Blog of Jacob

The Change Lab

2011-09-27T00:09:00.000-07:00

I recently enrolled in a new class called the Change Lab.

It's an unconventional class in the way that there is no teacher, but only facilitators. The aim of this two-semester class is to increase awareness and implement sustainable projects at SFU.

As a part of the class, and for my own interesting I'm writing a blog which talks about innovative solutions to environmental problems.

Feel free to check out my other blog and give some feedback. The blog can be found here:

http://changelabreflections.blogspot.com/

More on the India Jewel Scam

2011-04-19T10:32:00.001-07:00

So, I did a bit of quick research on the web and found this description of the jewel smuggling episode we experienced.

From this site:

http://www.hansrossel.com/travel-information/india/scams-travel-safety.htm

Diamonds (Jaipur) : a very dangerous and professionally organized scam that have mostly happened in Jaipur, but now also have spread to Pushkar, Agra, Goa and
other touristy places. The basic idea is that diamond traders have to pay 250
percent tax when they export to the west. Anybody with a tourist visa can according
to the scam without problems buy and send diamonds to the west as gifts and
then avoid the tax. Around this story a whole theater play gets set up and
performed and the poor tourist gets one of the main roles...

Normally it goes
like this, you meet a very friendly guy and he invites you to a meal in a restaurant.
You meet up again and everything is going very well. After a week or so he
invites you to a family feast (wedding etc) where you enjoy yourselves together
for a few days, everything free of cost for you. The moment that they know
that they have your full trust the next phase starts. Your new friend tells
you that his family has a jewel business and all you have to do is to send
a packet of diamonds to your home in Europe, fly over there and give the packet
to the contact person in your home country and then fly back to India. Everything
paid for of course. The whole thing is done in a couple of days and as a thank
you you will get 10.000 dollar!

After having agreed to help your new friend
you pack the parcel together, bring it to the post and send off the diamonds
to your home address. Then comes the big surprise; since you now have a packet
filled with diamonds worth lots and lots of money soon arriving at your home
they need some kind of assurance that you don't just run off with the treasure
and never return. All you have to do is to sign a paper that gives them the
allowance to enter your bank account and get out at least 10000 euro the moment
that you try to escape. If you refuse to this the problems begin; verbal attempts
to convince you soon turn into threats and torture which might mean you getting
locked up without food or sleep until you finally, weakend by fright and exhaustion,
agree to sign. One Belgian guy was even forced to call to his bank to rise
the limit of his VISA card. Once you have signed they let you go and quickly
disappear, as well as the money on your account. The diamonds arriving to your
home turns out to be polished glass.

This scam seem to be very active, I was
approached by two different diamond dealers in Pushkar who tried this story and a young very friendly guy that first invited me and my friend to a cafe and then the following day wanted to take us to a very expensive restaurant. When we found it a bit too much and felt a bit suspicious he invited us to a coffee again and noticing our un comfort quickly told us the diamond story and the offer of the 10000 dollar. When we after a bit of doubting said no it was not a problem but it also meant the end of the friendship with the young friendly guy. Suddenly we were not interesting anymore and he stopped talking to us, when we left the cafe he did not say goodbye. I heard about many other travelers that had similar experiences, all with more or less the same basic scam story. One variety can be that they want to send carpets.

The scam is still active, and you should also take care in Manali:

"I just came home from India where I got mixed up in the jewel scam
you mention on your web site (I feel like a real sucker).

Anyway, I just wanted to inform
you that I was approached in Manali and then taken to Jaipur. So you might
wanna add Manali as another place the scam takes place.

They were also very interested in my guide book, which suddenly and silently
dissapeared while on the way to Jaipur. They obviously did not want me to read
about the scam.

I can, if you are interested, give you the name of the company.
But I suppose this was just a front for the operation, and that they change
this name all the time."

James, 6 june 2007

In the land of Cricket, Curry, Tigers and the Taj!

2011-04-12T04:41:00.001-07:00

(Note: This post was writing two days ago, but was first able to upload it now)

It’s 3am. We’re doing 140 on a dark highway in the middle of Uttar Pradesh in a brand new white Tata Indigo XL. Our driver, Bilal, is seems very competent and have not fallen asleep yet, despite the task we set him up to. But before we go on, lets backtrack a bit.

I arrived in India late Sunday night on the 3rd of April. I had just spent an astonishing week in Dubai, a city that aside from the lack of gambling and prostitutes brings Las Vegas to shame. The best way I can explain Dubai is by comparing it to the old computer game SimCity, but with cheat codes giving unlimited money. The point of the game is to build a city and run it. You can alter everything in the geography, such as waterways, hills, islands, etc. to suit your urban needs. And Dubai is just that. A city built from scratch on a clean slate with almost unlimited supplies of money. If you want to see what Oil can do other than fuel your car, heat your house, cause wars in the middle east and environmental havoc in the Amazonian rainforest, then Dubai would not be a bad place to experience it.

This post is however not on Dubai, if I have time and energy – a post on Dubai will follow in somewhat irregular chronological order.This post is about my experiences so far in the land of cricket, curry, tigers and Taj Mahal.

After arriving in the airport and for the first time setting my foot on the Asian continent, I took a cab to the hotel I had booked in advance. Despite the late hour the streets of Delhi were filled with cars and judging by the speed and reckless driving it seemed like the driver thought of this trip as a matter of life and death. However not inconsistent with my experiences with drivers in both Africa and Central America.

Later that night I met up with Jeppe, one of my oldest and best friends from my childhood who was going to join my for a 2 week India adventure. We spent the first day in Delhi getting used to the city, the people, the food and the general atmosphere every place and country has. The feel you get from walking down the narrow alleys, the smiles or lack thereof you get from talking to people and other indications that give you an idea of what kind of culture you are finding yourself in.
I was warned numerous times ahead of my journey that I would find India dirty, smelling, crowded, and chaotic and should to expect lots of problems with my digestive system due to the low level of hygiene. So is this the case?
Well, it depends. Everything is relative and if you compare India to our comfortable western world - then yes, it is dirty here. It smells. It is at times extremely crowded and seemingly chaotic. The hygiene is not always, if at all, up to western standards. But compared to Western Africa or Central America I see little difference and in many ways find India a lot easier to travel in. I would in fact say it’s on of the easiest countries I’ve travelled in so far. An observation that both Jeppe and I have discussed several times and agrees on. There is a big industry catering to tourists, a growing middleclass, and a very good infrastructure that makes transport relatively simple. The major thing I’m surprised about is the low level of English or complete lack of English skills many people have. I was under the impression that everyone at least spoke some English. Apparently not. But we are still doing well and have managed to get by with smiles and sign language, when our spoken words did not suffice.

So, after a day in Delhi where also met my good friend Tess’s lovely and friendly aunt Lena, we caught a bus to the city of Jaipur. Known for temples, history, jewels and textiles. We spent 3 nights in the city.
I will not recite every fort we visited or every meal we had. But two experiences stand out to be shared. I went to an Indian wedding and I was asked to smuggle jewels.

On the Wednesday we stumbled into an American student who was taking a semester abroad in Delhi. We talked a bit and it turned out that he was going to a wedding the same evening. He organized so that Jeppe and I, together with 3 American girls we had met earlier the day, could come along.
The wedding took place outside in a big open court. At our arrival neither the groom nor the bride had arrived, but the area was crowded with people – and at the time we seemed to be the main attraction. 30 people standing in a circle around us observed our every move closely. Unlike other experiences I’ve had in Africa these weren’t only kids but young and middle-aged men. They simply just stood and starred and tried to get as close to us as possible. This fascination with “Whites” has occurred several times. Often people have come up and asked if they could take a picture with us. We don’t really know why. The places we’ve been so far have been fairly big on tourism so the sight of a white person is not exactly an unusual exotic occurrence.
After eating delicious food and watching the groom arrive with a tuba-playing band dressed in pink we decided to call it a day and go home and sleep.

Fast forward 24hours. After spending the day sightseeing various forts and palaces, a tuk-tuk (a little 3-wheled moped-taxi) driver, who’s cousin was getting married the day before, asked if we wanted to attend a party with his boss (he claimed to also work at a jewelry store). Out of curiosity of what an Indian party might consist of Jeppe and I accepted his offer and drove with him to a 5 star hotel where the “party” would take place. There turned out to be no party. Instead Jeppe and I were drinking beer with a person who owned a jewelry exporting/importing business and gave us an offer that we could (almost) not refuse. After spending about 30 minutes asking us question about our lives and what we were doing in India and how we liked it, he said that perhaps we could help him with his business.
According to him, the Indian government has limit for how much jewelry a business like his could export without facing export duties. In order to avoid these duties, he wanted to send some jewelry to Denmark in our name, since tourist (he claimed) could bring with them 15.000 USD worth of jewelry every time the left the country. So, in order to tap into these 15.000 USD duty-free tourist limit he told us that we could come to his business and “buy” jewelry for 15.000 USD. We wouldn’t in actuality buy anything at all, but he would issue a receipt so it looked like we had purchased a lot of jewelry. He then said he would let us watch as he wrapped the goods into a package and bring us to the postal office where he, in our name, with our passports, would send the jewelry back home to our own address in Denmark. In this way the jewelry would go through customs as a tourist purchase and not as actual business export. We would then pick up the same package back at our post office in Denmark and give it to one of his agents in Denmark in return for (what he claimed to be) 8.000 Euro (60.000kr) in cash. It almost sounds like too easy money to be true.
Neither Jeppe nor I have had time to research the Indian tax-code and export duties for Jewelry, but if you as a tourist are really allowed to purchase (and bring with you home) 15.000 USD worth of jewelry in India, and are likewise permitted to import a similar amount into the EU without facing import duties the plan sounded quite ingenious. And a major loophole in the tax-code system that this guy was eagerly trying to exploit. To be honest; even though both Jeppe and are I in sound financial standing, the though of so much money for doing so little, with a method that seemed almost foolproof (since we would have a receipt verifying the purchase) – actually made us considered the option for about 10 seconds. We of course both declined and said we would make no rushed decisions and 5 minutes later in the cab back to our hotel we could of course both see that this was never something we would get ourselves into. I am however still intrigued to see if this would actually work – not for the money, but too see if it is really possible to smuggle (which this clearly is) jewels this way. If so, it would be a major loophole in the tax-code and would be really interesting for a documentary. Most gemstones that go into jewelry are not, as diamonds are, registered under the Kimberly Process. This process ensures that diamonds are not smuggled from conflict areas where they could potentially fuel violence and war (as portrayed in the movie Blood Diamonds). There is no way to know where the gemstones used in the jewelry he tried to make us smuggle came from. They could very well come from India, but also from a vast range of other countries, peaceful as well as war-torn. Think about that next time you go by Tiffany’s and purchase a necklace or an earring with Ruby or Emerald. Perhaps the jewelry was smuggled with a tourist from India, and in that way depriving the Indian government from money it desperately needs to help improve the living standard for it’s people.

After our Jaipur experiences we took off to Ranthambhore (http://www.ranthamborenationalpark.com), a stunning national park known for it’s massive fort on the top of a mountain and it’s great wildlife. Tigers used to be the big thing here, but like many other wildlife parks in the world – their numbers have decreased as a result of poaching and loss of habitat.
After arriving by train we lodged into a nice hotel and booked a sunrise tour with a Jeep. The park itself (even without the tigers) is stunning and the roads often look like the ones used in Indiana Jones movies. With monuments, ruins, narrow bridges, steep hills and stunning nature everywhere. Our guide told us that there were presently only 46 tigers left in the part, so the chances of seeing one was limited. Luck was not on our side that morning, so no tiger decided to greet us in the park. We however saw loads of peacocks, dears, monkeys, birds and two leopards – making it an overall successful safari.

Later that day we jumped on a train towards Agra, the home of Taj Mahal. We were unable to purchase tickets with actual designated seats on them – which caused a bit of a problem. First we sat on the floor between two compartments in the AC wagon, but got kicked out since our ticket was only valid in the 3rd class section (despite our location on the floor). So once the train stopped, we took all our luggage and ran down the train and jumped into a 3rd class wagon. This wagon was completely packed with people. We ended up sitting/standing in the middle of a compartment for around 2 hours while everyone was watching curiously and wondering how two white people had ended up there. In the end we did however make it to Taj Mahal.

Taj Mahal was stunning. No other way to describe it. Despite the many tourists, Taj Mahal is a monument that never fails to impress. We woke up early and entered at sunrise to avoid the majority of the tourist. For one reason or another, no one checked our ticket – so we decided also to enter in the afternoon, at which time it was packed with tourist everywhere.
In the evening we tried to catch an overnight train to Varanasi. Varanasi is located right on the Ganges River and is one of the holiest places in Hinduism. A “must-see” if you are in India we had been told. We had bought the tickets 2 days earlier on the Internet and despite being nr. 3 & 4 on the waiting list at the time of purchase, we had been assured that it would be no problem getting a seat. This turned out not to be true. After a lot of talking, haggling and running up and down the station with a helpful porter, we ended up not managing to get a bed(or a set) on the train. While trying to figure what to do now, a man came up and said he could drive us all the way to Varanasi overnight in his car for 8. 000 rupees (180$). Not having any better ideas we decided to at least go with him and check out his car, and see if was really up for the task. With us came to British guys, who had ended up in the same situation as we had. After talking a bit with him and looking at the car we decided that 2000 Rupees(45$) per person, was well worth the trip given our situation.

And this is where I’m sitting now. Dawn is slowly breaking and I’m very excited to experience Varanasi, right on the Ganges River – one of the holiest places in Hinduism, where ceremonies goes on all day. People are burnt in public on their way to heaven and where the extremely dirty water of the Ganges is suppose to cleanse ones soul. But first it’s time for a nap . . .Zzzzz..

(Internet here is too slow, so can't upload any photos. Will try to upload some later)

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T01:34:00.000-08:00

Le Voyage of West Africa

2010-12-21T07:12:00.000-08:00

This will be short post, since im on limited time with a terrible keyboard at an internet cafe in Bamako, Mali. Left Ghana last tuesday after finishing my last exam on the saturday. The last days were spent packing and saying good bye to all the fantastic people i studied and lived with, many of whom ill probably never see again.
My travelling companion for this trip is Halea from UC Berkeley - whom I met at my time in Ghana and who, like me, have a big passion for travelling. In addition she, like me, had time to travel through west africa over christmas, so we decided to plan our "voyage" together. French is intruding my vocab here. A note my mother: Im getting by everywhere in french. Halea speaks less than me, so Im the french speaker, which doesnt say a lot. but hey - were still alive. !!!

So our voyage so far: We went from Accra to Ouagadougou, and then on to Mopti in Mali. From there we took a boat up the river to Timbuktu. Fantastic 2 day journey, on a public african transport boat. In other words Epic!. After a day in Timbuktu, which included visits to old mosques and a camel trip into the desert, we spent all day yesterday making our way to Bamako in Western Mali. (check google maps).

Tomorrow we are heading to Dakar, before leaving towards Banjul on the 25th, to catch a flight to Sierra Leone. in Sierra Leone we'll spend two weeks doing a mosquito-net-usage survey, as a follow-up to a distribution this past summer(see www.gmin.org).

When I have more time, and energy, ill elaborate more in detail. Upload some pictures, share some funny anecdotes etc. But that will have to wait for now.

Cheers,
Jacob and Halea in West Africa (currently Bamako, Mali)

Living the Dream: Motorbiking to Burkina Faso

2010-11-27T16:32:00.000-08:00

It’s been a while since I last wrote, so I’ll try to summarize quickly what has happened down here in Ghana, before going on to talk about my amazing adventure to Burkina Faso.

As my last post revealed I purchased a motorbike a few weeks back. An American classmate of mine had bought one earlier on and seeing him drive one got me inspired to get one myself. For the irresistible price of 830USD(4600dkk) I got myself a brand new bike, including two helmets, international insurance, registration and some extra safety gear.

Since my Benin trip I haven’t left the country and in general the last couple of weeks had been very relaxed. In late October of my two friends, Jeppe and Tea, came down a week from Denmark to visit me. Having them around was great and we had a splendid week with Biking, Kayaking, Partying and Ambassador visits. It was also very nice for me to have someone come down and see how I live my life in Ghana. It’s nice to have someone who has a first hand understanding of what you say when you try to explain your daily consumption of plastic water or the completely chaotic streets of Accra.

The following weeks not much took place. The teacher-strike ended just as Jeppe and Tea left and school thus resumed the week after. There was a lot of work to do, since we all had to catch up from all the stuff we missed during the strike. The strike also caused the semester to be moved 3 weeks, so we are having all our exams in 1 week in early December, instead of over 4 weeks time as originally planned.

Then about two weeks ago, Kaisa and I decided to take advantage of the fact that we had no exams and take a 9 day trip to Burkina Faso.

We left early Friday morning dressed in janitor/safety clothes that we had bought the day before. This served not only as protection from bugs, stones and the unfortunate event of a crash, but it also turned out to be a great ticket to get through tricky situations. Every time we came to a police barrier, or any other sort of checkpoint, we were quickly let through with no questions asked. I’m not sure exactly why, but I think people genuinely thought of us as some sort of road construction supervisors, or simply didn’t know what to think and therefore decided to let us through. The bottom-line is that we didn’t have a single problem with the authorities during our trip.

We rode almost 10 hours the first day without any problems, and made it more than halfway through Ghana. The first 60km out of Accra are terrible. In addition I took a wrong turn so we ended up driving through the construction site for the new road instead of taking the detour everyone else takes. Again – all the construction workers (apparently) thought we had some official business there, cause they let us through and pointed us in the right direction without asking any questions.

By nightfall we had driven some 450km to Kintampu in the center of Ghana. We found a small guesthouse and lodged there for the night. At the washroom I stumbled into this gigantic fellow.

I later learned that this little bug is a female (I currently forgot its name) and that it apparently eats the male after reproductive intercourse. How interesting. And how fortunate that the human world doesn’t work like that. . .

The next day we continued on towards Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. We made a short stop in the City of Tamale in Northern Ghana to change oil and tighten the chain on Mulan ( Since my bike is Chinese we decided to give it a Chinese name, and we figured that “Mulan” - inspired by the Chinese warrior – was a suitable name).

In northern Ghana there are road-side-mechanics everywhere so finding one that could do the job was easy. I ended up paying 7 USD(35kr) for new oil and 2USD(10kr) for the work. Not to shabby.

We made it to the border without problems, and crossing it with Mulan was piece of cake. I had read some blogs and stories on the Internet about problems when it came to brining a vehicle across borders in West Africa. In many places you apparently need loads of papers and permissions to bring your bike or car with you, but apparently not into Burkina Faso. The roads in Burkina Faso were surprisingly good and we made it to Ouagadougou (from now on just referred to as “Ouaga”) by 4.30pm. Two hours earlier than we had estimated.

