November

Saturday between 3 and 5 pm:

Ein Koffer in Berlin

The weekend before the last Inger-Johanne, Ingvild and I went to Berlin! For me it was the first time, and I liked the city a lot. The shopping was a highlight, another was the DDR museum, where you can explore the daily life in DDR by opening drawers and doors and see what is behind. A museum for the voyeur...or the anthropologist - whatever you want to name it.

Experiencing Berling nightlife was also interesting. Germans must be the most down-dressed people in Europe. We were simply astonished by the amount of dull outfits (women partying in oversized plain, white blouses, men and women in baggy, striped brownish-grey jersey sweaters). How is that possible in a city with shop after shop full of cool clothes?

Biking in Lillomarka

Sunday biking in Lillomarka, one of the forests surrounding Oslo.

32

So I have turned 32. It feels good. For one thing, I am happy to have gotten this far. And I am also happy to be a number that I really like. 32 is one of my favourite numbers. My most favourite number is 8. So being 32 in 2008 looks promising. Of course, I am aware that my like and dislike for numbers is just a feeble attempt to try to be in charge of things that are beyond control. But after all, that's what human beings do, trying to control their environment with technology, magic being just one category. So I'll hang on to my number-magic and look forward to be 32 in 2008.

The bridal gnome

Anna caught the bouquet, Siobhán caught a whistling gnome.

Sofia + Michel

The first spark at that auspicious James Bond party in 2005 has now become a marriage. Which started with a fantastic party, last weekend, in den Haag.

Chayan and Mohan - in Oslo!

Weird, but in a nice way; Chayan and Mohan from the Dhaka Hash and the Dhaka dancefloors suddenly appeared in Oslo, in search for old friends, new business opportunities and salsa parties.

Visit from Malaysia

Colleagues from Malaysia in Oslo, this is Andrew and Nithi at the Ekeberg restaurant.

Nithi, Gaute and Grace

The Oslo fjord before sunset...

...and after

Dressed in Telenor

Back again

Once again I'm back again with a promise of trying to be more regular in the future... Some of you have asked for photos of my flat, and this is it. Not fully furnished, but working on it!

The last six months has been a period of intense consumerism. I say to myself that if I get all I need at once (like a macbook, a stereo, a tv, a new espresso kettle (where did my old go?), doormat, mop and bucket etc. etc.), I won't have to buy much for years to come. As my very advanced mobile phone has turned out to go from not reliable to unuseable for photos, I decided to get it over with and buy a digital camera on Saturday. The guy in the photo shop recommended an easy to use (I hate manuals!) Canon Ixus. He said: "This brand has been around a long, long time, even before I was born." "And I was born in 1986", he added gravely. Since when did my childhood start to take place in a distant past...?

Sankthans - Hvaler

I spent Midsummer eve in Åse's summer house at Hvaler, which is on the coast that turns into Sweden some miles futher south. We were 12 people. 7 of us took development studies together 10 years ago. While Midsummer rained away in Oslo, we had beautiful weather and sat outside all night, eating, drinking, singing and playing silly games.

Jim Stärk at Skaugum a Thursday night

To make up for what I wrote in the last entry: this is what Oslo can be like when it is not cold and rainy like it is now:

A Thursday night Jim Stärk played at Skaugum, a backyard bar. Åse, Espen, Liv, Liv's father (in Oslo for work) and I are sitting in the stairs with a view of the band...

...and the people.

Intermission

It's been a while since my last posting. Getting Internet in my flat turns out to be a long process, and so does getting a Macbook. Now it is cold summer rain in Oslo, so I will post some photos from Lahore, one of my favourite cities in the world.

Faisalabad

Very dry and very hot. It's 47 degrees in Faisalabad now. We have been to the field for four days, interviewing people. It's been very interesting, but hard work both physically and mentally. I thought I drank enough of both water and saline, but still ended up with a fever. Now we have come to Lahore, where I am resting in bed and doing pretty good. Seeing what I saw in Faisalabad makes me feel grateful that I can be sick in a comfortable bed in an airconditioned room.

This flag shows that the house belongs to Shia Muslims. A black flag with a hand on top.

Mad Cow's s lazy relatives.

Bangladesh being my default South Asian setting, I compare Pakistan with Bangladesh all the time. Many big things to say, but there was one small thing that struck me. Only one has asked me whether I am married, or how many children I have. In Bangladesh I even had an imaginary husband to refer to when I needed it, so I would tell the same story every time. Nithi, my male Malaysian colleague was often asked, however, and next time he goes to Pakistan he will be equipped with an imaginary wife named Candy... a sure success!

Eager beaver

A couple of weeks ago I visited Kjersti and Snorri in Nittedal. We took a walk past a beaver dam and saw this. It's hard for a numerically challenged person like me to say how tall the tree is, but it is so big that it is hard to see how the beaver was thinking to make use of it. Perhaps that is why she has left it. Or perhaps she is waiting for a storm to pull it over.