Another week in Oslo. May 4-10

Monday:
Train back to Oslo from Bergen - very melancholy morning, on account of the departure. We tried to play Carcassonne on the train seat-back tray, and that was pretty entertaining. Gave up halfway through. EM treated me to a Vestlands lefse in the cafe, where there were large windows for watching the countryside rush by. It was sunny (had been cloudy on the way to Bergen).
When we returned, EM had a work meeting so we went by the office for a while. I don't remember what kept us up late when we got home, but something certainly did, and I was exhausted.

Tuesday:
On my own for the day. Ferry to Bygdoy for a nice walk around and to see the Norwegian Folk Museum. There are indoor exhibits (which included one devoted to folk costumery, yay!, and one about the 1980's... which is very popular these days in European fashion) and a feature on the Sami (indigenous Norwegians). Most of the museum is a collection of buildings, however, from various regions and time periods. It was a sunny day and I really enjoyed it. All those big old wooden structures smell so lovely. There were plenty of little gardens and nooks in which to hide away and contemplate the birds and eccentric architecture.
Wandered, saw the big expensive mansions of Bygdoy (a sort of peninsula of Oslo, wealthy, ambassadorial residences and all, more on that later), wasted time in the sunshine in a coastal park and ferried back to town to meet EM at the old dome church, hummus wrap on the way home... Stayed up late again; watching Juno.

Wednesday:
I stayed in for the morning and worked on a cover letter to Marin Organic. (They have an apprenticeship program which excites me to no end and I am giddy with a crush on the idea of working with them... but that is a whole other essay. One that goes into an ambiguous speculation about 'home' and my contradictory desires to put down roots and remain a tumbleweed.)
I went out in the afternoon just to walk and be outside and must have looked like distressed prey - single female traveler sitting and thinking on a very public park bench in town center - because this guy totally came around to hit on me. Maybe he was from Belize, but no thanks, anyway. Not all such experiences are quite so close to the edge of lecherous and unpleasant, but then some are. I made my way to a chai and brownie at a great little cafe that EM pointed out previously. Back home to meet EM after a long day (she volunteers at the teen Refugee Center on Wednesdays after work). We stayed up late having chocolate and beer, which was altogether a mistake... because dinner had been the chai and brownie. Ah, someday I may cease doing these things to myself... may. It was a cozy eve at home together. I am loving this.

Thursday:
EM had the day off. We had a lazy morning... me online (where I found out there is a tango festival in Edingurgh in late May and decided to go, feeling a little impetuous, but only a little. The flight is 2 Euro roundtrip and I just couldn't help myself). Then a walk to the Botanical Garden, which was not a disappointment :)

Afternoon dear Haleh, I finally up and went for a jog. Felt so good!
EM's friend Jeni came for dinner; I made Lentil rice ambrosia and EM made lefse from scratch. YUM. We watched a totally bizarre film called Bagdad Cafe and late to bed again.

Friday:
Oh boy did I sleep in... until 11! More work on the app to Marin Organic and a good bit of thinking about a Ph.D. program at the Bren School of Envtl. Science and Mgmt. at UCSB. Indeed. And then...
Cinco de Mayo party and drinks at the American Embassy.
Jeni works for the Canadian Embassy here and those Canadians apparently had a standing invitation to a Friday happy hour event at the American Embassy. It's only open to external visitors once a month, lucky us it was this week. She got us on the list and we went along for beers and strawberry margaritas and tequila shots... a bit late for Cinco de Mayo, but I was glad to get the celebration in. Talked with a whole pile of interesting people, and then the whole crowd had to be run out of the place. Went next to a little bar with a window seat and from there, 10:30 pm but still light out, to Nomaden, a nightclub/bar where we were the first on the dance floor and that was how we liked it. Home and EM made delicious fried potato-onion-cheesy love and I typed while half-watching the Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood.

Saturday:
Had a walk with EM to a new part of the neighborhood and went jogging (again!) from there. Quick change and met her at the trolley to go to a choral concert featuring a friend of her's from work. It was billed as an A Capella exploration of the history of pop music... but it turned out to be a simple, well-performed random selection of various-genre. I guess they would all be technically classified as pop. But now I am nitpicking. It was good! And we had a good walk, and EM took me to have Kokosboller, which are a Norwegian specialty, funny little meringues with a thin coating of chocolate and coconut flakes. It was fun to share and we deserved it after our walk in the rain that snuck up in the afternoon. Roundabout bus home for a siesta. We missed cheering Jeni on in the relay race she was running with a team from the Embassy, some big fundraiser event, but she still invited us to the after-race celebration...

Dinner at the residence of the Canadian ambassador. Lovely, relaxed, delicious. EM was not feeling well after the previous night so she stayed in to rest. The weather almost kept me home, but at the last minute cleared and I went, and glad I did - such a pleasant evening! Met and chatted with some really good people and around dark we went out into town together and chilled at an outdoor bar that reminded me of something from Miami. Despite the cold, it was lively, and eventually we got to dancing. We made to leave several times, but then another good dance song came on and we just moved to different parts of the patio... eventually we left the area of the bar and danced in a little gazebo in the town square next to the bar. That Jeni, she's a good influence... I had told EM I would be home around 10:30 and think I finally made it around 2:30. It was good company and good conversation and good times all around. And Jeni gave me the bag she was carrying that says 'Bergen!', because I totally coveted it, and she is sweet as pie, that girl. I am so going to Montreal to visit her after she returns from the embassy job in Finland where she'll be next month... if I was lacking inspiration about how things just seem to come together right, she brought it all back.

Sunday:
EM took me for a nice walk up into the hills and we both discovered some nice new areas. And a big old ridiculous American-style car show. Go figure. It is pleasant to wander the sidewalks up in the wealthy hill suburbs of Oslo. Reminded me of good times in Marin.
We made a simple veggie stew for dinner and it was so satisfying. Shared a good Norwegian beer in the garden nearing sunset. I am reading a book called "Always the Mountains" the quality of which I am still undecided about... but it feels good to have a book in hand and a friend in the garden :)