Skip to main content

Taking the drive out of driving.

Driving here in the small town of Sandnes is drastically different from driving in the big-city Fortaleza. There is no action! Actually there is hardly any traffic. I haven't heard anyone use their horn yet, and when the speed limit is 30 kilometers per hour, then people drive 30 kilometers per hour. Not being a very agressive driver myself, I have become influenced by the mad driving in Brazil. It's irritating when the traffic moves slowly. And there is no excitement when people actually use their signal to tell you which way they're turning, and obey the law. The lack of donkeys, horses, cows, recycling carts, and just people in general, stepping into the road at all times means that driving around actually becomes quite a dull exercise. I am also having to concentrate as I approach pedestrian crossings. We're acutally supposed to stop for pedestrians here (shocking, I know), and so I find myself saying "look out for pedestrians, remember to stop at the crossing" to myself so I don't forget.

Driving a car that works is also a novelty, but I am enjoying that part. It's nice to not have to worry about breakfluid and oil leaks, dodgy startermotor, overheating, or even running out of petrol (the car always seems to have plenty in the tank).

Still, it is a bit dull, although safer I suppose, and that's good.

Popular posts from this blog

Small moments that mean a lot

Walking home on the crunchy snow that lights up a December evening,  I felt so thankful. The revelation that fellowship and being together is the best gift you can give someone, and realising that although it might seem small, it can turn into something big when a person feels seen and valued.  Yesterday I helped out with a crafts workshop for a group of lovely women volunteering for Crux where I worked before (well, in all honesty: they were making angels while I ate Christmas cookies, Quality Street chocolate, and chatted). I love walking alongside people in conversation, and realise sharing life for 2 hours can last so much longer in value and experience.  This evening we had our Christmas dinner for volunteers and people who are part of my current job. It was a delightful evening with many nations gathered around the same table…. eating the same food… and for a few hours creating a small fellowship moment that will become a good memory for the future. Often in my job ...

What moves a person’s heart?

As we started to sing the Norwegian Christmas song “Mitt hjerte alltid vanker i Jesu føderom” (translation: My heart it always wanders in Jesus’ birthplace”), they took the initiative to stand up and take each others hands. It’s was a powerful moment, and I think that at that point there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Singing of finding home and the blessed Christmas night , a place of such hope and peace and freedom, moved us all. It caught me off guard and I hadn’t expected such vulnerability from these women. Many of them live with a wall built around their hearts as protection from a life which they have experienced as far from safe and kind. Now they find themselves literally behind bars, and yet behind the tough exteriors, are hearts that are still capable of being moved. Moved by being literally overwhelmed by presents and love and the message of value and hope. Moved to maybe, just maybe, believe that they are worth more than what life has communicated to them so far. ...

Single-tasking September: The art of single-tasking.

To change habits and ways of life, the motivation for change has to be strong, and the benefits outweigh the effort it takes to make the change.  For so long it’s seemed like the ability to multitask has been regarded as a great skill, but is it really a good thing? Recovering from burn-out, one of the effects I noticed was that it was harder to concentrate, and especially tricky trying to focus on many things at once. I’d try to multitask, only to realise that all tasks suffered from lack of capacity to complete any one of them. The challenge is that the habit of always doing many things at once goes deep, and when I tried to focus on just one thing, I found that it was actually really difficult.  As I did a little google search on the matter, I found it seems like multitasking isn’t as healthy as once thought, and that it doesn’t help productivity. Some even referred to it as “switch tasking”, in the sense that the brain isn’t doing many things at once, but shifting rapidly...