Funny how things can change.....

Well there's been a change of plans...I'm still going to Nicaragua and study there for a semester, but i'm not gonna travel around for as long as earlier planned..:P Intended to travel around for quite a long time after Nicaragua, as long as i had money, but now i've decided to travel around 2 months... Then i'm going back to Norway, and back to school...after 3 years off i'm finally getting an education, about time some might say...;) and even if i start studying there's always time to travel more later, i'm still young..:p hehe

Truth is, i got a wake up call at work...was talking with my aunt, and she kept saying that if i didn't get started on a education soon, i would end up at GP (grocery store/gas station) until i retired, doing what i do now, work a few months, then travel around some, get back and work and then travel...and i realized, she was actually right...i know my boss would love that, but that's not the life for me..:P I don't wanna live in Sirdal for the rest of my life, it's okay for a bit, but not for a longer period...

So when i got home i went online, and started reading up on socialanthropology ++ but it didn't feel quite right...then suddenly i found myself on a page about "social studies"? (sosionom) not quite sure about the english word...;) anyway it got everything i've ever thought about studying...i'll be able to help people, i'll get to study a bit of socialantrhopology, i can work in a prison if i want to, or help people with drug problems, kids +++ and i'll be able to study in australia...probably more choices, but australia seems great! http://www.uis.no/studier/?studieprogramID=B-SOSION&year=2008 the ironic thing is, i actually thought about this in 10th grade.....it only took me 6 years to decide..;) hehe but i don't regret anything i've done, i've learned a lot, and met so many great people!! :)

I'm also getting a new tattoo...was looking for a celtic pattern, cause i'm gonna build on the one on my leg, and then i came over a celtic triskele representing inner strength..http://celtic-symbols-meanings.com/irish_celtic_inner_strength_symbols.aspx
so 23 october i'll have a brand new tattoo on my right wrist..:P really looking forward to that...

Remember this...

Time for change?

Dette har eg i vente!! :D:D:D

Joakim Metzge -Et studie i tropene


Da var jeg endelig der. León, Nicaragua. Etter en uke på hostell flyttet jeg inn i ett av Kulturstudiers hus – Casa Santiago de los Caballeros som ligger i et koselig og trygt strøk av León. Det tar ca fem - ti minutter å gå til sentrum av León, og de andre Kulturstudierhusene ligger bare noen kvartaler unna. Etter noen dager med oppdagelsesferd i byen følte jeg at jeg hadde god oversikt over stedet (som rent geografisk sett er ganske lite). Mine konklusjoner var blant annet: veldig mange vakre kirker, veldig billig shopping, utrolig lang ventetid på mat i alle restauranter, veldig varmt på dagtid og tungt herlig regn om natten. Men allikevel var det noe jeg savnet, noe jeg stadig ble påminnet om når jeg søkte etter skygge, og når jeg konstant bar rundt på en 3-liters flaske med vann. Jeg savnet stranden.

Etter en tidlig frokost gikk vi to kvartaler til der skolebussen hver morgen skulle komme for å hente oss. Alt gikk fint for seg og etter å ha unngått å kjøre på utallige kyr og hester kom vi etter en halvtime frem til Kulturstudiers studiesenter på Playa Las Peñitas.

Det første jeg la merke til da jeg gikk ut av bussen var klimaet. Til tross for at vi bare var 30 minutter unna León var været mildere. Solen stekte fortsatt, men det blåste en herlig bris. Jeg gikk inn porten og var midt i en stor hage. Sofia, en av studiesenterets hunder logret opp til meg for å hilse på. Foruten hundene som alltid lå og sløvet seg i varmen hadde skolen en aguti (prøv å slå det opp på Google!) og flere marsvin som jeg også fikk hilst på. Plenen er perfekt størrelse til å spille fotball på, og flere var allerede godt i gang med å sparke ball.

Jeg gikk nå inn i selve skolebygningen som var enkel og åpent konstruert. I første etasje var det et flertal bord og en bar der Marlon serverte fruktsalat, kaffe og Gatorade. I andre etasje var det en forelesningssal. Aha. Tenkte jeg. Så snudde jeg meg rundt og kikket ut. Wow! Utsikten var helt utrolig. Strand, hav, bølger og palmer. Pulsen økte og jeg begynte å innse at dette var stedet der jeg skulle studere hver dag i tre måneder. Jeg gikk ut på baksiden av skolebygget og havnet uten tvil i det mest avslappede studiemiljøet jeg noen gang har opplevd. Hengekøyene var hengt opp mellom palmetrærne og for dem som ville ha en pause fra lesingen eller hadde sovet dårlig om natten var det et perfekt sted for en siesta. Studentene var allerede spredd rundt og satt og leste i hengekøyene, på gressplenen eller i skyggen der vi også skulle spise vår lunsj. Jeg var allerede kjempefornøyd med det jeg så, og jeg var langt fra ferdig. Jeg hadde enda ikke vært på stranden.

