Anne-Thereses blogg

Last days in Iquitos

2008-05-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-04-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-04-07T20:52:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-03-16T13:22:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-03-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-03-06T18:05:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-02-21T17:11:00.001-08:00

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!

Carneval!

2008-02-21T17:05:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Here are some new updates from Iquitos! And in english this time :)

Two weeks ago we celebrated the carneval. Carneval here in Iquitos is something really big, and the big day (sunday 3rd of february this year) was prepared many days in advance. That means, the people were already throwing waterballoons at all the gringos two weeks in advance...

Still the waterballoons theese days were absolutely nothing compared to the big day sunday. I went with a friend of mine, Christian, to his place and spend most of the day over there. In his neighbourhood there were at least 7 “humishas”. A humisha (see picture) is a kind of tree wich is decorated with all kinds of stuff - tubs where very popular! At around 6 o’ clock in the evening, after a lot of dancing, the humisha is taken down, and everyone can grab what they manage to grab of the decorations. (especially the t-shirts are very popular). This is kind of the big event of the day.

We started the day with sitting outside the house, like every peruvian does, and the kids were coming and going with water. After just 5 minutes I was soaked with water. I really mean S-O-A-K-E-D. I couldn’t walk anywhere, or the kids and the boys said “GRIIIIINGA!!!!!!!” and running after me with water. Crazy. The thing is that the boys soak the girls and the girls soak the boys (but when it comes to gringas, everyone can soak them...). It must have looked funny....a gringa running down the street, and a bunch of kids coming after with a lot of water. But of course, they catched me in the end...

And not only water was used... here we are talking paint...mud...water with colors...some kind of stinky fruit (so that you smell really bad for two weeks)....water.....water......more water....itching seeds (very funny!)... and even this blue stuff that you find in pens... I really didn’t want to leave Chrsitians place when I saw what had happened to the people coming from the direction I was going...paint, paint and mud...you couldn’t see their face...
After some time I went to La Restinga (and I survived the trip wothout anyone throwing paint...luckily). The kids had occupied the whole street, and everytime a motocarro passed by, it was soaked down with water. And really, everyone in Iquitos was soaked this day...young, old, boys, girls...Everyone in town was playing with water!

For the motocarros it must have been a nice business, they can take more money for one ride because of the risks driving people around... but at the same time they must have had a really hard job cleaning their motocarros afterwards...

I looked really nice at the end of the day...all soaked, my hair red and yellow, my cloths blue and pink and my face like a troll. But what a nice day!

Since la restinga was in a competition for the nicest humisha, they couldn’t take down their humisha this sunday, so the the next week we had carneval all over again! All the kids were again soaking everyone with water, but this time innocent citizens could pass free. I also had in my mind to just watch the whole thing, and I almost managed to get through the door without anybody seeing me when someone screamed... “Anateresa!!!!” and oops, ten tons of water over my head...

With carnval a lot of local shows where shown. here we hav etwo boys from la Restinga with two rally nice paintings on their back! They were supposed to be trees who could see.

Back in Iquitos!

2008-02-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

Ja da har jeg igjen landet i Iquitos etter to ukers ferie og infield. Jeg er utrolig glad for å være tilbake. Har savnet capoeiraen, gutta, den livlige stemninga, alle vitsene, damen på vaskeriet og spesielt varmen! I to uker har jeg kun frøset, mens alle andre på infield har syns det har vært behagelige temperaturer. Å gå fra 35 grader til 15 grader var så absolutt mye hardere enn jeg hadde regnet med! Jeg gruer meg allerede til å dra hjem til Norge hvor det helt sikkert er enda kaldere…

Noe jeg virkelig har gledet meg over disse to ukene er at jeg har kunnet gå på gata som i Norge (fordi det er turiststeder). Ingen som roper noe etter meg, ingen som ser på meg, ingen som fniser når jeg går forbi. Tilbake i Iquitos, og etter en dag med ”hola mi amor”, ”oi, que linda”, ”mamasita”, ”gratis taxi hermosa???” har jeg ved flere anledninger bare knukket sammen i latter. Det er jo komisk. 10 menn som plutselig står og bråkjekker seg, jeg som ignorerende går forbi, men egentlig ikke helt klarer det fordi jeg bare må le…noe som gjør at mennene igjen bråkjekker seg enda mer. Jaja, herlige Iquitos, I’m back!

På infield var vi i Coroico i Bolivia, en liten landsby midt blant fjellene og inni skogen. For å komme oss dit, fløy jeg først til Lima, var noen dager i vertsfamilien min der og fikk masse god mat! De disket opp med både cebiche (rå fisk med sitron og masse annet) og papa a la huancaina (poteter med en typisk saus av bl.a. chili), mine to favorittmåltider. Så satte jeg, Therese og Hanna oss på bussen til La Paz. Det var en tur på 30 timer, og vi så mye sand, sand, sand, sand, og til slutt ganske mange fine fjell. Høydesyke er noe man absolutt ikke skal tulle med. Tenkte aldri noe over at jeg kanskje ikke kom til å tåle høyden. Men etter at vi hadde passert Arequipa, og meterne begynte å komme over 3000 moh, begynte jeg gradvis å bli dårligere og holdt meg i nærheten av doen (som servitrisen på bussen annonserte kun var til bruk til urinering, og hvis vi måtte noe annet måtte vi vennligst si fra slik at bussen kunne stoppe på et sted med do…akkurat som om vi kunne rukket fram til en do når nøden var størst og det bare var ørken, ørken, ørken….for bussen kunne jo ikke stoppe midt i ørkenen…). Men okei, hodepinen ble verre, og til slutt prikket det de fleste steder i kroppen, hadde verken følelse i ben eller armer, og alt gjorde vondt. Da vi endelig ankom La Paz ble jeg tatt godt hånd om av vertsfamilien vi skulle bo hos en natt. Høydesyketabletter og svært mye koka-te ble inntatt, og kan ikke si annet enn at jeg var sjeleglad for at infield var lagt til Coroico, litt under 3000 m. Plagene forsvant så fort jeg kom litt lenger ned og infield kunne virkelig begynne!

