Last days in Iquitos

The last weeks have just as we say in norwegian – blown away! Time has gone so fast! I've been having a lot of danceclasses. One week I had every morning, and besides I always have classes 3 times a week in the afternoon. I started already on Tuesday saying goodbye to everyone I knew I wouldn’t see no more. It was a sad week for me in many ways, but also al very nice week. Friday I made a litle goodbye party for the kids in the morning, as I knew I wouldn’t see them again later on in the weekend. And on Sunday the capoeristas said goodbye to me in their way; i had to fight everyone in the roda... puh....but hey were nice to me, they didn't exhaust me totally! and afterwards there was the big goodbye party!! There was food and cake for everyone, but the most beautiful thing of the whole evening were all the speeches, it was really hard to know that in a few hours I would sit on the plane to Lima. It's very difficult to say in words how i felt. i thinnk the only word that will fit is: sad. very sad, and with the fear of maybe not seeing everyone again...



Juan Andres asked me on Friday what I was going to prepare of peruvian food when I came home. Well, since I actually haven’t cooked much here in Iquitos...I don’t like cooking very much, but I love eating! Juan Andres said that I had to come to La Restinga saturday, and we arranged a cooking day. “You can’t go home without knowing how to make takatcho”. Ok, ok, I¨ll come! Takatcho is a ball of banana, my favourite! And we made juice of camu camu. I must say, these boys know what to do in a kitchen! I had no chance of doing the things as fast as they did...

Here we make the "chicharron" to put with the bananas. I figure it is a bit difficult to find this in Norway... pure grease from pork.

It's importatnt to smash the bananas really well after they have been cooked!

The boys make camu camu. i was surprised that it was that easy, just a bit of water, some suger and some ice, and....simsalabim...ready!

We have been dancing to “beat it” – Michael Jackson. We have made a dance that was performed the 1st of May, “dia del trabajador”. La Restinga honours the kids who always are working. We made a dance where the kids were dancing with “cajas”, the boxes they use when they shine shoes in the streets. Although there sometimes was lack of motivation or trouble with the concentration, it went really well and we had a lot of fun! It’s a pity that I couldn’t see how they performed the dance the 1st of May. But I have all the trust in that they made a good show!

Here I have classes in modern dance.

After the classes there is "relaxing" time.

Stretching is important chicos!

My last lesson I gave to Carolina. This time about the nobel price.

It was hard to say goodbye to the lady who does my laundry. Always smiling, always making a chat, always concerned about me, and always knowing how many days I have left in Iquitos - exact. Her are she and her son. I miss them already.

mirame

I also visited Belén the last day in Iquitos, and hey we passed a lot of La restinga kids!

Swimming is nice... but hey...how do I get back into the canoe?

I got soem good help from Roy and Rister to serve everyone who came to the goodbyeparty.

"There's missing one here AnaTeresa!"
Puchin, Itala, Natalia and me. My bosses!

One round with all the guys...
...and girls!
the gringa turned red.... and really sweat..
This little boy is seven years old, and already knows saltos and a whole lot more of capoeira!

My friend working in the night, as he always does. His job is to drive around kids in the car. Kids his own age, or even older...
The three brothers. I wish and hope that I will see them one day in the future, when they are grown up, and that they can tell me that some of their dreams have become true. That is my biggest dream.



Thanks to la Restinga for letting me take part in their big family, to teach me the important value of love, to always be there for me. Thanks for letting me give dance classes, I have enjoyed it so much! Están en mi corazón, y les extraño un montón!

DRAWING!

Sometimes I actually do come up with a brilliant idea! I have a little sister in the kindergarden in Norway, and so I came to think about that it would be nice to make a little project between the kids there and the kids here. Because when I´m coming back I´m going to visit the kindergarden, and so the kids have something they can ask and talk about. And also the kids here always wonder about how is Norway, and what are the kids in Norway doing.

The project was to draw:

What makes you happy?
What do you want to become when you are grown-up?

And so my mum and Elise brought all the dreams and visions from Norway to Iquitos, and I hope that my mums suitcase will be found very soon again, because in that suitcase are all the dreams and visions from the kids here!

