Summer holidays, warm nights, late night sun and the Adriatic sea! Summer 2012

I booked a ticket in February thinking that it would be fun to go visit my childhood home and friends. I had spent the weekend after Hald visiting my parents in Vanse. Then my travels took me to the east to the capital of Norway with a pit stop at Elin Cecilie's house before my flight from Gardemoen to Zagreb the next morning.

The first day in Zagreb was awesome, I met with Petra at the bus station before we went home to her cosy little flat in the outskirts of the city. There we talked and talked for ages as if it was just some months and not years since we met last time. I really appreciate the friendships that can conquer any distance and time!
That night we went to a football game Spain vs. Croatia! It was fun being together with so many people watching a big screen outside in the warmth of a Croatian summer night. I had missed the warm climate after Africa and coming to Croatia with 38 degrees was good after a cold (in my opinion) spring in Norway.

Petra and me watching the football match

The next days we went to the zoo in Zagreb and memories from the last time I was there with my school from Rijeka came flooding back! It was really fun and Petra and I went back home and ate Ćevapčići which I haven't eaten in such a long time. We also went out clubbing and shopping and I found some wonderful stuff in some second-hand shops there.
I really had a wonderful time with her in Zagreb! But since I really wanted to go to Rijeka, and come "home", I decided that I wanted to leave for the seaside with the bus instead of waiting for some friends to pick me up.

In Rijeka I bumped into my parents and Anne Malene who also had traveled to Croatia at the same time as me, just not together. I took a flight to Zagreb, my sister to Pula, and my parents drove the whole way with their new car. Talk about good organising, right?
We ate dinner together in my favourite cosy restaurant in Rijeka before they gave me a lift to Ana's place where I would be staying for a week or so.

The family gathered again in Rijeka

Ana and her friends had planned to take a trip to Baška on Krk that Friday to hang out on the beach all day. We were three cars that went, we had a really good time there. The sun was dead hot, but there was a strong breeze and therefore all of us ended up being so sunburned after a while!
One of the boys came into an accident after diving in a nearby pool so we had to rush back to the hospital in Rijeka! He was ok in the end though, thankfully.

Ana at the beach in Baska

The weekend went by quite fast, I hung out with Marta and Ada and their friends. It was so good being back home and feeling quite free for once. I met some old friends from school the week after as well and planned to go to Natalija's hairdressing salon for a well needed haircut.

Out grilling in the woods with Ada and her friends

After being in Croatia for almost two weeks I was expecting Gregory and Andreas coming from Norway to join me in Rijeka before our travels lead us to Selce for the youth camp we were joining as a Norwegian team from NMS, The Norwegian Mission Society.
For the first time I was able to show a good friend where I had had my childhood and show him where so many of my good memories had taken place! It was really wonderful and it meant a lot to me that they were eager to see what I wanted to show them. Drenova, Rijeka, Trsat, Opatija, Pećine, Crikvenica, and Selce.

From the top Barbara, Gregory, Natalija and Andreas, one fun night!

At the youth camp we were assigned some tasks where we were responsible for some of the workshops that took place in the morning and afternoon, between swimming and dinner, as it is too warm for the kids to stay in the sun all day midday. Andreas and me were in charge of the drama workshop where we played different games and assigned the groups a task to make a sketch out of a story in the bible. These sketches were shown on the last evening after a presentation of Norway.

Marta and her boyfriend came to say goodbye to me in Selce, and it meant a lot that she travelled so far to meet me one last time before I headed back home for the rest of the summer in Norway!
As I had a ticket a day earlier than the rest of the "Norwegian" team I travelled back to Zagreb by myself. I ended up at Gardermoen, the airport in Oslo all by myself that night because the flight arrived after the last shuttle buses and trains, so I was sleeping in a chair in Starbucks and on a crdboardbox underneath the stairs together with other travellers that were stuck at the airport.
The next morning I took the first bus home at 05:30 and got safely home to Arendal where I spent the rest of my summer hanging out with friends and family.

Johanne Teresie

Springterm at Hald!

