A guest writer -- Brandon Horn (Tromsø, Norway)

I came and knocked on Irene's door at 11pm last night. Despite this, she let me in. We planned out the following morning--buy whale meat, circumambulate the island of tromso, and buy some bread. It was almost a complete success. We stopped walking and caught the bus after Irene learned that I cannot walk on ice, and that the island is kinda big. But my main goal, that of buying whale, can now be checked off the to-do list. After our initial disappointment in a fish market that smelled strongly of fish, which made Irene hungry and me less hungry, where we learned that the hunting season for fresh whale is from April to August, we went to the grocer and got 2 frozen blocks of whale flesh packaged in blue cardboard boxes. The box doesn't say what kind of whale it is--I think its Minke. We got bread and 5 liters of milk on the trip to the grocer. Then we tried to walk around the island, or at least to the North Bridge. We failed in this aspect, but succeeded in buying gummy candy men and discussing what it would be like to be the last person from your community or society or culture. This is my first full day in the arctic and in Tromso, and the first time I've seen Irene since Claremont. Tromso may not be geographically antipodal to claremont, but it is close. We haven't made our to-do list for tomorrow yet. I'll let you know when we have.