Amazing Race Day 1 - Moose Shit and Mushrooms

        Waking up last Monday, I had no idea what to expect. We were about to start the Amazing Race, and had been given almost no information, save a packing list and a few tips from past students. All of them said "It'll suck, but you'll be glad you did it." Promising. 

        All of the NLC students participating packed their bags into the bus at 7:30 am, to be driven to an unknown destination. We hadn't even known who we'd be partnered with for this four day adventure until that morning, when names were drawn Hunger Games style out of jars--one boy and one girl per team. I waited with nervous anticipation while every single name was called: Valeria and Tommaso, Alina and Eric, Heiden and Ananda, Sofia and Bjorn, and finally, Evelyn and Tomimaru. 

        On the bus we were both terrified and excited. We had the trailer attached, but none of us had been allowed to look inside. (I was so anxious that it might be full of cross country skis). Marianne drove for around 2 hours until we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere. We still had no clue what the plan for the day was, what challenges awaited us. Everyone had been warned that the hardest part of Amazing Race was surviving with one's partner, and since I'm not close with Tomimaru, I didn't know what I could expect. 

        The five teams were dropped off in Kvinesdal, at the start of Barnevandrerstien, a 137 kilometer trek throughout Agder County. Historically, younger children from poor families would be sent away to find work on wealthier farms during the summer, and they would walk the trail to get there. We had watched a movie the week before in class about a child that took the path and worked on a farm. Little did we know that we should have been paying a bit more attention. 

        Tomimaru and I got to leave first, (the groups left 15 mins apart) because we answered Marianne's first set of questions the fastest. We had with us our day bags, which included a toothbrush, deodorant and a change of underwear for the next day. We'd all resigned ourselves to being stinky for the majority of the trip, and were geared up in our wool underwear, wool sweaters, wool mittens, socks and insoles. Ready to hike like Real Norwegians. 

        The task was to walk 11 kilometers from Kvinesdal til Snartemo. Since we led, we had to make sure that we found the way. We were obsessively following the blue markings on the trees and rocks, but every once in a while there was too much snow, or the marks were obscured, so Tomimaru would break out his Pokemon Go map, which had the Barnevandrersti on it. I think the other groups had a slightly easier time because they were able to follow in our footsteps--literally. 

        We hiked for a while, and partway through received some assignments from Marianne--worth points in the race. There were a few photo objectives, and we had to take a special mushroom back with us, but the strangest task was to collect moose poop. Yes, moose poop. Tomi stared at the trees looking for mushrooms while I stared at the ground with an eye out for poop. Eventually, we found both. I picked up the poop, so he had to carry it. Tomi and I got along really well throughout the entire hike. I led the way, which allowed me to set a comfortable pace, and though we didn't talk all that much, we had a really fun time. 

        We stopped for lunch around 3/4 of the way there, at the top of a huge hill overlooking the mountains. The trail was a lot of up and down through the snow, and since it wasn't entirely frozen, we kept accidentally walking into small streams. By the time we hit the road, our shoes and socks were soaked. (Luckily we were wearing our wool so it was all good). At the road, we figured we must be just about there. Wrong! It wasn't for another 2 kilometers or so that we actually hit the town. To get there, we had to pass through a dilapidated village with buildings reminiscent of a ghost town. We were just glad that we weren't staying there that night! 

        In town, we got to a giant sword, and thought that we'd hit the end, but we weren't exactly sure. The blue dots continued, and at that point we weren't as familiar with the (seemingly) never-ending Barnevandrersti as we are now. We decided that since it was still relatively early we would continue and see where the path went. Along the way, we had drunk all of our water, so when we passed by an old lady sitting outside, we approached (from a distance) and asked if she could fill our bottles. 

        She was extremely old, and though we spoke Norwegian, she responded roughly with (in Norsk) "You aren't from here; you don't speak Norwegian." Ouch. Eventually we got the point across and she ushered us in to get us water. It wasn't until leaving, when we shut the previously open door behind us, that we saw a giant sign on the door saying "Do not enter the Elderly Activity Center due to Covid-19". That was obviously bad on our part but we were thirsty! (Plus we had all received negative test results just days before and had been basically stuck at the school). 

        Tomi and I continued walking, and the trail led up a gigantic hill. It wasn't until we were half an hour up that Tomi realized he left his gloves at the Senior Center. We made the team decision to go back down, and that was a really good choice because we'd been meant to wait at the Sword and contact Marianne. (We really paved the way for the other groups because when they arrived (the first came over two hours after us) we had gained valuable experience and information). 

        After solving a riddle, we were picked up and brought to a hotel/bed and breakfast place where they served us delicious pizza and a fancy dessert. Definitely not how we thought our day would end. We each got to sleep in soft beds with heat, and there were even showers and wifi! I guess Amazing Race really can be Amazing. The next morning was just as nice. We had a yummy breakfast and warm drinks, and everything was looking up. It wasn't until we went outside that we saw the bikes.