The World is Not Enough

Light and Darkness II

2008-04-28T03:34:00.000-07:00

Since the Spring Equinox (one of two days during the year when day and night are of equal length everywhere on earth) was on March 20th and it is now at end of April, our days are getting ridiculously long. Sunrise is at 4:15am and sunset is at 9:50pm (and the days get longer 8 minutes every day, almost an hour a week). Since the sun does not go straight toward the horizon, it is light way before and after sunrise and sunset. I was out at the hot tub two nights ago at 1am and there was still light in the western sky from the sun and the stars were just starting to show. Needless to say the opportunities for seeing northern lights are waning fast. It is so much easier to get out of bed now (and harder to get back in) now that the days are so gloriously long. There are some people here that were going to bed at 8 or 9 pm that are out playing Frisbee at 11pm. The green is coming back to the trees with astounding speed and the weather is much warmer; spring is defiantly in full force.

"World's End" 9:50pm

Snow Caving

2008-04-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

The outdoor trip for this week was cross country skiing and snow caving.

We drove about an hour from the base and then turned off onto a road that was built to serve hydroelectric needs. While it is ok to drive there, the road is not maintained. There are two fairly long tunnels that we drove through and several sections that had skating quality ice inside. I was in the VW Caravel and we got stuck bigtime (front wheel dive and uphill are a bad combo on ice). Even though we had snow tires on we slid backwards and jackknifed our trailer (the trailer was the only thing that stopped us). We jumped out to assess the situation and couldn't even stand outside the van because it was so slippery. We made it a little farther by throwing dirt under the tires but eventually we had to put chains on. At the end of the road we skied about half a mile (with our backpacks, firewood, shovels...) to the site where we would build the caves. This was my first time on CC skis and they are defiantly nothing like downhill skis. I managed to make it without breaking anything or getting a shovel in my skull which was nice.

We were in teams of four to each dig a cave we could sleep in. After about 3 feet we hit a layer which seemed to be solid ice. Some of the teams hit the ice sooner and started over in a new area. We decided to just keep going. It was exhausting but we found a good system. We took turns digging at high intensity for 5-10 minutes. Sometime after 10:00 pm we finally arrived at something that was a little less than ideal but that the four of could sleep in. The next day we improved it by making the sleeping platforms bigger, adding storage shelves and a cooking area.

The next day we skied about 12 miles round trip out to a Sami Gamme. The Samis are the indigenous people of the north and the Gamme is a permanent tepee shaped house. It was fun but quite tiring.

Throughout the time at the caves, people kept working on the ever improving snow metropolis. There were stairs and paths connecting caves and levels, castle like walls for wind protection and a massive fire area with walls and stadium seating. It was a sight to behold (but hard to photograph because everything is white).

In the end we had a great time but were ready to return to base to sleep in our own beds.

Oslo; A city rich in history, culture and hookers

2008-03-22T05:51:00.000-07:00

For Easter break I went to Oslo. I booked a room within walking distance from the train station and spent the week seeing the sights there. There are quite a few museums and art galleries that are free and my room included breakfast, waffles in the afternoon and lots of oranges. The National Gallery has quite a few of Edvard Munch's works on display including "The Scream." They also had works by Degas, Monet, Manet, Renoir and Van Gogh. I really like impressionists I guess. I also went to see the Vigeland Sculpture Park which is very popular and really amazing. It consists of around 212 sculptures of human figures depicted in various stages of life carved from granite or cast in bronze. At the center of the park is a monolith 46 feet high comprising 121 human figures. It was carved from a single piece of granite weighing 220 tons and took three craftsmen 14 years to complete. The park is really beautiful and I would like to see it in the summer when the fountains are flowing and all is green. On my first night there I walked over to one of the main shopping streets in search of dinner. I ended up at a Mac Donald's where I paid $16 for a combo meal (Oslo is not cheap). I was really surprised how many of the golden arches there were in the city; I feel kind of bad that my country was responsible for unleashing such an unnecessary plague upon the world. After finishing my uber-processed meal I walked down the street toward the Royal Palace. Most of the shops were closed but window shopping is fun and the architecture is amazing (plus I didn't really have anything better to do). On my way back I was stopped by a woman who, in my naivety, I thought wanted directions. It quickly became clear that she knew exactly where she wanted to go. I told her I wasn't interested and walked away shaking my head in disbelief and mumbling to myself. By the time the fifth one approached me I was really annoyed. I firmly explained that she was the fifth one to corner me in the span of one block and that I didn't want any. She instantly got uppity and said she didn't speak English anyway. I wanted to point out that she was speaking English but I wanted to get out of there more. It turns out that what they do is not against the law. There has been talk of making a law but the Scandinavian people are very much about taking care of others and they might not be cared for as far as health care and other benefits. To that end they are talking of making it illegal to buy but not sell. With that said I never felt like I was in danger walking around the city (even at night) and this is a nice place that I would want to visit again.

Mush or ... something...

