Beautiful sunny weather again. Hehehe. Only +32C. Oh my oh my. Wonderful climate. I like it. I think I must come and live in Liberia at one point of my life.

I woke up at 7am and I was alone in the house. Oh well. Maybe not alone. Mami, Papi and Federico wasn't there but the 5 workers in the garden were all there. They hammered, fixed and worked on the new room mami and papi wants. I felt like a zombie and decided to get back to bed to continue my sleeping. Next time I woke up I felt better and I peeled papaya and cantaloup melon for breakfast. I also made fresco (fresh made juice from fruitjuice, water and sugar) for the workers and made sure they had enough to drink as they had to be working outside in the sun and I was sweating inside.
I spent the day packing and arranging what to send to Norway in boxes, what to have in the suitcases and what to leave. I also went a couple of hours downtown to update my web pages, e-mail friends and chat before I went home to make cookies and dinner to mami and papi got back home.

Mami and papi was back at 4:30 and we had dinner at 5 before heading down to the park to watch - El tope de los ninos - the kids horseparade. Jorge, Roxana and Natasha picked us up and 3 of Jorges kids was in the parade on their own horses.
After the parade we went to the park in front of the post office and stayed there to wait for the kids to arrive having a few drinks while waiting. It was so much dust in the air that when I tried taking pictures with a flash it looked like it was snowing or raining because the flash reflected in the dust.
We were all tired, Mami from the long trip, Federico was sick and I did not feel too good either but we hung in there and Jorge and Roxana took us home around 10. Natasha borrowed my camera and took a lot of pictures of everyone and I even got some good shots of Roxana, Jorge and baby Luis Andres.

This morning as I looked out we had a marvelous sunshine, +33C and a mild.breeze. Some smaller clouds covering the mountains in the east but apart from that LOVELY ! Nothing like Liberia !

The day started off quite good. I tried calling Irene at Rex Cargo several times but no lifesign and cell phone was not on. I got through to San Jose office where they told me Irene was not gonna come in till late night and I got her cell phone number and left a message.
I washed all my clothes and shoes before I took off to Cibermania to check on e-mails and stayed there for a while. As I was finishing up and heading towards the park I got distracted by one of the taxis trying to get mye attention and I fell straight into the street. Haha. That must have been quite a vision for the people that saw it. It didnt hurt much at first but I got some good scratches. ouf. I headed down to Ana and Allans nail/hairdresser place and she helped me clean up the wounds. I was even bleeding from several places on the knee and my toes. Well. Those things happen sometimes. Just glad it was nothing worse than that.

I had planned to go get my ancle tatto fixed (since every color tattoo has to be redone at least once before it is perfect) but after the fall I really was in no mood to do anything like that. I stopped at Las Tinajas for a while before I went home. Of course I had the great and overpowering luck of nobody being home and I had no keys. No one answared the phone either and then I decided I was in no mood of going back to the city to find my family and I decided to contact Dona Teresa that lives next door. She is actually the one that sold us our house. She let me in and I watched the Telenovela with her and her kids (Well, not kids exactly - they were both way older than me) until Papi got home and I could go home. Papi was a bit disturbed that I got in from the inside and not from the outside but relaxed as I told him I had stayed with Dona Teresa while waiting for him.

I went to my room and I was kind of tired and upset. Too many things has happened these last weeks, or may I say months. It has been wonderful but I do notice that I get tired and there are so many amazing impressions and I seriously dont wanna go home. I miss this place already. Its gonna be strange to be all by myself again and not live with a family and be companied all the time. I was also kinda shook up by the fall I had earlier today.
As mami and the others got home they wondered why I had not come down to meet them and see the biggest horse parade of the civic parties but when I explained what had happened she understood very well.
I got a couple of fare well gifts. Some smaller stuff she had sent me with Dona Consuelo when she was in Norway last year. She did not find the stuff in her suitcase back then and finally they had all found it and I got it. I did get to bed early today after having a calming chat with Mami.

Beautiful sunny weather and +32C. Fantastic blue sky and no clouds. Mild breeze. Even I am getting jealous of these weather reports. Especially since I am just gonna have this kind of weather for another 3 days.

This morning I woke up and I felt angry. Irene from Rex Cargo was still not able to be located and I feel the urge to send my stuff. Oh well. I guess I will have to continue calling here until I woke up this morning stressed and angry and hitting the repeat button on the phone trying to call Rex Cargo to be able to find out when I can send my stuff off to Norway. I dont have many days left before I leave and I need to get this out of the world.
Federico and Yehudy wanted to go to the beach and they wanted me to go but I could not leave Liberia without having at least talked to Irene so I decided to stay home.
I got through to Irene and she promised to stop by to make an inventory list of my luggage. I spent a couple of hours packing and organizing everything that was going into handluggage/suitcase luggage/cargo luggage. With all flight regulations that one cannot have liquids in the hand luggage, not send food in the cargo etc. and planning all heavy stuff that can go in suitcases and what can go in hand luggage. I spent a couple of hours on that. hehe..
Irene didnt show up so I went downtown and as I was about to arrive to Cibermania Irene called and said she had tried calling me several times and knowing how ICE cell phone system works it never entered my phone. Well. At least I got a hold of her and Im sending her the inventory list instead of her coming over to mine.
That way she can check it tonight and we made an appointment for 8am on monday at the airport offices they have.

As I finished up at Cibermania I went to Ana and we went for lunch. They closed down the shop and we went to the italian restaurant in front of Jauja restuarant to have some pasta food. We both had pasta with salmon and sauce. It was delicious. During these months I am really glad to have earned her friendship. After lunch we walked up towards the park before splitting but we made plans on going to las fiestas around 6pm.

I went home to continue on my packing and make the list of what I had inside the boxes.
At 5:30 I went to Cibermania and sent the list to Irene at Rex Cargo so that she can start the paperwork for my luggage. That will be wonderful to get off my mind.

