My adventures here in Bodø have not been grand or of any great consequence thus far, which is fine with me. i have a funny feeling that adventures of that sort only need to really come along every once in a great while. Two nights ago i ventured into the falling snow for a walk down the skiing trails behind the student living area, contentedly accompanied by only the footprints of one other individual. The trail is quite well used on a normal basis, some of us have nearly collided with skiiers, who then became rather disgruntled. In the 6pm dark and falling snow, however; it was quite still. i followed the path of my unseen companion, flanked by evergreens heavy with night under their branches. It was a pleasant, if slippery, walk as we turned left and away from the ambient city light
i've noticed that days pass rather quietly when you have so much darkness and when the weather is more condusive to being indoors. Lately, the trails have been quite iced over, making all walks to the woods a bit of an undertaking and a hazard for ankles. Brad, an American who has been here for a semester and lives in my building (Høglimyra) has lead us on a few nice treks. i, unfortunately, forgot my camera on the way to the best view i have seen yet. i know i am a plains person at heart, but i think i am going to sorely miss the mountains and the ice-cold sea when i return to the midwest.
Last night allowed me to cross one more thing off my bucket list. We had been informed that the sky had put on a great show and we had missed as no one had thought to let us know. We were a bit upset, but hung around outside to watch the faintly wavering strips of green that remained overhead. Happily, the solar wind was thoughtful enough to stir up the coals of it's last display and colors began to dance around the Big Dipper and Orion with indescribable grace. Students who have been here for years must have thought we were ridiculous as members of our little crowd (well, me at least) would jump around excitedly every time a new ripple of color branched out to expand the flowing and continuous pattern. How odd to be so used to something so beautiful that you no longer need to run out to see it!
It's really hard to describe the way the lights move. Though i'm sure most have seen it on tv at some point, to have seen them with my own eyes was astounding. Have you ever seen a curtain ripple from one side to the other from a quiet breeze? That is the best way i can think to describe their motion. This night's show was primarily green, but faint pinks and purples would ripple through the green curtain, and light would spill from one part of the pattern to paint an unlit portion of the sky. We watched until clouds blocked our view. i wasn't able to capture a good shot, but a friend did. i'm going to see if she will let me borrow it for this post...so hopefully it will come later!
A group is headed to the climbing wall soon...so i will have to cut this post short, hopefully only to post again soon. i'm a bit bad at this internet thing, but i'm trying! My goal is to have pictures from a tour around the little area of Bodø online tonight. Happy day! :)
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
this morning i could see clear sky
i'm not usually one to complain when technology runs out, but when traveling to a place so many miles away from so many friends, the presence of accesible internet increases exponentially in value.
i am firmly settled in the north...a very wet and chilly (though warmer than home!) area - Bodø, Norway (pronounced more like "boo-dah," while rolling over the "d" in a way that Nebraskans are not inclined to do. sadly, my Norwegian has yet to advance far beyond this pronunciation and the usage of "hi" and "thank you"). internet connection abandoned my little mac and i for several days, allowing me some undistracted time to get to know two of my new flatmates. we all have our own rooms and not a bad place at all really! My third flatmate is Norwegian and has proven to be sweet, mellow, and fun to get to know. i was very excited to see webpages loading again, however; as i had been wanting to speak with my family again. How nice to have both the family only a skype call away and good friends here as well :)
Pictures from here up north are minimal as it is very, well, dark. We are just over four hours of sunlight this time of year, though the light is increasing daily. By the time i leave it will nearly be time for the midnight sun! This morning i awoke to finally see clear sky and sunlight shining golden across the tops of snow clad mountains to the northeast. It never really rose above them, and settled back to rest in pink and purple splendor around 4 o'clock. i thought now would be a good time to work on my account of Malta, from which i have many many sunny and bright pictures.
i was very reluctant to leave the gracious care of my good friends in Malta. En's family watched over me incredibly well; i couldn't have found better hosts or tour guides if i had tried. and as for hospitality of all the Maltese i met, it was an influence that will dictate how i treat all guests i am fortunate enough to host in my future. Georgette made me sandwhiches for my journey, and En and all gave me a hug to send me on my way. the day's prior to my departure, however; were full of more exploration and the joyful seeing of new things in the company of a dear and adventurous friend.
En took me exploring the south of the island before we attended a New Year's Eve party. We found a lovely place known as St. Peter's Pool, a place En and her family had sometimes gone to swim. i couldn't resist picture taking. i was sorely tempted to jump in, and might have had i had a change of clothes available! i did manage to trip in a small and soak one leg of my jeans, so i guess that worked just as well. The sea water was a marvelous blue that can never quite be captured by a camera.
