170 Norwegians

Last week this place was turned upside down; an airplane full of Norwegians arrived to participate in the opening of three new churches, one of them being the one 20 meters from my appartment.

So we got up last Sunday morning to find that our peaceful corner of Dang were overcrowded by both Norwegians and Cameroonians, because this was an important event.

The church was filled to the brim, and a lot of people stood outside. The ceremony was of the very long kind, over 4,5 hours, and included a choir from Norway

and a lot of cameras

and a lot of stuff in french I didn't understand.

Even though I'm quite sure most of the Norwegians (me included) were bored to death in the end (it is limited how exciting sitting on a bench for 4 hours without understanding a word is), I never managed to make anyone admit it. They were in Africa, and in Africa everything is great, no matter how boring it is :).

During the week I spent a lot of time as poolguard, and I'm quite amazed how long those guys could stay in the water. When me and Vegard took our first bath the day after they left, Vegard spent about ten minutes complaining about how cold it was before he finally got in, but the norwegians could stay in for hours..

Since Vegard got ill for some days, I also got to go to Mballang twice. Mballang is a very idyllic place next to a lake. It was about one hour driving, but since we forgot the key the first time we(Helene, Gilbert and me) went we did it in half an hour the second time.. ;)

Our job there was to prepare some food, and entertain the kids as the grownups went for a prayer walk around the lake. So Helene took some of them on a boat-trip on the lake, and I played some games with them, and we were both very surprised when the parents came back and nothing wrong had happened.

The day after I had a similar trip with Eline, although no kids this time. This time I also went around the lake to collect trash. Luckily I brought my camera, because there were many great photos to take!

On our way back we got some action though; I was driving(my first time driving in Africa), and of COURSE we were stopped by the police. And of course he asked for my driving licence. And of course my driving licence were at Dang! We solved the situation by me and Eline not knowing French and our friend Gilbert talking us out of it.. I'll bring my licence next time.

On Sunday we opened the church in town, right next to the missionary station. This was much like opening the one at Dang, with both the norwegian choir and some local choirs.

During this service I also noticed how fascinated we Norwegians are by symbols. When they hung this cross at the wall, it happened to be right above the head of the governor of Ngaoundere. Instantly I heard behind me; «that's a strong symbolic action; a cross over Ngaoundere». My impression got even stronger when it was announced that during the communion, they had phone contact with a church in Molde to celebrate the communion at the exact same time..