At 6pm I met Ana and we went down to the Fiestas Civicas area. We walked around looking at the artisan products for a while before going to the bullfights areas. And that was insanely cool. A lot of stupid drunk dudes. Maybe as many as 150 dudes were inside the ring when they let the bull out and they started running around like ants hehe.. It was cool. I was a bit frightening too.
There were some of the encounters that looked BAD. One dude got thrown up in the air several times and stamped on. ouf hehe... But they are all volunteers and I guess they have been used to this stuff since they were small kids. There are also some dudes that are professional that holds the red bullfighting carpets to attract the attention of the bull in case some of the local heroes has too close encounters with the bull and are in any kind of danger.

From the bullfighting we headed up towards downtown and we passed on Bar Selegna. They have a fantastic ranch built outside the bar with possibility to tie up the horses and party on from the horses back. That looked awesome ! We watched a lunar eclipse as we walked towards the park and restaurant las Tinajas where we found Mami, Papi, Yehudy and My brother Federico with some dudes from San Jose. We stopped and had a drink with them before Ana left to meet a couple of friends that were gonna stay over at her place. As they were installed she got back and we continued our nightlife. There was a concert in the park with the group Santa Esperanza. It was a great concert and I got their CD as well. The evening was rounded up by a huge amount of fireworks.

I got home around 11pm and talked with Mami before I went to bed tired but content. She told me about a couple of rumors about the barbequed meet that is sold on every corner. GOOD thing I never tasted all that. Because they had found 50 dog corpses and tested positve on dog meet in some of the grills. Gross.

1 brindis ! X las nosotras las mujeres, X los hombres que tienen nuestros corazones, los perdedores que los tuvieron y los suertudos que nos conoceran... SALUD

Hay amistades que X ser tan maravillosas se guardan en un lugar muy especial en el corazon como x ejemplo tu. Gracias por el regalo de tu amistad. Feliz dia de la amistad.

El corazon de un amigo es 1 refugio donde nos protejemos de la tristesa y la soledad, en ti lo he encontrado. Mil gracias X tu amistad.

Cuando sientas que pierdes la direccion, y te embarga la necesidad de volver a tu Origen... TICABUS !!!! Salimos todos los dias hasta Managua! Servicio directo..

Pasa 1 satiro x 1 convento y grita: "Me las voy a coger a todas" !!! Pasa 3 dias despues otra vez x el lugar y le gritan TODAS las monjas: IRRESPONSABLE !!

El hombre ideal es como 1 granja. Que tenga buenos chanchos, trabaje como un caballo, la tenga como un burro, mame como ternero y pise como perro.

Cientificamente comprobado: las personas deseperadas y ardientes x SEXO utilizan el dedo gordo para leer mensajes en su celular... Eyyyy XQ te ries?

1 espermatozoid le dice a otro: "Tardaremos mucho en llegar al ovulo?" Y el otro le dice: "Es muy probable, XQ apenas vamos bajando por la garganta".

El papa encuentra a su hija de 20 en la cama con un consolador: Hija, que haces? Papa esto es mucho + seguro que un hombre, no embaraza y no es infiel. Al llegar ella la noche siguiente ve su padre con un trago en una mano y el consolador en la otra; Papa que haces? Tomando guaro con el yerno.

Que Dios ponga un angel a tu lado que te d la valentia de aferrarte a tus suenos que te levante si tropiezcas y embellezca tu vida x siempre. Que tengas un lindo dia.

Hay un grupo de mujeres en el cielo pidiendole a Dios que los penes sean mas lindos. Y Dios les contesta: "Jamas!! Si feos se los chupan lindos se los comen".

Iba un clitoris todo despeinado. Entonces le preguntan: Diay mae, quien te dejo asi? Y le contesta: Diay mae, las malas lenguas!

Abuelo, que haces sin pantalones y en la puerta? Diay, varas de su abuela, como ayer sali a la calle sin camisa y c me entiezo el cuello... hoy espera milagros.

Una pulga estaba metida en un condon... Y le dice otra: "Que haces ahi metida..?" Diay. Aqui jugando de pichota !!!

Un playo ve a un mae en el orinal y le pregunta: Que es esa hermosura? R/ La manguera p la gasolina. El playo todo contento le dice: "Tanque lleno por favor"

Estaba 1 mosca molestando a 1 toro. Se le paraba en la cola y nada que la podia matar. Se vuelve a parar al otro lado y nada. En esto se le para en la nariz y de un lenguetaso la mata: MORALEJA: Lo que no puedes terminar con el rabo, terminala con la lengua.!!!

Hoy es prohibido olvidarse de las personas especiales por eso le he pedido a Dios que derrame mil bendiciones sobre ti, que tengas un muy buen dia !

Incredible sunny weather. +33C and no clouds. I can live with this !

Today I woke up at 7:30. It was wonderful to be able to sleep in and relax. I packed up some of my last stuff and have to realize the airport visit might be expensive. The suitcases weighs more than they are supposed to. Hehe. Well I have been here 3 months though. Cant expect anything else !

I had breakfast with Mami and then headed out for the beautiful sunny weather that we have. I stopped by at the local internet cafe and as I opened up an IE explorer window and starts logging into MSN Messenger the startup page of www.Cibermania.net I suddenly saw my name on the front page under the text of winners of the month !! Imagine that. The next last day I am here I win 15 free hours of internet use ! Luckily I can come back in 4 years and use them when I am back !!
This day turns out to be good !!!

