Anya went off to school, and Oda was sick again. We hope she gets well soon, especially with a big weekend ahead (a teaser for coming blog attractions).

For Food and Health class, Anya made mashed potatoes from real potatoes. It went quite well. I like this class! Now if only she’d explore the meal making a bit more at home! She didn’t have to take the science test today. Anya isn’t graded on her work at this school, as we won’t be submitting the transcripts back to the USA. It wouldn’t be fair to her to kill her high school GPA by taking tests in a language she’s only studied for a few months. The rigor is actually easier for her here (she is advanced in math, science, English, and Spanish), except for the language issue. Because she is already ahead in her high school graduation credit requirements, we don’t need these credits. So the focus here is on the language and culture immersion. She’ll have plenty of time to get all her graduation requirements completed.

I took off on the bus to try to get to this place in Stavanger where the website map directed me to get tickets for the train in Stockholm. Wild goose chase! Nothing but a closed up old building. Ugh. (Smeaheia! See Aug 27 blog. So, I went–for the first time–to the Stavanger tourist information office and even asked there, but they did not know.

The tourist information office is right by the cathedral and close to the harbor, so I saw my first huge cruise ship in the harbor.

I had to get groceries on the way home as tomorrow is May 1, a bank holiday, so everything is closed. School is closed. Grocery stores are closed. Time to make sure we have groceries. I was in and out in 30 minutes to catch the #9 bus home. (It feels good to have the bus system figured out for most of what we do–except an occasional Smeaheia detour! See Apr 27.)

I read on the bus, so it wasn’t a total loss of time. I worked with some revisions of earlier work and a few related emails.

I caught Knut in the Rome airport on the way back from their staff retreat. He’ll be stopping of in Amsterdam for a retirement celebration of Hans de Wit. It was his research project, Through the Eyes of Another, that introduced me to intercultural hermeneutics. I met him once in Baltimore. He contributed a lot and shaped my life journey.

I’m not going to bore you with details on the theological topics of the day (Maasai curses, Maasai reconciliation, Exodus 20), so I thought you might like to see where we live. I took some pictures and will share them with you over the next few weeks on the slow days. The first is what Anya calls “an indoor gazebo,” which is an alcove with a wonderful reading chair.

I tried to do some reading here once, as it was so inviting when the sun was shining in. However, it is not very efficient for me. I need a desk to be productive. I have enough time on the bus for reading without writing, so I don’t have much opportunity to hang out here.

With blessings,

Beth

This is my view at breakfast time.

My neighbor’s have a beautiful lawn with gorgeous flowers. Here’s another view.

I’m wondering if I enjoy these flowers more than they do, as the top picture is right out the kitchen table window. (They look really cold right now!)

Off to school today for both Anya and me. I went to the library to pass on some clothes to one of the Ethiopian women colleagues, and I was doing some library work when Zephania walked in. After the Tanzanian litany of greetings, he told me that Hoyce was sick–our other colleague in the Maasai research group. They both thought she had Malaria. They’ve experienced it both and know the symptoms. It would be a bit of a long incubation period, but according to the CDC, it could be up to 30 days. With Hoyce probably having built up some immunity, that is possible. I relayed that I had dawa (medicine) at home for malaria. Elenn brought some from Pakistan, knowing that I was going to Tanzania after Norway. So, I called Anya and asked if she’d be willing to bring it to MHS after her school got out. She was game, so she brought the meds (stopping by to buy a pizza).

Hoyce did go to the doctor, so she has had medical care. But Norwegian docs aren’t very familiar with malaria. Just in case, Hoyce has meds now and the ibuprophen that I had in my backpack.

I was invited to lunch with Marta just across the large green lawn at the Norwegian Mission Society headquarters. We chatted with some coworkers over salad, sandwiches, and some quiche. One guy has a good friend from a Norwegian Bible college days who lives in Lynnwood. It was nice to see Marta, but always too short.

