Inger Johannes perle

2009-05-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Jeg liker musikk
Jeg liker å synge
Jeg liker å synge til musikk...

...men det jeg liker aller best er å synge og spille for han
som gav oss disse tonene og rytmene... :)

Takk kjære Gud for sangen og musikken :)

Oslo!

2009-01-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

Da var tiden inne for nok et eventyr med Maggie & Joanna,
og denne gangen bar det til Oslo!

Vi bodde i min fremtidige svogers leilighet (tusen takk for lånet! :-) og tilbrakte mesteparten av tiden vår rundt med familie og venner i Oslo by.
Jeg tror jeg trygt kan si fra oss begge at vi hadde en helt fantastisk tur til Tigerstaden.
Tusen takk til alle som bidro til denne helgas suksess! :-)

Guess who?

Etter ønske fra Maggie skulle denne tegninga
også legges ut og vises frem.
Og ja, hvis det er noe tvil - Det er Mugs som har tegna... ;-)

Maggie shoppa til ho droppa ;-p

Grom-gjengen i Vigelandsparken
(eller Frognerparken som jeg pleier å kalle det ;-)

Den kjente fasaden i parken

Mugs fant et hull ho ville titte inn i...

De glade vandrerne

Torstein liker å bære Mugs

Eirik leker :-)

De vakre jentene foran den store statuen

Venter på T-Banen på vei til Eiriks hus

Noen leste og slappet av, mens noen lagde middag

Stor klem!

Oda spiser

Johannes og Magi er litt rare

Det er Oda og Eirik også :-)

Julaften i Sandefjord :-D

2009-01-05T10:30:00.000-08:00

Det er blitt en tradisjon at "Søstrene Skilbred" synger i kirken på julaften, men ettersom 2stk søstre var blitt syke ble vi kun 3stk og en svoger... - Men fint ble det uansett! :-D

Nydelig julemiddag i heimen

Anders viser stolt fram potetene :-)

Mamma og Nr.6 ser på meg...

...men hva ser de andre på?

- Vidunderbarnet vårt forstår dere vel! :-D

Som forresten er veldig flink til å danse også. :-)

Julens store "nyhet/ mote" for meg er... :

...Å spille på Fars sag! :-D
(Noe som forresten er kjempevanskelig!)

Spis, dans, lek -> Julebord! :-D

2009-01-05T09:23:00.000-08:00

Et velfortjent julebord med det fantastiske koret P.J.City den 10.desember på Salem var virkelig en suksess. :-) Nydelig mat, pene mennesker, hyggelig selskap, geniale kåringer og morsomme leker og konkurranser var virkelig i fokus under denne avslappende og fine kvelden.
Nyt bildene og bare føl stemninga... ;-)

En kjole-sjekk med selvutløseren ;-)

Spis!:

Det deilige matbordet vårt (PS. Jeg lagde tidenes beste Pastasalat :-p)

Annfrid og Kristin

Linn og Arja

Dans!:

Martin og Maria

Linn, Elise og Christopher

Linn og Unni

Lek!:

Arja

Martin

Kristin

Torbjørn

Meg <3

Kjetil

Ellinor og Unni

Unni og meg

Lillesøster på besøk! :-D

2008-10-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

Som min første besøkende fra Sandefjord (utenom Pappa som kom med flyttelass), fikk jeg så sannelig en koselig langhelg med min eneste lillesøster - Ellen Synnøve. :-)

På gudstjeneste i Nidarosdomen

Middag på Egon i Tyholdt-tårnet

Ja, selv om jeg hadde besøk kunne jeg jo ikke glemme bøkene helt...

..men lillesøster klarte fint å underholde seg selv med data'n i et par timer...

...Noe ho likte godt tror jeg. :-)
(Ho vant ganske mange ganger faktisk og dette redda forsåvidt statistikken min også, så "Thanx Sis!" :-D)

En liten vistitt til Nidar er en selvfølge når en er i Trondheim
(Hvis du ser veeeeldig nøye etter, kan du faktisk se fabrikken i bakgrunnen)

Kaffe og kake på Peppes etter en VÅT tur i regnet

Takk for besøket og velkommen igjen! :-*

The Return 2 UG!!

2008-08-06T12:56:00.000-07:00

"Where am I, What am I doing here?!"

This was what I was thinking when I stood at Entebbe Airport in Kampala 6.july with Maggie close by my side. I had a funny, good, strange and exciting feeling inside... I'm back! :-)

Back to the heat, Boda-Bodas, red dust, matooke, posho, rice & soup, passion juice, mosquitoes, showering with the basin and jerry can by my side, "power-break" (no electricity), heavy rain, muddy roads, "Muzungu!", busy Kampala Road, taxies, washing clothes with my hands, and not to mention; good friends! :-D Wow, how I’ve missed them!

Actually, it feels like I never left! :-D It all seemed so natural; the food, transport, bargaining, ice cream in Wandegz, visiting people, FOCUS - everything! :-)
I really missed Uganda and the people there, so I think this was really worth the cost to go back. :-) ...and this was definitely not the last time I went back! :-D

Enjoy the pictures!

Maggie & Joanna on a Boda-Boda in K'la

"Hald students" - Pamela & Faith

Lunch with Pamela...

..Maggie & Joseph ( -> who came all the way from Kenya to see us :-)

Visiting Drake...

...Marwin...

... & of course Joel. :-)

Trip too Jinja:

Back to K'la:

Playing with the kids at the child project

Making fruit-salad in the dark house where i lived...

...City-Tyres from the Bicycle-man in Wandegz...

...The Boda-Bodas shouting: "Muzungo, we go?!"

...buying couch & chairs by the roadside..

..even beds...

...and meat!

At "Miami Beach" in K'la:

"Miami Beach Luzira"

Up in the trees, with his Canon camera

A beautiful sunset

Kampala City by night

Joanna & Joel

Thank you so much for a wonderful trip Maggie, you're simply the best! Can't wait to travel with you again. :-)
Lov ya muchaz baby!! :-*

We're coming back!!

2008-07-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

Yes people, from sunday 06.july - 24.july, Maggie and Joanna will be back in Uganda! We can't beleive it ourselves, but it's true.:-)

It will be really greate to see good friends again, we miss them so so much!

Wish us good luck people... We're returning!!:-D

Hald avslutning 12.juni -08

2008-06-16T13:21:00.000-07:00

Etter et innholdsrikt, spennende, utfordrende, annerledes og rett og slett fantastisk år, var tiden inne for å avslutte det hele. Litt vemodig, men på samme måte "riktig", hadde vi en flott, høytidelig og uøytidelig avslutning 12.juni -08.

Mamma, Pappa og lillesøster Ellen Synnøve var på plass for å "hente meg hjem" og for å delta på avslutninga

Sang og musikk hører med...

...det samme gjør dansen!

Og jeg fikk en etterlengtet kos av Øystein under utdelingen av vitnemålet ;-)

"Team Uganda" en siste gang i finstasen... :-(

Det var ikke "bare, bare" å forlate gårdsplassen og alle skolekammeratene...

...ja det ble felt flere tårer, men vi kom oss nå avgårde etterhvert...

...men etter et par hundre meter på hjemreisen vår fant jeg ut at jeg hadde glemt kofferten min! :-D Så vi måtte snu, kjøre litt tilbake, spasere diskret mellom de mange elevene som jeg akkurat hadde hatt et tårevått farvel med, gå inn på det gamle rommet mitt og hente kofferten min som sto ene og alene på en stol midt på gulvet...

