Happy Birthday, Elenn, my sister. She is the one who visited about a month ago on her way back from Pakistan.
Last night, Anya tripped when going up the stairs and bruised the ball of her foot and big toe. So this morning, we were wondering about school. I offered to piggy-back her, but really, I’m glad she didn’t take me up on it, as it is uphill for a quarter mile! I thought of a taxi, but then how would she get home, as I was at MHS until late afternoon. (Taxis here are 1 Norwegian Kroner per second or $.12 per second.) I emailed her teacher that she was home for the day.
I gave her the assignment to work on her online English course all day, which she did. She’s a bit behind with the guests here and all the sightseeing.
I went off to school and did some work on Exodus 20 (the 10 Commandments) prior to the Easter service. One of my former classmates in the philosophy of science course I took in 2012 was presiding minister. The liturgy was in Norsk, but the homily was in English. Afterwards, there was a simple but complimentary soup and bread meal for all. The women PhD biblical scholars met for a time of fellowship over lunch. I hadn’t seen Marta since Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in June 2012. She is a post-doc researcher studying the way that terminally ill people use Scripture in their lives. We mentioned that many participants were glad to live on in her research and the sense of stewardship of their voices as many have passed on.
After lunch and a bit more on Ex 20, I met with Alemu. He is from Ethiopia and doing a master’s thesis comparing the generational curse of Ex 20:5 with the clear message of corporate responsibility and the text in Ezekiel 18 which relays a more individual responsibility. We have some similar passages and have shared some insights and learned from each other. He is doing great work, integrating qualitative research including interviews with traditionalists (non-Christians), “ordinary readers” (or those who have not been formally trained in theology), and then those who have had at least a year of theological training. I was amazed at the amount of work he has been doing for a master’s thesis. He has been joining our Maasai research group conversations, because of similar methodologies, and we share the same adviser, Knut.
I saw Knut today at lunch, and we again were amazed that we saw each other on the ferry on Wednesday! I relayed that Erin was joking that he was stalking me to see if I was doing my work. He joked that this is the quality of supervision in Norway! I joked that Knut is my shepherd.
I bused home to Anya with more reading on Ex 20 (commentaries) with a back pack full of groceries I bought near campus. I realized that it is more efficient for me to buy these close to the campus and take them on the bus than to buy them closer to home and have to walk farther with them from the grocery store, as the bus only comes every 30 minutes at that time.
There were several guests around, so Anya asked if I’d get a take-away (take out) pizza from Dolly Dimples. As it is her birthday tomorrow, and a walk to town and back seemed easier than cooking around a kitchen full of people, I opted for the pizza.
After dinner were tasks (taxes, emails, scheduling for a future trip to Sweden in early May, etc. I’m ready to crash, but here are a few notes about travels last week.
After exploring Stavanger, we opted to go to Bergen for an overnight. We considered flying, bus, and ferry, but the most flexibility was renting a car. We were able to adjust things to take the bus to the airport and drive away with the car for an early–but not too early–departure the next morning.
I was the one driving!!! While Norway drives on the right side of the road like the USA, the road signs are way different. But the most dramatic issue is that unless one is on a priority road (marked by the sign below), then the right of way is to the driver on the right. It may feel like a thoroughfare, but unless you saw that sign a few kilometers back, it isn’t. You have to stop for a car approaching from the right!
The good thing is that the drivers have to be very alert all the time for any car approaching from the right, as well as pedestrians, who are so confident in the driver stopping, that they don’t look to see if a car is coming before they step into a crosswalk!
So, I was a bit nervous traveling with these new rules in a place I had never been before, including downtown in the second largest city in Norway. Fortunately, everything went well, including driving in some light snow.
The trip to Bergen takes about 5 hours, which includes 2 ferry rides across the mouth of a couple fjords. The ferry rides are great to mix up the journey and give the newbie driver in Norway a rest! The other amazing thing is the tunnels that go under some smaller fjords and bodies of water! How much rock to they have to leave above the tunnel anyway!?!
More about time in Bergen tomorrow.
With blessings,
Beth