The difference between Ghana and Burkina is quite striking. First of all, Burkina is Francophone, which means everything takes places in French. Kaisa speaks no French at all, and my French consist of 4 years of elementary school French that I have completely forgotten. I did spend the last few weeks studying a few words, but by no means enough to have long or meaningful conversations. The most useful world I learned was “Le Plein, S’il Vous Plait”, which means something along the lines of “Full, Please” or “Fill it up, Please”. Quite useful to know when buying Gasoline.

Secondly, Burkina is landlocked and extremely hot. At times the temperature would surpass 40 degrees Celsius !!! Fortunately the weather is a lot drier than in Ghana, which means that the heat is not as unbearable, despite the higher temperature.

Ouagadougou as a city was a big surprise to me. My expectations were very low and I was expecting to see a very poor city with few modern buildings and little organization. But Ouaga is quite the contrary. Lots of nice buildings, good roads, organized infrastructure. Most of the streets have “biking lanes” designated for the myriad of mopeds sweeping through the city. As opposed to Accra, Ouaga is a moped-city. Almost everyone got around on mopeds, which eased traffic so much that we in the days we were there never ran into any traffic jams. And it also made us feel very home on Mulan.

In Ouaga we stayed with a nice couple, Pavel and Marjorie, which we had found on Couch surfing (if not familiar with the couch surfing concept see www.couchsurfing.com). Marjorie had taken a job on a 1-year contract to teach French at an international school, and her partner Pavel was working as a web designer from home.

The first day (Sunday) in Ouaga, Kaisa and I went to a Sacred Crocodile Sanctuary. The crocodiles there are considered holy and since chickens are “sacrificed” to them on a regular basis they are fairly tame(can a crocodile be tame?) and well fed.

We sat on some crocodiles and watched while they ate some living chickens. Quite an experience.

Monday morning we left Ouaga early. We drove north all day, through beautiful scenery and landscapes until we by nightfall made it to Goram-Goram in the northeastern part of Burkina Faso. Goram-Goram lies in the Sahel Dessert, not to be confused with the Sahara. The Sahel is a semi-dessert in the sense that, trees and other vegetations is present, but sparsely distributed and they are not expecting any rain until early June.

In Goram-Goram we arranged a 24hour Camel trip out into the wild. After spending the night in a mud hut, we left early next morning with 3 camels, equipment and a Guide. Out guide Yussuna, spoke amazing 7 different languages, including French and (some) English.

We rode for a few hours before taking a mid-day break at a local village in the middle of bum-f**k-nowhere. We put out some mattresses under a tree and had a small lunch and investigated this small kind village.

After spending the midday heat in the sun, we continued on and set up a camp on some sand dunes further out in the desert. Out there we had a gorgeous night under the open sky, and were woken up 5am next morning to see the stunning sunrise, before riding back to Goram-Goram.

When we came back it turned out that our visit coincided with a Muslim Holiday. As a result we were invited to join Yussuna’s brother’s family for lunch celebration. They had slaughtered to big goats and the entire family was busy cooking. What a meal in the middle of the dessert. J - again, it always surprises me to see how hospitable and friendly people are in the most far away places. Here we come, two white people on a motorbike, dressed in blue janitor-suits and suddenly we are invited to join for a Muslim Holiday Celebration with a local family, all dressed up and working hard to make sure we are having a good time. Fantastic.

We returned to Ouaga the same evening, and spend the night at Pavel and Marjorie’s place again. Next morning I got myself a Visa de Pais de L’entente(a 5 country visa), and we visited an arts and craft center, before returning back to Ghana. After a long ride from Ouaga, we made it to Bolgatange some 60km into Ghana.

Next morning, we visited the Tonga Hills and the Shenzu Shrine. All the hills in the particular area are covered with massive rocks and makes for quite spectacular scenery.

We had a nice tour around the village, where a guide told us about the ceremonial and spiritual practices of the local people. The chief has a large authority and sacrifices of animals are a common practice to ensure good luck.

After our visit we drove all the way to Ghana’s 2^nd Largest city, Kumasi, where we spent out last night.

Next morning we set out for Accra. After about 5 hours drive we were so unfortunate to have a little incident. A car driving in the opposite direction suddenly drove over in our lane to pass by another car. With the car facing directly towards us I had little option but to make a stunt maneuver into the ditch. Both Kaisa and I fell off the bike, and of course the car just drove on. . . After the crash some friendly local people helped us find a health clinic. I had gotten some scratches and Kaisa had hurt her leg a bit, so we figured it would be good to get out injuries checked out, just to be sure everything was alright. Fortunately for Kaisa, her leg was not broken, but just heavily bruised. I needed a few stitches in the chin, but was otherwise in good condition (it looked a lot more dramatic than it was).

After the visit to the health clinic, we went over to a restaurant to have some lunch where we found some kind people who offered Kaisa a ride back to Accra, so she didn’t have to sit on the bike with her sore leg.

I went back to investigate the bike. It had a few scratches and the light was a bit bent, but its condition was not worse than I could drive it back to Accra without trouble.

So yeah, despite our little incident at the end we had a fantastic trip to Burkina Faso. Driving a motorbike through Africa is really a fantastic experience, and even though some of the days were very long on the bike I really enjoyed it.

My original plan was to drive the bike along the coast all the way to Senegal. I however don’t thing this will happen. It’s a very long way, and some of the road conditions in Sierra Leone and Guinea are suppose to be terrible. I also read some blogs talking about all the paperwork, which is a thing I’de rather avoid. I might take the bike for a trip to Cote D’Ivoire and back, and then sell her here in Accra where I know I can get a pretty good price for her. But the exact plans are not yet made. We’ll see. That’s all for now. Hope you didn’t get too bored from this massive post.

Hope you’re all doing great out there. Cheers for now!

Ps. “Mulan” says hi.

Boys with Toys

2010-10-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

So, I bought a Motorbike. Senegal here I come:

Benin, The Volta Region and Life in Ghana

2010-10-05T04:11:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while without any updates. ( Think you can click on the pictures below to see a bigger version)

Benin
Lets go back in time for a bit shall we? I think I left you some two weeks back before heading to Benin. The trip to Benin was great. I went there with the normal traveling quartet consisting of me, Kaisa, Rochelle and Jessica.

Jessica’s French again proved a very valuable asset, even though we figured that most of the “French” spoken in Benin is either broken French or French mixed with local words. We sometimes find that here in Ghana too: Bad English or people only speaking pigeon English.We made it to Benin in no time. Left early in the morning from our student hostel, caught a tro-tro (minibus) to the Togolese border. From there we caught a small car taking us to the Beninese border.; a trip that took no more than 40 minutes. (Togo is a really small country!). At the border we came to realize that a proof of yellow fever vaccination was needed in order to enter. Both Jessica and I had forgotten our Yellow Vaccination Cards. Not very smart. . . .Fortunately you can solve this minor problem by paying 2500 CFA, or about 5 USD to the Border Official. Paying the 2500 CFA obviously proves to everyone that you are certainly vaccinated against yellow fever. . . . .or. . . Anyways. First bribe on my Africa adventure so far.
Out first night in Benin was spent at Grand Popo about 20km from the Togolese border. It’s essentially a street close to the beach with lots of small huts and a few guesthouses. But the beach. The beach! Truly amazing. Fantastic setting and extremely beautiful. We lodged in some rastafari-owned place, Ate delicious shrimp, and learned (or tried to learn) dancing from some local kids.

Next day we went on to Porto Novo. The capital of Benin. A small and not super exciting city. Our aim was however not the city itself, but the Songhai Centre. The vision of a Nigerian Professor who studied in California, the 20-year-old centre is at the forefront of sustainable agricultural development. We had a 1-hour tourwith a fantastic guide, who showed us how the centre trained and instructed farmers, villagers and governments from all over Africa on how to run sustainable development projects. Their idea was based on a multifaceted system where the manure from livestock for instance, would be used as fertilizer for the crops and the bad crops would then be used for feeding the livestock. The concept also included simple manufacturing and fish farming. All linked together to support and enhance each other in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. Apparently UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon visited the centre not too long ago and praised it highly. All in all a really cool place! (Check out the webpage: http://www.songhai.org/english/)

A random funny thing about Benin is the number of foosball (table-football) tables they have on the street. In Denmark these tables can only be found at bars, pubs or in schools. But in Benin they stand in the sides of the street and lots of kids play. We of course (of course!) challenged some kids playing and Kaisa and I actually managed to win a match. The kids seemed fairly surprised by this outcome – who would have thought that random white people knew how to play foosball. ?

After a few days more in Benin, where we saw some museums about the slave trade and the history of Benin, we returned back to Ghana. The primary means of transportation in both Togo and Benin for shorter distances are s

mall moto-taxis (locally known as zem-zem’s). It’s essentially a motorbike that works as a taxi. Even though it’s a bit problematic to take them if it’s raining (since you get soaking wet), and can at times be dangerous(old Chinese bikes on shitty roads – do the math) – I find it one of the best ways to see the country. You have a full free sight and get to see a lot of small things a

s you drive by. Plus – it’s a lot of fun!

Trip to Volta Region
This weekend the quartet united again for a trip to the Volta Region.
Friday was spent kayaking the Volta River. We found a place run by a friendly Dutch guy and rented some kayaks there. Fantastic trip. There’s nothing better than kayaking on a tropical river in fantastic weather.
The next day we spent and the Wli falls. One of the major tourist attractions in Ghana. After a 30 minutes walk through some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve seen so far in Ghana, we reached a big awesome waterfall. (We of course went swimming under. What else would you do?). Also - the waterfall was surrounded by bats. When some Togolese hunter (the fall is right on the Togolese border) shot his gun (don’t ask me why people hunt bats with guns) more than a thousand bats flew away from the walls and into the sky. A completely unbelievable sight.
I’ll try to upload some pictures soon. But yeah – it was epic!

Life in Ghana
In more general terms life in Ghana is good. Food here is really cheap and even though it’s good, it becomes a bit boring in the long run. Variety is what I’m lacking. Oh – and good meat. All meat here(if you can find any) is chopped up in what seems like random pieces and the boiled in a big stew. You rarely see steaks or any other sort of “pure” meat. What you do see is lots of fish lying on the shelves that looks like it was cooked/fried/boiled/smoked yesterday. I’m not too big on warm fish that has been lying for more than two days. But hey – who cares when they have amazing pineapple! Hurray!
Oh – and classes are cancelled today. Teachers apparently went on strike. No one knows how long it will last. Some say a week, some say a day, some say perhaps two weeks. When they had a similar strike in ‘95 it lasted a year. Lets hope it doesn’t last that long this time. It’s apparently something about wages (what else to strike over?). But yeah – it’s not going to make a big difference. Most lectures are quite useless anyways. I will rely on the books (have books for 3 of 5 classes now) and the copies of past exams. Since I only need to pass I should have a fair chance.

(And here is a picture of me with a beautiful helmet from a mountain bike ride last week!)

The Doxy Effect

2010-09-26T05:42:00.001-07:00

Malaria is a horrifying disease - especially if you don’t treat it and don’t have any natural resistance (Like most white people don’t).

To solve this problem of getting deadly sick, most people take what is known as “Malaria-Prophylaxis” or more commonly known as “Malaria-Pills”. There are several kinds/compounds/drugs/brands on the market and they all the various pro’s and con’s.

Lariam (Mefloquine) is effective, fairly cheap, needs to be taken only once a week, but the side effects range from nightmares to paranoia, depression and schizophrenia.

Malarone, which is the newest and most recommended drug, is taken once a day, very effective, very few side effects – but a single pill (daily dose) costs around 6$(30dkr). Multiply that by 5 months and you are at $900(4.500dkr). Money I would rather spend elsewhere.

The final choice is Doxycycline. It’s actually an antibiotic – but seems to work as a Malaria Preventative Pill as well. You take 1 pill a day, lower dosage (100mg) than if you were treating a disease. Side effects include: sunburn and photosensitivity (though I haven’t felt anything yet) – and of course the problems that might come up from taking antibiotics non-stop for 5 months. But!: The prices for 5 months is $24(130dkr). And here comes the interesting part:

If you Google Doxycycline uses, the following things come up:
• Treatment of bacterial infections
• Acne treatment
• An alternative for the prevention of malaria
• Treatment of anthrax infections
• Treatment of rosacea
• Treatment of periodontitis (gum disease).

Bacterial Infections
Doxycycline can be used to treat a number of different types of infections caused by bacteria. It is most commonly used to treat infections such as:

• Certain types of pneumonia
• Chlamydia
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• Typhus fever
• Tick fever
• Syphilis (when unable to take penicillin)
• Some respiratory or urinary tract infections (UTIs)
• Plague
• Cholera
• Tularemia
• Gonorrhea
• Lyme disease.

Essentially, doxy is protecting me from a whole range of diseases (or at least that is what I like to tell myself). Kaisa had Typhoid Fever a few weeks ago – but I like to tell myself that due to the Doxy-Effect, I did not get it – since the vicious Doxy-drug butchered any typhoid bacteria that might have entered my system. (or my vaccination against typhoid worked).

I’m not a doctor – so I don’t know if this is actually true. Can antibiotics be used as a prophylaxis against say – bacterial infections from wounds and food?
If it can – well, that’s the Doxy Effect for you. The best externality Malaria-Prophylaxis can get you!

"Obruni Magic”

2010-09-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

“Obruni” is the Twi (local language in southern Ghana) word for “white person” or “foreigner”. Wherever we go we are always addressed as “Obruni”. The sales women will yell, “Hey Obruni – what do you want”. People on the street will say “Hey Obruni”, and all the children I come by always yell “Obruni, Obruni, Obruni” while waving aggressively.

Usually when I’m out in town or just playing with all the kids, who hang out at the night market close to my building, I’ll do one of my two magic tricks that I’m really proud of. They are both very simply, but advanced enough to trick a 5-year old, which I find great amusement in (you have no idea how much street respect you get from doing magic in a quite superstitious society). One of the tricks is an old one my dad used to do when I was a kid. It involves me removing my thumb and then reattaching it again. It looks quiet real – but works best on children. (For some reason most grown-ups are too smart).

The other trick, which I do more frequently and in several variants, is the “make the coin disappear-trick”. I’ll take a coin (or a stone), put it in my hand, close my hand and make it disappear. The kids usually scream and look very surprised when I open my hand and the stone is not there anymore.

This has made some of the local kids give me the nickname “Obruni-Magic” – which I find quite funny and amusing. Not that I consider myself very magical – but if I can entertain some kids and make them laugh – my day is saved.
My two tricks have also found many uses beyond our little Accra World. Whenever we travel and meet some kids, I always pull one of them off. Almost always the reaction is surprise, joy and excitement. Very entertaining. It in someway proves that children all around the world are basically the same. They all love to play an have fun.

My magic skills were also used a lot on some of the longer journeys in 2009 in Sierra Leone. I remember once when Clem and I got stuck in a little tiny village, cause out motorbike ran out of fuel. The driver borrowed a regular bicycle and biked 2 hours back-and-forth to the nearest village to get some fuel. In the meantime we entertained the entire village with magic and - despite the language barrier - made very good friends with the elders and the people not out working the fields.

So yeah – if you ever come to Ghana and hear someone yell “Obruni Magic” – I’m probably not far away. (Or someone copied my tricks!)

Water in a bag, Typhoid Fever, How to send an e-mail and other peculiarities.

2010-09-10T11:44:00.000-07:00

Water in a bag is an extremely practical invention. Instead of buying a bottle, you buy water in a small plastic bag (locally known as sachet-water). The water from the tap is not clean enough for drinking, so you have to rely on purified water for drinking unless you want to experiment with all kinds of waterborne diseases and stomach problems. A 1L water bottle cost 1 Cedi (80US Cent, 4 Kr) and a bag of 30 Sachets with 400ml in each cost 1.35 Cedi. A lot of money to save. Plus, they are super convenient. So cool. Maybe I should try to introduce those back home. Wonder if they would be a success?

Last weekend was a stay-at-home-weekend. I spent most of my time trying to catch up with some homework. The plan was to go to Benin this weekend and take advantage of our 30 day visa for Togo. (you have to cross Togo to enter Benin, unless you want to travel 2000 Km around Togo).

Unfortunately Kaisa wasn’t feeling too good this Tuesday. She had a lot of stomach pain so decided to go to the hospital to have a check up. It turned out she had gotten typhoid fever. It sounds a lot worse than it is. Yes, she was sick and spent 2 days in bed. But the disease is easily treatable with antibiotics and if it is treated it is not much worse than a small flue. Typhoid is transferred when you eat something that has been in touch with human feces from a person who had typhoid fever. Essentially it’s important that you avoid eating shit – or make sure that the people who cook you food wash their hands before cooking – and that you make sure to wash your own hands before eating (its here the golden invention of Hand Sanitizer comes into the picture).

Last night Kaisa was already feeling better, and came by my room and hung out for a while. Hopefully she’ll be fully fine by Monday – so she’s ready to leave for Benin next Thursday.
School have been relaxing so far. It is not always the most challenging classes, yet almost always very interesting. In two of my classes (out of 5), I’m the only white/foreign student. Sometimes feels a bit weird sitting in a classroom with 200 Ghanaians and being the only white person. Especially because you really can’t hide. Fortunately the teacher in that class is really nice, even though he keeps asking me questions in front of the entire class (which is really awkward!)

Oh – and I got homework this week. My homework consists of sending an e-mail. Jep, in one of my other classes the professor asked everyone to send him an e-mail, to show him that we knew how to send e-mails. Such a different world. Think I sent my first e-mail in 1999, when I was in the US on a CISV camp. More than 11 years ago – and now we are asked (in a 4th year university course) to send one has homework. Just so different.

I’ve also got a group project for another class. One of the group members had never heard of Wikipedia. When you think about it, it’s not that strange –but for me as a student it was still quite surprising. (Just for the record, the project is actually a “real project” we have to write a 4 page critique of the modernization theory).
Having mentioned that, I have to underline that even though there are several computer cafes on campus, and many students do have computers.. However I yet have to see one bring a laptop to class (which is not the norm in Canada). I have thought a bit of brining mine, but I think it would be strange since no one else does it. Even though I miss being able to look up words or facts on the spot – as the lecture goes on.

So yeah all is well. I even started swimming. Me swimming? I know – it’s hard to believe. Me swimming? But they’ve got this 50meters (Olympic size) pool 5 minutes walk from my residence. And for the majority of the time, the pool is completely empty – so I’ve got the entire pool to myself. Quite ideal for swimming. It’s especially nice when you are all soaked in sweat and the temperature reaches 30 degrees with insanely high humidity.

To go to Togo

2010-08-31T10:07:00.000-07:00

Funny right? If you say Togo slowly it sounds like “To Go”. Ok, actually it’s not that funny. But it gave us a good laugh. Spent the weekend in Togo. Very interesting and different country.