Elise explained me some very important things about how to make the pictures smaller, so hey people....it´s really easy now to up-load pictures :) enjoy!

First we had some games. Watch out, don´t loose the ball!

What to draw?

They were drawing for 2 hours.

Mira! We´ve finished!

Chevere!

On the other side of the world they were also drawing.

The hart of La Restinga makes me happy.

And afterwards everyone got dinner!
I just say thanks to my 5 wonderfull cooks! I would never ever have managed it wothout you!

mmm...

there were only 30 kids running around...

In Norway the kids play....

...here many of them have to work. Here my friend selling popcorn!

Ans Elise was visiting, jepp Iquitos-team is gathered!

It was a very nice day, and the kids drew everything from a lot of fruits, to airplanes, the Amazonas, nurses, stars, trees and a lot of football!

PS: Hvis noen skulle lure paa hva innlegget under er for noe, saa er det bare et ledd i informasjonsarbeidet mitt. Folkehoeyskolen Oeytun i alta trengte nemlig en side aa linke innlegget fra!

ACT NOW studenter søkes!

http://www.hald.no/

Kan du tenke deg å dra fra 30 minusgrader til 30 plussgrader?

Er du glad i sport?
Musikk, teater, dans?

Vil du gjerne lære bort noe av det du kan, og samtidig være med og utrydde fattigdom?


Da er det stor mulighet for at du sitter på flyet til varmere strøk neste år!

Sjekk ut bloggene til årets Act Now studenter:
http://www.actingnow.blogspot.com/

”Act Now” er Strømmestiftelsens utvekslingsprogram, og vi jobber for å utrydde fattigdom. Ved Hald Internasjonale Senter i Mandal får du først et seks ukers høstkurs med innføring i forskjellige temaer som fattigdomsbekjempelse, kristendom, globalisering, klimaendringer, antropologi og mye mer, du drar så ut i praksis i syv mnd til en av Strømmestiftelsens samarbeidspartnere i Peru, Bolivia, Rwanda, Uganda eller Tanzania, og reiser deretter tilbake til Norge for et 8 ukers avslutningskurs med informasjonsarbeid.

Jeg gikk selv på Arktis-linja ved Oeytun Folkehoeyskole for to år siden. ( se www.oytun.no) Å forandre tilværelsen fra snø, ski og joikekultur til mange varmegrader og shake- på- rumpa kultur har vært en stor overgang, men en utrolig bra opplevelse!

Jeg har nå jobbet i seks måneder ved Strømmestiftelsens partnerorganisasjon ”La Restinga” midt i Amazonas-jungelen i Peru. La Restinga er et dagsenter for barn og ungdom som lever i utsatte situasjoner. Ungene som kommer innom bor på gata og selger alt fra tyggis og popcorn til smykker og aviser for å tjene noen slanter til litt mat, jenter på 14 år som prostituerer seg, eller ungdom som har blitt utsatt for misbruk eller sextrafikk.

La Restinga hjelper ungene tilbake på skolen, og tilbyr de leksehjelp i tillegg til mange forskjellige kurs i bl.a. gitar, sang, stylter, teater og håndverk for å øke deres selvtillit og for å forhindre at de i stedet går på gata og havner i uheldige situasjoner.

Noe jeg har gjort hele livet er å danse, så mitt bidrag er å gi kurs i dans, alt fra jazz-ballett, til moderne og riverdance. Paa Oytun hadsde jeg ogsaa danseklasser, saa har heldigvis litt erfaring med aa undervise i dans. Utrolig moro når ungene spretter rundt og danser halling til norsk hardingfele! Jeg gir også mye engelsk undervisning. Jeg trodde at jeg ikke kom til å kunne lære bort noe særlig med engelsk, for jeg sluttet med engelsk etter grunnkurs på videregående. Men de fleste her kan bare si ”how are you?” og ”my name is”, og på skolen har de ikke kommet lenger enn til å bøye verbet ”to be” i 10. klasse. Lærere som kan engelsk er mangelvare, og med norsk skolegang kan man faktisk utrolig mye engelsk!

