A weekend in Oslo

At the slightest suggestion (and an airfare sale), I decided to jet off to Norway for a weekend to visit some friends from graduate school who have been living there for a couple of years now. After all, it is in the neighborhood.

Oslo is such a great and beautiful city, and I saw it in its finest as the city prepared for the great festivities of May 17.

However, the true highlight of the weekend was spending some time with old friends, renewing the relationship and being gently reminded why their company is so enjoyable. I was reminded of that old song from my Girl Scout days as a Brownie:

"Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other's gold."

Indeed.

For a better glimpse of my weekend, take a look at this album:

2011-05-16 Oslo

Springtime revelries

This morning I read that there is knee-deep snow back in Cowboy Country. So easily I have forgotten the mixed messages that spring brings in Wyoming and how my family often didn't plant their garden until after Father's Day in June. The news does bring my whining about the recent rains and colder weather here in Estonia to a halt, though. At least we don't have snow (and there seems to be no such extreme weather to worry about up here in the Baltics). My garden has slowly been coming to life with the bulbs I planted last fall. Here's a peek!

From 2011-05-10 Tartu backyard

From 2011-05-10 Tartu backyard

From 2011-05-10 Tartu backyard

From 2011-05-10 Tartu backyard

Two weeks in Kurdistan

You may have noted the absence of my garden and weather updates from Tartu... I've been far away, hanging out in SE Turkey for two weeks to work with group of teachers. I traveled (about 20 hours in all but still in the same time zone, strangely) way down south to Diyarbakir and learned an immense amount about local culture, cuisine (delectable), and education (theirs and mine!) -- and I shared a few great moments and made some new friends along the way.

The biggest cultural highlight of my visit was a visit to a mansion where Atatürk once stayed. My hosts and I spent the evening listening to music, drinking tea, singing, clapping, and dancing. Take a look for yourself!



To get a sense of my visit and of Diyarbakir, check out the following album (there are subtitles embedded explaining the who, what, why, and when).