As I was writing in my blog Ana called me and wanted to know if I was going to the swimmingpool as I had planned today. And I was as soon as I was done online. But Ana had other plans and gave me 15 minutes to get to her house so that I could go with her and her friends to the beach. Man this day gets better and better ! I finished up soon and on my way to Anas house I ran into a lot of people on horses getting ready for the noon parade. I even ran into Dona Consuelo and one of her friends and they had music orchestra, marimba instruments, clowns and lots of activities going on in Liberia downtown. It was almost more interesting to stay but a beach is a beach and Anas friends are really nice and good people so I went with them :)

Liseth and Ana waited at her house, Marcos came and picked us up and then we went for Jason. During the trip I found out that lifes coincidences are very cool. Liseth is Freddys best friends sister. Freddy is one of the Ticos married in Oslo. She also knows Jason that lives at Tveita. I told her to definately come visit us in Oslo sometimes and then we can hang out.
We went to Playas del Coco and had a great lunch. I had a Palmito Salad and Papaya en leche and the others had Fish thats the places specialty. We also had patacones con frijoles molidos.

As we arrived Playa Hermosa we entered the Condovac la costa resort to park our car. Condovac is a great hotel with small condos in the hillside fronting the beach. We had to register and get small bracelets before entering the area. It is a gorgeous place wit lots of great swimmingpools, restaurant and a bar at the swimmingpool area. We got some water and icecream before descending to the beach.

When we got down to the beach we were welcomed by the hotel employers with nice smiles and helpful manners as they directed us to where we could stay and what kind of water sports we could use while at the area. We went over to a place in the shadow. Hehe. Ticos and Latinos dont generally like to expose their bodies too much to the sun. Its ok as long as I get to stay in the sun. I went straight for the water and the lifty samba tones coming from the speakers made it all great. I was soon approached by 2 local dudes that wanted my attention and started chatting. Both were approaching a bit too much and I tried keeping at least a minimum of a distance but soon the youngest of them found fresher meet to check up on. The other disappeared when Marcos and Jason came out for a swim and joined me.

Jason and Liseth, Marcos and I soon decided to go kayaking and we hired 2 kayaks and left poor Ana to look after the stuff. Kayaking was great. We were not coordinated at all so we went in every direction we were not supposed to go in. hehe. We managed to stear the kayak after a while and got out to the marina where all the yachts were. Then we hooked up the 2 kayaks together and Jason dived into the water before we went to a nearby beach and looked for shells and had a swim before we started our way back. We had only hired the kayaks for 1 hour and we arrived missing 2 minutes to the hours and that with none of us wearing a watch.
Ana had missed us a lot. She wanted to go for a swim so we went into the water and had some great laughs at a group of boys that were trying to make formations climbing on top of eachother. Some of the guys were bad boys and instead of climbing ontop of the shoulders to their mates they dragged their shorts down. That was the good laughs we had. And that they kept on falling down before done. hehe.

We had to leave around 4:45 because Liseth had a bus tiquet to San Jose with el Pulmitan at 6pm and It took us a while to drive back. She did get the bus and had time to shower off the salt water and pack her stuff as well. After we had left Ana at her place and Liseth at the bus station Marcos, Jason and I decided to go to Las fiestas. I just got home to get a short shower before we went down there. Marcos and Jason picked me up and as we were heading out Federico and Yehudy came home and I just got to say good bye to Yehudy that is gonna leave to San Jose tomorrow at 4am.

We cirkled around the Fiesta area for some time and listened to the rap concert by Tapon, a local group from San Jose. Not exactly something to yell out of exitement for. Really bad is the clue.

We also entered a couple of the party tents and had a couple of beers and danced a bit. I even danced with Jasons dad and got some new friends at the bar. I also ran into a couple of Federicos best friends; Veronica and Diana out with their friends. We ended up at the Bulls Ring watching the young guys and the drunks running around in the Bulls Ring to avoid the Bulls. The entrance was 2000 Colones (about 4$). At any time outside the arena there was 5-6 ambulances just in case any of the bulls hurt any of the dudes in the ring. Sponsors were giving out a lot of stuff for free to the Bullfighters like red t-shirts, coca cola glass coolers etc.
A couple of dudes were taken away in an ambulance because they were hurt. Hope nothing bads up. The guys took me home around midnight and I fell asleep immediately.

Beautiful sunny weather. Blue sky and a few clouds over the mountains in the east. Some wind but still around +32C.

With the last day in Liberia arriving I got up at 6am to be at the airport at 7am to meet up with Irene to do the papers on my cargo. Papi drove me to the airport and we had a really nice conversation. Papi and Mami are going to San Jose later today to go to Guatemala tomorrow.
I arrived early for the meeting I had with Irene and I called her for our appointment. She came down, checked my boxes and went off to do paperwork. She said: wait for me for ONE hour. So I sat down and waited, reading my book and one hour passed, an hour and a half and with two hours I called her. Ill be right down was her answar. Right down TICO time !!. haha.. Not at all. Altogether I had to wait for 3 hours before she was done and I got to pay for the cargo, and fight a bit with the duane that did not want to declare my goods. So Irenes workbuddy took me back to Liberia and since the cargo wasnt declared I had to bring it back at 5:30 tomorrow. That is insanely early, and I wasnt allowed to leave it with them.
While I waited at the airport I sat with my back to a group of 3 men. One of the airport personell that cleans were washing the floor and accidentally wet one of the mens bag with all his belongings in it. As he took it out for drying it he put his working card at the chair and I saw it and it said Apu. Since Apu is Papis surname I asked the man if he was family with my family and It turns out I just got to know cousin William. We exchanged e-mails and had a nice talk before he had to enter the airport area.
Finally at home Papi lets me in and I prepared for taking off again. I had to go and burn some of the pictures from my cameras memory sticks onto a CD or a DVD or something. So I went down to Cibermania to do it there and it took ages to download the pictures and David and Juan Gabriel helped me to download and burn the pictures. Mami and Papi called me every now and then to check when I was coming home but I had to wait till process was over.
Before I went home I had to stop and pick up a duvet for my bed in Norway and I got home way too late for lunch. Sad that I missed that but today is way too busy to dwell with that. I stayed home for an hour and packed and chatted with Natasha that got home early from school because she was sick. Mami asked me if I could stay and look after her but I still had a lot of arrands to run and people to meet.
I went out again when Mami and Papi headed for the Pulmitan to take the Bus to San Jose. They are going to leave from San Jose and not Liberia like I am.
I stopped by Anas place to see if she ws gonna come to the good bye party at Las Tinajas later on tonight before I met Diego and we went to the tattoo parlor to see if they had any free time to redo my tattoo. D showed me the tattos I never knew he had as well. Tattoo Charlie was not free and we went to get a new job phone for Diego before he had to go back to Filadelfia.
At 6pm I was at las Tinajas and I sat down to wait for my friends to show up. Manuel and Victor showed up pretty soon and we had a lot of fun. Angelica and Ana was next before Karina, Katherine and Papi Corrales. It was a great night and I enjoyed the company of my friends a lot. We told jokes and laughed and had good drinks. I had to go home when Tinajas closed at 10pm so that I could get up early. Federico and my uncle let me in. Mamis brother sleeps over while they are in Guatemala to make sure the house is safe.

