We are still here, going to school everyday learning spanish:) So not much are happening, but I feel I didn´t describe it properly last time:)
It is really beautiful here, with mountains and volcanos and a lake, our little town is by the lakeside, and we went for a swim once, but the water is like norwegian water in early summer, so it is not the best swim I´ve had on this trip, hehe;) I think we are spoilt by all the beautiful places we have been, so it took us a week to find that we are living in a pretty place, hehe;) That´s what happens when you travel for a year or more, hehehe!
Still, we are enjoying our days, celebrated one year on the road last week, and go to school everyday. The coffeefruit really smells all the time, kind of sour and rotten, but not bad. We meet new people everyday, and learns a lot about the indigenous cultures here from our teachers. Kristoffer is really good at speaking one of the Maya languages, hehe, they have this clicking noise in between the words, or in the word, I don´t know, and he can do it, I´m hopeless, hehe! There are 22 languages in Guatemala, pluss spanish.. Not bad!
We have been going to school for 1 week now, and it is getting complicated! Both are finished with presens, but I´m stuck at something with directo y indirecto objetivo, which is not similar to anything in english or norwegian, but they have it in french,so Kristoffer has got it, and is moving on to preteritum tomorrow, hehe! My teacher is really strict, and I´m supposed to have a test tomorrow, in all three groups of verbs in presens, so no fun for me tonight, I have to study:) Kristoffers teacher is not so strict, so he won´t have a test, unfair!
On Friday we enjoyed free salsa lessons at one of the cafes we have spent most time, they have amazing coffee here, and the dancing was great too! Me gusta bailar salsa! Y nos gustamos bailar salsa! Or something;) Bailar all night long, great times!
On Saturday we went on a daytrip to San Marcos, on the other side of the lake, and everyone told us to go there, it was so beautiful and a special energy and all, hehe, and we didn´t get it at all, HAHA, maybe we didn´t find the right place, I don´t know, couldn´t feel the energy, and that place was like unbelievable small! One path from the lakeside up to centre, and that´s it! Explain it to me if you can, Kaia! HIhihi! But we took a tuk tuk home instead of the boat and drove through San Pabla and San Juan, and saw more people, and those two towns are less turistic, so it was a good day anyway.
Yesterday, Sunday, we went to Guatemalas second biggest market in Chichicastenango, didn´t get a shuttle bus from San Pedro(should have ordered it the day before..)so we took the boat to Panajachel, the biggest town around the lake, and a bus from there, took us longer, but we still had 3 hours or more on the market so it was fine:) Kristoffer bought more than me! For me it was just too much to choose from, I couldn´t decide what to get! But I bought a great bag, in bluegreenish colour, and it is so beautiful, but every time I touch it my hands go blue, so I have to wash it many times before I can use it..
Other than that, I guess it is official that we are coming home to Norway on the 17th of April:) Looking forward to that! We still haven´t found cheap tickets from Central America to New York where we are flying from on the 16th of April, so if anyone finds anything, let us know! ;)
I think that´s it.. Going to school everyday now, so all the days seems the same, weird, just like home, but that´s the way it is:)
5 more days, and then on Saturday we´re moving on, don´t know for sure where yet, but we´ll get there!:)
Have good days back home!
g
mandag 23. februar 2009
søndag 15. februar 2009
Mexico City - San Cristobal de las casas-Guatemala
We left Mexico City last monday, the day after the bullfights, and the same day as Kristian and Martine left too. Found a night bus, so after a long night and 14 hours on the bus we arrived in San Cristobal, a small town south in Mexico. We decided to stay one day, as we both were struggling with a cold. Might have been the cold weather in Mexico City and the pollution..