I traveled with Kaisa, Rochelle and Jessica. So the same quartet I traveled with to Cape Coast last weekend.
I studied with Kaisa and Rochelle in Canada at Simon Fraser University. They are both UWC’ers. Rochelle and I also studied together in Norway, so we’ve known each other for a while. Jessica is Canadian, studies in Montreal and speaks French. A good skill to have when going to a Francophone country.

So off we went in a little “Tro-Tro” (Mini vans with rows of homemade seats, functioning as a bus) to the Togolese border. The rural areas of Ghana are significantly poorer than Accra, yet still more developed than Sierra Leone. The road was paved all the way, and most villages and cities had electricity. A thing Togo did not. Not even in Lomé, the Capital.

We made it to Togo about 5pm. The border crossing was a joke. The Togolese immigration office consists of two tables standing under a small thatched roof. I wasn’t allowed to take a picture, but it was so strange. Standing there in the open filling out Visa forms. We filled out our papers and paid the 10.000 West African Francs the Visa cost. In most (all?) Francophone countries in West Africa they use the same currency, the West African Franc, which should make trade and traveling between the countries a lot easier (haven’t tried myself yet – so can’t tell for sure).

Lomé is essentially on the border – which meant we could walk from the border to our hostel. Quite convenient.
People in Togo are very friendly, and in many ways less harassing and direct than people in Ghana. Personally I was not too comfortable with the country in the beginning, but I think it mainly stems from the fact that I don’t speak French (and hate admitting to people that I don’t speak their language). It makes you feel very handicapped, when you have no clue what people are telling you. Not sure how we would have survived without Jessica’s help in a country where people barely speaks English.
About Lomé: It is a lot smaller than Accra, but still in some respects a very beautiful city. Unfortunately due to several years of political unrest and bad economic policies the cities has been allowed to fade. You can sense that it used to be a grand and magnificent city once upon a time. Which sadly enough is the feeling you get in many African cities. Things where built in better times, but never maintained.

In on the Friday in Lomé we visited a Fetish (in the French meaning of the word – i.e. “object of spiritual meaning” or something like that) market. Many people in Togo still swear to the old traditional beliefs. A part of this belief involves buying lots of small articles to protect yourself and your house and to cure you from diseases and curses. Some of these things are quite obscure. How about the head of a monkey? Or what about the claw of an eagle? For not to mention the shell of a turtle, the skin of a leopard, a horse skull, some snake skin, or maybe just a dead owl on a stick. . . .?
(They wanted money for pictures, so unfortunately I don’t have any, but there are a few good ones here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/africa_togo0s_voodoo_market/html/1.stm and here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pritheworld/3351359593/in/photostream/ )
We went to see the “chief/medicine man” who told us about these small items with magical properties (which he of course tried to sell us): The ebony fruit/nut makes you sleep better if blessed by the chief, the telephone fetish (little piece of pink wood), provides safe travels if you whisper in it and so on. Could not really make up my mind as to whether this was a tourist scam or whether people really believed in it – but interesting non the less. Yet , it didn’t really seem like a place many tourists came. The market was too hard to find, and too big to only survive on tourism.

Saturday morning we went to a West African Art/Culture museum. The museum was founded by a Swiss anthropologist who wanted to give African Art back to Africa. He has spent the last couple of years traveling in West Africa collecting old cultural items and art pieces. A few years ago he opened his private collection to the public, essentially turning it into a museum. Very interesting to see all the strange and different statues, bracelets, helmets etc that the various cultures used for ceremonies.
After the museum trip we bargained with a cab driver and made him drive us 2 hours north to the city Kpalimé (pronounced Palime), for the same price the bus would have cost us.

Kpalimé is very different from Lomé and a lot smaller. Located in a lush green region of hills and cocoa farmers it is the center of agricultural commerce in Togo. This was very visible from the fantastic agricultural market in the center of the village. Fruits, vegetables and spices everywhere. In addition the beautiful location, the people were a lot more friendly and relaxed (Perhaps, more a country-side mentality than a clear cultural difference).

We spent the night in Kpalimé. Sunday morning we did a hike in the beautiful countryside. We simply caught a ride 20 minutes out of town where we found a little path, which we followed it up along a mountainside. On out little hike, between banana and mango trees, we found a ripe cocoa that we shared next to a little waterfall. Not the worst lunch. On the way back we must have touched some poisonous tree or bush, cause all of us had red spots on our arms and legs (We are all still alive).

When we got back to Kpalimé we caught the oldest and most rusty car I’ve ever seen in my life to the Ghanaian border (100km North of Lomé). Here the Ghanaian border officials joked with us and took down out names from the Declaration Card so they could find us on Facebook. They also wanted our numbers. I took down one guy’s number, and when I didn’t to call him later that night, he called me monday morning and complained. (He must have taken my number off the Declaration Card!) A little weird, but a normality by now. Many people want to make “professional friends” with you. He called me and asked how I was and said he would call when he came to Accra so we could meet. I spoke to the guy for about 1 minute when I filled out the declaration form. Not the way I usually make friends.

We however made it safely back to Accra with a Tro-Tro sunday night, and all in all had a great trip to Togo. Bon Voyage!

Leapfrogging Development: Mobile Banking

2010-08-24T10:05:00.001-07:00

For those new to the phenomena I’ll try to explain it briefly:

In most “Developing” countries cell phones works through a “top-up” system. You simply buy a little voucher off one of the street vendors who stands at basically every corner, and use this voucher to add credit to your phone. Or – you pay a vender to “send” you credits electronically. (The vender will send credits from his phone to your phone).

At some point people figured out that this “credit” could also be used as a currency. So instead of paying people in cash, they paid in “credit”. They simply sent credits from their cell to the salesperson’s cell, when they purchased something. This means that people do not have to carry cash, which in an almost purely cash based economy is a major step forward.

Yet, the true ingenuity with mobile banking is the transfer of credit (money) between relatives. In many African countries family members often live far apart. Perhaps the dad is a seasonal migrant worker, or the mother moved to the city to see that the kids could go to school. For whatever reason family members often live far apart. Earlier this meant that transporting money was a tedious process.

To continue with our example:
Imagine the husband seeking work in the city, while leaving the family behind in the rural areas. In the city there are better work opportunities and higher wages. Earlier, when he wanted to send remittances (money) back to his dependants (children, wife etc), he would either have to give up a few days of work and travel all the way home with a big stack of cash. In this way he did not only loose valuable days of work, but traveling with a big stack of cash is not very safe in countries where poverty is widespread and theft or pick pocketing happens on a wide basis. With mobile banking, he can simply send the money back home electronically.

Since the start of just sending “credits”, the system has developed so you now have a separate mobile bank on your phone. I added 10Cedi (about 8 USD) to my account. When I owed my friend Kaisa 2 Cedi, I simply sent them to her from my phone. If you need to cash to the money, you simply drop by one of the many official venders or co-operating banks and send them your money, which they in turn will give you as cash. Brilliant right?

Ghana: A Developing Country….or?

2010-08-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

The obvious answer to this question is “yes”. Ghana is a developing country by all means. A very fast developing country in fact.
Which in many ways challenge the way people think of “Developing Countries”. Many developing countries fail to develop all together, why the use of the word “developing” (though politically correct) is somewhat misleading.

A more suitable question to ask would be something along the lines of: Is Ghana a hopelessly lost economically stagnant country, caught in a poverty trap with no or few good prospects for the future? Absolutely not.

In many ways Ghana reminds me more of Central America ( e.g. Honduras or Nicaragua) than of Sierra Leone, which I have previously visited. Granted, Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries on the earth, but the difference is still striking and serves as an important reminder that box-categorizing sub-Saharan Africa as “Poor” is wildly misleading. Africa has more than 50 countries. Putting them all into the same category is not only very simplistic, but also rarely useful when talking about development.

So back to Ghana:
All the roads are paved. There are streetlights almost everywhere. Reliable electricity. Cell phone connectivity is impressive. EVERYONE has a cell phone, and there are 4 or 5 major companies competing for customers. Recently “Mobile Banking” made it to Ghana. Though it is not yet used on a wide basis, the concept is still interesting. For more on that you’ll have to wait on my next post, which (for sure) will be about mobile banking.

I have still only seen few parts of the country, (have not yet been to the north, which is suppose to be the “poor” part) but so far things seem to be moving at insane speed. There are building projects going on all over Ghana. Hotels, Malls, Office Centres. Everything. While most of the billboards next to the central roads leading from my university into Accra advertise for cheap cell phone deals, some advertise for everything from Birkenstock Sandals(which are now sold at the newly built Accra Mall), to Ford Escape. This indicates that the middle class has now grown big enough to demand these things.

It is however also a fact that there is a great inequality in Ghana. If you are rich you are often superrich and being poor is still not happy times, yet literacy rates for 15-24 years olds are still above 75% (in 2005 – probably higher now) and primary school enrollment is free and is attended by more than 90% of both genders.

All this is positive news and definitely great for the country. In general I also feel a very positive vibe from people down here.
The mood is generally high, people are really friendly and helpful and I feel very safe and secure walking around most places.

The other night we spoke to a Ghanaian woman who started her own company helping NGO’s carry out there projects. She told us about a school where the kids sat on benches, and her suggestion was to find chairs with backrests to the children so they could sit better.
This in many ways hit me as good news. I mean, ok – its sad that the children are sitting a benches. But if that’s their biggest problem, then I’d say they’re doing rather well.

But yeah, I guess the situation looks somewhat different when I make it to the rural areas in the north. I’ll fill you in on that when I get there.

Currently planning a trip to Togo for the coming weekend. Hopefully we’ll be able to get a Visa from the border. My biggest task at the moment is to find someone who speaks French who I can bring along – cause my French is basically non-existent.

Two Weeks in Ghana

2010-08-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

I’ve now been in Ghana for exactly two weeks. On the one hand it feels like time has flown by at amazing pace, on the other hand I’ve experienced so much that it feels like I’ve been here a lot longer.

I spent the last 2 days at Cape Coast, which is a city 100km west down the coast from Accra. One of the oldest and biggest European Castles outside of Europe is located there. Pretty cool trip. Went with Rochelle and Kaisa, whom I study with in Canada and another girl we met who studies in Montreal.

Getting there was an interesting experience in itself. We went outside out hostel and found ourselves a “tro-tro”, which is a mini-van-turned-into-bus. The driver said he would drop of us off at a bus station, from were we would be able to catch another tro-tro to Cape Coast. And so we did. The moment we arrived at the bus station a friendly man guided us over to another waiting tro-tro, and we immediately jumped in a drove off towards the coast. Always more fun and convenient to drive in the small local buses, compared to the big and infrequent “public” busses. Though I have to admit that if the ride is any longer than 3 hours, sitting with your knee’s under your chin is not exactly comfortable. Even though the price is often less than half.

Touring the castle was a cool experience and it was really scary to see how the slaves were handled before they were sent off to the Americas and the Caribbean.

When we made it back to Ghana yesterday night, we just made it in time for the “Welcome Durbar”. An event put on by the international programs office to welcome all the new international students. Lots of good Ghanaian food and dances for entertainment. So yeah, all in all a good first two weeks.

Akwaaba[Welcome] to Ghana

2010-08-15T16:48:00.001-07:00

(Friday 13^th August)

Blog is back up and running! Hurray! I’ll try to update as much as I can, but Internet down here is a joke. It makes the good old dial up 56k feel like a Ferrari. Non the less, I made it to Ghana and the first 6 days has passed without major problems.

Registering for Classes. . . .

Getting registered for classes is a task in itself. And I’ve spent most of the last week attempting to do exactly that. I was somewhat prepared for the heavy bureaucracy, but I must admit that it still surprised me a little bit. Paying for residence works like this: Find the one bank (out of 5) that has the right account. This in itself is a task, since no one really seems to know what bank it is. After trying 4 different banks I finally found the right bank. (Which I had gone to once before, where they told me I was at the wrong bank !?!?!). There I deposited my 819 USD in cash and got a nice receipt. This receipt I then had to bring to the University’s “Cash Office” on the other side of campus, who would issue a new receipt/”proof of payment”. This new receipt I then had to bring to the international office, take two copies, and get them to sign it. Finally I could take my signed 2^nd receipt and hand it in at the front desk of my residence, thereby completing my residence payment. Seems pretty straightforward . . . Except for the fact that everyone tells you different things. But yeah, you learn to live with that.

I haven’t yet registered for classes either. But I managed to complete my “academic registration”. I think this means I’m now officially enrolled in the school. (?). I’ve also signed up for some courses with the departments (Jep, you have to go in person to the departments and sign up, plus register online on a special registration website).

Unfortunately, all the time tables are not up yet(even though classes officially start on Monday). So I can’t really sign up finally before I know what classes might clash. Quite inconvenient. But hey. No rush.

Ghana:

Except for that Ghana is great so far. People are really friendly and in general I feel that the part of Ghana I’ve seen so far has a really good vibe to it.

And in comparison to Sierra Leone, Ghana can almost be considered a developed country. They even have an Apple store at the local Mall. (Plus, they have traffic lights and they actually work!).

But its cheap no?...

I thought so, and many things indeed are. But many things, especially at the mall, are nowhere near cheap. In fact a lot of things are a lot cheaper in Denmark. I tried to find a cheap pot to do some cooking in. And that turned out to be impossible. In the end I settled with this cheap aluminum piece of crap, which ended up costing me 17 Cedi (12 USD/67kr). And trust me, its really a piece of Sh*t.

What next?

Once I’ve had a chance to see a bit more of the country and settle in a bit more, I’ll try to write some more interesting posts on the culture, and local economic conditions and general observations I make. Without revealing too much I can already now inform that a post about cell phones and mobile banking will soon come up. But I need to investigate a bit more on that.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned, and I’ll share some of the more spicy moments.

Merry Christmas from Caye Caulker!

2009-12-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

Its already been six days, and in some ways I feel like its been two, cause I've had soo much fun. And on the other hand it feels like weeks, cause so much has happened.

Currently in Caye Caulker, a small island of the coast of Mainland Belize. For those who dont know about it, then the island is really small, has lots of cheap rum, white sandy beaches, palm trees and everyone here looks like they are taking out of a Bob Marley music video. Total Rasta Style. Its great.

prior to that, I had spent an entire night in Seattle airport talking to this american girl, Kristine, who was volunteering straight after highschool, through something called AmeriCorps, where you go to somewhere else in the states and volunteer. she was working in an elementary school in a poor area. really interesting midnight chat. Her monthly food budget was 60 USD and she didn't have any health insurance at all. She was just betting by on good luck. Quite weird for me to think about. |So yeah,m I finally caught my flight in the morning and made it off to cancun.

I spent 2 days in Cancun, which were quite dull so I need not elaborate here.

I then went south down the yucatan peninsula to a place called Tulum, where I spent two night. Had an awesome time there, went scuba diving in 2 cenotes. Cenotes are basically million year old sink-wholes or caves, with the most clean and clear water. Visibility is about 100m, which is extreme for scuba diving. a really cool experience diving around in this underground old caves with flashlights and checking out cool rock formations and Halocline and other interesting phenomena.

Monday i tried to make my way to belize. The border crossing is the slowest in the world. But a bit funny. at customs the rasta(yes, they had a full on rasta working with custusm) guy checked the bags of the guy before me, and then when i came he asked where I was going and whether I had any alcohol or tobacco on me, and I had to admit that I had half a bottle of rum -and asked if that was ok ..and he was like "yeah, fine go on". So no checking of my bag.

Anyways, we got delayed a lot, so we had to spend the night in belize city. by this time were were a group of 10 people who all met on the same bus and we were all going to caye caulker. So we joined together and found a nice guest house in an otherwise sketchy town. (belize city is quite a dodgy place, especially at night). We had a great time though and caught the boat here yesterday. spent the day on the beach, had lobster for dinner. Rum for desert, and more rum for midnight snack. its all in the rum . .

today we're going fishing and snorkeling with this local fisherman and tomorrow Im going to go on a big scuba trip to the blue whole. itll be great.

I cant be bothered(or afford) to send out individual emails to everyone, so if you read this, consider this a christmas greeting. internet here is SO slow and quite expensive.

Cheers!! and go slow. enjoy life!

ps. I hope some of this made sense, but its so warm in here and the sun is shining. so cant be asked to correct all my errors. ciao.

Arriving in Sierra Leone...finally.

2009-07-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

I’ve now been in Salone for a week and with my arrival the GMin team is complete. But it was not without complications I made my way here.

I flew from Copenhagen some two weeks ago together with Jamie. A few weeks earlier I had applied for Danish citizenship (formerly Swedish) and in the process some confusion took place. The short story is that I flew to London on an invalid Swedish passport, which got confiscated in Heathrow Airport. Angry, confused, devastated, tired and surprised, I managed to get my luggage (so it didn't fly off to Sierra Leone without me). After several hours of trying , I managed to speak to a person at the Danish Embassy in London (assuming that I now had to be a Danish citizen)and they told me they could issue an Emergency Passport the very next day. I called the Sierra Leonean High Commission, who told me that if I was lucky they could speed up the process for issuing visas from 3 to 2 days. (I had to purchase a new Visa since my old one went with my old passport). Finally I managed with some luck and charm to convince the BMI lady at the airport to change my flight (which I at that point had already missed) from Tuesday to Friday without a fee. I spent the next few days in London getting an emergency passport and a new visa for Sierra Leone. At the Sierra Leonean High Commission they asked for a letter of recommendation, but since I didn't have anyone at hand and since I couldn't get hold of the GMin Members in Sierra Leone, I had to produce one myself … It however went smooth and the person at the commission seemed to accept my made-up letter without reservations. Lucky me.

On Friday evening I finally landed in Freetown and made it through the customs and immigration without problems.

On Sunday I finally made it to Sahn where I met up with the rest of the GMin team. We are now all gathered here and is working hard to make the project be as good (and hopefully even better) than the project in 2007.

In general Sierra Leone looks like itself: All the bread we buy are still for some mysterious reason wrapped in Danish newspapers and our main meal still consists of white rice imported from the far east. The distribution has gone very well the last couple of days, and today is the last day of distribution. The numbers of chickens we’ve received as tokens of appreciation cannot anymore be counted on two hands. Likewise the number of Pineapples we’ve eaten is probably in the hundreds by now.

The kids still remember my name from last time, and I can’t walk two meters outside the doors without someone yelling “Jacob, Jacob”.

Tonight we a planned a big party for everyone to celebrate the end of the distribution. Can’t wait to party in Sierra Leonean manner.

Road Trip up Baja California

2008-12-30T11:15:00.000-08:00

We made it to Ensenada two days ago after 3 days of heavy driving. After comparing the prices with the bus it turned to cost almost the same to rent a car, so we decided to go for the latter to get a bit more freedom on our journey.
Most of the driving was done by me and the other Dane on our trip since we are the only ones having valid drivers licenses. The roads were good, straight and empty- so driving was pretty straight forward. After bargaining with the rental place we got a good deal on a Dodge Stratus with Automatic gearing and plenty of space for four people. Even thought it had plenty of space I am though surprised by the low quality of the car. It was impossible to drive faster than 120km/h. The car felt so wobbily that non of us dared to - in addition the drivers seat had so few adjusting settings that my neck constantly hurt. Non the less we had a very good 1400km drive and saw a lot of beautiful nature.