..så HER har jeg da funnet kofferten min og er "igjen" klar for avreise. :-)
...hehehe..var en smule flaut. ;-)

Jeg eksprementerte litt med foto på hjemoverveien, slik ble resultatet:

Hald-kullet -07/-08:

Tusen takk for et fantastisk år folkens, dere er alle fantastiske mennesker. :-)
Take care & God bless! See you soon. ;-)

Team Uganda Reunion

2008-06-07T07:09:00.000-07:00

Summer has absolutely arrived and in that occasion "Team Uganda" had a reunion.
We took a walk to "Uranienborg", a place on a hill not far from our school.

It's so easy to "forget" to spend time with your Team-mates sometimes in a busy school with a lot of people. So this was a very good time we spent together, just the four of us.:-)

We talked, ate chips and looked at the fantastic view in the beautiful weather.

Thanx for the trip, guys! Lov ya! :-)

2008-05-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some pix from Maggie and Joannas week in Sandefjord, my beautiful home city, and other places around. ;-) Enjoy!

17.May - "Hurra!"

2008-05-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

All Norwegians celebrate this day when we got our own law in 1814. For those of you that don’t know this, I’ll tell you how we celebrate this very special day... :

All the schools in the city gather and make a parade (we call it to walk in “train” / gå i tog) and later in the evening all kind of groups like choirs, sportsclubs and teams, other clubs and dancing schools make an other “train”.

For the rest of the people that are not going in “train”; they stand on the sidewalk and look at the “train”.

Something that’s very important for me at this day is to shout: “Hurra!” to as many people you can, both those you know, and don’t know (and of course in a good way!! :-) and wave your flag at the same time. I like this so so much. :-)

The best dressing to wear in a day like this is our national costume called “Bunad”, but because of many reasons I didn’t wear it this year... Sorry!

I had a really great day (like every 17. May ;-), even though it was SOOOO cold for two “Nor-Ugandans” with 5degrees celcius.

Dress code: Bunad (our national costume)

Most important word: Hurra! (have to be shouted all the day)

A "must" to bring: A Norwegian flag

How to greet people at this day: Happy Birthday!

Conclution:

“Hipp, hipp – Hurra, hurra, hurra!!!”

2008-05-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

Maggie & Joanna debuterte deres informasjonsarbeids-runde med å ha Storsamling på Sandefjord Normisjon for et flott publikum. De var kledd i fine ugandiske antrekk, pyntet rommet med ugandiske effekter, viste fantastiske bilder fra det fantastiske Uganda og hadde en veldig fin stund sammen. :-)

Dette var en veldig god start på en meget travel informasjonsuke. :-)

A new colour, a new look

2008-04-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

I've changed my style, and I'm trying the colour black this time. Pink will have to wait for a wile now, so just get used to the new look.

A very good and beloved friend of mine designed the picture above.

His name is Joel and he is just so talented in photography, art and design;

thank you so much Joel! :-)

(see: http://www.isababijoel.blogspot.com/)

Joanna's home!

2008-04-10T04:30:00.000-07:00

The arrival:

Now, after 6 wonderful, challenging, fun, exciting and a bit scary months in Uganda; I'm home. I got pick at Gardemoen in Oslo early in the morning the 9.april of my mother, father, brother and his girlfriend. It was such a nice and warm welcome, even though the weather was so cold!!

I want to thank every person in Uganda that made my stay unforgetable.:-)
Love you so much.:-)

Missions Camp 20.-24.mars

2008-04-03T05:53:00.000-07:00

Missions camp på FOCUS sitt leirsted ved Entebbe, også kalt Gerenge ble vi utfordret på mange områder. På en slik leir er det ikke lek, moro og underholdning som står høyest på programmet, men læring, mange utfordringer og fellesskap. Veldig annerledes fra hva vi er vant til.:-)

Det er lett å få seg gode venner på en slik leir :-)

Jeg vil ikke gå dypt inn i hva programmet inneholdt, men noen stikkord og høydepunkt fra dagene 19.-24.mars:

- God mat
Joel koser seg med lunch

-God te (temmelig ofte)

- Gode forelesninger som ble sett fra praktiske plastikkstoler
i fargerike partytelt som brukes i alle anledninger :-)

- Rare, interessante og spennende mennesker - "Hmm??"

- Gode vennskap

Maggie & Diana

- Smilende & vennlige folk, som den alltid-smilende Thaddeaus

- Nye, gode vennskap
Ruth & Victoria

- Et godt kristent fellesskap
3 STEM-deltakere: Peter, Justine & Eirik

Vassing & bading i Viktoriasjøen er deilig

- Nydelig utsikt og herlig frisk luft
Lake Victoria

En temmelig full buss på vei hjem etter en leir med mye nyttig læring:-)

Andre høydepukt uten bilde:

- Livlig lovsang

- "Sjarmerende" utedo

- Mangfoldige, tusener av edderkopper OVER ALT, HELE TIDEN!

- Lange dager med mange gode forelesninger

- Korte, men gode netter

- Kaldt vær (hadde forresten tidenes verste regnbyge som tvang oss til å bli under

partyteltet og løfte føttene fra den oversvømmede plenen)
- "Kulturkveld" med Maggie & Joanna dansende i front som noen skikkelige Ugandere med hudfargen og kostymer

Missions camp var en innholdsrik leir som forandret mange liv...

En leir jeg aldri vil glemme! :-)

The west – Mbarara 15.-17.mars

2008-03-30T10:21:00.000-07:00

Matookens hjemland - Mbarara

Da Margrethe og jeg fikk det store spørsmålet om å se vestkanten av Uganda med en god venn og kollega av oss, var vi ikke sene med å si nei.

Vi tok en buss i fire timer vestover til et distrikt og by kalt Mbarara. Med nydelig og annerledes natur i vinduskarmen i den tettpakka bussen koste vi oss veldig. Det var godt for de to nordmennene å endelig bli storslått av naturen igjen.

Uganda er nemlig ganske flatt, men her slo naturen skikkelig til med store åser, grønn vegetasjon, store innsjøer og ikke minst; matookens hjemland! (For dere som ikke vet det er matooke en type banan som kokes/dampes og spises som middagsmat. Den er grønn i farge og skal ikke spises som en vanlig gul banan. Selv om fargeblinde Jan Kristian også har prøvd dette. ;-)

I Mbarara møtte vi Miriams familie, dro til hennes ”village”, spiste masse ”Matooke” (en rett lagd av kokebananer), dro til Kabale (nesten ved grensa til Rwanda), padla på ”Lake Bunyonyi”, dro i kirken på palmesøndag der de veiva med palmeblader mens de ropte: ”Hosianna, hosianna!”, besteg et lite fjell og fant ut hvordan G-nuts vokser.

Høydepunkt i løpet av turen:

- nydelige natur

- padle på Ugandas dypeste innsjø i en uthula tømmerstokk med hull i

- palmeblad veiving i kirka på palmesøndag

- jeg har nesten begynt å like matooke :-)

Maggie & Joanna paa nye eventyr!!

The north – Gulu 29.feb – 3.march

2008-03-30T09:46:00.001-07:00

Our training secretary Eddie, Justine (STEM-Staff), Jan Kristian, Margrethe and I went to the regional office to the north. It was the longest, most bumpy trip I ever have experienced in Uganda; 7hours on Ugandas worse roads.

