Alice

Cuba

2009-11-19T22:40:00.006+01:00

Just being there is like a dream, we had to pinch each other a few times to make sure it was true. There was some new cars, hadn't it been for those you would believe in time travelling. Lots of old cars, big Cadillacs and Chevys. I have never seen so many Ladas in my life either.. hehe... We heard that they have done a lot of restoring in Havanna, and they buildings are amazing!

The American writer Ernest Hemingway spent a lot of time in Cuba, and we of course had to visit his favourite places! Talking about writers, just before we left for Cuba we came over a book by a Norwegian author, taking place in Cuba. We enjoyed recognising the names and places, as well as the differences, since this story was happening in the 70s. Fictional book, but had a lot of interesting facts.

No where else have we been at more museums. The Museo de la Revolucion is mandatory, and we also visited a museum with colonial furniture, churches and the Havanna Club rum museum! The last one gave out samples.. ;)

We visited another town in Cuba as well, Trinidad. Here we stayed in a privat house. The house was in proper colonial style, very nice - and cheap. The land lady made really nice food too. Her sister and niece went out with us one night, fun. We got to practice our Spanish as well, hardly anyone spoke English there.

Being in Cuba you have to dance salsa! so we had a two hours lesson, just for fun. but our teacher didn't do it for fun, so we were sweating big time. A lot of fun!

The beaches in Cuba are absolutely amazing, wish we had more time there...

for the third time on this trip we went horsebackriding. This time through the jungle to a waterfall. Not all that after seeing the Iguazu, but a nice trip. I got a lazy horse as usual, but the guide kept whipping it. It was also really scared of being last, so when ever Kristine tried to ride past it sped up and mad it impossble to overtake.

The thing I could really do without though, is the Cuban machoism... tsk, tsk, kiss kiss wherever you go...

Costa Rica - Pura Vida

2009-11-03T01:42:00.007+01:00

Wherever we go, there's never enough time. In Costa Rica we did a trip to the Nationalpark of Tortugero to see the turtles and the rainforest. It was the end of the season for the big green turtle, so we were quite excited when we went to the beach at night. We were not disappointed!! We saw to huge turtles, probably around 150 kg. One of them we saw laying her eggs... While waiting for the turtle to get ready, at least 20 baby turtles hatched from their nests and ran for their lives towards the Ocean. The Caribean one it is, as Tortugero is on the east coast of Costa Rica. Baby turtles are tiny and sooo cute. I did restist the wish to pick up one of them. of course!

Was well as turtle watching we were driving around in boats, as there are no roads, but channels in the national park. We saw lots of different birds (the tucan was the definite high light, if only they weren't so shy), caymans (small crocodile), monkeys, poisonous frogs and snakes! This yellow one is just a baby, but if you get bitten and don't get the antidote within a couple of days, you'd die. There was also many different lizards.. not always easy to spot.

On the way to the national park we stopped at a banana plantation. Kristine got to hold one of the pets there.. :)

The last days we spent in Montezuma on the Pacific Coast. Stayed at a hostel with hammocks and lots of monkeys! We went snorkelling one day, but the sight wasn't the best...

Peru

2009-10-16T19:22:00.019+02:00

Cusco

As a small, tourist city it had a lot more charm than one can expect. But it had enough of small girls in national costumes carrying lamas asking if you wanted to take a picture. Only one soleeeees...

We stayed at the Point Hostel, where you find a variety of people. Compared to other places we have been there were actually people from Peru staying here too, and we had a good time with the Peruvians! Funny and well oriented people. A lot of people in Europe wouldn't know that Norway isn't a part of the EU for example...

Machu Picchu and the Lares trek

Being the main thing in Peru and one of the biggest attractions of our trip we were really excited when we started the trek. The first day was spend in the Sacred Valley where we saw a lot of old Inca ruins. We stayed in a small town called Ollantaytambo. The trek itself lasted for 3 days, and on the first day it was hailing! We have to admit we didn't expect that and was wearing pants that stopped way over the ancles... I have to admit I asked myself why I was doing this the second day. The hills were steep and the air thin... breathing like a damp engine... Getting to camp was so nice, every time! Went to bed early, because it was so cold. Glad I had invested in an alpacca jumper in La Paz... We also had rain, fog and sunshine on our trip. The highest point was 4450 m altitude!

On the 4th day we were finally going to Machu Picchu. Getting up before sunrise... When we got there we couldn't see anything because of the fog. That made it more interesting, now we saw it bit by bit... AMAZING!

On of the things that really made the trip was the nice group. As well as the two of us (known as the Weegie Weegies), there were 6 English and 8 Canadians, the eldest was over 50, what a lady!

Lima

After weeks in the mountains in Peru and Bolivia it was great with some city life. Lima is a huge city, with almost 8 million people. We stayed in a part called Miraflores. It's nice with shops and cafees. We even found a mall!! OF course most of the shops sold things made of alpacca... but they had a cinema and Starbucks:)
We went paragliding with crazy Marco, fun! Not as scary as expected, and I think my mother and grandmother would have liked it. We got to look into people's homes.. hehe... Wouldn't mind having one of those apartements...

Mancora

We were planning to go to Arequipa, but decided we needed some beach and sun. In Mancora we found both, and the Point Hostel is even at the beach. We enjoyed the laid back atmosphere and friendly staff to the max! We achieved another goal as well, we went surfing and both of us stood up at the board! Maybe we should mention we had an instructor each helping to paddle, chosing the waves adn telling us when to get up.. ;)

Tupiza to Uyuni

2009-10-02T20:21:00.009+02:00

We decided to do a 4 day trip from Tupiza to Uyuni. This was the easy option. Wish we had been a bit luckier with the company in the jeep though... While everyone else was in groups of 4-5 in the 20-30s we ended up with a 65 years old lady from Switzerland. 4 days in a jeep is quite a few hours...

The trip started by climbing from 2950 m altitude and to around 4-5000. Most of the time we had the heart in the throat, with a gravel road that goes straight down into rocks and nothing. seat belts? never heard of! Just as we were thinking "what if we meet another car now", we met a huge truck/lorry loaded with kids... Solution: he had to back down a bit and then we could drive off the road and past.

The scenery is amazing! Mountains in all colours, stones shaped by millions of years sand and wind, and multi coloured lagunas with flamingoes. Not to mention all the lamas. They are cute and taste good too.

The highlights of the trip were the salt flats, of course, and the hot springs! The funniest thing is to use the optical illusjon the salt desert makes...

In Uyuni we tried pizza with lama at Minute Man Pizza. very good!

Thank heaven, no sickness due to altitude. But running, or moving about here is a lot of work. At the highest we have been at almost 6000 m altitude.

Salta, Argentina y Tupiza, Bolivia

2009-09-29T00:57:00.010+02:00

Salta is the typical place to stop on the way from Argentina to Bolivia (or the other way), and is an 18 hours busride from Mendoza... It is a small town, but very nice. In Salta we went horseriding for a day with to crazy guides, Ramiro and Augusto - loco!! (chiefladeras???) Really nice horses, obeyed every little wink. Which is good since this was Silje`s first time. Me gusto Salteño! Had a very fun day with about 5 hours on the horseback, with a lunch in between. That`s when we met our first Argentinean grandmoter La NOOONI!! We ate traditional Argentinean food, and in the evening they took us to a traditional gaucho (cowboy) place where we ate some more. (After watching so you thing you can dance I have always wondered what a tamale is. Now I know.)