Since we came back from our internship places we have been spending the last 8 weeks together at Hald.
It has been a great time with allot of humour, hugs, excitement, information work, and interesting classes in the Big Hall.

The first week back we had alone with the Norwegian Focus and Connect students, it was a great debriefing week. I remember I was so glad to come to Hald as I was not so prepared to be home at my parents' house for the first weekend. The second week the internationals came back and we got some time before the Act Nowers came back as well.
The time left at Hald this spring was spent preparing for the different theme nights: Asian and Serbian night, South American night and African night. And also the Hald-day had to be planned carefully.One weekend in the beginning of the course we had a weekend together with just the Connectors, and it really brought us closer to each other and I'm really grateful to them for making it an amazing weekend!
We also had allot of time off to spend together. So we played cards and watched films and series on the big screens in the Big Hall. Me and Gregory, the one year volunteer from Brazil, decided that it was time to renew the boardgames at Hald so we went down town in Mandal one afternoon and searched, and came back with a Ticket to Ride game and a Settlers game. And it was a hit! Everybody were playing them all the time after that! And I love the games!

On 17th of May there was allot of activity at Hald. There were many girls with bunad - Norwegian national clothes, and all the boys were suited up. We watched the childrens parade, ate allot of ice cream and ate hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch. We had activities around the school which involved dancing, throwing balls on cans, running with potatoes, and jumping in bags races! It was really fun! We also joined "Folketoget"- commoners parade, where we danced, drove the Strømme Stiftelsen car (a sheep) and played drums. We won the first place with a prise of 1500 kr!! That was amazing!

When the information week started the students spread all around Norway. As we did not leave until the Saturday I spent some hours watching "How I met your mother" with Gregory in the Big Hall while we ate some ice cream from 17th of May. I went to visit Sara-Jeanette in Asker together with JP, Sophie and Henry on the Saturday. There we did some information work about Cameroon with presentations in the schools which her sisters attend. We also had a Cameroon night with some of my friends in Arendal and enjoyed a weekend of summer there.

The two and a half weeks of school after that went by so fast, first we had preparation for the Hald-day then we had the African night, where we all went to the beach where we sat on the sand and all the Africans (Norwegians and international) had made food and prepared a role play for all the others. It was a great night! I had allot of fun!

On the 9th of June many of the students went into Kristiansand and had a stunt there with outfits and placards to get the people aware of the different people in the world and that we should all see each other and care about each other. There were many people who stopped and cared and thanked us for the job we were doing.

On the 13th of June it was time for the Graduation party and the last night we had together. We had a nice dinner together and Åsmund and Namphueng were leading the night with entertainment, speeches and coffee and cakes breaks. It was a wonderful ending to a fabulous year! I will never forget it!



This has truthfully been the best year of my life! I will carry it with me for  the rest of my life.
Johanne Teresie

The last weeks in Cameroon as a Hald Student

The last few weeks in Cameroon went by so fast, that I did not prioritise sitting on the computer and writing on the blog, but now I have got some time again!

In the chappel after morning prayer

After the last blog post we did sleep at the orphanage and there we got some couscous and some sauce I had never tasted before but it was ok. After this we played cards with the kids and joined in on the activities they had. It was a nice evening. We slept together with the girls in their dormitory and got one bed to sleep in. The morning after we joined the kids on the morning prayer in their small chapel. There they sing and pray every morning before breakfast and school. We were invited up to the Korean missionaries for breakfast and sat there together with Samson, one of the other workers at the orphanage. 

Rebecca and Blanche playing Ligretto! "It's fun!"

Yves and Mossa enjoying the easter holiday

The weekend after, 23.-25. March, we went on a trip to Garoua with the Gospel Singer. That was an amazing weekend! It started out with a meeting at College Protestant for preparations before we were going away with the bus, and also a last fast prayer for the trip. We desided in the last minute to drive a car up there instead of taking a local bus. 

