A Travel/Life Update

I have been away from the computer for quite sometime now and it has been quite liberating. With all the traveling we have been doing I have spent much less time on the internet. Now as many of you are well aware my emailing, facebooking, skyping and of course blogging (you like that string of verbs most not even a decade old?) have all been fantastic and efficient to stay in touch with all of you. However, there is something so peaceful of ridding my lap of the heat of my macbook battery and my ears the buzz of the processor and instead taking in the beauty as I kayak down a river in the Arctic.

Our excursion week was nothing short of phenomenal. It provided a full spectrum of Norway. Rich history, ancient architecture, current political and economic struggle and the serenity of the Norwegian outdoors. Many people use the remark that Norwegians are the way they are because of the 'nature' around them and in the six days we explored the foundation of that stereotype. The country is sparsely populated. Whether by train, bus, ferry or plane each place we visited would appear out of nowhere. 3/4 of the country is inhabitable and consequently gorgeous. Maybe because it is so similar to Washington, but the woods hear have this green glow about them that is so inviting!

We made our first stop in Trondheim, the 3rd or 4th largest city in Norway at about 200,000 people. Home to the famous Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim (formally Nidaros) was the original capital of Norway when first united as a Kingdom in the 11th century. The cathedral was the main attraction in Trondheim and for many (myself included) probably the best experience of the excursion week. I'll stop here and plug my new photo album, because no amount of babbling on my end can do the breath taking architecture justice. So visit my new photo site and check out the excursion pics: http://kylemorean.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php
A few people who have visited the album already told me that the website is not that user friendly. Let me know if more of you have problems in which case I will find another provider and drop this one like its hot.

We left Trondheim by natttoget or the night train. We were one short on tickets and I received the extra hand-written train ticket...quite the souvenir! That morning we woke for more bussing and eventually got to our destination: the Sami cultural center 'Arran.' There we went on a guided tour of the premises and learned about Sami history, culture and politics. The Sami are the indigenous people of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. They are the largest indigenous group in Europe at about 90,000. Many of the political issues that exist in Norway between the state and Sami parallel those of the Native Americans and US gov.

From there we went to Hamarøy, my favorite stay on the trip. Although it literally means Hammer Island, it is neither shaped like a hammer nor an island. Nonetheless, we stayed in these fantastic barnyard red cabins along the river that follow just 5km into the Arctic. The entire next day we relaxed around Hamarøy. We made a visit to an incredible lighthouse amongst the fjords. We had crystal clear weather with a crisp chill. Our afternoon was spent down by the river either kayaking, canoeing or fishing. Following these lovely activities a few of us made the trek over from camp about 2km and climbed up a 120 ft. waterfall that we could see from our cabin windows. After our relaxing afternoon in nature, we had a group dinner of pork and potatoes and celebrated Joe's 22nd birthday.

We had purchased Joe a bottle of Southern Comfort which was shared amongst a select few, along with shots of Norwegian Vodka (Kalinka!) and of course good old shotguns of Tuborg (18 0z. of course!). Needless to say, all of this excitement prompted dancing in the rain, streaking in the arctic and staying up pretty much all of the night because our ferry left at 7 am.

Now although my trip took a turn for the worse at this point, I do not regret any part of the experience. Through the good times and the bad I learned and grew a lot. Anyhow, the ferry we took that morning was actually a catamaran that went about 40 knots. So we're takin arctic waves like it aint no thang and sure enough...me, mister car sick driving to the grocery store, gets big time sick. Luckily or unluckily my body had digested all the booze and food in my tummy so I had two rounds of the water that I had that morning. Then however, it was bile. All day long. When we got on land it is the closest I have ever come to passing out because I was vomiting so hard. I of course got that fatigued muscle feeling all over and my body temp began to spike every direction imaginable. Sparing you more vomit stories. I did not keep down my lunch...at no dinner and could keep down water until 4Am that night. I was fortunate however, that I had some great friends to take care of me and let me be when I needed it.

It was the last full day of the excursion that I was sick. So, I was there, but I was not A-vailable. All in all, I recovered after one full day of agony and kept food down the next day. Not to be outdone by the prior days events, I preceded to leave my wallet on the bus on the way to the airport. Luckily, Norway is legit and Inger made two calls and was taking directly to the bus driver on his cellphone...he made his loop through town...on a different bus mind you, and got my wallet to me! That was an incredible experience and one that I still have not begun to appreciate how awesome it was!

There were many lessons from the excursion. Number one, raise your children bilingual. Although there has been no mention of it so far, Alexandra, our teacher, brought her family with us which included her Dutch husband Peet, she is Danish and her 8 year old daughter Vigdis and 5 year old son Egil. The kids speak Danish, Dutch and Norwegian fluently and could speak about as much English as I can Norwegian. The really remarkable thing however, was their communicating with the Namibians. Because the colonial language of South Africa and Namibia is Afrikaans (practically Dutch) the kids and the Namibians could converse, and became good friends. I thought is was a rather heart warming example of benefit of sharing culture through language and how that can connect people.

Other lessons include...streak in the arctic every chance you get! (and you thought the 'fun run' was cold!) Take lots of photos. I am usually horrible, but I think I done pretty good this time. Make friends with the people you travel with, so they'll take care of you when you are sick. I was so fortunate that people were so great about helping me. Finally, share the world with others. The whole excursion would have had none of the character it had without the 22 of us traveling and experiencing it all together.

ON that note, we are off this weekend. In three hours in fact. It is 1:20 AM and our train from Hamar to Oslo leaves at 5:12. For the weekend 8 of us are going to Stockholm, Sweden to celebrate a birthday and explore. Although I would like to get some sleep it is looking less an less likely as this blog drags on and both the shower and backpack have yet to be touched. Hey, I'll sleep when I'm dead.



P.S. Today (Sept. 21 - my time) is Ingrid and my 5 year anniversary, go us! It kinda makes me feel like an old man...and mostly makes me want to tell you all how fantastic being in love is! Thanks for all your love and support in our life-shaping endeavour.