESS in IRELAND on ST PATRICK’S DAY. Could you even imagine?

So that day was pretty wild. Everywhere was a party. The streets were crazy, the bars were packed, and everybody was just so HAPPY! We went to the huge parade down the main street of Dublin, explored the Grafton Street area, ate corned beef and cabbage at some super locals bar on a small side street, watched a TON of rugby <3, ended up at a small bar called O’Sullivan’s where I befriended the sweetest Irish lady ever. She was actually the girlfriend of the guy singing at the bar so she was more so there to support him rather than party hardy. We discussed everything from rugby, “traditional” Irish foods that nobody really eats there, and even the current economy of Ireland. It’s amazing the kind of people you meet in the randomest places at the randomest times who really make an impact on you. She was just so cool.

After the other girls returned from Galway, we rallied the troops for the evening out at the biggest Saint Patrick’s Day party in the world. We trekked all throughout Temple Bar but it was SO packed that it didn’t even appeal to us. We randomly ran into the same group of Spaniards while strolling the streets and we all headed back to the same bar as the night before. I actually didn’t realize we were at the same bar because we entered in through the back door and were in a different room than the previous night…I felt so stupid when I figured it out….the next day. That place was huge though and with such drastically different rooms! Anyway, we danced until it closed at 3 AM, then continued to roam the streets for multiple hours afterwards. Out of desperation, we got 4^th meal at nasty Burger King where we met the oddest Irish man, drunker than drunk, who somehow joined our table and proposed to me way too many times. Neiiii takk. After that, we found a shoe in the street and had an intense soccer game while walking around….it was stupid and wildly entertaining, especially when one of the Spaniards lunged for it and ended up faceplanting onto a glass door. Worry not, he was fine and the store was perfectly intact. We eventually said goodbye and it was actually really sad. They had spent so much time with us, looked after us, and really made the two nights super fun. We didn’t even exchange information, but that’s okay, good times were had and those memories will last (hopefully) a lifetime. The night finally ended and we climbed into bed at 5:45 AM…I’d say it was the best Saint Patrick’s Day ever.

…and then I woke up at 7:45AM. The day before, I had attempted to shower at about 9:30 in the morning, apparently after everybody else in the hostel used up every drop of warm water. That had been the most painfully cold shower of my life…like, it wasn’t just un-heated water, it felt like refrigerated water. So, I learned my lesson and forced myself out of bed early enough to beat the hungover folks to the shower. All was well and then we had another delicious Irish breakfast, walked around the city, and hit up some of the popular tourist sites. I also bought THREE Starbucks drinks within about a two-hour time period because Norway only had 1 Starbucks in the country and it is nowhere near me. I’ve missed that chai so much.

At 2 o’clock, I parted ways from Julie and her French group, as I was off to the second half of my trip on my own: Galway <3. On the bus trip I sat next to and befriended the sweetest Irish girl in existence, Rebecca. We actually have a mutual friend from Martinez! The world, man…so small. She was sooo nice and offered to help me find my hostel (major confusion with the address) and even to take me out with some of her hometown friends the following night (ended up not being able to happen but we still keep in contact). My first hostel roommates were a cool young Australian couple who had been backpacking Europe for a ton of months. The guy is about to start his PhD in stem cell stuff…impressive. I headed out on my own to walk around the town, visit the Spanish Arch and stroll the Salthill area for sunset. It was one of those experiences where you are just so happy to be where you are that you can’t stop smiling…so I basically just looked like a creepy sleep-deprived loner walking around at dusk. Cool by me! I then went on a quest for dinner but that never quite happened….

Since most of everything was closed for the holiday, it was pretty hard to find a restaurant open. I wandered into a very out-of-the-way bar and was immediately adopted by the nearest group of locals. Although the bar was no longer serving food at that hour, they definitely made sure my stomach did not stay entirely empty. It was quite embarrassing though, I could not understand half of what they were saying. Such thick accents! Such fast talkers! Such different sayings! I don’t think I’ve ever really heard an Irish accent in person until this trip, and it really threw me for a loop. It’s a whole new English in this land.