Simplice, me, Kristian, Bassané and Sara-Jeanette

So together with two others from the choir we squeezed into the Aasens car and drove the 4 hour long drive up there. That is something I have gotten used to when we have been in Africa; we fill up everything, church benches, cars, motor taxies, and car taxies and so on. But when we arrived and got settled in inside the buildings connected to the Sion church in Garoua we finally got some food before the choir had a concert in the church.
As we did not know all the songs we were told (at the last minute) that we would join the audience instead of singing with them. The performance was very nice and there were allot of people watching. But as the Saturday was the big day for them they hoped that the audience would be bigger the day after, when the big concert was going to be. 

Unpacking the bus outside the Sion Church in Garoua

The Saturday started out with a good breakfast, some classes and before dinner we went to the concert place. After they were finished practicing we took a motor taxi together with one guy from the choir each to Medoubass’ aunt and ate couscous there.
Sadly there were only a few people who came to the concert that evening due to too little PR. But therefore we got to join in on the last few songs! And it was very fun! 

Gospel Singers concert on Saturday 24th of March 2012

After the concert we went back to the church, and as I was really hungry after not eating for several hours I joined Kristian, Abbou and Bassané in walking down to a fish bar close by. But unfortunately we came there right after closing time, so we had to get into town to get some fish. So therefore for the third time that day I broke the rules (!) and took a motor taxi. We ate fish from a stand on the side of the mane road, and sat down at a bar where we bought big sodas for each of us.
The fish was really great! It was definitely one of the best fish meals I have ever had, it may be because I was so hungry, but I do not want to admit that... We joined some of the other choir members at another bar where we sat and talked for a while before we went back by motor taxi to the church. So during that one weekend I managed to break the rules four times...oops?
The day after we sang with the choir on two sermons in the Sion church, and then we got couscous with gombo sauce, which is one of the greatest couscous meals I have ever tasted!
We travelled back to Ngaoundéré, and had a short stop in Ngong, where the rest stopped to sing for the inhabitants in the village, but as we cannot drive during the night we had to continue. 

Abbou and Martial

On Monday 26^th of March we were invited to celebrate the graduation of Martial, a band member in the choir. We ate and sang and listened to some speeches that his friends and family had planned for him. As all other events in Cameroon it lasted for a long time, and after 3 hours the real party began. They had put all their chairs and sofas outside, and moved a big loudspeaker into their living room where the guests started dancing. And as we were there, many of the boys came to ask us to dance, it was fun, but we went home quite early I think, because we heard they had kept going until 5 in the morning!

The two last weeks we spent with the kids at the orphanage, our friends at the mission station, walking around the area we lived in and enjoying our last time in Cameroon as Hald students.
And we actually managed to experience the first real rain before we went back! It was so good to feel it and see it. And with the rain, the mangoes were finally ripe. So I got to climb in a mango tree and pick my own fresh mango! Amos, our contact person, arranged a diner with Foumgbami and the next years Hald students from Cameroon and some old Hald student, at the norwegian missionaries house together with some of our friends, both norwegian and cameroonian. We also learnt how to make makkala right before we went back to Norway.

Good bye diner, f.l. Helene, Kristian, me, Simplice

Together with the next years Hald students

Learning how to cook makkala

Last biblegroup meeting the evening before we travelled back

I really miss it now, the people, the country, the food, our parrot Aco, the fruits, the jobs. Basically everything, and that means that I have to go back sometime!

Johanne Teresie

Everyday life in Ngaoundéré

After living here for five months now I feel like this is home, and that we have a day routine for each day even though no day is the same as the last one.

On Mondays I try to wake up early, even though we do not have anything on the schedule until two o'clock in the afternoon. Then we get a ride from the one-year-volunteers to the orphanage and stay there for about four hours.At Rainbow Orphanage we play, paint and draw together with the kids. And I like it very much! Last week we taught them a card game called Bellow 15. They loved it! And it actually worked playing with them, although some of them had never played with any cards before.We also watched Charlie and the chocolate factory on the big TV they have. It was really fun and the kids also enjoyed it!

Today we're maybe going to sleep over there with the kids. I am looking forward to it and we're probably going to eat couscous with them again. Last time we did that was when Pernille was visiting. She is Sara-Jeanettes friend and a former Hald student who lived here two years ago. The couscous we got then was with gombo sauce, which is a bit slimy and kind of brown green, but it was really good!! It was the best couscous I have had so far! So I am looking forward to going back and being with the kids over there.