As we got further north it got colder and we are now forced to wear pants and sweaters in the night - not exactly comfortable when you are used to shorts, flip-flops and t-shirt.
On our trip my friend managed to lock the keys into the car(I still wonder how that happened). However within 10 minutes (i promise you, no more than 10 min) a friendly Mexican had found some tools to break into the car with, without damaging anything. Quite impressive. I wonder how long that had taken in Denmark or Canada. So yeah - we gave him a heavy tip and drove on. (Im sure he had done that a million times before - maybe Mexicans are as skilled at braking into cars as Danes are at opening beers....who knows)

The next couple of days were going to spend here in Ensenada relaxing and partying. We need to find a good place to chill for new years eve - seems like there are enough options around.

Well, its getting warmer outside - so I think ill head back out to get some heat. Need it.

Here are some pictures from our trip:

Christmas in Baja California

2008-12-25T19:13:00.000-08:00

Ive been on the Baja California for allmost a week now and Im really enjoying my time.

My term ended pretty stressfull with an exam which was postponed due to bad wheather conditions. Instead of writing it on the friday - it was turned into a take home due sunday. I was suppose to spend my weekend skiing and chilling at whistler, but instead i ended up spending a lotof time writing my essay.

I spent a day back on campus after my whistler trip before I headed off to Seattle. To girls from my school live in seattle, so i was lucky to get a ride down with them.
I spent a day there relaxing in their house eating delicios homemade food before i headed off for mexico. In Mexico I met up with two guys from my school and a 3rd guy who is danish, and did an exchange at my school a few years back. (he knows one of the other guys).

Ive spent most of my time laying on the beach tanning, while drinking cold beer. Not a bad way to spend my christmas holiday if you ask me. Were staying for 10$ a night, so its pretty cheap. Yesterday I went scubadiving off this little island called Isla Espiritu. We dove with loads of sealions - a really amazing experience. The evening we spent drinking rum and beer and "beating the shit out of Santa".
My friend bought a big full-size Santa shaped Piñata, which we enjoyed batting. Hilarious activity - which I will try to turn into a tradition. Much better than dancing around the tree as we do back in Denmark - and in addition, It felt nice getting revenge; how many times havent santa touched small boys a girls on inappropriate places in the big malls? Santa had it coming and he got what he deserved.

Tomorrow we're heading up norht bycar. We bargained a bit with a rental place and got a pretty good deal- so we now have a car for 4 days. It turns out to be cheaper than the bus - and lots more fun as well.

We have to make 1300km in 4 days - so its quite a drive - especially since we want to stop and see a lot of places on the way.

Other than that Im really enjoying my time. We've found this little stall that sells 7 peso tacos-> super delicious! (even though I wonder what my father would say if he saw their hygene level...)

Ive spent a few hours on the beach every day - and im seriously thinking of making this a tradition. Going somewhere warm and lovely every single christmas. Its much better than sitting home in some cold rainy place and stressing around getting presents etc.

If I find some proper internet, ill try to upload some pictures, if I dont - youll have to suffice without.

Merry Christmas!

Room

2008-10-13T01:03:00.000-07:00

Just figured out that my cellphone(that Michael gave me) can take Panorama Pictures- so I decided to take one of my room and share it with you guys.
(click on picture to see a bigger version)

En lille update

2008-09-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

Ingen nyheder er gode nyheder. Begynder at lyde some en dårlig cliché. Ikke desto mindre er det sandt. Skolen er virkelig kommet igang, og selvom jeg kun har 4 fag har jeg utroligt meget at lave. For at bibeholde det scholarship jeg har fået, skal jeg have et snit på 3,5. Svarer sikkert nogenlunde til 10 på den danske skala. Så ja, det skal der arbejdes en del for - især fordi jeg ikke endnu helt kender systemet og ej heller har været studieaktiv i over et år.

Generelt er jeg ved at falde rigtigt godt til. Har været rigtig heldig med mit "floor" - virkelig moresomme og sjove mennesker som bor omkring mig hvilket jo er herligt.

Jeg er faktisk på vej til aftensmad(der går rygter om roastbeef og bagtekartofler)

Vil dog lige uploade nogle billeder først:

Ja, det er sandt. 3 $ eller 15kr er hvad jeg må smide for en bakke sushu. (og det er endda på et af de dyre steder)

Mit Værelse:

Udsigten fra Parken 5 mins gang fra mit værelse. (Vancouver downtown can skimtes i baggrunden.)
Det danske bidrag til B.C. Liquor Store.

Regn og Sol i Vancouver

2008-09-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

Nu har jeg snart været i Vancouver i 2 uger, og er så småt begyndt at finde mig til rette. De første 2 uger er gået enormt stærkt, og har næsten ikke haft noget tid til overs til at sætte mig ned og genoplive min halv-døde blog. Internettet kom først ordentligt op at køre i går, (og nu skulle det også virke til fulde), så har ikke egentligt ikke rigtigt haft mulighed for at sætte mig ned i ro og mag og skrive.

Den første uge var en introduktions uge, som bestod i en masse forskellige præsentationer af livet her på Simon Fraser University osv.

Anden uge var første uge med klasser.
Jeg har 4 "courses"; The World Economy, Introduction to International Studies, Intermediate Spanish og Problems in Human Geography.

Har fri hver fredag, og møder tidligst kl. 9.30. hvilket passer mig fint.
Vancouver er en virkelig dejlig by og utroligt smuk. Folk er enormt flinke og rare og utroligt hjælpsomme. Alle studerende på SFU får et U-pass (alle zoners transportkort), og offentlig transport er rigtig god - hvilket gør det herligt let at komme rundt.

Af interessante facts kan det nævnes at Sushi er absurd billigt. Spiste mig mæt i sushi den anden dag for 45 kr. (måtte faktisk bede om hjælp til at spise op, fordi jeg simpelthen ikke kunne presse mere ned..)

Den kommende uge starter skolen rigtigt, og har en del lektier jeg skal have lavet - som jeg hellere må komme igang med. Imorgen står dagen i strandens tegn, da vi for en gangs skyld har fået lidt sol vores vej.

Og sol og strand kan man jo ikke klage over.

Machu Picchu og Barnedaab!

2008-06-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

Hans og jeg I kirken sammen med vores nye guddatter Celina*. (Praesten kom ellers til at doebe hende Celinda)..... Til aftenmads hos Celinas familie efter barnedaaben. (Menuen stod paa kartofler og marsvin)

Stor sten ved Sacsaywaman.

Inkaerne lavede huller i stenen, som de saa bandt tagbelaegningen fast paa. Temmeligt imponerinde haandvaerk.

Aftensmaden:-)

Serveret....

Hans og jeg paa Machu Picchu!

Et Gammelt Inka Tempel, paa vejen til Puno.

*Nogle vil sikkert gerne vide lidt mere om hvordan Hans og Jeg endte som Gudfaedre til en katolsk barnedaab. Men den historie maa i vente med til jeg har faaet lidt soevn. Jeg kan dog afsloere at det var en meget spaendende og begivenhedsrig dag.

Peru - Land of the Incas.

2008-06-11T19:51:00.000-07:00

Ankom til Peru i forgaars. Moedte som planlagt Hans I lufthavnen og alt gik som planlagt. Efter lidt prutten om prisen fik vi en lille (skod taxe, som Hans kaldte det) hen til vores Hostel.

Meget andet er der ikke at sige end at vi sov, og tog ud til lufhavnen kl. 4 igaar morges og fangede pyjamas flyveren til Cuzco.

Vi ankom godt traette til Cuzco ved. 7 tiden og fandt et billigt hotel i en sidegade til Plaze De Armas(Centrale plads).

Selvom Cuzco er enormt turisted, og der vrimler med tour-agencies og andet goegl, er det alligevel en utroligt smuk by.

Cuzco ligger i 3,300 meters hoejde. Hoejdt nok til at man lige skal snappe efter vejret naar man kommer ud af flyveren.

Efter at have hoert flere farlige historie, og ogsaa efter selv at have oplevet hoejdesyge i Guatemala. (af alle lande.....) Saa, tog jeg godt imod de raad min gamle vaerelseskammerat fra Bolivia gav mig. Drik Coca Te.

Jo, kaere skeptikere. Det er de samme blade som man bruger til at lave cocain af. Men der skal bruges 500g blade til 1 g cocain, og det skal forarbejdes paa 100 maader. Saa ja, teen er ufarlig, og saa hjaelper den med at forebygge hoejde syge.

Hans var lidt haardere ramt, og brugte det meste af igaar eftermiddag i vandret stilling.

Imorges var det endnu vaerre og vi taenkte faktisk paa at rejse ned til lavere hoejder, for at sunde os. Men den kaere rare dame i receptionen havde en flaske ilt til raadighed som jeg administrede til Hans.

Men han kalder ikke sig selv "Indiana Hans" for ingenting, saa et par timer senere var han oppe og gaa igen og vi tog sammen ud og koebte 2 "vidunderlige" huer, som vi har udnyttet til fulde

Vi hoerte om et sted 2 km, uden for Cuzoc som hedder "Sexy Woman" (Staves vist Sacsaywaman, men hva faaen,...) og der maate vi jo op. Sexy Woman er en kaempe gammel Inca Ruin som blev brugt til at forsvare Cuzco med. Det er ufatteligt hvordan de bar sig ad med at baere disse gigantiske sten op i saaden en hoejde, og faa dem til at passe sammen, ned til mindste detalje.

Senere tog vi ned og noed to kolde lokale (meget soede) oel paa vores hotel vaerelse.
Skaal!Havde egentligt taenkt mig at skaane jer for de kommende billeder, men et godt grin skal i vel ikke snydes for:-)

Hans med sin fine nye Hue, ved siden af en Lama og en (knapt saa sexy) Peruviansk woman. (Sacsaywaman Ruinerne kan ses i baggrunden)
Mig og min fine hue. (Plaza de Armas kan skimtes i baggrunden)

Panama

2008-06-05T18:01:00.000-07:00

Er paa vej imod Panama City idag.

Det er maerkeligt at taenke paa. Jeg mindre end 4 uger tilbage af min rejse, og flyver til Peru paa mandag. Det foeles som om tiden er gaaet alt for staerkt. Ofte ville jeg oenske at jeg havde ubegraensede midler, og bare kunne rejse for evigt. Jo, det kan nogle gange godt blive en smule ensomt, og engang bliver man traet af at starte praecis den samme samtale med alle man moeder.

Hej, hvad hedder du?, hvor kommer du fra?, hvor laenge har du rejst?, hvor startede du?, hvor skal du hen?, hvad var dit hoejdepunkt?hvad laver du derhjemme? osv.

Det er selvfoelgelige normale og naturlige spoergsmaal, og jeg stiller dem da ogsaa selv af oprigtig nysgerrihed - men nogle gange bliver man bare lidt traet af 2 minutters venskaber. Da man ved at alle folk man moeder ogsaa rejser som vinden blaeser.

At Rejse er at Leve.

Forlod Rob(har rejst med ham siden en uge foer Cuba) imorges. Han har en uge mere end mig i Panama, saa han havde ikke saa travlt med at komme til Panama City.
Selvom jeg klart stadigvaek foretraekker at rejse alene, saa har det alligevel vaeret rart at have en at rejse med hvor man ikke behoever forklare alt igen og igen og igen.

Efter Cuba brugte vi 2 dage paa at komme til Bocas del Toro i Panama. Bocas er et vidunderligt sted, hvor man kan baade surfe, dykke, drikke og sole. Lige noget for mig. Det bestaar af en masse smaa caribiske oer som ligger i det nordlige Panama. Virkelig skoent.
Moedte en amerikansk fyr(Ryan) I bussen paa vej til Bocas for en uges tid siden, som "house-sitter" hele Juni og Juli for sin onkel, som er ved at bygge et hus paa en af oerne hernede. Han inviterede os ud til hans hus, og jeg tog sammen med Rob, og en dansk pige der hedder Cathrine(som vi stoedte ind I i forgaars) sammen ud til Ryans onkels hus. Virkelig fantastisk beliggenhed med jungle og havudsigt og privat strand. Alle burde leve livet paa denne maade.

Ryans nabo, Carlos sejlede mig ned ad kysten til en lille landsby hvorfra jeg fangede en bus til David, en stoerre by hvor jeg i oejeblikket venter paa natbussen til Panama City.
Skal ind og se Indiana Jones om en halv times tid. Taenkte at jeg hellere maatte finde paa noget fornuftigt at tage mig til istedet for at side her og skrive blogs.(og saa kostede billetten kun 13 kroner...super nice!)

Yihaa! Vi ses.

Cuba part 2

2008-06-05T17:55:00.001-07:00

Efter Trinidad tog vi op til Santa Clara for at besoege Che Guevara Monumentet. Meget spaendende og interessant, i hvert fald anderledes. En kaaaaempe plads, med en stor statue af ham , og en et mausoleaeum hvor der braender en evig flamme taendt af Hr. Fidel.

Dagen efter vendte vi snuden tilbage imod Havana. Endnu engang blev vi overrasket over Havanas skoenhed og atmosphere. Om aftenen tog vi op til en kaempe stort gammelt fort bygget halvt af spanierne og halvt af englaenderne, og saa en lille ceremoni, hvor en kanon blev fyret af. (alle vagterne var klaedt som 16th century engelske soldater, og der blev spillet "skotland the Brave" paa saekkepipe. En smule mystisk i midten af Havana......).

Naeste dag besoegte vi en Cigar Fabrik, og Havana Club Rom Museet. Begge to klart anbefalelses vaerdige sevaerdigheder. Isaer Cigar fabrikken er interessant, fordi man bliver vist rundt mellem alle folkene der sidder og ruller cigarer og laerer om cigarernes betydning og historie. Meget spaendende.

Dagen efter gik turen tilbage til San Jose, hvor vi noed en stor saftig boef som det aller foerste.
Mad paa Cuba er nemlig ikke noget hoejdepunkt.
(til gengaeld var vi overraskede over at se hvor mange folk der sov paa gaden I San Jose, da der paa Cuba ikke var en eneste)

C for Cuba and Country of Contrasts...

2008-05-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

Cuba har indtil videre vaeret et af hoejdepunkterne paa min tur. Ikke at det var det sted jeg foelte mig bedst tilpas, men klart det mest interessante sted, hvad angaar historie, kultur og politik.
Isaer Havana er helt fantastisk. Dets historie og kultur, bringer samtlige amerikanske byer til skamme. Ingen anden by I nord eller mellem amerika har sammenlagt haft saa stor betydning siden Colombus foerst sejlede over atlanten i 1493.

Under Kolonitiden da det meste af Latin og Sydamerika hoerte under den spanske krone, var Havana knudepunkt for alle skibe der sejlede med suger og mineraler fra Den Nye Verden tilbage til Spanien. Dette bragte stor rigdom til Havana, og den gamle Koloniale del af Havana er derfor utrolig smuk. Helt indtil Revolutionen I 1959 var Cuba USA's "Bitch", og den tidligere Diktator Batiasta, vandt et coup d'etat med stoette fra den Amerikanske Mafia som levede hoejt I Havana.
I tyverne og trediverne var Havana feriested nummer 1. for amerikanere der ville gamle, drikke og feste uden for Prohibition USA. Ogsaa i denne periode floed Havana med rigdom.

Idag er historien en helt anden.

Cuba er fuldt af kontraster. Alle boer vaere ens, da det stadigvaek er et kommunistisk land, men de folk der arbejder med(eller for) turister tjener mange gange mere end alle andre.
Bl.a. fordi turister bruger Cuban Convertible Pesos, til at betale med ting for, hvorimod alm. Cubanere bliver betalt I National Pesos, som er 24 gange mindre vaerd.

Den normale loen for en laege er omkring 30 usd om maaneden, hvorimod en taxa chauffoer med lidt sort arbejde let kan tjene over 100 usd.

Jeg tog dertil sammen med Shira fra Israel, som en Hollands fyr jeg moedte i Mexico satte mig I kontakt med, og sammen med Rob fra Botswana som jeg ligeledes moedte i Mexico, og stoedte ind i igen i Nicaragua.
Paa flyet moedte vi en svensk fyr(Jon) som rejste til Cuba alene, og besluttede os for at dele en taxa ind til Havana. Vi endte med at gaa ud og spise med ham samme aften, og efter det rejse vi 4 sammen resten af tiden.

Vi brugte de 3 foerste dage af vores tur I Havana. Flere gange blev de lokale vi snakkede med paa gaden afhoert af Politiet bagefter, for at sikre sig at vi ikke snakkede Politik.
Efter 3 dage tog vi til Vinales, hvor vi besoegte en tobaks mark, og saa en masse fine klipper.
Dagen efter tog vi ned til Maria La Gorda paa Den Cubanske Vest kyst og dykkede. Cuba har noget af Caribiens bedste dykker muligheder og Maria La Gorda var ikke en undtagelse. Utrolig god sigtbarhed, fantastiske koraler og massere af flotte fisk. Bedste dykning jeg har fortaget indtil videre.

Vi tog en privat bil(sikkert ulovligt) til Trinidad. Det kostede det samme pr. person som med bussen, og gik meget hurtigere og lettere.

Trinidad er en gammel Colonial by som skulle vaere utrolig smuk, ingen af os var dog synderligt imponeret, og maden var rent ud sagt elendig. Til gengaeld havde de(maerkeligt nok) en fantastisk bar/diskotek nede i en grotte. Virkelig anderledes og original setting.

Fortsaetelse foelger......

Costa Ribia and Costa-lot!

2008-05-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

Bookede billetter til Cuba sidste fredag. Skal af sted sammen med Rob fra Botswana og Shira fra Israel. Vi fungerer rigtigt godt sammen, saa jeg er sikker paa at det nok skal blive sjovt. Det vil sige vi skal lige have ordnet de sidste ting foer rejsen. Cuba er ikke lige let at tage til som backpacker, som f.eks. Costa Rica eller Nicaragua. Chancen for at vores kreditkort ikke virker er temmelig stor, dvs. vi skal have en masse Euro med i kontanter(da de ikke tager USD), Euro er tilgengaeld ikke helt let at fremskaffe i store summer her i Costa Rica, saa det gaar vi og grubler lidt over.

I loerdags tog jeg sammen med Rob til Tortuguero paa den Caribiske kyst. Indtil videre mit favorit sted i Costa Rica. Virkelig fredeligt stille sted, midt I en stor national park. Vi saa krokodiller, massere af aber og en stor groen soeskildpadde laegge aeg paa en nat-tur paa stranden. (en venlig skildpadde frivillig fortalte os en masse om skildpadden saa vi ogsaa blev lidt klogere hvad det angaar).
Efter to dage der, tog vi baaden ned til Cauhita som er en lille hyggelig Caribisk by, ved siden af en rigtig laekker strand. Vi tog paa en fin snorkeling tur, og saa en masse fisk og andet soeohoej.
Igaar tog vi saa bussen tilbage til San Jose.

