To Africa and back again

My work!

2011-11-28T00:51:00.003+01:00

Wow. W.O.W! Now it has been a really long time since I last posted something! The time just fly by. And I who thought that time would move so slowly without the students at Hald. I guess I was wrong, very wrong. The last 3 weeks have just past in a blur! Don't get me wrong. I miss the studnets at Hald, and I miss them like crazy. But time is not moving as slowly as I had thought, and life actually moves on, and we actually have stuff to do. A lot of stuff!

The last 3 weeks I have been travelling in Norway. My main task has been to do PR for Hald. I have been at different camps, festivals and a lot of high school. Of course it has been cahllenging and tuff at times, but it has also been wonderful, amazing and so good.

I have been able to learn so much about my self, see so much of my country, meet so many new and amazing people! I really do feel blessed! I have been in Oslo, Ålesund, Sogndal and Bergen, to mention the most setral places I have been.

And I happy and doing good. Even though I am exhausted, I am so satisfied! And that makes me smile!

Elisabeth

2011-10-12T12:17:00.002+01:00

On tuesday evening, or maybe more in the night, Elisabeth, the EVS from when I attended Hald was here. It was so nice to see her, but also so surreal! We stayed up late in the night and were just talking for some hours. And then today she went back to Germany after 10 days in Norway. I am happy that I got to see her! She is really amazing!

Bergen!

2011-10-12T11:59:00.002+01:00

Wow, I never thought I would say this, because I am not a big fan of the rain; but I love Bergen!
This weekend, I was there, and I had so much fun. I spent a lot of time with friends. I arrived on friday evening. During the weekend, I stayed with Karoline, a friend from high school, and Heidi, another friend from high school, also came that weekedn to visit. On saturday we went around in Bergen and got to see and know the city. We also took "Fløybanen". All saturday the weather was extreemly sunny, and I was in a shock!

Saturday evening I was at the home of a former Hald students, and I also met a lot of other students, including my former team-mate Pernille! Is was very good to meet all of them and just be remined how wonderful they all are!
Sunday we stayed inside most of the day, because, surprice, surprice.... It was raining! But we enjoyed our time anyway. We played we amongst other things, and I wasn't as hopeless as I had expected!

Monday I travelled back to Kristiansand and Mandal. But before I leaft, I had time for a lunch with my aunt and a small visit to a kafé with a friend. And also when I came to Kristiansand, I spent time with even another friend.
So I feel like I met a lot of people and I got so much out of my weekend!

Monday and tuesday

2011-10-09T21:07:00.002+01:00

Monday I was in Kristiansand. I were going to go to the place of Kristina and Camilla. There we were going to have a social gathering for Hald-people. I got to meet and see a lot of people again. That was really good! I had missed everybody so much. On tuesday, I got to hang out with Masa and Keffer, which were so good. And we also went to Doreen and Christine's place! Later in the afternoon, I were haning out with another buddy, so those days I got to meet a lot of people again. And I really needed that! So it were a good couple of days!

Teaching, more, teaching, some more teaching, even more teachng... And then teaching again.

2011-09-23T13:08:00.000+01:00

The last couple of days have been filled with a lot of teaching! Blogging and norwegian language is what has been on the schedule. It has been challening for me, but it has been good. I thing challenges is what makes us grow.

Working - teaching!

2011-09-22T14:50:00.002+01:00

Lately, a lot of my time have been spent on teaching. I have had notwegian class, blog class, food-making class and other things. For some it might not seem that difficult or challenging, but for me it is. I think, for some reason, that it is really hard and scary to stand in front of people. It is strange to have that many eyes staring at me. But I guess thats why I should do it, because that is obviously something that I can be challenged at and get better at!

Making food = chaos!

2011-09-18T10:22:00.002+01:00

On Friday, we had the topic: Practical issues about living in Norway. We had that the whole day and we therefor had to do different stuff with the international. We showed how to use the washing machine, how the store is and how to make healthy Norwegian food! And what a chaos it became. But believe me, it was a FUN chaos. WE had to make food in small kitchen, kitchen who would normally just fit 4 or 5 persons, but now had to fit 10 or 11! So yeah, it was crowed, I can tell you. But it is those moments that you remember, those crazy moments when you don't have control, but you have fun and it is okay not to be able to fix everything! And it is those moments that passes so quickly and you have to hold on to! When everything is well and you are with good friends and all is well!

A quiet weekend at Hald.

2011-09-18T10:16:00.000+01:00

This weekend almost all the Norwegian went home. They had the whole weekend of, so it was a good time to do it. And on Monday or Tuesday, they are going to visit their organization as well, so it was a good way to combine it! So the weekend have been rather quiet, but for me that has been good. I really needed a weekend like that! Just relaxing and enjoying spending time with the internationals. They are so cool all of them!
Seriously, I love my job.

Bad taste party with talentshow!

2011-09-14T15:10:00.001+01:00

Yesterday, the student board at Hald organized a party. It was a bad taste party with a talent show. It was.... I don't have another word for it than... AWESOME! People really went for it, and they all looked really bad. Honestly, not to be rude. But that is the point as well, so it was good! The international was so funny! And the show in it self was amazing! The students at Hald keeps impressing me everyday!

2011-09-02T10:15:00.002+01:00

Yesterday, I was talking past our prayer room, and I discovered that some of the Norwegians were having bible group. I got so glad! "My" students are so amazing!

2011-09-02T10:13:00.001+01:00

Today I had Norwegian class for the international. For me it is kind of scary, because I think it is scary to stand in front of people and learn them stuff! But I think that is good for me. That I can be challenged in an area! And my students are so good! They impress me everyday, and I am so proud of them, because they really go for it! Good work guys!

Blåtur

2011-09-01T10:22:00.001+01:00

Last weekend, we were at the "blåtur" we have every year with our students. A "blåtur" is directly translated a bluetrip. That's something we have in Norway. It is a kind of surprice-trip. We go to an unknown place and the program is unknown. It is to get to know each other more and have some team-building/work and we also had some intimacy-breaking activites as well. It was very good and I hope the students got a lot out of it as well!

LOL - Laughing out LOUD!