From Salta we took a guided tour through several small towns and ended up in Humahuache. The trip was a waste, not too please with the guide... In Humahuache Silje didn`t feel too well, and we later found out that the altitude is about 4000 m... But it only lasted the afternoon/evening, so hopefully she`s ready for the trip to the salt desert and sorroundings where it get´s up towards 6000 m altitude...

Lonely Planet says that the best way to avoid sickness because of altitude is to walk slowly, eat only a little and sleep by your poor little self... Which means that Kristine has put Silje on a diet. Here she is shopping fruit and vegetables.

If everything had worked after our plans we would be on our way to the salt desert in Uyuni by now. But... this is not Argentina, we`re in Bolivia now. The bus got stuck, everyone had to get out...

Anyways... from Humahuache we took the bus to the Argentinean/Bolivian border. Getting anywhere else was a bit more problematic... We didn`t have any bolivianos and the only ATM was closed... But thanks to captain Jon (thank you!!) we had 20 $ which was enough for the bus to Tupiza and a night for both of us at the hostel there.. Since getting to Uyuni took a day more than expected, we decided to do the trip to the Uyuni desert from Tupiza. Which means we haven`t got time for the mines in Potosi or the jungle in Rurrenabaque, it takes time in Bolivia, but we don`t want to spend most of the time in a bus...

We spend a day in Tupiza on horses, the landscape was specatular! Didn`t enjoy the riding as much as I (Silje) did in Salta, but Kristine is crazy and had a bit more control over the horses..

Colonial de Sacramento, Uruguay

2009-09-19T17:09:00.006+02:00

Kristine and Silje Cathrin picked the best day for a boat trip to Uruguay, for sure! It was raining and windy, so the boat was delayed several hours. We had to take the 3 hours in stead of 1 hour, but then we could sleep a bit, so that was ok.

When we got there a woman with a minivan was hijacking tourists, so we went for the easy solution.. and it was worth it! It was freezing, so we would never have gotten anywhere without here.. Historic lessons and proper guiding was a good idea in the end. We saw the old town and the newer areas, and had still time to walk around (read: run around and take pics) before we drank chocolatas calientes (hot chocolate).

Colonial is a Portuguese-Spanish city from the colonial time, and this is the eldest church in Uruguay.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

2009-09-19T17:07:00.009+02:00

In Buenos Aires we were ready for some big city life, and shared room with girls from Holland, Luxemburg, Ireland and Brazil. Vi tried our first parrilada, with a lot of meat! Guess if Silje was happy... Later we went to Cafe Tortoni, one of the eldest cafes in Argentina. Famous writers like J. Borges used to go there.

Later we went to La Cabrera, the best steak restaurant in Buenos Aires! Heaven!!! Silje had a 500 gr steak, and after that she tasted some of Kristine`s steak too... It came with all sorts of things, but it obviously normal to have meals with only meat.

There are a few others sights in BA too, like the cemetary at Recoleta. That is where Evita has her grave. A lot of money spent on dead people... but a very interesting place.

This day was for walking, think we walked for 9 hours... Palermo is a colourful part of town, with great shops and restaurants.

The last day we went to La Boca. That is not the best neighbourhood, so better stay on the more touristy paths. All the houses are painted in different colours. The inhabitants got left over paint from ships, as this is close to the harbour. The brilliant ending was to watch Boca Juniors on home ground, even though they got beaten by Godoy Cruz from Mendoza.

Iguazu Falls

2009-09-19T17:00:00.004+02:00

After parting the the crew from sailing, Silje Cathrin and Kristine took the bus south west, to the border between Brazil and Argentina. That took only about 20-30 hours in total...

We decided to go straight to Argentina, to check out the waterfalls from there. It was a lot of water!!! and many pretty butterflies.. :)

Seiling i Costa Verde

2009-09-10T19:39:00.005+02:00

Ola!

Sailing along Costa Verde, The Green Coast, in Brazil is pretty amazing! even though the weather havent been the best... Silje managed to get sunburned, so we are not complaining =) As you can see, she is a very consentrated Captain Morgan.
Kristine is assisted by Captain Jon.

The people on the boat are really nice, we are four Norwegians and three Aussies, so it had to be a success. At the moment we are in the city of Paraty, which is one of the gems from the colonial time. we say: Watch out for the cobble stones!! Small and cosy, we had just enough time to charge our mobile phones, eat a great burger/sandwich and get new Hawaianas. You know, thats what we will need for the next 7 months... most of the time.. ;)

The coast is amazing, green and palmtrees everywhere, small islands scattered along it. After a day of sailing we anchored up in a small bay and swam ashore. The guys found oysters, nice!
After sunset it is amazing just to sit in the boat and listen to the sounds from nature and watching the fireflies...

After a few ok days, where the weather wasnt too good, the last day was fantastic! Blue sky and sunshine all day! Finally.. :) The combination of sunshine and saturday brought out a lot more people, of course a few who showed off all their horsepowers... We looked for the blue lagoon and did some snorkelling, lots of fish. Very small, thank heavens! ;) Later we moved to another bay where we relaxed, swam to the beach and really enjoyed the sun .

ps! if we dont respond to messages the battery might be flat or out of reach. some messages have been delayed too.

Rio de Janeiro

2009-09-04T23:37:00.003+02:00

Endeleg vart det tid for den store reisa! Sjølv på flyet til Rio de Janeiro var det ikkje verkeleg, trur ikkje at det gjekk opp for oss før vi vakna i dag og såg rett på Ipanema-stranda. Begge var i ekstase då vi kom fram torsdagskveld, og såg det fantastiske staden der vi skulle bu dei neste dagane. Takk, Lars!

Roberto, Lars sin sjåfør, henta oss på flyplassen. Fredag morgon var han igjen klar, dinne gongen for å ta jentene med på sightseeing. Så alle dokke heime- vi he vorte køyrd rundt av privatsjåfør...

Ein super dag, der vi fyrst tok turen med "toget" (som Fløyen i Bergen) til Corcovado for å sjå på Kristus-statua. Mektig syn. Deretter suste vi ein tur til Santa Teresa. Vi rakk ikkje så mykje anna enn å ete... Det tok så lang tid med maten vår at andre gjestar såg på oss å peika. Men dei så kjenne Silje Cathrin veit at ho er ikkje den enklaste å ha med å gjere når ho er svolta, samt at ho er nok ganske lang i maska... Uten mat og drikke, duger helten ikke!

Før vi måtte heim og sove middag fekk vi tatt taubana til Sukkertoppen, Sugar Loaf Mountain. Der fekk vi tatt endå fleire utsiktsbilete.. Neste på programmet er sambaklubb i Lapa! Vi skal vere i Rio fram til mandag ca, etter det reise vi sørvest til Angra dos Reis, der vi skal segle langs Costa Verde-kysten og til øya Ihla Grande.

Voksenliv?!!