Vi har spist pannekaker, lama, GRØNNSAKER (etter to måneder uten grønnsaker ble jeg nesten vegetarianer i Coroico), is, drukket masse kaffe og te (ei heller det blir drukket her i Iquitos). Vi har vært på en fantastisk sykkeltur, kjørt ”dødsveien”, snakket masse norsk (etter to måneder uten noe norsk måtte jeg nesten tenke meg om før jeg snakket), snakket om alle frustrasjoner, men også alle gylne øyeblikk, støttet og backet hverandre opp, spist seigmenn, melkesjokolade, brunost og lakrissnører importert egenhendig av vår fantastiske veileder Nine, i det hele tatt hatt en fin tid sammen.

Hele uka gikk jeg og grua meg til vi skulle opp igjen til La Paz, men over all forventning så gikk det mye bedre denne gangen. Mistet litt følelse i armer og ben, og hadde en trykkende hodepine, men det gjorde i det minste ikke lenger vondt. Heldigvis, for var redd for at jeg måtte avlyse hele turen til Machu Pichu og Titicaca pga høyden, men nå kunne jeg heldigvis bli med.

Ferien startet med å igjen ta bussen, denne gangen til Cobacana, og videre med båt til Isla del Sol. Titicaca er svært. Veldig svært. Og veldig vakkert. Isla del sol er en øy som et fjell. Det går rett opp og så rett ned på den andre siden. Eneste transportmiddel er esler. Det ville si at vi var nødt til å gå opp sikkert 1000 trappetrinn for å komme oss til ungdomsherberget som lå på toppen. I tynn luft og med halvsprengte lunger tok det sin tid, men det var verdt det! Utsikten var fantastisk. Og på kvelden spiste vi et herlig måltid hjemme hos en lokal familie som brukte huset sitt som restaurant for å spe litt på inntektene. Fantastisk god mat.

Vi dro videre til Puno med buss, fikk 90 nye dager på grensa, og dro til de flytende gress øyene på Titicaca. (de som alle turister drar for å se) På forhånd var vi blitt fortalt at Uru-folket som bor der verken bruker sko eller sokker. Vi ankom i tåke og regn, og befolkningen hadde tydeligvis ikke sett turistbåten komme, så sannelig måtte de ikke bare løpe innom husene sine for å sette fra seg skoa…haha, det var jo rene turistattraksjonen, men vi fikk høre at det fantes noen øyer litt lenger ut som ikke ønsket kontakt med omverdenen. Får satse på at de lever barbent der borte.

Så bar det videre til Machu Pichu! En stor drøm har gått i oppfyllelse, virkelig, har alltid hatt lyst til å se dette underverket. Det ligger utrolig vakkert til. Machu Picchu er også ganske stort, jeg har alltid trodd det er lite. Vi gikk rundt der i ti timer, til slutt var vi så sultne at vi bare måtte dra ned igjen. Egentlig så er Machu Pichu ganske rart. Det er jo på en måte bare en haug med steiner, for det er kun steiner, men samtidig så har det alle disse formasjonene, bygningene, symbolene…og det mest fascinerende er at alle stenblokkene passer perfekt inn i hverandre. Åssen går det egentlig an?? Det er meg et mysterium. Det tok i alle fall 20.000 menn 70 år å bygge denne byen, så litt jobb har det nå vært.

Fra Cusco tok jeg så flyet til Lima, og typisk så var flyet til Iquitos utsatt, så fikk litt tid til å virkelig bare henge på flyplassen. Sent på kveld kom jeg endelig fram, og varmen omfavnet meg igjen, herlig!

Nå har det seg sånn at mesterkokken Charles Tjessem har vært mens jeg har vært borte for å skrive bok sammen med Erick om mat og kokkerier. Utrolig synd at jeg gikk glipp av denne begivenheten, for det har visst vært disket opp med mye bra mat! Den kommer ut i Norge i oktober folkens, og er det noe jeg kan anbefale så er det peruansk mat, og denne boken handler om akkurat peruansk og norsk mat. Poteter med huancaina saus, det er det beste jeg vet!

Inkasteiner

Utsikt fra Isla del Sol over Titicaca kl 06 om morgenen.

Meg og Machu Pichu!!!

Bolivianere.

Cebiche! mmmm!

Vi fant dessverre ingen mindre pizza...

Doedsveien...

Coca, coca og atter cocaEtter som min hoydesyke gjorde at jeg gikk veeldig sakte, fikk jeg min personlige hest :)

2008-02-06T09:05:00.000-08:00

Logoen til La Restinga.

Hjertet som har maattet taale mye smerte,

men som etterhvert blir sydd sammen igjen.

Har blitt saa glad i det hjertet!

Hello!
This time I’m writing some texts in norwegian....I got so sad when I read my own english....real norwegian-english...haha, I promise that soon there will be some in English as well :)

Jul, nyttårsaften og besøk!

Jeg har hatt ei fantastisk julefeiring her i Iquitos. Den 22.desember hadde vi julemiddag for alle unger, ungdommer, voksne og ansatte som hører til La Restinga. Det dukket opp utrolig mange folk. Det var et herlig spetakkel uten like! Det ble servert en utsøkt julemiddag tilberedt av kokken selv, Erick, og til drikke var det min favoritt drikk ”maracuya” (pasjonsfrukt tror jeg det heter på norsk…). Jeg hjalp til med serveringa, men fikk satt meg ned til slutt jeg også.