This bar, I think I remember it being called The Merry Fiddler, was one of the coolest experiences ever. I was alone in Galway, made all of these new little-while friends, watched an amazing local band play (The Atlantic Pirates), and just took it all in. Literally, everybody knew everybody else. People of allll ages were there. There was even this really old man, probably about 80, who was hanging out with his friends and then started pretending to get into a fight…he was yelling “HOLD ME BACK!” and was flailing around and then started doing high kicks! I kid you not, he kicked his leg up on top of the bar multiple times! Then he danced around and it was hilarrrious. Everybody was dancing and laughing and having such a good time and I just sort of stood in a corner for a bit to take it all in. At one point, this one younger guy started singing  acapella in the front area of the bar and everyone just stopped and listened as he sang some old Irish song. I wouldn’t say he’s got the best voice I’ve ever heard but he sang with such emotion and gusto that it was just beeeautiful. Amazing experience to be the only foreigner in a place and really get absorbed into the local culture. Not saying that the local culture is entirely in a bar setting, but c’mon, the Irish love to drink. I actually picked up a great saying in the bathroom of that bar…a mom was on the phone with her daughter and said, “If you can’t be good, be careful!” Wisest words I’ve heard in a while.

After the most amazing time at that bar, I decided I NEEDED to head back. I had wandered in around 7pm and headed back to my hostel around midnight. I somehow survived Saint Patrick’s Day and an entire day of walking around Dublin, riding the bus to Galway, walking the entire city twice over, AND a night at the bar (without dinner still) with only having had 2 hours of sleep. Whewwww. So I went to bed and snoozed so hard…until like 7am.

The next morning I took the touristy route, I signed up for a bus tour around The Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. I am pretty certain I was the only lone wolf on the bus and I ended up sitting in the verrry back of the bus with this loony Italian lady and her very normal son. She was fun to talk to and all, but because SHE couldn’t quite understand the tour guide over the speakers, she just kept talking and talking and talking the WHOLE time. I was getting pretty frustrated with her because she really was a space cadet kind ruining it for everyone else around her. -______-

Anyway, so we visited the typical tourist stops, like some old ruins, an ancient burial site, some leprechaun dwellings (duh), and some other cool little places. We even drove past the Matchmaker Bar where they have an event every September for which people come from all over the world to be matched up with the love of their life. So, who wants to go with me?

We eventually made it to the Cliffs of Moher and it was breathtaking. Of COURSE I went past all of the warning signs and such. Must.push.the.limits! Don’t worry though, I didn’t do anything too risky. I may not have slipped near the edge of the cliffs on the hardly-even-“forbidden” path, but I DID take a nasty spill on the nicely paved pathway near the parking lot. Woo, go me. Traveling alone, falling in public, no one else even acknowledged me. Awesome. Highlight of my life. Yay.

Out of embarrassment, I decided to go spend the last 15 minutes of our time there just sitting on the bus. Our tour guide was the cutest oldest wrinkliest funniest man and when I walked on the bus, he was hanging out in a random seat with a huge ice cream cone and ice cream smeared all around his mouth. He said, “My ice cream doesn’t taste as good as you look. You need to move here and find an Irish man to sweep you off your feet.” Well, that sounds mighty fine to me. Embarrassment from falling immediately forgotten.

The cool thing about the way back is that the crazy lady stayed behind! The whole bus, including her son, were all waiting for her to come back and she finally walked up to the side of the bus, holding hands with some guy, and said she wasn’t coming back! She literally stayed behind with this random guy she met and told her son she’d meet up with him back in Galway later. CLASSIC. It became the big joke of the entire bus during the ride back.

I got back and met my two new roommates at the hostel, Claudia from Germany and Metta (sp?) from Indonesia. Way cool girls. Metta is Muslim and when it came time for her prayers, she asked me if I would be offended if she did them in the room…I was like, “GO FOR IT! I’d actually be very interested in seeing this in real life.” I was in Ireland, learning more about Islam…so awesome! After that, the three of us headed to McDonagh’s for their world-famous fish and chips. Now, this was actually my first fish and chips experience, and it was magical. I befriended three guys in line who were from England, South Africa, and New Zealand. Oh, swoooon. I actually promised to meet them at Taaffes a couple hours later in the evening but I got a bit distracted when I returned to The Merry Fiddler with Claudia.

I had promised my friends from the previous night that I would return, but THEY never actually showed. That’s okay though, saved me money on a round for them. But the bartender remembered me and we chatted for a while, since the bar was nearly empty. He gave Claudia and I some free shots, which he called “mini Guinnesses,” since they were similar in coloring. Now, I don’t really like the taste of many things alcoholic but those were delicious!