On Tuesdays we usually have a day off to study the curriculum for Hald. So with the books we go down to the pool and read for several hours there in the sun. We also go for a swim or just hang out with the friends we have made here. In the evenings we join the Gospel Singers practise which lasts for about two and a half hours each time, if not for three when they have allot to talk about after we're finished.

Wednesdays and Fridays we work at Centre Socio Ménager, which as I have said before is a school for young girls that are either married or are without any education or have not finished their education for some reason. I am teaching the second and third year girls in English. It is a bit of a challenge, as they are almost the same age as me. But I try to be strict when I need to, and I try to engage them in the lessons I have. Even though they aren't so interested in learning English. Most of them have never gone to school before, and therefore they do not read very well in French or in English. So some of the lessons we have spent reading some text from some schoolbooks I brought with me from my old school in Arendal.
I have also been teaching them how to use a computer, but for some reason the three computers they had that were working have crashed down or something. So we have not been teaching them this for about two months now.

On Thursdays I work at the Direction Central for the assistant to the bishop, pastor Foumgbami. He gives me some documents that I have to write down on the computer. I have been writing some of his speeches, but lately I have been documenting and sorting out the numbers and names of all the newly baptised children and adults in the congregations out by the Tello village. Last time I also wrote an explanation of the conflict that has been going on in the church here in Cameroon for about three years now. EELC, the Evangelic Lutheran Church in Cameroon, has had a group that has split up from the rest, and has tried to keep the old name the Evangelic Lutheran Church of Cameroon. But I won't go any deeper into that conflict now, maybe I will do it in an other post, maybe..

In the weekends we enjoy the life and hang out with friends, play cards and watch films. We also sometimes attend the sermons in the Millennium church on Sundays and sometimes we have choir practises in the afternoon if we have a concert coming up.

Johanne Teresie

February, defilé, Maroua and moving!

Playing board games

In the beginning of February we went on a picnic with the choir to a mountaintop not too far from the mission station. When we got to the top, some of the members had brought with them some board games and cards. While they played with this others played different clapping games and childrens games. It was fun to get to know some of them a bit better too as we're not so social at the choir practices on Tuesdays.
After eating together we had a competition in bible verses and making songs. It was really fun although my group didn't win.

Childrensgames are fun!

Picnic with the Gospel Singers

The 11th of February in Cameroon is dedicated to the youth. The week before the schools practise marching because this day means marching on the Place de L'Independance infront of the Lamido and the governor. Sara-Jeanette and me had bought some dresses to wear on the day and went marching together with Centre Socio. The day reminded me allot of 17th of May celebration in Norway, with candy and marching and singing.

The new outfit

The teachers at CSM

In the evening we grilled and ate at the house where Kristians brother and friends were staying together with some Cameroonian friends. It was really good, and I have figured out that I like the planteng bananas quite much so I'm definitely going to miss that when I go back! I have to find it in a shop in Norway now so I can make it at home..

On the 17th we went on a trip to Maroua together with the missionary family, the old volunteers and the missionaries going to Mali. The trip was part of a Missionary Meeting so as well as seeing the town and enjoying the hot weather (38 degrees in the shade!)  we had a bible study class and a meeting with two people who work at the Christian university there. We also visited a leather tannery where we saw people working with their hand in acids all day to make the leather fine enough to sell, and a house arrangement which Jan Martin, a volunteer working for NMS, helped construct many years ago.

Biblestudy

Holding up a boa snakeskin

The trip was just for a weekend, so with a 9 hours drive back and forth, we only had one full day in Maroua.
The road was pretty good, with several wholes here and there, but as it was asphalt it didn't take forever to get there. On the way back we had some difficulties as it got dark and Bischler punctured a wheel because of a big trailer that didn't stay on the right side of the road. But all in all we got safely home.