On the bus ride home, Anya told me about her conversation with three of her classmates. Oda was sick today, which is unfortunate, but it meant that these three saw Anya alone and talked with her. Just as we suspected, they relayed that they are self-conscious about not speaking English well. Anya was affirming of their English, which is quite good. She was glad to make some new connections. These three relayed that when they heard an American was coming, they imagined what she’d be like. But Anya ended up to be very similar to the Norwegian. Anya said, “I feel like a disappointment!”

I tried to buy Abba museum and train tickets from Stockholm to Uppsala online today. What a HUGE frustration. I tried several times with three different credit cards (each one has a different purpose–all are paid off each month). None of the cards would go through. I saw online that others had problems too. There is no email address to contact them, but I could do it on Facebook (and announce to the world that I’m not at home–no thank you!).

I see that there is one office in Stavanger that will sell the train tickets, and the train company handles the Abba museum tickets. So, I’m trying to decide if I take 2+ hours tomorrow to go to Stavanger by bus to buy at least the train tickets. Ugh. We have so little time in Stockholm, so it may be best to not have to waste time getting tickets, so we can make the most of our time in the city.

So, who is reading the blog? I don’t know names, but here are the locations of the top readers. I know of some who make comments or email me directly. I know that the grandparents are regulars (Cupertino and Duluth). They are the main reason that I started the blog, so they could keep connected with Anya’s and my life here.

So, I’m totally curious about you readers from Samara Oblast, a region in Russia north of the Caspian Sea and Kazakhstan, and Izhevesk, which is a little north east of Samara Oblast. I hope you’re enjoying this blog.

I think the (not set) are friends viewing through a virtual server or something to view this safely. They are in a place that monitors the activities on the Internet.

Countries/Sessions

• (not set), (not set) 165
• Bellevue, Washington 155
• Samara, Samara Oblast 73
• Sandnes, Rogaland 58
• Izhevsk, Udmurt Republic 46
• Seattle, Washington 44
• Cupertino, California 37
• Duluth, Minnesota 30
• Santa Rosa, California 17
• Camano Island, Washington 15

The number of sessions over the past 90 days looks like this. From a low of 1 to a high of 68 in a day.

Thanks for checking in.

With blessings,

Beth

I’m plodding along on my paper. I was the tortoise today, keeping on keeping on, but not covering a lot of ground. I did realize that I have some appendices that I will add, which will take up some word count. (Yipee!) These are documents related to the qualitative research to demonstrate that I followed the proper protocols for research with humans.

There is one interpretive issue that was resolved today. I thought I was going to be a little stuck through my own confusion. Then I realized that I wasn’t as confused as I thought I was, and I learned something in the process.

I do have moments of overwhelmedness. I try to switch to another task that I can work on and come back when I’m not so overwhelmed. I just have to keep saying, “I think I can.” And I’m glad that so many are praying and encouraging me.

I thought you might like to see that Knut’s Maasai research project was featured in this month’s newsletter.

Here’s the blurb about me.

So, I got some ink too!

My major accomplishment for the day was doing a braid in Anya’s hair. She had to walk me through the steps too many times, but eventually I got it. What do you think!?!

With blessings,

Beth

The day’s weather started sunny and ended sunny, with rain and overcast mid-day. Fortunately, I hopped on the bus in the sun and avoided the rain in the afternoon.

I took the 3 bus so I could walk down hill instead of uphill. Then I walked around the lake in the Stavanger Sentrum (central area, no Cs in Norsk) and took a selfie for you all by the Cathedral. I’m focusing on not getting the construction scaffolding, so my concentration seems to have prevented a smile.

At MHS today, there was chapel with Holy Communion, where Marta came and sat by me. She brings joy. Marta (the American MK, former missionary to Madagascar, married a Norwegian) works for the Norwegian Mission Society (NMS), which technically owns MHS, my school. But in this former state church and socialized country there are so many affiliations that would never work in the USA. So, the MHS building is across a green lawn from MHS, and many of the staff comes for chapel on Mondays. Did I tell you that we discovered that Marta’s parents and my parents went to Augsburg College together and have kept in touch with Christmas letters all these years! Small world.