Then, in walked a father-son duo that I immediately pinned as Americans. Their teeth were straight. And since living abroad for 6 months now, I’ve developed an ability to easily identify Americans by even the smallest mannerisms. Anyway, I started talking with them and by the end of the night, I felt like we were old friends. Eddie, the father, lives in New Orleans, and Zak, the son is living near Orlando. Zak and I talked for hoursss. I wouldn’t say we “hit it off” or anything but we definitely got along very well and we had a really great time chatting. It was so cute, Zak and his Dad decided to do a trip to Ireland since they both really love Guinness, while his mom and sister were on a trip in Italy. Zak bought us all a round of really fancy whiskey, which was very nice of him. I offered to next and I told the bartender to pick for me but to keep it reasonably priced….he went for the top shelf stuff, still in the box, poured it in the glasses for us….and told me 12€! Only 12!!!! We googled the type of whiskey (which I now forget) and found that it runs for about $60 per shot in the US!!!! The bartender said he’s just been waiting and wanting someone he deemed worthy to open that bottle for. We felt so honored! And, my wallet was even more so thankful. Another amazing night at The Merry Fiddler.

Zak ended up giving me his information, in case I’m ever in the Orland area and then we parted ways. They hadn’t yet had dinner before getting caught up in a night of drinking and Irish music, as I had he night before. They invited me to join them for a late bite, but I thought it best for me to head back to the hostel for a few hours of sleep.

The following morning, I was up by 5am, on the bus back to Dublin by 5:30am, and watching the sun rise over the Irish countryside as I began my journey back to Bergen. Quite possibly the funnest and greatest trip of my life…

Upon return, I went back to Norwegian class, graduated from Level 3/4, soaked up the rare perfect weather, and prepared for my Cal Poly friend, Andrew Tofflemire, to arrive just a few days later….but all of that will be in the next blog soon….

Although I will soon be continuing to recap my life during the past month, there are a few things I’d like to mention now. I recently met a Martinez girl in Bergen, who also went to Cal Poly, here! Her boyfriend is in my Norwegian class. What are the chances?! And I’d really like to thank Zia Anna and Zia Fris for keeping me in the loop with postcards and AO Guide Letters!!! And thanks to Lillie for sending me the sweetest handwritten letter! Expect something soon, Lillie! And Kara sent me an amaaazing package full of books, intensely warm neckwear, s’more necessities, and a jar of Central California shells, rocks, flowers, and sage. I almost cried.

And now I’m currently sitting in a hotel room in Nice, France with my mother…that will likely have to be a whole ‘nother blog of it’s own. But FYI, KLM Airlines gives out free beer and wine on the flights….whoa! This blog makes me sound like an alcoholic….I swear I’m not.

Lastly, happy late birthday to Zia Fris and little Vincenzo! <3

Hyggelig

Why does my life seem so eventful these days? I swear my day-to-day isn’t so exciting. Yet, since my last blog, much has occurred. You ready for this rundown?

I spent a weekend in Geilo with the Zachrisen’s and their (our) friends, the Tverlid’s. It was nice to experience a Norwegian mountain cabin weekend. I had a blast rolling around in the deep snow, getting “helped” by Cato which actually meant him diving down a nearly vertical slope, to where I was trying my hardest to climb up, and tackling me back downhill. Not helpful in the least! And roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a fire built in the snow was quite a fun experience, as well.

My American friends and I then celebrated (probably not the most accurate word though since we are all single) the Hallmark holiday, Valentine’s Day, in true American fashion – a night of wine, cheese, and dessert. Despite the lack of acknowledgement of the holiday by Norwegians, we still felt the need to embrace it and all it’s mushy glory. I like them ‘merican folks, we are quite the ridiculous bunch.

