"Oppdater!"

Thanx Nelly, for getting me to update my blog again. Your comment worked. ;)

So for those who are still reading my blog and wondering what I'm up to nowadays.. Right now I'm actually planning my journey back home for my brother's wedding. Really looking forward! The first of the kids in the family to get married, just have to be fun!

In Kenya the work is going on. The classes I've been teaching are finished, and now it's time for the students to become the new teachers, and for the old teacher to sit on the sideline observing and evaluating the new teachers. It's not many months left until my work here is done, so I have to do my best to make sure when I'm leaving, things will still run, and the knowledge I've given will be passed on to others. But it will still be a bit hard letting go, after having been here for 2 years.

I'm trying to get my mind set for Norway, and NAV and Finn are once again the most visited websites, in my search for a job in Norway. Had forgotten how I hated the whole job-searching stress.. Think I will need some time in the beginning just getting used to being in Norway again, and being a Norwegian. I actually have problems picturing how life normally is back home, but the weeks I'm going for the wedding will probably help a lot. Until then I'll just enjoy the rest of the time here in Kenya. :)

Tagged

Thanx Denise and Randi, for giving me the honour of receiving this challenge. He, he.. Always a pleasure. Or at least it causes some activity on the blogs around. Anyways, here is the challenge;

Pick up the nearest book. Open on page 123. Find the fifth sentence. Post the next three sentences. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

"Blant flere ansvarsområder er det viktigste kontinuerlig oppdatering av "kjendisregisteret".
Her finner du hele alfabetet av norske kjendiser med så mye personalia som mulig. Personnummer, adresse, fjorårets ligning, alle mulige slags telefonnumre, ofte med navn og nummer på ektefelle, søsken og foreldre. "

Welcome to the secret world of the Norwegian magazine "Se og Hør". Scary isn't it? Happy I'm not a celeb. This is taken from the book I'm reading now. "En helt vanlig dag på jobben" written by Håvard Melnæs.

Then 5 more people who are still blogging.. hard task, but I choose; Oddrun, Nelly, Torgrim, Ida and Siv.

And then it was gone...

I have to admit, many times I’ve been telling people how long I’ve been staying in Nairobi, without ever being robbed or stolen from. I bit proud perhaps, that I’ve been able to avoid it. Thinking I’m not so naïve, and by now I have learned to read situations and avoid dangers.
But maybe it was just bound to happen, and at least it has taught me to always be alert.

Now I’m sitting here with a new phone, my old one has gotten a new owner, together with my wallet, cards and money. People are clever, and the wazungu girls might be slightly stupid and naïve.

Anyways, the story goes like this. I have just visited the ATM to withdraw some money, and top up the credit on my phone. I meet Solfrid and we board a matatu heading towards town. 4 other guys enter, one is limping. After being asked to help the poor limping guy, Solfrid moves further back in the matatu. The limping guy sits down next to me, the remaining guys place themselves strategically around in the vehicle, one seated next to Solfrid, in the backseat. Suddenly the guys start talking about the police further down the road, and are stressing putting on their seatbelts to avoid a fine. They shout to the wazungu girls, and say we have to put on ours as well. Of course the seatbelts are not working, and confusion rises. The matatu conductor is also very eager to make sure we are busy trying to put on the safety belt. Very helpful people, indeed..

They keep talking about wanting to avoid the police, and in a few seconds the 4 guys have jumped out of the matatu, and disappeared. I move back to Solfrid, saying “These guys, they are so afraid of the police..” Still trying to find a seat belt that is working, I suddenly notice that my purse is so light. I open the zipper, and nothing is left inside. Solfrid checks her purse as well, and the phone and some money have disappeared.

Those guys are clever..

There and back again

Two weeks ago I went back to Norway to say goodbye to my dear grandfather. A man who I have always been proud of, and who has lived a life showing that it actually is possible to put the needs of others higher than your own.
A sad reason for going home, but still so nice to meet my whole family and my friends again. Grandpa - I will miss you!

Sitting in front of the computer in my apartment in Nairobi, I feel quite exhausted. A lot has happened lately and my mind is occupied by so many things.

We've had uninvited visitors, that actually forced us to move. BEDBUGS.. Not my favourite bugs.. They clung on to our beds, not willing to give in, even to the company that sprayed the whole apartment. So the result was washing ALL our clothes and blankets and... you name it.. Then we moved to a new apartment - without bedbugs, and actually with a much better view, so after all the moving we were quite happy.