We saw the regional office and met the training secretary for the north, attended a conference for students, went for many visits and drove a lot, but I'm still very glad that I joined.:-)

The Gulu-Team: Joanna, Janki, Justine & Maggie
(and yes, we sat like this several hours on Ugandan roads)

It was a long and bumpy drive, but Justine just HAD to sleep... No matter what!

Janki is enjoying his tasty lunch... and he looks so good!

The weather to Gulu changed from heavy rain...

...to sunshine for the girls to play in. :-)

On our way we passed some quite desert places...

The north of Uganda has a terrible history and lots of refugees. We decided to visit one of these camps. Luckily the conditions there are a lot better now than they were, and many people are now going home to their villages to start a new and better life. But here are some of the pictures and impressions I managed to capture...

Thank you'z:

Janki & Maggie with the Training Secretary for the north; Michael.

Gulu has been the hottest and most dusty place I've been to in Uganda this far, but I enjoyed it so much; thank you Gulu! :-)

2008-02-27T02:55:00.000-08:00

Cultural show at Ndere Centre: Miriam (STEM-Staff) brought Maggie, Iric and me to a cultural show some time ago. This was just so cool and interesting! I really wish I could dance like that… Well, Maggie got the chance to show some of her moves and Eirik also showed some of his talents on the stage. We had so much fun, and got confirmed that Uganda is very rich in culture.:-)

Impressing dancing!

Maggie learns some moves...

...and so did others!:-D

How do they do that?!

This is really crazy!

And now it was Eiriks time to try out his skills...

...1...

...2...

...3!

Dancing with the candles

All of the dancers gave us a really good show... Thank u so much!;-)

News!!

2008-02-27T02:46:00.001-08:00

Maggie and Joanna have moved from their host family to a Hostel closer to town! It’s quite big differences from living in a family to be by ourselves, but I really think this will be a good experience for the both of us.:-) We're really looking forward to live here the last 2months.:-)

Here we're having our first meal at our place...

Bananas, water and popcorn!

Margrethe 22years!! :-D

2008-02-27T01:52:00.001-08:00

On Sunday Margrethe turned 22 years, so we had to celebrate this day with lots of different things. I’ll let the pictures tell the story… ;-)

Our fantastic B-Girl!

Birthday-lunch at Fang Fang with Per & Janki

Maggie got both birthday song and a fruit basket from the Staff at the restaurant...
She enjoyed it a lot! ;-)

The three of us went to the top of "House of Communication" where this nice guard showed us the view over Kampala City

To the party the Maggie didn't know anything about:

Justene and Ken

Joel, Miriam and Janki

What movie should we watch...

Our wonderful host; Prince William

Miriam is enjoying a magazine

But suddenly in the middle of the movie, the power went...
So then we had to do something else...
Candles...

...and games! :-)

Our hosts for the evening; Prince & Robert are bringing the cake

Cutting of the cake... It was SO hard!

I hope u had a good day Maggie... Happy birthday!

To the east - Again! :-)

2008-02-27T01:15:00.000-08:00

Saturday 9. feb to Monday 11.feb we went for a Staff-trip to the east. We are visiting the regional offices and this time it was the east that was to get a visit from the Central Focus office. It was our training secretary, Eddie, a Focus-staff called Rebecka, a student called Denis, Margrethe and I that went to the east – Mbale, Soroti and Tororo.

The trip was not for tourism, but for visiting associates, the regional offices, Christian Unions and attending meetings and trainings.

The east was so different from Kampala, there are smaller cities, more nature (forest and mountains), a lot warmer, fewer people and less traffic.

Maggie and I also spent a night at Lisbeths house, this was really great. ( For those who don’t know her, Lisbeth is a student at Hald too, in the program at Strømme Foundation) Thank you Lisbeth for hosting us!:-) We also came to her practice place, at CRO in Mbale where they take care of streetchildren; give them education and food. This is a really great work they are doing, and many kids are getting a good future by attending CRO.

Lisbeth at her office at CRO

Our transport... A small, white and fast little thing

Maggie, Jo & Mt. Elgon

Can someone please tell me the meaning of having this gate??

In the middle of “nowhere” we found this taxi in the middle of the road. We took some responsibility and pushed this burned taxi of the road with some help from locals.

At our trip we visited many different people, and this is how the outside of the door looks like when we were visiting someone.:-)

Some visits were shorter than others so we just waited in the car… but were they actually shorter??

Having fun in the car :-)

Denis

Jo & Mag

On our way back from Mbale we went through Tororo and Jinja, and came back to Kampala in the evening. It was a really busy trip with lots of hours spent in the car, but I really enjoyed it and it was nice to see the regional office in the East.

Tororo with Robert!

2008-02-25T05:36:00.001-08:00

Friday 1.feb to Sunday 3.feb went Margrethe, Robert and I to Roberts hometown; Tororo. (For those who don’t know him, Robert went to Hald last year and stayed in Stavanger.) We went with an ordinary taxi with 15seats and 16 people, lots of stuff and little of space. For 4hours we sat through bumpy roads, hot sun and lot of dust.

"Vifte Maggie"

In Tororo there is the famous; Tororock which we didn’t have time to climb, but it was beautiful to look at. I really enjoyed to see some mountains again.:-)

Other things we did in Tororo was to go to his village and to meet his family. It was really great to meet them and to see how they were doing. It was a very hot day with a lot of sunshine, and this we really felt at our skin… it became a bit red… hehehe…:-) On our way to Roberts clan, called Abakoya, we sat a new record in people in one taxi with 15 seats… 26persons on 15seats. (but about 6 of them were children.) So like this we sat for about 1hour, and it went surprisingly good!

"Hallo i ruten"

On this trip to the village we saw many new and interesting plants, like cottonplants and coffetrees, but the plant that was the most interesting was the “pineapple-plant”. I have never seen a pineapple-plant, and have been thinking a lot of this lately… “Is the pineapple growing from a tree, a bush, from the ground or on a plant?” And yes, I got the answer… just see my picture.:-) (and I’m sure am not the only one who have been wondering this ;-)

Some kids along our way... They love the camera! :-)

We stayed in Tororo for 2nights, and went home a bit tired, but a lot wiser about the life in the village, plants and Roberts hometown.

STEM Retreat

2008-02-25T05:32:00.000-08:00

Retreat with STEM-Staff 16.-17.jan
The STEM-Staff (Short Time Experience in Ministry) contains the four Norwegians and two wonderful Ugandan-girls called Justine and Miriam. The six of us and our two Training Secretaries; Eddie and Sam, went to Banana Village near Entebbe.

Our trip was a time for relaxing, evaluation of the year and for fun.
We had some evaluations, went to “Wildlife Centre”, and played games like cards and scrabble (I just have to brag about that I won in Scrabble with 98points! I have almost never tried Scrabble before, and al least never in English! Am so proud…;-)
Banana Village was a very nice place with nice cottages, a big area and many animals around. We had a great trip and none of us wanted to go home to “Busy Kampala”.

(I have to disappoint you with that I have no pictures from this trip. The reason is that the charger to my camera was in the bag I lost from Kenya… Which I got AFTER this trip. :-)

From Zanzibar to Nairobi, from Nairobi to Kampala in 3days

2008-01-19T06:04:00.000-08:00

At the first of January we went to Nairobi, for a camp and “infield”. But as the situation was in Nairobi we couldn’t stay there, so the camp was called off, and “Infield” was moved to Kampala instead. But since we didn’t get to know this before the 2.jan, we stayed 2 nights at “The Norwegian School” in Nairobi, owned by NMS. (Norwegian Missionary Society)
Inside this area we felt really safe, but as the situation was, we couldn’t stay there for more than 2 nights. We had a good time at “The Norwegian School”; we took a swim in the pool, sunbathing, played at the playing ground, exploring different things inside the area, reading books and magazines and just had a good time there with the other Hald students there.

