Brasiliansk pølse med brød

Something interesting for Norwegians is the way we, Brazilians, are used to prepare hot-dog. The main differences are: sliced salsiches, corn in the sauce and sticks-potatoes on the top.

At 9th of November, me and Cirene were at Avaldsnes Skolen to make "brasiliansk pølse med brød" (Brazilian hot-dog) with some children. They enjoyed the idea of slicing salsiches, frying onion, eating hot-dog with sticks-potatoes.

Afterwards, we have heard that some of the children decided to assume theirs kitchens at home and prepare the dish to the family.

After preparing the food, we went to the classroom. Some students presented posters with informations about countries that they have been studying. So, we could see the presentation about Guatemala - with typical food - and Brazil.

Read more and see pictures at Edson's blog

The Norwegians like bread and milk

The Norwegian like bread and milk. I dont like much the food but I live here and I have to used it because its part of the learning the culture. We had breakfast bread with something, "matpack" fro lunch, at four o clock dinner, thats the real meal. The norwegian like to eat just little bread for the lunch and different kind of food in Dinner. I used to eat three times a day in Madagascar and we have rice so I missed that. my hostfamily try to make me happy so they baugth rice for me and meat. they things that I realy like in norway are the Ice cream, Cake, and milk they are rich on that. Every meeting that I attend we always have Cake and coffee but I dont drink coffee so I just took the Cake. Me and Birger went to Melhus to attend a meeting so we ate much Cake. anywhere I go in Norway I found the cake and Coffee.

I work with the church, kinder garden, barn gospel, Baby massage, choire " join Us" and I take part of the comfirmant leaders.

In the kinder, they kids dont speak english so I tried to used body languge. I am learning Norwegian form the kids. The first word that I get from them is like "Hallo på do" it means like hallo toilet. they like me verymuch and I realy like to work with them every thursday even its realy hard. one girl in kinder she like me and I awlays get a gift from her. The name of that kinder is "Liavoll".


We had malagsy exhebition in orkdal menighthus for four day, It was succesful and I missed my home when I saw everything form Madagascar. In orkdal we have many people who ahve been in Madagascar so they brougth many things from Madagascar.

The exhebition visited by the student and the people who live in Orkdal. we show them too one dance from Madagascar " Mamgaliba", we danced five times a day during the exhebition, it was very hard but It nice to show the norwegian about madagascar about the life there even they think that Madagascar are one of the poor country.


Read More at Rock's blog

Muang May

Skolen i Thailand er obligatorisk fra 1 – 9 klasse, de starter når de er 5 år. (usikker) Foreldrene må betale en terminavgift, som går til skolen. De betaler ikke lærerlønn. Denne avgiften varierer i forhold til statusen på skolen. Hvis det er en med høy status stiger prisen og kravene for å komme inn. Skoleuniform og annet skoleutstyr må foreldre betale utenom. Det er også vanlig (press) at elevene skal ha med lommepenger hver dag, for å kjøpe godterier osv.

Det er høyt kunnskapspress i Thailand, og det gis karakter til alle fra de går i barnehagen, altså i treårsalderen. De har også tentamener og eksamener fra starten av. En i slutten av hver termin. Disse må de bestå for å kunne gå videre. Hvis ikke, må de gå om igjen. De som går om igjen blir stemplet som treige og etter hvert dumme. Her fins ingen diagnoser som dysleksi. I skolen finner du ikke elever med noe slags handikap. Disse barna går aldri på skole.


På Muang May, skolen vi jobbet på var det 300 elever og 18 lærere. Det betyr liten oppfølging på hver elev. Undervisning er lagt opp til at alle skal lære det samme, de skal svare i plenum og alle skal være like. Selv om presset er stort, så trenger ikke lærerne å ta seg av en elev som henger etter. Lærerne underviser og så får de som vil/klarer det plukke det opp. Teorier og setninger og ord skal pugges og huskes, de har en kjapp hukommelse. Men de forstår ikke nødvendigvis det de pugger.

Respekten til lærerne på skolen er stor. Elevene bøyer seg for lærerne, (dette viser stor respekt). Det er ingen som snakker imot eller stygt til lærerne.

Les mer og se flere bilder på Hege's blogg

Le Concert

Eline and Helene have some new experieces: 



It’s Sunday, and I had a long day head of me. At 07.00 o’clock were we going to meet the choir, but Helene and I thought that African time was African time so we decided to wake up 06.30 with plenty of time. But we were wrong! A friend knocked on the door 10 minutes after I woke up and asked if we were ready, the bus were going to leave at 0700. What happened to African time when we needed it!?