2007-08-26T19:52:00.001+02:00

No e den fyrste helga i mitt nye jobbliv snart over. Lenge sia sist det smakte so godt me helg og so fortent! Ikkje at ej fikk gjort so mykje fornufti, men baka faktisk brød (og det he ej kun hatt som måtsetjing i 2,5år so..) og brownies. Samt vaska hus. Veldi voksne aktiviteta.. So det va veldi bra at ej og Wenke ikkje gjorde nåke igår. Gikk en tur på stranda fordi der va berre store og sinte hunda i hundeparken. So mykje frisk luft gjor oss trøtte, so då vart sofaen tilhaldsstad resten av kvelden! =)

Bjynde å finne fram i Stavanger, enda ej va veldi desorientert t å bjynde me.. Kjempenøgd igår då ej kjørte heim. Heilt aleine!!! Jobben e på Randaberg og ej he blitt go på bussen dit.. Der e fint på landet!! Va på sykkeltur me 8. klasse fredag, strålande sol og kjekke eleva. Fikk dog spørsmålen: "ken e ho jenta der" Ej lurte på om han ikkje kjende mej igjen frå dagen før. "å jo, du e den nye læraren frå sørlandet!"

At home... sometimes

2007-05-24T22:25:00.001+02:00

Mari and I had such a good time the last days in Naimibia. One night we got the phone number to Namibia's most popular artis- the Dogg!! He brought a friend, Nasty, and met us for a milkshake.

Me and Nasty

Mari and The Dogg

So we HAD to go and get their album... Funny and really nice guys! True Namibians...
But.. before they showed up, we had absolutely no idea what they looked like, so wasn't sure we were going to meet them or someone who pretended to be The Dogg...

It was also nice with the last few days in Windhoek to get used to civilisation before returning home.. enjoyed Joe's Beer house, ate zebra, crocodile, ostrich (not from Austria), kudu... yammi!!

But I miss the times in Ongwediva, just hanging at the Bush Bar, playing music from the juke box drinking Windhoek Lager... Walking around in the sand (tired of wearing shoes all the time..)

Here are the girls eating Norwegian meatcakes... and they liked it!

Our class at the college...

Cultural Dance

Interview on Namibian television... Mari got us invited to the opening of a veeery nice exhibition..

The park.. Bennies entertainment.. miss it so...

It's nice to be home... but I haven't had too much time to enjoy it so far, been all over the place...

A place for me...

2007-04-17T04:03:00.000+02:00

One thing about Namibia is the meat. they eat meat. when you're having a couple of beers other places in the world, there is probably a bowl of chips on the table. Not here. Here they pass around plates with meat in stead. grilled meat, dried meat, cooked... I like it very much! (what do you reckon, Kristine?! Never told me about this before i went down here..) At the shop Mari gets some chocolate (ok, sometimes me too) and I get biltong (dried meat)... (they told me that I ate donkey thing the other night...)

Like when we were at the king, we got meat. a couple of kgs! this friday it was graduation, so we went to someone who had grilled a goat. very nice, too spicy for me though.

They for sure knows how to make a good steak here too... oh, when i get to Windhoek... i'm gonna eat zebra, kudu, ostrich (again), crocodile... :)

So I don't learn the Africans to swear or anything, just to say " Ej ete kjöt" (I eat meat).

I didn't climb to the top of the food chain to become a vegetarian!!

Easter in Zambia

2007-04-16T18:50:00.000+02:00

After some changes in the plan we ended up with a whole week in Livingstone, Zambia. That was so relaxing and fun!!
Wish I had gone to ALL the markets, but guess i'm already in a lot of trouble getting everything back. but atleast i'm so much better at bargaining!! :)

Aussie Aussie Aussie- oy oy oy!!
As always Aussies are a lot of fun! If it hadnt been for them, we would have done nothing for the first 4 days. But maybe I would remember everything... They did a lot of Africa in four weeks, I just needed to have a relaxing easter holiday. At least for a few days, we could not use all the fun before the Malawi-girls arrived!

On the pic: Jon, Julia (Germany), Anette (Norway), Chris, Donnie and Ben. Ofcourse they were surfers. And life savers at Bondi... Haha, not the

last. Big pool at Jollyboys, the backpacker. Perfect for surfing. A small pond for the big boys.

The boys convinced us to join them on the Gorge Swing, and it was terrifying. (But nothing compared to what comes later) Jumping off cliffs hasn't really been my thing, but I loved it! (Screaming is a part of it!! and i'm good at it!) After 53 metres of free fall you just swing in the Gorge, that's a feeling of peace!! I jumped alone at first, but I prefer tandem. Because then you HAVE to jump. but I dont mind the company when swinging in the Gorge either... great feeling!!!

Bungee in Victoria Falls!!!

Since Mattis and Morten were here, we've talked about bungee jumping in Vic Falls. Mari and Rebecca were termined to do it, I was like.. we'll see. After the Gorge Swinge I thought that I couldnt be bothered, but when standing on the brigde- butterflies in my belly and I knew I had to do it!! Was very happy that I go to jump with Anne.. she had even done it once before. Not too nervous before- like Mari and Rebecca or Anette, but when I was standing on the platform.. SCARY!!!! Really happy that i did it, and i felt like a very brave easter bunny. Dunno if I'll do it again (heroy-brua, anyone?!!)Anette, cape town?! hehe... didn't enjoy being upside down too much though... and had to climb back up on the bridge and my legs were shaky. The Falls are amazing, soo beautiful!! Lots of water.. Christine adn I brought a wash cloth (we're funny), and we all got soaked. should've brought some shampoo, cause the backpacker was having a lot of problems with the electricity. Whenever it was gone (which was every single day the week we were there) the showers didn't work. This is the brigde we were jumping from.

we would've loved to raft there too, but there was too much water in Zambezi. Njami njami, the river god and god of the Falls, was kind to me.

Katima Mulilo and Botswana

2007-04-05T09:40:00.000+02:00

Katima Mulilo in Caprivi
Now we're on our 2 weeks travel, and the first stop was in Katima Mulilo in the north east arm of Namibia. There we stayed in the hostel with the students, we even took their beds!! this was very uncomfortable at first, but it ended up as such a great week!! Didnt go to too many lessons though, enough!! we learned that a mountain is a rock, and that the reason for not drinking the water straight out of Zambezi is because they throw things in it. for example dogs!!

we did a sunset cruise on Zambezi, but I didnt see any dogs. Instead I saw a lot of hippos!!! I love them!!!! even though they are said to be one of the most dangerous animals in Africa... The cruise was really nice and relaxing, got couple of beers and sat on the roof.. Didnt see any crocodiles though..

Botswana
More hippos were to be seen in Chobe Nationalpark in Botswana, where we went for one day. But even more amazing was the elephants!!!! they were so many, everywhere and the babies are gorgeous! An elephant with the trunk (the slurp, hehe..) up is supposed to bring good luck. there was also plenty of buffalos (scary animals!!), impalas and things like that, some giraffes. Unfortunately we didnt got to see the lions.
we were taken there by some teachers and students at Caprivi College.

Our good friend Bjorn borrowed us a very rare baby dwarf python...

Hjå kongen

2007-03-23T12:46:00.000+01:00

English at the bottom!!! sorry!!

