Christmas in the tropics part 3

I got some pictures off of our friends today so today's post will just be a picture dump of a few things that happened here in the last week(s).

 celebrating Christmas at our friend's house

 Alia found some coconuts

 the guys rocking skirts - they are so tough!

got to sit in on a lecture about international relations at the local university

Erlend went to our neighbor's 'baby hair cutting' party. When a baby is 40 days old they have his or her head shaved because they believe that the hair from inside the womb is dirty. Wealthier people use the opportunity to throw a party - only men were invited though

 Alia got some awesome floaties send from from Tante Juli and Onkel Matze - DANKE!

We were invited to a friend's house on the 26th for a Christmas celebration.

Notice how in the first room there are snacks on the floor and we were encouraged to help ourselves to them

Then the showed us into the next room where there was an amazing spread of food

 They left us alone for the meal though, it is not customary to eat with your guests

 The cute daughter of our friend, she is just a few months younger than Alia - 

perfect for inheriting her clothes

this little one is eager to stand and wants to start walking without help, 

which is not working out quite yet

 Goodbye, that's it for today!

Christmas in the tropics part 2

This Christmas day was spend in church, having coffee with friends, drinking coconut juice and enjoying Christmas presents

 Alia with her very over the top tricycle - she loves it!

 drinking young coconut juice at the side of the road

soft fresh coconut - yum!

Christmas in the tropics

Today we had the privilege of celebrating Christmas with a very international group. The nationalities represented where English, Norwegian, Indonesian and quite a few Germans.

We remembered together the real reason why we celebrate Christmas - because we received the greatest gift of all: God send His Son to earth, and He died for our sins, in our place, so that we can have a relationship with God! Thank you, Lord Jesus!

For lunch we got to eat traditional Norwegian porridge with other Norwegians.

Then we all met at our German friends house for good food, singing, listening and watching to the Christmas story and presents

Alia is not quite sure how she feels about pappa opening HER present...

Alia is now a proud owner of her first cellphone - 

maybe that will keep her from wanting to touch and eat ours?

(Tusen takk for gaven, tante Kristine!)

Had a lovely time singing together, even Alia "sang" with the group

it's raining mangos

Today our mango tree was ready for harvest. There were so many, it must have been over 50!

Our friend Pak Puji helps us with our garden once a week.

When I offered him our ladder he just smiled and said he can climb - and he sure can - we were very impressed with his climbing skills!

 the after picture, some of the branches had to be cut down as well because they were growing into our roof

 Alia found it all extremely exciting

 very interested audience - the kids even helped to put all the mangos in bags which will give to our neighbors because there is no way we can eat all of these mangos

Christmas party

Tonight we got to enjoy a Christmas party with our co-workers and there was a "gingerbread house" competition. Because of a lack of gingerbread we used crackers and wafers. Kristine and our little family were on one team and low and behold we actually won!

Our construction - Big Ben

the last 2 days

The last two days Erlend and I have spend in bed (well, there and in the bathroom, I will spare you the details) with what we are hoping is just a stomach bug that will go away, preferably tonight!

We are both feeling really weak and still have lots of joint and muscle aches, but we think the worst part is over.

We are so thankful for all our friends who help take care of Alia and who brought us "dehydration fluids" - you know who you are - THANK YOU!

sickos

touristy stuff

We went on a wee trip this weekend and we got to visit one of the tourist spots in this area - an old temple.

There is a rule that everybody has to wear a skirt when visiting this sight - 

Erlend and Alia were a bit "unsure" about that procedure

 Family picture

 aaand zoom out - we walked all of those steps!

Erlend knows now how it would feel to weigh 10 kilos more (carried Alia) and he is sure he would have knee problems

A lot of people asked to take pictures with Alia

 my favorite people

 perk of living in the tropics - swimming outside in December!

one more - just because they are both so cute :-)

for more pictures go to our friend's blog

not wrong, just different #2

When Erlend went to the store today he got this back as his change

Apparently it is totally exceptable here to give candy if you don't have the exact amount of 100 coins

university, post office and the street

The title tells you the places we have hung out at today.

In the morning we went to a lecture at a university. Our language helper is studying International Relations there and so we thought it could be interesting to just sit in and listen. It was a great opportunity to be exposed to language and Erlend said he could actually follow the lecture quite a bit, but only because he knew a lot about the topic already (so proud of my smart husband!).

In the afternoon we got some Christmas presents ready, went to the post office and send them. We were told that there was no way they were going to get to Europe in time for Christmas...oh well....

In the evening we hung out "on the street" in front of our friends neighbors house. We love this lady and her family, so nice, hospitable and patient with our limited language.

 It is so funny that Ibu S. looks so mad in this picture, because she is usually smiling :-). Alia loves being carried this (traditional) way and Ibu S. is happy to oblige.

Sorry about the terrible quality of all the pictures today, they were taken in the dark with a cellphone flash....

good stuff

We have had a few good days, food-wise.
Yesterday we had a Thanksgiving party with our American co-workers and thoroughly enjoyed all the amazing food that comes with such an event. Alia let us know, through an enthusiastic "Njom-njom-njom", that she is a fan of mashed potatoes, gravy and deviled eggs.

Today she got to try Norwegian Grøt (porridge) for the first time and that also was a hit. She even liked the raisins, much to Erlend's surprise. Now he is wondering, how Alia can be his daughter... :-).

We forgot to bring our camera or phones yesterday, hence the lack of Thanksgiving pictures. But we took a few unspectecular ones today...

 Hm, should I try this?

Alright, I will

early Christmas gifts

Today we got a HUGE package from our family in Norway! Erlend picked it up and come back with it during my language session. I had a hard time concentrating during the rest of the lesson because I just wanted to go and see what was in the package!

We had our own mini Christmas party during our lunch break and enjoyed thoroughly to unpack every single thing.

One of the first things Alia found was a book just for her and she loves it!

Is there anything else for me?

 Oh yeah, sweet headbands - maybe now people will stop asking if I am a boy!

Alia will not need any new clothes for quite a while!

Thank you so much to everybody who contributed to this package, we loved it!!!

Of course, my man was most excited about the meat

even the box and the wrapping paper provided entertainment for a long time

early

Today we bought a very abstract Christmas "tree" (that we can use as a lamp after Christmas) and I could just not wait to decorate it. I know, I know, it is not even December yet, but I think it is hitting us both more and more that we will actually not be with either of our families this Christmas... With no snow, no Christmas markets, no Christmas music playing on the radio, it is hard to feel like Christmas is coming close, so we are using any means to make ourselves feel a little bit more Christmasy...

the before picture

Alia "helping" pappa

 Christmas seems to be the time of year I find out about Erlend's hidden talents. I remember two years ago, he displayed, out of the blue, some mad gingerbread man decorating skills - and this year, who would have thought, I am amazed by how beautiful and efficient (very important to my German heart :-)) he can decorate a Christmas tree

 Done! Even though we might have to rethink our method of attaching the little balls, we just stuck them in there, and we have been hearing them fall back out onto the floor all evening.

Baby, it's cold outside!

This line from a popular Christmasy song has been stuck in my head because I have been so cold the last two days. I know what you are thinking, "Don't you live in the tropics?" Yes, we do, but somehow we seem to have adjusted to the climate rather quickly and all the rain and humidity makes us feel cold.

During our language session the other day, our language helper was so cold that I gave her one of our blankets. We were both surprised when we looked at the thermometer and it read 27 degrees Celsius - it felt so much colder than that!

This picture does not go at all with the topic of this post, 

I just wanted to put it up because she is just so darn cute :-)