2008-03-02T09:56:00.000-08:00

We had a really great opportunity to go dog sledding. One of the men in the church heard that we didn't get to go dog sledding while we were in Ilulissat. He says "you haven't been to Greenland unless you have been dog sledding." So he arranged for someone to take us out. The day of the trip was absolutely perfect. No wind and absolutely crisp. It is the kind of clarity the you can only find at high altitude or in an arctic environment. Every detail of the landscape is razor sharp. As we waited for our driver some of my friends engaged in extreme disking to keep warm. This involves taking a snow saucer down a hill so steep that the slope its self is not visible until you are on the edge. You defiantly don't need a saucer but they used them. They even went off a cornice with a 15 foot drop on to a slope like that.
Our diver eventually showed up (wearing polar bear pants as all respectable drivers do) with a team of 12 dogs. They came running up with slobber-sickles hanging off their jowls super excited to be pulling a sled. Going downhill I thought we were going to overtake the dogs and going uphill the driver jumped off and the dogs chugged along. If there was a dog that was slacking the driver used his long whip to give the dog a tap on the butt. Occasionally a dog would glance back as if to ask "am I doing ok?" Sliding across the snow in near silence it seemed a very practical way to go out hunting in the old days.

Trip to Ilulissat

2008-02-25T18:07:00.000-08:00

We just got back from 10 days (11 really) at the home of the icebergs. Ilulissat is the Greenlandic name for iceberg and the town next to the most active glacier in the northern hemisphere. The icebergs are up to 50 meters high and as wide as a city block. The glacier that produces these giants is 7 km wide and advances at 40 meters per day in the summer. That turns out to be 35 cubic km each year. Because of the glacier this is a tourist town. The ice calves off into Disco Bay and floats out to the mouth of the bay where there is an underwater moraine. The very large icebergs become beached at this point as the water is only 200-300 meters deep. After a time they melt sufficiently to enter the open sea. Our first day we go on a hike to a high hill that overlooks the bay. The scenery is breathtaking. Colossal chunks of cyan colored ice gilding by at imperceptible speed.

On another day we are taken by snow scooter out to a remote cabin owned by the church we are staying at. After an hour and a half of traveling across frozen lakes, sea ice and snow we arrive at the cabin by a frozen bay. It is –12 F outside and inside the cabin. There is a kerosene fired heater that we light to start the thaw. The snow scooters leave to return tomorrow at “about the same time.” I set out with an ice-breaking pole for the nearby frozen river. I break off and bring back big chunks of ice for our water needs. The sun sets and a very bright full moon rises. One of our team has been gone for three hours so I set out with one other to find him. We find his tracks and spend the next two hours following them across the rugged moon-lit landscape. We spot his form crossing a frozen lake far below on his way back to the cabin. The night sky is incredible and as we walk back it is clear just how small we are in the wilds of Greenland. The next day the wind is strong and it is snowing. Back at the church there is a debate about weather they can make it out to the cabin. Visibility across the frozen bodies of water in such conditions is almost nil. Fortunately for us they decide to venture out to rescue us. We didn’t have enough kerosene for another day (not to mention food).

Some sort of trouble with our return flight caused us to stay another day. The airline put us up in a four star hotel that overlooks the ice fjord. It was so wonderful and surreal. I have been sharing a room since July and to have a beautiful hotel room all to myself was so strange. The food was amazing. We all reveled in the luxury of the hotel. Our hosts form church came by and had finally gotten a boat to take us out in the fjord to get up close to the icebergs. So nice. I went in the second group and it was right at sunset. So beautiful. The blue icebergs with the arctic sunset in a clear sky was so awesome. It was cold too. The small drops of sea water that splashed over the bow of the boat instantly froze on whatever they landed on. When I got back I had the best shower I have had in… a long time. Heated floor in the bathroom and shower. The shower had a huge rain making showerhead. I found that incredible too. None of the buildings in the town have pipes running to them. So a truck has to bring the water to a storage tank in each building. They must have a huge tank. We all dressed up for dinner and gazed out the windows at the last bits of sun disappearing beyond the icebergs. We enjoyed the fireplace and marveled at its existence (there are no trees here and firewood would need to be imported from a tree bearing country).

You Know it is Cold When…

2008-02-25T18:01:00.000-08:00

The moisture in your nose freezes with each breath you take in.

The snow is so cold and dry that it scrunches when you walk on it (sounds like walking on Styrofoam).

When you walk in from outside the moisture freezes onto your glasses.

The moisture from your breath freezes on your hair, hat, scarf, hood, glasses, eyelashes (can glue your eyelashes together).

The front door has ice on the inside

The indoor side of the double pane windows have ice at the bottom.

You open the door and fog rolls in across the floor and out into the sky from the top.

You check your friends for frostbite.

The moisture in your eyes starts to freeze.