Next came the Freeport and traditional Maltese fishing boats, all painted with the same bright colors. We even got to walk through the market, and i very much wished i could have gotten some Maltese lace for mom back home.
The view on the right is the Freeport (Birzebbuga) from quite a distance, and the bright boats are the fishing boats in Marsaxlokk. These boats also nearly all have an eye on them, and i believe it is to ward off evil spirits.
i also included a photo of the most lovely tour guide anyone could ever ask for :)
En and i drove all over the south, had a lovely lunch and returned to get ready for a real party, the type that you wear a dress and heels to. It is apparently habit in Malta for groups to rent out areas, sell tickets, and set up great parties (open bar, DJ, lights, everything). Our New Year's Party was in a fort, the kind that dots Malta's coast. It En and i left, these forts were spaced at such distances so that warning signals could be lit from the tops and the knowledge of approaching enemies could quickly spread. When En and i saw the torches on the stone fort we laughingly concluded that the Turks were coming!
The party was a blast, though i must admit that i am never fully comfortable in a dress and heels. i think i was meant to live in camping pants and hiking boots. i had a lovely lunch the next day with En's family and Neal. Her dad grilled for us. Everyone is present in the picture but Georgette who was running the camera. Both the food and the company were delightful.
Days went by in a whirl of both activity and relaxation. i'm definitely going to pick up the habit of having hot tea with people as often as possible. We headed the next day to the Golden Bay area. En couldn't be convinced that i didn't need a picture of myself to prove i was there, so here i am in the Maltese winter wind.
It's hard to condense my last days down. i couldn't believe the sheer number of things i saw is a very short amount of time. En took me all over Valletta (the current capital of Malta). We explored areas she hadn't been to for quite some time and had a lark of a day.
These pictures look out over the harbor, i'm fairly certain it is Grand Harbor. Below you can see parts of the Three Cities across the water .
We visited a series of stone temples that are older than Stonehenge (a fact some seemed quite proud of :). The internet is telling me that these temples are some of the oldest prehistoric structur
es in the world, dating from 4000 to 2500 BC. i didn't get a very good picture of the temples, as my camera was doing odd things. What you can see best in the picture is us walking towards one and the large, tent-like covering that has been built to preserve the stone constructions from the wind and rain. We also explored around the area, and i borrowed En's camera to take pictures of the sea beating on the rocks. i couldn't get enough of that sound or the view of it. Isn't it odd to think that the sea has been doing the same thing, sounding the same way since those temples were new?
i'm actually finishing this post almost several days after i began it. i mentioned it was against my nature to blog, and i think i realized that was because i am unable to sit still long enough to get my experience across. i will have to post about the last day in Malta (beautiful pictures of Gozo that truly deserve to be shown) and i will begin writing about Norway experiences at the same time. We have a bus tour tomorrow, and another student has shown us the trail to an area where the view is amazing - i'm hoping to come up with some good pictures soon. Thanks for reading if you are following along :) i hope all are are well wherever you are in our big little world.
- Bilbo Baggins :)
i am firmly settled in the north...a very wet and chilly (though warmer than home!) area - Bodø, Norway (pronounced more like "boo-dah," while rolling over the "d" in a way that Nebraskans are not inclined to do. sadly, my Norwegian has yet to advance far beyond this pronunciation and the usage of "hi" and "thank you"). internet connection abandoned my little mac and i for several days, allowing me some undistracted time to get to know two of my new flatmates. we all have our own rooms and not a bad place at all really! My third flatmate is Norwegian and has proven to be sweet, mellow, and fun to get to know. i was very excited to see webpages loading again, however; as i had been wanting to speak with my family again. How nice to have both the family only a skype call away and good friends here as well :)
Pictures from here up north are minimal as it is very, well, dark. We are just over four hours of sunlight this time of year, though the light is increasing daily. By the time i leave it will nearly be time for the midnight sun! This morning i awoke to finally see clear sky and sunlight shining golden across the tops of snow clad mountains to the northeast. It never really rose above them, and settled back to rest in pink and purple splendor around 4 o'clock. i thought now would be a good time to work on my account of Malta, from which i have many many sunny and bright pictures.
i was very reluctant to leave the gracious care of my good friends in Malta. En's family watched over me incredibly well; i couldn't have found better hosts or tour guides if i had tried. and as for hospitality of all the Maltese i met, it was an influence that will dictate how i treat all guests i am fortunate enough to host in my future. Georgette made me sandwhiches for my journey, and En and all gave me a hug to send me on my way. the day's prior to my departure, however; were full of more exploration and the joyful seeing of new things in the company of a dear and adventurous friend.