2011-08-21T21:57:00.002+01:00

Today I have been laughing so much. The students here are so hilarious! Seriously! They make me laugh so much. i almost can't breath and I am almost falling out of my chair! It is good GOOD!

Students!

2011-08-19T14:37:00.002+01:00

The students at Hald are awesome. Seriously, they are so cool! And I can just feel that they have so much to give! The first day I felt a littlebit awekward. I kind of didn't know where to start, and I cought my self comparing them to the one that I went to, and it was honestly a little bit hard to interact with then because I felt so out of place, because it was not the people that I am used to have around me! But then I pulled my self together, and I was hanging out with then. And I descoverd how amazing they are! They are truly awesome. I really belive the it will be a good, GOOD year!

2011-08-19T14:30:00.002+01:00

This last week have been crazy! On wednesday all of the norwegian students suddely arrived! And from there on out it has been none stop! But it has been so nice!
On wednesday, when the norwegians arrives, the internationals had organices some welcome program. That was really good! So now I feel like we have really taken of, and the year at Hald has actually started, which is very good! And I can't wait to see what this year has in store for me!

Life back at Hald

2011-08-13T12:09:00.001+01:00

Now I have been at Hald for almost a week. It is really strange being back! But at the same time, it is really good!
I have been doing dofferent stuff this week.
Thuesday I was playing house-wife and I spent a lot of time cleaning and orgonicing the kitchen.

Wednesday I unpacked all of my stuff. Both thuesday and wednesday I spent some time in Mandal. I also went to the store to by food and stuff.
Thursday it was the first staffmeeting. That day was totaly bizzar! Gregs(Gregory is the international gapstudent) were just looking at eachother and we could

The first blogpiece in a long time!

2011-08-09T20:09:00.003+01:00

Hey. Then I was back on this blog again. Who would have imagined that? Not me, that's for sure! But I guess that it is only logical when the address is Idunnathald. I will try to write in english, even though I noticed that I have a lot of bad spelling! I just want to include everybody!
This blog will be about my life this year and the thoughts that will pop up in my mind! Hope the once of you that read my blog will enjoy!

About being back!

2010-05-12T12:28:00.003+01:00

In the beginning of being back it was very nice! And kind of liberating! And I was so surprised at how little i reacted to being back. Because I expected to get a reversed culture shock when I came back. But I didn´t. And I thouth that I would miss Cameroon like crazy! But I didn´t. And I was surprised. I was happy and I enjoyed it! I went back to Hald, still puzzled by this. We were talking about it, and yeas, I thought about it, remembered it and appriciated it. But I didn´t miss it!
Of course, something was strange, like getting water from the tap. That the roads were not bumpy. That no one spooke french and that it was so few black people. But I didn´t really miss Cameroon.
But then, one day, it hit me. We were working with "looking back using arts." And for suddenly it just got so hard. I started thinking about Cameroon, and I started to miss it so much! I really started to think about it and all that have something to do with Cameroon. and I gor so sad. It has been such a huge part of my lafe thees last months, and I have changed because of it! It just took some time. But I appriciate everything that I have had and experienced there!

Thank you Cameroon!

(+237)

2010-04-20T18:55:00.002+01:00

When I have been with friends and met people after being in Cameroon for half a year, they ask me how it has been!? And I feel that it is really hard to answer. First of all: it is such a big question that requers a long answer. And people are not intereseted in that!
And what to say? Yes it was awesome and amazing! I love it. But it was my home and my life for 6 months! Landcode (+237) was home. That was were i spent my days. The bad ones and the good ones! And how do you explain that?

Cameroon will always be a part of me!

Looking back...

2010-04-13T21:52:00.002+01:00

When I lokk back at my time in Cameroon, I have a lot of good memories. Friends, places and happenings that will allways be with me.
I can remember the choir, the places were we worked, the children at the orphanige.
I was at a rap consert, and it was cool, even though norwegian and african rap is very different! I have been on safari, I have been in Kenya, at Kribi,I have made coscos,I have gotten my hands and feet painted, I have had english course, I have vitesed evangelisation, I have slept under the sky and admired all the stars, I have learnd to speak french and to bargain the price. I have gotten friends in a different setting than I´m used to.
I remember so much and have experiensed a lot! And I think of it all with a smile! :D

2010-04-07T22:43:00.002+01:00

Now I´m back in Norway. And it feels wierd. Everyone around me is white and they speak only norwegian.
When I left Cameroon, I expected that I would cry a lot. But I didn´t. Of course I was sad and I miss my freinds there allreaddy. I was on the train in my bed, and I felt sad and empty inside. But then I took up my camera and started looking at pictures. And then I couldn´t stop smiling. I have so many good memories and good things to look back on. And when I think of Cameroon I only look back at nice things. I have learned so much and grown a lot. It is really an experience I will look back on and remember for a long time.

Cameroon - the pearl of Africa

2010-04-02T16:34:00.002+01:00

Cameroon is a beatuiful country. And it is also very varid. It´s often called Africa in miniatur. It has a lot of different tribes and between 200 and 300 native languages. And both french and english is offisial languages. Both islam and chritianity is big religions here. You also have different rainiseasons. They eat a lot of corn, millet and rise and live as farmers and fishermen.
The natur is really magnifesent! You have mountains and valleys, the coast, waterfalls, rainforest savanas, steps, almost dessert, you name it. It has everything you can think of, and I have been so lucky to have been able to live here for six moths, in the middle of it all and experiensing a lot of what it has to offer. I have been so blessed.

This has really been a year of a different world!

2010-04-01T23:38:00.002+01:00

Yeasterday I was at the home of the children at the orphanige. They have vacation now, so they are home. I went to say goodbye to them. And it was really, really sad. Saying goodbye is not my favorit thing to do, and I´m not exactly a master in it. And during my stay here, I have grown very fond of the children. I will miss them so much!
I also had my final rehersal with the choire today, and it was sad. But I have a lot of good memories to look back on. And that is what I will take back with me to Norway!

2010-04-01T23:13:00.001+01:00

Lately, it seems like it has been a lot of goodbyes. And that it has been a lot of focus on it. I guess it´s naturel when your going. But at the same time really wierd. And I look forward to see people in Norway, belive me, I do. But it will be very hard and strange as well. I will miss it a lot. So much has happened over these 6 months. And I have learned a lot as well. It is an experience that I will take with me for ever!