Førre veke var vi så heldige at vi vart bodne til audiens hos konge i Tsandi. han er overhovudet for akwaludhistammen, av typ Ovambo. Dersom du spør Anette er det ikkje sikkert at ho syns vi va so heldige likevel... ho jubla ikkje akkurat over utedoen i betong me ca tusen fluge.. (ikkje at ej gjorde, men ej kom ikkje med nåken av dei etterkvart so frykta hyla mine.. hehe..) Kongen va no en veldi søt mann, hadde vore kjekt om han snakka litt engelsk. Men Kokko, dronninga, va tydeligvis sjefen i huset der, og ho snakka engelsk, kjørte bilen og ordna opp i alt anna oxo.. ho va nesten fortvila då vi reiste uten å ha tatt bilde av dei, so vi måtte reise tilbake. Anette hoppa i taket

av glede då ho hørte det!! Vi fikk i det minste med oss eit show med lokale artista og tradisjonell dans- kjempesøte ungar!!!

Middagen av den nyslakta kua va no litt snodi.. spesielt sia vi fikk maten servert på rommet vårt (som vi fann ut måtte vere hønsehuset deira eller nåke), og der åt vi aleine. Ettepå fikk vi fortalt at i owamvo-tradisjon so et ein ikkje saman med gjestane sine.. Kunne kanskje ha nevnt det i forbifarta tidligare, so hadde vi ikkje følt oss so i veien.. jaja... ej må innrømme at den oshiwambomiddagen vi fikk me Alina i klassa vår va bedre..

Medan vi var i dette strøket var vi på fleire skulebesøk. Det var populært kan en sei... Sku tru at dei aldri ha sett kvite før. Mulig at det ikkje skjer so ofte...

We were lucky enough to be invited to visit a king last week. we stayed there for a few days on their property. It's not the same as the royal family in Norway for sure, but it was absolutely an very interesting stay. As tradition is when having guest they take a cow and makes for dinner. That's great, but it would have been better if they had dinner with us, and not just gave us our dinner in the "hen house" where we stayed. Later we got told this was the tradition, but how should we guess that?!!! we went back in the weekend to attend to a cultural thing, with an artist and children dancing. or step and clap as i call it.

we also did 4 school visits where we talked about norway, brought a Norwegian flag, pictures and some coins. especially the coins were popular. and as always in Africa, they love it when we take pictures. And as our tradition is, we took more jumping pics!

this weekend we're off north for Caprivi, Botswana and Victoria Falls in Zambia!! Expect som great pics!!! this has been a very quite week since wed, cause all the other students left...

Dyra i Afrika og alt dei he å gjere...

2007-03-13T09:34:00.000+01:00

Dinne helga var vi i Etosha, nasjonalparken i Namibia. Solnedgongen i Afrika e som på film... How romantic!!! og det e forsovidt soloppgongen oxo, for dei som fikk me sej den.. (les: Silje Cath og Christine. dei andre murmeldyra hadde det altfor travelt.. eller so hadde dei tylla i sej nok mengde me windhoek eller capteinen... dei fyrstnevnte begrensa sej til den eine flaska.. heilt til Silje snakka so bra på Oshiwambo at vi fikk ei til- på huset. det tåle vi!)

Sebra, orix, springbukk, gnu og antilope fins der i massevis!!! Sebra e fine dyr!! enda finare verte det når det e en heile gjeng.. å me føll!! nei, stripe e et bra mønster! men ej veit ikkje enda om dei e kvite me svarte stripe eller svart me kvite stripe, men i følge Oshiwambolegenden va dei kvite heilt til bavianen kasta dei på bålet.

Søndag va vi litt bekymra for at det skulle bjynde å brenne, for vi kunne ikkje sjå brannkonstabelen nåken plass. å vi kjørte rundt i ganske monge tima! Mandag va heldivis en jubeldag. Vi møtte to flotte elefanta- på veldig nært hald. dei e ganske so store...

Giraffane fann vi i store mengder begge dagane, dei e nydelige! såg heldivis ikkje ut som om dei hadde låkt i halsen. utruli fascinerande når dei ska drikke, må nesten ut i spagaten.

kongen og dronninga, løva og løvinna va ganske opptatt når vi såg dei.. men vi ekje verre på det, vi he både film og bilde frå akta.. hehe... sjå nøye ette her!! doing it, doing it, doing it now!!!

oja oja ahahaha oja oja hahaha dyrene i Afrika og alt de har å gjøre!!

Ut på tur, aldri sur...

2007-03-07T11:02:00.000+01:00

Roadtrip

So va vi på tur igjen... dinne gongen fikk vi ver me en gjeng frå høgskulen i Hedmark. Guide og sjåføra va to lærara på en skule ingen av dei hadde praksis på, so logisk det enn høyrest ut. Gjennomgåande for heile turen va afrikansk utstyr. Og det bjynte me at vi køyrte forbi nokre gutta so bada i elva rett attme veien. Dei hoppa opp og ned, vifta me greiene når bussen køyrte forbi. Guidane våre fann då ut at dei skulle snu. Men då ha gutta fått på sej buksene. Seinare på kvelden fikk vi høyre at vanlig størrelse på en afrikanar va en diameter ca lik ei ølflaske. Når en e so godt utstyr so kankje en la varene gå til spille, so det e heilt afrikansk å ha fleire koner. Og elskerinner. Om konene veit om ditte? ”Sometimes. And sometimes I just say I have never seen her before! If the phone rings, it’s my sister from Windhoek” Det e no egentli ikkje fyrste gongen vi he fått inntrykk av at namibiske menn e mykje utru.. i følge dei karane her he konene ingenting me ka dei gjer og når dei kjem heim.. dei kan heller ikkje nekte ektemannen sex. Om ei afrikansk dame sei nei, so meina ho ja. Afrikanske damer kan heller ikkje ta initativ til sex...

Vi stoppa oxo ved Baobabtree, som e ca 700 år gammalt. Det he vore brukt til alt frå fangehol, kyrkje, gøymeplass i dårlige tider til postkontor.

Vi he oxo vor so vidt innom Angola og sparka litt småstein. Ca ingenting e lov der, iallfall ikkje ta bilde. So det måtte vi snike oss til. Ej og Mari hakje fått beskjed om å ta me oss pass. Heldivis va det ingen andre som fikk stempel i passet sitt. vi va vel max 10 meter over grensa.. i ca 5 minutt. Men ej he no iallfall vore i Angola no. Tick!

Himba og hallik?!

I løpet av helga hadde vi vårt andre og tredje møte med himba-folket. Fyrste gongen va på gata i Windhoek, der dei let sej ta bilde av mot penga. Slik er det tydligvis uansett kvar ein møter på dei. I tillegg er dei ganske harde på flaska... veldig trist.. og ganske so kommersielt. Å til nærare veien ei kjem, dess meir kommersielle. 10 dollar pr bilde... ikkje so aktuelt det akkurat. Synd at det he vorte slik, men ein forstår det jo oxo... klart ein vil ta betalt når turistar konstant kjem me dei fancy kamera’a sine og trampa rundt i salaten... Det var stort sett damene so stilte opp på bilete og so gjekk mennene rundt og krevde inn penga... Andre gongen vi møtte på himba-folk va det en liten gjeng so rusla langs veien.. trur kanskje dei va på pub til pub.. edru va dei iallfall ikkje. Dei fleste va ute av bussen for å ta bilde attme dei, men ej venta heldivis til neste dag då vi besøkte en liten landsby.. eller busetting. Vi var der ca 10 om formiddagen, slik at dei ikkje sku hatt tid til å verte fulle enda.. tydelig at det va arrangert, 3 småjenter var sett opp til å mele mahango (tradisjonell mat vert laga av dinne kornsorten), men vi fikk høyre at himba-folket leve av kjøt og mjølk, som herero-folket. Håpe vi fe besøke dei oxo!