A Day In The Life Of Aasiaat

2008-01-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

I am walking on snow and ice covered pathways to the hardware store. Wooden walkways and stairs connect different levels. Many people are out walking. A woman carrying groceries, an old man pulling a sled with a seal on it, a mom pushing a sled with two kids bundled up in fur. Everyone is friendly and gives some form of greeting as I pass. I get a little lost and end-up on one of the side streets. I see many dogs tied down in the snow covered areas between houses. My attention is drawn to a group of dogs that are barking and whining with incessant anticipation. A man with a sled is going around to each one putting a harness on them. I watch for a few minutes fascinated by the process. Each dog can barely stand the wait, straining at its tether. A neighbor has invited our group ice fishing; it is windy on the ice today so we layer-up. We follow him to where land meets sea and he cautions us to watch our step. The ice moves slowly up and down with the tide, which makes the ice near the shore constantly break and re-freeze. Walking out on the frozen sea is a little surreal. The white expanse stretches out before me. The top of the ice is a little slushy because the salt is being forced out of the ice sheet as it freezes. After about half a mile our guide stops and draws a circle on the ice. One of my associated is handed a pole with a sharp metal end. Ten minutes later we have a one foot diameter hole in the ice. The process is repeated three more times fifty feet apart. On my turn it seems to take forever and I am defiantly not cold for the moment. The ice is about a foot thick and looking into the hole is foreboding; staring into the inky blackness below. Fairly quickly we have three very ugly fish. In the evening we have been invited to a kaffemik (our second). It is a gathering of friends and family in a host’s home. In the past, people would socialize around everyday work; seal skinning, clothes making, … Modern living has replaced those social interactions. So people have a kaffemik to socialize. Basically, the host waits on you hand and foot feeding you as much cake, candy, coffee, tea, and whale fat as you can eat.

Sunrise

2008-01-13T13:10:00.000-08:00

Today was the first sunrise of this year (sunset was on November 28^th). Many people, especially kids, made their way to the top of the hill to greet the sun. The kids had made representations of the sun in school and brought them along.

Kalaallit Nunaat

2008-01-12T12:10:00.000-08:00

Greetings from the great white top of the world! The trip here was a little lengthy and tiring. We needed to leave the Hamar base at 3:00 AM to drive to Oslo and catch our plane to Copenhagen. We were delayed leaving Oslo because they had to de-ice the planes. Then we were delayed landing because of air traffic. This meant that we were too late to catch our flight to Greenland and spent the next 24 hours in the Copenhagen airport. The night before I didn’t sleep at all because it didn’t seem worth it to go to sleep and then get back up at three. I was fairly destroyed by the time we finally got on the plane. Four and a half hours and four time zones later we touched down in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Getting off the plane I walk down the stairs to the tarmac; it is –18°F. I can feel the hairs in my nose freezing together as I breath in. The woman in front of me is carrying a small child wearing a seal fur snowsuit. After I am in the terminal I can feel the cold in my clothes still; it is a cold that truly penetrates. We wait in the small airport for 45 minutes for our next flight. We walk outside and wait in the arctic cold while people inside are finding a seat inside the small Dash-7 airplane. The front four rows of seats are missing and there is a pile of cargo strapped to the floor. The pilot announces that there is a hydraulic leak and that we will be slightly delayed while it is repaired. One of the flight crew brings a small basket of candy to offer the passengers. The cabin slowly gets colder as we wait. After 15 minutes the pilot announces that we are ready. One at a time, the four propellers burst to life and we are on our way. The air nozzles above our heads spew forth wonderful warm air. It is noon north of the Arctic Circle and there is a beautiful glow in the southern sky. The first sunrise at our destination will be in one week but as our little plane climbs higher into the sky we get our own sunrise. The sun streaming in the windows seems blinding and amazing. Looking out of the window reveals an ice and snow landscape. Pink sunlight skips across countless ice mountains below. As we travel farther and farther north the number of peaks illuminated dwindles until they are all the same. The flight attendant offers a round of drinks and cookies then more candy. She even makes her way forward of the cargo to serve the pilots.

I have been in Aasiaat almost a week. It is a small town, on a small island, off the west coast of Greenland. The people are friendly. English is their third language so communication can be challenging. Every day we get kids visiting us; many of them don’t really have another safe place to go. The sea is fairly frozen and there are no more ships until spring; any goods that are not already here need to be flown in. There are ice crystals on everything outside. Any place inside that has an air leak will have ice all around it. All the water and sewer pipes run above ground. They are insulated and electrically heated. It is amazing to think of people living here before electricity.

Exploring

2008-01-02T09:41:00.000-08:00

I really like exploring. We went to go see an old lighthouse that is slowly being taken over by sand dunes. The door was bricked up but there was a door that led to another building that had collapsed under the weight of the encroaching sand. About a foot at the top of the door was clear and just big enough to slide in. The stairs inside were in good condition and afforded safe passage all the way to the top. The sun was setting and it was so beautiful to see from up there. So many photographic possibilities in the waining light.

There are also many Nazi bunkers all over. Some are just part of the cityscape on the side of the road coexisting with other buildings of less sinister origin. Others are part of complex
networks on the coast. We went to one with over 60. Wartime trenches meandered to connect them. Ghostly reminders of a dark time in human history.

Traveling in Denmark

2007-12-28T08:55:00.000-08:00

On the 26th we went up to the very north tip of Denmark where the North Sea and the Baltic Sea collide. This results in very dramatic waves and currents. In the summer there is lot of people on the sand beach there (mostly Germans who don't have a beach of their own to go to). We also went to see a church built in 1787 that has been abandon because of coastal erosion. Some of the graveyard around the church has already fallen into the sea. Sometime in the next 10 years the cliff face will reach the church. The father of the family I am staying with drives for a trucking company on Saturdays. I got to go with him to take a load of frozen fish to the German border. It only takes about 5 hours to drive the length of Denmark. The truck cab was really nice and comfortable. When we got to the truck depot we had a little time so we went to a store in Germany that caters to Danes selling certain goods that are much cheaper there.