Life is short sometimes.

2010-04-01T11:36:00.002+01:00

We are walking home from a consert. This has been my last. The consert went well. And eventhough it was fun, everyone is serius. Suddenly a scream rippes through the air. The scream is heartbreaking. Then we can see a lot of people. They are crying. While we had the consert, a mother of one of the sister in the choire died. And the family just got the news after the consert. People are so heartbrooken. I feel for them, and my heart are being rippped to pieses, because it is all so sad. Life´s is hard. But is it really meant to be so hard?

Life is short. Shorter than what you expect. So you have to make the best out of the time you have and the time now. You need to make it count! And focus on the important stuff.

2010-03-30T10:58:00.001+01:00

Why is it that just because I´m borne in Norway that I can go to the hospital if i break my leg without problems, I can read and write without a problem, why is it that I´m almost guranteed a futur and an education? And I will probably loos my parents because they are ols, not because they had AIDS or malaria and we didn´t have money to the hospital.

Life here is a lot harder. And people are not as fortunate as I am. But they seem so much more happy. The sosiety here is so much warmer and people help each other out. To take care and respect each other. They don´t think about why thing is they way it is and they are not mas. They accsept it and they try to do the best out of the situation.

This is something we can all learn something from.

Dinner party.

2010-03-30T10:20:00.002+01:00

Yeasterday some friends from the choire came over. It was Yerima, Jojo(Maxim)Danielle and her litle sister Miriama and Samuel. That was really nice and fun. We were having fun and joking around. And we desided to make dinner. So then we cooked rise, potatoes, meat and made a sauce. It was really good.

The final countdown.

2010-03-30T09:53:00.003+01:00

I can´t belive that the final week has arrived. It feels so unreal. I have lived here for 6 months. And now I´m going to be back in Norway in just 8 days. That´s just crazy! Everybody around me are going to be white, wearing a lot of clothes and not run around in t-shirts, just speaking norwegian. That will be wierd. I have really had 6 amazing months here.

These last couple of days have been a litle wierd and different as weel. When I do something, it allways the last time I do it, and I´m beginning to say goodbye to people. That dizzar! But I guess that´s just how it is. I have a lot to look back on and a lot to be thank full for as well.

2010-03-29T23:27:00.000+01:00

I have just been eating my first mango of the year. And it was so good!

2010-03-28T15:00:00.001+01:00

Having biblegroup with your friends in the choire is nice and fun. But it is also really interesting to hear the biblical views of cameroonien youth.

2010-03-25T15:08:00.002+01:00

How is spent my week-end: At safari, looking at lions and on the side of the road because the car stopped working in the middle of no where! And then I mean; in the middle of NO WHERE!

But someone finaly came and everything was fine... So, no I can look back at it and laugh. Because it was kind of funny.

Lucky, or why?

2010-03-16T14:23:00.003+01:00

I could have been a litle boy living on the street. I could have been a litle girl who has lost her parents to AIDS! I could have been a kid who never got the opportunity to go to school. I could have been blind and no one to take care of me. My house could easily started burning because it´s made of gras and people cook their food on open fire. My house could have been wash away from all the rain because it´s only made of brick.

My life could be so much more different that what it is. But it´s not like that. I´m from Norway and i´m norwegian. If any of those things were to happen to me, i would have been okay. I´m from the richest country in the world, and i have insurens and a state that will help me if anything really bad happens to me.

And why am i norwegian. I honestly don´t know. By coinsidenc!? I just know that i was lucky enough to be born in Norway. But what do you say to the people who ask yu why they are so poor or so misserable? Do you say: "i just guess that you were unlucky"!? No! But i don´t know what´s the right answer. I don´t even have anything at all to say.

Why it life and everything as it is?

Tu es fort en francais...

2010-03-07T18:15:00.002+01:00

Willi told me this yeasterday. This is a friend who has been away for school. He has been away for about three months, since novemeber. He said that my french has really improved. HE said that now I understand very much and I can have depp conversation, and that it was wierd talking to me now because it was so much easier! Which is really fun and good. I hoped that it would improve during the year. And I take his word for it! So thats good! :D

Tu es vraiment gentil, sympathique et social.

2010-03-06T18:54:00.006+01:00

It was a friend, Zaaki, who said this to me. He said that I was nice, social, caring and that I had a big heart for others. This made me really glad, and I felt like they appriciate me. This last two weeks it has really felt like I have friends and that they get me and that we can have fun together. We can talk about everything between heaven and earth, everything from food, sport to God. And it feels like they like me for who i am, and not because i`m white. And it makes it so much harder to think about leaving. Even though it`s still a month left, a month can pass fast, but I think the last month will be the best so far!

Thank you Zaaki, for making me feel loved, like I love my friends and the people around me!

One way - Hillsong United

2010-03-04T11:48:00.000+01:00

2010-03-04T09:27:00.003+01:00

Be you!

2010-03-04T09:06:00.002+01:00

Something I have learned in Africa is not to take your self so seriusly or think highly of your self. Not to be so upthight, but to let lose. Like yeasterday, when the choire was over. Everybody was to sing a song. And it didn´t mater exactly how you sing, just be your self and sing with the voice God gave you. I have learned something else, and that is something valuable which I will take back to Norway, and that is to not care so much about the "jantelov" anymore! Everybody have something they can bring, and that is good enough!

Having fun with freinds!

2010-03-04T08:24:00.002+01:00

Yeasterday Pernille and I had the choire over for supper. It was fun. They were suppose to come at 18. And Pernille and I have been in Africa to long, because we got surprised when they showed up 10 min past 18. And it was surprisingly many that had desided to come! We danced, sang, had games, talked and had fun! Sometimes it has felt like a lot of the freindsships that I have here is rather shallow and that they are hardly my freinds. Yes, I have talked to a lot of people and many people know my name. But it has felt like we don´t have a deeper conection. It has been hard sometimes because of the language, but now that is so much better!
But yeasterday my choire showed me wrong. We had fun and laughed very much, and a lot of them have really paid attention to what I have said. They showed me love and care, and that felt really good and it made me happy. And now, it doesn´t feel like just I have some friends, but like I have a lot of friends. I think this last month will be great! I have loved it this far, and with this feeling, the feeling of having a lot of freinds, how can it not be great?