San Cristobal was an amazing place, lots to see and do, but we only spent one night, and relaxed mostly. I think this is the kind of place you can end up staying for a lot longer than you planned, great vide, cafees and restaurants, and happy people:)
But the morning after we left for the Guatemalan border, took a bus 3 hours, walked into immigration on one side of the border, got our stamp, took a taxi for 10 minutes and walked into the Guatemalan office, got our stamp there to, and then we walked out on the street and crossed under a (vei bom anyone?), you know this thing that closes the road for traffic, black and yellow, oh well, we walked under it and then we were in Guatemala. After a meal and finding a bank we found a chicken bus, who promised to take us to San Pedro la laguna, up in the mountains. So they threw our luggage on the roof and tucked us inside this old school bus from the states and off we went. After a few really bumpy hours they told us to change bus, so they helped us with the luggage and put us on the next bus, he even paid our next fare for us, since he had told us we would get all the way for one sum. And then it was more hours of bumpy roads, till we had to change bus again! We got help this time too, but had to pay a bit more. Doesn´t matter, still cheaper than the tourist bus:) And this bus took us all the way till San Pedro la laguna, we thought we had to take a boat to get there, but turns out we didnt´t:) So after 3 changes of bus and 8 hours on the road we arrived in San Pedro, and that was last Wednesday, and we are still here, tomorrow we will start taking spanish lessons and all, hihi, interesting:)
We have met friends from Norway here too, Ragnhild from filosofi and her sister Kjersti, so we are a gang of 4 more or less totally crazy norwegians ruling the streets of San Pedro! The two sisters are from Vik so no question about the ruling, hehehe;) Good times in Guatemala!
We have tried some of the food here too, and bbq chicken bought at the streets, together with tacos mexican style are so far the favourites:) It is also a place with a lot of backpackers, which sets its colour, but it means good cafees and restaurants, and really good spanish schools, so that is why we are here:) It is really interesting for the coffee nerd Kristoffer too, cause the coffee factories are close here, and we walk past them on the streets every day, easily recognised by the smell of rotten coffeefruits laying outside in heaps and heaps:) It is the rest they don´t use, ok, here we go, first they pick the coffeefruit, then dry it a bit(I think) then they wash it in long canals, and gets out the coffee bean, and the rest of the fruit is what they leave beside the streets in heaps, and it smells really strange.. Then they dry the coffebeans on the streets(yes, right on the asphalt..) and pack it in bags and send it away:)
So much about the coffee, he can tell you more, I guess you will find pictures of the process on flickr soon too:)
Just have to tell about Valentines Day, which we celebrated in a hot tub under the stars(oh well, was really cloudy) with 5 others, haha, so much for romance! But it was great, those sisters from Vik know how to entertain, hehe, they even rap, hehehehe!
Now, lunchtime.
g
San Cristobal was an amazing place, lots to see and do, but we only spent one night, and relaxed mostly. I think this is the kind of place you can end up staying for a lot longer than you planned, great vide, cafees and restaurants, and happy people:)
But the morning after we left for the Guatemalan border, took a bus 3 hours, walked into immigration on one side of the border, got our stamp, took a taxi for 10 minutes and walked into the Guatemalan office, got our stamp there to, and then we walked out on the street and crossed under a (vei bom anyone?), you know this thing that closes the road for traffic, black and yellow, oh well, we walked under it and then we were in Guatemala. After a meal and finding a bank we found a chicken bus, who promised to take us to San Pedro la laguna, up in the mountains. So they threw our luggage on the roof and tucked us inside this old school bus from the states and off we went. After a few really bumpy hours they told us to change bus, so they helped us with the luggage and put us on the next bus, he even paid our next fare for us, since he had told us we would get all the way for one sum. And then it was more hours of bumpy roads, till we had to change bus again! We got help this time too, but had to pay a bit more. Doesn´t matter, still cheaper than the tourist bus:) And this bus took us all the way till San Pedro la laguna, we thought we had to take a boat to get there, but turns out we didnt´t:) So after 3 changes of bus and 8 hours on the road we arrived in San Pedro, and that was last Wednesday, and we are still here, tomorrow we will start taking spanish lessons and all, hihi, interesting:)
We have met friends from Norway here too, Ragnhild from filosofi and her sister Kjersti, so we are a gang of 4 more or less totally crazy norwegians ruling the streets of San Pedro! The two sisters are from Vik so no question about the ruling, hehehe;) Good times in Guatemala!