Julepynt paa La Restinga. (glemte selvsagt aa snu bildet, men det gaar i alle fall i palmer og stjerner!)

Det ble jo selvsagt sagt at jeg skulle møte klokken 4 for å ordne til, for det var masse som skulle gjøres ble jeg fortalt (det hele skulle starte klokka 7). Siden det var en så viktig dag møtte jeg opp klokken 4….og typisk så er jeg og ei anna ei de eneste som dukker opp. Alle andre kommer i løpet av de neste to timene. Det er fascinerende å se hvor mye som faktisk blir ordnet på kort tid når man først kommer i gang, og alt er alltid klart når det begynner, men det er noen ganger litt uforståelig for meg hvorfor alt absolutt må gjøres i den aller siste liten… same same, but different, et herlig kaos med masse godt humør var nå i hvert fall resultatet :)

Julemiddag!

På ekte peruansk vis hadde man jo selvsagt kommet på en time før det hele startet at man skulle lage julekort til ALLE ungene på La Restinga. Så det ble satt i gang med klipping og liming i et meget høyt tempo. Ettersom det finnes flere kunstnersjeler på La Restinga skulle alle kortene ha sin personlige kunstneriske touch (og det tar sin tid), men vi endte til slutt opp med 60 totalt forskjellige vakre kort. Jeg hadde ansvar for å skrive navn på alle kortene før de ble sendt videre til neste person som skrev en personlig hilsen (der droppet jeg av, min spansk er ikke såååå god). Overrasket over at jeg faktisk husket så mange navn, og vi klarte det…på en time! :)

Alle ungene fikk julegave, enten en ny t-skjorte eller en ny bukse. Jeg fikk et stort smil fra en liten gutt som hadde fått ny bukse. Det var et fint øyeblikk. Og det gjorde alt strevet verdt det.

Så var det disco til utpå kvelden på La Restinga, og alles rumper shaket og ristet. Jeg fascinerer meg stadig over at selv de minste vet hvordan de skal shake på rumpa!

Det var en utrolig vellykket kveld.

Julaften var jeg litt rundt omkring. På dagen hadde jeg besøkt familien til noen av guttene for å ønske de god jul, og på kvelden var jeg bedt på middag hos Vicky og familien. Vicky kan nok klassifiseres som min iquitenske mamma. Er jeg syk er det hun som passer på meg, har jeg et problem er det hun jeg snakker med, og er det noe jeg ikke får lov til er det hun som forbyr meg det…(får aldri lov til å gjøre capoeira hvis jeg er dårlig i halsen, dessuten blir jeg sendt hjem for å sove hvis jeg ser for trøtt ut). Gutta på La Restinga må alltid le litt når jeg bare må gi etter. Hun er ei fantastisk dame!

Ja der satt jeg på middagsbesøk klokken 12 om natta, for her spises julemiddagen på den tiden, og etterpå er det stor fest! Da bar det bort på La Restinga hvor gutta hadde forberedt kveldens drikk: varm sjokolademelk! Den eneste gangen i året det drikkes visstnok. Det var merkelig, der satt jeg i 35 grader og drakk varm sjokolade. Og etterpå var det ut for å danse! Aldri sett et diskotek så fullt i hele mitt liv, og det ble danset til klokken 7 neste morgen, da var det på tide å sove.

I julespillet kom lokale indianere og danset for jesusbarnet!

I romjula kom Hanna og Therese fra Lima på besøk. Kjempe hyggelig å igjen ha noen å dele rom med og snakke med til man sovner! Vi var litt turister og tok oss en båttur på Amazonas, til og med badet i den med alle klærne på (og nei, det var verken pirayaer eller krokodiller der), spist lokal fisk, masse mango, herlig å spise alle måltider sammen med noen også. De har vært og sett capoeira, og i det hele tatt bare hengt litt rundt i Iquitos med gutta. Nyttårsaften spiste vi pizza, og så på alle dokkene som ble brent i gatene. Det er tradisjon å lage svære dokker av gamle klær og lignende og brenne de klokken 12 om kvelden, det skal gi lykke det neste året. Og så dro vi ut for å danse! Folk i Iquitos vet hvordan de skal ha det moro, og det var fest og spetakkel til langt ut på morgen kvisten.

Det har vært en god og meningsfylt jul, og et heidundrende nyttår, det har vært litt av en forskjell fra Norge her i varmen, men ville aldri vært opplevelsene foruten.

Godt nyttår alle sammen! Happy new year! Feliz año nuevo!

Hanna, Therese og Fabricio i motocarroen.

Bade i amazonas!

Og det lages kort i full fart.

Long time... no see...

2007-12-17T11:59:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time now that I have not written anything. I just want to thank everyone for supporting mails and calls!

There have been some changes in my life here in Iquitos. Helene went back to Norway two weeks ago, and now I am living “sola” as we say in spanish. It has been a hard challenge to manage this two first weeks alone. I remember Harald asked me on the intervieuw for Act Now, “what would you do if your teampartner for any reason has to leave?”. I also remember that I answered “I will of course stay”. Right now it’s the only question that I actually remember from the whole intervieuw. Strange no? Since I at that moment never would have thought that this actually could happen, I never thought more about it. But life changes, and opinions change, and here I am in Iquitos, on the other side of the world, and I really want to manage this.

The hardest challenge until now has been:
Not to be able to speak a language that I actually can express myself in.