Later Pernille, Andreas and I desided to sleep at the pool, under the nightsky. It was very nice. Eventhough the bugs were kind of annoying! But after 5 months in Africa, you get used to it!

2010-02-27T13:26:00.001+01:00

It´s raining!
It is rainging again.
This is the first time in four months that is has been raining.

2010-02-25T14:50:00.001+01:00

But the biggest surprise is when you find out that you still get surprised by a lot of things and you find out that it´s a lot of things you don´t understand even though you thought that you had been in Africa long. then you know that you haven´t been in Africa long enough at all!

When you understand that you´ll never get used to being treated as a celebrity where ever you go. People want to take a picture of you. They scream your name or nazara(white person) after you. They want to touch you skinn and your hair. When you don´t stop to get amazed by the incredible nightsky, and how beautiful and clear the stars are! When you get astonished over and over again about how loving and cearing the people hear are! When you can´t stop appriciating that people always have time for you. No matter how long you´re here you never get used seing small children starving or not having clothes on there body. When you get amezed and puzzled by how different they live here and when you get impressed by how people in the bush get by. When you don´t stop being dazzled by how ctreative they are and all the possibilities they see. When you still get surprised over and over again about different things. THen you know you haven´t been in Africa long enough by far!

Beginning to get blind...!

2010-02-25T14:40:00.000+01:00

It´s surpsising to find out that you know you have been in Africa long when you think about going to the meeting you should have been on 10 minutes after it were supose to have started. When you´re not surprised that you´re the first to arrive even though you´re half an hour to late. When you´re running late to a meeting, but you stop to talk to a friend of yours for 10 min. And the first fraise you say is not actually a part of the conversation, it is just to be polite. When you don´t take notice if black smoke is rising from the forest, you know that they´re just burning the gras, as always. When you don´t think about the fact that the imam is crying from the mosque,even in the middle of the night. When trying to sleep one the "road" is not that hard. When you´re not that surprised to find a cockroach in your bed. When it´s the most obvious thing in the world to greet everybody and to smile at everybody. When you give your chair to someone else in sted, because that´s what´s polite to do. When having constant dirty feet is something you don´t even notic anymore. When you able to sleep eventhoug it´s so warm that you are swiming in you own sweat and when you don´t have a problem with the heat. When eating with your fingers are more normal that to eat with knife and fork. When speaking english to africans feel wierd, french is what´s normal. When you don´t raise you eyebrownes at the fact that the bus in front of you is so overloaded that it lookes like it is about to fall over any moment. When you don´t turn to looked when you see someone driving a motorcycle with dead cowheads on it. When your not surprised by the fact that it is chickens hanging out of the wind of the bus you just passed. When you don´t notice the goats running around in the streets. When wearing african clothes is normal, and you don´t notic how crazy the fabric really is. When you point and stear when you see another white person. When you don´t notice anymore all of this things and many more, then you know you have been in Africa long!

"What is his peple prayed?" - Casting Crowns

2010-02-25T13:53:00.002+01:00

Meiganga and praying.

2010-02-25T12:59:00.002+01:00

This weekend, from thurday until sunday, we were in a town called Meiganga. There they have a priest schoole. It was also a seminar going on there this weekend. It was about evangelisation. We got to participate in the seminary and we also got t visit the school. We were there with a group from Canada. They were there to learn about evangelisation. It was fun and interesting. And I learned a lot. It was also nice to get to know new people and talk to them about becoming a priest or being an evangelist. And we also met a woman that is studeing to become a priest. That´s cool. We were also so lucky that we got to go out with the evangelists one afternoon. That was indescribable and incredible.
And here praying was a huge part of it as well. And their way of praying is so admirable. They take good with them everywear. But one of the nicest things is that thay always remember to say thanks. That is something we should learn in Norway. WE are very god at praying when we need something. And when we get it, we often forget to say thanks. And when something is wrong or hard, it´s easy to blame God instead of pray for him to help because we know he is almighty. And we never worship Him when something is going bad. We should learn from others. To pray, to worship, and to say thank you. Because when things are at it worst, God is the most powerful thing you can have on your side!

2010-02-25T12:38:00.001+01:00

2010-02-17T13:40:00.000+01:00

2010-02-15T20:17:00.002+01:00

The house that started to burn while we were watching the film...!

The blind girl that I met. She really mad an impresion on me.

Showing film in the bush!

The church were we had service on sunday.

What I and Andreas took to get there!

Pray!

2010-02-15T20:05:00.002+01:00

If there something I have learned while I´ve been here, it is that it is important to pray. Her they are so much better at taking payer with them in the dayly life. They take God with them. This is something I admire. A lot of times it feels like you just remember him when there is something big or difficult going on!

At choire we pray when we start, we pray befor and after reflection and we pray at the end of choire! If someones sick they pray for them. No matter what it is, the tell it to God. That is something that I know that we can all learn something from, at least myself. And which I also think is very good is that they are very good at thanking. For small thing, big thing. What ever. They are good at saying thank you to God.

I know that this is something that I will learn from and that I will remembe and take with me, back to Norway. Because to pray, is the most important thing of all. To take God with you in everything is the best thing. Prayer is the most powerful thing of all!

Life...

2010-02-15T18:58:00.002+01:00

Life here in Africa is different. It can be good, but also difficult. I learned that the hard way this week-end. We were at Gadjiwan. There I met a 14 years old girl. She is born without eyes and has no possibility to ever see. And she do not have the opportunity to go to school, because the school for blind that´s her only option, won´t take her because her mother have not taught her how to eat,drink,wash or go to the bathroom on her own. Her mother is ashamed of her. How is that fair to the little girl?

We were also out in the bush tho show a film. Suddenly there was this really sharp light that started burning. First no one toke notice. But then we understood that it was a house that was burning. Some people had been cooking, and the kitchen roof had started to burn, and the roof to the bedroom had also started to burn. People who alreaddy are struggelig and have so litle! Why does things like this happen to them?

