Casa ISFiT

In a cosy white house in the Rosendal neighborhood of Trondheim, everything has revolved around ISFiT for the last couple of months. It's kind of unavoidable when all four housemates are ISFiT volunteers. Since the festival officially kicked off last week, Birgitte, Elise, Bertine and Karoline have pretty much been eating, sleeping and breathing ISFiT. And if that wasn't enough, they also decided to invite two ISFiT participants to stay with them for the duration of the festival.

When the blog comes to visit on a busy Thursday morning, Birgitte and Bertine are busy cooking up a big breakfast they can all enjoy together - not something that happens every day, since they all have very busy schedules. The two participants, Alberto and Martín, have to be at their workshops early, but there's still time for a bit of food and a cup of coffee.

Martín and Alberto are both from Lima, Peru, but didn't know each other personally before they ended up staying with the same hosts during ISFiT.
-I actually know Martín's brother, though. He's the one who told me about ISFiT, says Alberto. It turns out that Martín's brother was a participant in 2011, and he's the main reason the two boys are spending February in snowy Norway.
-He went around our university and told everyone about this student festival in Trondheim. I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him.

The breakfast table contains a wide range of Norwegian specialties, from brown cheese and mackerel to crisp bread and salmon. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the foreign guests' preferred breakfast food is the salmon, although they've also tried the brown cheese and didn't think it was too bad. I ask them if they've tried any other Norwegian specialties.
-I've had some aquavit, says Alberto, referring to the potato-based spirit traditionally served during Christmas. -It was allright.

I ask the girls if it isn't too stressful being ISFiT volunteers, students and hosts at the same time.
-We all have a lot to do of course, but it's been fine so far. The guys have pretty packed schedules and are out of the house pretty much all day, and we've all got so much to do that we're not home that much either. And besides, ISFiT is so much fun that it doesn't feel like work, says Elise.
-And we've also got two bathrooms, so we don't have to fight over who gets the shower first, laughs Birgitte.