We have tried some of the food here too, and bbq chicken bought at the streets, together with tacos mexican style are so far the favourites:) It is also a place with a lot of backpackers, which sets its colour, but it means good cafees and restaurants, and really good spanish schools, so that is why we are here:) It is really interesting for the coffee nerd Kristoffer too, cause the coffee factories are close here, and we walk past them on the streets every day, easily recognised by the smell of rotten coffeefruits laying outside in heaps and heaps:) It is the rest they don´t use, ok, here we go, first they pick the coffeefruit, then dry it a bit(I think) then they wash it in long canals, and gets out the coffee bean, and the rest of the fruit is what they leave beside the streets in heaps, and it smells really strange.. Then they dry the coffebeans on the streets(yes, right on the asphalt..) and pack it in bags and send it away:)
So much about the coffee, he can tell you more, I guess you will find pictures of the process on flickr soon too:)
Just have to tell about Valentines Day, which we celebrated in a hot tub under the stars(oh well, was really cloudy) with 5 others, haha, so much for romance! But it was great, those sisters from Vik know how to entertain, hehe, they even rap, hehehehe!
Now, lunchtime.
g
Mexico City
We managed to get some sleep, moved to a more quiet place, and had lovely days with our happy hosts in central parts of the city, ate a lot of interesting and really good food, and I have to say that mexican food is nothing like the "mexican food" we get back home, um um um, this is real stuff! We are quite brave when it comes to street stalls and street food now, and enjoyed a lot of great and cheap food in Mexico City.
The best thing about Mexico City was meeting up with our Norwegian friends Kristian and Martine, who have been traveling in South America and Central America for 10 months, we all had a lot of stories to tell, and spent a lot of time together:) grrreat times! We even went to a bullfight, you know, the real spanish thing with a matador and a bull and all, and it was, well, how can I even tell this, I know a lot of my animal loving friends will stòp loving me now, but it really was interesting! Like, really interesting, the stadion was full of people, and they treat the matador like a king or the biggest hero ever, and the ambience was amazing!! And what a show! They use approximately 30 minutes or more on each bull, and it really is like a dance and looks very well coreografed and all the colors, and all the audience are quiet and then at the same time shout OLÊ and it is really special! And the rules, I thought it was just about killing the bull, but no, it is so much more. The last 2 minutes are awful, of course, and they , don´t read this if you don´t have a strong stomach, but they even cut off the bulls ears after it is dead, and the tail, depending on how good a performance the matador made, and how much the audience are cheering.. Which was a bit odd. And then the matador and his team of men walk slowly around the ring and people go crazy and throw their hats and jackets down so the matador can touch it, and then you have good luck, or something. What a show!
And I am sorry to all of you who are really disappointed in us for supporting this thing, but I am happy to have seen it for myself. Hah.
g
The best thing about Mexico City was meeting up with our Norwegian friends Kristian and Martine, who have been traveling in South America and Central America for 10 months, we all had a lot of stories to tell, and spent a lot of time together:) grrreat times! We even went to a bullfight, you know, the real spanish thing with a matador and a bull and all, and it was, well, how can I even tell this, I know a lot of my animal loving friends will stòp loving me now, but it really was interesting! Like, really interesting, the stadion was full of people, and they treat the matador like a king or the biggest hero ever, and the ambience was amazing!! And what a show! They use approximately 30 minutes or more on each bull, and it really is like a dance and looks very well coreografed and all the colors, and all the audience are quiet and then at the same time shout OLÊ and it is really special! And the rules, I thought it was just about killing the bull, but no, it is so much more. The last 2 minutes are awful, of course, and they , don´t read this if you don´t have a strong stomach, but they even cut off the bulls ears after it is dead, and the tail, depending on how good a performance the matador made, and how much the audience are cheering.. Which was a bit odd. And then the matador and his team of men walk slowly around the ring and people go crazy and throw their hats and jackets down so the matador can touch it, and then you have good luck, or something. What a show!
And I am sorry to all of you who are really disappointed in us for supporting this thing, but I am happy to have seen it for myself. Hah.
g
tirsdag 3. februar 2009
From Hobart to Mexico City!
We left Hobart on a thursday night, flew to Sydney, where my bigbrothersbestfriendfromchildhood, Hakon, picked us up from the airport, took us home and let us sleep on his couch. The Friday after, we spent seeing Sydney, alltogether we spent 20 hours in Sydney, not bad, or very bad, depends how you see things! We had enough time to see the Operahouse, The Rocks and the Bridge and also the botanical gardens and some other stuff, so it was good:) Then Hakon drove us back to the airport, where we spent 1 hour in line to check in, then found out the states has changed their rules again, so we needed an adress on where we were going to stay in Hawaii, in order to get to check in. That got very stressfull, with shouting airhostesses and an internet that didn´t work and all, but 5 minutes before they closed the check in, we had found an adress(was not the right one, but never mind) and we ran threw immigration and customs and to the gate, and made it! PUH!! Still, didn´t sleep at all that well on the plane, and we were really tired when we got to Hawaii in the morning, to have another Friday(we crossed the dateline, so we have had 2 Friday the 30th January 2009, beat that!!), and spent most of the day in different cafes, waiting for our host to pick us up after work. Turns out he worked for the army and lived just outside Pearl Harbor!