After chapel, the staff meets for lunch and the rector will give some announcements or perhaps introduce special guests. The announcements are in Norsk, the introductions are often in English, as the guests are typically foreigners. In the announcements, I think I understood that the Nepali students at MHS had all be able to contact their families and so far all the immediate family members are OK. Here’s a photo the gathering of staff. Tomorrow most of them will be gone, as the staff retreat is in Rome. Yes! Rome, Italy!

The other small world connection today is that Knut presented a paper last Friday in Sweden where my friend, Lena, was the key-note speaker. Knut passed on the Moomin reflector (See Apr 21 post), and it accomplished the goal of a laugh for Lena. Lena and Knut had an opportunity to meet and talk. Lena said that she knew three women in Old Testament from Norway, and they happen to all be Knut’s advisees. Knut relayed to us three at lunch that Lena knew “three excellent scholars,” but I said that at least she knew two scholars, Tina and Marta (another Marta). Since Lena has never read my work, it would be hard to evaluate whether I was an excellent scholar.

In fact today, I am dealing with the recurrent self-doubt challenges. I had sent Knut off to Sweden with about 40 pages of my most recent writing. We went over them today, which is a necessary exercise, and I am so blessed to have Knut’s constructive comments. However, it always means more work of revision, as well as thinking through things that I’m not either understanding like I should or representing well.

The challenge right now is the method in chapter 4, which is not standard, as the standard methods “others” the other voice. The typical way is that after establishing a Western interpretation with standard Western methods, the other voice is compared and contrasted to it. Well, that is just continuing the marginalization and “othering.” (The scholarly term is alterity.) So, I’m trying to have a dialog with my Maasai informants and my interaction with the traditional Western methods for a deeper understanding of the text. But it isn’t just a textual understanding, because I also have to understand the Maasai enough, and then it is developing a methodology.

Knut was encouraging and challenging. He identified that I didn’t choose the easiest path for completing a dissertation. However, we do hope that this will contribute more than just an intercultural understanding of the text, but to begin clearing a path (a new methodology) that others can use. With the rise of world Christianity (the majority of Christians are in the Southern Hemisphere), this may be a method that will help build bridges of understanding.

I’m OK, but it was exhausting. I left drained.

I had to get a few things at the store on the way home, so I got of the bus at the mall. I did my shopping in a perfect 30 minutes, ready to hop on the bus to take me home. I really thought I got on the right bus. There are two #2 routes. UGH! Why not give them 2 different numbers!?! The bus that goes through Varatun was the one I wanted. I ended up on the bus through Smeaheia, which takes me to downtown Sandes. (Smeaheia is now Anya’s and my word of frustration, instead of “shoot” or “fiddlesticks” we say “Smeaheia.”)

While I was waiting for a bus to bring me back up the hill closer to home, a group of about six young women around Anya’s age approached. I wish I had my phone out and got them in a clump, as they all looked alike. Here are two as they had to switch to single file to get past people on the sidewalk.

Each one had skinny blue jeans, white shoes, (Converse is way cool), and stylish parkas with big fur hoods. Each young woman had long, blonde hair, mostly down, but some in a bun. Anya has commented how homogenously everyone dresses. Here’s proof!

We made homemade pizza for dinner. I did a bit more weeding while the ground was soft from the afternoon rain, but the sun had returned. It was still a bit cold on the hands, but there are now fewer weeds around!

With blessings,

Beth

Last night, after I posted my blog post, Anya Skyped with some friends in the USA. They had a sleepover, so several were together. It is great to see Anya animated and so excited. This is wonderful to keep in touch. They even played a game over Skype with an iPhone app.

This morning, Joseph picked us up for church. Melanie had to work, but Joseph was in town having arrived from England. Then he picked up Patrick on the way to church. Joseph has a gift of hospitality in things like rides, and when he wasn’t traveling so much, helping missionaries with practical matters, like getting car parts.

After worship, there was a potluck, where I brought my cookies (no fuss with heating things up). We had made a connection with an Ethiopian deaf man and we were friendly, but we were limited in communication. He did some typing on a cell phone to give some basics.

