God påske :D an answered prayer

PALM SUNDAY
My mind has been filled with thoughts. It's gonna be a long week. And it's gonna be enough for me to find myself. That was what I planned to do. So even if the New Moon has been so tempting, I placed it back in the shelf and focused on the things that I should do during the whole week.

I stayed with Ate Joann. I'm always with her during weekends. It's always nice to stay with a family. We went to church at 9:00 am and brought back home some pine tree leaves.hehe (yeah, it's supposed to be palms but it doesn't matter. It has the church's blessing). We went to clean the showroom afterwards and then at 5:30 we went to church- in FCC Filipino Christian Community. I was invited by Angele and I was glad I did go there. The songs were uplifting, the energy of the people there was contagious and I find myself happy and sad at the same time.

That Sunday I learned something. It was something I hadn't known in my 23 years of existence- the meaning of the cross: the horizontal line represents human relationships and the vertical line represents God's relation towards us-- humans; Jesuschrist in the center is the One that connects God and humans. I knew that He died to save us. What has became clearer for me that day was that Jesus wouldn't have died if it wasn't for our sins. Death has no power over Him but because of the burden of our sins, He died. He chose to die for us. He suffered and He died, loving us...

It was a nice Sunday. I thought of home. I thought of how we usually spend the Holy Week together. And before homesickness got me, I remembered what the priest said that morning, "Carry your cross with a smile." And before I knew it, Sunday has ended. :)



HOLY MONDAY
I woke up early that morning. I had to go home to do some cleaning. My host family were having their vacation for a week in Spain so I wasn't in a rush. There wasn't really a lot of interesting things during that day. There was none actually. :p
I cleaned the house at 10:00 am and went to Ate Joann's apartment at 7:00 pm. Yeah, I cleaned for about eight hours. I changed the bed linens, did the washing, cleaned the cupboards with a loud music turned on. And it was fun. Because I took my time. I mean, it wasn't all cleaning. Sometimes I stop and read something that gets my attention (Yes, books. A lot of them. And in English!) or listen to a song.
By the time I was at the apartment, Ate Joann already prepared a very delicious dinner that I forgot about fasting.
We went to the living room afterwards, watched TV while having tea and chatting with people on the net. And hours later, it wasn't Monday anymore.

Yeah, it was different. I was thinking how Mondays of the Holy Week had been. We usually spend it in silence. It was time to refrain from all the noise of the world. We used to watch films like The Passion of the Christ and The Ten Commandments. And the TV programs were especially for the lenten season (except for Wowowee). We listened to dramas over the radio which were all about the things most people ignored--the teachings of Christ and the value of His sacrifice. We try to maintain the solemnity and reflect about life.
As I thought of that in bed, I wished that I was home. :)

HOLY TUESDAY
I was incredibly slow that Monday that I wasn't able to do all the things I needed to do at home. So I went back and finished my work.
I went back at Ate Joann's apartment at 6:00pm. We had dinner. And we talked. A few hours facing the computer and Tuesday has ended.
It's really not worth reading this. :p

HOLY WEDNESDAY
Can I just skip Wednesday? :D

Thanks! :)


MAUNDY THURSDAY
I woke up from a phone call. I could not believe I wasn't able to wake up on my alarm! My heart was deliberately pounding across my chest as i gathered my part-asleep-part-awake brain cells to focus on waking up. It was Anjie, informing me they have arrived. They (her and Jojo) went to Denmark for a short vacation and Glogie's with them. And I'm picking up Glogie! I hurriedly put on my jacket and ran to the station. I was unfortunate enough to miss the train. So I waited like twenty minutes. And Anjie called again that she had to see her sister but Jojo was with Glogie so I didn't have to worry. She said that they were waiting at the Burger King.
Five minutes after boarding the train, I was in Oslo Central Station. I'm not good with directions so it took me some time to find them. And they weren't in Burger King. They were actually sitting near Narvessen.
And there she was.
There was Glogie giving me that only-a-child-can kind of smile. Wuhooo!!!
I was so so happy. But there were a lot of emotions too. It was just like yesterday when I sat at my room crying because I really missed her. I couldn't believe it has been more or less two months already. And much more, I couldn't believe we are together once again.
I was grateful Jojo was there with her because it was her first time in Oslo. So, the three of us went to the T-bane station, the sub-way train. We stopped at National Theatret and bid goodbye to Jojo and then we took the trikk (tram)to Ate Joann's place.

