Changes in Latitudes

It has been a while since I wrote, so I thought I would just put up a little weather update. Weather is a major conversation topic in Norway. Spring has finally arrived to Bergen! The forecast shows sunshine for all next week (but this can't really be trusted so many days before). Yesterday (Saturday), Marius and I spent the day downtown to see what was going on. There was a marathon, a farmers market (kinda), and all the shops were having sales. At the farmers market we sampled all that we could and decided to treat ourselves to some fancy feta. Today we will take a hike since there are clear blue skies. In thesis news - my supervisors are going to extend my time on the survey cruise by an additional 6 days. I will start out on one boat with one supervisor, and then half way through, there is an inter-calibration day where all of the vessels meet in the middle of the ocean and calibrate their gear. They will lower me down on a small boat from one ship and put me on the other f...

 [Not as much sun here as in Tylldalen, but the sun came out when we went skiing]  [Walking with Grandma today down the ski track to a spot to set up a fire]  [Uno is showing me some tricks since he saw I had treats]  [Nice evening walk with Uno]  [Big Easter moon - we got lost on the walk home]  [Best day at Synnfjell]  [Katrine is trying some tricks down the long hill] [Dinner with a fire - made the cabin sooo incredibly hot!]

Photos from our day trip to the town of Røros - formerly a copper mining town for 300 years that went bankrupt in 1977. Now the town mainly relies on tourism.  [The buildings along this river previously had waterwheels for processing smelt. Historically, there were only two main streets through the town, and are still the main streets today]  [Beautiful church built with the town in the 1700s - the landmark of Røros]  [Standing on top of the slag - cold and windy]

 [Marius and the Tynset Troll]  [Skiing to "the Hole" with Tronfjell behind us - Marius' father (Tron) was named after this mountain]  [Nice tracks around the valley]  [Beautiful weather for skiing while we were in Tylldalen]  [No lunch in "the Hole" today - my bum was happy that I wouldn't be falling this day]  [The poster lunch for Norwegian skiing trips - oranges, Kvikk Lunsj (like kit-kat), and hot toddy] [The trails started to get rotten and exposed the bare ground]

Synnfjell lacked a bit of snow, but we managed to have two nice ski trips and a walk into the woods to build a fire and cook some hot dogs with Grandma this time. I didn't fall once the last two trips since they were on groomed trails - not "off pist" as Marius says (pist = trail in Norwegian...but maybe it could also translate to pissed - as in a pissed off Justine from falling). I missed coloring eggs this year, but when we got to the cabin at Synnfjell, Rigmor had hid big hollow eggs full of candy in our beds and we had so much chocolate the whole time we were there. I'm pretty sure I have gained 2kgs over this vacation, but I had a great time. It was nice to spend Easter with family. We played a card game called "bondebridge" almost every night and the last night I set the new record! Marius was not too happy about that, but all in good fun. We also sat down and planned Mom and Dad's visit in August, and it's coming along nicely! We are VERY ex...

Norwegians don't go to warm tropical places for the Easter holiday, no, they instead search for more snow! Last Friday I flew to Oslo and Marius drove us north to his grandmother's house in Tylldalen (near Tynset). We skiied all but one day, when we took the opportunity to drive more north to Røros (a World Herritage site). The skiing conditions were great on the groomed tracks, but that's not enough fun for the Engebrethsen family. We went off-road up over a mountain and then down into a gully where we made hot dogs over the fire. Was a really cozy experience apart from all the bruises on my butt as a result from not much downhill training in flat Michigan. I got a little grumpy, but who wouldn't ;) Once we got down to "the hole" (as they called it), and I had some warm food I was happy.  Everyday we have been overeating for sure! Grandma Oddny (Engebrethsen) made delicious cakes, jam, and dinners! I swear we eat 5 times a day here. One night we drove...