Saturday we went to the beach, with a lot of family of the host, cousins and uncles and wifes and babys and all, and Kristoffer learned the basics in surfing! He has still got sore muscles, hehe!After the beachlife, our host took us to a big big market, and after that he showed us Pearl Harbor(mostly closed, unless you pay a lot to be on a tour for tourists..) and we saw the biggest warships in the world and a lot of strange stuff, I dont know, I am not that into war, but I could see that it was big guns and stuff.. Hehe! Cool place to have seen, since not that many people get to see it!
On Sunday we spent the day with Charlotte, a girl I used to work with in Oppegaard, she is studying English in Hawaii, and lives almost on Waikiki Beach, the most famous beach in Honolulu. She showed us her Hawaii, and we had a great time! Thanks a lot for taking care of us, Charlotte!!:)
Then we flew from Honolulu to San Fransisco on Sunday night, with timedifferences and all it took 5 hours and we landed in San Fransisco 05 in the morning, took a train to town(went to the worng place first, turns out there is two Richmonds in San Fransisco, both with a bridge..) so when we at last got to the right place, to see The Golden Gate Bridge, you know, the one you see in all the movies, the red one, we had to jog/run 3 km(and the streets of San Fransisco is mainly up and down, and I mean crazy hilly!!) to get to a place where we could see the bridge! And then we took an old tram through the streets back to the train and got to the airport just in time to eat breakfast and go through customs and then fly to Mexico City. That took 5 hours too, and I cant remember a thing, I was too tired to do anything, I slept through it all!
We landed in Mexico City last night, and found the metro and found the way to our host here, and it turned out we were going to share a floor in an apartment with 16 people! The planned taking care of the jetlag didnt happen, to be honest, but it was only nice people so it is ok. Today I have been so tired, so I am really not enjoying Mexico yet, but give me some sleep and a coffee and I will be fine! Hopefully we can get some more sleep tonight!:)
No, time for lunch! Have a good one back home!
g
Saturday we went to the beach, with a lot of family of the host, cousins and uncles and wifes and babys and all, and Kristoffer learned the basics in surfing! He has still got sore muscles, hehe!After the beachlife, our host took us to a big big market, and after that he showed us Pearl Harbor(mostly closed, unless you pay a lot to be on a tour for tourists..) and we saw the biggest warships in the world and a lot of strange stuff, I dont know, I am not that into war, but I could see that it was big guns and stuff.. Hehe! Cool place to have seen, since not that many people get to see it!
On Sunday we spent the day with Charlotte, a girl I used to work with in Oppegaard, she is studying English in Hawaii, and lives almost on Waikiki Beach, the most famous beach in Honolulu. She showed us her Hawaii, and we had a great time! Thanks a lot for taking care of us, Charlotte!!:)
Then we flew from Honolulu to San Fransisco on Sunday night, with timedifferences and all it took 5 hours and we landed in San Fransisco 05 in the morning, took a train to town(went to the worng place first, turns out there is two Richmonds in San Fransisco, both with a bridge..) so when we at last got to the right place, to see The Golden Gate Bridge, you know, the one you see in all the movies, the red one, we had to jog/run 3 km(and the streets of San Fransisco is mainly up and down, and I mean crazy hilly!!) to get to a place where we could see the bridge! And then we took an old tram through the streets back to the train and got to the airport just in time to eat breakfast and go through customs and then fly to Mexico City. That took 5 hours too, and I cant remember a thing, I was too tired to do anything, I slept through it all!
We landed in Mexico City last night, and found the metro and found the way to our host here, and it turned out we were going to share a floor in an apartment with 16 people! The planned taking care of the jetlag didnt happen, to be honest, but it was only nice people so it is ok. Today I have been so tired, so I am really not enjoying Mexico yet, but give me some sleep and a coffee and I will be fine! Hopefully we can get some more sleep tonight!:)
No, time for lunch! Have a good one back home!
g
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