Sunday morning started with a cup of tea and writing some personal emails as the sun shone over the hills on the other side of the fjord. Then we took the bus to church, while Anya gave me the update on her time with her school friend watching the Eurovision competition. This is a big thing in Europe. Here’s the Wikipedia description:
Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and radio and then casts votes for the other countries’ songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. The contest has been broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1956 and is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world. It is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world… (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest)
Anya said that she got her friends to laugh, as she in jest asked if the Vatican City submits and entry. The others thought it was hilarious thinking about the pope or the cardinals singing! Who knows, Pope Francis is great at connecting with the people!
It really is a joy to worship in an international church with so many countries represented. There was an African girl–about 4-years-old–who was moving to the music so freely with hand motions that looked like they came from an African choir, like I see in Tanzania.
After the worship, we had tea with one of the few Americans, who is helping me learn practical ways to support Anya in her language immersion experiences. Marta is from the US, but live part of her childhood in Madagascar, returned after college as a missionary, and fell in love and married a Norwegian agricultural specialist. Now they live in Norway. They were gracious to offer a ride home, driving past the ships in the Stavanger harbor and then down the fjord to Sandnes. What a blessed koinonia connection.
Anya and I went out for lunch. We learned that the “lunch menu” at the steak house is not available on Sunday, so we had a dinner that was about double what we experienced on the lunch menu, and we actually liked our lunch menu options better. I guess we are not very fancy people.
It was a nice day to get out and walk, so I sometimes feel silly taking a Sunday afternoon nap, but after staying up late to walk up and get Anya and walk her home, it was good to get a nap.
The rest of the day was some planning for travels and visits. My niece and colleague are coming in a couple weeks, so we’re getting our heads around a visit. It will be Holy Week, so there are some holidays from school. Some things will be closed for the holidays and some tourist things will just start up again. Fortunately, there are some good tourist brochures, websites, and information offices, but it is humbling hosting people when I barely know the options and don’t have a car.
I’ve thought of renting a car if needed, so I spent a bit of time of my Sabbath looking at Norwegian traffic rules. Do you know that almost every intersection that isn’t a round-about is an uncontrolled intersection where a car coming from the right has priority (unless marked otherwise)! It seems weird that what feels like a more major thoroughfare does not have the right of way but has to stop to let the car from the right enter. In addition, drivers are almost militant in stopping for pedestrians! So, drivers have to be very attentive. Finally, Norway has a very strict alcohol with a 0.02% limit. The guideline is not to drink even a sip and drive–or not to drive for 12 hours having a drink! The road signs are very different too.
Check out the wikipedia page! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_in_Norway
With blessings,
Beth