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