When a see things like this, my heart starts to ache! It´s not fair. And I know that I just can´t sit by to watch it be like this. Someone has to do something. And I´m planning to do something. But other people needs to care as well. And they/we need to take action! It´s the right thing to do!

Gadjiwan!

2010-02-15T17:57:00.003+01:00

This week-end I went to Gadjiwan. That is a small village with around 2000 inhabitants. I went there with Andreas, the volunteer. We went on friday to return on sunday. Some other norvegian had alreaddy went, on wednesday, and they were planning to pick up up in Tignere. To get there we had to take "car", which is minivans, who works as buses. Andreas and I were looking forward to this and thought that it would be a fun experiense. Which is also was, and even thoug we were not able to lock the door for five minutes, the drives banged the chassis of the car against the pavement and also almost hit another car, Andreas and I enjoyed it and we had a good laugh after.

We stad at the hose of the coolest woman ever. Her name is Solbjærg and is an 80 years old lady who lives in the small village of Gadjiwan all by her self and all on her own. At Gadjiwan we didn´t do to much. Most of all we just relaxed. But we did do something. On sunday we were in church with the little congragation of maybe 120-140 people. It was the youth who were in charage of the service. On saturday we just visited the village and the people who lives there. We also went out in the bush to show a film. That was kind ogf cool and interesting. This is part of the evagelisation and I think it is a good way to aproch it!

It was a good and relaxing week-end and I will remember it as a nice memory!

The best day at work ever!

2010-02-09T10:49:00.001+01:00

Yeasterday was the best day at work so far. I love my work here, but yeasterday was really good. We were working at the orphanage. The children were at school, so we were working at the cindergarden and at the medical senter. When all of the kids came home they came running up to us, smileing and they all gave us a hug! That was so cute. And it made me so happy!

When we were having studietime, I was sitting with the three oldest. Suddenly one of them said: "Tantine(aunt in french)when are you going to show us your house? And can you take me back to Norway with you, because I want to tast norwegian food and eat chocolate. I´ve heard that you have a lot of chocolate there"! Then I thought, why not? After talking with Pernille, we desided that we should do it after work. So, then we brought Moussa, Miryam and Alise to our house. There we made chocolatemousse and ate "Freia Melkesjokolade". We agreed the norwegian chocolate is really good, but also very sweet. We also played Ligretto, which was very confusing but also a lot of fun! The kids was really in to it and were laughing. That just made me smile. They are really so adorable. But what was probably most fun was when we lokked at the parrot of Lena. They got really surprised when it talk, they almost looked scared. But in the end they found it really interesting and entertaining.

But what really made my they was when we were driving the kids back and Moussa said. "Tantine, thank you. You are so nice"! That was the best thing ever! And if felt good to do something nice and fun with and for someone else!

By the riverside of the river La Bome...

2010-02-03T19:04:00.001+01:00

That is were i spent my weekend. This weekend Pernille and I went on a trip. We went to the village/town of Touboro. There we stayed at Centre Findinki Bebwe. That is a center for wimen. It is a school as well as a place where wimen can seek refugée. This center is a sister center to the one that we work at in Ngaoundéré. We went to Touboro with Benjamin, who is our contact person, Mama Jeanna, who is the wife of our boss(who I work with every thursdays) and also our african mom, and also with a man whos name is Aggée. He was the driver for the weekend. We were there from friday afernoon until sunday late morning. On friday we were shown around on the center and got to see what they are doing there.
On saturday we went to Mbai-Mbom. It is a really big marked there. But for me, the highlight of the day was to cross the border to the Central African Republic. Even though we didn't stay for long, at least now I can say that I have been there. That is the 6th african country I have been in, in my life.
It was good to travel and to go away for a while. I really got to sleep and relax, which i really needed. But eventhough it was good going away, it was also very good to get back home as well.

Because we don't have internet in the apartement anymore and i'm sitting at an internet café i'm not able to put pictures on the blog.

Pictures from the celebration of reign of the lamido.

2010-01-27T14:16:00.002+01:00

Working can be good!

2010-01-27T12:35:00.003+01:00

Working can be hard. Working can be challenging. Working can be difficult. Working can be a lot of things. But it can also be nice. Working can be rewarding. Workign can be instructive. Working can help someone else.

Today we were workign at Centre Socio Menager. It´s challenging, but also instructive. It´s challenging in the way that the girls are almosas old as me and they. Hten its hard to gain the respect you need to be their teacher, and it´s difficult to draw the line between friends and teacher.

But at the same time it is good to work with girls at the same age. It is easier to understand them, even though you´re on the oter side of the world. You can laugh and smile at the same stuff and it really feels like they enjoy your company and the work that you do.

So yes, working can be a lot of things. And it is really different from what i´m used to. Working can be demanding. But working can also be really good!

New job, new year and new possibilities!

2010-01-16T20:35:00.003+01:00

This week has been kind of long. We haven´t really started working yet, and I look forward to start for real. On monday we´ll have our first time at the orphanage. We´re going to work there every monday from 8 to 18 and on friday evenings. I hope and think that that will be a good experience and that it will feel like I´m doing something of importance. Not that I haven´t felt that befor, because I have. It´s just that it is allways exciting to do something new, and you allways wonder how it will turn out. And this new job, I just have a good feeling about it.

And it´s a new year, which means; New possibilities! And you have to make the best of everything and grab the opportuneties you get.

2010-01-10T09:50:00.001+01:00

2010-01-07T09:46:00.002+01:00

Again I have not been very good at updating my blog. But that is because I have been on vacation with my family. My famili came to visit me during the Christmas holiday. That was really nice. They were first in Ngaoundéré and got to see how I live, and we stayed here until over Christmas.. After that we headed for the south and the cost. We stayed at Kribi. That´s a small city near the coast. That was really nice and we wore there on new years eve... To get to Kribi, we had to drive the car, which took us three days each way. And the roads here in Cameroon is not like the roads in Norway, to say it lightly. Butit was an experience that as well.