I also recently received news that Charlie (my pooch) may have had bone cancer. Being away from home made it that much more emotional so of course I was a mess. Solfrid is quite the wonderful supporter when I have my moments (tusen takk hvis du leser dette!). So I was quite bummed for a few days and then got word that it might not be bone cancer!!!! He had surgery this past Saturday to have a toe amputated…..and the results are back….cancer free!!!!! Such a relief! J

The same day that Charles Worthington Vernizzi III had his surgery, I embarked on my next adventure, Bergen à Oslo à Kirkenes à cruise back to Bergen. (As I write this first chunk of the blog, I am on the cruise and holllyyy smokessss we just went under a low bridge, it was a TIGHT squeeze bahhhhh) Anyway, Mariann and I ventured to Oslo by way of the Bergen-Oslo train. We lucked out and had blue skies all the way and it was b-e-a-utiful! Upon arrival, we walked around for over an hour trying to find an apartment that was supposedly just 15 minutes from the train station. We FINALLY found it and met Andreas, who is a cousin of our American friend Eric, and was letting us CouchSurf! That night we made a nice, random group dinner then headed out for a tUnE-yArDs concert at Blå. Whoa whoa wee wah that was awesome! The band is quite unconventional in their sound and their performances are very interesting because the singer builds up each song by recording noises and sound bites and then looping them back on top of each other, then playing instruments and singing on top of that. Not your typical band, to say the least! After the show, we headed to a bar that plays only 1950s-1960s music (totally Mariann’s cup of tea, she luuuhss dattt stuff). At first, they weren’t going to let Mariann and me in because apparently you have to be 25!!! Andreas talked our way into the bar by pointing out that the bar was far from crowded and we would be spending money on drinks (not me, too stingy). So we got in. And we got our groove on big time.

The following morning, Mariann and I woke up surprisingly early to beautiful blue skies, cleaned Andreas’ and Siran’s (his wayyy cool roommate) kitchen and made “American” pancakes from scratch. Now, as you Americans know, we all generally stick with Bisquik or something foolproof of the sort, so making them from scratch was a whole new concept. They turned out pretty decently! Then we headed out for a day of touristy things. After coffee/tea with one of Mariann’s former coworkers, we headed to the nearby fortress Akershus, which was built in like the 1100s or something like that. Old and pretty! And conveniently within Akershus was the Norwegian Resistance Museum, which was all about Norway during the WWII German occupation…fascinating! I am so very interested in WWII so I was diggin’ it. I was also diggin’ that we both got in for half price by using our old college ID cards muahahaha thank you Cal Poly and ASU for not specifying graduation years on our cards!!! Then Mariann had to go back home to Bergen so we had our sad goodbye at the train station and I headed back to Andreas’.

The following day, I awoke to many inches of snow! At this point in my stay in Norway, I was not the least bit phased by it. I headed out to visit the Royal Palace on my way to meeting up with my former Norskkurs 1/2 classmate, Magali. We did our touristy bit by going to the Norwegian Folkemuseum where we walked/slid around on thick ice to check out tons of really old Norwegian buildings from all the eras of Norwegianness. It was wildly interesting to stand in homes from 1300 and see them as they really were back then. Imagine all of the historical world events those buildings have stood through! And how many people have lived normal lives within the walls! Fascinating. Then we got hungry so we headed back into the city sentrum to check out W.B. Samson. BEST SANDWICHES EVER. I don’t say that lightly, either. I have yet to be very impressed by lunch options in Norway, but hot damn, this was life-changing! I had a foccacia sandwich with lettuce, mozzarella, tomato, pesto, onions, and probably something else. Ohhh god, it was too good. And the chai latte was also the BEST EVER. I even ordered a little applecake for later and it was AMAZING, too. Long story short, if you are ever in Oslo, getchyo butt to W.B. Samson, right behind Storting on Karl Johans. Mmm. Then Magali had class, so I headed back to Andreas’ and baked him and Siran a cranberry apple crunch. If either of you are reading this, thank you so very much for letting me surf your couch!!!

And now begins the big part of the adventure. I left Andreas’ by about 5:20AM, walked 30 minutes to the train station, snuck on express train with plans to play oblivious if I were to get caught since I paid for the regular train. Yeahhh I got caught at the airport station because apparently the express ticket scans to let you off of the platform…so I was stuck but I then played oblivious and got off the hook no problem at all. From the get-go, the flight was terrifying. Delays followed by turbulence like you wouldn’t believe! But it was great nonetheless because the two other people in my row were also from California. What are the chances?! The lady actually lives in Rome and works at the UN headquarters and the guy also works for the UN but in the field in Sudan. Wayyy rad. It was so cool to hear about their jobs. And they even knew Martinez so that was nice to discuss home with somebody. They were headed up to the Kirkenes Ice Hotel for a couple nights and some dogsledding to celebrate the guy’s birthday. Chatting with them has motivated me to do something interesting with my life. Normal people CAN end up doing cool jobs!

