Day 3 cont'd: Now that I've gotten some sleep...

So more about Oslo -  (now that I'm awake and able to write about it because I'm rested!)

It seems like EVERYTHING is under construction. Feels like no matter where we turned some road or road side was being dug up and things were closed off right and left. I guess it's because things are so cold and soggy all the rest of the year that when it's sunny in the summertime they take full advantage of it? I also think that it's because of the Olympics - they're coming to Norway next year, right? Anyway - some of the construction can be seen in the picture I took of the ski jump. 

It's been SOO warm. I wasn't imagining that it would be so hot. It's probably a combination of the lack of AC in most places (even the bus isn't very cool!!), the high humidity, the legit high temperatures and also the fact that we have to wear dress clothes wherever we go - but it's been sick-to-my-stomach warm a lot of the time. Not fun. I'm actually looking forward to some drizzlier weather.

All the bathrooms I've seen have been similar. In public bathrooms - from the airport to the church we were in to the mall we visited - the stalls are really tall and thin. The doors go pretty much to the floor if not all the way to the floor and the only way you can tell if they're full or not is from the actual lock on the doors that you turn from the inside, indicating a red or green "not vacant" or "vacant" signal on the outside. The toilets are all sort of square shaped with rounded edges and the way you flush them is by pushing a button on the top. In other bathrooms, the showers are all just part of the room. There is a curtain hanging from the ceiling or doors attached to the walls in the corners, and the shower heads are all the removable kind. The water just dumps down onto the floor and then they have these big squeegees on long sticks that you use to get all the water into the drain after you're done.

We've stayed at a hostel and then also with local families. We're staying with the Issaksons. She grew up in England and he's from Norway. They're a great family. We went to sleep downstairs and could hear them all yelling and screaming watching the world cup upstairs. Very nice, fun people.

I seriously can't tell you how much it looks like Maine. I'll take more pictures today so you can see it. But the foliage is the same, the curvy/twisty roads are the same, the way the dirt roads look and sound is the same, there are lakes EVERYWHERE and the only difference here is that there seem to be more little islands in the lakes than in Maine. And the ocean smells less like fish and salt, but I think it's because what we saw as "ocean side" was fjord - which is freshwater and saltwater mixed together. So i guess it would make sense for it to smell better.

I love you all!!