Sergi's first day at ISS

Mia (16) with a middle school admirer, Piotr (Polish). :o) He couldn't stop grinning!

Ivan Comisso and Chris Laugier show they are triumphant as the first ones to the three swords.


There is a field that we go by along the Hafrsfjord everyday to school and there are about 30 swans that live and graze there.

This is Sergi!! Very nice kid...

Sergi balancing on a log on the edge of the fjord.

Joe, Curt Singleton (American) and Chris Laugier (French)start to run when the shout for ice cream is heard.

Lily got to have some ice cream as well.

Curt (American), Mia (American), Ivan (Italian)and Euan Robertson (British)goof around.


What the small beach at the 3 swords looked like before the ISS track team arrived...

The boys head straight for the water.

Joe comes up with a crab to show everyone.

Sergi fleeing from the icy water.

Sergi Aguilera Ruis is our exchange student from Barcelona, Spain. He'll be staying with us for 10 days. Friday, May 9th, was his first full day at ISS with Joe. The Barcelona students meet at the school and then go off and do their own thing as a group, much like the ISS students did when they were in Barcelona. Joe drops him off at a special homeroom classroom in the morning and picks him up after school. Then Sergi is Joe's shadow, to see what his life is like here in Norway. Lucky Sergi...Friday is a track day! It's also baseball, but he got out of it this time! Since it had been a busy track week already, the idea was to have the team (along with the Barcelona kids - there were 8 or 9 of them that were paired with kids on the track team) run from the school to the three swords and then go for a swim in the fjord. (BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR) I decided to show up and watch. I had been outside most of the afternoon already because it was so nice outside. However, the cool breeze off the water made me go put on a sweatshirt. There were a lot of local folks at the 3 swords sunbathing and a few swimming. The kids were running around totally naked. As I was absorbing all of this craziness, the ISS team comes running down the hill. 30 kids from ISS running into the water cleared the beach pretty much. The Spanish students brought up the rear, walking. One of them told me quite matter-of-factly, "Spanish people don't run. We have cars for that." LOL! I was quite proud of Sergi because he actually went in up to his knees. Joe, of course, dove right in and came up with a crab. What a turkey. Not quite as warm as the waters in Okinawa! The athletic director brought ice cream for everyone.
Although everyone had a good time, this event may be retired next year as several kids cut their feet open on the rocks in the fjord. One I ended up caring for in my "I-used-to-be-a-nurse-in-a-former-lifetime" capacity. He ended up going to the hospital and having 5 stitches in the bottom of his foot. Joe is nursing two slices as well, but not as severe as this one boy's. However, it was still a lot of fun. By the time we got this boy's mom there and him loaded into the car and off to the hospital, we had just enough time to run home for a quick meal and head out to the NATO base to meet all the other Barcelona students and their host families for an ice cream social and a movie.