On Monday the 20th we had a meeting with two women that had flown up here from NMS Stavanger. The theme for the Missionary Meeting was youth. So therefore we had been given a task to find out what we can do to get youth engaged in mission. There were many good ideas that were discussed and we had a really nice time. We were lucky to get the opportunity to be a part of this!



In the end of February we were told that we are to move to another flat, so after packing all my things we moved over to number 9. I like it very much here! It is a really nice flat. I changed rooms with SJ so I have the small room now, and it is also very nice. Pity that we are only staying here for little over a month now..

I am really glad I have had the opportunity to live here. I like it very much and have made many friends who I'm going to miss allot! Wish I had more time here now. But for what it's worth I'm going to make the most out of it, and come back here one time! Either just on vacation, or maybe even as a volunteer or a missionary. Time will show..

Johanne Teresie

December in all its glory! Without snow this year... but with a great birthday!

So it’s been a while since my last post because so much has been going on. And as I said in the end last time, I had an essay to write for Hald. I managed to finish it on time for Saturday the 10^th and celebrated it by having a performance on the Christmas show at College Protestant the same evening.

The Christmas Show at College

It was so great! We performed the drama piece for the song Everything by Lifehouse, and it went really great! And I loved being on stage again. I really miss my lessons from last year now, and I’m definitely not giving up on acting. So I wonder what I'm going to do next year when I'm back in Norway...!

 I have otherwise been occupied by work at the orphanage and at Centre Socio Ménager. I have had vocabulary tests and read A Christmas Carol and afterwords sang some Christmas songs with the kids at Rainbow orphanage. The kids there are really joyful and always come running towards the car when we come and when we are leaving, it's fun to work there!

My favourite film!

For those of you who do not know it, my birthday is in December, and as I turned 20 this year it could not go by unnoticed. Or at least I didn't want it to. So last weekend was fabulous! It started great at Friday evening when we had a second movie night, with sweet and salty popcorn, makkala and lots of soda. And for once Kristian managed to make a successful and good tasting chocolate pudding! Yummy!
You see usually it's not so puddingy and more cocoaish and not stiff at all, so some things went more right than wrong this weekend!


That was not the only thing that went alright when it comes to cooking, Sara-Jeanette and I made taco for supper which we were sharing together with Sandra, Helene and Delphine. We had a wonderful evening with good talks about so many interesting things, we watched my favourite film, "The Holiday" on big screen in our little, cold, but cosy living room with good sound and a really good cake that our housekeeper made for me! It was a really brilliant evening! 


On the actual day of my 20th birthday (the 18th of December) we were going to sing with Gospel Singers at a Christmas concert for the orphans in Ngaoundéré. And I had been given the task to sing a duet together with one of the African boys to a Norwegian Christmas song. It was so much fun! And we had arranged it so that all the members in the choir had brought a little gift which was given to the small orphans who were there and listened to us "singing the Christmas time in" as we sang "En stjerne skinner i natt" - "... nå ringes julen inn." Which also is my favourite Christmas song!

Singing "En stjerne skinner i natt" with Gospel Singers

So why on earth would we sing a Norwegian Christmas song in an African choir you may be sitting there and asking your self. Well I will tell you. In this particular choir there is a tradition that consists of the members teaching each other songs in their native languages, and then performing them on the different concerts they have. This is natural as there is around 220 languages here in Cameroon! So last year the Norwegians who were here teached then "Englene" as they call the song as that is the first word in the refrain.

After the concert we were supposed to have a Christmas party with the choir, but everyone were too tired so it was postponed to the following evening instead.
We had little to do that day too so most of the morning was spent either in bed or on a sunbed by the pool together with a good book or some music in the ear. When the clock was close to turning 18 o'clock we got ready to go over to Erik Sandvik, or "Grandpère" as they call him here, where the party was being held.

"Grandpère" giving a speech at the Christmas party with G.S.