Glædelig Jul

2007-12-26T03:34:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from Denmark. Denmark is really amazing. I really like it here. The people are friendly, honest and hardworking. Crime is low and the standard of living is high. For Christmas the festivities take place on the 24th. We decorated the tree with homemade paper ornaments, glass ornaments, gold tinsel and candles (no electric lights). Then a big dinner with potatoes, goose, bread and red cabbage. For dessert there was a lemon and cream dessert and one made with rice and cream. Kind of like rice porridge but with cream and served cold. It has a few white almonds hidden in it and if you get one of the almonds you receive a small gift. Then everyone but the father leaves the room and he lights the candles on the tree. Then everyone comes back in and sings Christmas songs while walking around the tree. Then the story of the first Christmas is read from Luke. Prayers are said and then the presents are opened. The 25th is spent with extended family. Such a unique experience to be immersed in the Christmas customs of another culture.

Light and Darkness

2007-12-13T11:45:00.000-08:00

The last time the sun was directly visible was last Monday. It barely peeked out from behind two mountains. Before I came I somehow thought that the dark time would be dark. If the sun doesn't rise it must be dark right? There is lots of light before and after the sun is in the sky. And that light is really wonderful. That great pink-red-orange light you get at sunrise and sunset even before it rises or sets. That is the light we get. It starts to get light about 8:40AM and is dark at about 3:30PM. It is like sunrise and sunset in one event that lasts much longer with lot of really beautiful light. The day is shorter and you won't get a tan but it is really something to behold.

Today was really good. It is Saint Lucia's day. This means that at 6:30AM each of us were awakened to angels singing and offering us fresh baked Lucia buns. Eight Scandinavian women and girls wearing white and holding candles comprised the angelic procession. A complete surprise and a nice way to wake up. One of the girls represented Lucia with a crown of candles on her head and a tray filled with buns in her hands. After singing the traditional song they quietly filed out leaving a lit candle. On the old calender system December 13th is the shortest day of the year and Saint Lucia visits to bring light to the darkness. Today was also nice because some friends sent a package with all sorts of great stuff in it. So nice to have people thinking of me out here.

Teaching has been amazing this week. It is building on top of last week's teacher which is great. Much of the previous teaching has been theoretical but this week is very practical. It has really gotten everyone thinking. It is basically how to discover how we can be effective for God and this world and mapping out a plan for after DTS. Very practical for all of us (and anyone that wants to impact this world). This weekend we pack up our rooms and leave for Christmas break and then outreach. It will be strange to be away from the base for 3 months but it will be good and I am excited about it. I will miss the Tibet team but the reunion will be amazing and the stories will flow. I am anxious to see what God has to show us in Greenland and for the 3 months of teaching after.

Ski

2007-12-08T09:02:00.000-08:00

We have been back from the ski trip in Sweden for a week. Skiing was "invented" here in Norway and the word ski is a Norwegian word. In English we pronounce it our own way based on its spelling. It is pronounced "she" in Norsk because the "sk" makes an "sh" sound and the "i" makes a "long e" sound. It was fun to go to Sweeden for the week. We took 2 ferries to make the drive shorter and it took about 6 hours to get to Tärnaby Sweden where the ski place is. There are places closer but they don't have enough snow yet. Traveling in the EU is very efficient and there was no border stop. The cabins we stayed in were really nice. The bathroom had a micro sauna that could hold maybe 3 people. From the toilet you could turn on the shower and the sink and put your feet in the sauna. It wasn't really cramped just efficient in a Scand- inavian way. The kitchen had a small dish washer the size of a microwave. There was a really great sauna in the main part of the hotel that had a 360° view from above the top floor. Defiantly the nicest sauna I have been in. There were 2 T-bar lifts running and it was my first time on a T-bar. I managed to only crash on the lift once when I turned to see if a recent crashee was ok. One more week of teaching and then we are off for Christmas break. Almost all of the Americans are going to Denmark for the break. After new years everyone, including all the students from the other bases in Norway, are meeting at a base near Oslo for a one week conference. Then I am off to Greenland for two and a half months of outreach. This past Monday a dead sea otter mysteriously appeared in front of the base. Since this is the outdoor DTS there was only one thing to do, skin it. That was lead by the female student from Denmark who lived in Greenland for three years and had experience with such things. She already has mittens, boots and a hat made from rabbit, dog and seal so the otter will make for something nice.

Thanksgiving?

2007-11-24T08:18:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone without any notice from this part of the world. I dare say that it would be impossible to not notice it in the states and it took a bit of concentration to remember when it was from this side of the world. Thanksgiving night we had dinner in homes. The home I went to was of a widow and she made a traditional dish from lamb ribs. Tricky for an American to get the meat off when I am not used to the European eating method where a knife and fork are used in unison. I made an effort though it was obvious that I am not proficient at it (yet). The last two weeks of teaching have had an impact on most of us. One week on spiritual warfare and one on the Holy Spirit. Lots of thoughts and information to process. It has been really cool seeing God answer prayer. The Greenland team prayed that we would be able to obtain affordable transportation. The staff had been searching for several weeks and it was really expensive. The day after we prayed, they were able to get the tickets for half price going and for free (plus taxes) coming back. This weekend we are hosting a youth camp and tomorrow we are leaving for Sweden for 2-3 days of skiing. We went to the library in Ørnes to rent skis and they let us have them for free because they weren't waxed. So cool.