The good thing is, I have never learned so much spanish in two weeks before! I can even speak in the past. YES :)

This result sometimes in a bad thing: I go crazy of not beeing able to express myself. But it also results in a good thing: I am really good at beeing really, really patient.

So I guess the bad goes up in the good, so it’s iqual.

“Discriminar es absurdo,... lo haces tú?” Day of the AIDS/HIV
1st of december was the world day of AIDS and HIV (called SIDA and VIH in spanish). Of course La Restinga was an important participant. I was surprised that this day is so big here (in Norway I haven’t even heard about it). It looked a bit like the 17th of May actually. We were walking in this prosession with banners and flags and lots of people beeing happy and having fun. The difference was all the condoms walking around handing out condoms and folders. (look the sweet little conoms in the picure) I think I got at least ten different folders about how you get infected, and how you not get infected, and how important it is not to discriminate. The banners had everything from slogans to pictures of sex, penises, vaginas and informative information. I think that lots of this never would have seen daylight in Norway.... Norwegians would have been to embarrased.

At this day I participated in the puppet theatre (theatre with hands). I thought it was a good opportunity to learn spanish, even if the people were laughing of my strange or all wrong accent. I must admit that I don’t even understood all that I said... We had three plays, “The three small pigs and the bad woolf” (I was the condom), “Snowhite” (I was the bad whitch) and...ehh “rødhette” – the girl with the red jacket and the bad woolf. (I was her alcoholic friend and a nurse). If you wonder how at all a condom, an alcoholic friend and a nurse came into these stories...it is because that they are written to tell the kids about the AIDS. And so the bad whitch in snowhite died of AIDS, and the three small pigs won over the woolf because the condom gave them the tip of boiling hot water under the chimney. (the woolfs best friend of course was the HIV virus)....and so on. La Restinga has a lot of these projects, and they work very well. The theatre group here also had a very nice show with testimonies. The fact that all this what happened on the stage actually could happen in real life gave a very good impression.

Miss Amazonica was also represented. The big question is: is this a woman or a man? (I would like to hear your comments) She was very prutty.

”La Brucha Carabaja”
One of the first days I worked here I had my hair loose. Since it’s quite short now, it seems really big. So the first thing one of the kids said when he saw me was “brucha carabaja!”. (brucha = witch and carabaja = i don’t know actually). So ever since lots of the kids call me witch...haha, we have a lot of fun with it. And it’s good that the word has a good meaning. I remember that there worked a woman in my kindergarden who we also always used to call “heksa” (witch) because she had those long nails...but at that time it was not something nice.

Every day I work in the morning. Monday, wednesday and friday I help the kids doing their homework. In the beginning I wasn’t that much of help...I actually had to ask the kids what every word in their homework ment...but it’s going better now. I can help with easy spanish homework and some very easy mathematics. I’ve found out that I haven’t paid much attention in my mathematic classes...sometimes I wonder whether I’ve actually learned this or that it’s just that the kids here learn more difficult mathematics than in Norway...in most of the cases I just have to give up. But I have the chance to help with their english homeworks.

Tuesday and thursday are “taller” days. This means that they have projects to do instead of homework. The kids have made drums, hats, fishes, flowers, christmas trees (or christmas palms, see picture) and christmas decorations out of trash (mostly bottles and other hard things). You actually can’t see that it’s trash anymore. I really like the idea of making useful things out of trash. We should start making christmas decorations out of bottles in Norway too.

Now that the vacations are coming up there won’t be anymore homework to help with the next three months. So at the moment it’s a bit uncertain what I’m actually going to do.

Navidad
Also here the Christmas articles are early in the shops. You have everything from christmas bread to christmas chips and christmas chocolate. The difference is, that here it is not a rush. It’s only 11 days to Christmas, and I’ve seen noone running to the stores to by christmaspresents. Nobody is actualy talking about Christmas either, it’s just a thing that is going to happen (seems to me, but her you never know until it happens). But it is important here aswell, it is a family celebration, and as far as I have understood the kids are looking very forward the food they are going to eat! And everyone is looking forward the hot chocolate they are going to drink on Christmas eve. Even if it is 30 degrees they drink warm chocolate on Christmas eve, that’s tradition.

Christmas decorations is another thing that is quite different from Norway. One evening I was walking home, and since it was a Tuesday I found it very strange that there was a disco just in my neighbourstreet... as I walked by i realized that it was not a disco....it was just the livingroom of a family, and in the middle of that livingroom was a christmastree spinning around with hundred different colors and lights...and at the same time playing “we wish you a merry Christmas”. I had to stop by for a moment. There sat the whole family under hundred blinking christmaslights watching tv and talking together. I wonder if they put out the tree when they went to sleep...

Capoeira
I have started to do capoeira. It is a brazilian sort of fighting sport, but it also has many elements of dance. It is very beautiful to watch, but not that easy to learn...

Let me explain. Capoeira is a sport that much of the time is on the head. I have always been dancing, but in my type of dance I never ever stand on my head. It is actually really hard to see the world upsidedown.

Every saturday there is a “roda” on the boulevard. A “roda” is the capoeira. Two and two are “fighting” and the rest is standing around in a circle clapping and singing capoeira songs. All the songs are in portuguese. (Like it wasn’t enough to learn just spanish...i actually have to sing in portuguese!) I have no idea what I’m singing, but I’m specializing this part since i fear a bit to fight in the roda... But after that most of the guys have been into the circle, I of course have to go too. It must look very funny, because mostly I get really knocked out after 5 seconds because the guy suddenly stays 5 min on his head or does a really nice and acrobatic flicflac or something....haha...but I’m learning, and it gets more fun every time.

I say guys, because it are mostly guys. We are only three girls, and many times I am the only one. I’m trying to get more girls to join, but it’s hard.