Thinking we were a bit late (18:15) we felt a bit bad, but as we turned the corner of his house and looked into his garden there wasn't a soul to be seen. Just a bunch of empty chairs and a bit annoyed choir leader frantically trying to call the members who did not show up on time.
We sat there and waited for half an hour. But still no one was there but us Norwegians and the leader. So therefore SJ and I went back to our house to warm up the pizza we were bringing to the shared meal later. When we returned it was almost eight o'clock and most of the seats were taken now, but there was still coming new arrivals for at least an hour after us. 
The members in the choir are really a good example of the "classic" "African-time phenomenon"! And the leaders point it out on every single practise we have, but still no change.
The evening went by with a lot of singing, dancing, eating and some words from the Bible too. After some time outside in the cold, we went inside and we watched the film called "Facing The Giants". A really good and inspirational Christian film. While everyone payed attention to the film some of the leaders went around and collected and handed out gifts to everyone. We had brought one gift each which was given to an other member in the choir, a really nice tradition they have each Christmas. I have no idea who got my gift or who gave me the one I got. But I was really glad when I opened mine and it had a nice ring inside which actually fitted my small fingers. So nice to see how a small gesture like this can make so many smile a bit more.


Thank you all for a really wonderful birthday weekend, and for making it a memorable one too! Now I'm ready for the Christmas spirit and joy to fill me!


Johanne Teresie

Sunny days, cold nights and bonfires with friends

The new Cameroonian dress

Some weeks ago we finally got our Cameroonian dresses back from the tailor. It was fun and we had to try them on right away! My dress fitted pretty much perfectly, it had some minor faults here and there, but it still looks great and I am able to wear it so I am not complaining. :)

I wore it to work at Centre Socio and got a comment from one of the other teachers that I was actually wearing a dress (because of the fabric) that they had as formal uniforms for the grads some years back! That was quite fun to hear, and they showed me some pictures of them too and they were all in different shapes and sizes so I would have fitted right in to the pictures together with them.

I also bought a pair of trousers at Petit Marché and they are awesome :)

The choir dress

Last Sunday we went to a church some km outside of town with the Gospel Singers and I sang together with them. They handed out some African clothes that we had to wear so that we could have some similar uniforms for the performance. They celebrated Thanksgiving there too that day so the service lasted for several more hours than usual so after five hours we were finally finished. It was great fun though!
After the sermon the whole choir was invited to eat at a nearby house.
Us Norwegians got a plate with some food and a fork to eat it with, while the others ate together from big serving plates, some with their hands and some with spoons and forks.
Nice to talk and hang out with them a bit more than just singing.

Kristian and Erling in their choir outfit

Wednesday last week we went grilling down by the pool together with all the other Norwegians here and the Ethiopian missionaries. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and enjoyed each others company. After eating we moved over to sit around the fire in the hearth in the corner of the brick wall around the pool area.
The Bischler boys played Tick,Tack,Toe in the dark, I sat and watched them play and Aron came and sat in my lap. They are really sweet and funny boys. Later on we sang songs and talked for a while.

Sleepyheads..

On Friday we had Taco for supper. It was so good! I had brought some taco spices from Norway, and I am really glad I did, because we had a great time making it! And of course eating it too! The boys were really impatient so no pics from this but we had a great evening. We ate and watched two films afterwords, or at least Runar and me watched the films while the other two slept in their chairs...

The hilltop we went to

Saturday we went on a hike up to a nearby hilltop, or for some it might be a mountain.. We were invited by two friends to join them on this hike for their birthday. So we walked for about an hour to get to the top and were there for several hours. We spent the day with singing, playing cards, taking pictures of the amazing view and us, so we had a really good time up there! The view was fantastic! And I felt like I have finally seen a bit more of Africa. As we usually don't see much more than the town and the station here. So I will definitely try to go on more hikes like that when I'm here.

The beautiful view from the top

This last week I have been a bit sick, so I wasn't at work on Monday, and hadn't got the chance to start properly on my essay for Hald yet, but the flu is not that bad anymore so I am going to start interviewing people for the paper soon so that I can get it finished for the 10th of December.


Johanne Teresie

Our first day at Centre Socio Ménager

Friday was our first day at Centre Socio Ménager. It was fun, but very difficult as we did not know how to say everything we wanted to say in French. 