Generelt kan det siges om Costa Lot, at ting her er meget dyrere end de er i de omkring liggende lande. Dette kan virkelig maerkes paa tegne bogen. Bruger ca. det dobbelte pr dag.

Efter Cuba tager jeg ned til Panama, og bliver der et par dage inden turen gaar videre til et endnu uvist sted.

Og saa gaar turen vel en eller anden dag ogsaa hjemad. Det er i hvert fald planen.
Er lidt traet, saa det bliver ingen billeder idag. Proever at uploade nogle naar jeg kommer tilbage fra Cuba.

Adios!

Diving!

2008-05-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

Moedte en fyr igaar, som jeg dykkede med paa Corn Islands. Han tog en del undervands billeder da vi var der. Kunne vaere fedt at have et undervandskamera!

Three, Two, One...JUMP!!!

2008-05-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

Imagine walking out on bridge that crosses a valley. 100 meters below you runs a small river.
On the bridge you stop and think to yourself, "I wonder how it must feel like to jump over the edge of the bridge and fall faaaar faaar down" After pondering a bit you realize, it ll probably be the certain death. You stand there on the bridge and speculate for a while, and the thought strikes you that "perhaps if you jump with an elastic string tied to you then you wont die!"

You invent it. It becomes world popular and gets known as Bungee Jumping.

I've got no clue if this is how bungee jumping was invented, but I'm sure the story is not far from my little tale above.

Me and a Norwegian guy I met some days ago, decided that we wanted to go Bungee Jumping. Without much discussion we booked a jump last night and went out this morning to Jump of from a bridge(of course trough a certified company!)

It's pretty scary standing there, on the edge of the bridge, looking 100 meters down, knowing that your about to fall 80 meters in free fall. You also know that there's no way back - cause then you'd feel like a wimp.

"Three, Two, One-... JUMP!" - The instructor yells and you throw yourself out and fall fall fall fall, until the string tightens and you bump up and down a few times.

Falling down towards the seemingly certain death, all you have time to yell is "Hala Ye Vala".(......F.Y.!)

I can hardly encourage every single living person to try this insane, yet safe stunt. It's an amazing adrenaline rush and lots of fun.

I'll upload some pictures at some point.

Pura Vida!

2008-05-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

Saadan siger man I Costa Rica. Hele tiden. Saadan et slang som alle bruger om alting. Pura Vida. (Oversat til Dansk betyder det noget I retning af "Rent Liv" eller "Pure Life".
Ankom til Playa Del Coco paa den Costaricanske stillehavskyst i onsdags. Mit foeste indtryk af Costa Rica var ikke videre imponerinde. Bl.a. er mange af priserne naesten danske, og derudover havde jeg haft en fantastisk tid I Nicaragua, saa det var lidt en skuffelse at komme til the "52nd state" som jeg er begyndt at kalde det. Alle taler engelsk, jeg bliver tiltalt paa engelsk af de lokale som spoerger om jeg ikke vil koebe en arrangeret tur hos deres bureau(over bliver derefter vildt overrasket naar jeg svarer paa mit gebrokne spansk). Landet er fuldt af amerikanske luksusturister, og det kan virkelig maerkes paa priserne og infrastrukturen. Hver anden foretning er en ejendomsmaegler, der vil saelge dig en byggegrund hvor du kan bygge din nye ferievilla med havudsigt. Det hele er bare - lidt for meget! Det minder mig om de middelhavsoer hvor lokale tjenere kommer loebende efter en raabende paa dansk, at de har dansk mad og dansk menú. Jeg blev 2 dage I Playa del Coco, hvor jeg tog 4 dyk. Selvom sigtbarheden ikke var fantastisk, var der et fantastisk soe-liv. Jeg saa rokker, hajer, moraener, blaeksprutter, soeheste og kaempe grupper af alle mulige slags fisk.
Loerdag tog jeg saa videre til en lille bjerglandsby som hedder Santa Elena. Santa Elena viste sig at vaere endnu vaerre hvad turisme angaar. Havde dog sagt til mig selv, at det ikke nyttede noget at beklage sig, for selvom der er mange gringos, kan stedet i sig selv jo godt vaere meget spaendende.
Santa Elena havde en smuk regnskov som jeg trekkede i et par timer om morgenen.
Paa vejen derop moedte jeg en norsk gut som jeg I gaar morges rejse sammen med til La Fortuna.

La Fortuna ligger ved foden af en stor vulkan der hedder Vulcano Arenal(sand vulkanen) , og byen har faat sit navn(den heldige) fordi den overlevede et stort vulkan udbrud i 1968. Egentligt meget spaendende, men atter en million resorts og ture og andet goegl. Nordmanden og jeg tager videre til San Jose senere idag, og saa er planen at blive der et par dage foer jeg forhaabentligtvis finder en eller anden maade at komme til Cuba paa. Det er i hvert fald min plan. Dvs. jeg kan jeg ikke just sige at jeg har en plan, maaske ville ordet "intention" vaere mere paa sin plads.
Fandt et sted med 80m bungeejump lidt uden for San José, saa det er muligt jeg laegger min vej forbi der imorgen ligeledes.
Ellers saa er min rejse aaben. Har hoert utroligt mange spaendende ting om Panama, saa jeg glaeder mig virkelig meget til at tage derned. (ogsaa hvor min tegnedreng har det bedre)
Derefter maa vi saa hvor jeg ender, et sted i sydamerika formodentligt. Har hoert fantastiske ting om Colombia - men baade Peru og Bolivia virker ogsaa enormt spaendende. Tror sydamerika er en hel rejse i sig selv.
Overvejer at tage et ophold i mine studier efter 2 aar og saa rejse gennem sydamerika. Tror det kunne vaere helt fantastisk. Men igen, saa er der jo ogsaa afrika, og Asien, og Australien man kan rejse I, for ikke at sige Europa og Gringolandia. Puhaa, verden er alt for stor.
Naa, jeg maa loebe. Tror lige jeg vil lige en time mere ved poolen(jep, mit 60kr pr. nat Hostel har pool.....(og jeg klager over at Costa Rica er dyrt?baaah... et bedre Hostel ogsaa med pool kostede kun 30kr pr nat i Nicaragua.)

Man burde arbejde hver sommer I Danmark, spare 5000 pr maaned, og saa leve vinterhalvaaret I Central Amerika, sikke et liv.

Pas paa jer selv. Ses til sommer.
Pura Vida!

Some Photos...

2008-04-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

Granada seen from a Church Tower.

Vulcano Conception at Isla de Ometepe.

Some kind of loud , yet beautiful insect.

The view from Vulcano Conception.

Surfing, Spanish and Another Volcano

2008-04-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

First of all: Big apologies for not keepin in Touch.

Det er hvad der sker naar man ikke lige sidder foran skaermen hele dagen, og naar elendige tastaturer frustrerer en til evigheder.

Jeg befinder mig I oejeblikket paa Isla de Ometepe, midt I Lago de Nicaragua.
Virkelig smuk oe, som bestaar af to store kegleformede vulkaner. (proever at uploade nogle billeder paa et eller andet tispunkt)
Igaar heikede jeg op den ene vulkan. Virkelig en smuk tur, og en fantastisk udsigt.

Sidste uge, brugte jeg I en by der hedder San Juan del Sur, hvor jeg laeste spansk 4 timer hver morgen, og surfede om eftermiddagen. Selvom surfing I starten er en smule svaert, er det virkelig sjovt og jeg tror at stoerrelsen paa boelgerne her passede perfekt til mit niveau.

Imorgen er planen at tage til Playa del Coco I Costa Rica, hvor der eftersigende skulle vaere rigtigt gode dykkemuligheder. Saa det maa jeg jo finde ud af. Ved endnu ikke helt hvor laenge jeg bliver I Costa Rica, eller hvorfor jeg tager hjem (eller hen for den sags skyld). Men det vil tiden vel vise.

Jeg vil forsoege at uddybbe lidt grundigere og uploade nogle billeder naar jeg finder en bedre computer.

Nu vil jeg gaa tilbage paa mit hostel, og se Manchester - Barcelona.
(bare fordi man er paa den anden side at jorden, betyder det ikke at de ikke har champions league fodbold).

Hasta La Vista Baby! (hvilket du ALDRIG bil hoere nogen sige hernede.....)

A Few Pictures

2008-04-18T18:29:00.000-07:00

Thats what I look like when I backpack.

The beaches of Little Corn Island.

My (half) dry tent on Little Corn Island.

Chicken Fight in León.

Tinas's "Rancho Tranquillo" in Jiquillio at the Northen Pacific Coast in Nicaragua

Sasha(Germany), Mario(US/Iran), Tina(Owner), Dennis(Owner) - at Rancho Tranquillo

The view from the top of the Lighthouse on Little Corn Island.

Corn Islands - Paradise on Earth......

2008-04-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

First of all. Of pure curiosity I would like to know how many people actually follow this blog. Not that it really matters if it 2 or 50, ill keep writing regardless - I would just be interesting to know. For instance, if all readers are Danish, ill stop writing in English. (why would I bother?)
So yeah - this first part is a test. If you read this please write a comment or email me and write the word "Fish".(for all the fish I've seen recently.)

So yeah - Last time I wrote, I was in León in Nicaragua. Last Sunday I went for a chicken fight - quite a weird a fairly disgusting experience. Its basically a lot of men who tease to chickens until they are really aggressive - and then make them fight in a ring(to death) while all the men are cheering and betting on the various chickens. Sick kind of entertainment. But yeah, so is bullfighting. I wanted to experience it myself thought. Which Im glad I did - but I have no plans of doing it again.
Chickens slaughtering each other for the sole purpose of entertaining people??? not my thing.

The day after I left for a place called Rancho Tranquillo. It's a small place in the northern part of Nicaragua, right on the pacific coast(in a small village called Jiquillio) - where an American women has a small hut.
I spent two days there, chatting to the locals having long walks on the beach and attempting to surf. Surfing was lots of fun - and I'm definitely thinking of surfing again as soon as I get to a place with waves.

I left Jiquillio Thursday - and made my way to Grenada in the late afternoon. Grenada is a beautiful old colonial town, with majestic churches and shiny colorful buildings.Despite the big number of tourists, its definitely worth a visit.

With intentions of returning to Grenada some day, I left it Friday morning.
Destination: Little Corn Island.

The Corn Islands are too paradise islands off the coast of Nicaragua. Little Corn Island where I am right now is stupidly amazing. No cars, no airplanes, no trucks, no factories. Just white sandy beaches, palm trees and crystal clear water. I've spent the last couple of days doing some fantastic diving here. Since its more or less untouched by tourist the coral reefs are very well preserved - which makes it ideal for diving. I've seen Nurse sharks, eagle rays, barracudas, sea turtles and even dolphins. Simply stunning! (and of course loads of other fish and beautiful corals)

As soon as I get a chance ill upload some pictures and make you all dead jealous.

Right now - im off to walk around the Island(its suppose to take 4 hours to walk all the way around....

Until I upload some pictures of my own you can check out this link:
http://www.ricanica.com/NICARAGUA/HOTELS/Corn_Islands_hotels/Casa_Iguana/beach_lg.jpg

Oh yeah - and remember to write "Fish" under comment.

The day I saw a Car Crash, drank mojito while having volcanic rocks between my balls, and saw a guy being beaten up for watching a norwegian girl pee.

2008-04-05T09:40:00.000-07:00

Yeah, things are fairly eventful down here. Who said Nicaragua was boring. Take yesterday for instance.

I woke up at some point yesterday morning, took a swim in my hostels swimming pool, and was convinced by two Canadians and an America to join them for a cultural tour of the town. Or well in other words, we were going to the revolutionary museum, depicting the rise of the Sandinista Revolutionary movement, and how they managed to overthrow the dictatorship - before being beaten up by US supported "Contras" operating from Honduras.
After that we went to get some delicious Nicaraguan food for lunch.
On our way back to the our hostel. A big jeep, crashed into the side of a normal car just 20 meters behind us. The normal car jammed into a light pole, and all the wires and streets light flashed and made noises. The driver of the jeep was alright, and so was the driver of the car(though a very shocked..obviously) the guy in her passenger seat was in complete shock, and sat very still with closed eyes without moving, only a slow breath showed that he was alive.
Fairly traumatizing experience. Lots a people came, and fortunately the accident happened just outside a medical clinic, so a doctor came within 2 minutes and helped out the slowly breathing guy.

We went back to our hostel and recovered with a cold beer.

An hour later me and the american girl, went to join the volcano boarding tour we had signed up for the day before.
Volcano boarding is, well, boarding on a volcano.
Imagine sledging 400 meters down a volcano with 50km pr hour. Well thats basically what it is.
amazingly thrilling experience.

Driving to Volcano Cerro Negro

Volcano Cerro Negro

View from the Top.The slope....

And down it goes...

When I came down I had small volcanic rocks all over my body. In my hard, in my armpits, in my ass, between my balls. Everywhere!

When we came back to Bigfoot Hostel(the ones who run the tour, but not the place I am staying) we got a big cold Mojito, and at that point I still had those small frustrating volcanic rocks down my underwear.
(A movie of another guy volcano boarding can be seen here)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvn3XL8o6SM

Later that night, I went out in town with a couple of guys.
We went to a couple of bars and in the end we ended up in this open courtyard, which apparently is a "after-party" place where people go when the official bars close at two.
At some point the Norwegian girl from my hostel, who was sitting at my table, went out to take a leak in a yard behind the place we were sitting, apparently some guy was watching her, cause on her way back to our table, some other guy to a big bat and hit him in the head. Kinda insane.
Not really sure if there was some other reasons for his reaction, but at least the guy(who got hit) was asked to leave the building.

So yeah, pretty eventful day. I think ill just spend today in the sun by the pool. I have no need for any more dramatic adventures the coming few days.

Leon, Nicaragua

2008-04-03T17:26:00.000-07:00

I think I'm the only backpacker in the entire world, who has spent more than a week in Tegucigalpa.(Or at least it feels that way).
I left Tegucigalpa yesterday morning, and came to Leon last night.

To start with the first.
After leaving Utila I, as mention in last post, went to Tegucigalpa to visit my friend from Seminar Camp. Tegucigalpa itself is a really sketchy and kinda dodgy town, but you always get a different experience and impression when you know someone the place you go.
I had a wonderful week in Tegucigalpa. Meeting Margee's(my friend) friends and hanging out with them so much - gave me more knowledge about life and culture in Central America than any other destination on my stay has. And I'm not talking about food, dances or beer. I'm talking about the more subconscious things, the way people act, think, talk. The way the sexes interact - and the general view upon life - family, marriage, education, business, politics - everything. Or well, not everything, but many things.
So yeah, despite the fact that Tegucigalpa, might not be the most attractive city, I REALLY enjoyed my stay. (and did I mention, that people are super-friendly???)
I spent the weekend at a CISV-Workshop, where I received training to become a Seminar Camp Staff. (for those of you who reacted "WTF???" to the word "Seminar Camp", I will kindly refer to http://www.cisv.org/programmes/seminarcamp.html for more information)

But yeah, it was pure coincidence that I happened to be in Tegucigalpa when the workshop took place. I had an amazing weekend and it was really nice to chill with CISV'ers from all of Latin America. Especially since I haven't been to a CISV camp for ages.

When I can pull myself together(I mean, IF I can....) ill eventually upload some pictures.
Tomorrow I'm going Volcano boarding....and until I elaborate in my next post, ill let you sit for a while and ponder over the following question:

What the heck is "Volcano Boarding"???

Back in Tegucigalpa

2008-03-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

After 10 wonderful days on the Island of Utila, I made my way back to Tegucigalpa yesterday.
Utila was completely amazing, and if you are into cheap diving and partying I can strongly encourage you to go there.

I took an Open Water Diving certificate, and liked diving so much that I decided to go on and take and extend my certificate to an Advanced one. This means I'm now certified to dive 30 meters down and go for night dives and other fascinating things.
Unfortunately I don't have any underwater pictures of me (or anyone else) diving. But I can assure you it was an amazing experience. Those who have have tried it, knows what I'm talking about.
Especially the wreck dive(yes, you heard right - a wreck) and the night dive was amazing!
It was really hard for me to leave.

But I finally managed to back my things and go. I took the boat back to the mainland where I can on a few different buses which eventually at 9 o'clock in the evening brought me to a dark and dodgy part of Tegucigalpa.

An extremely friendly taxi driver took me to the part of the City where my friend(Margee) lives, but since people here give their address by " its right next to the supermarket with the lions symbol across the street" the taxi driver had no clue where "Bloque 54" was. My phone was out of credit, and so was his - so we ended up stopping at a pharmacy asking random people for directions. In the end I went in to buy some credit for my phone(he was waiting outside) and called Margee. Margee didn't pick up at first, and after standing 15 minutes trying to call her I told the taxi Driver(who wanted to make sure I was ok) that he could leave and that I would be alright. Eventually she answered her phone, and it turned out I was 2 minutes walk from her house. So I eventually made it there without problems.

The whole situation makes me think about what would happen in a similar situation in Denmark. I would never be able to imagine a Danish Taxi driver being that sincerely friendly and helpful. And in general people down here(not only taxi drivers, or Hondurans) are extremely helpful and friendly, which makes its a pleasure travelling here.

I'm staying here for a couple of days together with Margee. There's some CISV thing going on this weekend, which I'm planning on attending. And then its my aim to make my way towards Nicaragua sometime next week.

When ever I see something interesting(and remember to bring my camera along) I'll upload some pictures.

Pictures

2008-03-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

Why sit indoor in front a computer, when you can chill in a hammock, play beach volley or go scuba diving and see the most amazing coral reefs???

No clue. I won't stay here for long.. I just thought I'd upload some pictures.

My Diving Gear.

Preparing for a dive.

Me on the boat back.

My Dive center. (Underwater Vision)

My Scuba course Classmates.

Underwater Vision!!!

2008-03-16T17:45:00.000-07:00

That's right. Underwater Vision, is what i´ve now got, and its also the name of the dive shop where I just finished my open water diving certification.! I just graduated the course today! Diving is completely amazing, and I could stay here for months if I didn´t have this grand plan of traveling south. I am at least staying for another 5 days to do my Advanced Divers course, which lets me go down to 30 meters depth, and will teach me many more skills.

So yeah, that's what i´ve been up to lately. Now I´m heading back to cook some dinner. Found some pesto at the grocery store, so I'm cooking some pasta dish with some people here.
Tomorrow I'm going diving in the morning to the north side of the Island, where there are suppose to be some whale sharks.!!! (don't worry they are completely harmless!).
And then its off course saint Patrick's day tomorrow, which means party at my hostel!