At the 3.january we got up at 5AM, and left for the airport at 6AM, but our plain didn’t go before 6PM! Oh yes, 12hours of waiting at the airport in Nairobi, really fun.:-) We had to go there early because of some political demonstrations that were going to take place that day. For me, I thought it was okay to wait for 12 hours; I read books, played some games, talked to the other students, went window shopping and just relax.
When we arrived at Entebbe airport in Uganda, we got our VISAs and went to get our bags… I waited and waited, and soon there was no luggage left! Okay, I thought to myself, so I went to ask about my luggage that didn’t come, but they couldn’t help me… My bag was lost! So after some forms were filled out, we found some taxis and went home a few kilos lighter than before… (My 10kg bag was lost!)
(Just some updated information about this; my luggage was found in Nairobi after the “incheck”- lady forgotten to put a tag on my bag. I got it back at 15.jan, and I was just SO happy! I finally have clothes!:-D)

Zanzibar vacation!

2008-01-19T05:57:00.000-08:00

The 25.decembre, (yes I know it’s christmas day) ”Team Uganda” went on their christmas vacation to Zanzibar. After taking a plain to Nairobi, waiting some few hours, then a little plain to Zanzibar, we were there – the island of our dreams!

Zanzibar is a little island just outside Tanzania, an island with white beaches, clear blue sea, a hot everlasting sun and a warm breeze.
Our first day at Zanzibar we met Solvår and Sissil from “Act Now”! It was just so cool! “Team Uganda” was walking down the beach, when we suddenly see a white girl, looking towards us – it’s Solvår! None of us knew that the other ones was on the island, so that was very fun.:-)

We did many different things on Zanzibar, like sunbathing, reading, snorkelling, singing at the beach, swimming among the heavy waves, took long walks along the beaches, spent a day in Stonetown and had a lot of fun.:-)
We stayed on Zanzibar from 25.dec – 1.jan.

They reach high...

...Even at night!

Zanzibar at night

A magic ghostship lying on dry land...

God Jul!!

2008-01-19T05:34:00.000-08:00

Som de nordmennene vi er feiret vi jo selvfølgelig julaften på den 24.desember, noe de fleste ugandere ser svært rart på. Det var en MEGET annerledes feiring, men dagen var så absolutt en suksess! Allerede på lillejulaften hadde Maggie og jeg bakt pepperkaker (eller noe som skulle se ut som, og smake som pepperkaker, men som ble til en slags kjeks).
Vår uforglemmelige julaften i Uganda så slik ut:

- 10-tida: Oppvåkning og frokost

- 11.00: ”Tre Nøtter Til Askepott” på DVD (Tusen takk til Mamma’n til Margrethe!)

- 14-tida: Ned til byen et par ærend, før gudstjenesten

- Kl.15: En ”Christmas Cantata” på KPC (Kampala Pentecostle Church) Utrolig koselig og fint julemusikal

- Kl.17.30: Julemiddag på en kinesisk restaurant kalt, Fang Fang. Her sto ikke ribbe på menyen, men sursøt kylling for meg og forskjellige kjøttretter og ris til de andre. Maggie og Iric slo til og med på stortromma ved å bestille maten sin flambert; noe som var veldig kult å se på.:-) (…vel egentlig ikke SÅ kult da, men…)

- Kl.20.30: Julefest hos jentene. Her var det gaveutdeling, godterispising, ”pepperkake”- spising og lesing av juleevangeliet (på nynorsk ved Magi).

- Rundt 22-23-tida: Nå var dagen omme, og guttene måtte hjem til sitt. Dagen etter skulle vi ut å reise, så det var vel best å begynne å pakke snart.:-)

Det var en annerledes, morsom, kreativ, latterfylt, koselig og uforglemmelig julaften for oss alle.:-) God jul!

JULAFTEN

Det er vel ikke akkurat løgn å si at juletrærne i Uganda ikke er like fine som i Norge, men kule og originale; det er de så absolutt!:-D

Margrethe ble VELDIG glad for gaven ho fikk av meg... Og fin var den så absolutt!

Janki viser stolt frem gaven fra Magi og meg...

...Det samme gjør Iric!

Juletreet og Maggie

LILLEJULAFTEN

"Når en peppekakebaker baker pepperkake-kaker..."

Stor arbeidslyst og latterfullt humør

Peppekakene er servert!

2008-01-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

Hei, hei folkens! Nå er det lenge siden sist! Siden sist vi snakkes har det skjedd så mangt og jeg vil bare nevne noe.

- Mamma og Pappa har vært i Uganda! De var på besøk hos meg fra 9.-16.des. Vi hadde en flott tid sammen og jeg tror de trivdes som plomma i egget.;-) Jeg synes det var helt fantastisk å se dem her, og jeg synes fortsatt det er helt uvirkelig...
Jeg vil også benytte anledningen til å oppfordre andre foreldre, familier og venner til å komme på besøk. Det er så absolutt verdt det!:-D

- "Staffet" på Focus Uganda hadde julefest, noe som ble en stormende suksess. Der debuterde også "Team Uganda" med sine kunnskaper innen munnspill (Maggie), sang, rytme og notestativ (Eirik og meg), dans, en dans innen sjangeren lyrisk, intens dans (Janki) - Dette var virkelig en høydare (om jeg nå må si det selv) og "Glade Jul" har aldri vært framført bedre.

- "Team Uganda" (pluss Solvår :-) hadde en ukes ferie på den nydelige øya Zanzibar utenfor Tanzania.

- Fra Zanzibar dro vi direkte til farlige Nairobi, ble der i 2 netter og ble deretter evakuert til Kampala

- Fra onsdag 9.jan blir det "Infield" i Uganda for alle Hald elever i Øst-Afrika

GOD JUL OG GODT NYTTÅR!!

2007-12-23T07:53:00.000-08:00

I wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year!
I will be travelling now for a month, so don't worry... I will be back! ;-)

Take care and god bless you all!!

SAFARI! :-)

2007-12-20T08:54:00.000-08:00

Hi guys! Sorry for taking so long, but I'm just so busy these days. I just have to ask for some patient, I'm on my way. ;-) But in the meanwhile you can get these pictures to enjoy.:-) I love pictures... Do you??

Do I need to say anything more...

Uganda is wonderful

Chimp-Tracking!!

Can you see us both??

Marianne & Jon Arvid have been to Uganda!

The smiling Team Uganda on the Nile

The stunning River Nile

The cool Team Uganda goes wild on Safari

Some mudd is nessesarely for the safari feeling

A long and bumpy road, endless and beautiful

Our two sweet boys

Good-looking trees

Sjiraffen Laffen

A beautiful sunbreak

The two beautiful girls

The crazy Safari-Team

A hungry hippo (Flode Flodhest)

The amacing Ugandan sky

2007-12-17T23:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some old, braiding pictures, if you wanted to see how we looked... Words are under process, but as they say;

A picture tells more than 1000 words... ;-)

Braiding-Free!!