We finally made it to Tromsø, the just-past-midway stop of our flight. The landing was wild, and we later found out that the runway was actually rather icier than usual….which then delayed us about an hour and a half to takeoff for Kirkenes. The flight from Tromsø to Kirkenes is about an hour and the bus from the airport to the dock is about 20 minutes…the ship was scheduled to leave at 12:45, so by 11:30 I was so bummed that it looked like I’d be buying a return ticket home from Kirkenes and losing almost $1000 by missing the ship. I had tried to call the cruise company but I could not remember the PIN to my phone’s SIM card, so my phone was locked until my return to Bergen. I decided to talk to the flight attendant about the situation since I seemed to be the only one worried about the delays. Just as I headed to the back, so did two other people (who have since become my comrades in cruisin’) and we teamed up to contact Hurtigruten. And the ship said they’d wait because apppparrrentlyyy almost the whole plane was headed to the cruise, too! Whew. So then I relaxed and embraced the huge delay as a chance to chat with people, including the flight attendants. I was already so happy to have met two Californians on the flight, and THEN one of the flight attendants said she didn’t know much of CA other than SLO….SHE STUDIED ABROAD THERE DURING FALL ’09!!!! I just about died of joy. The first thing she said was that she misses Albertson’s….hahahahahahahahahhaha of all things…but I get where she’s coming from, the grocery stores in Norway aren’t too great.

So finally, at about 1:00 PM the runway was melted enough for takeoff. We start to build up speed and as we all expect to take to the air, the pilot throws on the brakes and we skid to the end of the runway….uhhh so scary….then we turned around and tried again in the opposite direction, luckily with success this time. The rest of the flight was surprisingly fine, until the landing, which I recorded on my camera, because it was the most brutal and violent landing I have ever experienced. It was about -12ºC outside and they let us out right onto the runway…which, by the way, is solid ice with grooves in it for traction. I was only outside for about 7 minutes as I waited to board the bus (last, I obviously let the older people get inside first), yet my hands were already screaming in pain and stiff…I had to have someone else grab the coins from inside my wallet because I literally could not get ahold of them. Then I was on the bus to the dock and I found my gloves in my backpack so all was grand!

Made it to the ship! We walked right on, got our room keys and settled in. Opening up my room was such a new experience – there I was, on a cruise, with my own room that I paid for with my own money. I felt so grown up! But this cruise is definitely for old people. There are a few kids and a few other people my age, but the average age must be about 70 years old. It’s okay though! I think old people are the funniest. They fall asleep everywhere, take pictures of anything and everything, and basically just sit around doing nothing the whole time while wearing binoculars around their neck. But when they do get to talking, they say the darndest things…and have some great advice on travel, life, love, everything. So, despite being an awkward loner young person, I’m still enjoying my time here aboard Midnatsol.

My first night on the ship, I befriended one of the crew guys who books all of the excursions for everyone. He’s super friendly, as he ought to be with that type of job, and he thinks I’m crazy for moving from CA to Norway, as most Norwegians say when we meet. But he’s younger than the average bear on this ship and fun to chat with.

An important sidenote: this day marked the 2-year anniversary of my cousin, Matt’s death. I’m not any type of prayer or anything, but throughout my hectic day of traveling, I kept saying “Look out for me here, Chew.” And I’m sure he did. He was the best. He still is the best. Also, as corny as this sounds, when choices need to be made, I literally ask myself “W.W.C.D.?” meaning What Would Chewball Do? He lived his life right and remains such a rolemodel to me.

Anyway, then we had some Northern Lights at 1AM. That was pretty neat, but more of a Northern Smudge.