Take good care, and prepare for some amazing pictures!

Belize

2008-03-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

(Update 10/3 - I added a few small pictures)

Hello Again.

Internet on Belize was bloody expensive, and I've spent the last two days in a bus - so I haven't been in touch for a while.

In addition, this keyboard is terrible, so this wont be the worlds longest post - yet a small post is better than no post.

I ended up staying 6 night in total in Flores. I was planing on going to Belize Saturday, but got sick Friday evening and I didn't feel well Saturday either. Sunday was better, and Monday and Tuesday I was simply to lazy to leave. I stayed in the most fantastic little cozy hostel in Flores, called Los Amigos. They had 2 dogs, a cat and a parrot - and the entire places was so nicely decorated. Like some kind of secret jungle garden. Hard to explain, but not the worst place to be sick.

I spent most of my time in a hammock reading "Kvinder som hader Maend" By Stieg Larsson(in Danish!!). I found it on the bookshelf, and then I didn't feel like leaving before I had read the entire book. (which is why is stayed Tuesday as well).

I eventually made it to Belize on Wednesday. Belize is lovely. I really enjoyed my time there. I went straight to a small Island called Caye Caulker. Even though things are 3 times as expensive in Belize compared to Guatemala, I completely loved it. The whole chilled, relaxed Caribbean atmosphere suits me perfectly. It reminded me a bit of Jamaica. with all the Rastafarian people and stuff. A really good Experience.
On Friday i went on a stupidly amazing snorkeling tour. I´ve never tried anything like that. We sailed out with a sailboat(I guess we were around 20 people) , and then snorkeled 3 different places. The first place they had the most amazing coral reefs, and it was only 2 meters deep, so you could see everything completely up close.
(and the water was crystal clear).
Second place they had more fish than I have ever seen in my entire life, all kinds and colors. I can even describe the feeling of swimming around between blue and red and yellow schools of fishes. Those of you who have tried, knows what I'm talking about.
And the 3rd place we snorkeled among Stingrays and nurse Sharks. (yes, they are quite harmless)
I even saw a sea turtle and a Morena.(the green nasty lightning-quick fish that hides under rocks..) i also touched one of the stingrays. it felt unreal.
On the way back we drank rum punch, while tanning to the music of Bob Marley. What a trip..

But not all good thing lasts forever. and the same evening big clouds appeared on the sky and the weather forecast predicted 3 days of rain. So I decided to leave towards the Copan Ruins in Honduras the next morning(Saturday). I got company by two Swedish girls, and we made it to Copan this afternoon.(after 2 looooong days in 4 different buses).
Tomorrow I'm checking out the ruins, and after that I'll either go to Tegucigalpa to visit my friend Margee, who I meet two years ago on my CISV Seminar Camp in Amsterdam, or ill go to the Caribbean Island called Utila and spend 238USD on an Open Water PADI Diving Certificate.
Doesn't sound too bad at all..
When I manage to find a computer that works better than this one, and that doesn't tell me that my camera(with all my pictures) has a Virus(I'm a bit worried), ill see if I can upload some pictures..

Hasta luego...

Cooking Sausages over lava and other crazy stuff.

2008-03-01T08:29:00.000-08:00

Hi Again. Sorry for the inconsistency with regards to updating my blog, but hey! I'm on vacation, can't spend every other second in front of a stupid screen.
Well well, I spent last weekend in Guatemala City together with Monica and her Family. On Saturday we drove to the beach, to stay at their beach house for the night. Marco(another kid from whom I also know through CISV) came with us, and we had a really nice time at the beach place.
The sand was completely black, due to its composition of volcanic rock- which made it burning hot to walk in at day time. Auch auch.
Monday morning I want back to Antigua(without being pick pocketed in the Chicken bus), to climb the Volcano Pacaya.
Pacaya is an active volcano, and climbing it was one of the craziest and coolest things I've done so far. They have loads of organized tours from Antigua and the walk up the volcano is not in itself very demanding. But then suddenly you come to a valley that's made up of solid lava, which you walk on until you are 2 meters from red glowing floating lava. A Fantastic sight. And bloody warm as well.

I meet two danish guys on the top who had brought sausages, and they offered me one, which I of course cooked over the ridiculously warm lava. It actually tasted very well.
So yeah, if you ever come across some several thousand degrees hot lava, I can only encourage you to have a few chorizo sausages ready.

I spent the night in Antigua and went on north to Lanquin, on a long and hot ride(yet beautiful) , the next day(Tuesday).
Just outside the village of Lanquin they have an amazing natural wonder called Semuc Champey. Its basically an artificial 300 meter long Limestone bridge, which crosses a river. However some of the water flows on the actual bridge, and throughout many hundred years, this water have made small turquoise ponds which are absolutely astonishingly beautiful.
Kinda difficult to explain. Check out the pictures.

Thursday I took the bur no to Flores in northern part of Guatemala.
Flores is a lovely(small) town located on a small island in the middle of a bit lake.
Friday morning I took a tour to Tikal, which is one of the greatest Maya pyramids ever.
I liked it a lot, especially since the setting in comparison to Chichen Itza and Palenque is set in the jungle, and you therefore have to walk between the pyramids in the jungle.
On the other hand I can also feel that I am about to get "ruined". The first ruin is pretty, the second as well, but this is my forth and am slowly becoming like "yeah beautiful..just like the other 4..".
Im planing on seeing Copan in Honduras as well, and after that no more ruins for me for a very very long time..
ON my way home last night I felt a bit sick, so instead of going on to Belize today I spent and extra day here in Flores.
Im still feeling a bit nauseous and dizzy, but I don't have any fever - so I guess its just a cold or something I ate.
I guess thats all for now. Hopefully ill be on Caye Caulker(Belize) tomorrow to start my Diving Certificate on Monday.

Adios!

The day I allmost got pickpocketet, almost driven over by a bus - and starred at by almost the entire population of Guatemala

2008-02-22T17:14:00.000-08:00

I didn't know whether i should cry or laugh. I went for the latter.

On my way from Antigua to Guate City, I sat next to this seemingly friendly guy on the bus. He helped me finding the right spot to get off, so I could get on to the point were I was suppose to meet Monica's brother. Standing waiting to get off the buss(with my big backpack on my bag) he stands very close to me, and with his hand covered by his jacket puts his hand down my pocket.

Since i've been pick pocketed once before in Sierra Leone, I was not a moment in doubt about what was going on. I took up my wallet and indeed my plastic card was missing. I looked at him very determined and told him to give me back my plastic card witch he had in his hand under his jacket. He said something about not having it, while putting it into his handbag. (Very indiscrete, since I saw him doing it..). I pointed and started talking louder, that he had it in there and that he should give it back to me. And when it became too embarrasing for him, he took it up(again very indiscretely) and dropped it on the floor - and then pointed and say "its there" and then picked it up and gave it to me, as if it had been there all the time.

So yeah I got my card back just as the bus arrived at my stop.

What makes the situation even more funny is that the plastic card he took, was my 10 Dollar IYTC Card...(International Youth Travel Card), which wouldn't be to much use for him...

(I don't carry any major valuables in my wallet when traveling). But then, you cant see what card you steal when you reach down someone's pocket.

As "Pim" from " Drengene fra Angora" once said it " Sad.......but funny".

So I came off the bus, and found myself a taxi to the place where I was suppose to meet Monica's brother. While trying to cross the street, this bus nearly ran me over. It seemed like it speeded up, just as it saw me(Maybe it did?). So I had to take 5 huge and very quick steps with my big backpack in order to avoid getting hit....

I eventually made it to the square known as the Obilisco, (there's an obilisc in the middle of the square). However, due to the rush hour, Monica's brother was a bit delayed so I had to stand for 30 minutes with my big yellow backpack and my blond(i didn't have time to dye it) hair, while I was being starred down by every single car that drove by. ( The square is basically the center of a major roundabout).

So yeah, what am I even doing here, and who is Monica??? Monica was a kid I meet when I was Junior Leader(JC), at a CISV Village. We spoke a lot back then, and she told me to write here if I ever made it to Guatemala. Which I eventually did. So now I'm here.

Spending the weekend together.

So yeah, I left Eva and Laura in Antigua today.

I spent the last week together with them in Antigua. Antigua is a very beautiful town, and in comparison with rest of guatemala, very safe - so it was a very nice place to stay for a week. Monday I was a bit ill so I didn't really do much. Tuesday I felt better and I went to a pub to watch some champions league football. In the evening I went with Eva and Laura to a bar that had Happy Hour.

Wednesday I took hours of spanish with a private teacher. It only cost 33 Quetzales(20kr, 4 USD) an hour and you learn SO much! Im seriously thinking of taking some more classes when I get further south.

Thursday I went with Eva and Laura to see their project in the morning. They are volunteering as teachers as a school for very very poor kids. I helped out with some kids who are academically weak, but very very nice and funny. I really enjoyed my time there, and it reminded me of my time as a teacher in Denmark.

And yeah, then today I made my way to Guatemala.

Ill stay here for the weekend, and then its my intention to go up towards Tikal(some nice Maya Pyramids) and eventually make my way to Belize to do some Scuba Diving....but we'll see how long it takes before I get there...

Climbing a Vulcano and Riding a Chicken Bus

2008-02-15T11:51:00.000-08:00

I think its time for a little update on my part. Last time I was in touch with you was eehh.hmm..let me see...Some time ago. Well it feels like a long ago, cause I've experienced a lot since.
Lets start where i left you guys.Which was In Huehuetenango(locally just known as Huehue).
I had been emailing a while with this Danish Guy called Emil, who is biking around in central America, and he asked me if I wanted to come hike with him on Vulcano Tajumulco. I thought the idea sounded great, so instead of going on from Huehue to Panjachel, as planned I instead decided to go to Quetzaltenango(known as Xela).
I went to some random bus in Huehue which said "Terminal" on the front, believing that it would take me to the bus terminal. And it did, just not the 1st class, but instead the "Chicken Bus" Terminal. Having no clue how I ended up there or what to do now, a guy yelled "XELA XELA" and pointed at me whereas I answered "si" and was pointed in direction of a bus. "Chicken Buses" are basically old American school buses, painted in different colors - that go everywhere in Guatemala for very very cheap. Think I paid 20 Quetzales(13kr) for a 2 hour trip.
After 5 min. ride the driver suddenly pulled of to the side, and went out of the bus indicating that he needed to visit the bathroom. So the entire bus had to sit and wait for 20 min, until he was done. In the mean time we had the chance to buy something from one of the fifteen salesmen who came in and held great speeches about their amazing products, such as "the pen with built in Calendar", or an "anatomy-book"(don't ask me why the heck a guy thought he could sell and anatomy book on a chicken bus, but the situation itself was quite entertaining)
.
Eventually the bus driver came back, and we made our way to Xela.
In Xela, I found a cab and went by a nice Hostel.

Later that evening(Tuesday) i meet up with Emil. He told me that the tour he had been talking about had been cancelled due to too few sign ups, bus if I wanted to we could do the tour on our own. Since I was already there, I thought it would be stupid not to try to climb the volcano, so we agreed to meet next morning to see if we could find a place where we could rent sleeping bags, and sleeping mats(since I didn't bring any).
Next day, after renting sleeping bags and packing, we headed of to Volcano Tajumulco. It took us around 3 hours to get to the starting point, with two different chicken buses. So at 4 o´clock we started the hike. After almost 3 hours hike, it became dark and we decided to camp at something that looked like an actual camping place. (at least it was filled with trash...so someone must have been there before us).

Due to the high altitude, we were unable to lit a fire so we had to survive on the bread and tuna we had brought. In the night it was freezing cold(below 0 Celsius), so I praised myself lucky for bringing my skiing underwear, which kept me warm.
Next morning at 5,00, Emil woke me up and we spent another hour climbing the rest of the way to the top of Tajumulco(4200 Meters). The view at sunrise was amazing! Really fantastic!
On our way back, we got lost on our way down, but ended up finding the right way anyway. There were no buses from the starting point, so we hitchhiked one hour to the nearest city, from where we caught the chicken bus back to Xela.

Yesterday(Friday), I took the bus to Panajachel, on the shore of Lago de Atitlan, where I meet up with Eva and Laura(from UWC). It was fantastic to see the two again, especially here in Guatemala.

We spent the day sailing back and forth across the Lake to see the small villages. Tomorrow we're going to Chichi, to check out a gigantic market. It'll be lots of fun.

2008-02-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

What way did he go?

2008-02-11T14:04:00.000-08:00

I added a google Map function, so you can see what route a took. Might be helpful, if you dont exaclty know where in Guatemala "Huehuetenango" i located...

Enjoy!

(Go a bit upwards on the map to the right, and you should be able to see my route)

En update vedr. Boblen

2008-02-11T13:29:00.000-08:00

For en god ordens skyld synes jeg lige jeg vil dele nedenstaaende information med jer.
Saa ja, der har vi svaret paa hvorfor der var saa mange Bobler i San Cristobal.

(En stor tak til min far for dette lille insigtsgivende indslag:-)

Hej igen Jacob,

Glemte at kommentere på din iagttagelse om de mange mexikanske VW-bobler.

VW har i mange år produceret biler i Mexico.

På den mexikanske fabrik fortsatte de med at producere de gamle bobler indtil for få år siden.

Dels fordi de var populære, billige, enkle og driftssikre, og dels fordi myndighederne ikke før for nylig stillede de samme krav til sikkerhed og ren udstødning som stilles i Europa.

Faktisk blev der en overgang importeret VW-bobler fra Mexico til DK af entusiaster som ville have "en rigtig folkevogn" selv om de var teknisk forældede.

Ankom til Guatemala(Huehuetenango) her til morgen. Ikke saerligt turistet, men folk er enormt flinke og rare - hvilket jo tegner godt for min fortsatte faerd i Guatemala.
Regner med at tage videre til Lago Atitlan imorgen, med mindre jeg finder paa noget andet i mellemtiden.

Hasta Luego....

Frio Frio!

2008-02-10T14:35:00.000-08:00

Kaeft jeg froes igaar nat. Der er piv koldt om natten her. Er stadigvaek I San Cristobal de Las Casas.
Igaar tog jeg sammen med den Israelske pige ud og saa en Maya landsby en halv times koersel fra San Cristobal. Ikke nogen saerligt spaendende tur, maaske skulle man have haft en guide med. VI saa i hvert fald nogle utroligt smukke syerske-huse. (Artisan Workshops?) og en masse boern der ville saelge os baade det ene og det andet.
San Cristobal er i sig selv en utroligt smuk og idylisk by. En af mexicos smukkeste siges det. Den ligger temmeligt hoejt oppe i bjergene, og som jeg konstaterede igaar nat kan der blive temmeligt koldt. Alle husene i den centrale bydel er bygget i samme koloniale stil, og alle ligger i et fint net af gader og straeder. Der er en hel turister, men ikke nok til at det oedlaegger byens gode atmosfaere.
Derudover er der helt vildt mange Folkevogns-Bobler. Aner ikke hvad de laver her, og hvorfor lige boblen er saa utroligt populaer. (og vi snakker den gamle version). Maaske er det fordi den let kan snige sig rundt i de smalle ensrettede gader. Hvad ved jer, der er i hvert fald mange af dem.

Min Israelske rejsepartner tog videre til Puerto Escondido idag, og jeg tager muligvis til Huehuetenango i Guatemala imorgen tidlig. Har ikke helt besluttet mig endnu. Indtil videre bliver jeg i hvert fald en dag ekstra. Der skulle vaere nogle utroligt smukke "Canyons" heromkring, men paa den anden side er der saa mange forskellige ting jeg gerne vil se paa vejen, og man kan jo ikke se det hele. Saa ja, det maa jeg lige finde ud af.

Ud over det jeg ser og oplever, har jeg det generelt godt. Har moedt rigtigt mange interessante og sjove mennesker, og isaer Backpacker-hostel opholdenen er et godt moedested for solo-rejsende. Her er overraskende mange folk, I alle aldre som kommer rejsende hertil alene.
I Merida snakkede jeg med en amerikansk mand paa 40, som havde besluttet sig for at flytte til et varmt sted 2 maaneder, hvor han kunne laere spansk, og saa faldt valget paa merida. (Han arbejde som noget It-konsulent, som aabenbart kunne ordnes over internettet).

Derudover moedte jeg, tro det eller ej, en pige jeg gik I skole med paa Birkeroed Gymnasim. Lousie (eller Lo) gik i klasse med Helene, og hun havde vaeret nogle maaneder paa hoejskole I Costa Rica og var nu i Merida. Verden er nogle gange lille.

Jeg snakkede med Eva og Laura I Antigua, og glaeder mig meget til at se dem begge. Ved ikke helt hvornaar jeg faar tager der ned. En eller anden dag, kommer jeg jo nok dertil.

Well well, saa fik jeg alligevel skrevet en del, og kompenseret for de forrige mangelfulde indlaeg. Jeg har desvaerre ikke adgang til min Ipod(hvorpaa jeg har mine billeder) herfra, saa det bliver ikke til nogle billeder denne gang. Too Bad. Proever at opdatere med billeder en eller anden dag.

Nu vil jeg gaa over og laegge mig i en haengekoeje, og laese en bog. Det tror jeg nemlig lige jeg kan overskue.

San Cristobal de Las Casas

2008-02-08T10:29:00.000-08:00

I made it to San Cristobal de Lasa Casas last night.
After saying goodbye to the two Australian Twins in Merida(they were off to Mexico City) I meet up with a girl from Israel(who I had spoken to in Merida) in Palenque. Very interesting always to travel with new people. In a few days time she´ll be going on to the west coast, whereas I think ill be heading towards Guatemala. Not sure yet exactly. But I guess thats where ill go. Well see.
The pyramids of Palenque were fantastic; located in a jungle environment with much fewer tourists than in Chichen Itza, and the ability to climb up all the pyramids. Definitely a place worth visiting.
I only spent 1 night in palenque, and went on a "water-fall" tour the coming day(yesterday).
The tour took is by some amazing waterfalls, and the most fantastic blue river. Im stil not sure why the river was blue.. but blue indeed it was. I ate lunch with the Israeli girl, and two other backpackers, one a funny/crazy elementary school teacher from California and a guy from Botswana(how cool is that?????) .

Anyways, ill might meet up with the Botswanan guy at some other point, hes going to Belize as well to do some diving..so yeah. Thats my plan as well.
After seeing the waterfall we went in this little volkwagen bus to San Cristobal, which is a 5 hour ride on small mountain roads. Located in the south mexican highlands, san cristobal can under no circumstances be considered a warm city. last night the temperature dropped to 7 degress celcious. uff uff, after coming from warm Yucatan.
Anyhow: the city is veyr very beautiful and has a wonderful atmosphere. All house are the same colonial style with different colors and small gates.
Definitely worht a visit.
I dont know what my plans are for the coming days, but I guess time will show.