A week in Træna

2007-11-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

Instead of an "outdoor week" this week we had a "mini outreach week". The 15 students were broken up into groups of 3 and assigned an outreach location. We were given a budget and we had to plan travel and what we wanted to do while we were there. I went with two female students to Træna. Træna is the second smallest Kommune (county) in Norway. It is contains over 1000 islands but only four have people living on them. It is fairly far out in the sea and we spent 3 hours on a ferry to get there. Most of the people (about 300) live on Husøy, the island we went to. Husøy has the school, church, store, bank and post office (the last three are all in one building). The primary industry is fishing. They have a processing plant there where the fish are gutted and frozen in big blocks and sent off in big ships (mostly to Russia). We stayed at the Grendahus which had an apartment downstairs and a kitchen and hall upstairs. The hall is used for meetings or movies (they showed Shrek 3 while we were there). We spent quite a bit of time with the 10-12 year olds at the school. They were getting ready for a fund raiser on Thursday night. They were making cutting boards and butter knives to sell and practicing dances to perform. It was interesting to be immersed in Norwegian small town culture. One of the days I was supervising the wood shop class (I don't think that would have happened in the US). I felt pretty good that I was doing well at dances that were being taught to fifth graders. The dance teacher was just there for the week. He travels around to different schools teaching dance when he is not digging graves. He did such a good job. We had the kids over one night for games and pizza in the hall. We went Thursday to the gym at the school to see the dances and eat dinner with everyone. We also went to the old folks home to spend some time with them. Friday night we had an overnighter in the gym with games and a movie. That was chaos. None of us were very good at controlling 30 kids that were hopped up on Christmas soda and candy. Somehow I managed to survive and I didn't even kill anyone. They have church once a month (the priest and the organist travel around to different churches) and we were lucky enough to be there on the correct Sunday. One of the old ladies said she wanted to go with us if the weather was nice and it was a really nice day Sunday. We went in the morning to get her and pushed her in her wheelchair over to to the church. The priest left on the same ferry as us so we got to talk to him some on the way back.

Rain, Wind, Sun

2007-10-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

The Monday after the outdoor trip was like a brick in the face. During weekdays at the base breakfast is at 7:30. The "early morning" + shorter days + crazy dark stormy weather meant that we were waking up in the dark now. The night we got back from the outdoor trip was windy and rainy and it just stayed that way. On Thursday we heard that it was supposed to be sunny Friday. That sparked a conversation about that last time we saw the sun. The consensuses was that it had been 10-14 days. I thought back and I had only been outside three times since we got back and it totaled less than three minutes. Thursday night the wind and rain ceased and there was a full moon in a starlit sky. It was time for a walk and even the northern lights made an appearance. The next day everyone was ecstatic to see a sunrise in the clear sky.

It was so hard for everyone to be in class with it being such a nice day. Class ended at lunch and you couldn't have kept people inside with a pack of rabid lemmings. It was like the last day of school in sixth grade. It was so nice to bask in the sun again. In Mexico and California it was so easy to take a sunny day for granted. People just deal with the weather here. When it rains in California people freak out and it is "Storm Watch" all over the news. It doesn't seem to phase people here. I met an old lady walking back from the store in the rain. The cold rainy day didn't seem to make any difference to her. She has lived here for 56 years and loves it. I was all hunkered down in my rain pants and parka and she was just wearing kind of normal clothes. Rain or shine if there is work to be done outside it gets done. Teaching last week was on relationships and next week is on Evangelism. I found out that I am on the team to Greenland. I am a little disappointed that I am not going to Tibet but there is a much better opportunity to really get to know the people in Greenland since we will be staying in the same town for almost the whole time. I am psyching myself up for eating blubber since they really love it there.
Sunrise 7:45 - Sunset 3:45

