Snowshoeing (Kvinen Part 2)

        After a delicious pasta dinner and a well deserved night's sleep--especially for the skiers--we woke up on Tuesday morning to another gorgeous day! I was up early, so I helped collect water and start the ovens. To get water, we had to walk down the snowy hillside to the river, fill our buckets and carry them back up to the house. While the house was amazing, it was still technically a cabin, and we remembered that fact every time we needed to use the restroom. The utedo (outdoor toilet) was very nice, but it was really something seeing your breath in the bathroom, and freezing your butt on the toilet seat. There was very little light at the cabin after dark, and walking to the utedo I saw more stars than I've ever seen! Here are some pictures of the cabin:

        Tuesday was so nice out, so after breakfast most of us went outside to hang out with the dogs, and just enjoy the sunny day. Around noon, Odd came back and gave us a little history of the area. Odd had a real grandpa vibe about him, and was a very interesting man with a lot to say. After seeing how long and arduous the ski trip to the cabin was for NLC, I was a bit anxious about my skiing ability. Knowing I'd be in that group for the way back, I decided I could use some practice (I think I've only been cross country skiing once, and that was years ago across a lake). I grabbed a pair of skis, and Alina read her book outside while I attempted to get up and down a few small hills. In 20 minutes, I think I only fell 10 times. Success!

        The day that we arrived at Kvinen was March 8th--International Women's Day. We had planned to hold an activity that night, learning about and celebrating women from around the world, but after our long day of skiing and sledding we decided to postpone until Tuesday. That evening was my group's turn to make dinner, so we made tacos! Everything went smoothly until we took out the tortillas and found that after they'd been frozen, they'd all stuck together. With the help of some of the Global girls, we heated them on the stoves and peeled them apart one by one. Dinner was a success, and afterwards each NLC student got up and spoke a little about the lives of women in their home countries, as well as any personal experience with feminism. Ananda had also made a little quiz about feminism and famous women which was fun. 

        Wednesday it started to snow, and Odd came back to let the rest of the class try dogsledding. I took a long nap inside, curled up on the couch next to the fire. That afternoon we drank lots of hot chocolate--with the whipped cream that my group had specially requested! We were supposed to travel home on Thursday, but with the impending blizzard, we were worried we wouldn't be able to leave until Friday--the day of the school prom. Everyone was nervous about the time it would take to get back, but at the end of the day it was decided that we would leave in the afternoon on Thursday, when the weather was supposed to clear a little. To be time efficient, the teachers decided that the majority of NLC would take the dogsleds--regardless of whether or not they'd gone already--while the Norwegians--'born with skis on their feet'--would do the hard work and ski back. 

        We spent Thursday morning cleaning the cabin and packing our bags, waiting for Odd. When he arrived however, he came with the decision that after seeing us fall so many times on the sleds, it simply wouldn't be safe for us to travel back on them. Instead, he had brought us ten pairs of snowshoes. (Remember, it's 11km (7 miles) through mountains). We set off almost immediately, while the skiers finished cleaning. Everyone was tired and frustrated--snowshoeing is hard work, and we hadn't been expecting it. In the snow it was hard to see the snowmobile trail, and the first half was spent either walking uphill, or across the seemingly endless lakes. 

        Despite leaving so long after us, the skiers caught up about a third of the way back. Until then, our group had all stuck together, keeping in a line and taking breaks every once in a while. On the uphills, it was easy to keep up with the skis, so Heiden, Alina and I got ahead of our group, sticking with the skiers for the second third. Eventually the downhills proved to the advantage of the skiers, so the three of us marched determinedly back through the storm--arriving just in time to see them finish shoveling out the buses. The rest of the snowshoers arrived in groups, and we were all glad to be off of our feet, sitting in the warm and dry bus. The best moment of the day was when Marianne got on and announced that we'd be ordering pizza, to which my class responded with thirty seconds of loud and excessive cheering!

        We got back to the school around 9 and ate pizza together in the peisestue. There was some leftover food, so we divvied it up (I got a can of whipped cream!) and then all rushed to take showers. I feel pretty accomplished having walked 7 miles in snowshoes through a storm, and though my feet were killing, I'd say it turned out to be a pretty great day!