Transitions and happy times (June 2008)

It’s high time for another update from your friends across the world. The last six weeks or so have been a time of reflection, transition, and happy news for the two of us.


The last rebel group in Burundi started attacking the capital at the end of April and Elray and I experienced several nights of grenades flying over our house and exploding across the street, not too far from our house. This, in turn, led us to reconsider our stay in Burundi. We decided to take a break and go to Norway for a month. Once in Norway, we came to the conclusion that we really wanted to get started on our ‘normal’ life, in our new apartment and that therefore Elray wouldn’t be renewing his contract with the UN this June. It was a tough decision to make, because Elray loved his job. But it was the right decision. So we are here, writing this in our new apartment in Oslo, having moved in a couple of weeks ago.


It’s been very exciting to furnish our own apartment and to make it a home. We are almost there, missing only the sofa, which arrives next week. We are both looking for work and the job market in Norway is very good right now, though it might take some time to find perfect fits for both of us. It is summertime in Norway. Days are veeeeeeery looooooong, there is a lot of light, the grass is green and the trees leafy and fragrant. It is such a pleasure to sit on our balcony and enjoy the exceptional view of the mountains and the fjord that we have.


We also want to share some other great news with all of you. Namely, the Norwegian Parliament adopted a gender-neutral marriage law yesterday, eliminating the last remnants of anti-gay discrimination from Norwegian legislation. What this means for me and Elray is that in addition to all the other rights we have enjoyed since registering our partnership, we can now also adopt children. For more on the law, go to http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jko_BIHizUFFqUtmEaUrAEoPXFWw

Next Friday night is a huge “homofest” on the roof of the new opera to celebrate the passage of the new law and to kick off the “Skeive dager” (Queer Days). Now that we are in a safe and much more accessible, as well as possibly more desirable, place to visit, please come and visit us in our new home in Oslo. We would love to host you!