Federico told me to wake him up in the morning to take me to the airport and then my last day in Costa Rica was over.

During the day the sad news that one of the Bullfighters that got hurt yesterday died shortly after. This is the newspaper article on that sad story:

MUERE HOMBRE CORNEADO POR TORO
Johnny Mendez
Corresponsal

Las fiestas civicas de Liberia se vieron empanadas por la muerte de un torero improvisado.
LIBERIA.- La alegria que experimentaban los miles de liberianos en la celebracion de las fiestas civicas de la comunidad se vio opacada por la tragica muerte de un torero improvisado que participaba en las corridas.
La victima fue identificada como Henry Brenes Mendez, de 31 anos, quien resulto con traumas graves despues de ser prensado por el toro contra la barrera del redondel.

Las fiestas civicas de Liberia se vieron empanadas por la muerte de un torero improvisado.

Departure day was no different than any of the previous days. Sunny, beautiful and +32C. Windy.

I had to get up at 4:30 this morning because I had to be at the airport to do the duane declarations of my stuff at 5:30am. Federico sent me off in a cab. I did not quite understand that part but it doesnt matter. He got up at a really bad time and he was even sick so I get that one. Irene waited for me at the airport and took my stuff straigth away. It was good to get rid of !
I got in the line for paying the airport tax and while I waited I noticed that a lot of people with t-shirts with Zoo Africa Mia entered the airport and that obviously cought my attention. I was explained that this is the day 30 new animals will arrive the Zoo. After I payed my airport tax (26$ for all foreigners to Costa Rica) and checked in my luggage that I had to pay 50$ for the overweight for (first time ever Ive had to pay for it even though Ive always had way too much with me) I noticed a huge amount of people from the press as well. They were there to see if they could see any of the animals arriving to the airport. The plane with the animals landed at 7am and none were allowed to enter the passport control area before all the people from that plane was declared into CR. As I was waiting I heard a voice say to me; Taxi?
No, thanks I am leaving today I said and turned towards him. And added. You wouldnt be Jorge by all means? Yes? he said and I asked him if he remembered me, removing my sunglasses.
He did remember me. It was Jorge. My ex boyfriend for a month, back in 1993. hehe. Funny.
He was married now with 2 kids. We talked for a while and another Taxi driver joined in on the conversation. Manuel had taken me around a couple of times and wanted me to remember him. I dont quite know why though. hehe. But it was great to see Jorge again. We exchanged phone numbers before he got a customer and had to leave.
They opened up the entrance to the airport again and I got to go in there with the others and I got some lunch, and some more souvenirs. I only managed to finish up my breakfast before we got to board the plane. I looked for cousin William that I got to know yesterday but did not see him anywhere.

I had a window seat so I did not get to enjoy the last view I could have over my precious latin america and we arrived Houston all after schedule. I did some tax-free shopping, had lunch and sta down to wait at the gate. Though in Houston we got the message that the plane was set up to be an hour late. Thank GOD it left in time because I only had 1 hour to change plane in NY. Well. I dont know if I was supposed to thank God or someone else because we arrived good into New York and I rushed away to the Oslo gate and realized I even had time to go to Ron Jons surf shop before the plane started boarding.
I got into the plane and was placed pretty far back in the plane and there was a lot of people back there that had travelled for a time and that was very openminded and we all had a great talk until we taxed off from the gate to get our security check. We waited a long time and the captain came on the speaker announcing that the security personnel had found an error with one of the engines and that it was easy to fix - we just had to get back to the gate and let them continue the security check. Fine! Who wants to take off with a bad engine anyway?
Oh. Well. to continue the story the captain comes on the speakers again and announces that the error is so bad that we have to change plane. We all pack up our stuff and deboards the plane and waits at the gate to be able to board the new plane. It takes us almost 2,5 hours to change plans and everyone is happy to be able to board the plane. It is getting late and we are very relieved to be on the go again.
Well. Not so fast there. We tax out from the gate and the captain is checking the plane, the security personnel is checking the plane and there is nothing happening for a long time. No messages and we are just standing there way too long. We should have taken off by now. But there is some strange smell in the plane and finally the message from the captain is clair. I am very sorry this is taking so long but we just have to check that everything is ok with the aircondition system because it is provoking a strange smell. Need I say more. We had to change plane again. People were tired, hungry and we had to wait 2 more hours before we got to board the 3rd plane. At least a nice lady let me call home to say I was going to be very much delayed.
We were supposed to take off at 8pm but took off finally at 2:30am and we all got coupons so that we could have a free drink and a 100$ off on our next roundtrip worth more than 400$. I also got registered for One Pass so that I can gather points every time I fly. That is cool. I already have 11000 points !!
We took off about the same time the plane was supposed to land in Oslo and just after our dinner the tax-free passed by and I got a perfume before I passed out. I was sooo tired. It had been an inmensely long day.

+3C and rain. What can I say but WHY DID I EVER THINK OF LEAVING COSTA RICA?