Uxmal, Cenotes and Campeche

2008-02-05T15:35:00.000-08:00

I took the bus to campeche this morning. Im only staying here for the day before going on to Palenque in the evening, on an overnight bus. The city is very nice a pretty, but for some reason completely day. I have this feeling its a national holiday today, or something like that, but since I dont have a guidebook. (why dont I have one???stupid me) I have no clue.
Anyways, I've been spending the last couple of days in Merida together with to Australian girls (who happened to be twins), very entertaining and funny people.

Sunday, we want on a tour to see the Mayan Pyramids of Uxmal, which was a fantastic sight. They are just as fantastic as those fo Chichen Itza, but less touristy and the feel a bit more authentic.

Yesterday we went on a Cenote tour, which was completely Amazing. Cenotes are big sink wholes, filled with the clearest nicest fresh water. Kind of like a natural well.
We visited two different centones where we snorkled, and then had fantastic Mexican lunch.

Arrived in Merida

2008-02-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

I made it to Merida yesterday evening. Merida is a very lovely typical mexican(yucatan) city, with a nice and warm atmosphere.

The bus I went with felt more like a spaceship, with gigantic seats and television, and coffee stand in the back. Quite cool.

I spent the morning taking a free guided tour around at the old central square, listening to various stories about the different buildings and famous people who helped create this place. etc. quite interesting but our guide was not very good at english so it was quite difficult to keep track of what he said.

There's a Carnival going on at the moment(i figured out last night when i arrived) so I think ill spend the coming days partying at the Carnival and perhaps see some pyramids or snorkel in some cenotes(sink holes).

The interne here is quite fast so I uploaded some pictures from my stay at the "floating Island".

This is us helping Richie to make nets of plastic bottles, which will then be attached to a pallet which will be a component of the Island.

The floating Island at sunset.

Me and the initiater Richie. Standing in front of his little ourdoor (on land) camp.

All food was cooked here over open fire.

Me and a dutchman named Erik, on our way back to the ferry towards Cancun.

The Artificial Floating Island made of Recycled Garbage...

2008-01-29T17:33:00.000-08:00

Today just after breakfast a man approached me and asked if I wanted to go with him to see his floating island. I was very suspicious. and thought "What the heck is all this about?". Anyways. After assuring me that he didn't want any money, just wanted to show me his project, and if i liked it I could stay for free(with food) and help out a few hours a day with building the island, i decided to go. Comfortably in the back of his truck we drove down the coast of Isla de Mujeres to the place where he is building his Island.

And I was completely amazed. The guy is completely crazy,yet wonderfully passionate and motivating. The island is build of used bottles which are then put into nets who are tied together under pallets. These pallets are then tied together to create an island. On the island he then puts earth and plant trees. Its really fascinating.

he had an island some years ago who got destroyed by a hurricane, so now hes building a new one. The most fascinating ideal project for volunteers from UWC'ers. I think I'm going there tomorrow to help out for a few days. Everything is out in the open and hes really creative with all kinds of things.

Isla De Mujeres

2008-01-28T20:07:00.000-08:00

(Updated with picture the 29/1)

Im currently on an island called Isla de Mujeres. A very nice small island just outside Cancun(Mexico), in contrast to cancun, Isla de Mujeres seems very authentic and actual. Of course there are many tourist but there are no fancy gigantic hotels, and instead there are a lot of backpackers. I've met loads of interesting people so far.
Today, I biked around the Island together with a guy from Sweden and another guy from Germany. Very beautiful island and the people are very nice.

The hostel (Poc-Na Hostel) is fantastic, and extremely chilled. Its located right onto the beach - and the atmosphere is really relaxed and chilled. I spoke to a Dutch backpacker yesterday, who just finished his education as a journalist and on our way out to find some food for dinner, i told him about out project in sierra leone and he got very interested and thought of joining. I can really feel what advantages it has given me, that I have been in a country that is far less developed that Mexico(red. Sierra Leone) and that I speak some spanish. Many of the other backpackers dont speak a word spanish - and I can really see how they are handicapped by that. I already feel more comfortable speaking, and I guess itll only become better as time passes by. Hopefully.

I promised i'd upload some pictures. But I dont have my camera with my right now. So i'll have to wait untill next time. But dont worry..they'll eventually come. At some point....
I guess thats all for now.
My plan for tomorrow is to spend a day reading a book on the beach, but as so many other things itll might change. who knows. Maybe something interesting shows up....wouldnt surprise me.

In Cancun

2008-01-26T13:10:00.000-08:00

(Updated with picture 29/1)

I put Michael and Ann-Marie on the plane this afternoon, before finding myself a deasent hostel to to live at. I´m currently in Cancun, on the north east corner of the Yucatan Peninsula.
The past days I spent together with my Family in Valladolid(2 nights) and afterwards 1 night together in Cancun.
In Valladolig we went to see the Pyramids of Chichen Itza(internally known as Chicken Pizza), who are great Mayan Pyramids more than a thousand years old. Really impressive. Its sometimes hard to understand that people where able to build such fascinating structures without any tools or modern machinery.

Valladolid itself is a very cozy and relatively small city. Very relaxed in comparison to the push and pulsating life of Cancun. Cancun is one gigantic Las Vegas, just located on the seashore instead of in the middle of a dessert. And even though the country is Mexico, the prices are still a bit higher here in Cancun since most of the tourists are rich Americans and Canadians.

So far I haven´t met a single person from Scandinavia. A bit odd, seeing that we scandinavians tend to travel a lot. On the other hand perhaps, scandinavians are smart enough to aviod tourist traps like Cancun. (and instead fall into traps on the mediterranian Islands instead.)

Haven´t really made any plans yet. Im thinking of going off to this Island calld "Isla De Mujeres" tomorrow. They say the beaches there are amazing. well well. well see about that.
this compl. doesnt have USB acces(or at least non that I can acces). so no pictures today. ill try to upload some next time I get online.

ciao. for now.
or well it would be better to say Adios...

Valladolid(In Danish)

2008-01-24T13:50:00.000-08:00

If any non-danish speak person is follow this blog, well; too bad. Learn Danish.:-)
(Or wait for next post)

Saa, jeg klarede mig videre fra Playa del Carmen. Playa Del Carmen ligger et stykke nede af kysten paa Yucatan Halvoen, og det er der vi har befundet os de sidste 4 dage. Vi boede paa et fantastisk All-inclusive Resort lige ned til vandet. Alt var inclusiv, og deres Mojitos var overordentligt gode. Virkelig et sted hvor man kunne slappe af. Saadan; ligge i solen hen ad eftermiddagen - svoemme lidt i poolen, hvorefter man svoemmede hen til baren(jep, de havde en pool bar) og fik sig en Mojito, eller en Caipirinha eller hvad man nu havde lyst til. Ikke helt uudholdeligt. Igaar formiddags tog vi ned om morgenen og svoemmede med Delfiner. Det var ogsaa virkelig en fantastisk oplevelse som bare SKAL proeves. Delfiner er virkelig nogle fascinerende dyr. Helt utrolige. Men ja, dem svoemmede vi rundt med lidt tid. Foer vi tog tilbage til vores hotel og chekkede ud. Derefter tog vi en bus 2 timers tid til en by der hedder Valladolid som ligger centralt pa Yucatan halvoen. Idag badede vi I en eller anden kilde, med drypstens ting ned fra loftet, (ret fedt) og imorgen er planen saa at vi skal ud og se en pyramida(Maya) der hedder Chitzen Itza (udtales lidt i retning af "Chicken Pizza")

Saa ja, alt i alt er her dejligt og rart. Det bedste er dog at man ikke piv fryser naar man gaar udenfor - selvom vi har haft en del diskusioner om hvor koldt der skal vaere i rummet(Der er AC).
Jeg synes ikke der skal vaere alt for koldt, for taepperne er ultra tynde..men af en eller anden grund finder mine familiemedlemmer det meget lokkende at skrue helt ned til 10 grader C.
(maaske er det fordi saadan et indendoers(larmende AC anlaeg er fascinerende).

Tror det var alt for denne gang. (og endda paa Dansk).

Ciao ciao

Life is Hard...

2008-01-20T14:27:00.000-08:00

For some reason I ended up in the worst internet cafe in playa del carmen(mexico), so I cant upload any pictures this time. (the internet is simply too slow...).
But ill try to describe my world thorugh the written word. We´re staying at "all-inclusive" resort right next to the beach. Everything in the place is included in the price. and I mean everything. the food is outstanding. and you can grab as much as you want all day long. mexican, italian, greek. american anything you wish. all alcohol is free. I got 5 caipirinhas last night and 3 mojitos. I ended up sitting talking to this mexican guy who work there for his vacantions, and a russion girl and her dad. (I guess its normal custums for russion girls to bring their dad along when they go drinking??? Or perhaps he brough her with him..)
anyways. it was great fun - and so was the time in the pool today.
I just want you all not to worry - cause I have nothing to complaing about. Im planing on moving here permanently, and giving up everything thats called education - and instead just chill here and relax.

Well well.. i better get out of this crappy shit whole, and find a place with proper internet. slow internet freaks me out.
ill upload some pictures when I get a chance.

Miami Beach - A chillers Paradise.

2008-01-19T07:19:00.001-08:00

Miami Beach is what Miami Beach wants to be. Very relaxed. The cars are driving slowly, even though they are all sports cars or SUV's. Most people are walking. There are fashionable boutiquies all over the place and very nice cafes and restaurants. The beaches are amazing. Lovely! I spent yesterday morning on the beach tanning. (im in desperate need of sun) and then spent the afternoon walking around with Adriana's(whom I went to school with in Norway) sisters, before meeting up with Adri's mother and grandmother. All lovely and very nice people.

:-)

I uploaded some pictures on my picture webfolder. the adress is www.picasaweb.google.com/jacob.lennheden

Thats all for now. Im catching the plane for Cancun(mexico) in a few hours time. Hopefully the weather is just as good.

Made it to Miami

2008-01-17T19:11:00.000-08:00

After spending one night in Paris where I meet up with Ted from my time in Norway, and speaking to a guy in the hotel lobby who knew Susanne and Eske, who was runing the Leirskule in Norway, I made it safely to Miami. My flight was 2 hours delayed from copenhagen to paris, so i missed my connecting flight. This meant that AirFrance got me a hotel, with breakfast and dinner included. Under other circumstances, I wouldn't have minded an overnight in Paris - but this time I would have preferred to go directly to Miami. But well, here I am though a few hours late.

Tomorrow I'll spend relaxing on the beach and shopping before my journey goes on towards Mexico.

Here is a Picture of Ted and Me in Paris.

Sorting out the final details.

2008-01-12T13:10:00.001-08:00

So, the day of departure is coming closer in a steady pace. Wednesday that is. I'm starting in Miami where I will spend 3 days relaxing and shopping, and meeting the family of a close friend of mine. Then onto Mexico where I will spend the first 10 days together with my mother and brother, before I go on, on my own adventures.

This blog will hopefully serve as the place where you get insights into what I'm currently doing.
It is my intention to update the blog freuquently, however I cannot promise that this will be done through my journey. Important factors such as, Internet accessibility as well as worth-writing-about-ability plays a big role. We'll see, time will show.

This was all for now. Soon to be updated from the other side of the pond....

Ankommet I Sierra Leone

2007-07-11T06:34:00.000-07:00

Freetown, d 10. July kl. 23.30 I Vores Guest House:

Så, dette er første indlæg på min blog, fra Sierra leone.
Jeg ankom til Sierra Leone sent I går aftes, og blev hentet I lufthavnen af min co-year fra Norge, Sowande. Turen herned gik fint, men jeg blev dog 2 timer forsinket, da mit fly blev nødt til at lande I Monrovia(Liberia) før det kunne lande her I Freetown. Årsagen var at landingslysene I monrovia ikke virkede, og de derfor var nødsaget til at lande før det blev mørkt. (Flyet flyver fra London og sætter folk af I både Freetown og Monrovia).
Så ja, mit første indtryk af Afrika var et par landings lys der ikke virker.
Ellers lavede vi ikke meget igår. Jeg kørte med Sowande og hans fætter(og 3 andre) I en meget proppet bil, fra lufthavnen hen til det sted hvor vi skulle bo. Vi bor I øjeblikket I et "Guest House" som er et slags billigt hotel. Meget fint og det dækker fuldt ud vores behov, så det er jo fint.
Lige da vi ankom igår, skulle vi afsted igen(dette var hen ved 12 på aftenen og jeg var godt træt) til et Radioshow, som David og Mathias skulle deltage I. Det handlede om at aktivere ungdommen I Sierra Leone. Meget spændende egentligt, selvom jeg fatter hat af hvad de siger, når de snakker Kreol-engelsk.
Da jeg endelig kom hjem i seng var jeg godt træt og sov som en sten under mit lagen og mit myggenet. Her er ca 25 grader om natten og mega fugtigt, så det er ikke altid lige behageligt om dagen. Men man kan ikke få det hele.
Idag brugte vi dagen på at besøge diverse mennesker, bl.a. British Council, og National Museum of Sierra Leone for at høre om de ville være med som partnere til et projekt David kører sammen med The Swiss Council om menneskerettigheder. Det var også temmeligt spændende. Vi fik gået en masse rundt I Freetowns gader, og kørt en masse med taxa, og ALT har været enormt spændende og nyt. Her er virkelig meget fattigt, og der er enormt meget slum og SÅ mange gadesælgere, men ellers virker her meget meget sikkert, og alle er venlige og rare - hvilket gør det til en fed by at være I. Det virker som om at folk er så trætte af den lange borgerkrig, at ingen gider at have våben eller slås. (Hvilket jo er meget heldig når man er turist).
Her til eftermiddag/aften tog vi så ud på stranden og badede. Vandet er vidunderligt varmt og rart, dog meget salt. Alt gik glat indtil Mathias var uheldig og fald forkert ned I sandet og fik sig en kæmpe hjernerystelse med dertilhørende flænge bag øret.
Heldigvis var der nogle flinke folk der hjalp os, og vi fandt en taxa og kom på hospitale hvor Mathias fik 3 sting.
Han lå 1 times tid på en ventestue og fik drop, så han kunne sunde sig over hjernerystelsen og komme lidt til sig selv.
Det I sig selv, har nok været den mest begivenhedsrige del af min tur indtil videre. 1 time på et Hospital I Sierra Leone.
Vi lå på en lille sove-sal, hvor lyset gik ud 10 minutter efter vi kom, fordi de ikke havde mere benzin til generatoren, og de tændte derfor stearinlys. Der lå 10 mennesker på et meget lille område, og udover Mathias lå der 2 med Malaria, 1 med gul feber, og nogle andre som jeg ikke fandt ud af hvad var galt med. Mathias havde lidt ondt I nakken og var lidt forvirret (hvilket man jo kan forvente efter et hårdt slag I hovedet), men havde det ellers fint nok.
Så ja, men kan med rette sige at mine første 24 timer I Sierra Leone har været meget begivenhedsrige, hvilket jo kun er fedt.
Hvis resten af tiden bliver ligeså begivenhedsrig, uden at noget går galt, så er det jo kun godt.

Freetown, 11 Juli kl. 14.00 Internet CAfe

Mathias har det meget bedre, men er stadigvaek en smule oer i hovedet. Vi har rykket vores planer en dag, saa vi tager til Bo imorgen, istedet for idag. Det er en ret lang koeretur paa meget daarlige veje, hvilket ikke er det bedste hvis man er lidt svimmel og har hovepine.
Resten af dagen skal vi bruge paa at koebe fodbolde som vi skal have med til Sahn Malen, som en gave til boernene.

Der er foroevrigt snart valg i Sierra Leone, saa alle folk gaar rundt paa gaden i forskellige farver og marcherer. Enten Roed, Groen eller Orange.
Har endnu ikke fundet ud af hvad de forskellige partier staar for, men der er ca. 1,9 mill. der har registreret sig til at vaelge ud af 2,5 mill. stemmeberretigede, hvilket jo et flot hoejt tal omstaendighedderne taget i betragtning.

Jeg glader mig til koereturen imorgen, og se hvordan landet ser ud uden for hovedstaden.
Jeg haaber jeg kan finde en internet cafe der saa, jeg kan opdatere denne blog.
Ciao for nu.

A Month without school

2007-06-21T03:59:00.000-07:00

Today it is 4 weeks ago I left RCNUWC. Feels a bit strange to think of. I don't really feel I've accomplished anything particular since I came back. Not that one ought to accomplish something all the time, but I feel I've wasted quite a lot of time on just hanging around. Like now.

I've gotten a job as a substitute teacher at my old elementary school. The pay is good, and I enjoy working with the kids, but the schedule is very flexible, which makes it a bit hard to work with in the long run. So yeah - Hopefully when I come back it becomes more stable, if not - I'll have to find something else. We'll see.
I'm thinking of going down talking to the local restaurant. Someone said they were hiring people. As long as the pay is good, and I enjoy the work - then I'm happy.
I've got nothing else to do next year anyway.

I'm going off to Sweden this weekend. There's a big party in Malmö where are lot of CISV are coming. It'll be good to see all the people from the school again.

Other than that I have a tight and stressful schedule the next few weeks. Lovely!.

-Jacob

Never more IB

2007-05-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

No more words needed. Finished my final examination today. Spanish! and now I'm done!!!
An amazing feeling!

On Kayak

2007-05-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

In this part of Norway, I am truly surrounded by an amazing nature. Unfortunately I don't really feel I have enjoyed it as much as I could, but on the other hand - high mountains and deep fjords just aren't the same in darkness and rain - and those two things we have more than enough of up here(270 days of rain).

However, I took a break from the studying and packing yesterday - and went on a kayaking trip with my Spanish teacher. It was an amazing trip, and despite the very bad weather forecast the weather actually turned out to be really nice. How lucky.
(The first picture shows how we started)

We went all the way out through Flekke-fjord, which is the fjord in which the school is located(I mean its not located IN the fjord -but right next to). And then continues left towards Dale, being the nearest city big enough to contain a bookstore.

On the way we went by fish farm, where they "make" salmon. Very interesting in fact.

The nature in general was just stunning. I haven't often experienced anything like that - and especially as a Dane, it's really fascinating to kayaking surrounded by major mountains.

I'll post a few more pictures in the end.

Other than that, the last time has been very weird. My corner feels very impersonal and empty. I've taken down all decorations, and I have packed most of my stuff down in suitcases, for not to talk about all the stuff I've passed on to first years.
Tomorrow will be a crazy day - wake up, more packing, saying goodbye to people, writing in people's yearbook - and then in my case - Spanish exam. After the exam we have approx. 1½ hour before we are going to the Graduation Dinner. It'll be very weird.