I had a nice chat with Marta. She has a gift of hospitality as well. She is also a great cultural translator for us, as she has made the adjustment to living in Norway. She told us that on Friday, 1 May, it is a holiday (stores are closed), and there will be a parade of thousands of motorcycles. Her husband, Kjell, is getting his put together after some repairs to join in part of the ride. Their relationship started on a motorcycle as Marta needed a ride to the village where her parents were in Madagascar. They be in the parade!

On the ride home, we got talking with Patrick about the recent elections in Nigeria, his home country. We are all grateful for a peaceful election and a real sign of democracy in this complex nation. Pray for Nigeria and the return of the 200 school girls as it has been one long year.

Then we talked about the political situation in Zimbabwe, Joseph’s country of birth. While I had a basic grasp of the history and situation, I learned much about the ongoing dynamics. In the not too distant future, Mugabe will die he is 91). It doesn’t sound like there will be a good transition then, as those in the next level of power will seek more power. What a loss for a country that used to flourish.

So, I think I did a reasonable job of relaying that not all Americans are poorly informed in global issues. Then, I was able to deepen my understanding. Anya also got a tutorial on politics for two countries in Africa.

Today, I’m also praying for Nepal. I visited Nepal in 1992, flying into Kathmandu and taking the bus to Pokhara. The epicenter is between these two cities. I’m relieved to hear that those I pray for in Kathmandu who work with the rescue of girls from human trafficking and the girls are all safe.

I was pleased to read of Norway, this tiny county of 5.1 million people, donating US$ 3.8 million to Nepal. (There is also a commitment from Norway’s leaders to welcome 10,000 Syrian refugees.)

My photos of the day (for Kathi) are not related, unless I can make some cognitive leap to Norwegian hospitality and welcoming outsiders (me and Anya). Here’s a glimpse of our back yard this afternoon as the sun was heading over the western hill. (Look no dandelions!)

In the middle of the patch of grass is what I believe is a magnolia tree with big buds.

I’ll have to share photos of them as they bloom.

With blessings–and prayers for Nepal,

Beth

It was rainy all day, but we needed groceries for the weekend. So, I put on the rain gear and walked to the store. The closest one has enough, but it doesn’t have the more affordable cheddar cheese and refried beans. I did venture out and bought a chunk of beef for the snappy beef barbecue I make (Montana rancher/farmer recipe). It wasn’t the most expensive cut, so I figured it was a roast. I put in the Norsk words from the package into my iPhone translate app and got “fierce cattle.” I’m speculating free range or something. Any suggestions? The barbecue beef turned out fine, better than my dinner rolls. I usually make bread, so I had an experience in learning how to make flat rolls (not what I intended).

On my walk to the store, I walked past part of the harbor and saw this interesting contraption on a ship.

I’m assuming that there is some special function, perhaps in support of the offshore oil drilling industry, which is big here. I’ll have to ask Kjell at church tomorrow, as he knows quite a bit about the ships. Every Sunday, their family routine is to drive past the harbor in Stavanger and see which ships are in.

Anya is Skyping with friends now. This is great joy for her to connect with friends she’s known since before kindergarten (Annaliese) or kindergarten (Grace). I’m so glad for the technology which helps her connect with her friends in the USA.

Anya is also doing the laundry today. This is her chore and opportunity to earn a bit of cash, as there aren’t many other ways here. Even if she had a better grasp of the language, it would be hard to babysit as we only know one family with kids, and the grandma lives two blocks away. She has typed up some notes for me, but not lately, as she’s been working hard on her online English course to finish on time. I’m grateful that I don’t have to micromanage this. She has a plan, developed with her online teacher, and she’s working the plan. She did a bit today to finish the week’s work, and then she got her Algebra 2 set up and is working on that independently. She actually enjoys math and can guide herself through a textbook (on her Kindle) to learn it. The plan is to work on her own to learn the concepts, because the online course methods are so boring and frustrating, it would kill her love of math. Her high school adviser has approved the skipping of the second semester under these circumstances. So, going her own pace, she can be prepared for pre-calculus in the fall.

