Mountain nubmer five and the Euro2008 finals

This weekend was my second to last weekend in Bergen before traveling. Time has gone by quickly. On Saturday, the sun was shining. Stephi and I decided to hike Løvstakken, mountain number five for me. Stephi had climbed it during the seven mountain tour, and figured she could find the trail head. However, we ended up on a much smaller path up the mountain. Sometimes the trail was non-existent. We weaved our way up the mountain, and reached the top for beautiful views of the city. However, I had acquired a little friend on our mountain quest. I was now the proud host of a tick. Yuck…I would have to wait to get back into the city to get it out. We decided to follow a better marked trail down, but somehow the trail disappeared and we again found ourselves on a less traveled path. At times, it was almost straight down the mountain and we had to hold onto roots of trees as we climbed down. It was quite an adventure. After heading down the mountain, we decided to head straight back to the dorm to remove the tick. We didn’t have ice to freeze it with; instead we used a chunk of meat. After cooling it off for several minutes, Stephi removed it with tweezers. Having a tick in my arm is not something I would like to repeat this trip, or ever. Later that night, Stephi and I made dinner, and then headed to the movies to watch Sex in the City. After the movie, we went to Macumba, a popular African club. We listened to the music, danced, and people watched.

Sunday was the final game of Euro2008, the European Football(soccer) championships. I call it the Superbowl with an Olympic twist, as it is only held every four years. Germany was playing Spain. Stephi and I headed to and Irish pub in the city to watch the game. There was a mixture of fans for both teams which kept the evening lively. In the end, Spain won with spectacular play. It was interesting to watch how Europeans play sports. When players get cut they are immediately stitched up on the sidelines and then sent straight back in the game. They are only kept from playing if they continue to bleed. At one point the German captain had a nasty cut by his eye. They sewed him up and put him right back in the game. However, they hadn’t cleaned the blood from his face and neck; the referee ordered him off the field until the blood was gone.

I tested my last Norwegian subject this weekend and am finally ready to analyze my data. I am presenting a week from Wednesday. Then I will be off traveling in Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark with my parents, and then I’ll meet Chaz in Germany for another week of traveling.

Skål, Allison

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