Amidst the packing throughout the day, we had two wonderful times of farewell with food.
Tina, my PhD student colleague, walked down the hill, and we joined her in walking to the center of Sandnes, where she treated us for lunch at the Pastabakeriet. Her family had just returned from Italy and time with her in-laws, as her husband is Italian. Unfortunately, one of her boys was sick with pneumonia for the majority of their vacation, which was a huge disappointment for him. Fortunately, he is much better and a full recovery will come. We passed on our set of Bucky Ball magnets to her boys, as they loved them when they visited us. So, they will have hours of play to come.
Tina has been such a help and an encouragement to me. Her PhD journey started a few months before mine, so I’ve been able to see how the path unfolded for her. She will probably defend her dissertation in November, so unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend and support her with my presence. I’ll do so with my prayers. She greeted us when we arrived with dinner and a couple bags of groceries to tide us over until the stores opened on Monday.
After lunch and more packing, I got a call from Marta, with an invitation to dinner later in the day with the Dahls. We took the X60 bus, which Anya has taken before, but I haven’t. She calls it “Stavanger in a Nutshell,” because you see many different views of this area: farmland with some sheep and cows, vistas with mountains, the university (where I took a philosophy of science course), the Forus petroleum business center, a shopping mall, different kinds of residential areas, and eventually the Stavanger city center (though we got off earlier).
On the walk from the bus stop to Marta’s, I collected some flower photos.
Kjell was grilling pork chops, and Marta had a great meal, including Anya’s favorite comfort food, mashed potatoes.
I thanked Marta for her gracious hospitality to me and Anya and her voice of wisdom when I was figuring out how to support Anya in the challenges of her cultural immersion in Norwegian and in her school. I told Marta that growing up in the church, I used to have a limited view of hospitality. I thought it was the relegation of women to the kitchen to serve coffee and tea–and then clean up afterwards. Later, through a friend in Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in college, I heard another definition; hospitality is giving another the freedom to be themselves in your presence. Marta, as a translator of the culture, gave this special inter-cultural freedom for me.
We bussed home and finished the day’s packing. For international travel, I am allotted 2 pieces of luggage per person. Thus, I have 4 rolling duffel bags between 48 and 49.6 pounds each, according to my travel scale. The limit is 50 pounds or 23 kilograms. As 23 kilos equals 50.71 pounds, I should be safe, even if my scale isn’t precise. We also have two tightly packed rolling carryons, two “accessory” small backpacks, and two travel pillows. I tried to get everything in bags last night to see how close I am to done. There will be some tweaking left to do, adding things and jettisoning others of less value.
I have one more day for final packing tweaks, my last trip to MHS to return my keys, and cleaning the house. Fortunately, the process in on target and we were blessed by Tina and Marta along the way.
With blessings,
Beth