Going home to Norway, already tired after moving, luck was definitely not on my side. While running away from bedbugs in Nairobi, I was running to catch my flight in Amsterdam. Chaos at the airport with people and long lines everywhere, resulted in sprinting throught the airport, reaching the plane 10 min before it was supposed to leave. Happy to be inside the plane, I found a lady sitting on my seat. In my confusion I wasn't even sure I had boarded the right plane. But it turned out to be an even more confused non-english speaking lady sitting on my seat, so I got a new seat and could sit down and start breathing again.

But the story doesn't end here. With one more plane to catch from Oslo to Trondheim, I was happy when I could actually sit down and wait before boarding the last plane. Things seemed to be going well. But entering the plane, there was once again a lady sitting on my seat. This one was speaking both English and Norwegian so communication was not the problem - but double- booking.. So I sat down on a temporarily seat, waiting to see where the promised free seats would appear. Then suddenly two crutches fell down from above, and hit my already tired and heavy head. A girl had opened the packed luggage room above my seat, and now my head was pounding, and I was fed up with travelling, airports and stupid aircrafts..

The story still ended well with a nice dinner at my friend's place back in Trondheim. :)

Inspiration

Okey, I admit it. I've become a lousy blog writer. But inspiration has finally found its way back, and there is still much to be said.

More than one month has been spent in Kenya. A new apartment at Blackrose is once again occupied by two Norwegians. The peace is back in the country, though the Mungikies have been busy killing people and burning vehicles, while politicians were occupied with seemingly more important discussions about seating arrangement in Parliament.

Per-Steinar and Jens Gunnar came for a visit, and left again back to Norway, and back to Rwanda.
The classes I was teaching last year are up and running with Solfrid as the new teacher for the year.

Camping in Meru with a huge tent and some good Norwegian friends was the activity last weekend. Seven-months anniversary has been celebrated with boyfriend, and I've said "Hi" to my friend the giraffe at the giraffe center.

The squash racket in my closet is a witness of my new hobby. Though the squash ball; last seen heading for the roof on Friday, has gone missing.

Call of the wild

The call of the wild is answered, and I’m back in East-Africa. While waiting for better days in Kenya, I’m still in Kampala in Uganda. Even if this is a temporary situation, it feels good to be working again. I have really missed preparing first aid work shops, drinking African tea, walking on dusty, red, roads, pole-pole, hot weather, enjoying fresh fruits, hanging around in a CHRISC office chatting with people, and travelling around on bumpy roads.

I hadn’t noticed how much I had missed everything until I was killing time at the airport in Amsterdam, waiting for the plane to Nairobi. Suddenly surrounded by a bunch of Kenyans, I started to smile, just looking forward to another exciting year, full of surprises.

Though I have to admit, almost reaching one month in Uganda, I am getting quite fed up with waiting for politicians to agree in Kenya. I am really looking forward to moving out of a hotel room, and into my own apartment, replacing dry white loaf with homemade brown bread (might be a bit ambitious, but should be able to bake at least one bread..). Letting a washing machine take care of my clothes, instead of me using many hours sweating, also seems quite tempting. Will be so good meeting all my Kenyan friends again, and get back to teaching the classes. Patience, patience..

Did you floss today?

There is no one who can make me feel guiltier than a dentist. I really don’t know how they are able to do it, but it happens every time. Luckily I’m not paying the dentist a visit too often.

This week it was once again time for nursing my teeth. After having consumed a large amount of extremely sweet tea over the last 14 months, I have to admit I was quite worried before meeting the dentist face to face.

I could vaguely remember the last words from the dentist 2 years ago. “So then you are promising me to floss your teeth? And me, smiling, nodding and walking straight to the shop to buy dental floss. But as usual, after reliable flossing the first days, it was soon forgotten.

On my way to the dentist I still had one hope; my old dentist had quit, maybe the new one wouldn’t notice that I hadn’t flossed?

The hope faded quickly as I arrived and the following dialogue took place:

D: “Are you flossing your teeth?”
M: “Ehm..”
D: “It says here that you need to floss your teeth to avoid further damage. Have you been flossing?”
M: “Ehm, hehe.. From time to time, but you know it is so easy to forget.”

The dentist, obviously used to talking with school kids, then started to give me a detailed story about the teeth and why they needed to be flossed.

D: (showing me a picture of a hand with two dirty fingers)
“……and you know your teeth have more than three surfaces, if you are only brushing them it is like washing three fingers instead of five. That you don’t want, do you?”

And it went on and on, until I felt like an eight year old, having done something really bad.
I blame this strong feeling of guilt and the thought of having disappointed my dentist, for the things that happened next.

D: “How about mouthwash? Are you using that?”
M: “Yes, of course I’m using mouthwash!”

I am NOT using mouthwash.. So why did I lie to my dentist? A person I had never seen before, and probably wouldn’t see again.. The power of a dentist.. still as scary as in first grade..