Men for et spesielt folk... og at dei kan halde fram med den livsstilen! Samt halde ut med lukta... vakje akkurat blomster der lukta av den gjengen, men ein kan vel ikkje forvente anna når dei smører seg inn med melkefeitt og raud sand. Fin farge da! Mykje puppa å sjå for dei som var interessert i det. Er slike dagar ein er like glad for at naturen ikkje gav ein meir! Fikk no skaffa mej et genuint himba-armeband, tatt rett frå arma på den stakkars dama... kleda og håret vise forskjell på kjønna, og om en e gift eller ugift.

Ruacana Falls

Det eigentlege målet med denne helga var fossefalla i Ruacana. Dei var mektig imponerande, flott! Vanskeli å beskrive, det må berre sjåast! Var gla for at der va så mykje vatn som no, regntid. Heretter kjem det nok til å minke.. Vi gjekk ned dei 186 trappetrinna- og opp att, so klart. Dette viser seg i etterhand å vere veldig imponerande.. sku gjerne gått den trappa 4-5 gonga i veka, det ekje akkurat so mykje trim på oss her nede. Går fram og tilbake mellom college og Spar. Va en våt og forfriskande fornøyelse.

Ein ettermiddag i Afrika...

Søndag ettermiddag kjem Mario, kompisen vår (og ektemann, i følge han sjølv), innom og spør om vi vil ver me å gå ein tur. Ja, det var den trimmen da.. so ok, vi e me. Fin temperatur på søndagsettermiddag, det regna heile laurdag, så det er ganske friskt. Han viser oss forskjellige ting langs vegen og etter at vi har gått lenge (og Mari he bjynt å klage og lure på om vi ska heim før det blir mørkt, eller?!). Mario lova at vi ska snart snu, vi ska berre innom ei gammal dame so e ei venninne av mora. Fyrst ska vi innom broren til eks-dama. Han vakje heime, men eks-dama va der. Det so va litt pinli me en gong (lurte på om det va planlagt frå hass si side), enda opp me å verte en kjempebra kveld! Berre synd vi ikkje hadde me kamera.. Vi he lova å kome tilbake! Eks-dama e veldi triveli, same me storesysta, broren, kona til broren, broren t svigerinna, tante, bestemora og alle ungane til alle sammen! Vi fe smaka på frukta av Marula-treet, det som ein lagar amarula av. (og ej he endeli smakt Don Pedro oxo, fantastisk. Det ska vi lage når ej kjem heim, Kristine!!!) Ungane vil gjerne adoptere mej og Mari som tanter. Ej fikk oxo halde en to mnd gammal baby, nydeli!!! (dei vaksne kommenterte ettepå at dei kvite som bor i Namibia ville aldri tatt opp en svart baby. Og vi hadde småjentene på fanget oxo, skjønne unga!) Snakka litt fotball me gutta so klart.. allti like bra det! E fantastisk å sjå kor mykje tid afrikanara he, dei fe brukt so mykje tid me venna og familie.

Everyday life in Ongwediva...

2007-03-02T09:01:00.000+01:00

(English version at the bottom...)

Litt ette kvart bli det vanlige daga for oss oxo... der vi e litt på skulen, vandra rundt på området og helse på folk. ”ongepi?” (korleis går det?) ”Onawa! Ongepi?” (Bra, takk. Korleis går det?) Mari he funne ut at ho må øve sej litt oxo. For det skakje so mykje meir til for at folk syns vi he gjort en liten innsats. Kjekt å kunne nokre glosa oxo, einaste e at det e ikkje alle so snakka ditte språket, oshiwambo, ej serkje forskjell på dei ulike stammene.. Ej he investert i en typisk oshivambo-kjole oxo. Veldi fin.. hehe.. heit om ej kan få sei det sjøl!!

Ej føle mej heime i leiligheita no, vent mej til å koke vatn (vannkokar e en bra ting!) kvar gong vi ska vaske opp. Håpe vi sleppe å venne oss til å koke vatn kvar gong vi ska vaske kle... so longt hekje vi hørt et ord om vaskemaskina. Trur vi he skremt vekk flaggermusene, eller kanskje dei he regna vekk, det e iallfall lenge sia ej he hørt eller sett dei. Berre gla for at taket helde enda, etter alt regnet. Må innrømme her ei natt ei våkna av at det tordna og regna (ej bruka ikkje å vakne av veret..) ej va litt redd for at det sku verte hol i taket, eller at det sku verte oversvømmelse.. måtte kjenne etter på golvet at det framleis va tørt..

Ej he fått me mej Mari opptil fleire gonga i kantina her.. tydeli at folk ser at vi e i området i det minste, for vi blirkje etterlyst på same måten lenger. Maten i kantina e et kapittel for sej sjøl.. den største fordelen e so klart at det e gratis!! Haha.. helsing sunnmøringen ;) Dagen ekje den same uten pølse.. Mari e veldi skeptisk til dei (stort sett ) grå pølsene, men sunnmøringen he vokse opp me môr, so det går so bra. Verre va det den dagen vi fikk ”staple-food”. Det e tradisjonell afrikansk mat.. litt same konsistens og farge som potetball (men ekje forma som en ball da), laga av knust korn (mahongo, ej he prøvd å knuse det på tradisjonelt vis, bra arbeid), blanda me maismjøl og vatn. Det smaka litt som en fjøs lukta. Men det verste va egentli at ej følte ej åt sand, knasa godt mellom tennene.. Alle vi møtte på spurte ”ska DOKKE ete DITTA?!!!” Løysinga vår he blitt å berre hente maten i kantina i eigen boks og ta den me tilbake til leiligheita for å ete der. So kan vi alltids hive maten viss vi ikkje lika det. I tillegg fe vi då tallerken som e vaska (me såpe, i varmt vatn og heller ikkje brukt av alle på skulen) istaden for en som berre e skylt i kaldt vatn. For det e slik dei vaska opp her. Kniv og gaffel fe en heller ikkje i kantina, her ska en ete me fingrane. Ej he no uansett blitt en racer på toast i steikepanna... det e akkurat som på restauran t;)

Det ekje berre den lyse huda og det blonde håret som gjer at vi stikke oss litt ut. Det e ingen andre som går (me litt fart framover), her lunta dei avgårde i et bedageli tempo... afrikansk tid fins i uendelige mengder...

Ej og Mari he lova koordinatoren vår å lære døtra å svømme, og vi he so vidt bjynt no. Bra unnskyldning for å ver i parken om ettermiddagane.. når vi ligge der og slappa av kankje vi klage!! Anna enn når dei går tom for all iskrem.. då må ej klage litt. Ej so hadde so lyst på milkshake... aa den Don Pedro som ej he hatt lyst paa so lenge..