Kribi is a really nice place. The beaches are beautiful. White and soft sand as long as the eyes could see. It´s a beautiful river(Lobé) and waterfall nearby. The food there is incredible, and they have a lot of seafood. The people are really nice and welcoming. And eventhough it´s much more humid there than in Ngaoundéré, the weather is perfect as well. And when you can spend your days on the beach with your friends and family, bathing in the warm water, playing vollyball and frisbee. It was the perfect way to spend the holiday... Having some lazy days with my family.
I have really relaxed there. But at the same time, it´s good to be home again as well. And I´m looking forward to start working again!

And by the way: They had icecream there. That was... GOOD!

2010-01-07T08:51:00.001+01:00

And when you´re able to fall a sleep on those bumpy roads, then you know that your getting used to life in Africa!

2010-01-06T20:43:00.002+01:00

When you choose to drive on the side of the road, in the bush in stead of driving on the road it self, then you know that the conditions in the country you´re staying in is really different from the country your originally from.

Visiting Kenya!

2009-12-15T20:08:00.003+01:00

I have not been very good at updating my blog lately. The last couples of days I have eighter been in Kenya or traveling to Kenya. And it has been really exciting. Nairobi is like coming to the west again. They have shooping malls and big grocery store. Pernille and I was in shock. Nakumat was the name of one of the stores. And there they had everything. And then I mean everything. Icecream, all kind of juice, lotions, sampooes, mobilephones, 20 different ketchup brands, paper, kandy, fresh fruit. Me and Pernille walked around, just looking.

The first thing that we discovered when we came out of the airport was giraffes! They just stood by the road, eating. And I got so confused, because they drive on the other side of the road abd the steering wheel is on the other side. And here you can talk to Africa people in english and my mind was totaly set on french.

It has been really good and fun to see all the other students again. We have been talking and laughing all the time and shearing experiences. It is also a bunch of other norwegian youth here. They are attending TeFT and are going to stay here for five months. Today we had a soccermatch against them. That was fun.

We have been having some teaching and we are going to hav some more. We are also going to experience other things this week. We are going on a safari and also going to visit the slum.

It has been nice to get a short break from the everyday life. It has been good to just get a way and get some perspective. It has made me apprisiate what I have so much more. And I am really lucky. And how cool isn´t it to go and isit the other side of Africa and get on the other side of the ecvator to meet friends again, organised by your school.

It is not long until Christmas now, and I´m excitied to be spending Christmas in Africa again. It will of course be different, but at the same good. And I´m getting visitors from Norway, so that wil be nice. And I´m looking forward to getting to know the Cameroonien way of celebraiting Jesus birthday.

Pernille and me....

2009-12-07T16:54:00.003+01:00

Pernille and me are having fun... We found a hole that we just had to sit in while we looked at the river!

Freinds in Africa...

2009-12-07T16:33:00.002+01:00

The pictures are taken by Ole Henrik, a photograph who workes for the NMS who is here in Cameroon at the moment. They are taken at a waterfall when we were at the safari.

2009-12-07T16:24:00.000+01:00

The feeling of Christmas...?

2009-12-07T12:55:00.003+01:00

The clock is half past four... In an hour the sun will begin to set. It´s the 6th of desember and the first week of advent has arrived. Some of the other norwagians and I are running around on the lawn in summerclothes, playing cricket. We are listening to the radio, and the channel is NRK P1. I have more the feeling of late-summer in Norway than anything else. But suddenly Christmas songs are coming out of the radio. That just feels weird. Where is the snow? Where is the Christmas cookies? Is it really 18 days until Christmas eve? I guess so. But it doesn´t feel like it. It will really be a different Christmas this year. But it will be Christmas, because Christmas is Christams and will be the holiday of all holidays no matter where in the world you are!

Life...

2009-12-07T12:04:00.003+01:00

Life in Africa can be good and really different. Especially when you can stand on the back of the car, with wind in your hair next to your teammate and have your own superhero that is saving you from everything that can hit you and hurt you! Standing on the car and to see antilopes,all kinds of different deer animals, monkeys, a lot of birds, hippopotami, crocodile that is something that you don´t do everyday. It is kind of cool. And to experiens it with your teammate and other friends is even better. When you live in Africa you get the chanse to experiense a lot that you wouldnt be able to if you just lived in Norway, you get to see so much more of the world.
I´m getting the heng of life in Africa. I was actually able to fall a sleep in the car on the way home. And just let me tell you. The roads in Cameroon is not like the ones in Norway. And soon I wll get to see even more of Africa as me and Pernille is heading for Kenya in a couple of days. That will be cool!

Hakuna matata!

2009-12-05T19:38:00.002+01:00

2009-12-04T17:31:00.000+01:00

2009-12-04T16:56:00.000+01:00

2009-12-02T20:08:00.000+01:00

2 months!

2009-12-02T19:58:00.000+01:00

Today it is two months since we landed in Yaounde. Thats just crazy!

It is like Christmas, Easter, a birthdayparty and the national day at the same time!

2009-11-30T13:48:00.003+01:00

It is almost hard to explaine how huge this was!

Yeasterday I was a part of the instalation of the bishop and his assistant. THe first one in the history of EELC! And it was a seromony beond imagination. Pastors from all over the country and from different countries in Africa were there. All kinds of choir where there and all the important people you could think of. And giving gifts to the new bishop ans his assistant is of cours a natural part of the service.

People have been cooking for a week for approximately a thousand guests. People have been to the tailor to get new dresses. And it was dresses in all kind of coulors and shapes. This feast was a huge thing and the budget have been on 12 000 000 fcfa.

The instalation took place in the church, and after spending six hours there it was time to party. And african know how to party! They were dancing and singing and playing all night. They never got tired. Everyboy joined and everybody was happy. It was so cool just walking around outsode. People were everywere and having fun, talking, laughing and enjoying each others company. And we were a part of it all.

I´m happy that this happend at the time that it did. And that I was able to be a part of it. t is something that I will remember for a long time. And it will be a memory that I´ll remember with a smile.

Stuff to do on a Friday, when yout student have the day off!