Når jeg skriver at skolen hadde utsikt over stranden mener jeg ikke at stranden er noe du kan skimte i horisonten. Skolen ligger virkelig på stranden! Jeg gikk gjennom enda en port, vinket til de to badevaktene og begravde tærne mine dypt ned i sanden. Noen studenter hadde allerede satt opp et volleyballnett og var i full gang med å spille. Jeg gikk en tur langs stranden for å få et inntrykk av hvor lang den var, og innen et kvarter hadde jeg kommet til Playa Roca som er mer beskyttet og har mindre bølger. Perfekt for en som har lyst til å lære seg å surfe tenkte jeg. Samtidig så jeg skiltet som reklamerte for Rafaels surfeskole. Varmt og deilig vann og få som kjemper om plassen. Perfekt.

Jeg kikket på klokken og fikk plutselig panikk. Informasjonsmøte og spansktest skulle være om allerede 20 minutter! Hvordan skal jeg rekke alt tenkte jeg? Da slo det meg – jeg skal være her hver dag hele høsten. På en skole i tropene.

I can see clearly now...

Just realized that i'm not gonna complain about work again...i've finally learned a lesson! about time some might say, i know my mum would at least..:P I realized if it hadn't been for working at GP i wouldn't have been able to travel around as much as i have done..like USA, England, Germany, Poland, Czech, Ecuador, and JB and I would never could afford travel around to Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Cuba...so i think it's time that i appreciate it a bit more, no matter how terrible it is at times...i do learn something all the time...I've learned to deal with so many different people, learned to handle stress (one word, eastertime....) and i've learned to control my temper..there've been so many times i really didn't wanna be polite... but have to remember "the customer is always right," no they are not, but let them believe they are...Most of them are just plain stupid actually, can't believe all the silly questions we get.. a few years back there was a guy asking if he could park his car in the storage room 'cause his brakes was frozen..'doh...

And most likely i only got 6 months left...can survive that...gonna be strange not having JB to talk to all the time, but it's only 6 months...trying to convince myself that it 'aint that bad...but at least i got something to look forward to...going to Nicaragua then, in february..:D and probably gonna visit Glenda in LA for a few days before i travel to Leon...kinda neat having friends all over the world..:P

But i can't stay put in Norway for 6 months, so i'm thinking about taking a small trip somewhere..dunno where yet...was thinking about croatia, but that didn't work out...might go to greece, and meet up with Evi, a friend from myspace :P

and i do see things clearly now..i'm always complaining about work, and not really appreciating what i've got...but really i am very lucky, i have the possibility to travel around, almost whenever and wherever i want too...there are many of my friends that would love to do that, but can't from different reasons...so i'll handle those 6 long months in Sirdal, it's not that bad really...well...it could be worse...:P gonna visit Britt and Janne Britt aswell so i'll get away for a few days at least...:P

and this summer has been a real good one actually, yeah we worked a lot, but got time to travel to folgefonna to do some snowboarding, was really great...played beach volley, went swimming, and just hanging out with Britt...was good fun!

so everyone; CARPE DIEM!! Don't worry, be happy....:p

Change of plans?

Been doing a bit of thinking lately, and the thought of going back to school is less and less appealing... I'm gonna take one semester in Nicaragua, to learn spanish and more about latin america, but after that i don't really know...Or I'm gonna travel around Central/South-America for two months or so, and then probably do a roadtrip in USA with some friends for a month...but after that? I really don't know...What i do know, is that i don't feel like start studying something, just to study something...i would rather do something else then, and like my brother says, "it's better being street-smart than book-smart" ;) might not get a "good" job, but that's actually not important for me, as long as i have a job that i like, and work with nice people, it's not that important what i do...:) but time will tell i guess..:P

my dream at the moment, is moving to Ireland, work at a pub for awhile, and then in a few years, maybe open up one for myself...:P that would be great craic!! ;) time will tell...:P

Éire!

Ireland was just as amazing as I've always believed it was...! Just everything about it, weird enough i felt like home... So i do hope that I'll be able to study there... Or work in/run a pub there, that would be the dream...