Now I have been here for almost 4 weeks, 3 weeks up north in Ongwediva and I feel that I’m adjusting to this life... I take my time, greet people with Ongepi (how are you?) and answers Onawa (I’m fine) and I eat at least one sausage a day. Mari and I try out the local food in the cafeteria at least a few times a week. To the Namibian students’ great pleasure. “Are YOU gonna eat THAT?!!” The line in the cafeteria is a nice place to meet people; we always talk to someone new.

We’re feeling at home in the apartment, but would appreciate it if they not would start up at 6 o’clock Saturday morning next door. We are staying at the teacher’s resource center and they obviously have a lot of courses. Last week we had to elderly women knocking at the door wondering where the bathroom was, they wanted to have a shower. They also wanted me to turn off the alarm they accidentally had set off. But I couldn’t and neither did someone else, so it rang all night.

Regntid og 10 ting vi he komt fram til...

2007-02-23T14:18:00.000+01:00

1. Det finnes ikke lyspære i utelykten utenfor huset vårt, fordi når det blir satt inn ny pære blir den stjålet kort tid senere.
2. Man må møte opp tidlig for å få pult i klasserommet (hahaha)
3. I Afrika har man ikke klokke. Man har tid. Mye tid. Eksempel: Busstabellen styres etter når bussen er full.
4. Alarmer kan ikke slåes av utenfor office hours.
5. I Norge har vi katter og hunder i hus. I Namibia har vi flaggermus.
6. Vi trenger ikke deo og parfyme. Vi har insektspray med sitron-lukt. Mmm...
7. Det er seks meter under taket i leiligheten vår, og lyspæren har gått. Den kan ikke skiftes, for det er ingen som kan oppdrive en stige. Hvordan har de gjort det før? Vanskelig å si ...
8. Vaskemaskin? Tja, det mangler en del.. og i to uker har vi snakket med noen, som kanskje skal snakke med noen, som kanskje vet hvilken del som mangler, og så skal de kanskje snakke med noen som kanskje har den delen, og så kanskje det blir fiksa. Men vi skal se på det til helgen, ok?
9. Det regner gjennom taket, men det er bare fint, for vi skal vaske uansett.
10. Bushbaren er åpen 24-7, og takk og lov for det, for da kan man sitte der til det blir lyst, så man finner veien hjem igjen.

ellers so regna det i bøtter og spann, og dokke frå Bergen- piece of cake i forhold til når det fyrst regna her. flaks at heile campus e sand og jord, nåken som vil sjå på når ej og Mari ska gjørmebryte?!! :D

akkurat som forrige helg he vi ingen plana.. og då reiste vi over halve landet... so aldri godt å vite! Bush Baren e no alltids open..

i Ongwediva

2007-02-16T09:49:00.000+01:00

No e vi endeli framme i Ongwediva. AA kome sej hit va en opplevelse i sej sjol. 7 tima i en trong minibuss, stappfull. Musikk va bra, men litt hoeg, so va nesten doev daa ej kom fram. Vi fikk me oss all bagasjen hit, so ska vel ver nogde me det. ej saag en gjeng baviana, to vortesvin(Pumbaa) og mykje kyr paa veien.. Kyr, geite, esel, baviana og strutsa valsa over veien rett som det passa dei...

vi ekje heilt inne i ting og tang her, vi kom hit sondagkveld og tirsdag fikk Mari besok av to kompisa fraa Norge, dei reiste vidare igaar formiddag, so vi va en del m dei. dei introduserte mej for Captein Morgan, so Capteinen og ej fe nok et bra forhold ja. Her e et bilde tatt rett foer vi moette den allerede nevnte Capteinen...e sjukt morkt her om natta!! serkje naake saerli utefor doera vaar engong.. Mari he kjopt sej haudelykt og det ska ej gjere oxo, trur ej. men verdens finaste stjernehimmel!!!!! den e fantastisk!!

rett borti veien he det opna en park me to basseng, vannsklie, minidyr, apekatta, springbukka, marekatta, skilpadde og venta paa kenguru og krokodille!! parkanlegget e ganske stort, me monge muligheite for selskap og piknika.. veldi gla for at det he komt, so solingsmuligheitene e bra!!! den eine apekatten e veldi kjekk, ej va klatrestativ igaar, sjol om ej va litt skeptisk t aa bjynde me.. hehe... En kan ogsaa spele minigolf, ej ekje akkurat naaken racer der.. men ette 3 mnd her...

he faatt me oss en middag i kantina. men ho so tok oss me ordna gaffel t oss paa veien... fikk ris, mystisk polse, saus og brodskive. ris og saus va godt, polsa va litt skommel og kun lunken...

der vi bor e morsomt da! det e litt som en fjoes a la big brother! kjempehogt under taket, og roma e berre vegga. so vi ska verte godt kjent, for aa sei det slik. naar en gaar paa do e det som en sitte rett ved sia av, veldi lytt.

he forresten diverse kjaeledyr... fyrste kvelden saag vi en stor kakkerlakk, men ikkje seinare. vi he snart brukt opp ei flaske me insektmiddel, mykje maur, fluge, edderkoppa og andre kryp. igaar fann ej en skorpion oxo, men den va dod, heldivis. onsdag morgen laag det en ENORM tusenbein uttafor doera, ha krepert om ej ha mott den om natta!!! veldi ekkel!! vi he oxo nokre flaggermus so flaksa rundt inne me oss...trudde fyrst det va en fugl, men ej trur det maa vere flaggermus..

vi e greit attraksjona her nede, presenterte oss framfor heile skule fyrste skuledag, e litt halloi mari/silje, e monge so vil ver venna me oss.. hehe... vi e tre kvite paa skulen, oss to og en fraa elverum.

Fyrste helga kjorte vi firhjuling i orkenen, det va fantastisk kjekt. Det gjorde vi i den kjekke turistbyen Swakopmund. Ikkje altfor mykje so minne om Afrika der, nei..

T.I.A. (This Is Africa)

2007-02-06T16:05:00.000+01:00

if anyone has seen blood diamond, there's where i got that line... saw it yesterday here in Windhoek, Namibia. We were kind of glad that we weren't the only white people in the cinema... and this little coloured boy asked where my mum was.. I didnt even dare to be tough and ask why he wanted to talk to her for...

else.. it's good to be here, the trip down was looong. everything went fine, except that Mari didnt get her backpack the first day. it came the day after and then someone had broken into it and stolen a videocamera, a photo camera, all her charges for other cameras and mobile...

it is kind of weird to be white down here.. or at least i feel that. most people are very friendly. havent really met too many Namibians yet, but lots of Norwegians!!! didnt know that there were so many Norwegians down here, kind of surprised..

We've had two days here in Windhoek now, and tomorrow we're going to Swakopmund by the coast. i've already started to work on my tan, didnt have anything else to do while we were waiting for Mari's backpack to come... and that took about all day. T.I.A... it is sooooo hot here!! seems so much warmer that Aussie...

My Winter...

2007-01-24T18:27:00.000+01:00

My winter was a short one this year.. especially since it didn't arrive until January!!! Through Christmas it just rained lots, depressing and made me miss Aussie... nice weather to be in and cuddle in though... ;) but.... last week snow arrived!!! and lots and lots!! i'm very happy, but don't have time to go skiing.. but here is a picture from last year or the year before, with my brothers..