Jepp, I promise it won’t be long til my next update now that my life is a bit more settled :)

And this is a graveyard. I have never in my life seen a more bautiful graveyard. just wanted to show it to you!

2007-11-21T14:01:00.000-08:00

Dino shows us how to eat/drink a cocosnut. And it was not as easy as it looks like...

One of the girls is jumping in the playing time at La Restinga. Those girls know how to jump high! Here is the street where I live, Callao. It´s the white door at the right, up the stairs and the first door at the right again :)

We actually have a garbidge can outside the house, this is really rare here.

All the houses here are like prisons...here Helene is trapped in our home.

It´s raining! After 6 days with no rain, it rained like it had never rained before! Sometimes Helene and I go showering in the rain. It´s no problem, we are soaking wet in 10 seconds!

There is lots to choose from in the local store.

When it´s raining the motocarro drivers put on the "raincoatwall". I thought we would crash the first time we sat in a motocarro when it was raining...the driver almost doesn´t see anything... but it´s always going well.

2007-11-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

¡Hola!

Yes, now we are in Iquitos! wohoo! After some hours delayed flight, we finally landed on sunday, and Dino and Joel met us on the airport. The pour guys had been waiting for four hours in the rain...

Hace mucho calor aqui!I(it´s hot!) Today it has been 37 degrees, and it is getting warmer every day ( I still don´t know why it´s getting hotter, I thought it was raintime, but I still haven´t seen any rain). Helene and I have some hard times getting used to the heath, even when we are sitting and not doing anything we are soaking wet of sweat....all the time. Yesterday we went to a lagune to cool down a bit. It was really nice, and they had lots of animals there, puma, anaconda, tigers....you name a dangerous animal and it was there! Even on the boulevard there are shows with real snakes. At first I thought they were toys, but then they crowled by themselves...puh...four alive snakes in an area of 50 metres... I really don´t feel comfortable...

And I´m sorry I always forget to turn my pictures before I add them...

We´ve been to La Resting some days now, on monday we start the real work. The kids are asking a lot of things, and they laugh a lot when I don´t understand anything. I hope my spanish will be better after some time! One day we went to Belén to pick bottles, boxes and other things to use in different projects at La Restinga. I´m looking forward to see how they work at La Restinga! Yesterday we went with the kids to a kind of park. The theme of the day was sexuality. We had many games and tasks, even theatre, to teach the kids about HIV/AIDS, and the right to use a condom when having sex. Many of the children are under the age of 11, some are even only 7 years old, and so in the beginning I found it a bit strange to teach so young kids about their rights when having sex. I still have a lot to learn about the culture here, but I understand that here it´s necessary to start this early with all the information, or else they will be infected by HIV before they have even heard about it. The really good things was actually that it was very natural for the kids to talk and learn about this, there was no "fnisefaktor" (giggling) as we would say in norwegian. On the picture you see a theater play about "Snowhite", the story is abit different, and on the picture you also see a condom in the play...how can Snowwhite protect herself from the HIV-virus?

Life is very different here than in Lima, everything is a bit slower, and the "mañana mañana" culture is a great factor here. The siesta is from about 1 o´clock till 4 o´clock. Then people are sitting on the streets doing nothing or taking a nap, and everything is even slower than else. But I like the fact that I can relax in the middle of the day. And it really is necessary as well, it´s impossible to work in the heath!

I recommend you to see pictures on Helenes blogg, I don´t have access to them right now!

2007-10-27T15:43:00.000-07:00

My sister Soledad and her son.

2007-10-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

Inca Cola - my new favourite

This is a picture from the street I live in in San Martin.

Lima

2007-10-27T14:26:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

My time in Lima is starting to run out, and here are some of my impressions and experiences tha last 3 weeks! I even put on some photos if the computer lets me...

Food:
I really love the food here, it’s delicious, hot, and always different. My hostmum hasn’t served the same dish twice, and she is really good at cooking! We eat a lot of rise, rise, rise and chicken! But my favourite till now is “Creme a la Huancaina con papas”. It’s potatoes with a delicious sauce made out of, among others, cookies and bread. (??) I like eating hot meales twice a day (the first at 3 o’clock, the second at 8 o’clock), the great thing is, you never get really hungry! This also explains why breakfast isn’t a big deal in this country. It’s just tea or coffee, maybe some juice (till now we’ve got papaya juice, strawberry-, pineapple-, banana-.), and some really light weight bread (“loff” in norwegian). I think I’m going to adopt the twice-a-meal-a-day idea. Unfortunately, my stomack is not so happy about the food here, and so I’m still using some time on the toilet...

Transport and robberies.
I have already said a lot about the busses here in Lima, but this is still the thing that amazes me the most; How people get off and on while the bus is still driving, or when the bus drove away without the cobrador (the man getting people of and on the bus) because I had to pay when I got of, and he didn’t have change (oops..). How the busdrivers are really, really good at driving, I mean, I haven’t seen any bus bump into another bus on purpose, and still most of the time it’s just 2 cm away from a really bad crash.

I really learn a lot on the bus. That’s good, because I spend 3-4 hours every day on it. (yes, that’s right, 3-4 hours). If an old woman or man comes on the bus, you are supposed to stand up for that person. Not everyone does, and sometimes the cobrador has to be angry on that young person who does not show respect. Boys often stand up for pretty girls, and girls often offer to hold others bags so that the person standing can hold himself better. Always when a mum and a child get on the bus, they are to sit, so someone else has to stand up. The zone of intimity is very different here than in Norway. When standing in the bus, it’s normal to feel others bodies next to your own, it’s not necessary with the “norwegian space”. One day I was really tramped in between three men, one on each side, really spreading out their arms so I almost could not hold myself and one man with his back to my back. This would never have happened in Norway, I’m sure. I actally didn’t need to hold on, because when the bus was making an odd movement, I was stuck in between the men anyway. I’ve learned that sleeping on the bus also can be done while standing, and I’ve learned to hold my purse in a really good grip...

