The past two weeks have been a huge concoction of new and old experiences, which all kind of melt into me feeling like I’ve actually been here lot longer than two weeks. You know how sometimes you feel like you’ve known someone for ages, when really you’ve only just met them? In many ways that is how it feels here at Grimerud. Seeing the girls I share a house with everyday seems so normal, and the other people around don’t feel like people I’ve just met. It’s good because I feel like part of here rather than a visitor, but at the same time I feel a bit rootless, not quite knowing where to direct my energy and passion; being in a place where I don’t really have a set purpose and goal to work towards.
The days have been varied, but surprisingly non-hectic and non-busy. During the day I’ve been helping out with hospitality. It find it strange when people comment “oh, so you’re the hostess today”, because really I feel more like I’m helping out where needed. Last week there were many rooms to clean as a wedding was held at the base here. It’s a good way to get some extra income for the base, as well as a lovely place to be able to bless people with.
Work aside, I have found that although we are literally in the middle of the countryside, there are plenty of extracurricular activities to get stuck into. When we had the spell of nice days (which caught us all by surprise, and which we were sad to see come to an abrupt end with a hail-shower). I cycled to a huge lake just down the road and went swimming. The first time I must admit it was more to be able to say that I’d done it rather than for the joy of it. The water wasn’t warm, but also not too cold, and I could feel my feet the whole time. However, as I swam a bit outwards, there were gusts of cold water, which almost took my breath away, and so needless to say I didn’t linger in the water for too long. The second time I went swimming was actually more pleasant, and if I’d known the weather was about to turn, I might have made sure to enjoy it even more.
So there’s been a lot of cycling around. It is funny, because I associate Holland and Denmark with cycling, but here I have cycled more than ever before. On Wednesday a friend of mine and I took the trip to Hamar, one of the towns close by (and also one of the places where the 1994 Winter Olympics were held, so that obviously warmed my tourist-heart). We set off on our bikes full of energy and focus, and half-an-hour and a bit of rain later we arrived at the town centre. Our trip to town took a bit longer than we anticipated (setting off at a bit past 1 pm and only getting home around 6 pm), but looking back we did cover a lot of ground while we were there.
Apart from the obvious activity of shopping (can’t be around shops without doing that), we joined the library. It was actually really cool because this specific type of card enables you to borrow books at different libraries across the country (the ones that are part of the network). Dropping in to a shop selling sowing-machines to ask for directions, we ended up having a half-hour sales pitch from a man elaborating on the various types of machines and their pros and cons. It was quite interesting and I think he enjoyed being able to share his diverse knowledge on the subject with us.
Getting quite famished, and realizing that we would most certainly not make it back for dinner at 4:15 pm, we dropped in on one of the local kebab stores.As we were devouring our scrumptious chicken kebabs, some ladies kept coming over with flowers. They were what I choose to call the "Romanian flower women". Observing them approaching people and not having much success, I felt a bit sorry for them, so the next lady who came over to me I tried to talk to. She gave me a lovely yellow flower and when I asked what it cost, she promptly whipped up a worn piece of laminated paper stating that she was seeking help for her son “Daniel” who was very ill with leukaemia. I tried to ask her if “Daniel” was her son, but she didn’t understand what I was saying, and both her English and Norwegian seemed non-existent. My heart went out to her, but I felt no peace to start giving her money, trying to ask her if I could pray didn’t really work, so I took her hand and asked for Jesus to bless her and help her. She seemed grateful and a wee bit confused, but was on her way. Seeing her go I felt kind of helpless. Not because I hadn’t bought her flower, but because I didn’t have any way of communicating with her and understanding her heart. Here at the base we have a girl who is from Romania who is going to do DTS in September, so my plan is to get her to teach me a few things in Romanian so I can at least have something to say to these women, who I no doubt will bump into (or them bump into me) next time I venture into town. It was an eye-opening experience nonetheless, and showed me that the Norwegian reality isn’t as picture perfect as it might seem from the outside.
Coming home I felt quite moved by the whole experience, although I don’t know if “moved” is the right word, I guess it might be more like challenged or unsettled maybe. It was good and showed me that I still have the same heart for people that I had in Brazil, even if I am no longer there.