Anyways. I promised some pictures - here they come:

Det at blive student (DK)

2007-05-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

Det føles på mange måder meget mærkeligt. Og alligevel på nogle måder helt normalt.
Efter denne uges 2 Dansk Eksamener har jeg nu kun 1 eksamen tilbage. Spansk. Næste Onsdag.
Vi rejser torsdag. Kl. 19.00
Mærkeligt. Det er meget mærkeligt at tænke på. Det at jeg skal rejse.
Og at jeg bliver student. Bum!
Så er IB'en overstået. Glæder mig på en måde, til at få den overstået, men ved også at det betyder at jeg må forlade dette sted.

Nå ja - der kan man bare se. Nu får jeg besøg - må studere spansk....

The Act of Keeping Alive.

2007-05-11T00:25:00.000-07:00

I Survived! I managed to survive! Amazing. These past weeks I have studied like hell. Never before in my life have I studied so much.

The past week I labelled "Week of Hell", due to the fact that I had exams everyday, and 2 exams yesterday(Thursday).

Last weekend I studied math more than 15 hours a day, and yesterday night (after 2,5 hours history exam in the morning and 2,5 hours chemistry exam in the afternoon), I stayed up until 4.30 to study for Chemistry paper 3.
After less than 3 hours of sleep I took the exam this morning, and fortunately the questions we're brilliant.

So yeah, I never thought this day should come, but I'm done with the most Academically intense week of my life. Studying everyday intensively until 2-3, waking up doing exams, and continuing studying. Studying at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Trying to cram in as much information as can be in a head.

Now, I've only got Danish and Spanish left, and there ain't much you can do for neither subject.
So, my plan is not - to chill!!! And enjoy my last days at uwc..how sad.

But right now I'm just happy to be over with all the exams.

Never more math

2007-05-08T01:22:00.000-07:00

I believe there is no need for more words.

Never more math.

I am in the middle of "Week of Hell".

The IB is a system that enjoys to torture students.
Except for in Denmark the IB is thus very well recognised around the world.
A good example of this is: Math Methods.
I just finished my paper 2 today.
Math Methods is a killer for all Nordics. Mainly because Math education stinks in the Nordic Countries.

Anyway - it is equivalent to math B in danish High schools. WTF? Methods is at least 10 times more difficult than math A.
And IB Math Higher ought to be the same as math A++ in Danish High schools.

Ok - I've got History coming up tomorrow and Thursday, as well as Chemistry Thursday and Friday.

I'm going to have so much fun:-)........NOT!.

Well, back to the books..

Environmental Activist - or something like that.

2007-04-28T06:51:00.000-07:00

Ungdommens Gulating. Undomg= Youth, Gulating - an ancient meeting place where important decisions were reached through a democratic process.
This venue, was host for Climate Conference yesterday.
More info can be found here:http://www.ungdommensgulating.com/

I guess it had the potential to be good, but in many ways I feel it was over advertised as the greatest thing ever. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING new came up. It was the same thing we've heard a million times. The humans have caused Global Warming and you, the youth, (we red.), are the ones who has the power to prevent the "biggest threat in human history".

So yeah, I spoke to a few people who liked it, but I wonder how much educational value they actually got out of it. I mean, personally I thought the music was very nice, but yeah - as I said, this conference has not made me an Environmental Activist.
I've got no immediate plans of going out with banner and yelling and screaming.

As one man put it "I am preaching to the choir" - well yes true indeed.

However as so often before, the image of the whole thing was very good, we even made it to the Norwegian Television.
Here you can see what it looked like in the news.

Anyways, today have been a great day so far. When the weather is good, this place is astonishing. Completely unbelievable. I love it.
The fjord, the mountains, the birds, the quite atmosphere, everything. Amazing.
And all the first years are in Bergen so the campus consist of quiet 2nd years. Very nice.

I wish in many ways, that I had the opportunity to stay here for a month or two, during summer time, without always having to think of exams and homework. This place is such a wonderful place, and has so many opportunities - but due to rules, restrictions and the lack of time, due to studying - we too seldom take advantage of all the opportunities.

As for me now - all I think of is studying, studying and studying. But again - I do have week of hell coming up very soon....I better get back to my books....

...

2007-04-24T04:45:00.001-07:00

Last day of School (DK)

2007-04-24T04:35:00.000-07:00

In Danish:
In order not to forget my mother tongue I've decided to write some of my blogs in Danish, and for me to remember which ones i've written in Danish I've decided to mark them with a (DK) in the end. How sensible....

Sidste skoledag! Er det ikke utroligt. Aldrig mere skal jeg gå til en dansk time, aldrig mere skal jeg have kemi. Dette er i sandhed en vidunderlig dag. (Bortset fra at det er mega gårvejr).

Anyways, Hvor herligt! Så ja, nu er der bare eksamenerne tilbage. Har planer om at begrave mig et eller andet fornuftigt sted, og så mere eller mindre bo der. Synes selv det lyder, som en vældig god idé.

I dag er der præcis en måned tilbage før alt er overstået. Det føles på mange måder meget mærkeligt. Men sådan er det nu engang. Jeg sidder i øjeblikket og tænker tilbage på, at det nu var ca. 3 år siden jeg gik ud af folkeskolen. Mystisk. Men ja, tiden løber af sted.

Vedr. Min Fremtid. Jo mere jeg tænker over det, jo mere glæder jeg mig til at tage til Canada. Jeg tror jeg får det rigtigt rart, og tror faktisk at skolen passer godt til mig.

Så ja, hvis bare lige der ville komme lidt solskin, ville alting være rart.

2 Days Left and a trip to Canada

2007-04-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

2 Days more. Then I'm done with high school. Or well, not really. I still have the exams.
Tuesday is last day of classes for 2nd years. The rest of the time is reading time, which means; me locking myself into a classroom with 10 liters of coffee.

A strange feeling. I'm planing on taking a gap year - so in theory tuesday will be my last day of school for a very very long time. Feels good.

Ohh and I got into a University in Canada. Simon Fraser University. www.sfu.ca.
They offered me a full scholarship, and the place seems really nice, so I couldn't really reject:-)

I guess I'll talk more about that in the future. Now I have to study for my exams.

I think I mentioned something about me also getting accepted to Middlebury. True indeed I did. But they asked for 20.000 USD pr. year. Quite a lot of money, for a Danish middleclass family, which haven't made any savings for university.

A strange Week

2007-04-16T06:06:00.000-07:00

It's been quite for a while. But this past week has just been crazy.
Of good news I can begin with the weather. In opposition to the normal evening news, which usually ends with a session dedicated to the meteorologists, I will start with this session.

As you recall, I came back from Easter break facing snow and rain. Yesterday and the day before however I spent most of the day tanning in the sun, while trying to read a few pages in my chemistry book. So yeah, no complaints from my side.

About the strange week.

The week started out with two students being expelled, for a mixture of excessive abuse of alcohol and sexual harassment. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the baseline fact is that two 2nd year students got expelled, Monday afternoon and ultimately left Wednesday. The atmosphere was all but pleasant, and the situation didn't improve when rumors of a 3rd expulsion started circulating.

Apparently a 1st year student is, or will be expelled for having too many absences. This would in most circumstances seem fair enough, if just things had been handled in a proper manor. But they were not. After conversing with the student, and researching into the issue, it turns out that he indeed has a big absence record, but that there are other people that has more absence than him. Far more.

So the interesting question arises? Why was he kicked out and not the other?
In my almost two years at this place, only two people has been expelled (and that took place last Monday) and now suddenly one more?

If we are to take things more into perspective many complaints have come from the administration about the students lack of attendance for classes.
It seems the expulsion of this particular students, has served to statuate and example for the others. He is more like a scapegoat than anything else.

If he really does have so many absences, it can not have come as a surprise. Why expel him 3 days after two other students were expelled. Why not wait until summer, so he could say goodbye to the people he care for. Many interesting question arises. And I am sure I will know more tomorrow.

Enough about out internal tragedy.

Here's a picture of Thursday night's sunset, enjoy!

Snow in April

2007-04-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

I made it back to Norway safely (believe it or not), just to acknowledge that the Norwegian winter last longer that I had expected. The two last weeks of march offered sunny days and medium-warm weather, and know I am faced with temperatures just above the freezing point, with precipitation in form of snow and slush.
Sun is nice, snow is acceptable, rain is depressing, but slush is just a pain in the ass.
At least when it rains the water flows off the road. But when you have slush the water and the snow decides to form an alliance ON the road, meaning that unless I wear gumboots I get soaked everywhere I go. blash. If I ever said anything good about the weather at this place I take it back.

I haven't yet heard anything from Dartmouth about my eventual "waitlisting" and I'm am still uncertain if my future lies with Middlebury. They haven't given me any information concerning financial aid, so I honestly don't know if they are intending to support my studies there. I guess I'll have to call them tomorrow to check whats going on.

My first exams are going to take place in less than a month. It feels very strange. I can't believe it. After that it'll all be over. How peculiar...

News from the Hidden Pearl of Prague

2007-04-03T04:35:00.000-07:00

Or Praha, as they call it down here.

So my Easter break just started. In Prague. We left Norway Saturday morning, and spend Saturday evening and night in Amsterdam. I travelled with 3 schoolmates who had never seen Amsterdam before so to them it was a big thing. They really liked it, even though they were a bit shocked over the red light district. We made it safely to Prague Sunday morning, where we went straight to bed in our hostel after a long night in Amsterdam. We are a total of 9 people from the school, a very good mix of nationalities, and 1st/2nd years, so it is very nice.
Prague is more than wonderful. It is completely amazing, and I encourage every soul to pack his/hers bags and go right away.
Forget Paris or Berlin. Prague is the place. Everything is stupidly cheap, and they city is SO pretty. If you've ever heard rumors of soviet block, and uncivilized. Forget about it. People here are extremely friendly and helpful and the city itself is the calmest and most authentic place in the planet. Its as beautiful as Paris, yet 10 times cheaper. (I bought half a liter beer for 1 dollar/6Dkr, in a bar last night). And then is doesn't have the arrogance of Paris. Furthermore the city is very clean and organised, in opposition to my prejudices.

The old town is gorgeous, and this place in general is a true heaven. I'm already planing on taking a study option here for half a year or so.

Oh yeah. I forgot. I got reply from university this Saturday. I got 4 rejections Thursday and Friday, plus one "incomplete" which turned out to be a bummer from the universities side. (I had sent them all my material twice, and yet they messed it up). Anyways.
I got a letter of acceptance from Middlebury College this Saturday. I'm very happy. It looks like an amazing place. I don't know what the situation is when it comes to financial Aid. But hopefully ill know soon enough. check out their homepage www.middlebury.edu.

So yeah. I'm happy in Prague. I've gotten a spot at a good university. and the beer down here is cheap. Several things that suit me very well.

Rejected and Prague

2007-03-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday night I got rejected from 2 schools, and I got a letter of "incomplete Application" from 1 school; I and the university office are still unsure what this exactly means, and how this came about. I got a 3rd rejection today. This means that I've only got 2 schools left to hear from, and I will know the last one tomorrow at 14.00. Again meaning that Tomorrow at 14.00 I will know what my life will look like the next 5 years, or what it won't look like.
We'll see.

I'm waiting for the "incomplete" university to reply to me with a reason for not taking any action on my application, despite having told me that "everything looks fine". Jep, they e-mail me and told me everything looked good.

I'm leaving for Prague tomorrow morning. Really looking forward to going there. I'll have a blast.
I'm staying Saturday night in Amsterdam. That'll be fun too. Great way to party party.

I actually wouldn't mind having a week here, since the weather is so wonderful, but I also feel I need to get a bit away.

I hope I will get some positive University Replies within the next 24 hours.

Danish Dinner

2007-03-27T15:56:00.000-07:00

We had our first Annual (i think) Danish dinner today.Hurra! Bertelsens Uaktuelle Nyheder is something that must be seen by all human beings. Our wonderful Danish Teacher Erik dropped by and joined us - (which was quite cool), always ready for a good joke.
We took college picture today - unfortunately I don't have a sample I can present to you, but i'll see If I can get hold of one before my next entry.
Would be nice right?

We had our Spanish class outside on the rocks today. I wonder whether that would ever had happened if I had attended regular Danish High School. Most likely not. We moved out on the rocks next to the water, and did some exercises. It was great. Imagine to be able to tan, while learning spanish at the same time. We should have more of those classes. It is funny thought, sometimes to compare school here, with school back in Denmark. The thought often crosses my mind "How would this have been in Denmark" or " Would this have been possible at all in Denmark?" I guess not, but since I've never attended normal danish high school in Danish I actually have no clue. Perhaps. Who knows.

My trip to Sierra Leone is getting along well. With the funds we have now we are actually able to carry out the project to a quite far extent. We don't have as much as we aimed at, but what we have is better than nothing, so seen in a positive light, we are doing well.
I do though still have a lot to plan and arrange before I can call myself 100% ready.

I've gotten these mails from Universities recently saying when they will let me know if I am accepted. A bit absurd in some way. 4 Days before they admit/reject you, they let you know that they'll let you know in 4 days. I mean; I've been waiting 4 months - so 4 days doesn't really make a difference. I'll spend the next couple of days preparing myself for the thought, that I might in a very short time, know where I will spend the next 1+4 years, or the thought that I maybe know where I will spend the next year, but except for that I have absolutely no bloody clue. We'll see how it goes. I don't want to put my hopes too high.

Anyways, I better get some sleep. I was napping during the sunny afternoon today, so didn't get enough sun. But honestly, I was SO tired. It's sometimes very energy consuming to attend so many classes..

Ohh about classes, I have a funny note on that one.

Our "wonderful" teacher made a fool out of himself.
I missed a class last week(which contrary to common belief actually doesn't happen that often)
and then we had started a new topic: Fair enough. I was not there too bad.
- our teacher went straight on from where he started last week, and those of us who missed the class felt a bit lost since we didn't have the handout he had given last week.
Instead of disturbing, I asked in the end of the class whether he had any handouts he could give us.
He answered - no, that we couldn't get them cause we weren't there last week.
I said - Ok, so you don't have more copies you can give us?(not exactly understanding his point)
He said - No-
And I then said something like - ohh, so you just want us to go copy them from others.
and then he replied - that we were not allowed to copy from others, because he had written the notes himself, and he had copyright on them, and that it was just too bad because we missed the class the other day. ehhhh????

A strange situation I don't come across every day. And a bit tragic. Poor teacher. How low. I think i'll ask him for a copy and tell him to forget about the whole situation, before it becomes too embarrassing for him. That would be a pitty.
If he objects I would be happy to discuss the situation with some more teachers and some other students. Would be hilarious to see how he would handle it.
:-)

Have a nice day.

Adams's Apples

2007-03-25T16:20:00.000-07:00

I partly watched the Danish movie "Adams apples" today. Partly meaning that I was doing homework and listening to the movie - or well, supposedly doing homework and actually watching the movie.(Procrastination is amazing!)
Anyways, I've come to understand that such a movie really portrays an interesting part of danish culture and humor. The extremely violent and rough setting, and yet super funny and in some way melancholic atmosphere - is something I can associate with. Not in the way that I believe in violence in such manner, but the way the story goes on, and the extremely absurd things they make fun of - so damn politically incorrect - makes it movie worth taking into account.

When I want foreigners to understand Danish humor, I usually tell them to watch a movie by Anders Thomas Jensen. His three most recent movies, such as The Blinking Lights, The Green Butchers and previously mentioned Adam's Apples are of priceless quality. They are completely absurd, rough - and extreme in every sence, yet you build up a sort of sympathy with the main characters, which makes his movies much more interesting and worthwhile.

That was my deep thoughts for today. So: If you wish to understand weird Danish Humor, watch a movie by Anders Thomas Jensen.

Other than that I spent the day eating pizza at my advisee dinner, and chilling in the sun while trying to study.

Room page

2007-03-24T11:36:00.001-07:00

Today I've finished the roompage for our room. Each room has a room page in the yearbook, and i thought I'd share our roompage with you. I don't think I need to comment on it.
As the intellectuals of this world so often put it: One pictures says more than a thousand words.

Sunshine in flekke?

2007-03-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not!(most likely not), the sun is actually shining outside. Unbelievable. Jep, I know it. Last night we celebrated Marc's Birthday party. I think he really enjoyed it. Dag had gotten hold of a lot of dutch friends, and Gustav and I brought in the Two Towers, to Marc's room. So there we sat until the early morning, chilling with some Dutch Friends and the Two Towers.

Suddenly I wake up, its morning and boom! there's sun in my little ugly face. how fascinating. Ohh
Gustav challenged me in Backgammon - and after 1 hours of hardcore gaming he came to the conclusion: "I've never lost to such a bad person", I guess he was just surprised by my extremely qualified skills in tossing the dices. ( Do you say dices in plural?).

Perhaps, being a bit optimistic, it'll actually be warm enough to wear shorts before Easter break. Lets hope so. ...

And it's on these days, the view from my window is just stupidly amazing....

Wednesday Morning

2007-03-21T03:24:00.000-07:00

Just got down, episode 20 of Prison Break. I've become all addictive. The show itself is actually not that good - but for some reason i keep on watching it every week. guess i have nothing better to do with my time. Last night I just took it easy and relaxed. I am planing on starting on my revision plan at some point tonight. I've made this pretty "tick-off-box" schedule of all the things I need to revise before the final exam. There's quite a lot, so I better get started soon. So many books to read, so many assignments to do - just for fun.
I'll get to know about universities in less than two weeks. weird Feeling. In less than two weeks I will maybe know how my life looks for the upcoming 5 years. And again, it's possible that I will get a rejection from all universities, and then i'm back at square one, not knowing anything at all.
I better get some sleep, before next class. I've got 1 hour to sleep. I like sleeping. Overslept first block today. Unintentional, but still. My alarm clock broke, so all I've got now is my cellphone, with a alarm function.

Done with IA

2007-03-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

I.A. could be the abbreviation of so many interesting things. Such as Intelligent Animals, Invisible Amateurs or perhaps Incompetent Anarchist. Whatever one might associate with I.A., for all IB students I.A. is equal to hell. Internal Assesment. Except for maybe the completely ruthless and deadly torturing SAT's and off course the exams(but why we hate the exams is self-explanatory), I.A. is the part of the IB that worries most people.
Its a part of every subject, the deadlines are always put on the least suitable days. As for example the day before an SAT test, or something ridicules like that.
Well, i just feel sorry for my dear first years. I finished my I.A's today, and its a wonderful feeling. In the next two months there only 1 thing I have to think of: The IB Exam. arghhh... but first there's a little procrastination trip to prague. looking forward to that one.

I think i'll spend the rest of the week just chilling and eventually open a book, if there's no good movies worth watching.

Ohh- yeah - The Israeli Ambassador in Norway is visiting the school this friday. I bet that'll be very very interesting. a lot of people here, don't really seem to have a whole lot of passion for the wonderful democratic state of Israel. It'll be nice thought, finally meeting an official representative of the state of Israel, who to some extent have to justify any action the Israeli Government Takes.