To get from my place to the place where the language course is, we have to pass some places which are not of the very best kind. So last saturday, I was sitting by the window, and Therese sat next to me. It was as usual... people getting on and of, there were a lot of people on the bus, lots of people on the streets, and the bus was waiting for green light I guess, when suddenly a guy opened the window and grapped my purse! It was on reflex that I also grabbed it, and so I and the guy really where fighting about the purse. He had to give up when the man sittting behind me opened his window to slap the guy. It was all over in a minute, but the whole bus was talking about it. Puh, I really got a little shock there. The worst thing was actually that the guy had been on the bus first...then went of, walked around and opened the window from behind... Just before this happened I was actually thinking that I hadn’t seen anything of that what people here always warn me about (holding purses, being home till 6...and so on). Now I know it’s no joke, and I’ve found out I don’t really want to be out alone after 6 o’clock after all.

The bus drives through many different areas, some are very poor and some are moro rich. The contrasts in this country are very, very big. I think about it all the time, and sometimes I find it really hard to understand why thing are like this, and why the rich people in this country don´t see this at all. Sometimes when I tell people on the languagecourse that I live in San Martin they get a shock, "really??? but that´s so dangerous! Don´t you get robbed?" (yes, I do), but it is in these parts that the culture is really strong, and it is in these parts I learn the most.

Raising children and family
... is very different here than in Norway, at least in the family where I live now. I live with a mum, dad and five grown up-children aged 24 to 31 years. The eldest daughter has a son, and he is now one year and 8 months. They all live together. Mum and dad are still the boss (make sure you come home til eight!), and mum cookes for everyone...always. Alvarro (the grandchild) is with his grandparents most of the day, cause all the children are working. And when they are at home, everyone looks after him. He kind of has got 4 mums and 3 dads. And so he is allowed to do a lot (if one doesn’t let him, someone else will let him). He is a very social boy, so I can see that he is raised in a big family, he always wants to be with people and someone to play with. He never plays alone.

The women are to do everythning in the house, so the sisters wash their brothers cloth, cook for the whole family in the weekends, clean the house... Sometimes the guys even get their food in their room when they are “tired”! (they are 24 and 27 years old), and mum of course always look after that their cloth are clean and ironed. There is no such thing as “my room” and “your room”. Last sunday there was a counting of the people and everyone had to stay at home that day. The two brothers spend the whole day lying in their parents (!!) bed watching TV. I’ve often found one of the brothers lying next to mama or papa in bed... I’m used to it now, but the first time I saw it, I couldn’t understand at all why they were lying in their parents bed...

The weather
Back in Norway i pictured Lima a lot more hot than it actually is right now. It’s still winter, and the winter this year has been cold I’ve heard because of the climate changes (only 10 degrees for a whole month...brrrr) This month it has been about 15 degrees. Of course that is not cold when coming from Norway...but there is no such thing as heatening inside the houses. My families house acually doesn’t have any roof at all on the upper floor. 15 degrees inside is not really much, so I have been freezing quite a lot! I’m looking forward to Iquitos!

The sun is mysterious here...it has only been shining maybe five times all together during my stay. There are always clouds. I still haven’t found out if it really are clouds, or if it just is pollution from all the cars...

A regular day in Lima:
I get up at 6.30, and wake up Therese at 6.45. Then there is breakfast at 7.00, and we go to the bus at 7.30. After one and a half hour on the bus we are ready for four hours spanish lessons. The spanish lessons are mostly like that the voice on the tape says something and we all repeat it like a bunch of stupid sheep....(for four hours!!). When school is finished, we hang around in Miraflores or go to see some tourist atractions. At 16.00 we have to go home again, so that we can be home till 18.00. Then there is tea and some bread, and later dinner. In the evening we often watch a movie with our hostbrother. He’s crazy about movies, especially horror movies...so sometimes I sleep really bad... I have my dictionary with me absolutely all the time...so sometimes I actually have a real conversation as well...it just takes a bit longer time than usual! And then we go to bed.

And...
On sunday i’m leaving for Iquitos. It is going to be really sad to leave my family and Lima. I like Lima. But I’m also looking forward to finally start the work I came here to do! Up to Iquitos! Time to really something :)

Meget solbrent etter to tomer i sola...

2007-10-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

Dette er forsaavidt eksepsjonelt, for det er jo aldri sol her! Det har vaert tre ganger i lopet av oppholdet!

2007-10-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

Det hverdagslige problem…

Diaré,
diaré…
kunne vært fint om det ble
litt normalt dette her.
For doen her er nemlig litt sær…
Det er ganske mye mer vann i bånn…
og da sier det jammen meg SPLÆSJ hver gang sånn
at man heller hopper i dusjen.

Jaja, jeg er ingen dikter, men litt poetisk må man være i disse tilstander!
Og i tillegg da saa har jeg sitti og provd aa faa inn noen bilder...men saa forsvant jammen meg alle...saa proever snart igjen!

Busstreik, plystring og eksos

2007-10-16T17:55:00.000-07:00

Da har det allerede gått 12 dager. Førsteinntrykkene har begynt å synke inn, og Lima tar mer og mer form som en stor, stor by. Jeg begynner (endelig!) å kjenne igjen bygninger, huske steder og navn, og vet også hvilke busser jeg kan ta hjem…noe som har vist seg å være ganske viktig å vite ettersom spansken er slik at det kunne oppstå ganske store misforståelser… Lima er ikke til å tulle med, i går kjørte vi 4 timer fra den ene siden av byen til den andre. Og da var vi fortsatt ikke helt gjennom! Therese har god retningssans…bra for meg.