Troglodyte Adventure

2007-10-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

We are back from the caves! We had to drive about four hours to get to the area where they are. If the roads were straight it would only take an hour but since all the roads go around the fjords it takes forever. There are some nice long tunnels through the mountains so that saves some time over what it could be. We stopped at a small shopping area in Ørnes on the way there. There is only one small store in our town so we feel the need to follow our shopping instincts when we get out to a bigger town. Since the Norwegians are adamant about the benefits of wool over synthetics I picked up a set of wool tops and bottoms while we were there. So far I like them quite well. We then stopped by a cave club house so that people could rent gear if they wanted. I got some spiffy red coveralls and a helmet with light. We set up camp in a birch and pine forest nearby. I made camp with a Norsk leader and another Yank student. Two tarps, some twine and a small fire made for quite a cozy place. Eight of us went with some big candles to a shelter cave over a river for a time of reflection. It was fun tromping through the snow filled forest in the dark to get there. We set up the candles all around the cave and listened to the roar of the river. Warm dinner, worship by the fire, a good night sleep and hot porridge for breakfast. We packed up camp and headed for a cabin and more caves. The cabin is beautiful. There is a lot of Norwegian pride in building cabins. The wood work is simple, practical and beautiful. It even had electricity and a wood fired sauna with a grass roof. Water had to be brought up from the river in pails. There was a wooden yoke which made it really easy to carry two pails full of water; very practical. After getting settled at the cabin and packing a lunch we set out for the caves in a cold rain. The caves were fun if a little cold and wet. It actually felt warmer in the caves than outside but the water was cold. One of the caves required crawling in a river up to your eyes to pass through one section. There was only a few inches of airspace at the top and required tipping your nose up if you wanted to breath. I opted to go with one of the leaders to set up a rope on the exit side to help people get up the waterfall at the end. We got to that room just as the first person emerged from the crawl. The room was like a washing machine with water from three directions colliding in a turbulent vortex. One of the girls was so cold she couldn't grip the rope and had to be boosted from the bottom while we pulled her up from the top. The sound of the water was so loud that even shouting wasn't really an effective means of communicating. It was a cool experience. The sauna at the cabin was very welcome after a day of caving. The morning we left the cabin it was snowing fairly hard. Huge fluffy flakes drifting down from the sky; it was so beautiful. The road and everything else was white so the only way to tell where the road was were the black snow poles lining both sides of the road. I got to see quite a few Lemmings on this trip. I had thought that they were just a mythical character, the stuff of cliché and video games but it turns out they are real. They look somewhat like short-hair hamsters. About every four years the Lemming population explodes and there are thousands of them roaming around in herds searching for uninhabited space. They can reproduce when they are only a month old, they have six to seven in a litter and can have a litter every three to four weeks under favorable conditions. When cornered they get very nervous, vibrate and squeak.
Sunrise- 7:19AM, Sunset-4:22PM

Snø!

2007-10-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

Sunrise- 6:45AM, Sunset-5:01PM
The snow has arrived. There is about an inch on the ground by the base and the mountains opposite the fjord from us are sufficiently dusted. We put studded winter tires on the two vans since it is likely to stay cold from now on. We just finished up two weeks of teaching and we are excited for our next outing. We are going caveing and it is about a four hour drive from here. We will be camping part of the time and staying in a back country cabin the other part. We found out that the outreach locations are Tibet and Greenland. I think either would be fascinating in it's own way but I have requested to be on the team to Tibet. There is a great group of people here. For the students there are three Norwegians, one Dane, two Latvians, two Germans (one west and one east), one Australian and six Americans. For staff Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and USA are all represented. It is always fun picking up new words, foods, traditions and culture from the people here. I figured out that gas costs about $7.70 a gallon here and this is an oil rich nation. I haven't seen any Hummers or any other obscenely huge cars here. Last night we ran a hose out to the hot tub to fill it up. It was nice sitting out there looking at the stars. Normally it has a wood stove that heats it but someone broke it before we arrived. Word is that we are picking up a new one in Bodo on the way back from caveing. I am so excited for that; it will be so nice to sit out in the hot tub and watch the northern lights dance in the sky around all the stars. I do have a mail address here if anyone wants to send something warm or yummy or whatever.
Don Harvey
UiO, Nordtunveien 5
8170 Engavaagen
Norway
Our Christmas break starts on the 15th of December and everyone will be leaving the base and not returning until after outreach in mid March. For Christmas I have been invited to Denmark. I think there are about six students going. We have an Easter break the week right after that so we won't all be back here until after the 24th of March.

Back at base

2007-09-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-08T13:00:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-09-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

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.

One day left

2007-08-31T06:54:00.001-07:00

The last night in Mexico we had a nice dinner in Roserito and then we went to the beach to have a bonfire. We brought all of the prayers that teams had written down over the last 8 weeks, read each one allowed and put it in the fire. We lit off some very loud fire crackers including some huge bottle rockets with very fast fuses. Leaving the base and saying goodbye was sad. I dropped my roommate off in Encenitis and went up to a friends house in Rancho Cucamonga. Three of my friends wanted to go on one last trip with me before I left for nine months. We went out to Utah for three days of hiking and canyoneering. We had some spectacular weather at the end of the trip with pouring rain, flash flood watches and lightning crashing down. So cool. I am up in Bakersfield right now packing and visiting with my sister and parents. Tomorrow morning I get up early, drive 2 and a half hours to LAX for a 8:55AM flight that stops in Chicago, then Stockholm before reaching Oslo (16.5 hours trip time from Lax to Oslo). I have 12 hours in Oslo before an 18 hour train trip to Bodo then a 3 hour van ride to the base in Nordtun. The next morning we take off for a 5 day backpack on a nearby glacier (weather permitting). Nothing like jumping in with both feet! The currency is the Norwegian Kroner and measurements and temperature are in metric. Norway time is 9 hours ahead of Pacific time.

Week Eight In Mexico

2007-08-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

This was the last week in Mexico. The summer program is over. Seems like it all went by so fast. Time to say goodbyes and focus on the next step. I am going out to Utah canyonering with some good friends and then to Bakersfield to spend a little time with my parents and sister while I repack for Norway. I can't believe that time is already here. When I made the plans it seemed so far off and now it is 10 days away. Sometimes I am really ready and excited to go and other times I am wondering what I have gotten myself into. I know it will be ok once I get there and get settled.

