A New Friend?

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I have now been here for 4 days (wow - it seems like longer) and I think I may have a friend. By this I mean I have someone who actually talks to me in English when I sit down at meals! She is one of the patients in the group I am working with, a teenage girl with cerebral palsy and mobility issues. We bonded over Harry Potter - what else would you expect? She taught me the words "Humlesnurr" (Hoom-le-snooreh) which means Dumbledore, and Hermine (Her-meen-ah) which is Hermione. I know right? bffs. She also taught me a lot about Norway FOR EXAMPLE: Here, on Christmas, (WHICH IS CELEBRATED DEC 24th).. apparently Norwegian Jesus was born early.. kids wait until the END of the day to open presents! But she told me that instead of being sloppy and dressed in pajamas, they are all in dresses and have enjoyed a nice meal and they save the best for last. hmph. I still think we have it right. Norwegian Santa sits in a barn and eats porridge, she doesn't think he has reindeer..
speaking of reindeer, they are everywhere here (apparently) and I still haven't seen one! I went for a ski today ..once again by myself.. and was on high patrol for loose reindeer that would attack me (my patient later informed me that they aren't dangerous) ..it is kind of scary though being an hour away from the center in the middle of the snow with no one around and it's so quiet you can hear yourself think! it would really have been cool to see, much cooler than the stupid wildlife in Canada.. oh and also my patient has never seen a squirrel! Just think - next time you meet someone not from here you can show them our courageous and noble Canadian Squirrel. (or just show them alix - heh) The past couple of days have been good with the Blue Group. They are a group specifically focusing on skiing for their habilitation program. VHSS has both habilitation and rehabilitation programs - Habilitation is usually for children, learning to cope with their disability, learning opportunities to be active and participate outdoors and learning how to be independent with their disability. Rehabilitation is usually for adults who have been diagnosed later on in life or have underwent a trauma like a car accident and are trying to either stay at work, get back to work, or keep an independent lifestyle.
In the habilitation ski program, we have done various activities outside on skiis to see how they are on skiis, and then assessed them especially for the expedition coming up next week. Today we went about 500m away to a "sami" house (Norwegian Native people - known for hearding reindeer) and say in there for a while, then played some games with the skiis. Tomorrow we are outside all day and even having lunch outside over a fire. It's so great seeing kids on skiis who maybe haven't had a previous opportunity to be active. The center has so much adaptive equipment (seated skiis, sledges, all kinds of widths and lengths and kind of skis) that they are able to make something work for every patient.. it's so great to see.

ps. in an attempt to bond with my new friend I told her that I watched desperate housewives.. and then she asked me questions about it, and asked me to watch it with her... sooooooo if anyone has a brief synopsis of all the seasons they would like to present.. I would love that.

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Comments

[Mickey Genn]

New Friend Status
How is the status of your new friend? Has your cover been blown?

[Linds]

Looks awesome Kirb. Are the "sami" like Inuit? Do you have any pictures of your patients/"friend"? Desperate Housewives is a pretty complex show...you might have a hard time following the plotline.

[C Bear]

I love what the rehabilitation center is about. Sounds like a really really cool place with great ideals. I bet they have a huge success rate in a lot of their patients.