Dear Dan,
We're bidding farewell to Norway and Bergen's clouds are
teary to see us go ; )
Yesterday's beer tasting in Flåm's Ægir Brewery and last
night's bar hopping left me to sleep like a baby only to be disturbed by some
disturbing bass thumping from the bar below us. My dreams took me to a techno
bar and I then had to engage in the formidable post-midnight task of emptying
my bladder in a shared bathroom (by the other guests on our floor). You know me
well enough to know my loathing for public bathrooms. My threshold for pain is
reasonably high. But if you ever decided to extract top secret secrets from me
about my past lives, you know what to do, right? Lock me up in a public
restroom with no ventilation. Of course, do keep in mind that my mindfulness
techniques are getting far superior practice on this trip!
This morning's walk to see the "Red Church" was
magical. The clouds hung low in the hillside picturesque houses. They didn't
seem ready to wake up from their cozy bed in the hills.
Our second time around in the same hotel we stayed in a
couple days earlier, was different. Different building, different wifi
connections (connecting versus no
connection), different breakfast (thanks for advocating for a vegetarian
option), different bathroom situation
(our private pee-poop pit versus coop style with 10 other people, all of
whom had very active bowel and bladder movements!), different setup. But it
didn't matter. It was comfortable, a clean decent place to sleep, and had free
breakfast. Our second time around was different.
Our second time on the boat through the Sonjefjord was
different. It was a fancier boat with an easier standing setup in the back.
Which meant that it was a lot less windy on the top deck and also I had to bust
out my standing-in-a-Delhi-bus kickass ninja skills. Especially ready was I for
the creeper who kept trying to take photos of me. You're in front of the most
gorgeous glacial valleys and phenomenal waterfalls, and you want to take a
picture of me?? Nincompoop. The views, not my views, were out of worldly. They
didn't exist in time or space, yet they occupied all of the time and space my
imagination could fathom. Our second time around was different.
Our second time on the train was distention than the first.
Felt like a ride in a less comfortable seater class Shatabdi Express. The toilet
location planner for the drain must've never had to vacate her bladder on a
train. Who puts a toilet right on the junction of train cars?! I slept like a
baby and you were kind enough to let me snore on your lap. Still, the ride was
safe, comfortable, smooth, and took us to the place we wanted to go. Yet,
our second time around was different.
Our second time walking around the streets of sweet Bergen
was different. Thanks to the thorough Julie tour, we knew where we wanted
to go without getting too lost. Although getting lost with you, I'm realizing,
is one of my favorite things to do. We wandered through the main park and
down into Bryggen to see the shops in the old wooden houses by the fish market and port. We
alleyed in and out in the light drizzle of the evening and hit jackpot when we
found 3 vegetarian items on a menu (4, but oyster sauce didn't come from oyster
mushrooms ; ).
We watched dusk paint the streets with shadows while we sipped
on King Christian's favorite beer at the only bar allowed to serve it in Norway. We felt mild stress
trying to grab a seat at the hip and trendy bar No Stress and then got rudely
thrown out of Felix for having our own water bottle (no libation without
hydration). We noticed the different food and drink choices at McDonalds,
Starbucks, and 7-Elevens.
We wondered how many cigarettes a day the average
smoking Norsk smokes. We noticed the things that were the same from two nights
ago in Bergen. And we noticed that our second time around was different.
I appreciated the difference. It reminded me to not become
too complacent and pretend that I knew what was going on. It also reminded me
to keep my mind and heart open to the sameness in new situations and the
difference and newness in old ones. It reminded me to not take any experience
for granted and leave space on our adventure for surprises.
It's been only 5 days since we ran to catch the bus in our
dear Boulder, but I'm not the same Suparna I was then.
This time around, I am different.
Are you, Dan?
Always,
-Suparna
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