The airplane crew woke us up for breakfast and getting ready to descend over Gardermoen airport. We got a so so breakfast and still dead tired I wasnt so keen on waking up at all. But It was great to actually come to an end of this long trip.
As we were descending over Oslo captain announces the heavy rainy weather and 3 degrees. Not good. I was in the rear end of the plane and got out almost at the end, went through the passport control at Gardermoen and went for my luggage. It was all there ! Fantastic ! Then I went out to the welcome hall where my sister Ingrid waited for me and I was so glad to see her again. It has been 3 months and it is a long time. She drove me home but since my plane was 7 hours late in to Oslo she had no possibilities of staying with me after we got home.

My welcome comittee waited for me and it was so great to see my babies again. They are just the cutest cats in the world. Saffi was most happy to see me I think. hehe. He has always been the one that shows most affection also.
I had a lot of phone calls on my cell from people wanting to welcome me and offering me jobs. I had let 3-4 temp bureaus in the city know I was going to get in and free on the market. I called mom, dad and grandma to have a chat with them and let them know I just arrived safely. I also called a couple of my friends and I am actually quite happy to see them all.

After the first calls I went out for a walk to get some food and pick up a package that had arrived for me at Furuset Mall. I got home and continued chatting for a while before going to bed at 11pm. I was very tired after the very long trip.

+4C today and it snows wet wet snow. This is NOT fun at all

I woke up at 9 by the phone. The Broadband installation man was about to arrive and a good thing was that so that I could start to check out all that I need online and check e-mails and keep in contact with people about interviews. The dude arrives and as he is installing my broadband my phone rings again and it is about an interview I was supposed to be at at 10. I seriously thought it was at Noon but the lady said it didnt matter and that we could make it at noon instead. The installation dude finished up and left and I got ready for my interview.
It was an interview filled with self confidence and we had a long chat about what I would like to work with and what I had done and all that before I went to my old job to say hello to my old collegues. I spent a long time conversating with Linda witch was great !
I also stopped by the others to talk with them and it is really nice to see them all again. Linda and I went to Pascal for a treat and a coffe. They have the worlds best chocolate mousse cake there ! It is always good to go to Pascal You know what you get.

After Astrup Fearnleys I took the metro back to my part of the city and visited my friends Jorunn and Tor. Had to bring personal thanks for taking care of my cats for so long !
It has been a great day to see my friends again. The weather has not been good at all but at least I have had an interesting day. My mom called me and wanted to know if she could come for a visit during the weekend. Thats going to be good to see her again as well.
I got early to bed tonight. Still tired as few.

Today we had Fog, Rain and Snow. -3C and wind. I miss Costa Rica.

I woke up late. It was so good to sleep in today. Not that I should complain. I have slept about 10-11 hours both last night and tonight. I got ready for another interview. Today at another of the temp bureaus at 1pm at Vikar1. It was quite good. I used to work for Sonja and Barbro at Vikar1 the first year of my carreer.

I stopped by Astrup Fearnleys again, visited the Tank department for an hour to hear how they had been the last 3 months and then the IT department to see if I could meet some of the ones that was not in yesterday. Linda and I had a sigarette break to talk serious business - like always - and after that I stopped by Jorunn Ellen to see her. I am so glad to finally meet them all again. Weather is too cold though and ME NO LIKE.
I got home pretty early and went through my e-mails, replied to a lot of mails that had come in already and chatted with my friends in Costa Rica and Norway a bit before going to bed.

+9C and mostly sunny. Way too cold. Miss Costa Rica.

I woke up late and got ready to go downtown to meet my sister. I was very tired and sleepy although I didnt go before noon.
My mom came in today from Arendal with the bus at 1pm and we had lots of plans for the day.
We had a delicious lunch at my sisters house with lots of great choices before we went to Storo Mall to do some shopping. We went to all the clothes stores and shoe stores before going back to my sisters apartment where we made delicious dinner.
We stayed until 9 o'clock when Ingrid had some dancing show to participate to and Mom and I went to my place. We tried watching a movie but mom fell asleep while I stayed online for a while before going to bed.

+6C and cold out. It was a great day to be inside !

When I woke up today I asked my mom if she wanted me to make breakfast, but she did not feel to good and wanted to skip food.
We watched a movie from Monteverde rainforest in Costa Rica instead and had some tea. I wasnt much hungry either so we skipped breakfast and lunch, but we had a couple of really good conversations.

My friend Frank dropped by around 5pm and my sister came at 6pm with my plants. Finally got my plants back !!! My banana plant did not look to good on some of the branches but the others are in perfect conditions. I need my jungle !

I made dinner for my guests and we all enjoyed the pasta dish with meat. My sister had to leave around 9 and my mom went with her to stay with her for the night. Frank left around 11 and then I went to bed with Saffi (the cat) jumping all over the bed and playing.

+6C and clouded / rainy. Windy a bit as well. No nice day.

I got up, made breakfast and cleaned the floor. Lillegutt, my white cat, had peed on the floor last night. He has had an ongoing problem with that for years and I dont like it a bit. Especially concerning that he did not pee on the floor when he stayed 3 months at Jorunn S.s Place. It is really uncomfortable. I know he is protesting against something. If I only knew WHAT he was protesting against ! It would be so much more easy to help him and correct the situation. But he has done it all the time I have lived in this house.
Then I got ready to go out to go for a job interview. I had 2 interviews planned for today. One at 1pm and the next at 3pm. Busy day.
I took the 33 bus to Sinsen where I changed to metro the last 2 stations to get to Nydalen. I had a great interview where I felt very confident and good.
After the interview I took the Metro to Majorstua where I hiked to the next interview that also seemed promising. One interview was at Ergo where I am being considered to be a production leader for the Servicedesk there. The other is for a recruiting bureau that considered me for several posistions.