Som Therese sier: ”jeg skjønner ikke at folk synes at skyss er et problem i Lima, jeg får da tilbud om skyss hele tiden!”. De gangene Therese og jeg har gått av bussen for tidlig eller for sent (alt ser jo likt ut) så har vi flere ganger stoppet opp trafikken fordi en eller annen tulling absolutt må kjøre sakte for å plystre og vinke på oss. Det sies så fint at man bare må ignorere det, men…hallo! Det er jo bare så utrolig komisk! Jeg knekker sammen i latter hver eneste gang… Eller den gangen vi hørte plystring fra andre siden av gata…først skjønte vi ikke at det var til oss en gang…men som vi har lært snudde vi oss ikke da det ble plystret flere ganger….ja, så kom knallskuddet: ”FUCK YOU BITCH!”. Vi klarte nesten ikke gå oppreist resten av veien…hahahahaha.

Vi har vært på besøk på mødresenteret hvor Hanna og Therese skal jobbe. Vi kjørte ganske langt inn i slummen, det er rart å se masse skur…og vite at det bor hele familier i de. Mødresenteret virker som et veldig bra sted. En av jentene viste oss rundt og fortalte at de blant annet også utdanner jentene til frisør, baker eller syersker. Det er bra de har en utdannelse når de er skal ut av senteret. Omtrent det første spørsmålet som møtte oss var om Johannes ville være gudfar til Nils Johan (oppkalt etter en av brødrene til en av jentene som jobbet der i fjor). Så på lørdag var vi i barnedåp! Alle ungene på senteret ble døpt. Jentene hadde stæsja seg opp, og til og med de mest høygravide gikk på høye hæler! God stemning, kake, champagne og kakao!

I dag er det busstreik. Så i stedet for at det går 24 000 busser om dagen, går det i dag bare 4000. Det merkes…For det første kom aldri bussen vår, og vi måtte hoppe på en annen og satse på at den kjørte riktig vei. På det meste var det sikkert 90 personer inni der…folk er sure og irriterte og det er virkelig kjemping om plassene…første man som klarer å komme inn på bussen vinner…resten henger utapå. Jaja, det gikk fint denne gangen også.

Ellers er hverdagen slik at man alltid lukter eksos, alltid er svart under neglene, alltid nyser, og når man pusser nesa er det jammen svart der og. Men kan ikke si annet enn at jeg faktisk liker Lima veldig godt! Det er folk overalt, hele tiden. Vi sovner til lyden av folk i gata, musikken til naboen, hunden som racer rundt på taket, og snorkinga til vertsbroren min, og vi våkner til hundebjeffing, tv-en og latter. Det er aldri stille, og det føles veldig trygt.

In Lima!

2007-10-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

Hola! My new town is Lima! I´ll try to write all my new impressions in english this time!

Now I am at the internet café just down the street where I live. Is there something that there is lorts of here, it´s internet cafes! I live in San Martin in a family with 5 grown up children, aged 24 to 31, and a grandchild. He is so sweet, he's only 1 year and 8 months. At first I didn't understand that all the children were living in the same house as their parents, but I like it! Therese and I live in the same family. When someone calls "Theressa" it usually means both of us :)

My first impressions so far:

the bus. amazing. So many people! on each bus there is one driver and one "shouter". He's reponsible for opening the door, taking care of payment and make the bus stop when people need to get of.
toiletpaper...is not to be thrown in the toilet! Oops...didn't know that for until yesterday...soon I've made the whole cloack system to a stop...
I actually have to be at home at 06.00 pm.
Lima is BIG!!! When my hostsister said that the trip tp the Stromme office would last "dos horas", I thought I was sure I was hearing wrong....you know...my spanish está malo... But, the next day we actually sat in the bus for two hours!!! Everyday Therese and I are going to Miraflores for the language course, and then we sit on the bus for 1 and a half hour each way....for only 1 sole!! (2 norwegian crowns..)
there are a lot of dogs in the streets
I learned that Panamericana is a highway and not american bread... (pan=bread). I could not see why my hostfather always was mentioning american bread when describing the way...haha

A lot of things have happened. Yesterday we were at a birthday party, a "primo" went 8 years old. There were so many people! And a clown, and dancers! Those children can dance!!!

Pictures will come!

10 dager igjen!

2007-09-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

Det er mindre enn to uker det. Ti dager…er like lenge som en ferie i syden…eller like lenge som fra 14. desember til julaften (og det er kort!!). Ja det er faktisk mindre enn halvparten av tiden man bruker på å sykle fra Nordkapp til Lindesnes…og det gikk ganske fort. Altså: det er ikke så lang tid igjen til jeg faktisk sitter på flyet til Lima. Det skremmer meg, samtidig som jeg vet at det her er det jeg har villet lenge. Jeg gleder meg også. Det jeg for øyeblikket gleder meg mest til er å komme fram, sitte på sengekanten og tenke at ”Det er her jeg skal være her i 7 måneder.” Da må jeg ta det derfra, og det er da det begynner.