Det er utrolig moro når du får en unge til å skjønne at 10 + 4 = 10, og ikke 9, eller når minstemann har tegnet en tegning med masse krusseduller og sier ”se, jeg har tegnet et hus”, eller når man får de mest giddalause jentene til å faktisk synes det er moro å danse til Michael Jackson. Det jobbes så svetten renner for å få ferdig en dans som skal vises fram den 1. mai – arbeidernes dag. Eller ”barnearbeidernes dag” som den blir kalt her.

I Norge er det en lov som sier at unger ikke skal arbeide. Her lærer ungene at maksimum antall timer et barn bør arbeide er fire timer per dag, selv om de ofte arbeider opp mot ti timer.

Ved siden av å ha fått leve i 35 varmegrader døgnet rundt, spise utrolig masse ris, danse capoeira eller ta meg en kanotur på Amazonas, så har jeg først og fremst lært utrolig mye om mennesker. Jeg har fått kjenne en annen kultur på kroppen, og har lært mye som jeg tar med meg videre i livet. Utrolig mye av det jeg laerte paa Oytun har jeg faatt god bruk for her!



Vet du fortsatt ikke hva du vil gjøre til neste år?
Vil du gjøre noe spennende og utfordrende?


Søk snarest! Det er fortsatt ledige plasser!
Søknadsskjema ligger på www.hald.no


Ta gjerne kontakt med meg:
a_t_crazy@hotmail.com

Hilsen Anne-Therese de Ridder

On Television!

Hello everyone!

Here is a link to a documentary/program about la Restinga! Wohoo! And at the final of the program I am even doing Capoeira :)

It was sent through Napa, a tv-station for the whole of Peru, I think it's a channel for kids and youth. Everything is in spanish of course, but the whole text is written down below the video, so all of you who don't speak spanish... google-translate it :)

http://napa.com.pe/2008/03/07/reportaje-napa-41-asociacion-la-restinga/

Check it out!

Buying mangos...

Some days ago I wanted to buy mangos from a seller who was driving up my street with his big wagon with fruits. I always ask the price before I take anything into my hands, I´m used to that the prizes automatically will be the double of what they really are when I show up. I´ve learned some few tricks to not always pay too much...

"Good day señor, what do your mangos cost?" "Good day señorita, I sell them to you for 4 soles per kilo". I know that normally they cost 2 or 3 soles per kilo.... "Hmm, that was pricy" I said to him....and so I went and looked at the fruit, waited till he was finished helping an elder lady who really didn´t want to pay too much...everytime the man put on two oranges under the weight of one kilo, she wanted him to put on two new ones...so that it would be exactly one kilo or a bit more..she wouldn´t pay for less than a kilo!

And so when I had been looking at all his fruit and went back to the mangos he said: "Yes señorita, you see the mangos are pricy these days, about 2 or 3 soles per kilo...."

Ha, got you! And so I got my mangos a bit cheaper.

But sometimes I´m thinking, does it matter this 1 sol? (2 norwegian crowns) For me it´s nothing. And he is working the whole day, walking streets up and down selling his fruits. Maybe he even buys his fruit from another person first and then has to share what he earns. These things I think about a lot. But then I also think, just because I´m white, should I pay more? It´s more a principle, treating me the same as the locals. But then, do I treat them the same? I think I do, but sometimes when I am in a store, they let me pay before the woman who actually is in front of me...and sometimes I don´t know what to say, I always get like ashock when this happens, and my mouth get stucked, and I let it pass... Did I treat this lady fare? No. I didn´t, because I let it pass without saying anything. I often wonder, what have we done do make people here think this way...that we value more or that we are more beautiful. How did this come? What has went wrong in this world? And the more important, I need to say something when this happens.

How not to get whistled on.

Here in Iquitos “whistling” is something that occurs often. Not only when you want to call for a mototaxi or want to get the atention of your friend who is on the other side of the street, but also when a girl passes by... and especially if she is a gringa...