But yeah, we did have a few problems before we came to Ireland, when we came to Copenhagen, all of a sudden we had to take a plane to Frankfurt and then Dublin, so we lost 6 hours there... But at least we weren't travelling with children, felt really sorry for 3 of our fellow passengers, but the kid was great, didn't hear her cry once...But yeah when we arrived at Dublin airport we got some more bad news...our backpacks were still in Copenhagen...a bit bummed...but there was nothing we could do about it anyway, so we filled out the form, and since it was so late we took a taxi to the hostel...

The next day we walked around Dublin, got to see Dublin Castle, Trinity College, and the Book of Kells..and being us of course we did some shopping.. :S bought a few books and gift for the family..:P When we got back to the hostel we waited one hour or so, then we got our luggage, and we were soo happy..:P Freshened up a bit, then we went to Temple Bar to see the match...:P It was the UEFA the week we were there, so we had to watch..:P Even got to use my polish! yay:P hehe started talking with a polish guy, he was working for Ryan Air... after the match we got some live music, was really great..knew two of the songs..:P "Fields of Athenry" and "Whiskey in the Jar" but it was good fun! Or great craic! :P

The next day we went to see The Chester Beatty library, that was neat! Later that day we were going to Cork, it started pouring down so we took a bus to the bus station:P didn't quite figure it out at first, but a sweet old lady helped us out..:P We were actually the first norwegians she met:P her parents were irish, but they lived in Boston until they were 6, then they moved back to Ireland... We got to the station and took the next bus to Cork, we didn't have a hostel here, but trusted our "bible" the lonely planet..:P and ended up at a fairly nice hostel, but the rooms almost felt like a prison cell, it was 8 beds, and just enough room for two people passing eachother sideways... Really felt sorry for Alexander then, and knowing that it's even worse where he is... Since we just had 8 days in all we only stayed 2 nights in Cork, and the next say we took a sightseeing tour, first a city tour, then they drove out to Blarney Castle. Here we kissed the Blarney stone and achieved the gift of the gab..:P And of course with our luck, we came there at the same time as a bunch of americans that were on a cruise, so the line up the castle was much longer than it usually was...ah well, been through worse..:P (Eiffel Tower) when we came back to Cork we went to the pub to watch the match..:P And JB started making a plane out of paper...:P After awhile Humphrey and Eamonn came over, turned out that they had done exactly the same thing, so we had to test them...turned out JB was the expert! :P Both of them were from Kerry, but were studying agriculture in Cork. Sat there talking until the pub closed, surprisingly enough very early, but it was good fun :) even got to practice on my Gaelic..:P Conas ata tu? :P

The next day it was time to move on...Our next stop was Galway, we didn't have time to plan anything before we travelled, but Consi was nice enough to help us out with places to see ++ :)
and Galway was amazing! Might be the sun made it even better, but the first impression was very good, and it stayed that way..:P only thing was, we didn't have a hostel...and that turned out to be a problem, went to one hostel first, but they didn't have anything available, but they called another hostel for us, and they had two beds that night, but nothing after that...so we checked in for one night, and then went hostel hunting...:P was turned down 2-3 places before we found one, but then it was all good..:P walked around the town a bit after that, JB found a toy shop she just didn't wanna leave..;) and later we found a pub and got to see live music and the match...life was good..:P hehe

The next day we were ready for yet another sightseeing tour..:P yeah i know, but we wanted to see a bit..:P The driver was great, funny and knew a lot..we drove over The Burren, got to see Dunguire Castle, Cliffs of Moher, Poulnabrone Dolmen, Aillwe Cave ++ was great! The weather wasn't that great, but at least it wasn't foggy when we were at the cliffs, so then it's all good...:P

When we got back to Galway , it started pouring down, but ah well, we found a pub, and tried to watch the match, but this time it wasn't that easy, turned out to be stag/hen night, and at first they didn't believe that we were there to watch the game...convinced them later though:P After the match we started talking with some and had a fun night, even learned some sort of dance:P But we left rather early 'cause we were going back to Dublin early next morning...

Back in Dublin we just walked around, watched some street bands, one of them "Slainte" was really great! :) We were also back at Kinlay Hostel, this time we slept in a 26 dorm, but we were upgraded, to make a long story short, JB is a light sleeper, and she woke up, and thought she heard water pouring... but it was a guy urinating in the corner...she kept him awake (he must have been drugged or something) and i went down and told the receptionist, they came up and helped us out... Darn the strangest things happens at hostels, but it's weird though, we travelled around in South America for 2 months and nothing weird happened, but one week in Ireland... well enough said..:p hehe must be something in the air.. ;)

Well after 8 days it was time to go home....I really didn't want to, but there's one thing for sure, i'm definitely going back!!! at least once before Nicaragua, and hopefully study there...time will tell i guess... :) at least i got the dream...

some more photos...just click on them to know more..;)