The next morning, we stopped in Hammerfest, the northernmost city in the world. 10,000 people are crazy enough to live there! And there isn’t much in Hammerfest. Although I did buy a shot glass with the city’s name on it, said I didn’t need any bubble wrap when I paid for it, then dropped it as I walked out the door. Classic. Worry not, the glass survived! When I got back onboard, I sat next to some old people and tried my best to fit it – which was a great success because I fell right asleep. It was marvelous! Oh, to pretend to be old. Then later in the evening, I went onto the sundeck for a bit of spa time! Yes, hot tubs in the open air, during winter, in the Arctic Circle. It.was.awesome. I hung out with two middle aged couples from England and Germany and they told me about all the cool places to go and how much they absolutely dislike Parisians but love Paris. Great spa sesh before bed. And my awkward moment of the day: I was sitting at the public computers, I sneezed, glanced up and randomly made super distant eyecontact with the tour info guy I chatted it up with the day before, even though he was about 50 feet away. Eruuughh I just looked away and pretended I didn’t see him even though it was blatant eye contact. (No, Mariann, no snot was shot. It was a good, clean sneeze.) Then like 10 minutes later I was in the glass elevator and I glanced down to the floor below me and randomly made eye contact with him again. Whattt. I’m pretty sure we both felt awk about it hahahhaa oh boy.

The following day began with a lovely breakfast and an “excursion” through Harstad with my new friends from England, Nigel and Laura. The busses were loaded with old people, but that wasn’t actually surprising. We apparently accidentally signed up to attend a sermon (held in three languages, so it was extra long) at an old church, then we walked through a museum that I thought was about Vikings but apparently it was about everything in Norway…ever. So that was interesting and overwhelming. Then the journey continued with a bus ride to a ferry, then more bussing, looking at a ton of mussels for no reason, and eventually we made it to the next stopping point for the ship. The excursion was wildly unexciting but a nice bit of time on solid ground. Highlight of excursion was realizing I’ve apparently acquired decent footing on ice, for now at least. While all of the older folks were cautiously taking baby steps, slippin’ and slidin’ like I usually do, I was gliding around pretending to ice skate. I was 100% okay, no slipping at all at each occasion that I was off of the ship. That is usually not the case.  After the excursion, Laura and Nigel invited me up to their super fancy, ultra posh suite to eat their room’s daily fruit basket and make use of their huge private deck as the ship navigated a tight passage through Lofoten. I was elated to have such a perfect, wind-sheltered deck for the viewing of some of the most intense scenery of my life! I sporadically jumped and danced around as awkwardly as you can possibly imagine. In the wider parts of the passage, the waves were huge and rather than fight the force, I’d let myself get tossed around as they willed. It kind of looked like I was just running back and forth on the deck…so be it. It was fun. Then we retired to their suite’s lounge to watch the mountain pass by while staying warm and dry.

After leaving port in Svolvær (or something like that), the waters started getting so rough that I was literally worried about the well-being of the ship. Although I missed the safety talk (myyy badddd), I wasn’t ever worried about my personal safety since I was certain I could outrun 99.2% of the ship’s population so I would totally have first dibs at a lifeboat. Anyway, since the waves were so huge, I figured I ought to head up to the top deck to watch them. Probably the safest idea, right? Calm down, Mom, it was fine. But whoaaa they were so big! And our cruise ship definitely wasn’t the ship of your typical cruise ship. We were getting’ rocked. But one can only stand being pelted in the face by hail for so long so I pried open the door, against the intense force of the wind, and went in to sit among the old folks in the complete darkness of the front lounge, where I listened to some Sigur Ros (music of the blog) and the pounding hail, and watched as the shadows of the Lofoten Archipelago slide by….it was a good day.

At 2AM, the ship sent out a call for the Northern Lights. again. This night was more of like a solid, giant smudge across the whole sky so it was hard to take a cool picture.

The next morning, we crossed over the Arctic Circle, back into the normal world. The ship held a ceremony on deck, which involved taking a shot of Tran (cod fish oil), followed by a shot of some sort of Norwegian alcohol. Dominated it, of course. We then passed the Seven Sisters, which is a perfect line of seven peaks and seven u-valleys from glaciers. It was impressive. As if that wasn’t enough, we then passed Torghatten, which is a big island/mountain, with a hole right through the middle. C’mon, that just doesn’t HAPPEN! Laura decided that it must have been made by a troll shoving his nose through the mountain. I think that may be more believable than water and ice erosion. Google it. Ended the night with a bit more hottubbing with awkward old German men in speedos and a night of Northern Smudge watching with Laura and Nigel until about 2AM. Another solid day.