En took me exploring the south of the island before we attended a New Year's Eve party. We found a lovely place known as St. Peter's Pool, a place En and her family had sometimes gone to swim. i couldn't resist picture taking. i was sorely tempted to jump in, and might have had i had a change of clothes available! i did manage to trip in a small and soak one leg of my jeans, so i guess that worked just as well. The sea water was a marvelous blue that can never quite be captured by a camera.
Next came the Freeport and traditional Maltese fishing boats, all painted with the same bright colors. We even got to walk through the market, and i very much wished i could have gotten some Maltese lace for mom back home.The view on the right is the Freeport (Birzebbuga) from quite a distance, and the bright boats are the fishing boats in Marsaxlokk. These boats also nearly all have an eye on them, and i believe it is to ward off evil spirits.
i also included a photo of the most lovely tour guide anyone could ever ask for :)
En and i drove all over the south, had a lovely lunch and returned to get ready for a real party, the type that you wear a dress and heels to. It is apparently habit in Malta for groups to rent out areas, sell tickets, and set up great parties (open bar, DJ, lights, everything). Our New Year's Party was in a fort, the kind that dots Malta's coast. It En and i left, these forts were spaced at such distances so that warning signals could be lit from the tops and the knowledge of approaching enemies could quickly spread. When En and i saw the torches on the stone fort we laughingly concluded that the Turks were coming!
The party was a blast, though i must admit that i am never fully comfortable in a dress and heels. i think i was meant to live in camping pants and hiking boots. i had a lovely lunch the next day with En's family and Neal. Her dad grilled for us. Everyone is present in the picture but Georgette who was running the camera. Both the food and the company were delightful.
Days went by in a whirl of both activity and relaxation. i'm definitely going to pick up the habit of having hot tea with people as often as possible. We headed the next day to the Golden Bay area. En couldn't be convinced that i didn't need a picture of myself to prove i was there, so here i am in the Maltese winter wind.
It's hard to condense my last days down. i couldn't believe the sheer number of things i saw is a very short amount of time. En took me all over Valletta (the current capital of Malta). We explored areas she hadn't been to for quite some time and had a lark of a day.
These pictures look out over the harbor, i'm fairly certain it is Grand Harbor. Below you can see parts of the Three Cities across the water .
We visited a series of stone temples that are older than Stonehenge (a fact some seemed quite proud of :). The internet is telling me that these temples are some of the oldest prehistoric structur
es in the world, dating from 4000 to 2500 BC. i didn't get a very good picture of the temples, as my camera was doing odd things. What you can see best in the picture is us walking towards one and the large, tent-like covering that has been built to preserve the stone constructions from the wind and rain. We also explored around the area, and i borrowed En's camera to take pictures of the sea beating on the rocks. i couldn't get enough of that sound or the view of it. Isn't it odd to think that the sea has been doing the same thing, sounding the same way since those temples were new?
i'm actually finishing this post almost several days after i began it. i mentioned it was against my nature to blog, and i think i realized that was because i am unable to sit still long enough to get my experience across. i will have to post about the last day in Malta (beautiful pictures of Gozo that truly deserve to be shown) and i will begin writing about Norway experiences at the same time. We have a bus tour tomorrow, and another student has shown us the trail to an area where the view is amazing - i'm hoping to come up with some good pictures soon. Thanks for reading if you are following along :) i hope all are are well wherever you are in our big little world.
"It's a dangerous business...going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
- Bilbo Baggins :)
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
My last full day in Malta sun
i can hardly believe it is tuesday already...my last full day here. En printed me off a map and helped me to highlight all the places i have been. i can hardly believe everything i have seen; i think it would be hard to find a better tour guide than she and all of the others who have showed me around. my primary objective was to come and see a friend, her's was to make sure that in the process, i saw what there was to see. how lucky am i to be able to do both?!
i have been collecting little odd and ends, plus journaling, blogging, and taking pictures. i figure that by the end i can compile a pretty good record of places i have been, things i have learned, and impressions of all the newness i have encountered. and yes, i will post pictures soon.
today we tour the small island just a ferry-ride away from Malta - Gozo. then i come back to this lovely little home to pack and prepare. i am taking a gamble in the matter of travel, as my visa never came while i was at home - stuck in snow of just not arrived i have no clue, and my consulate in Minneapolis has been impossible to reach since late December. the goal: stay in the amount of time allowed to tourists and wait for my visa to arrive.