2009-11-28T10:18:00.003+01:00

Different

2009-11-25T18:05:00.002+01:00

Fixing computers is something I don´t know how to do... To be a english teacher is somethig I have never tried before... Go to the tailor is not something I do every day in Norway... Sleeping with a mosquitonet around my bed is something I don´t normaly do... If I eat with my fingers in Norway, people would have looked strange at me... But that doesn´t stop me from trying it out anyway... Life is Africa is strange and different, but in a god way...!

Everyday-life!

2009-11-25T17:46:00.000+01:00

It is COLD!

2009-11-21T17:22:00.000+01:00

Just to let people know that it is COLD in Cameroon as well!

Les amitiés

2009-11-21T17:15:00.001+01:00

2009-11-21T16:54:00.000+01:00

"Quand je prie c´est moi qui parle à Dieu.
Quand je lis ou j´etudie la Bible c´est Dieu qui me parle."

"When I pray, it´s me who talk to God.
When I read or study the Bible, it´s God who talkes to me."

"Høsttakkefest" in Cameroon

2009-11-16T17:16:00.002+01:00

Last sunday it was Dons de recoult(høsttakkefest) in Cameroon. This is a celebration where people gives money to the church. And they do that by walking in different groups down the aisle of the church singing and dansing. Here is a movie of that celebration. It´s of different groups and when we, the norwegian, walked in dansing and singing "Per Spelman". Its the gap student, Marius, who had it.

http://mariusikamerun.blogspot.com/2009/11/film-fra-ron-de-recolte.html

2009-11-16T16:52:00.000+01:00

2009-11-13T21:58:00.000+01:00

The discussion of the day: Is it dangerus to ride a bike on the roads in Cameroon?

2009-11-13T20:00:00.000+01:00

The view from the camp, just before the sun is about to set.

Me and Aron!

Me and Moussa

Our house...

Pictures from when we visited the marked

2009-11-13T13:17:00.000+01:00

The pagnes we bought!

Pernille in a fabrickbooth

Pernille at the market

As I said, you can find everything.
Chickens under the vegetables table.

Market-time for La blanche en pagn.

2009-11-13T12:40:00.000+01:00

The smell of meat, fish and other unidenteble smells fills the nistrils. Its thursday afternoon and Pernille and I had just been dropped of at the market by Marius and Andreas - the gap student and the volunteer.

Yeasterday, thursday, Pernille and I were at the market. We had desided that it was about time to explore it! The name of the market is Le petit marché (it means; The little market) but this is actually the big market. Here you can find everything, and then I mean EVERYTHING.

Pernille and I were mostly looking for pagne(fabric) and black shooes, Pernille need that for the choir. It was really cool being there. And we survived and found our way around without a problem! We even were able to bargain the prise.

People found it quite amusing that we were there and the were shouting after us; La blanche, la blanche en pagn (that mean: withe girls in african fabric) or nasara(white). And they found it even more amusing when we answerd by saying; baledjo - that mean black man.

We also were at the supermarket and in the bookstore in one day. Yeasterday were the big "shoppingday". We discovered the pagnstore La king as well and we ended up with five pagnes - three for me and two Pernille.

2009-11-11T16:08:00.000+01:00

The temereture is around 27... Who can complaine?
Not me!

2009-11-11T15:15:00.000+01:00

Experiensed, not explained.

2009-11-10T16:56:00.000+01:00

I sit at the car roof. We have been away for a trip, and we are driving back. I look at the landscape and admire the view. The sun is about to set, the air is getting colder and everything looks so peaceful. It´s really beautyful. I sit on the carroof and I breath in the fresh air. I can´t really do anything else but to enjoy the moment. And I feel so free. People might think that I´m enjoying my stay a little to much, and some might even not understand what´s so speciall about this. But thats okay. I don´t expect everyone to understand. But life in Africa is just so good and I really like it. I feel so at home here. And I´m so happy. It´s hard to explaine. But I just wish for everybody else that they one time or another will experience it. It´s really good. And I would recommend a trip to Africa to everyone. Africa can´t be explained. It has got to be experienced!

Wedding...

2009-11-10T15:59:00.000+01:00

5 choir, 5 bridesmaids and 5 groomsmen. This is how they do it weddings in Africa.

This saturday I was in a Cameroonien wedding with my choir. We were singing there. It reminded a littlebit about norwegian weddings, but at the same time it was very different. It was kind of a mix between a wedding and a consert.
First the bridesmaids and the groomsmen came in while one of the choir were singing. Then came the best man and maid of honor. After that the groom came with his mother and then in the end the bride came with her father. The seremony in it self resembled a lot the norwegian or western way of doing it. The couple stood before the priest and said what they do in any other wedding and both said yes or I do to the question. All that is the same. What was different was that a lot of choir were singing. And when one choir were singing the bridesmaids and the groomsmen would get up and started dancing and cheering. The bridesmaids also tossed small paperpieces at the people that were singing. And everyone were running around with cameras, flashing the couple in the face all the time.
And the coolest part of the service was when the pastor were preaching. It´s the coolest speech I´we ever heard. You would never have heard something like that in Norway. Thats for sure! So overall is was a really cool experience.

Trip to the waterfall Tello.

2009-11-07T22:58:00.000+01:00

Anothor day on the jobb!

2009-11-04T16:39:00.000+01:00

This is the moment!

2009-11-03T17:37:00.000+01:00

I sit in the car. The window is open and the warm, but at the same time, cool, african air strokes my face and ruffles my hair. I look out the window, and I smile. I just can´t help it. The smile just comes on its own and it is just widening out on my mouth and spreads all over my face, to my eyes. The happiness even filles my heart. Its so overwheling and I almost don´t know what to do. I close my eyes and let it all sink in again. I´m in Cameroon, Africa. I´m going to be here for six mounths and I have been here for a whole one allreaddy. And what a month it has been. A good one! And now we even has started working and everything are looking so positiv. In the beginning it all seemed a little overwheling and scary. I wasn´t sure if i was readdy for a lot of responsibility. But now, now everything feel possible. I have a lot more strength and are a lot braver. Nothing can stop me now.
And how lucky arn´t I? I can sit here in the car, or even on the roof of the car and feel the good sun warm my skin. And I can enjoy life. I can be at the coolest place in the world, excerience a lot of new and interestring things, I can grow and benefit from it. Its amazing! And when I say: This is the moment, then I mean the moment that the sosialworker at Hald mentiond. He takled about that we would have a moment. And I think I just had it. And it was a good moment.