Week Seven In Mexico

2007-08-16T07:13:00.000-07:00

A somewhat slow week for me. There was just one build going on this week and I was not on the build team. I was scheduled to be on Kitchen mornings and evenings but another staffer took it over for me. Running sound keeps me fairly busy as sometimes I am in the worship hall until late. On Sunday there was a bull fight in the arena by the base (the parking lot for the arena is about 15 feet from my bed). If you look on Google Earth where the US border and the beach meet you will see the arena. A group of us decided to go an experience the spectacle. It was an interesting cultural experience to say the least. One of the bulls was allowed to live because the crowed felt the bull was being treated poorly. The crowed chanted "TORO TORO" and threw their seat cushions onto the field while "boooing" the Matador. It was really hard to watch them killing the bull though. It is panic time for Norway and I am trying to wrap my mind around all of the details before I take off.

Week Six In Mexico

2007-08-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

Another build week. The house this week was on a lot up two sets of welded metal stairs. That made getting the building materials up and down a real challenge. The team (from Vancouver, WA) was up to the task though. They had a lot of energy and some construction experience. They are the team that I felt the biggest connection with this summer. They were so great. One side effect that I hadn't counted on this summer was a different set of people that come each week that I share my life story with. And every week they are so shocked that I am not married. And every week someone is trying to set me up with someone they know. I know they mean well though. For our days off we went to Santa Barbara and then Magic Mountain. Lots of driving. We got back to the base at 2AM Friday morning. Norway is coming up quick and I am starting to wonder what I have gotten myself into. I'm sure it will be fine once all the details are out of the way and I get there.

Week Five In Mexico

2007-08-01T22:48:00.000-07:00

This week was really slow. We had three teams but none of them were building. I talked to one of the teams and they said they wanted to build a house but couldn't raise the money (the cost of materials for each house is about $4800). I was on breakfast crew and running sound for meetings (as usual). The water park in San Diego was fun. It was shocking how much it cost though ($28). The water park in TJ was only $6 and you can bring your own food in. For our days off this week we drove up to Santa Barbara for the night and then we are going to six flags tomorrow. The pictures are from the TJ park.

Week Four In Mexico

2007-07-27T15:28:00.000-07:00

Another amazing week. We even got pulled over at the military check point to get the van searched for drugs. So much fun. The team was a little concerned but they quickly realized that it was OK. We even got two of the unarmed guys to pose for a picture with us. I got to work with a Native American team this week. They were so great. They practiced nailing and sawing before they came down. I have never heard of that. Even though the group was half the size of the other groups I have been building with; they finished the house in two days! They were very hard working and used to the heat (their reservation is in Arizona). I really liked getting to know them. When they first called the base to apply for building they said they really wanted to build a house but they didn't have the money. Later that same day someone called to say that they wanted to donate money to build a house and that they wanted it to be a Native American team. So cool. The family we built for was: Antionio, Sara, Jesus (15), Ailian (10), Alondra (15 Mo). Antionio makes $40 a week working in a factory. They have to pay $160 a month on the plot of land they bought. At the dedication it is usually the mom that starts crying first. This time it was Antionio. That is when everyone lost it. It was his turn to speak and he was having trouble getting his composure to speak. To have a Mexican man show that much emotion was very powerful. I'm sure it must be frustrating trying to provide for his family and to be given a house was overwhelming.

Week Three in Mexico

2007-07-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

Another busy week down. This week was slightly less crazy because there were only two builds going on instead of five like the last two weeks. This meant that we had four staff on the house I was helping on. The team was really great. They were from a church in New Jersey. They had a lot of energy and really worked hard and very well together. The family was nice. There was Miguel, his wife Maria and their three kids Ulises (8), Angela (3) and Miguel (18 Mo.). I was a little sick on Sunday so I didn't get to go to church with the team. I got to do some stuff around the base though. Although it was a little strange being here with no one else around. We got the house finished in two days so we had a dedication party on the Tuesday. This was the first house I have done, as staff, that the team purchased furnishings for the house. Table with four chairs, plates and silverware, bunk beds, a range with a propane tank, towels and throw rugs. When we went to the build site on Tuesday, we told the family that they needed to go and help pick out a pinata for the party. After they left we set up everything in the house so it would be a complete surprise. When they got back we had the dedication which the whole neighborhood turned out for. When they went into the house Maria was so overwhelmed and was sobbing for about five minutes. Lots of people were crying. It was an amazing time. We went to a water park here in TJ for our day off. It was fun but I got sunburned.

Week Two in Mexico

2007-07-12T11:56:00.000-07:00

This week was cooler fortunately. The team I was working with was almost all HS age with about 6 leaders that had some construction experience. Needless to say this week was a much easier build than last week. We finished in two days with time to dedicate on the second day. We went back there on the third day for evangelism and had about five people make a decision. The team was so funny. They had a redneck theme for their trip and had all adopted redneck names. They gave me one too; Jethro. The family we built for was Roberto and his wife Maria. They have five kids: Karla 11, Alexis 9, Janet 6, Michel 4 and Cecilia 1. They were living in a very small house with a dirt floor and scraps of wood for walls. Because the plot of land was small, that house had to be demolished to make room for the new house. As a result the kids stayed with their grandmother and the parents slept in their car for 10 days. They were so happy at the dedication.