The back story is that we were trying to find an algebra 2 text book in English. We couldn’t find one at any bookstore, even at the university. My email to the international school bounced back, but I’m not sure if they would have a book to sell anyway. So, we decided to get the Algebra II for Dummies, because it is streamlined, and available on Kindle–lighter for travel to Tanzania. Then, I bought the workbook online. It was actually slightly cheaper to buy it in England with shipping to the USA than the Amazon.com price for USA. Then, on the website, I was able to buy it in US dollars, so I don’t have an international exchange transaction fee.

I have a CapitalOne card for international travel with 0% international exchange rate, but I can’t make online purchases with it unless I set up something with MasterCard, which means a Skype (unsecure?) call arranged to adjust for the time zones. The online purchases are few, so I haven’t bothered yet. If I was her 7 more days and came under a different immigration status, then I’d have online banking with my Norwegian bank.

Probably TMI, but the challenges of living in another country for a bit.

Off to more writing, and later to take a break and make cookies for the potluck at church tomorrow. Without a car and new to the place, I don’t want to mess with warming things up or figuring out another kitchen with a bunch of others also warming things up.

With blessings,

Beth

“You sound Norwegian!” was not said of me, but Oda said it to Anya today. They were working on a group project, where Anya and Oda were the only ones working seriously on it. Anya is trying to use as much Norsk as she can, and Oda has been gracious and patient with Anya’s efforts. Today, Anya said something that included the Sandness “R” sound, which is rough or aspirated, almost a gutteral. (In Hebrew, the R, resh, is often treated like a gutteral!) So, something Anya said today nailed the Sandness “R.” It is awesome to have encouraging moments as the immersion experience is lots of hard work for Anya.

I am also in the hard work of writing. I’m integrating other scholarly voices to corroborate what I’ve learned about the Ten Commandments and my awareness of all the scholarly arguments. The additional point I’m discussing is how salvation history is understood by the Maasai. God’s rescue plan started way back in the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible), and the covenant with Abraham is considered pivotal–a response to the self-inflicted depravity of Genesis 3-11. So, the blessing of the nations is fulfilled in Jesus. However, if the Maasai, like many African Christians, see a continuity with their understanding of the divine creator with Elohim (God), then how do they understand salvation history? If redemption starts with Jesus, then the Old Testament is just a book of ethics, and often represents a wrathful God punishing people who don’t follow the commandments. That’s a skewed view. I think this is why so many Christians also see–incorrectly–that the OT God is the God of wrath and the NT God is the God of love. There’s lots to disprove this, like Isaiah 5, Psalm 136, and Nehemiah 9 (just off the top of my head).

I also am writing a bit today about the law/gospel reductionism that Lutherans have tended to do. Lutherans tend to see “Torah” in the OT and translate it “law.” I am convinced that this would be better translated “instruction,” like the Jewish Publication Society translation does. Torah is used multiple times for the instruction of a loving mother! If we see it as law, then it becomes a courtroom/punishment thing. That’s not what God’s covenant is all about. The Ten Commandments and the covenant are intrinsically linked. God’s steadfast, faithful love endures forever! Period.

As you can guess, this is the elevator speech (30 second summary) for the general public. There is a ton of stuff that has to be demonstrated to undergird this.

There was a bit of an OK afternoon where I got out for a few minutes and dug out some weeds in the yard. Perhaps I was just avoiding the ton of stuff to be demonstrated, but it was good to get the dandelions out of the small patch of lawn. Yes, how strange that the weeds are so similar.

What is interesting is the tree pruning around here.

This tree across the street has been pruned, like many others around the area. I’m waiting for some signs of spring, like other signs of spring around us; daffodils, dandelions, bumble bees, and birds. But perhaps this looks a bit like my day feels–a bit awkward and not very productive–but it is alive and full of potential!

With blessings,

Beth

We left the USA 3 months ago. We’ve figured out how to do life, but I’m still working on how to do a dissertation.

I spent the day with 10 Commandments research and reading and typing up curse content in to Nota Bene software, which I use for the dissertation. I only have to enter in my bibliographic references once for the rest of my life (hopefully), and then just link them. It will automatically format the footnotes and bibliography as well. I also have note pages for many of my sources, so these notes are searchable for the rest of my life too. There are other coding functions–but no so friendly–and I won’t bore you with them.