2007-11-30T06:59:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody! Just wanted to tell you all that my mom and dad soon are coming to visit me! Yes, from 9.-16.dec. I'm just so looking forward! :) So if any of you would like to send me a letter or something, you could absolutly send it with them...;) Hehehe... But of course; no peressure! ;)

Here is my ugandan phonenumber; if anybody wondered... ;)
00256 773087325

2007-11-23T06:29:00.000-08:00

Joanna is looking smart! :-P

This is my daily view from my bed… My mosquitonet! :-)

Maggie is ready for a night with Patrick Swazye... “Dirty Dancing”!

We found a great ice cream in town, but it looks funny…

It actually rained a lot more than the picture shows… It rained really heavy!

Our beloved bathroom

Sunset at Kyambogo University

3 pieces of a happy Team Uganda!

Maggie! You smell!! ;-)

We actually didn’t realize that we mached until we came to the office.

I've been here for 7 weeks now! :-D

2007-11-23T06:23:00.000-08:00

After 7 weeks in this beautiful country we have started to get some order in our schedules. There have been many changes and many things that have been unsecure, but we have finally got up with something that may work. This is how a normal week for Joanna may look like:

- Monday: Eirik and I have”Campus Work” at Makerere Univ. We are still socialising and making friends, which we also can do some shepherding with. We also attending each our biblestudy group in the evening.
- Tuesday: Training and biblestudy at the office. We are also planning different events and conferences on these days.
- Wednesday: “Campus Work”, similar to Mondays, and we’re also attending a Fellowship at “Afrostone”. (A Fellowship mixed with people from “Africa” (only girls) and “Livingstone” (only boys)
- Thursday: Study day. I try to read and write as much as possible this day.
- Friday: My day off! Do whatever I feel like. :-)
- Saturday: We attend the “Child Project” at the FOCUS office. Here we mostly just play and having fun with around 100-150 children for about 7 hours. The children also have different classes in the subjects: health, life skills, english and biblehistory.
We are suppose to be teachers for these children later on, I have only had one class in english until now, but more will come.
- Sunday: A day for church at daytime and fellowships in the evening.

Our evenings are dedicated to different things. Everything from hanging with friends, making new friends, surfing on the net in town, going out for supper, reading books, having biblestudy, watching movies, washings clothes – with other words; plenty of things to do! :-)

So yes, I hope you maybe understand a bit more of what I really am doing here in Uganda, but as you may understand and think, every week is different and unique. ;-)

The Incredible Hair Day!

2007-11-23T06:10:00.000-08:00

Monday 19.nov -07 (my babysisters birthday!) two beautiful girls, with their beautiful hair went for a trip to the salon where a mystic lady were working.

- “Oh, please can you help me to look even more beautiful?”, one of them said to the mysterious lady.
- “Can you help me too to be more beautiful?”, asked the other one.

The lady was just so helpful, and asked the girls about what they’re wishes were. The beautiful girls told the lady their deepest dreams and wishes about how they would look beautiful, even tough they were very different from eachother.
When they were finish talking, the lady looked at the girls and said:

-“Fine, I can help you both, but it’s gonna cost you!”

The girls became a bit scared by this lady now, but they looked hard into their pockets and found what they needed. Even though it was almost too much, this was what the girls wanted the most; to become beautiful.

So after six hours in a chair and at the floor, with both paining in their heads, backs and buts, their wishes were about to some true… Would they really be beautiful?!
They first looked at each other, and then they looked in the mirror…

- “Oh no! What has she done!”, they said to each other. Looking nervese and frustrated into the mirror.
- “This is not what I wanted”, one of them thought.
- “This is not what I wanted either”, the other one thought too.

But both of the girls smiled polite to the lady, paid their expensive price, and left. More disappointed than happy, because the lady hadn’t made them more beautiful… She had made them to a couple of twins!!

So yes, this was the sad story about the two girls who went trough a long and painful process, for nothing! They did not get what they asked for, and they did not get it for a good price either. And maybe the sadest thing of all is… That this story is true!!

Some in Norwegian:
6 timer på rumpa, 4 pakker med løshår, hallelujah, takk og lov for TV’n og såpeopraen!, 2 jenter i huet på en gang, 6 ansatte på det meste i den BITTELILLE salongen, litt lugging, men hadde forestilt meg det enda verre!, ble jo HELT LIKE, er jo megaflaut å gå sammen på gata nå, får desto mer oppmerksomhet.
Kunne så absolutt sett bedre ut… eller kunne jeg vel egentlig det?! Jeg kunne i alle fall ha sett MYE VERRE ut! Det er jammenmeg sikkert!;-)

Wedding & Fuglekunnskaper

2007-11-23T06:02:00.000-08:00

Since last time we talked, many things have happened. I haven’t had time to update my blog, and I’m just SO SORRY for that. But just watch out; here I come!!
Many things, no connection; that’s how I like it!;-) (If you say I'm confused when it comes to languages I would say; NO! :-P Sorry guys! :-)

- Saturday 10.11.07 Maureen at the office got married with a man called Arnold. And of course, we were invited as a part of the staff. We were very exited about this since it’s our second wedding here in Uganda and of course because we also knew the bride this time. :-) Maggie and I then went to town Tuesday, no dress to find. Thursday, nope, still no dress even though we got good help from two good colleges. Friday we tried again by ourselves and this day I found myself a dress, shoes and a necklace. At last, on Saturday we went to town and now Maggie found a dress! What a stress! We thought we were early when we started our “mission” on Tuesday, but no, it was just so difficult! I think we both looked smashing in that wedding with each our different, unmatching dresses.
The reception was supposed to start at 4PM; we arrived at 4.30PM… We were a bit stressed (at least I was!), but no. The newly wedded didn’t arrived before maybe one hour after us again! So yes, as we say it in Norway; “African time!” The whole reception was in Luganda, so we didn’t understand a thing. Only sometimes when they talked about us…”muzungu”… It was a very nice decorated white and pink wedding, and they just looked so beautiful!

- Dyrelivet er noe jeg synes er innmari spennende, og jeg har oppdaget at spesielt fuglelivet her i Ugnanda er utrolig rikt. Jeg som til og med har jegerprøven kan jo (evt PRØVER å analysere og artsbestemme disse fuglene) noe som ikke er så veldig lett siden de norske artene mest sannsynligvis ikke står så sterkt i det ugandiske fugleregisteret. Noe av det som har facinert meg kanskje mest er bestanden av ørner her i Kampala. (evt hauker. Er litt usikker…) De er mange og ikke så veldig sjenerte at det gjør noe, flyr ivrig til en søppelhaug langs veien og begynner å grave. Så en dag ca.20 av dem flygende over hodet mitt, var kanskje bare litt bekymra. Jeg skulle bare spørre for sikkerhetens skyld ei dame jeg kjenner (vil ikke nevne navn) om det faktisk var slik at det var så mange ørner / hauker her i Kampala. Da jeg spurte ho om disse små, raske og mørke rovfuglene fikk jeg dette svaret:
Først; ho ser teit på meg, smiler forsiktig og ler:
- ”Nei, det er nok storken du mener! Den store stygge fuglen vi har så menge av.”
- ”Eeee… Ja, det er nok den ja… hehehe…”, sa jeg for å ikke drite ho utJa! Det var nok storken jeg mente! Trodde kanskje ikke det gikk an å bli mer ”lost” enn jeg var, men tro meg; det gikk FINT an!