Week One In Mexico

2007-07-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

What a busy week! Thursday is the "day off" at the base. I came down last Thursday all ready for some building. Since it was the day off they had planned a fun day in San Diego on the water. I was really chomping at the bit to get started but it was a nice day with everyone.
Friday is the day that teams arrive for the week. When they get here they have spent a week at the base in Los Angeles doing missions work and getting trained in evangelism. Saturday is the first build day. This past week we had five separate teams building houses. This made it very hectic. Last year there were 30 summer staff; this year there are 7. Understaffed. Sunday each of the teams goes to a different local church to help put on a special service for the people there. Monday and Tuesday are the second and third build days. Wednesday the teams eat breakfast and go home. Thursday the staff gets things back in order and it all starts again.
I discovered just how difficult it can be to try and keep a group of J.H. and H.S. age youth motivated to build a house in 104 degree heat. SOOO sweaty. I didn't know I could sweat so much. I went through 3 liters each build day and sweated it all. It was so worth it. My team was from a Korean church in New Jersey. We built the house for a single mom, Maritza, and her two boys Ruben (8) and Jesus (6). She makes $80 a week and has to pay $150 a month for the land. It was such a blessing to be able to give her a house. The three of them worked very hard right along side us. Maritza even made food and drinks for us. I felt bad about that since I knew it could be a financial burden on her but I also knew that it was something she wanted to do and that we just had to appreciate her hospitality. At the house dedication she and Jesus were crying and I got all choked up too. It was very emotional. I can't wait until the new teams get here; the base is too quiet. I am anxious to meet the next family that I have the privilege to help build for. Until then it is time to wash clothes and get my tools ready.

Vegas and Zion

2007-06-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a really great week. One of my best friends is a youth pastor in Santa Barbara and I had the privilege of going with him and his youth group to Las Vegas where we helped with a feed the homeless ministry and then to Zion NP for some fun and spiritual growth in God's country. For feeding the homeless, we prepared donated food and set up an area where they could eat and listen to a message about God. The 105 degree heat did not seem to matter as we worked to get ready and presented the gospel message to the 100 or so people that showed up. We had about five people that made a decision that day and our group was also very touched by the experience. We went to a local YMCA afterwards to swim and cool off. That night we went to a viewpoint above the city to pray for all of the people that have gotten deceived by the wickedness there. We left for Zion the next day. It was Sunday morning and in lieu of church we listened to a book on tape called The Martyr's Song. It was a really powerful and emotional story. It very poignantly reminds believers what is really important in this life; that this is merely a precursor to something much more wonderful. Everyone on the trip seemed to be impacted by it and I would recommend reading it. When we got to Zion I helped guide half of our group down a nearby slot-canyon. The next day we took the other half down and then all of us went to the Narrows. It was such a blessing to spend time in such a beautiful place with such great friends. God's fingerprints are defiantly all over places like Zion. It was a long drive back to Santa Barbara and one of the vans had it's alternator fail. We were able to make it almost all the way back on battery power though. It is aways hard saying goodbye at the end of a trip like this one, but this was especially difficult since I won't see most of these wonderful friends for about a year. On my three hour drive to Bakersfield I had adequate time to think about that. I thought back to The Martyr's Song. It is comforting to realize that as believers we don't have to say "goodbye" we just have to say "see you later" with the comfort that we get to spend all eternity in each other's company. For now it is time to focus on reaching out to other people. Today I reorganize and pack up for my two months in Mexico which starts tomorrow.

Time

2007-06-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

I got to spend the few days with friends. It was great. So much of our lives seem to be spent racing from one event to another. From movie to dinner to a birthday to whatever... It was refreshing to just spend time. No events or agenda but just enjoying each other's company. Today I'm up in Bakersfield tomorrow I'm off to Santa Barbara.

Day 2

2007-06-16T22:35:00.000-07:00

Well my car is completely full and I am officially homeless. The packing up went smoothly and I was able to sell almost everything I wanted to. I really thank God for that. I would start stressing-out that there would be stuff left over at the end but I just prayed about it and He really took care of it. I have had lots of questions about my itinerary. Here it is so far: June 22-26 I will be helping with a youth trip (a good friend of mine is a youth pastor); June 28 - August 24 I will be in Mexico at the YWAM base doing whatever they most need done; September 1 to May 24 I will be in Norway at the YWAM base in ENGAVÅGEN. Why Norway? To work for YWAM long-term a person has to attend one of YWAM's "Discipleship Training Schools" or DTS for short. I chose this DTS because they incorporate outdoor excursions into the teaching. What will I do after that? Whatever God wants me to.

The Beginning.

2007-06-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of work. It will be so strange to not be going in there five days a week ready to solve any problem the day might pose. Ten years is a long time and you defiantly form a bond with the people you work with. Forty hours a week is more than I see my family! It hasn't had lots of time to sink-in yet. I am still packing up and getting ready for strangers to take over my house. It won't be my house of course; they paid good money for it. But I have been here six years and I have grown attached to it. It is the place I come back to after work or a long trip. It really is sort of a cocoon from the world; a small space that is all my own. It will be interesting to see what it is like to be a nomad.