Oslove <3
A honeymoon in greece and a crazy time in Oslo.
Back from Greece now, and been meaning to write so here goes. Honeymoon was great. Corfu was beautiful and we just relaxed and enjoyed one another and the scenery the whole time. The first couple of days were very rough as we missed Ziggy a lot. Especially Alexander who had never been a day away from him in 7 months… He was surprised at how much it actually affected him. I remember that feeling quite well in the Newark Airport crying suddenly thinking of my dog’s face… No shame.
So yes, Greece was amazing we just ate a lot of delicious food, drank a lot of tequila, and laid by the beach and pool (although when I got home my best friend from NORWAY was MORE TAN than me… good lord.) Then it was Friday. We were on our way to dinner and for some reason I was carrying my phone (which I hadn’t done the whole trip) when I got a text from my father in law. He said he hoped we were having a good vacation but that Oslo had been bombed. I told Alexander and he was immediately taken back. We thought it was false information or a really terrible joke. We had dinner and talked about what it could be the whole time. Finally we just said, ok, we have to go to the room and turn on CNN and really see what’s going on.
From that point until about Saturday afternoon we were totally glued to the news. Suddenly we were seeing images we never thought we would see. Even the words “bombing” and “Norway” on the screen felt like it was totally unreal. Obviously the media was immediately speculating it was Islam or Al-Qaeda related (to be completely honest, so was I) But then we saw that there had been a shooting at Utøya and we thought “there’s no way this is Al-Qaeda. this is one guy that is just crazy. I bet he’s even Norwegian” Well, turns out we were right. It was one guy. One Norwegian guy. One Norwegian, white blonde hair & blue eyed totally bat shit crazy right winged Christian guy. All of the sudden I could hear people around the world taking big gulps of their own words. (Well except maybe the fucking idiots (excuse my language) at good ol’ Fox News) The whole thing was/is totally insane and sad and scary. It felt so much like the morning of 9/11. But strangely, this felt more “close to home”. First of all, I was only 11 when 9/11 happened so I could only grasp so much,a nd secondly the the images on my tv screen were that of a place I used to live 6 blocks away from. We had family and friends that could have possibly been injured or killed. And I felt so strongly for the Norwegian people. They have never experienced anything like that, and in America we are basically accustomed to it by the time we can understand it (look at the Oklahoma City bombings, the shoe bomber, Columbine) we grow up with this stuff. It just doesn’t happen in Norway.
I remember listening to the mayor of Oslo speak and thinking “My god, he’s so Norwegian… I love him!” He was just so level minded and peaceful and considerate of the victims and the citizens that were in shock and scared rather than seeking revenge on this man. Same with the Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg… When he spoke I felt “I am so proud to be living in this country right now. These people care so much about their own and cherish the core values of their proud little country.” It’s really quite mindblowing when you think, in retrospect, of the famous “smoke em out” catchphrase. (insert facepalm.jpg here)
We were eager to get home at that point. We were worried about our dog. Our friends. Our city. When we did get home it was so surreal because it felt like everything and nothing had happened. The next day we went to go pick up Ziggy from his sitter’s house and on the way had to pass by the courthouse. It was a media circus. Never seen anything like it and never expected to see it in little Oslo. That night we went downtown to stand with half the city and pay our respects. It was so humbling to see so many people care so much about not only the fallen but the principles and freedom they are determined to keep. I felt so grateful to be a part of it, if that makes any sense. Of course I would prefer that it never had happened… But to be with these people and share in their grief and see their true character was a profound experience.