Back at base

We are back at the base after an amazing five days in God's country. We took a 45 minute ferry ride over to an island called Bolga that is in the same fjord that the base is on. Bolga has a small community of farms and a school. We hiked out of town to an area right by the water that had lots of trees on it. There is a small back-county cabin there but it is far to small for all of us. We set up three lavvos (Norwegen tee-pees) for us to sleep in. Then we went on a hike through a hole in the side of the mountain and then up to the peak. It is called Bolgtinden and is 338 meters high. The views on the way up and at the top were really great. There were parts of the trail on the way up that were really steep and sometimes the wind would almost blow me over. The second night there we were given a 3 x 5 meter tarp, some rope and some matches. We set off in separate directions to be alone until 4PM the next day. It was a really cool experience and the weather was fairly good for it. Back at the main camp the leaders had to take down one of the lavvos because it was so windy. The place I picked for my little camp was fine though. I stared a small fire and after a while I went to sleep in my little tarp bivy. I explored around the next day before going back to camp the next day. The third night we were back in the lavvos. The next day we packed up and took a private boat to another island called Meløya. We hiked around through the farms and then up into the forest. About halfway up the mountain there is a huge lake and a back-country cabin called Fjellheim. We put our packs at the cabin and then continued up to the summit of Meløtinden at 582 metres. The sky was so clear and bright. I could see all of the islands all around, the YWAM base in Engavågen, the snow covered mountains and way out to sea. We sang some worship songs and prayed out over Norway. We went back down to the cabin for some great dinner and a warm night sleep in a real bed. At noon the next day (Friday) we headed back down a got the ferry back. Friday night the Northern Lights were out but I missed them. I told everyone to come find me next time they saw them. Saturday evening the most amazing sunset I have ever seen happened. I could see it out the window so I grabbed my camera and ran down to the boat dock as fast as I could. It was changing so fast I was worried that I might miss it. I spent about 15 minutes down there being awestruck by how beautiful and vivid it was. Truly an amazing experience to witness.

Week 2 of teaching

We had our second week of teaching. The subject was the Bible and our teacher was very passionate about it. It was a ton of information and I am glad this next week is an outdoor week. As part of our time here we have a schedule to read through the Bible in the nine months we are here (in chrono- logical order). Yesterday we went to Glomfjord where my team is doing a local outreach. We spent the day painting at a state church. Oil base paint = fumes = nausea = open windows = frozen hands. We are packing up for this next week. We are going island hoping in the fjord. We will be camping out and one night we have a solo on an island by ourselves. The last night is in a back country cabin. The leaves are changing on the trees and it is so pretty everywhere. Some of the staff and students went out fishing and caught enough for dinner for everyone. They prepared it Greenlandic style and it was really good. Since today is the Fall Equinox it might be a fun time to point out that since I am so far north the day is seven minutes shorter every day.

Back in school

Yesterday we finished the first week of teaching. I knew it was going to be like bible school but somehow I had not anticipated sitting at a desk taking notes for hours. That was a bit of a shocker at the beginning of the week but I got into the swing of it towards the end. We had a really great teacher from Egypt named Gawdat. It is really an amazing experience. For the week he lives here too so we have the opportunity to ask questions at meals and hang-out times. The topic was "Our Identity in Christ". It was so cool and I learned so much. Last night after the last class some of us went out for a bonfire at "The World's End". The sky was completely clear for the first time since I arrived. The stars were so clear and the Northern Lights were out. They were so beautiful and bright. Today we have rice porridge for lunch. It is a traditional Norwegian food for Saturday or Christmas time. I really like it and I can't wait until 2:00 to scarf it down.

Rain, rain, sun

After a 40 minute car trip we took a boat across a fjord. We have our backpacks loaded with our camping stuff and warm gear. A short 20 minute walk and we are at base camp. The next morning was raining off and on as we hiked up to the glacier. We put on our crampons, roped up to each other and with ice axes in hand we set out up the glacier. That was a lot of fun. I hadn't done that before and it was interesting to see how all of the equipment worked. The guy that was roped right in front of me slipped and fell off of an ice cliff right next to the route we were taking. I got to arrest his fall; he was a little shook up but unharmed. I thought it was fun and showed everyone that the equipment really did work. The glacier is so beautiful. The ice is blue and it really shows in the deep cracks and holes that you come across. The glacier is called Svartisen and is the second largest in Norway. We went back down to base camp for a dinner and a soggy night. The next day we were supposed to hike up to a back country cabin that has a reputation for amazing views. The weather was just too bad though and everyone was already wet. We packed up and went back to the base and then to an indoor swim place. They had a sauna too and that felt really good. Friday we hiked to the top of the peak that was pictured in my last post. It was so beautiful. Much of the way we were hiking in alpine meadows and the tundra was so thick and soft it was like walking on pillows. The view from the top was amazing. All the islands in the fjord and the little farm houses. We want back down and had a BBQ and bonfire on the beach.

Packing Up and Setting Out

Well I have gotten here finally. If my calculations are correct my total travel time from Bakersfield to Engavågen is 57 hours. YWAM staff, in a DAF mini-bus pulling a trailer, picked four of us from the train station and then we picked up 10 more from the airport. The bus and the trailer were so full of skis, bikes, backpacks and luggage. It was a cramped 3 hour ride from the airport to the YWAM base. The road wound around all of these fjords and through many tunnels in the mountains. The longest tunnel was 4.7 miles long! The tide was going out and some of the fjords resembled fast moving rivers as the water rushed out to sea. We got to the base about 10:15 pm and ate dinner. I share a room with two guys, one from Germany (Lars) and one from southern Norway (Rune). The view from the window of our room is breathtaking and pictured in this post. Today we are packing up for a backpack trip on a nearby glacier. We are hiking up to a back country cabin.

Da Plane, Da Plane!

I am here in Oslo right now waiting for my train trip to Bodo which leaves at 11:05 pm. It has been kind of a crazy trip so far. My flight from LAX to Chicago was over an hour late because the airport didn't seem to have any plane starting trucks to spare (large jet engines on commercial airlines don't seem to have a starter on board an rely on a truck with a large air compressor). The pilot was defiantly from the east coast and was not sugar coating anything. I was concerned about my connection to Stockholm but as it turned out the flight was canceled because something got sucked into the engine and broke the fan. They managed to reroute me and I only lost half a day but had to stand in some unbelievable lines. So I made it and took a train from the airport to The Oslo central train station. Remember that it is important when using a foreign ATM to get the desmel in the correct place when doing exchange rates in you head other wise you will ask for more than the limit and think you card just won't work there. So I've put my stuff in a locker and I am going to look around a little.