I woke up really early to go into Trondheim and spend some time walking around before the rest of the world woke up. Laura and Nigel spoiled me by bringing me along in a cab to avoid the 20 minutes of walking each way, then we went to Nidaros Cathedral. Whew, I was blown away. I took a thousand pictures of the church, graveyard, and the surrounding river. We then visited a different, simple church where they were running a soup kitchen for homeless people, so we totally left donations. We left with Trondheim with a good feeling. The weather was perfect, too. I spent most of the day reading in the front lounge and chatted it up with two old Americans next to me, which was fun. I met up with Laura, Nigel, Chris, and Cheryl for sunset on the top deck in Kristiansund. I think I fell in love with that city despite not actually getting off of the ship. Absolutely breathtaking. After that, Laura and Nigel treated me to dinner with the REAL people (not just the cafeteria for cheap people like me)! We had fancy bread with pistachios in it, the best fiskesuppe imaginable, and pork neck with broccoli and who knows what, followed by some lime pollet? I don’t even know what the dessert was called but it was delish. And it was all washed down with Chablis white wine. Ohhh lord that was one of the best meals I have ever had. I literally wanted to lick the plate! But…literally. Nigel actually did. Then we sat in the bar area finishing the Chablis and being ridiculous. I figured it was necessary to say goodbye to the top deck so we went up and I ran around in circles, and finished the night with a bit of dancing to the terrible pianist/singer in the bar area….nobody else was dancing but heyyyy they got a little free entertainment and probably ideas for some sweet new moves. Great people, great atmosphere, and I feel like such an adult!

The last day consisted of breakfast, hanging out in Laura and Nigel’s suite, lounging in the front lounge, giving the tour guy my number (BOLD MOVE, he’s so nice though so I didn’t want to say bye yet, especially since he lives by me, we talk sometimes still), and saying some sad goodbyes. I definitely hope to visit the Snook’s in England someday. They were definitely some of the coolest baby boomers I have ever met.

Upon returning, we celebrated Mina’s 4^th birthday. And since then things have been normal. Hanging out, living life, going to class. Life is good. And tomorrow morning, I’m off to Ireland…….St Patrick’s day anyone? Oh Matt, keep an eye on me for this one aahahahha…..

Okay, takk for reading! Much love.

Dépaysement

Remember me? I’m sorry, I’m sorry. For a while there, I became so used to not really having much of a social life and now that I am making new friends, I’ve gotten so overwhelmed and caught up in it all! But at least I’m having a blast, right? I’ll never stop writing though, just maybe less frequently than before.

Here are the necessary tunes:

So, where to begin?! Much has happened but most of which is just common day nonsense that may not necessarily be worth “writing home about.” Hmm…okay, I’ll reflect in chronological order…

I really like salmon now. Like, super like. Even raw! I never thought I’d see the day I would try or enjoy real sushi, but I also never thought I’d see the day I’d live in Norway. I’ve recently eaten deer meat, and loved it. Aaaand reindeer meat!!! Not a big fan. It wasn’t too terrible until Cato told me that the wilder the animal, the more it smells like the fur…so then all I could taste was fur. Straight up nasty. Takk for det, Cato. (L-Magz’s “ex-boyfriend is a reindeer.” I hope she actually reads this to re-appreciate that little gem.)

I need some ideas for crafts! I was all about those strings of birds and now I’m looking for more. Am I becoming crafty? You bet your sweet buns, I am. Just the other day, I sat down and drew a picture, then handcrafted a couple cards, then cut my hair a bit. Artsyfartsycraftycreative Town, population: Emilita. But srsly, I could use come really creative suggestions. Home décor is probably preferred, like something along the lines of my dangling birds…cute stuff. And shippable ideas are best, because since I can’t really afford to buy things for people at home, I like the idea of making stuff for them!

Moving on.

I recently met up with Klara Jensen and Ian Plaine in Bergen! Such a good day. They were the first familiar faces I’ve seen in Norway and it was really, really nice. I admit, I even got a little teary-eyed as soon as I saw them walking towards me. It was a combination of the happiness of seeing a bit of home here, and the realization that I would not know them if it weren’t for my cousin Matt. Almost two years after his death and he’s still bringing people together. Anyway, that day was so very great. The weather was good so we went to the top of Floyen, walked around in the snow a bit, and then went to have the best risgrøt I’ve ever had. And then we just sat and talked and strolled around the city for hours – talking about life, Ian’s upcoming move to Norway (!!!!!), and such. It was definitely one of my happiest days I’ve had here.