2009-11-03T11:50:00.000+01:00

Life in Africa is so different from life in Norway! And even though I have not seen to much poverty and suffering, I know that people here have so much less than what we are used to in Norway. But still, here you see a lot more happy faces. Why is that? I really don´t know!

But because I know that peoples lives are so much more tough than the life of people in Norway, I want to do something. Help, reach out a hand, just do something...! But I don´t know what to do! And that make me feel so small. What can little me give this people and what am I able to do in the short period of time that I´m here? I don´t know. I just know that I have to do something and give of my self. Use what I´ve got and what I´m able to.
But what to do, when I don´t see or feel that anything I do makes a difference, it doesn´t matter. So why am I here than? Whats the point? But then I think of what Gandhi said, and it gives me hope and make me feel a little bit better!

"The freindly words that are spoken to day, might bear fruit tomorrow" - Gandhi

So, maybe the actions that I do today will bear fruit after I´m gone. Of course I´m not sure. But at least I need to try to do something, and I can always hope and belive. And maybe the fact that I´m here, means something for somebody without me knowing it. Maybe I´m looking at signs at the wrong places. And so what if I don´t see the results? Why do I want to see them? For my own satisfaction? Now, it´s not suppose to be about me! Its for someone else! Maybe someone else can see the results or I make a diffrent for someone. Then thats good, and it doesn´t matter if I know or not!
And of course I don´t think that I will be able to miracles, but its good enough just to make something small happen as well. And the most important is to at least try. "No one can do everything, but everyone can do something"!

I think its almost an obligation to help the people that are less fortunate that me. It´s just pure luck that I´m borne in Norway and not somewhere else. And I have some many opportunities to do something, and than I should. And I think that almost everybody has the same opportuinty and then they should to. And to help others, I do that with plesure and all of my heart!

Our first day at work...

2009-11-02T18:18:00.000+01:00

2009-11-02T17:10:00.000+01:00

French intensive course is over, and today we had our first day at work. At mondays we work at a kindergarden nearby our home. Today we were observing most, but I also got to try to teach english to small children who barely talks french. That was a new, but intresting and fun experience.

The childern are so sweet and good. And the disiplen is tatally different from the norvegian one. And when they look up at you with theire dark eyes and you see that they don´t understand a word you ´re saying, you can´t do anything else but to laugh!

Today I also were at the secondary school that´s near the camp where we live and played volleyball. It was fun to be with the Cameroonien youth again. They are so open and relaxed! I was there with Marius and Andreas. Two other norwegian boys that are here, working with different stuff.

Right now I´m sitting in my liningroom and looking out the window at the rain. And letting it sink in, the fact that I hve been in Cameroon for a whole month! Thats just crazy. The time is just flying by. And now it is one less month until I´m back in Norway. Thats really wierd. I´m enjoying my stay so much right now and I´m so into this culture so the thougth of thats is just bizarre.

Even though I´ve been here for a mounth, I still think their way of living are so cool and I can´t get enough of it. People walking by with so much on their head so it looks like it will break, motorcycle so overloaded with stuff taht you think it will fall over any minute. But it never does. They make it work, and thats so impresive and cool. Theire way of living is so different from mine, and I really love an enjoy it. I think even more than the norwegian way.

2009-10-31T02:41:00.000+01:00

Life in Africa!

2009-10-30T14:29:00.000+01:00

2009-10-30T02:21:00.001+01:00

2009-10-30T01:40:00.000+01:00

The last couple of days I have grabed my self in thinking: "What am I doing here, why am I here, and for who am I here?" For a little while I thought like; "If I´m honest, then I need to admit that I´m here for my self and the exiting experience". But when I really think about it, I honestly don´t think so. I want to something for someone else, and for once not be totally norwegian and think about myself and my one stuff, I don´t want to focus on what I can get out of it or win by it. I just want to do something nice and good for someone else that me, else than Idunn. I want to matter and do something that means something. I want to something greater than my self and I think that I´m at the right place to do that!

2009-10-26T23:33:00.001+01:00

Sunday night. 1900 pm: African vioces, drums, keaboard, people clapping and dancing everywhere. This is life in Africa. This is consert in Africa.

This is a picture of a consert that I was a part of. My choir, Gospel Singers, were having a consert because of the anniversary their having. And it was SO fun. There is no way of decribe it! It is the coolest, funniest, most memorable and most special consert I´ve ever been to. I will probably never forget it.
Everybody could join the choir in singing and people were standing up, dansing, screaming and clapping as they felt like it. If you wanted to stand next to the choir to sing and dance, that was okay. And suddenly a lot of people run up to us and started to attach money to our foreheads. I didn´t understand any of it. But they explained later that they did it because we were singing good. It was like something I have never been a part of before or ever experiensed. But I loved it! And it felt so good. It felt like I was a part of something and all of the choir members were really cool to me. I am really enjoying my stay in Cameroon. Life couldn´t be any better than this. How many can tell me that they have been to a consert like that before? Not many I expect!

I simply just had to!

2009-10-24T22:23:00.000+01:00

2009-10-24T22:14:00.000+01:00

Life in Africa goes on as normal,but I can´t help slowing down. I try to value every moment here and keep it in mind and hide it in my heart. I need to realise how lucky I am and really use my opportunity to it´s fullest. And I am lucky. So lucky. My life in Africa is really good and I´m learning something new every day. About everything and anything. About the culture, the people and about my self. This experience is so good, and I´m so happy to be here! I wouldn´t want to be anywhere else.

2009-10-20T15:40:00.001+01:00

Hey. Now it has been a couple of days since last time I wrote on my blog. I´m still okay, and enjouing life here in Cameroon. Today we are going to rehearsal with our choire. We have that every thirsday and sundays. Our choire, Gospel Singers, are 40 years this mounth. So there is going to be a big avent and a lot of conserts. It´s going to last for a whole week. It will be fun. And I´m really looking forward to it.
This afternoon we are also going to talk with "mama Jeanne". She is so cool! I think that will be good. She also promised us to teach us how to make coscos. That will be interesting!