more later, we are off! i have absolutely buckets full of things to write about and will hopefully have time to do so either tonight or in airports along the way to Norway.
to Gozo! hmm..where is that camera for goodness' sake.
i have been collecting little odd and ends, plus journaling, blogging, and taking pictures. i figure that by the end i can compile a pretty good record of places i have been, things i have learned, and impressions of all the newness i have encountered. and yes, i will post pictures soon.
today we tour the small island just a ferry-ride away from Malta - Gozo. then i come back to this lovely little home to pack and prepare. i am taking a gamble in the matter of travel, as my visa never came while i was at home - stuck in snow of just not arrived i have no clue, and my consulate in Minneapolis has been impossible to reach since late December. the goal: stay in the amount of time allowed to tourists and wait for my visa to arrive.
more later, we are off! i have absolutely buckets full of things to write about and will hopefully have time to do so either tonight or in airports along the way to Norway.
to Gozo! hmm..where is that camera for goodness' sake.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
some Malta things to know...
- this is the 4th most densely populated country in the world as well as one of the smallest countries of the European Union
for some perspective:
Nebraska: 77,421 sq mi and 1,796,619 people --> that makes a density of 23 people/sq mi
Malta: 121 sq mi and 413,609 --> that makes a density of 3,391/sq mi
the country has built upwards...the houses are small terraced houses that line very narrow streets where small cars zoom unpredictably (admittedly i think i miss country roads for driving and am very glad not to be behind the wheel). roundabouts are very very frequent and streets curve in a way that would make me lose myself incredibly quickly. the separate villages are actually contiguous, and as a foreigner i find it absolutely impossible to see where one ends and one begins.
the houses, though packed together, have so far seemed very spacious inside. En and her family have a lovely home with two tangerine trees right outside the kitchen.
the country areas are very pretty, and apparently more green this time of year than normal. it's a very warm winter for them.
En laughingly showed me the scene below...a taste of home :) this was right across from the fort where we had our New Year's Eve party.
- location speaking, many seemed not to realize where Malta was at when i told them i would be spending a brief week there before my time in Norway. hence - convenient map
it's a really interesting location...right between Europe and Africa. the people here seem to be serious international travelers, though the country remains nearly solidly Maltese with a fraction of retired British and a some illegal immigrants. Gozo is a tiny island just near.
- En has been teaching m
e a bit of the history, and things here are very very old...some older than Stonehenge, and as her pappa was quick to point out, most everything is older than the ol' USA. architecture remains here from an entire series of conquerors and you can see it as you walk the streets. wikipedia, or wikipedija in Maltese, informs me that the country has been inhabited since 5200 B.C. beginning with peoples from the island of Sicily. the country became independant in 1964 and a republic in 1974.
the pictures are of Mdina, the original capital city and the "Silent City," which
possibly dates back to 700 B.C.
the history is just fascinating, and En's family have enjoyed discussing the USA's history with me. luckily i have known enough not to sound completely ingnorant thus far (knock on wood...wait, i mean "touch wood" if following the Maltese expression.) they have been quite surprised at how little American history the American people they have encountered seem to know. the country is so much younger than many others, En said to me once, so wouldn't you think that everyone would know most of it?
interesting food for thought there.
- this is the 4th most densely populated country in the world as well as one of the smallest countries of the European Union
for some perspective:
Nebraska: 77,421 sq mi and 1,796,619 people --> that makes a density of 23 people/sq mi
Malta: 121 sq mi and 413,609 --> that makes a density of 3,391/sq mi
the country has built upwards...the houses are small terraced houses that line very narrow streets where small cars zoom unpredictably (admittedly i think i miss country roads for driving and am very glad not to be behind the wheel). roundabouts are very very frequent and streets curve in a way that would make me lose myself incredibly quickly. the separate villages are actually contiguous, and as a foreigner i find it absolutely impossible to see where one ends and one begins.
the houses, though packed together, have so far seemed very spacious inside. En and her family have a lovely home with two tangerine trees right outside the kitchen.
the country areas are very pretty, and apparently more green this time of year than normal. it's a very warm winter for them.
En laughingly showed me the scene below...a taste of home :) this was right across from the fort where we had our New Year's Eve party.
