Pumpkin face

I must admit I don't really understand Halloween and this day is not really anything special for me. But... But. I love pumpkins and everything edible that can be made of them. That is why yesterday was very busy for me in the canteen, as I had to empty three pumpkin guys. I also had a chance to carve a scary face in one of them and I haven't done this before! I prepared the creamy pumpkin soup with chilli, ginger and cinnamon. It's one of my favourites and it will be served for lunch today, yay! I hope everybody will like it.

Hilsen
~Stella

Northern lights

It is hard to see the northern lights when you are living in a big city such as Trondheim. But I don't lose hope and I check the forecasts all the time. I am also looking for some dark spots in the city close to the water, so I can just run there in the middle of the night and enjoy the view of Aurora. I hope it will happen soon!

Tips for checking the forecasts:

• Auroral activity
• Weather

One my EVS friends who lives in Steinkjer had a chance to see the Aurora from the roof of her house, here is her photo.

Hilsen
~Stella

Bondens marked

On one of the past Saturdays there was a Farmers Market in the city centre. Such events take place every once in a while and it's a great idea both for farmers to sell their products and for us to be able to buy eco and organic food, meat and fish. Except the possibility of just purchasing good quality food, there were also many people who were actually cooking and giving away for example pancakes, sausages, waffles, jams and so on. I totally support Bondens Marked! If you want to check when will be the next one, just visit this page.

Hilsen
~Stella

Chasing sunsets

Chasing sunsets is one of the hobbies of mine. This is how the crazy sunset looks like in Trondheim. Look closely on the left side, you can see people swimming!

Hilsen
~Stella

Welcome dinner

This was a really lovely welcome dinner. Great food, great people, great atmosphere and Frida, the cutest white creature ever. Thank you!

Hilsen
~Stella

Eplekake

Fridays at Brygga... This time we enjoyed ourselves eating an apple cake with vanilla pudding and crumbles, all served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Deilig!

Hilsen
~Stella

On-arrival training in Romarheim

As you probably know being a volunteer is a very responsible task for a young person. But apart from the seriousness there is also a lot of time for fun. Each volunteer is obliged to participate in a on-arrival training as soon as he reaches the project destination. I had my arrival training last week and it happened around three weeks after my arrival to Norway. Not too soon, not too late as I already had some time to get to know Stavne and Trondheim. The goal of organizing such trainings is to allow the newly arrived people from all over the country to meet up in one place, get to know each other and spend some quality time together.

My on-arrival training took place in Romarheim, a tiny place around 80 km from Bergen. I also had a chance to visit and walk around Bergen so this was a really great advantage. From all organizations around Norway arrived more than 30 people and we stayed together for a week in a school building next to the fjord. We participated in training, group tasks, discussions, games. All of them shared a common topic: why are we volunteers and what does it mean. What values we carry and can we give from ourselves and what can we get in return. We had a great time together and I deeply hope that we will travel to visit each other during our projects.

Hilsen
~Stella

Trip to Meråker

On one of past Saturdays I had a chance to go on a horse riding trip to Meråker together with some people from Brygga. It was my first time to go on such adventure and of course I didn't expect that I will be riding an Icelandic horse. It was a really great experience as the horses go one after another without the need to say any commands. This was quite convenient for me as I am not really experienced in horse riding. We rode through hills and bushes enjoying the beautiful views of a harsh Scandinavian nature. We even had a cup of coffee prepared over a campfire while resting next to a small lake.

I feel really good being a volunteer and that I have the opportunity to be a part of such amazing events.

Here are some photos :)

Hilsen
~Stella

Sjokoladekake

It is really great to be a volunteer and to love baking. I am really happy about it, especially when I have the opportunity to bake for all those people at Brygga. I am even more happy if they like the cake I managed to bake. And I think chocolate makes everybody happy.

This one below I baked some time ago and each time I look at this photo, I wish that one of those plates was still on my table. It was insanely delicious!

I can of course share the recipe, just let me know!

Hilsen
~Stella

New volunteer says hello!

So here I am in Trondheim. Let me do a tiny little introduction. My name is Justyna and I come from Poland. I will be a volunteer in Stavne for the next few months. I will keep this blog updated as often as I can and I will write about my activities, work and projects. Apart from this I would also like to post some handy information for the next volunteers, about life in Norway, Trondheim and interesting places that can be visited. Please read and enjoy.

If you would like to see more photos from Norway, please feel free and pop in on my personal blog here.

Hilsen
~Stella