A classroom in College Protestant

The first year students did not know how to speak English and we had difficulties with speaking French so it took some time before we made ourselves understood. We tried to see if they could present themselves in English and in French. Some did it perfectly others were struggling a bit more. I felt like I was in the same situation as them, just vice versa.

But after some time when all the twenty students had presented themselves we said that we wanted to play some games. We moved all the chairs and tables away and stood in a circle (at least for a little while...). We tried to play a name game where we have to make a movement together with our name and repeat it for every person who was before us in the circle. This was almost impossible as they did not understand what we wanted to do and they did not know each others names! They had been in the same class for one and a half month and they knew maybe two or three names tops. So we moved on to some other name game after starting from scratch several times.

After the games we sang “Head and shoulders, knees and toes” with them. That was quite fun! Sara-Jeanette told them to try to “Oublier” (which means to forget) what we had done that day, when she meant to say that they had to try to “Rappeler” (remember), we had a good laugh about that when we finaly were finished! I probably had more faults when I tried to speak French...anyway it was fun!

But for our first time in the class teaching English in French, I would say it went all right! It will be fun to return and get to know the second and third year students too on Wednesday!


Johanne Teresie

Grasshoppers, filmnights, sunbathing and work

By the pool

Since the last time I wrote I have been busy with a lot of things. On Wednesday last week Sara-Jeanette and I went sunbathing by the pool for a long time after school. The pool is by the way still empty ... But the paint has come and I think someone has started to paint it, so hopefully it won’t be long before we can hang out there again. 

On Thursday last week we had bible studies together with some of the other Norwegians here. And on Friday the boys had borrowed a projector and invited some friends and all the Norwegian youth here. We watched “Les Miserables” and ate a lot of something called “Makkala” in the local language Fulani. It is fried dough of some kind and tastes really delicious. Especially when it’s fresh! 

The brown balls are Makkala, very tasty!

That Saturday we went to visit Helene and Erling and got Taco for supper. It was great; though it’s not the same as in Norway it was still really good! Sunday went by with some homework and choir practice.

The French course was a big part of my everyday life here until last week, since it was the last of the "two week intensive course" with four hours a day. This week we have started working in some of the places we are going to work at for the next six months. And it has been really interesting! On Tuesdays we will usually have self study days, but this week and maybe some weeks further on we will continue on with French courses until we have completed 80 hours of it. 

On Monday we had the opportunity to sit down and draw the dresses we want to get sewn for us. It was fun to draw again and to design our own dresses! We went with Sandra to the tailor and she helped us with explaining the way we wanted our dresses to be sewn and what we wanted them to look like.

Designing the dress

 

On Wednesday we went to the Centre Socio Ménager. It is a small school with 51 students. We are trying to organise how we are going to arrange the classes between me and Sara-Jeanette and how to make it fit so that all the girls have one class with Informatics (computer study) and two classes with English in one week. It was quite a puzzle! As there are only 5 computers and 20 students in one group and 31 in the other, so we sat and arranged the timetable so that it would all fit together.
On Thursday we went to work at the church office for one of the pastors there. We helped him type some speeches into a computer. The hours went by quite fast and as we sat there we wondered if the speech we had just copied was the same as the one we heard when we were in church two weeks earlier when we did not understand much.

The grasshopper that hid in our sink

As it is close to the end of the rain season there are many bugs around here that get in to the house. Especially grasshoppers!!
The boys have hundreds of them in their apartment through out the day! But we girls are lucky because we are careful to close all windows and doors when it gets dark. So there are only about twenty inside here... But now it has been dry for two days and the grasshoppers gather in thick groups to get in through the door! And when we go out we have to use a broom to get them away. The creatures are a bit disgusting, but they are also fascinating in their own way. I found one in our sink in the kitchen and as it walked around on the counter I managed to take some nice pictures of it.

Amazing how close I could get to it before it moved!

We also have a lizard living in the tree right outside the house. I saw it some time ago and stood really close to it when I took some of the pictures, amazing how it didn’t run away from me! 








Can't wait to start to work some more! It is going to be great adventure!

Johanne Teresie