- location speaking, many seemed not to realize where Malta was at when i told them i would be spending a brief week there before my time in Norway. hence - convenient map
- En has been teaching m
e a bit of the history, and things here are very very old...some older than Stonehenge, and as her pappa was quick to point out, most everything is older than the ol' USA. architecture remains here from an entire series of conquerors and you can see it as you walk the streets. wikipedia, or wikipedija in Maltese, informs me that the country has been inhabited since 5200 B.C. beginning with peoples from the island of Sicily. the country became independant in 1964 and a republic in 1974.the pictures are of Mdina, the original capital city and the "Silent City," which
possibly dates back to 700 B.C.
the history is just fascinating, and En's family have enjoyed discussing the USA's history with me. luckily i have known enough not to sound completely ingnorant thus far (knock on wood...wait, i mean "touch wood" if following the Maltese expression.) they have been quite surprised at how little American history the American people they have encountered seem to know. the country is so much younger than many others, En said to me once, so wouldn't you think that everyone would know most of it?
interesting food for thought there.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Malta in the care of a good friend
And here i am...Malta (for those of you who don't know, it's a small island south of Italy :)
i left home on the 29th of December after 20+ inches of blowing snow (thats about 51 cm of snow, i'm slowly learning to convert to metric...) and a wonderfully laid back Christmas with my family. Gifts were far to many and ridiculously appropriate for the my northward destination - two nice base layer shirts, a clever hat/scarf combo from the ever wonderful Aunt Connie, and a total of 7 pairs of warm socks (most wool), as well as a new hiking pack (an Osprey, i almost can't believe i actully own one! **thank you brother of mine!!!
i'm fairly certain i've packed far too much, packing warm just seems to take up lots of space, and based on the airlines, i'm still not sure if i can get all my luggage all the way to Bodø. Apparently the rules differ for flying about Europe and for flying internationally. Yet more i have learned!
Mom, my sister, and Megan dropped me off at the airport and i began a 21 hour journey to the Mediterranean. Two notes: running through O'Hare can get stressful and Frankfurt is huge! Allow time...
En and her family picked me up in the 60˚ (Farenheit...i am only getting used to this whole Celcius thing) Maltese weather, and i proceeded to stare at the palm trees, pretty churches, and ground terraced with picturesque stone walls. It was 1PM in Malta and 6AM at home by the time i landed.
En's family has been so gracious and lovely. En and her boyfriend Neal have dashed me all over the island too. i've seen so much and pictures will go up soon after this post, and on facebook too i suppose. The night of the day i got in was finished with a gorgeous sunset along the cliffs on Malta's west coast.
New Year's Eve was spent at a party in an honest-to-goodness fort from 1657, the kind that dots Malta's coast. This Nebraska girl wore a black dress and mingled in the mix of Maltese and English conversation. Though i was rather out of place among such people, i hope everyone's New Year's was just as lovely.
This has turned into a rather long post, i will have more soon. Hopefully this will be an interesting thing to read if you care to follow me from sunny Malta to a six month stint in the arctic circle in Norway.
i left home on the 29th of December after 20+ inches of blowing snow (thats about 51 cm of snow, i'm slowly learning to convert to metric...) and a wonderfully laid back Christmas with my family. Gifts were far to many and ridiculously appropriate for the my northward destination - two nice base layer shirts, a clever hat/scarf combo from the ever wonderful Aunt Connie, and a total of 7 pairs of warm socks (most wool), as well as a new hiking pack (an Osprey, i almost can't believe i actully own one! **thank you brother of mine!!!
i'm fairly certain i've packed far too much, packing warm just seems to take up lots of space, and based on the airlines, i'm still not sure if i can get all my luggage all the way to Bodø. Apparently the rules differ for flying about Europe and for flying internationally. Yet more i have learned!
Mom, my sister, and Megan dropped me off at the airport and i began a 21 hour journey to the Mediterranean. Two notes: running through O'Hare can get stressful and Frankfurt is huge! Allow time...
En and her family picked me up in the 60˚ (Farenheit...i am only getting used to this whole Celcius thing) Maltese weather, and i proceeded to stare at the palm trees, pretty churches, and ground terraced with picturesque stone walls. It was 1PM in Malta and 6AM at home by the time i landed.
En's family has been so gracious and lovely. En and her boyfriend Neal have dashed me all over the island too. i've seen so much and pictures will go up soon after this post, and on facebook too i suppose. The night of the day i got in was finished with a gorgeous sunset along the cliffs on Malta's west coast.
New Year's Eve was spent at a party in an honest-to-goodness fort from 1657, the kind that dots Malta's coast. This Nebraska girl wore a black dress and mingled in the mix of Maltese and English conversation. Though i was rather out of place among such people, i hope everyone's New Year's was just as lovely.
This has turned into a rather long post, i will have more soon. Hopefully this will be an interesting thing to read if you care to follow me from sunny Malta to a six month stint in the arctic circle in Norway.
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