Where love waits

THEATRE: Two floors underground, in a rehearsal hall at The Norwegian Theatre, Argentinean Veronica Salinas is creeping out onto the provisional stage. With a red dress, a rose in her hair, and high wooden heels, she dances and sings with passionate movements.

– I never thought that I would get married, she says, and tells the story of the road from Buenos Aires, to being an au pair in Norway, to meeting the love of her life in Oslo. Around her sits five other women from all over the world who have found love in Norway. Five others who can nod in agreement when she speaks of having a wonderful time in Norway, yet at the same time, feeling homesick. She finishes with a sway of her body and a backwards kick with her leg. Instructor Cliff Moustache jumps up, claps, and shouts:

– Very good!

A big step

Turkish Dilek Carelius, who is also in the play, shares a bottle of juice with Veronica at Kaffistova after the rehearsal. They are one week away from the new premiere of «To Norway, where love waits», in which the women get a chance to tell their own story of how they found love in Norway. The play was put on for the first time in June of last year at the Amateur Theatre Festival, and was such a success that it now will be played another ten times.

– For us it is a big step to be able to act in Norwegian, Veronica tells us.

She worked as an actor in Buenos Aires before an economic downturn brought her to Norway. When she first got here, she never thought she would be able to act again. Now she is busy with several plays, all in Norwegian. In addition to this, she is studying Spanish and Portuguese literature at the University of Oslo.

Theatre as integration

– I think the fact that we can do theatre in Norwegian makes us more integrated. We can show that we are gifted and that we have something to contribute, says Dilek, who is currently doing Theatre Studies.

Veronica nods and adds:

– We get the opportunity to say something about what it is like to be an immigrant, and why we are here.

Because this is what ties these women together; that they have such different stories, and yet such similar experiences of creating a new life in Norway. All the stories that are told in the play are their own, and the result is «Community theatre» – drama in which the script is created by everyone involved in the project. There are strong tales about the many difficulties one must overcome in order to be able to live in a new country, and the many tears one has to shed.

– A week after I came here, I phoned my mother and said that I wanted to come home. She said that I had to stay in Norway, where I was safe. I felt that I had lost everything; language, codes, humour and culture. Now I have finally managed to get over all the frustration, and be happy, Veronica says.

Dilek points to the cover of Morgenbladet, where Thomas Hylland Eriksen says that there is a lot of happiness to be found in trials and tribulations. Both women laugh.

– That is exactly how it is.

The exciting social democracy

Dilek has another story to tell. She came to Norway from Istanbul to study in 1986. 22 years and many credit points later, she is still a student, and still in Norway. The road here has been a long one. After finding love in Norway, it was not easy to move back home. After moving back and forth between Oslo and Istanbul with her husband for many years, she found that it was in Norway she wanted to live, even though it is not always easy. When she is here, she misses the chaos and noise of Turkey, and when she is there, she misses the peace that Oslo gives her.

– Norway seemed like a place where I could expand my horizons. In the 80s, communism and capitalism stood head-to-head, and I wanted to see this third way, the social democracy that they had in Norway, she says.

A different student life

– For me, Blindern is like a little paradise, says Veronica with a big smile.

– In Argentina, you had to almost fight your way into every lecture, as there was not enough room for everyone. The University of Oslo can seem like the exact opposite.

– I almost miss a little fire and action. People here are so careful at lectures. In Argentina, we were always encouraged to discuss things, says Veronica, while waving her arms.

She is not afraid of stirring things up. Dilek looks at her and laughs.

– You have such a fantastic attitude, Veronica. You live like you were in Argentina in Norway, she smiles.