A couple days later, I went to a Couch Surfing meeting with high hopes of meeting some new people, and that I did. I met people from all over the world, but especially bonded with 3 other Americans (the only three I’ve met since coming here). There’s Mariann from Tucson (but originally born here), Alex from an island near Seattle, and Eric from Washington D.C. (but has lived many places throughout his life). And we are just 4 peas in a pod. We all feel an automatic connection and a sense of familiarity despite being from all different parts of the US. Since meeting just over two weeks ago (has it really only been that long?!), we have hung out on multiple occasions.

First, Alex, Eric, two of Alex’s friends (from Slovenia and Italy) spent a day exploring Hardanger Fjord and visiting a famous waterfall. The same day, Eric, Mariann, and I went out to a bar for a 50’s and 60’s night and that was shenanigans – it was my first night out in Bergen! The following Tuesday night, Mariann, Alex, and I went to watch a Norwegian movie on the Uni. Bergen campus and the movie had Norwegian subtitles! I actually did surprisingly well…maybe I’m better at Norwegian than I thought.

Then just a couple nights later, us four Americans met up for a trivia night at an Irish pub in the city. It was in ENGLISH thankfully! And we didn’t do too badly! There was one particular question that was hilarious – they asked what the maximum potential height of an ostrich is…in centimeters…and we were allowed a +/- 10 cushion. Alex, being the brainiac he is, settled on 275 cm and he was EXACTLY RIGHT baaaahahaha we could not believe that! It was such a fun night and we are planning on making it a weekly event. And our team name is “Honeybadger don’t give a sh*t…” soooo our trivia team obviously rocks.

Since meeting, Mariann and I have hung out quite a bit. I introduced her to my favorite café recently and now it’s seems like it will become our meeting place. (By the way, I never thought I’d become a “regular” at a café but it’s haaapeningggg…maybe 2012 really will be the end of the world.) A few nights ago, we were watching Wasteland (excellent documentary, I highly recommend it) at her friends house when we saw the NORTHERN friggin’ LIGHTS. That is NOT normal for this far south so it was extra, extra exciting. Seeing the Northern Lights has been #1 on my bucket list for many moons now, so this was quite a special occasion for me. I kind of had one of those “wow, life is amazing” sort of moments.

Other highlights of the past month:

-       A night out of dancing with Maria-Elena and some of her classmates and the DJ played a Bay Area song….I was elated! Such a fun night though. I love how people don’t go out until SO LATE in Europe – we didn’t even go to the club until about midnight. Hahhhh awesome.

-       Graduated Norskkurs 1-2 and have since started Norskkurs 3-4…bouts to be fluent!

-       Lastly, thanks for the card and pictures, Zia Fris! And for the postcard, Zia Anna and Uncle B! Receiving any type of mail is like Christmas.

-       Trivia night with Mariann and Alex last night….we are so bad, we are good. Creativity points are clutch for us!

Lowlight of my life:

-       I had to go into the city early before class this past Monday. It had recently snowed and was started to melt and get slushy. Now, they USUALLY have all of the main sidewalks mostly cleared by the time I come to class so it rarely matters what shoes I wear as long as I’m wearing wool socks (which, by the way, all have holes in the bottoms (except for the pair from Lenka and Howard, those ones are STURDY) because I’ve worn them all so much…hint, hint.) So the day I decide to wear my beat up old, holey Vans shoes the sidewalks were definitely not cleared…at all…and were slushy and terrible. I had to walk across the city to buy a book before class and about 3 minutes into my walk, my feet were completely soaked. Then I had 3.5 hours of class then met up with Mariann for warm beverages. By the time we made it to the café, I was literally worried for my toes. Luckily the café lady brought us blankets and told me it was absolutely okay to take off my warm shoes. But that really sucked. Norway is cold.

And now I must go. We are headed to Geilo for the weekend! Hopefully I’ll learn to ski.

Ending thought…imagine a world without fences. This has been in my head for many months now. Next time you’re on a walk, or driving around, just notice how many fences there are. The entire concept of private property would be changed. Domestication of animals could fall apart. Or maybe not. Hmm. Just a thought.