Stranded by Ashes

It has been a while since I have last blogged. I think the ashes from the Icelandic volcanoes stripped away my motivation this time around. I was prepared to fly home on March 19th, but since all of Europe's air space was completely shut down due to the volcanoes I had to reschedule my flight for 5 days later.

If it had not been for my friend Annete who let me stay at her place for he duration of my stay, I probably would have had to take out a loan as I later learned that Oslo is the 3rd most expensive city in the WORLD!

As a way to get to know Anette more, save money and live like a Norwegian I thought I would follow her during her daily routine. Due to past injury, Annete does not work, but she definitely works out! Norway has one of the best and most solid socialist system which allows all citizens (generally speaking) to have quite a nice quality of life (even those unable to work).

This was an example of a day with Anette. We walked 20 minutes to the bus stop, took a bus, walked 20 minutes to the gym, participated in a 60 minute pilates class, went on a 60 minute hike, participated in a 60 minute yoga class, walked 20 minutes back to the bus stop, took the bus, walked 20 minutes home, ate some food, Anette went for a 60 minute yoga class but I opted out of this class, we then walked 20 minutes to go to a different gym, participated in a 70 minute spin class, 10 minute break, then a 40 minute spin class, then a 20 minute uphill walk home. Phew - all in a days work. Apparently for Anette, this is the most therapeutic way of life and it helps her mind settle down where it would normally be chaotic. I am not sure if I am explaining it with justice, but I do know that yoga and these exercises brings a huge quality of life to Anette and I am so pleased her country has the resources in order to serve those who need support.

Our short 60 minute hike between pilates and yoga was one of my highlights of the trip. We walked next to this small river that was raging because of the rapid snow melt as spring was elbowing its way into Oslo.

Since everyone in Norway speaks English, I am embarrassed to admit I learned next to zero Norwegian. I did however learn many words related to exercise such as breathe in, breathe out, keep going, keep your butt up, straighten your spine etc. Moral of the story is this, next time I go to Norway and I attend a group exercise class I will be set!

I thought it would be fun also to list the Norwegian words I learned (in English of course):
- Cheers
- Butt
- Thank you
- Sorry
- Beer
- Good morning
And most importantly...."Don't pick your nose"

Each Thursday Annete visits a long term care facility and goes on a walk with one of the elderly clients who would like to go outside for some fresh air. I absolutely loved it! I loved seeing the difference between their facilities and a typical American facility. It was amazing to see how little difference I noticed by the way they clients were treated, the food, the lay out and even the same activities including BINGO of course. We went on a walk with a beautiful older woman in her late 80's. I was enthralled by her story of being married for 60 years, what it was like to live in Northern Europe during WWII. She said to me, "Make sure you do the things you want with your life, or life will just pass you up." Then she made a joke and said, now you will remember an old Norwegian woman told you that and it you will remember it someday.

It was only after we dropped her back off and left the facility that I learned that she has fairly significant Alzheimer's. Much of what she said was not accurate according to Anette, but it did not change my experience I shared with her. It brought so much joy to me and I also think she had a fine time getting outside chatting it up with two lovely women :)

I think when I travel in the future, I would like to make attempts to visit long term care facilities. Assuming some of the clients are able to speak some English, it would be a great way to hear stories of the old and new culture of the country. It is also an inexpensive form of entertainment and the clients probably also enjoy visiting. I do not know why I did not think of this earlier! Visiting with this woman was the highlight of my week!

Serendipity had a hay day for me in Oslo. If you can follow this here it goes. One of Aji's best friends grew up in Oslo. She currently lives in Scotland. She was in Oslo with her family on a short visit to her parents. She also got stuck in Oslo for some extended days, and since we did not expect to spend extra time in Oslo we had quite open schedules. We were able to meet up in the statue park and it was so amazing to meet in the flesh one of Aji's best friends (as well as her 3 beautiful children). I felt guilty and wish I could have star trekked myself out of there so that Aji could have seen her.

During this time at the park with her children, her daughter (age 7) had to go to the bathroom. Since there were no public toilets, she helped her daugther pee. God I love Europe!!!! That never would have flown in the US.

Friday finally rolled around and I was able to make my way home to Texas!