Ukene på Hald har virkelig fløyet. Om morgenene er det alltid jeg som står opp først (til stor glede for mine to sjusovere), i en tilstand tilsvarende en sovende zombie, spiser jeg frokost samtidig som jeg hiver meg inn i diskusjoner om både flerkoneri og hvilken type melk man blir mest ”fat” av. Er det nå egentlig positivt å få slengt i trynet ”you’ll get fat!” hver gang man tar seg et glass helmelk? Noen mener det. Kombinasjoner av makrell i tomat, skinke, brunost, syltetøy OG majones på en og samme brødskive (attpå til hatt i mikrobølgeovnen) kan få en til å stirre helt uten å tenke over at stirring egentlig er litt frekt. Så går dagene med til å lære om poverty, faitrade, nord-sør politikk, kultur, religioner og ikke minst alt om samarbeid. Vi har spilt både kortspill med ti forskjellige regler og puslet sammen kvadrater uten å få lov til å snakke med hverandre eller gi så lite som et lite vink for å bli enig. Utfordrende og morsomt! Lærdom? Det er viktig å kjenne til hverandres koder for å unngå misforståelser, og bruk for all del ikke vold for å få den andre til å forstå (det ble mye banking i bordet og ufrivillige trekninger i bena da kommunikasjonen gjennom språket forsvant). Det blir spennende å møte en ny kultur. Selv om jeg er så forberedt er jeg likevel redd for å møte veggen…hva om jeg ikke skjønner kodene? Peruanerne her på hald har forberedt meg godt, de har fortalt meg alt om plystring på gata til at jeg bør spise deres nasjonalrett bestående av friterte mark…så egentlig burde jeg nok ikke bekymre meg så alt for mye!

Man merker at tiden for avreise begynner å nærme seg. Språkkurs før, under og etter alle måltider er mer hektisk og basert på ”hvis jeg ikke lærer meg noe NÅ, så vet jeg ikke hvordan jeg skal overleve” enn før. Det begynner å bli en smånervøs stemning blant de internasjonale om det kommer til å bli kaldere enn det allerede er. Aggie og jeg har allerede lært opp vår brasilianske romvenninne, Sany, til å sove med vinduet åpent. Det er bra for herdinga. Jeg frøys ganske mye da jeg var på besøk i Bergen i helgen. Alt det brune fettet jeg hadde spart opp i løpet av mitt kalde år som student i fjor er tydeligvis forsvunnet. Det er godt å være på Hald, for det virkelige ”studentlivet” er både hardt og kaldt! Bokstavelig talt.

Jeg hadde virkelig en liten erfaring med en litt morsom språkmisforståelse her om dagen. En misforståelse mellom ”bad words in Norway” og ”bad wars in Norway” gjorde at jeg la ut om både første og andre verdenskrig, nazister, okkupasjon og etterkrigstid, helt til Nagib lurte på hvorfor i all verden jeg var så interessert i å forklare han hele Norges historie…

Vi har hatt norsk kveld også, en suksess med både 17.mai tog, vafler, sketsj om norske vaner på bussen og litt folkedans hvor jeg selv var en av danserne. (check it out on youtube!)

Min søster har vært på besøk i helgen, og det var siste gang jeg så henne før jeg reiser. Veldig merkelig. Snart drar jeg på ordentlig! Før den tid skal jeg ha skaffet meg et kamera folkens J

2007-09-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

Tida på Hald går fort, selv om den også går sakte. La meg si det sånn: det går altfor fort med tanke på at jeg kun har tre uker igjen med alle kjekke folk her på Hald før jeg reiser ut, og det går kanskje en smule sent mot utreise. Jeg hører stadig mer om La Restinga, stedet hvor jeg skal ha min 7 måneders praksisperiode i Iquitos, Peru, og merker at det nå snart er på tide å få se alt dette selv! Det jeg foreløpig vet om La Restinga er at det er et dagsenter for unger som bl.a. bor på gata. De kommer til senteret for å få leksehjelp, lære litt engelsk, danse capoeira, spille fotball, tegne...ja hva som helst som kan få de til å fullføre skolen og som får dem til å tenke på noe positivt i hverdagen. La Restinga gir ungene selvtillit og informasjon. Det informeres mye om prevensjon og HIV/AIDS. Barneprostitusjon og svært unge mødre er et utbredt problem. Akkurat hva JEG skal gjøre er enda litt uvisst, men jeg har i alle fall lyst til å lære bort litt dans :) Min teamkamerat, Helene fra Risør, og jeg er begge gira på å være litt impulsive, så vi får se hva som kommer ut av det!

Skoledagen på Hald er noe heeelt annet enn universitetet. Det er faktisk så jeg sier HURRA for obligatorisk oppmøte i undervisningen! Selv om jeg til tider er like trøtt på skolebenken her som alle andre ganger jeg har sittet på en skolebenk, er det vi lærer her ganske mye mer interessant en forelesninger i spansk grammatikk! Fairtade, povery, økonomi, visjoner, lederskap...you name it and I've learned it. Dette her er virkelig noe man burde lære på videregående!

Mat-tidene på Hald er noe magen min virkelig har måttet venne seg til. Med middagstider på gammelt nederlandsk vis (klokka ett), har magesekken virkelig måttet utvide sitt potensiale for ikke å gå sulten hele dagen. Kveldsmaten klokka halv sju redder nok likevel litt av hungersnøden, men det har vært litt av en kamp. Jeg er ganske stolt over å ha klart å holde meg unna den lokale ICAen så langt. Det hele beviser jo egentlig at man kan venne seg til ting hvis man bare vil. Jeg tar dette med maten som en smakebit på hva jeg kommer til å møte i Iquitos. Fra sikre kilder hører jeg at det går mye i ris, ris og atter ris. (Dette forklares samtidig med håndbevegelser om at man blir feit) Så jeg er spent.

Følg med framover, dette er bare såvidt starten!

2007-08-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

Hallo!

Nå er jeg også igang! Følg med :)

http://actingnow.blogspot.com