Home Sweet Home…

I am back in my hometown Stavanger, Norway where I am spending every minute with my family and friends, enjoying the beautiful nature and simply loving life ;) It feels good to be back in Norway for a little while. Living abroad is exciting and fun, but can also be challenging at times due to the fact that so many of your loved ones are so far away…but as I will be in the Netherlands soon it’s only a short flight to Stavanger which means I will be spending some of my weekends and free time there! Here are some pictures of my time at home so far :)

View from our house:

Visits to my grandmother:

 

       My sister and cousin :) 

 

Norwegian waffles with sour cream and jam mmmmm…..

   

Lunch at my cousin’s first home which he just bought:

        

Beach walk:

 

Downtown Stavanger:

   

Market:

The Harbour:

Have a great weekend everyone!

Back in Business ;)

It’s been about eight months since I had my last blog post; on my way from leaving Uganda after I had spent three wonderful months there. Soon I will be starting a new adventure so I thought it would be nice to bring my blog back to life so that my family and friends can follow me ;) After my return to Europe for Christmas 2010 I went back to Canada to work. I was so lucky to get a job at the International Centre at Dalhousie University – the same school I studied at. I worked for about five months and enjoyed every minute of it!

Some of my co-workers and I

 

 

   Ice Cream Social at work!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My colleagues surprised me with flowers on one of my last days at work :)

My co-workers were absolutely wonderful and I will miss them dearly. However, it was time for me to pursue a master degree and the decision fell on Leiden University in the Netherlands! Before my move to the land of cheese, tulips, bicycles, clogs and windmills I returned to Norway to catch up with family and friends.

More to come soon!

Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.

Tonight I’m getting on a plane bound for Norway. Firts it’s an 8 hour flight to Amsterdam and then another 2.5 hour flight home to Stavanger, Norway. There’s been quite a bit of snow in Europe, but the weather forecasts are looking good for tomorrow so I’m hoping there are no delays. My sister is not flying before Saturday so it’s just me – I hope there are some good new movies to watch!

Last night we had some lovely ladies over to say our goodbyes. We made some delicious cheese fondue and had chocolate fondue for dessert :) It was absolutely delicious! For dipping we had cauliflower, broccoli, red peppers, baguette and pineapple for the cheese, and banana, strawberries, honey cake squares and pineapple for the chocolate. You can pretty much use anything you like for dipping and it was really easy to make.

mmm cheese & chocolate fondue :)

It was sad to have to say goodbye to all the wonderful people I have met here..I have very mixed feelings about leaving Kampala…I’ve had so many great experiences and adventours, and I am so lucky to have been able to do this journey. I’m so glad to have been able to see where my sister lives and works, and who knows maybe I’ll be back to visit her again :) It’s also been quite an experience working here myself, it’s been interesting, learningful and it’s always sad to say goodbye to co-workers. There are so many things I am going to miss, but I also have many great things to look forward to and I’m ready for a new chapter.

Now, I’m first looking forward to come home to Norway to see my family and friends. Last year I had a lovely Christmas in Canada and this year I’ll be in Norway for Christmas and then in Austria for New Years - so I get to see all my family! I’m also really excited to go skiing again in Austria :) Then, in January I’m off to Canada again which I’m also really looking forward too! I’ve missed everyone in Norway, Austria and Canada and I can’t wait to see you all again!

So although I’m sad to leave and it’s always difficult to say goodbye..I have so many things to look forward to :)

  My room for the past 2 months. Almost finished packing & ready to go!

I didn’t get to post this before I left the house, all of a sudden I ran out of time! But I’m at the airport now waiting for boarding…Goodbye Kampala, I will miss you!

 

~ “Every goodbye makes the next hello closer” ~

Ndere Troupe

On sunday evening Sarah and I went to a Ugandan Cultural Celebration performance by Ndere Troupe. It is a three hour show with dances and music representing various parts of Uganda. The dancers were so great, they could really shake their body! Wish I could dance like that :) In addition, the host added some jokes and facts in between the performances. It was a really nice way to spend one of my last evenings here.

Kampala randoms :)

Here’s just a little greeting from Kampala with some pictures:

Every second thursday there’s a quiz night here at the Irish Pub (yes they have an Irish pub here!). I’ve been able to go twice since I’ve been here and it was always a good time. There’s ten rounds and whoever wins a round gets either beers or shots :) If there’s a tie then there has to be a drink off between the teams! Our team never won overall, but we did win several rounds and therefore always got some free drinks. The team who wins has to host the next quiz night, so I guess it was alright never coming in first place because then we wouldn’t have been able to participate next time haha :)

 

 

Me & Jessica at quiz night

 

 

 

As I’ve mentioned before we sometimes go to the fabric market which is in the heart of downtown Kampala. Going downtown is quite the adveture! It is chaotic, hectic, full of life, warm… There are so many people, cars and bodas everywheres. bodas are the moped taxi’s :) To get there we have to go through one area which is known as the taxi-park, or bus terminal. Here all the matatus (taxi buses) gather up and wait for passengers. However, there is not really a system to it, there’s simply matatus all over the place – I don’t understand how they even get in and out of the taxi-park, but somehow they do :) Anyways, it’s a sight worth seeing and here’s some pictures of it to really get the feel of how it looks like:

 

 

I also picked up my other sclothes at the tailor that I got made from fabric from the market. I got three skirts and one more dress :)

                 

                      

 

Right now there’s grasshopper season here. Which means crispy crunchy grasshoppers are being sold at every street corner – yummy! :) They fry them in a lot of oil and salt so they actually kind of taste like chips. I don’t have any pictures of the popular snack, but I did spot an alive one in the house so I snapped a picture of it haha. They’re huge!

The other day my sister and I went out for dinner and I ordered an ostrich burger. It came with onion, tomotaoes, cheese and pineapple and it was absolutely delicious! Who would have thought ostrich meat is good :)

Another night we were a group of girls who went out to a really nice restaurant for some Indian food.

Me, Mandana, Sarah, Jessica, Gabby & Ewa :)

 

While I’ve been here I’ve also visited the beautiful Lake Victoria which is only a short drive away.

  

 

On days off and weekends I’ve taking the advantage of the nice warm weather by often lounging at the pool and swimming :)

                   

Getting ready to jump on a boda & go to the pool :)            

Gabby is a pro at sitting side-ways :)

  Mandana & I enjoying some BBQ chicken!

Plant sale at the side of the road.

One can pretty much buy anything and everything from the side of the road here. Drive-through Kampala style :)