When I’m in the writings zone, I’m using all these software functions;

 

• Nota Bene and Ibidem (bibliographic and notes) software
• Logos software (searchable Bibles and 500 other resources)
• NVivo (qualitative research transcription analysis)
• Word
• Evernote (notes)
• Internet (library, searches, online sources in full text)
• Adobe reader
• And Hebrew fonts for typing too.

Today, I learned about the Behistun Inscription, which was for cuneiform what the Rosetta Stone was for Egyptian hieroglyphs.

It is a multi-lingual inscription located on Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of Iran, near the city of Kermanshah in western Iran. It was crucial to the decipherment of cuneiform script. It is authored by Darius the Great sometime between his coronation as king of the Persian Empire in the summer of 522 BC and his death in autumn of 486 BC. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behistun_Inscription)

I had to take a walk to get groceries for tomorrow. Along the way I see lots of trampolines and orchids in the windows. Anya gets sick of me commenting on seeing another orchid. So, she gets me back by commenting on all the trampolines that she sees.

This was also my view from the grocery store–Gandsfjord.

Anya loves musicals and listens to musical music streamed via Spotify on her phone. She will often ask me, “Who sings this?” or “What musical is this from?” She is a veritable encyclopedia on musicals! So, if she asks me a musical question, I now ask her a theologian question. Yesterday, it was 20th century German theologians (Barth and Bonhoeffer). Today, the questions were African women theologians and biblical scholars (Musa Dube and Madipoane Masenya). I’ve met Madipoane. It is good to be known as Knut’s student in the African Biblical Hermeneutics conferences.

Knut was in Sweden today giving a paper. I prayed for him today. He’s working so much, and this past weekend, he and his wife took care of two of the 2.5 year old triplets–not much of a weekend. So, keep Knut in your prayers.

With blessings,

Beth

 

While I’m not a shopper, the curses are not related to shopping. I’ve been reading at home today, mostly in the book Cursed are You!: The Phenomenology of Cursing in Cuneiform and Hebrew Texts by Anne Marie Kitz.

I now have a clear distinction between a vow and an oath (the oath is a conditional curse; a vow is a negotiation with God).

Unfortunately, there are no references to generational curses or my passages that I’m working on. (The one reference was a typo, the second I found, but in 528 pages, it is an amazing amount of research).

I did take a break and go to the mall with Anya. She needed new shoelaces and wanted more yarn. We got both, and a few other things. My PJ bottoms had developed a hole, so I’ve been looking for something acceptable and affordable. I found something that was under 100 kroner (less than $13) with not too much bulk for travels to Tanzania.

Anya has been very diligent with her online English course. She does not enjoy it, so my investing in knitting yarn is to help her find a way to make the most of it.

At the yarn store, the clerk started a conversation when she heard my English. “Are you from the United States?” noting the accent. I replied with affirmation. She then asked from what part. I replied the Seattle area. Then we had a short chat about her visit to the East Coast, to New York, with her mom. I asked if she had seen any plays or musicals. She replied that no she hadn’t, but she did see a hockey game.

Now this conversation with this clerk was simple and rather delightful with her warmth and smile. But it is actually quite rare. There is only one other clerk that I’ve experienced as warm and friendly beyond the perfunctory check out, and that is the clerk at my favorite tourist shop, which I continue to visit and bring Anya or friends. It is a bit unfortunate how people seem to have become extensions of the machines they attend. So, I’m starting a little a subtle rebellion. I’m greeting the bus driver with a smile or a “Hei, hei,” and when I depart out the front door, I say, “Takk” (thanks). If (when?) I have more Norsk, I’ll be able to find other ways to seek to be a little blessing.

So, to finish this slow day, here’s the last day of our trip to Bergen.

We had a nice breakfast buffet at our hotel, which was at least twice what I expected for being a pretty basic hotel. It was very well done, and I told that to the staff. We knew the shops wouldn’t be open yet–the few tourist shops that were not closed on Maunday Thursday, so we planned to go to the Fløiban or funicular or vertical train up to the top of one of the 7 mountains surrounding the Bergen harbor.

We arrived, bought our tickets, and decided to hit Starbucks while we waited for the next train.