(This is the picture of the day, by the way)
Then, we went to Ate Joann's place and ate there. She had an appointment with Marlyn so she couldn't go with us to the church in the afternoon. It felt so good to be in the church. Somehow, we felt like we were at home especially after the mass when we attended pasyon. It's like singing verses of the passion of christ (in Tagalog)  from the very beginning (including the life of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph) until... I don't know really. hehe It was supposed to end the next day but we decided we had to go home. It was really nice experience. And the people there were really nice. We were divided into groups so the singing could last until the next day. And the tune changed after every chapter. I loved it. But we couldn't stay. So we left (Glogie, Anjie & me) and went to Vinderen (my place). But we were just there for some time. We waited for Jojo and Arjay and then we went to Anjie's place. We slept there. And Thursday ended with me feeling happy being with someone I've missed so much.



GOOD FRIDAY

Jam was arriving. And we were late! (Again) Glogie and I hurriedly went to the train station with Arjay. Jam had been waiting for an hour already. Arjay was with us. Jam was eager to meet Arjay because well, Arjay is really hilarious. He can make fun out of everything. Absolutely everything. But she doesn't know him yet. So we decided to play a little joke. Arjay approached Jam saying he should pick her up because we couldn't make it. Glogie and I were hiding. Jam didn't look nervous nor disappointed. When Arjay said he had to take a picture of her, she gladly posed. And here it is.  

After the shot, we laughed so hard the people around thought we were crazy. So that was it. :) We went to Ate Joann's place and then we went to church afterwards. It was the last supper. Somehow I missed how it was done at our place. The Last Supper is a big thing. I mean, it was like a feast at the church. And almost all of the people were coming to watch the play which was like reliving what had happened before. But I was grateful enough we could attend the mass. And later on, we went to Anjie's place. It was out of plan. But we did. And we did what people don't usually do during good fridays. We were singing and dancing and drinking. And we were laughing so hard we could hardly breathe because of Jojo and Arjay. They dressed up, Jojo looked like a bald girl who was very sexy in body hugging blouse and micro mini skirt. He had really woberful legs. And Arjay who looked like well... he looked like a gay. Sorry... he wasn't really that pretty. and his muscles were bulging out from the blouse he wore and the mini skirt looked like it was screaming for help. hehe and they danced while Jam was singing and Anjie was recording a video and Glogie and I were laughing so hard. We got drank. I felt really dizzy. And Glogie cried. We talked at the bathroom and I couldn't stop her from crying. She was concerned about me, getting drunk. And she had worries. Which I thought was absurd but now I could fully understand. When we were asked why she cried, we answered it was because of the fried chicken, because it has lost all of its skin.

And Friday ended... yeah.. I know... It would never happen at our place. i would probably spend my time reflecting. And then I'd sleep early because there will be a mass at dawn for the blessing of fire and water.

But it happened. Ít wasn't what I intended to happen but nevertheless, I wasn't regretting anything. A little guilty maybe. But, I was still happy. I guess. :)

BLACK SATURDAY

We woke up late. (As usual). I expected headache but there was none. Only we were laughing recalling what had happened that night. And they were teasing us who got drunk and who cried. hehe That's just how it is. There was no mass that day so we went back at Ate Joann's place and went to Vigeland's Park. It was Jam ang Glogie's first time in Norway. At least they get to see one of Norway's most famous landmarks. We had fun. And here is the collage for that day.

EASTER SUNDAY

Then Sunday came. Ate Joann was with us. So we went for a walk at the fortress. The place was actually called Akershus Festning or Akershus Slott. It was a medieval castle built to protect Oslo and it was also used as a prison. But now, it's one of Norway's major attractions.

We walked along Aker Brygge and took pictures and was glad how sunny the weather was. We ate at Burger King where Ate Joann paid for everything!hehe And thereafter we went to church. And I've never felt more grateful for such a wonderful week.

Here is the collage for this day.

And when the night came, it was time to say goodbye. They had to catch their bus at 9:00 pm. We were in a hurry while saying goodbye because we had a little problem with their luggage. We left it at the luggage storage at the station and the locker wouldn't open up even when we had the right code. We had to call someone in charge and it took some time. It was because it was too full. hehe.. There should be enough space from the door. But it was fine. We got their bags anyway. And then.. yeah.. goodbye.

No, I didn't cry. Though there was a little pinch in my heart when I saw the bus leaving. But I know we will see each other soon. And I knew that God had better plans for us. And He gives us not what we asked but what He knew was best for us.

And I am just grateful for that... my prayer was answered... it's time to give thanks. :)