"Leadership Summit" i Gerenge

2007-11-23T05:38:00.000-08:00

Vi var på ”Leadership Summit” 2-4. november på leirstedet til Focus nær Entebbe, kalt Gerenge. Det er et nydelig sted utpå landsbygda rett ved Viktoriasjøen. Det var bare så deilig å komme seg litt bort fra den travle byen med millioner av mennesker og trafikk, til et sted med frisk luft og lite folk.
På dette ”Leadership Summit’n” gikk vi gjennom et tett program med både lovsang, bibelgrupper, foredrag, ”workshpos” og mentorgrupper.
Slik så dagene våre ut:

- Kl.05.30 – WAKE AND WASH UP og lovsang
- Kl.07.15 – Frokost (Denne besto av en stor kopp te, et hardkokt egg og en bolle evt. En smultring)
- Kl.08.00 – Lovsang med tilhørende klapping, gledeshyl og dansing
- Kl.08.30 – Smågrupper med bibelstudier
- Kl.09.30 – Foredrag/undrevisning
- Kl.10.50 – BREAK TEA
- Kl.11.30 – Foredrag/Undrevisning
- Kl.13.00 – LUNCH
- Kl.14.00 – Siesta
- Kl.14.30 – Workshops
- Kl. 15.50 – EVENING TEA
- Kl. 17.30 – Lek
- Kl. 18.45 – SUPPER
- Kl. 20.00 – Foredrag/Undrevisning
- Kl. 21.30 – Mentorgrupper og gruppebønn
- Kl. 00.00 – LIGHTS OUT

Jepp, et temmelig stramt og presist opplegg, var innmari sliten etter denne helga, men kunne se tilbake på mye moro og spennende talere.
(Høydare: jeg har vaska håret mitt i Viktoriasjøen!! :-D)

Pictures, FINALLY!! ;-)

2007-10-25T07:44:00.001-07:00

Litt av hvert, litt rot kanskje men bedre enn ingenting! ;-)

2007-10-25T07:23:00.001-07:00

Ja, siden sist har det vel egentlig ikke skjedd så innmari mye, men jeg føler likevel at jeg må ta en liten oppdatering…:-)
Forrige søndag var det ”Focus Grand Reunion” på FOCUS kontoret. Da møttes alle som har vært ansatt i løpet av de siste 35 årene til en stor samlingsfest – og det ble virkelig en suksess! Det var godt oppmøte, nydelig mat og et fantastisk vær. It was a blessed day! :-)

Margrethe og jeg hadde en effektiv lesedag forrige torsdag. Vi satt ute i deg fantastisk nydelige været; strålende sol! :-) Vi tok på oss solkrem, både 20 og 30 faktor ble brukt, solbriller og bøker. Og jeg som den jenta jeg er, ville selvfølgelig sitte litteranne ute i sola. (Margrethe derimot satt godt inni skyggen… noe jeg også muligens skulle ha gjort… hehehe…:-) Etter en stund begynte det jo selvfølgelig å regne. Og ikke bare litt, men skikkelig heavy! Regndryppene her er så innmari større og tyngre enn i Norge… så vi satte oss litt på verandaen vår, under tak en stund før vi trakk innover. Det var ikke før senere jeg oppdaget at jeg hadde glemt noen solkremen noen småsteder… hehehe… Oh yes, solbrent? Tja, kan vel kalle det noe sånt som det! :-) Det er ikke over alt, men bare på noen små flekker som i Norge hadde kanskje jevnet seg ut siden ikke sola er så sterk, men her? Niks! Litt flaut på samme måte som det er så utrolig irriterende! Å glemme noen så teite småsteder er jo helt idiotisk… jeg skjemmes over meg selv… Så jada folkens, ”learning by doing”! ;-) Nå vet jeg i alle fall at jeg må passe på at jeg er smurt over alt! :-)

Pruting er noe jeg ikke akkurat har noe erfaring i… Jeg har alltid sett ganske undrende og litt teit på folk som kommer inn på jobben og begynner å prute på en shorts, men her er det nesten det eneste alternativet! På supermarkedene er prisene faste og det er nesten alltid prislapper på dem også, men det koster litt mer enn om vi skulle ha kjøpt ting på gata. Vi, som hvite, har ingen anelse på hvor mye det og det skal koste i et land som dette, men noe har vi funnet ut av, og mer skal vi lære.:-) Det er kjempelett å bare akseptere det første som blir foreslått (fordi det er kjempebillig i forhold til norsk pris), men det er i alle fall en dobbel pris av hva den er verdt. Så da er det bare å stille seg i en litt ”kostbar” posisjon og stå på sitt, samtidig som en forhandler med selgeren. Hvite vil automatisk få en dobbel pris av det det er verdt, så da er det godt å vite hva det egentlig er verdt… Skjønner?? :-)
Jeg har faktisk overraska Margrethe et par ganger over at jeg faktisk tør å si imot de usaklig høye prisene vi blir tilbudt til tider. Håper jeg blir en skikkelig ”dealer”, sånn at jeg ikke blir lurt i all fremtid… ;-)

Morsomme ting jeg finner ut av:
- At Margrethe er utrolig flink til å rape
- At Jan Kristian liker seg veldig godt som selvstendig på Kampalas mange steder
- At Eirik faktisk kan mye mer enn meg om foto (noe som er litt nedbrytende)
- At jeg blir innmari fort solbrent uten solkrem i Uganda

Sam fra kontoret og hans kone Alice har fått en gutt!! Ja, torsdag 18.oktober -07 fikk de en liten gutt etter en 12 timers lang fødsel… Alt går bra med både mor, far og barn. Så den lille gutten da han var et par dagen gammel, han er jo bare så nydelig! :-) Men jeg synes det er litt urettferdig at en gutt har fått mer brunfarge på et par dager, enn jeg har fått på 20år… hehehe… ;-P Jeg tror nok ikke de vil få noen problemer med å få tak i barnevakt med det første…:-)

Vi har fått vite at Margrethe og Jan Kristian skal jobbe på Kyambogo Univ. mens Eirik og jeg skal jobbe på Makerere Univ. på ”Africa” og ”Livingstone”, også kalt ”Afrostone”. Der skal vi jobbe med litt forskjellige ”care groups” (noe vi også skal bygge opp fra starten av…! :-), delta i forskjellige fellesskap som å delta i bibelstudier og være mentorer for studentene. Jeg tror det blir en stor, utfordrende, spennende og krevende jobb som ligger i vente. :-)

Ellers tror jeg ”Team Uganda” har det temmelig fint for tida, og vi bare venter på at kultursjokket skal komme når som helst… ;-)

Take care and God bless!!

Some funny episodes! (one in norwegian, I'm sorry!)