After the interview that finished early I stopped by Astrup Fearnley again and joined Linda as she was going home from work. I grabbed the metro to Jorunn Ss Place and we watched TV and chatted until I went home to sleep.

Today has been a strange day. Sunny at last but cold. OK. Not that cold. But I have not even been home a week from the tropics. I am allowed to think that 10C is cold.

I have noticed a lot of things with myself this week though. I dont know why this happens. In CR I had no nickel allergy, nor did I react on the shampoo. I was ok in my stomach and I did not have that much trouble. With just one week I have had stomach problems every day and my scalp is ruined. I have dandruff and soars. I have gotten a cold all over again and with just 3 days here I noticed clisters every place I had some jewels with nickel. I have honestly not reacted on nickel in CR. My skin either does not like the cold, the water in my house or the food we have here.

This last week after I got home has been hectic. I have visited friends, had family over to visit me and I have stopped by my old office at Astrup Fearnley several times to say hello to all my ex collegues. I have also been at several job interviews and been out for drinks.

It does feel good to sleep in my own bed again. Wonderful. If I ever move to Costa Rica I will have to bring that one !

I also noticed Ive been a long time in central america now. hehe. Today on my way to an interview I had to take a cab because the signal system on the metro had errors and the metro was running about 15-20 minutes late. I had to take a cab and I was so annoyed with the cab driver because he did not tak unnecessary risk in traffic (It is the first car drive I had since CR. Well. I have had a ride with my sister home from the airport though. OK so it is the second ride Ive had in Norway).

After the interview I realized that the metro system was still pretty delayed and I decided to take the metro only 2 stops to Sinsen so that I could catch the 33 bus back to my place. I had to wait for ages and it was cold and when I finally got home I started to cough bad and I was freezing. I made myself food and then JorunnS and I went for a walk and we had a nice chat in the cold weather. It was a great clear sky and sun got down around 7pm. I spent the evening watching TV and chatting.

Today was another nice day. Great temperatures around +10C although everything feels cold due to the temperature difference from central america.

I woke up around 9am and got ready to the duties of the day. The cat peed on the floor last night again. I am actually pretty sick of it. It has been every night after I came home.
A friend of mine, Kari, came and picked me up at 10am and we went to Gardermoen together to pick up my stuff that I sent to myself from Costa Rica. We reached Road Feeders locals and I payed the fee for picking up my stuff. Then I had to go to The Duane and declare the stuff before I could pick it up. Great thing I did not have to pay anything to declare my stuff.

Kari and I stopped at Elkjop and checked out laptops for her. We found a couple of interesting objects before Kari had to go to work. She left me at home and I unpacked my boxes before sleeping a bit. I am seriously tired these days. I guess jet-lag is still hanging in there.

I have spent the afternoon Marathoning LOST episodes and ONE TREE HILL episodes to catch up along with updating my webpage.

I read online today though, that Liberia has +34C. I am soooo Jealous.
I actually feel pretty sad about that. I just so much wanna be back in Liberia where youre just happy beeing and feeling and enjoying. I really miss CR. Not only my friends and family but also the climate and my city. I love Liberia. I love Guanacaste.
Already from the first day, the first time I ever was in Costa Rica I enjoyed who I am, what I feel like when I am there. From the first moment CR makes me feel like I am in love. With life itself...

We had up to +9C today and it was mostly great weather. A couple of clouds scattered over the sky.

I had an interview at Capus today. Capus is another recruiting company that is interested in finding me a job. The interview was at 3 and when I was done there I walked around in the city window shopping for a while before heading up to John and Hildes for dinner.
Hilde was home alone when I got there and as we waited for John to come home and cook for us we enjoyed some wine and a good conversation.
John came home and cooked and the dinner was really great. Delicious chicken and great wine.
I bussed home and I am very content about this evening.

We had a good +15C as a max temperature today and rain in the air. Well. Still been a nice day though !.

I had to get up early today since I had an interview planned for 10 this morning.
Whitey the cat (Lillegutt) had peed on the floor again. I am so tired of it. I just get sad from it now. I know that there is no future for him at my place. He obviously does not like to stay here.

On my way to Aker Kvaerner I got a phone call from Rett bemanning Oslo vest about an interview at Syscom for tuesday next week. I was quite interested in that interview and that made me very happy to know they wanted a chat with me. Therefor I was also very happy as I arrived Aker Kvaerner.
I think that made a difference. I liked the interviewers and I liked what the job sounded like as well. And I think I made a pretty good impression there.
As soon as I was done with the interview I went over to Wilh. Wilhelmsen to have lunch with John. Quite nice locals. As I was heading towards the city I got a phone call from Tomato that they also wanted an interview with me on wednesday.

Wee. I feel kinda popular.
On my way home I called Jorunn S and told her that if she was interested she could come and pick up whitey so that she can have him. I think the fact that he did not pee on the floor for 3 months at hers and pees constantly at my floor says a lot. I just hope he stays clean there.

Jorunn and Margaret came over to pick him up around 7pm and although it is sad to see my baby gone I still have Saffi running around and now he can have a lot more attention too. I feel this has to be done. It is a way better solution than killing the animal.
It was sad to go to bed.

A good +15Cs temperaturewise today. Partly cloudy.

I stayed home watching movies, relaxing and getting up to date on the TV series of LOST and One tree hill. Although it is warm considering the time of the year it is way to cold for me to go outside. I stayed in and relaxed.

I have been kinda depressed today. I miss the cat, the warm weather and the summer. I miss Costa Rica.

Last night it snowed a bit. Not much. I just woke up during the night and saw it snow but it was all gone when I woke up in the morning. It has been a pretty cold day with +4C and mild winds. That makes it an effective +2C degrees.

I woke up pretty early today. I might finally have started to get out of the jet-lag. Weee !!
I have spent the day cleaning the apartment, watching Lost episodes, finishing up One Tree Hill episodes and starting to watch Men in Trees episodes.