Different kinds of frases are also used, here are the most common:

“hola mi amor” hello my love
“mmm, que bonita” mmm, how beautiful
“hola hermosa” hello beautiful
“oh, que bonitas ojos tienes” oh, you have beautiful eyes
“gringita mamasita” don’t know how to translate...something like “white babe....?”
“mamasita”
“quiero comerte” I would like to eat you
“hello, how are you my love???”
“preciosa” precious
“oi, que rico” oi, how nice, delicios (used about food)

Those things are mosty said in the moment of passing by, so that you...typically...won’t be able to react face to face...Sometimes, when it’s said with a really sexy voice by a 50 year old man, I just can’t stop laughing....haha. It’s just like this big, big paradox to Norway...

The guys here also use another type of whistling that I call the “dog-whistling”. When you pass by you can sometimes here “pssssssst, psssssssssst, psssssssssssst”. When they do that I really feel like a dog, do I look like a dog? I hate it, and it’s something that I “don’t hear”.

Well, so since I live alone, and of course am walking a lot alone to and from my work and other places, I have tried many different things to try to be as invisible as possible, or in other words, to fit in as best as possible in this machoculture. Here are some experiences and experiments:

*Never walk with your hair out...curls are not very common...especially not gringa-curls

*Walk slowly, and if you move your hips while walking it’s even better....then it’s harder to notice that you are a gringa, because from a distance you look like a iquiteña.

*I always thought that the less clothes I use, the more the guys will scream....but hey, it’s the other way around! If you wear pants like in Europe and a t-shirt it shows a loooong way that you are gringa, and so everyone is whistling. The clue is: use very short shorts, and tops to right under the belly... and hey, you look like a iquiteña! They don’t notice you are a gringa because you look like every other girl on the street and combined with the slow walking the guys get really surprised when they suddenly notice you are a gringa. (and then of course it’s like.....hey! a gringa??!?....mamasita!!!” I got so surprised the first time I found out this, that I’ve been really aware of what i’m wearing since....haha.

*Don’t look anyone in the eyes – many think it’s a hint to contact

*Never nodd if you are going to cross a street...because the motocars will stop at every sign of insecureness...or even offer you a free taxi...

*By local food...when they see you walking home with some “juanes” in your hands, they understand that you are not just a tourist.

*Never walk with big bags. Money is here always carried in your pants, in your socks or in your BH, or in a very little handbag. Big bags = TOURIST

Ok I must say that I’m very lucky that I’m not naturally blond. It would of course have been a lot more difficult to camuflate myself if my hair is like white... and of course I’m not very tall, just as tall as everyone here, so you can’t see me above anyone else either...

Jepp, just wanted to share some of my daily adventures! haha
Nos vemos, besos.

Hola!

Here in Iquitos the kids have their summerholidays at the moment, and that’s why the regular things that la Resting usually offer, not have started yet. The government is this year supporting la Restinga with different workshops. They have workshops in guitar, cajón (a box that you drum on), singing, traditional flutes and different types of handicraft. And Willy also has his workshops in painting and drawing. So my job at the moment is being at la Restinga from 9 to 12 every day, helping the teachers with the kids, or when the kids don’t want to be in a workshop I play some games with them. I have played a lot dam, ludo, puzzles, memory...soon I go crazy because I never remember where the right pictures are in memory, and so of course the kids always win....haha, but I like playing games.

Mondays and Wednesdays I have a workshop in dance, ballet and modern dance. It’s really nice, the kids are enthousiatic and I finally feel that I actually am doing something. Fotos will come! I also tried to have a class of English yesterday....but no students there showed up....hmmm....better luck next time...haha. Everyone say “I’m coming I’m coming! I want to learn English!” Sometimes they just forget, but sometimes they actually have to work...or wash cloths....or babysit some younger brother and sisters. So I’m planning to find some kind of sollution to this. I don’t know, maybe I can go to their houses and have English classes there. But then you have the problem that they all live spread over the whole town... If anyone has a good idea about this I will bee happy to know!

I’m continuing the capoeira. I need to learn how to play the berimbou, because after 3 months I still don’t know (really bad). All the most grown-up capoeristas are in Lima at the moment for a big capoeira event. I miss them a lot, and I must say I envy them a bit beeing there, but I’m hoping that they will go through with a capoeira baptize here in Iquitos in March!

My dad is coming today, and I’m looking forward that!

Nos vemos, besos a todos!