2007-10-25T07:07:00.000-07:00

En dag Margrethe og jeg skulle en tur til byen lot vi kameraene ligge hjemme siden det aldri skjer noe på veien til Ntinda (nærmeste sentrum). Gjett hva. Jepp, nettopp i dag skjedde det noe: Da vi kom oss ut på hovedveien møtte en stor gjeng med digre kyr oss! Sikkert en 20 store kyr med gigantiske horn! Men kunne vi ta bilde, niks! For kameraene lot vi jo ligge hjemme, hurra!! Når du minst venter det kommer det store motivet strålende imot deg. Typisk!! Kyra fylte hele veien og stoppet hele trafikken, det var et uforglemmelig syn. :-) vi hadde ikke mye valg enn å stille oss opp i kanten og vente til de hadde passert, både foran og bak deg. (må si det kanskje var litt skummelt da de begynte å løpe litt mot oss. :-) Dette var jammenmeg en opplevelse av de få. ;-)

They say that when a person is funny in a language, the person manages the language… Is that really so??
Magi and I took a taxi from Ntinda to our home, Kiwatule. (Ca.15 min drive.) As we have taken taxies for some weeks now, we have understood that when you want the taxi to stop you have to say “Masao” or “Stage”. And we (as the “African Girls” we are) wanted to do like them, say it in Luganda…. It was my turn to try out my luganda-skills… :-)
We were almost by our stop when I suddenly understood that I didn’t REALLY know how to say it… hehehe… so when we came to our spot I shouted out: “MAA SAAOO!” The bus burst out in laughter! And that was just because of my silly luganda! It was just SO EMBARRASSING! And I really felt like my face was red. (Something that also is very true) but after all I’m a strong woman, and I like to make people happy so this wasn’t really just embarrassing, it was also very funny. (even though the Ugandan people on the bus thought it was a bit more funny than me… :-) but after all, I’m very satisfied; I have never made that good atmosphere in a taxi before… Not even in Norway!
So this was an example that you don’t have to manage a language to be funny in it. What I said was complete wrong from the correct pronunciation and tone, but even though; I was funny in a different language! Hurray!:-)

I remember that one time they had to push the taxi to get it to start. They were about 4 men that pushed the car and ran next to it while the driver tried to start it. I was just so scared that it would stop or that it didn’t wanted to go up the hill.

Titten tei!

2007-10-19T02:01:00.000-07:00

Ja, ja folkens! Da sitter jeg her igjen, dampende heit i toppen fordi internetten er treig... Ja jeg vet at dette ikke er forst gang det blir nevnt, men jeg bare maa si det igjen... Internetten er umulig! Dermed basta. :) Jeg faar prove aa se paa dette som en trening... en taalmodighetsprove i aller hoyeste grad. :)

Jeg vil saa gjerne vise dere bilder! Masse bilder! Evt ET bilde... men neida, jeg faar vel kanskje se det som tapt og si som Margrethe sier... "Dere faar se bilder i april!" :) Saa det er bare aa glede seg til det altsaa... :)

Skulle gjerne skrivd masse mer, men tida mi er snart ute. I'll come back 4 U guys! ;-)

And as I would say it in English... "Thanks for taking a titt on my blog! ;-P"

Hey people! How do you find Uganda?! :)

2007-10-15T03:38:00.000-07:00

This is a question I get several times a day, and that I answer like this:

- "Well, it’s very hot but I like it very much! It’s such a beautiful country!“

And this is the truth, don’t believe something else, but it’s just so funny that everybody wonders what I think about heir country. (Now I really know how you internasjonal students have it: “What do you think about Norway?!”)

Yes, Uganda is a very beautiful country and the people here are just so nice! It seems like they really care about you, even though they don’t really know you; that is just so fascinating! In Norway it takes a little more time to get to get the same compassion and attention… J

One of the things I really struggling with is all this hot food and hot drinks! Even in a country with over 30 degrees outside they’re eating at least 2 hot meals a day, and of course a lot of coffee and tea. This is out of my ability to think… They’re actually a bit crazy in my eyes… J I miss the Norwegian bread and our “light-meals”… but yea, yea, I hope I get use to these “heavy meals” soon… Even though they’re so heavy!

It really seems like we get a soft start here in Uganda. In our first week at the office we have had 4 “days-off”. But even though I’m just so tired! Maggie and I have found out that we are suffering from something that’s called “culture stress”. We are trying to get to know the culture and the habits here, which we use a really big part of our energy in. So really I’m not sad at all that we don’t get the chance to do more work now in the start… I’m getting tired enough of doing nothing already! J

At Saturday our “dad” and our “brothers” went to the “Wildlife Centre” in Entebbe. It was a really beautiful place with lots of animals. J We saw zebras, different monkeys, ostrich, white rhino (!!), lion, hyena, crocodile and different snakes. It was really cool to see the different animals and I enjoyed it really much! And I really felt like a tourist with my camera clicking constantly. J

Funny things that have happened since last time:

- That we got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere

- That “Rolex” is very tasty

- That Margrethe and me shared a “Bodaboda” that really was too small for us

- That in the 12 days we’ve been in Uganda, at least 5 of them have been “days-off”

- That our “killerdog” is really just a scared and insecure dog

- That our “brothers” really like our cameras… Or actually almost everybody I’ve met along my way (with my camera) likes to “pose” in front of me/my camera.

- That our hostfamily really liked our “homemade” card… Almost more than the gift. J (They even taped it to the wall in the dining room! J)

(I'm SO SORRY but it is just impossible to upload pictures, so patient people. I will do the best I can.:) See ya! ;)

Oppdatering!!

2007-10-15T03:33:00.000-07:00

Dopapir og andre pineligheter... ;)

Ja, du synes kanskje dette er en rar og litt pinelig overskrift, men dette er nettopp et tema som opptar Margrethe og meg en del. Det fakta at vi faktisk har klart og bruke opp 3 ruller med dopapir på under en uke er ganske utrolig! J Ingen av oss har hatt en dårlig mage (da hadde jeg nemlig ikke tatt opp dette), men da lurer vi da på: er det egentlig oss, eller er det kanskje dopapiret?? Vi velger å tro at det er dopapiret…

Margrethe og jeg har nå blitt enige om å lage: ”Den Store Dopapirtesten!”
Ja, vi velger å legge litt penger i det og sjekker ut litt forskjellige sorter. Det er faktisk ikke bare bare å velge ut papiret…
Vi har satt opp rundt 10 forskjellige kategorier som papiret skal testes ut på, deriblant pris, kvalitet, avrivningsprosessen, farge, antall lag, konsistens, andre bruksområder etc.
For i løpet av den første uka her i Uganda har vi kommet borti litt av hvert, deriblandt et MEGET TYNT papir som går under navnet ”Eurosilk” som du må bruke ganske mye av for å få ”ønsket virkning”. Ellers har vi kommet borti en mer spenstig utgave som har en meget bra ”stretch kvalitet” i seg, men er på den andre siden en del stivere i kvaliteten. Denne gleder vi oss forresten til å teste ut på ”andre bruksområder” - kategorien. :) (Vi er faktisk nesten overbevist på om at vi kan sy klesplagg ut av denne… Vi gleder oss! :-)

Så det er bare å fortsette å følge med, så kommer vi nok til en konklusjon etter hvert. :)
(PS. Jeg får bare beklage hvis jeg støter noen, på noen som helst måte med dette innlegget. :) … det samme gjelder neste tema. :)

Den første natta vi overnatta hos vertskapsfamilien vår ble vi introdusert for flere ”regler” og lignende. Bla at vi må/burde være innenfor ”murene”/huset mellom 6-7tida på kvelden. (etter solnedgang altså, om ikke annet var avtalt), at rommet vårt skulle få være vårt, at vi spiser middag sammen og har en bønnestund sammen etter kveldsen og at når du har mensen må du bruke ”mensendoen”. Denne siste ”regelen” synes vi var forferdelig rar og unødvendig. For i et stort ”moderne” hus med 4 vannklosett må vi lissom ut av huset, bak i bakgården, inn i et lite skjul (som forresten er rett ved siden av ”drapshundens” hus), og inn på en mer ”tradisjonell” do (dvs et hull i bakken bak en halvrevnet, råtten tredør) for å kunne gjøre fra deg – dette ble litt for drøyt og litt for mye for de to jentene Margrethe og Inger Johanne som sto der forskrekka. Vi forsto dessverre ikke helt poenget, men det hadde sikkert en perfekt forklaring på det hele… Bare det av vi ikke ble fortalt om det. :)