I have also been a good girl doing a lot of laundry and hanging up pictures but I have not done a lot today. Weee

Todays weather was partly cloudy and not so bad temperaturewise. +15C is great. Still to cold to be outside.

This morning I got 2 phone calls even before I got out of bed. I have 2 job offers !!! One at Aker Kvaerner and another at Ergo Group. The Aker Kvaerner job Im not 100% sure about
WOW. I did not think it would be this fast. I have till end of tomorrow to decide.

Apart from that my dad called me to tell me I am going to be a big sister once again in about 7 months. That sounds great !

I spent the day inside catching up on my Men In Trees show. It is great !
Going for a lot of interviews is quite tireing but necessary so I just have to prepare for tomorrow and think about deciding !

We had an average of +6C today and it was partly cloudy with wind. Not so warm and nice ! But still good. There was sun after all :)

Decicion
I have 2 job offers now and I have been to another interview today at Syscom. I did not feel that could be a job of interest for me so I am deciding between the two offers I had. I was quite nervous for the interview today and it was pretty late during the day. At 3pm. I lasted about an hour and I walked down from Majorstua to Oslo Downtown and sat down at Cafe Soer. I was supposed to meet Ruth and Wilber there to take them to the couchsurfing meeting tonight.

Was supposed to meet Wilber and Ruth at Cafe Soer and go together to this Oslo Couchsurf party but they did not show up. I think W might have forgotten to tell Ruth about it ! and to show up as well. hehe.

I was thinking a lot though. About which job might be better for me. The Aker or the Ergo job. I must admit I am not that keen on much more Servicedesk jobs ever in my life but then again. I am not 100% sure about what I am actually going to do. But from what I remember I think it sounds way better. Just have to be sure about making the right decicion though.

Oslo CS party !!
At 6pm I showed up at Asylet cafe at Groenland in Oslo. Only Richard and Knut Ole was there yet but we were soon accompanied by others. We had a lot of fun and at a point I was alone with 8 guys. That did not last for long though since a lot of girls showed up pretty soon. Even my good old friend John showed up. Soon we were a great group of more than 25 people. I even met some people I had met before like Kris, Mortens collegue from Opera. I got a lot of new aquaintances as well and I had a lot of fun. Im definately going to the next Oslo Couchsurf party / meeting. At one time I started getting too much beer and decided to go home. John decided to take off at the same time and I took off home and he went home to Hilde.
Im kinda proud I got to matchmake them !! :)

We had a maximum temperature of +6C degrees today. It was cold wind and not nice to be out. We had a lot of sun though so it looked nice from inside :)

This morning I was woken up by a phone call that told me that Syscom did not think I had enough experience for that kinda work and I can totally agree on that. I found out yesterday just from the interview that I did not have the right profile for what they are searching. I actually felt relieved.
At that point I made a couple of phone calls. First to ElanIT. I have decided to go for the job at Aker Kvaerner Business Partner. I told them that I would love to sign a contract with AKBP. We agreed on a meeting around 2:30pm this afternoon to sign the contract.
Then I called Upsource to get them to cancel the interview at Tomato today. And I called Vikar1 to tell them I have decided not to start working at Ergo Group.

After having arranged all that I got out of bed and got ready for heading downtown to sign the contract. I feel so relived now. I have made my decicion ! It feels Great !
After contract signing I went to Jorunn Ss house to tell the great news. And to say hi to my white cat. I miss him though. We played a bit and I know he is good with Jorunn and Tor. After that Jorunn and I went for a walk before I went home. I watched more episodes of Men in Trees before going to bed.

Today was beautiful. Around +6C and no clouds on the sky. Wonderful day. Windy but not that much.

Lunch at Astrup Fearnleys
I woke up really relieved and decided that I would stop by Astrup Fearnley to visit my old collegues for lunch before starting my new job. I met up with Linda and we went to the lunch room to get some food. Jorunn O joined in after a while and then Halvard, Magnus and Eirik. Even the old boss KEL showed up wondering if I miss them a lot. After 5 years sure I miss my daily contact with them. I just dont miss the duties and the chores I had. I am so sick and tired of the same routines and the total lack of possibilities to go further and to move on. It is so easy to stagnate if you dont get any development.
So I told my boss that I was just celebrating my last day in freedom - hehe. He looked like he thought I was getting married or going to jail or something. But I told him I got a new job in Aker Kvaerner. Of course he would think I got a job at Helpdesk so he looked really long faced when I told him I will never work in a Help desk again in my life. That I am done with Help desk (unless I am going to lead a team) for the rest of my life. And that if I wanted to work at a help desk I wouldnt have quit at AF.
I think he never even considered the possibility for me actually wanting to develop my knowledge and get new challenges. I think he just concluded to what he liked thinking at and assumed I quit my job at AF because I did not get as long a vacation as I wanted. I would never have done that if I liked the job and the challenges it brought me. NEVER.
I would have been happy with a 3 weeks vacation if I would have gotten it. Maybe even a 2 weeks vacation if I would have liked my job. But this was a very correct timing to change job and to seek challenges and development in my life. Also to get out of a very negative environment (considering that 7 people out of 13 has quit in ONE year the ambient is not GREAT)

And if you should ever read this KEL. Theres a lot of people out there appreciating my life style even you did not. My life style that consisted of beeing at work all the time I was supposed to and most of the time I was supposed to not be there. My life style that consisted of every 4 years taking 1 - ONE - long vacation for more than 3 weeks in a row.

I stayed at my old work and had lunch with all the employees before I went home.

Dinner with Ornella and memory night
Ornella is one of my best friends. She is married to Asbjoern and she is Mexican. She came for dinner tonight and we had a great time.
We made dinner (as normal - no recepy) and chatted to catch up for these 3 months since last time we met. We watched the Monteverde DVD I brought from Costa Rica and then we watched pictures and listened to music. We both sat left with the feeling of sadness for beeing far away from our beloved central america. Although different parts of central america. She has not been home to Mexico for 2,5 years and all my memories are all fresh.
I miss my CR so much. Just wish I would be able to be there on a more permanent basis...