We managed to jump in the bus quite surprised that the Norwegian girls were one of the last! We drove out to Dang were a church performance was first and a concert was second on our schedule for the day.


A 5 ½ hours long church service seemed even longer when you sat on a wooden bench squeezed together. I had no feelings in my butt and back, but a lot of good music was played and we were served lunch afterwards! I guess 1 ½ hour service at home is going to be nothing when I come back. ;)
It's lunch time and we're eating somthing we weren't sure what was..

After church, waiting and preparation was next on our schedule. Helene and I were given a “pagne” (kjole) and before we knew what to do next, Haoua, a girl in the choir, took us with her to get ready. We ended up in a small “apartment” consisting of 2 rooms were we were supposed to take a shower! Two white confused girls who didn’t quite knew what to do, ended up taking a “shower” using a bucket, soap and water. Haoua helped us get dressed before we rushed back to where the concert was held.

At 6’oclock, when the concert was supposed to start, that’s when we started too warm up. My conclusion was that Helene and I wearing the same clothes as everyone else would help us not stick out as much. I was wrong again! As we walked in, someone yelled out: “Nazara, nazara” (white people) and “Dance bien” (dancing well), not sure if it was irony or a compliment.
Sing and shine
Four weeks ago, when I was given the list of 14 songs for the
concert, I for sure, thought that I would just be watching. No way would I ever learn all those songs and some of them were even in tribe language!

I must say that out of 14 songs, I did quite well remember the text and moves. Of course, there is some miming here and there, but I had so much fun! Norwegian audience is totally different from what I saw this day. People were dancing and singing with us, some even came up on the stage joining in!

The concert was done about ten o’clock, we cleaned, pressed everyone in a small bus and were home around 23.30. I was deadly tired in my feet and back, but it was all worth it!

Read more at Eline's blog
Read more at Helene's blog

Life in Fandriana

Working as a teacher
Eating is not everything we do, although it may seem like it from time to time. We have started our work as teachers here at the teacher-training school. It’s great fun, I really enjoy it! The students are aged from 18 to 45, so there is a huge gap. I feel quite young and inexperienced when I teach them, but since they don’t know much English I feel that I am needed, which is a good feeling. They don’t seem to mind that their teacher could be their daughter… Among the things I have taught them so far, are The Body and how to make questions.
Next week we will start teaching English from scratch in two children schools too, far away in the countryside. If you know me, you know that I can’t wait to start! The children here are so adorable!

Working like a Malagasy woman
I am starting to realize how spoiled we are living in the West. Here there is no such thing as a washing machine, a dishwasher, electric oven etc. Sometimes there is no water in the tap, and everyday you have to do your business in a hole in the ground. Washing clothes by hand is painful for the back, and washing dishes everyday is a bit tiring at times. I think I know one of the reasons why people in the West live much longer. They don’t do hard physical work like this everyday! And - especially in Europe – they’re not exhausted at 10 o’clock in the morning because of the hot Sun! But I’m also realizing that people here seem a lot happier than in the West. Can you imagine why?
A Malagasy woman also has to do her duties in the rice field. Her job is to plant rice, which is exactly what I did last Wednesday! The whole school went out to plant rice, and of course the vazahas had to give it a try. Trotting through the mud was fun, but at the same time disgusting and alarming. We were shown some frogs which had been picked up from the mud.


Read More

Do you remember me?

Tueng Tueng from Thailand is living in Oslo. He is asking if his fellow students still remember him?

Se more pictures from his life in Oslo

Et år på Hald Internasjonale Senter?

Engelsklærere i Thailand

Dag 1 som engelsklærere,sammen med kontaktlærern vår. Jeg tror vi var en smule spent på hvordan det skulle gå å undervise en klasse med rundt 30 thaibarn fra 10-12 år alene... Etter å ha undervist i 3 dager kan jeg si at det går bra! Vi lærer de setninger,ord,sanger og leker. Ungene lærer fort. Allerede har flere barn spurt etter autografen vår, og vi hører stadig vekk thainavnene våre bli ropt i gangene når vi beveger oss på skoleområdet. Litt merkelig,men jeg må ærlig innrømme at jeg liker det;-)

Les mer på Lise's blogg

Vennskap i Kamerun

Eline og Helene er to norske (veldig trivelige!) jenter. De bor i Kamerun nå. Før de dro hit lurte de litt på om det ville være vanskelig å få kontakt med lokalbefolkningen. Hvordan skulle de klare å bli kjent med kameruneserne? Måtte de bruke lang tid på å bli kjent i området og finne ut hvor ungdommene holdt til? Nei, de fant fort ut at det ikke ville bli noe stort problem. De trenger nemlig ikke bevege seg langt av gårde for å finne folk. De trenger ikke gå ut av huset en gang. De blir faktisk oppsøkt. På en positiv måte. Det ville jo vært litt stusselig hvis ingen ville ha kontakt med dem.