Vi tviler STERKT på at vi kommer til å ta i bruk denne tradisjonelle doen, men ja ja, vi får se hva vertene våre sier til det… om de i det hele tatt finner ut av det… ;)

Karibu! :)

2007-10-10T05:25:00.001-07:00

“Karibu!” means welcome in Luganda. Welcome to my blog! :-)

Yes people, now I’m actually (and finally) in Uganda! Margrethe and me met our hostfamily and moved in on Sunday evening after a very long drive. On a road that we usually would use 15 minutes, we now used over 1hour! So yea, we came into a big jam, and on top of that, the “guide” we brought with us didn’t actually know the way perfectly… But after a while in the dark we came to a very beautiful house, the home to Sylvia and Peter Angubua and their three adorable and cool boys, David 8 years, Jonathan 6 years and Joshua 4 years. They have a lot of energy and really like to play with their two new big sisters. :-)

It feels like I’ve been here for a month! So many things have happened and so many expressions and feelings are happening at one time! The streets look different, the food tastes different, the people look different, the smells are different, the temperature is different, but even thug; I really like this! The people are easy to get in touch with and they’re just so welcoming and nice, it is great! :-)

I know, and I can feel that I’m still in the tourist face. I enjoy (almost) every second, and a lot of things are happening at once, so I actually haven’t got any time to really think about this…: I am here. I am staying here. I am staying here for 6 months, in my hostfamily until April… I hope I will enjoy every second here. :-)

My own experiences and things that really have surprised me during my first week in Uganda:
- That white people get A LOT of attention, always! “Muzungo! Muzungo!”
- That “muzungos” often get the double prize of what it actually is worth
- That the ground actually is red, and I can tell that by looking at my shoes
- That animals like hens, cows, dogs and chickens “lives on the street”, like “street animals” ;-)
- That Ugandan people really use their time, except when they are in their cars
- That the rain can be hard, cold and brutal
- That it rains like crazy when it really starts raining!
- That Ugandan people are REALLY nice! Not just sometimes, but always!!
- That the traffic here has no system (in my eyes :-)
- That almost every boy or man that you meet on the street is “checking you out” and stares on either your ass or on other body parts. Without hiding it at all!
- That washing your clothes with your hands is very hard and you get a bad back afterwards
- That “bodabodas” are very dangerous, but so cool! (Small motorbikes that drives like crazy guys… without helms!)
- That “Norwegian space” doesn’t exist in Uganda… At least not on the taxies!
- That you don’t have to know the bride and groom in the wedding you are attending to
- That hot meals and drinks are used in breakfast, lunch and dinner… But why?! It’s so hot already!

So yes people, I enjoy this beautiful country so much! I hope you all are well and that you Hald students still enjoy your staying.:-)
God bless you all!
Love to all of you from me ;-)

Wedding!!

2007-09-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

Hald news!

Anne-Therese and Najib is getting married!! The date has not been set, but they are planning sometime during the spring or summer, after Anne-Therese has been to Peru and Nadjib has been to Kristiansand. The bestman and bestwoman is Rock and Inger Johanne (myself), and they are looking forward to their task.:-)

"It was love at first sight", Najib shouts out! He's in love... Their in love... And it's beautiful.:-)

Everybody at Hald is just so happy for them, and we wish them good luck. :-)

2007-09-19T10:11:00.000-07:00

Today it's 2 weeks, 14 days and 336 hours till we're on the plane to the fantastic Uganda! I'm so looking forward to it! :-)

2007-09-11T08:07:00.001-07:00

Yes people, I'll try this one in english.:-)

Now it's our first "free-weekend" here at Hald. The international students are visiting their host families, and the norwegian students are home to meet their parents, siblings and friends.

The time's going very fast at Hald, and it feels like we just started her. I remember when we were greeting new people, learning new names and trying to say something smart in our "norwegian-english". :-) I really feel like I have learned a lot in these 4 weeks. :-)

At home it feels like nothing has changed. My siblings are the same, my parents are the same and the city is the same... It feels like the only thing that has changed is me! (I hope that's a good thing... :-) I really enjoy to be back home with my family and friends, it feels just so safe. :-)

Today it's 19 days till we're standing on Gardemoen Airport, ready to go. I'm just so exited, and I know that I will miss my family and my friends here in Sandefjord... And not to forget, my good friends at Hald...

Enjoy your weekend! :-)

2007-09-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

Ja, nå er det faktisk under en måned til vi er i Uganda! Jepp, det er ganske sprøtt å tenke på.:-) Jeg føler jeg har fortsatt mye å lære, og mange spørsmål som sitter ubesvarte i hodet. Og kanskje kommer de ikke til å bli besvart på før jeg står der i Uganda, midt i situasjonen der nettopp DET svaret kreves...

Vel, jeg får tenke slik at på en måned kan mye skje, kanskje jeg vil bli smartere, mer moden, mer forberedt, få større språkferdigheter og bli skikkelig "fit for fight!"

Jeg tenker ofte på forskjellige bibelvers når jeg blir litt bekymret over reisen og opphodet som ligger foran. To av dem finner du på forsida mi og her er et annet av dem:

”Herren din Gud er hos deg,
en helt som har makt
til å frelse.
Han gleder og fryder seg
over deg
og gir deg på ny sin kjærlighet.
Han jubler over deg med fryd.”
Sefania 3, 17

Og med dette verset vet jeg at Gud faktisk har en plan med meg her på Hald og i Uganda. Han har en nøye planlagt plan for akkurat meg, og han er stolt av den! Flaks for meg.:-) Og jeg trenger faktisk ikke å tvile på at jeg vil få et trygg og fantastisk år. Det er så godt å vite!:-)

2007-08-31T08:52:00.000-07:00

Tenkte jeg skulle vise fram det flotte "Teamet Uganda." De er alle nydelige mennesker som jeg gleder meg til å bli godt kjent med.:-)

Fra v. Eirik, Inger Johanne, Margrethe og Jan Kristian.

2007-08-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

Ja, da er året i gang. Mange nye bekjentskap er blitt stiftet, både med nordmenn og folk fra andre kanter av verden, og jeg trives som fisken i vannet her på Hald.:-) Det er litt rart det der med at verden på en måte har blitt litt mindre siden skolestart, siden vi har 13 forskjellige nasjoner samlet på et sted, på én skole. Dette er en gyllen og enestående mulighet for oss til å bli kjent med nye mennesker, ikke bare fra rundt om i Norge, men fra over hele verden! Dette er noe vi burde være kjempe takknemlige og beæra for å kunne få ta del i!:-)

Jeg vet allerede nå at dette året kommer til å bli en utfordring, på alle måter! Og det er det som er så fint med dette høstkurset; vi blir psyka opp, på alle mulige måter.:-) Vi blir forberedt på at det finnes en større, annerledes, hardere og spennende verden der ute enn et vi er kjent med nå. Dette er året for utfordring og utvikling... Og jeg gleder meg!:-)

Endelig har jeg blogg!

2007-08-28T01:28:00.000-07:00

Hurra, hurra, hurra! Nå er vi i gang!:-) Hald er topp!