This is my good friend Torill aka Carola in Grand Canyon. We had such a good New Years Eve, just good friends, not too much food (everyone really full, but had cheese and crackers later on..), candy og good wine.. and some champagne... Thank you, Astrid, you were the perfect hostess!!!

Christmas was also time for my little cousin Norah's christening. This is her and the very! proud father, uncle Ronny. I was the very happy "godmother". She showed everyone in church that day how strong lungs she has got...

Sydney

2006-12-31T12:18:00.000+01:00

Kristine and I spent a week in Sydney in November. We stayed with her cousin, Lone, in Ryde. That's the reason why we were on the bus a couple of hours every day..

Kristine and I outside the Opera House in Circular Quay. Very windy, but we had a very good time...

We just don't want the typical pictures.. we are the sames!! ;)

We went to some of the beaches.. Coogee, Manly and this is Kristine at Bondi. we were'nt too lucky with the weather, would have liked to spent more time working on our tans! And especially since the beaches were so nice!

This is me in Darling Harbour. We really got the holiday feeling when we got there, no harbour in Brisbane City.
I met my old English roommate from Disney there too!! we were lucky enough to get a few days with her!!

Taken by a complete stranger.. I found me on the internet!

About the "Kiwis"...

2006-11-19T06:27:00.000+01:00

How does a New Zealander find sheep in tall grass?!! Very satisfying!!!!

How does the New Zealander count their sheep? one, two, three Hey!! how u doin?!!!

Why doesnt the New Zealanders bring their wives to the footy game? They're scared the wives will jump over the fence and start eating the grass!!

Cultural Class of 06

2006-11-10T02:09:00.000+01:00

Cairns

2006-11-09T22:07:00.000+01:00

On the way back to Brisse we had a couple of days in Cairns. Celebrating two birthdays, we kind of took over the whole restaurant, singing along with the piano man. We also visited the Volcanic National Park, it just took most of the day to get there. But at least we got to see both the dry and the tropical areas...

The best thing for sure was going to the Great Barrier Reef!!! Never thougth I'd love "diving" that much... It was a little bit scary at first, and after half an hour when i wiped my mask and could see properly it was amazing!!! The reef and its inhabitants are sooo beautiful! I did see a BIG, grey and very scary fish!!!!! I almost got scared, but remain calmed and it stayed along the bottom and disappeared! We had a lot of fun taking picture under water. i could have stayed for many more hours!!For sure life over water is never the same... The only sad thing is that I couldn't find Nemo.. I'll look for him when I'm off to Sydney in the end of the month. Met a few of his cousins, though, they kind of look the same..
The boat out there took about 1,5 hours and then it was nice and sunny at deck, we could work on our tans.

Nice svimming suits or what?!!! funniest ever, look like Jellymen! :D

Hiroshima

2006-11-09T06:36:00.000+01:00

Konichiwa!!! Tourists in Japan! All Japanese pose like this when they take a picture. ofcourse we have to do it the same way! This picture is taken in the Peace Park. After being here, meeting a victim who told us about her day and showed us her scars you realise more how terrible August 6 1945 was... Tough!!

Lappi Friendship Club arrange several activities for us, like the Welcome Party and dinner with a Japanese family. Some of the poor, Japanese girls tried to drink with the Norwegians, but didn't go too well... (Later on it showed that some of the Norwegian had trouble with drinking the Japanese under the table.. haha...) Japanese beer is very good (better than sake I'd say)...

Hiroshima must be a very poular place for school kids and other tourists as well, they stopped us a few times asking for help with school assignments.

Pretty or what?! My kimono was supposed to reach the ground, but I'm too tall. Hurray, I'm tall!! hehe... It was kind of hard to move in these, even harder to sit down and do the tea ceremony. Would never be able to put it on myself, harder than the Norwegian national costyme!

A great place in Hiroshima is Otis. It's a small pub where the speciality is Mexican food. All over you can find signatures and drawings from famous people (in the animation world), for example they guy who made Toy Story. When we were there the owner played music and sang, magic!

Kyoto

2006-11-09T05:34:00.000+01:00

This is me and Tengyo in front of the Golden Pavilion. It is actually 24 carat gold!!!

This is another temple in Kyoto. These buildings are amazing. Most of them are about 2-4oo years old. Genuin Japanese culture!

Just outside Kyoto we did a school visit, where we told the children about Norway, showed them pics and sang a few Norwegian children songs. This is how they returned the favour.. could have been a night mare, but they were alrigth!! (thank heaven!!)

And of course.. SHOPPING!!!! I love shopping in Japan!! except for shoes... I always have to ask for the biggest they have got in the whole store... Other than that I found plenty of nice stuff... Just my wallet and the space that stopped me.

Ofcourse we had to sleep in Japanese style... mats on the floor! Very comfortable actually!

Would anyone like to taste some of this?!!! strangest dinner i've ever had!!! All kinds of raw food, fish guts, oysters, green tea, shrimps (I couldn't eat mine, it had its brain all over.. ). What can I say? Interesting?

2006-10-31T14:24:00.000+01:00

Crazy days in Japan!!!

2006-10-29T11:56:00.000+01:00

What a great country!!! I really like it here!! everyone (almost) are so cute and helpful! and pretty small...　I feel like a giant!! bought (a couple) a pair of shoes today, and I had to get the biggest ones in the whole shop!! I think maybe we scare the Japanese men, they dont look at us at all, but some of the woman or especially the girls find us fascinating. I had a bunch of 16 year olds coming up to me today, hehe... Guess we should be happy that the Japanese are not the size of Americans, imagin 128 millions huge persons..

The service in this country is amazing! if they have problems of explaining directions for example, they dont mind walking us down half the street to show us! or draw a map, pointing and smiling.. and all the bowing... to greet and to thank us. Whenever I pay they take the money or the Visa card with both hands and bows. I`m really good at　thanking in Japanese now. Some Japanese get crazy whenever i try to speak Japanese, the other day both women working in a shop jumped up and down clapping when i said Konichiwa (good day). Kristine came in wondering what was going on... One day shopping we had trouble finding someone who spoke English who we could ask about directions, but thanks to rap music that is probably possible all over the world! Our last shot was the guy who worked in a shop selling baggy clothes and playing rap music.. Think he was happy to speak some YO! Are quite a few Yo's here actually...

The best so far has been the home stay!! No doubt!! Kristine, Marte, Stine, Birte and I stayed with a big Japanese familiy. We're still not sure how many of them who lived there... They had a traditional Japanese house and garden, so beautiful there! All of us girls slept at the floor in a room with straw "carpets". We sat at the dinner table for at least 5 hours, drinking and eating.. for sure drinking!! CAMPAI!!!! Our dear "Papa" made sure our glasses were never empty.. they hardly even get half full... We were toasting and singing all night, their grandchildren running around. We all made the most beautiful paper birds in origami- or not!! folding paper is not that easy when you're far from sober... The worst thing was that the family meant that we were lousy drinkers, the ones from last year were better (I cant understand that..), but we we're a lot better with the chop sticks and speaking Japanese!! (thanks to the little note in my pocket.. hehe..)

