Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Beautiful Norway

I've been home for a week now.  I've fallen behind on blogging, and have so much I need to write (at some point, but probably not today).

Most of you know that before I came home, my mom came to see me in London.  As I ended my time working she came to see where I had been living and to meet those that I've been working, living, and building friendships with during the last six months.  We spent a week touring parts of London, partaking in parts of team life, as well as packing my two suitcases to come home.

My mother and I then had a vacation planned.  However, this vacation?  It did not go as planned!  We ended up going on our own adventure that was completely unexpected.  Long story short...I ended up really sick (I've never been so sick in my life!) and hospitalized in the country of Norway.  (Being hospitalized in Norway...That's something to kick off the bucket list, right??)

From what I could see out of the ambulance, Norway looks like a beautiful country!  I'd actually like to return one day to visit and to see more of the country outside of the hospital walls.  In my hospital room, I did have quite the view though!  The sun didn't go down until nearly midnight.  At one point in the morning, I remember waking up (probably around 4 a.m.), and the sky was literally purple.  I've never seen anything quite like it.  It would have made quite the picture had I not been feeling too lousy to take one!

All my doctors and nurses were really nice.  They were all tall and blonde...and they spoke English really well!  I can't remember how long I was in the hospital...If it was one night or two...But I remember a nurse coming in my room in the early hours to check on me.  I hadn't met this nurse yet, and when she woke me up she said something.  Being half asleep and confused, I couldn't understand her.  My response was, "huh?"  She repeated herself.  Once again, I said, "Huh?"  She then repeated herself again...and then it hit me.  I told her, "Oh, I only speak English!"  I had forgotten I was in another country where English is not their first language.

Apparently hospitals in Oslo (the city we were in) rotate every month on which one takes the foreigners.  Again, they on I ended up was really great and the doctors were wonderful.  (The hospital I was in is actually a Christian hospital.)  Someone asked me, "Were you scared?  Were you scared to be in the hospital, sick, and overseas?"  I told them, "Honestly?  No...I wasn't."  I think I was too tired and feeling too horrible to be scared, but I also somehow knew there wasn't really a reason to be scared.  After all, God was/is in control - even if there was a problem that had required surgery.

Really, any energy I had was spent on wanting to go home.  The funny thing is, I told God, "I just want to go home...California or London!"  After I said that, I thought, "Wait - when did I start considering London home??"  I knew that it had become in some ways, but didn't realize that it had become home even in these kinds of moments.  (Maybe it had to do with the comfort of knowing I had friends who would be there if anything was truly wrong...I'm not sure...But I think that had something to do with it.)

Not only was I not scared because I lacked energy, but I knew that I had family and friends praying for me!  I got messages from friends around the world telling me that they were praying for me.  Messages ranged from California, the Philippines, London, Japan, Tennessee, Spain...The list goes on.  God has blessed me with really great friends, family members, and prayer partners!

For those of you who prayed, thank you so much!  You are a blessing.  I am home now and have just about gotten back to my normal self.  There wasn't anything wrong found that concerns the doctors here in California, or in Norway.

Now I'm working on adapting to my home in California.  If you'd like to continue to pray for me, pray for the adapting process.

Until next time!

The Travelin' Chick,
Crystal