+2C and snowing. It cleared up a bit during the day but it was cold - way to cold - and I did not like it at all.

The big happenings of the day has been that I managed to connect my broadband phone and bought a blender. I am so happy. My broadband phone is through Telio.

Since it has only been a very short time since Saffi (grey cat) has been alone I took him out walking today. OK. He did not have to walk. But I brought him to Jorunn Ss house where Whitey and Kosefine lives so he could spend the day playing with them. Or at least not be alone ! Jorunn, Tor and Margaret is on a 2 day trip to Copenhague and I am looking after the cats while they are off. I think Saffe liked to not be alone but he definately did NOT like bus ride. He howls. But he also has to get trained for travels. Now that I only have 1 cat I can actually bring him when going for visits to my parents. Cool. Way cool. Spent the night catching up on my Men in trees show.

I also chatted with a couple of the Couchsurfers that I got to know last tuesday. Zalle asked me to take in a french couple for one or two nights that he and his gf has hosted for 4 days now. So they will come tomorrow. That will be cool. It is kind of sad to stay all by myself again after having spent 3 months in total company of all the family in Costa Rica. Im looking fwd. to hosting the french at least for a couple of nights.

We saw the sun again today. +6C and cold winds. I dont like the cold winds.

I got up early and cleaned the apartment before I had to start the cake baking. I have promised Ornella to help out for Asbjoerns birthdayparty preparations this way. So I went for chocolate cake and I know they already like it because Ornella asked for this kind - hehe. The french showed up at 1:30. They seem so nice ! They got the key and took off. They had apartments to look at. They have just moved from France and and are looking for both apartments and job. I cant imagine them having any problems with none of them.

Ornella missed me and as soon as Asbjoern got out of the house she called for me to say I could come to hers. It is a surprise party we are having for his 39th birthday. So, she has made a very clever plan. We are having a Tupperware party !!! hehe. Not exactly but only that way do we get him out of the house so that we could plan the surprise party and get ready for the guests to show up. Maren and I showed up early and we decorated with balloons, fingerfood and prepared the punch bowl. This is really going to be a GREAT party !

All our guests was present before the tupperware party was over and we called for Asbjoern to come home. MY oh my he was REALLY surprised. I think we must have been 18 people in the apartment singing the birthday song to welcome him. We had a great time. Playing games (Loteria) and getting to know new people. Fantastic. The food was great. The snacks were great and the drinks were great.

As I got home the frenchies was already asleep so I tried to be as quiet as possible. Dead tired anyway.

+10C and partly cloudy. It was a really nice day. Great to be outside.

When I woke up Jeff (JF) and Myriam (Mimi) was also waking up. We prepared a delicious breakfast before they had to take off to more apartment searching. I went downtown to meet Bente, Alfonso and Jose Ramon from Couchsurfing for a walk in the Vigeland Park. Alfonso and Jose Ramon were really nice guys and Bente was great too. We went for a drink after the walk in the park before they had to go home to Spain.

I also went for a visit to Jorunn S and Tor before going home. Then I had dinner before Myriam and JF came home. We had a couple of great conversations before going to bed. They are amazing guests to host.

With a max temperature of +15C today it was a gorgeous day and Sun was shining. I like days like this. Even though. It was cold wind.

I got up early and tried not to wake up my french Couchsurfers, Jeff and Myriam. I got myself out of the ap. to catch the train at 8:10am and I was exited about my first day at the new work.

I did good and I had a couple of meeting with my boss and group leader to find out my responsabilities and I got one application to start on right away. I am going to prepare a program called Napa for installation and test on the network. Then the script group will make a logon script and I will re-test that all is ok before letting the customers get access to the application. Quite interesting and something I have wanted to do for a long time.

I got to go home around 4 this day because it was my first day. I went home to have dinner with frenchies and then I spent a little time watching TV with them and chatting before I updated my home page for a while.

I miss Costa Rica still but at least I am having a lot of fun with all that is happening around me. New Job. Lots of Couchsurfing activities and lots of fun.

Another beautiful day. +15C and Sunny. What more can one ask for. The spring is really here. Wonderful.

I spent my 8 hours at work and I am starting to get to know my co-workers and that is cool. I am spending 8 hours a day at this place so I am pleased to know that they are really pleasant peolpe to be around.
It is really hard getting up in the morning after so many weeks not working. I think I counted 16 weeks of holiday and work-searching time all in all. 13 weeks in Costa Rica and 3 weeks of interviewing and preparing for a new work life.

When I came home the french was already at home and we made dinner and watched movies till bed time. Myriam and Jeff are a really pleasant company to host and they have such contagious laughs !! It is really fun to hang around with them.

video night med frenchies

Another beautiful day. Up to +15C today as well. No cloud to spot anywhere. Some wind but not that bad.

As soon as work was over I got into the city and met my new Couchsurfer. This week is really really busy. On friday I get 2 new ones again. Will Brubaker is from USA and has lived on Antarctica for 2 seasons. He showed me some amazing pictures after dinner and then we went for a walk in my neighbourhood. I am still amazed by the penguins and the southern lights
I had to go to bed early because I am noting that it is sooo hard to get up in the morning. I made the bed in the living room for Will and I think he fell asleep immediately. I read a bit and played with the cat before falling asleep.

+15Cs today as well. It is not as good as 33 but Itll do. Way better than 0 at least. Its spring. Its spring. Tralalalalala.

Work is good. Ive started reading a book that seems quite intersting today. Monkeys are made of chocolate it is called. It has lots of stories about Costa Rica with facts and some interesting stories woven into it. Lucky for you guys all the stories are published online already and I will add them to my blog as you read them.
I read 3 stories to and from work today and thay are:
Monkeys are made of chocolate,