However, I recall that Starbucks wasn’t open yet, so we meandered up the block back to the funicular and got on. We were right that it was good to go early, as it got very busy with a load of cruise ship passengers.

The view from the top is amazing!

We visited the most amazing looking Starbucks I’ve ever been to.

Anya was thrilled to have Starbucks after 2.5 months. We also spent some time writing postcards we bought at the tourist shop on the top of the mountain.

We then shopped (or looked about–for Anya and me). This is on Anya’s wish list.

The Marius pattern is the rage right now!

We saw the old cathedral from AD 1181.

And the New Cathedral. New means AD 1633!!!

These were just the highlights of our time in Bergen. We had a nice–and safe–drive back to Stavanger with two ferry rides and the 4 or 5 tunnels that go under the water.

I was a bit anxious about driving in Norway with some very different traffic rules. I’m glad that Karen and Erin encouraged the venture. Karen was navigator and watcher of cars from the right, as most often, they have the right of way. We made it and had a grand time scratching the surface of Bergen.

If Eric was along, we would have had to to to the Hanseatic museum. The Hanseatic league was a commercial and defense confederation in the Baltic and North Seas from the 13th to 17th century. Because Bergen was one of the major centers, a lot of money was located in Bergen. My beginning theory is that is why Bergen is such a beautiful city with stunning classic architecture.

Back to reading about curses.

With blessings (not curses),

Beth

 

Today is the mid-point of our time here. It was also full of good stuff.

I went off to MHS, where the Maasai Research Group met from noon to 4:30 or so. And then I had a few minutes with Knut to go over some questions related to my dissertation and procedures here. I sent him a copy of my dissertation thus far, and noted sections to read–about 35 or 40 pages. I laid out some self-critique that I have on chapter 4, and am looking forward to his wisdom to shape it and make it stronger.

I also found out that there is a new policy for PhD projects, that there is to be a formal and public review. I’m the first (guina pig?!?) It is scheduled for June 9. Here’s how it works, from what I know. There will be two other MHS faculty who will read something I give them to critique; perhaps a chapter or even more. Then, there is a “public” session on the 9th. I will give a 10 minute introduction to my project, then each respondent has 20 minutes to critique my work, and then there is 10 minutes for public questions and comments. The purpose is to get more than just one adviser to give constructive feedback. I know who the 2 respondents will be. One is a classic OT scholar, who will probably be critiquing the non-traditional methodology. The other has done work in African biblical hermeneutics and is currently in a post-doc project which has integrated research for qualitative research. I think she will be more sympathetic to the methodology. I hope she responds first!

Anya was in a good mood. She told the story of something funny that happened today. Anya did some good artwork in a class, and it was recognized by others. Several were encouraging her. Oda told these classmates that Anya really enjoys hugs, so three went over and gave her a hug. Now, you have to know that Anya really doesn’t like hugs, especially from people she doesn’t know well. So, Oda was laughing watch Anya in her socially awkward moment. I love this sense of humor! Kudos to Oda!

My humor is not as classy. But today, I prepared an envelope for Knut to take to Sweden in a couple days to give to a friend, Lena. Knut will be presenting a paper at a conference on the prophets (the prophetic books of the Bible), and the keynote speaker, Lena, is a friend of mine. Through a mutual friend, we have been roommates at the Society of Biblical Literature conference in San Diego (twice), Chicago, and Baltimore. Lena is a Swede who teaches in Aberdeen, Scotland, (married to a German). Lena has a small stuffed animal that travels with her, the Moomin.

I once called it a hippo, and found out that that was not appreciated by Lena–in a light-hearted way–I think. It has become a bit of a joke for us now.

So, I sent Lena a—non-hippo reflector Moomin! (Shhh!)

Here in the Scandinavian countries reflectors are very prevalent for pedestrians. There is so much darkness during the winter that reflectors are seen on backpacks, purses, dangling from coats, and very often as slap bracelets on a coat sleeve.

In Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, pedestrians are required by law to wear safety reflectors when it is dark. So, now Lena will have a Moomin reflector.

So, give someone a hug or a reflector!

With blessings,

Beth