(..........)

De kommer til alle døgnets tider. Både vennene og ”noen til” gjør det. Nesten. Men bare nesten. Hvis det regner kommer de ikke. Da får jentene være helt i fred. Nesten. Man vet aldri. Man vet aldri her i Afrika. Det er et spennende liv. Et liv som Eline og Helene er i ferd med å utforske. Og en ting er foreløpig sikkert: 12-15 ”frappement à la porte”..og påfølgende ”Oui, un instant. J’arrive” ..er daglig kost! Kontaktsøkende kost!

Les mer på Helene sin blog

Nytt fra Mukdahaan, Thailand

Til nå har vi gått på språkskole i to uker. Vi prøver så godt vi kan å kommunisere med thaiene når vi er på marked eller skal kjøre tuk-tuk (en slags taxi). Som regel synes de det er veldig morsomt at vi prøver og ler hjertelig av oss og flokker seg gjerne rundt oss for å få med seg hva "farangene" (farang er ordet for utlending) prøver å si! Men vi gjør oss stadig forstått og er veldig glad for at kroppsspråket er noe alle forstår!

I dag har vi blitt presantert på skolen vi skal undervise på. Tror det kommer til å bli spennende! Vi fire i teamet skal ha en klasse hver,hver klasse har tretti elever. Vi skal lære de basic ting som hva de heter,hvor gamle de er,farger,kroppsdeler osv.Antrekket vi må undervise i er skjørt eller langbukse med bluse og hele sko! Vi så ut som gamle lærere hele gjengen i dag;-)Men vi gleder oss til å undervise og håper at ungene lærer noe av det og at de blir interesserte i å lære mer!

Les mer på Lise sin blog

Privilegium å være nordmann på Madagaskar!

Madagaskar er eit fint land. Det er eit sant privilegie å væra nordmann her. I det same folk forstår at du er norsk, vert servicen og glimtet i auga, auka eit par tre hakk. For eksempel på flyplassen (dette burde jo vore skrive ned for leeenge sidan.. men det er rart med det). Det var rigga opp til skikkelig tollinspeksjon. All bagasje skulle opnast og vendast. Då det vart vår tur, spurte tollfyren om noko på fransk, kva veit eg ikkje, og eg ymta fram at eg nok berre kunne engelsk. "Were are you from?" spurte han, med morsk mine. Jo frå Norge, svara eg. Og som med eit knips forsvann den morske mina. Du har vel klær i sekken din du? spør han og visar tydeleg at klær er det ingen grunn til å undersøkje, før han visar oss velkomne inn i Madagaskar.
Ein annan ting, som eg tykjer er vel vert å feste seg med, er at mange gasserar smilar med tennene saman. Du bør prøva. Klem tennene sånn halv-hardt saman og lag eit så breidt smil som du klarer. Og slik smiler dei nesten heile tida..

Les mer på Ola sin blog

Første arbeidsuke i Brasil

Lørdag var det full feiring for barna i kirken. Det var ett-års dagen til søndagsskolen, og dette ble feiret skikkelig med en Noahs Ark-dag. Sidney hadde laget noen skikkelig fine plakater av Noahs Ark + masker til søndagsskolebarna, som de brukte når de fremførte en sang om Noahs Ark. De var skikkelig flinke, og det var gøy å se på engasjementet både barn og voksne viste gjennom hele denne dagen. Etter skuespillet om Noahs Ark, var det tid for leker og mye annet. Vi hadde sekkeløp, innleid trampoline, hot-dog, brus, en stor og fin kake, gratis sukkerspinn m.m. Nam! Etter feiringen var det som vanlig en eller annen som inviterte på Churrhasco, Grillings. Jeg og Gunhild var om vanlig klar for det, og det blei en koselig kveld med nye venner her i Brasil.

Les mer på Elisabeth's blog

Greetings from Ulsteinvik

This is my first work in Ustainvik.
Meeting with children at church..
นี่คือการทำงานชิ้นแรกของแนน เมื่อมาอยู่ที่ Ustainvik
สามัคคีธรรมร่วมกันกับเด็ก และก็ทำศิลปะร่วมกัน
ขอบคุณพระเจ้า รู้สึกสนุกดี เด็กๆทุกคนน่ารักมาก

Read more about Nen's work in Ulsteinvik