We have been around in Hiroshima and Kyoto so far. In Hiroshima we met a survivor from the atomic bomb, that was special. Her story is terrible!!! Of course we visited the Peace Memorial Museum, saw a lot of pictures and clothes from the victims.

Now I'm in Tokyo for a few days, great!! I have considered staying here, I look pretty good in a kimono and did alright at the tea ceremony.. Japanese calligraphy is something for me andi'm sure i'll be able to do origami after some training.. sober...

The toilets here are an attractions in themselves... usually you'll find a control panel and you can get your ass cleaned or make a fountain or have a warm seat... or if you have problems with pieing when others are listening just push the button for the sound of flushing! last about for 25 seconds..

(Pappa: send more money!! hehe...) The shopping over here is great!! Found out that shipping home is not too expensive so... stopping by a few shops in Tokyo i reckon.. hehe...

ps!! btw!! email is the only form for communication, my mobile (or the other norwegians' mobiles) is not working over here... probably too old fashion, they know their gadgets in this country!!

Brisbane

2006-10-22T08:08:00.000+02:00

This is my new home town. I love it down under!! It will be tough to leave, as for most others who come to Australia.

These pictures are taken close to Griffith University where we are studying.

Skyline with palm trees... This is where the fake beach in Brissie is as well. (the only beach in Brissie) I've heard that's where the homeless people take a bath..

Kangaroo Point and Story Bridge, Brisbane River.. this is the view from Ranveig's flat on the 32nd floor. love it!!!

Brisbane by night- from the balcony at backpackers Somewhere to stay.

The writing wall at South Bank... when staying at Riverside, always writing something on the way home from the city.. a lot of important opinions.. hehe...

Brisbane Broncos

2006-10-21T04:41:00.000+02:00

I Australia he dei en rekke sporta som ikkje so monge andre land he, same som alle andre land so køyre paa venstre side av veien... om aa gjere aa ikkje ver som andre, nei...
Football her nede innebere veldi lite sparking og mykje springing me ballen i armane, og dei he so klart minst 3 forskjellige versjona. Den vi he blitt best paa NRL- National Rugby League, og laget som telle e Brisbane Broncos. Dei vann finala i aar og det va gode greier! Helten e Shaun Berrigan (love!!) og han spela oxo paa landslaget- Kangaroos. Han e kanskje litt lav da.. hehe... (men det he ej bjynt aa venne mej til her nede.. I'm pretty tall down under!:)

Det va veldi kjekt paa kamp- det e en fest! Skulen tok oss me og sørga for at vi tok del i kulturen paa en skikkeli maate... Sport e seriøse greier her nede!! AA det skal helst nytast me øl til...

Svaer stadion- va over 50.000 daa vi saag kamp!!!

Her e Sam Thaiday (eller Sammy Friday som ej og Kristine kalte han en heil kveld.. eller ei veke.. ).
Han spela oxo for kenguruane.. Vi vart introdusert for han ei helg vi va ute.. men ikkje tru at eplekjekke Silje ska vere so enkel aa imponere... ej ga klar beskjed om at dei ikkje va so go naar ej saag dei spele... (den kampen vi saag tapte dei..)

Saann ellers he vi oxo vorte kjende me nokre wannabe rugby-gutta.. opp til fleire lag!! hehe... Litt unge, kanskje...

Kuala Lumpur og Singapore

2006-10-21T03:41:00.000+02:00

I Kuala Lumpur moette vi dinne karen som tente enkle penga paa turista som oss. Synd det ikkje e lovli paa Sunnmøre, tenk om ej kunne staatt paa Blaahuset og tatt bilde me en slange og pensjonistane!! Det hadde vore naake...

Malaysia e hovudsakli et muslimsk land, her e en av moskeane der- veldi fin!! Kunne dessverre ikkje gaa inn for dei va midt i formiddagsbøna. Ikkje akkurat som moskeen i Bergen...

Twin Towers- veldi fine om kvelden. Ej e no veldi gla i storbya om natta.. hjalp spesielt her, so serkje en alt skiten.

Va ganske tydeli at Malaysia vil opp og fram her i verda, og at det e Vesten som e idealet...

Singapore skyline me Meercat! Det e logoen til Singapore, blanding av løve og havhest.

En veldi fin og rein by, men ej saag faktisk bos paa gata. ikkje at ej ville ha kasta naake sjoel, bøtene her ekje naake aa tøyse me!

Raffles Hotel- her dei servera dei autentiske Singapore Sling. Vi kom oss aldri baren for aa ta en drink og kaste peanuttskal paa kvarandre...

Sjømannskirka i Kong Haralds vei i Singapore. Heile gjengen va innom og fikk bolla. Mange maatte oxo nytte høvet til aa kjope norsk snop- aa vi hekje vore paa tur ei veke engong!!

The Sames

2006-10-21T03:24:00.000+02:00

Here's to Kristine, she's true blue!! She's a piss pot through and through. She's a bastard so they say, she tried to get to heaven but went the other way- so down down down down down down down down!!!!

Partners in crime- hadde aldri vore so kjekt her hadde det ikkje for Kristine!! We are sames! Stay where you are!! ;)

Litt urettferdi at det berre va ej so fikk cowboyhatt...

Vi dele seng og e ilag ca 24 tima i døgnet, aa det he gaatt over all forventning! Ska ha einerom ei natt eller to i Japan, spors om ej fe sove...

Love you, girlfriend!!

Aussie sayings

2006-10-19T08:41:00.000+02:00

Good on ya, Sonya
Right on, rubber thong
What's your number, cucumber?
You wish, jelly fish!
Whatever, Trevor!

Tips to Surviving Australia

2006-10-17T08:30:00.000+02:00

Don't ever put your hand down a hole for any reason whatsoever.
We mean it.
The beer is stronger than you think, regardless of how strong you think it is.
Always carry a stick.
Air-conditioning.
Do not attempt to use any Australian slang, unless you are a trained linguist and good in a fistfight.
Thick socks.
Take good maps. Stopping to ask directions only works when there are people nearby.
If you leave the urban areas, carry several litres of water with you at all times, or you will die.
Even in the most embellished stories told by Australians, there is always a core of truth that it is unwise to ignore.

Ej he spesielt tatt det me kartet til etterretning. For Kristine e ditte veldi underhaldande, kall det gjerne en vits. Alle so kjenne mej veit at det kan vere lurt for mej aa ha et kart.

Slang?! det ekje naake problem for oss!! herlihet!! you wish, jellyfish!! vi e nesten som innfodte for aa sei det slik! :D

Air condition he ikkje vorte ei velsigning enda, he vel gjort dei fleste sjuke i staden.

Det der med øla ja... kan forklare laurdagen... Detour?!!

Ej og Stine he testa ut øl...

One of them...

2006-09-20T06:24:00.000+02:00

Now I've become one of them... the ones who put everything in their lives on web, for everyone to see... well.. i'm not going to be one of "them"... This is for my friends and family to keep track of me - if they want!

At the moment I'm studying in Brisbane, Australia. I will try to post some pics soon. Down under is great! Culture studies can be so many things... for sure we're looking at differents aspects of this! Australians are laid back and friendly; that's something for me too ;)