Liberia at 161.

So today is independence day. At least for Liberia. They are celebrating their 161 years of being a state. Which makes it one of the oldest in Africa, I beleive the only competitor is Sierre Leone, at least south of the Sahara, but I stand to be corrected.

It has been a pretty nice day, I went to see some friends, one of whos birthday it is today. She is very pleased that so many people can help her celebrate :)

We also saw a small street show in the morning. That was pretty awesome, I am very amazed by the guy dancing on stilts. I cannot even walk on the small kind we have at home.

Well, we just got back from independence dinner at Trines "moms" house. OH, we ate and ate. I am sure we don't qualify in the group of people starving in Africa. There was defenitly no food cricis here today.

It was very good. Thanks a million to Deborah for cooking all day. She had even made pawpaw (papaya)pie for dessert...

So today has generally been very plesant. I am very happy to be back, and my fieldwork is coming along, small small. :)

It is quite strange being here, it feels very natural, but also very surreal. I was watching an old danish movie the other day, when I was sick... And last night we were watching "den store dag", it is so strange to be completly in the "home" universe, and the look away from the screen and up in a tin roof, and mice running on the wood holding the roof. But I think I am just a part of both worlds by now. And I really enoy them both. Well, I do miss running water, the feeling of being clean, I mean really clean, and for more than 30 sec before yu are already feeling hot again.
Oh year, and it is the rainy season, so even though you are hot, the water is NOT. So when the weatehr is still ab bit rough in the mornings, it can be quite a cold experience throwing half a bucket of cold water over your head. But right now it sounds very nice though. Except, we didn't go get enough water today, so we are adding rainwater, by putting the buckets outside to catch what is still coming. Unfortiunatly it is a very slow process getting waater that way. And there is no way I am getting water now, it is heavy and it is dark, and I will break my legs. So I guess I have to beat Erika and Trine to the shower tonight. :)
So therefore, I wil leave this now, try and put some more pictures on facebook, and head home.

more stories

Oh, well it seems that the internet on camp is actually working better that that in Accra. At least where we were today.

anyways I forgot to tell a story of our shopping experiences today. Well we really shopped til we dropped. hehe but we got rewards at Frankies. mmm. Chocolate milkshake and lebanese food. Yes, thank you... :)

Anyways. I am very aware I have gained weight while in DK, though the ladies at Makola didn't know this. They were most "kind" in constantly commenting on it. Apparently a white girl cannot have hips like I do, at least not without several (5-7) WOMEN coming up slapping and grapping it. One even keept poking her finger in my side. Very surprised that it was firm while so large. Well Thanks?!?!

Anyways, it was a fun experience, one I hope will not be quite so overwheliming next time I go there.

Ok, so I might be lying

Well the whole issue with the pictures.. hmm. It won't really go, I am trying though.

But instead I can tell that between Erika, Trine and myself we bought half of the fabric at makola market. Oh, no. I think apart from when bying stuff for the house and paying rent, today is the day where I have spend the most money. BUUUUTTT. I got some REALLY nice fabrics. I cannot wait to have all sorts of things made from them. Am going to overwhelm my taylor tomorrow.
As for now, we are still in accra, and able to connect our own computers to the net here. Trouble is thogh, taht it took so long to get it to work, that I am almost out of battery, and the pictures are not cooperating as I would have liked them too. But I hope to work it out...

Uh, might go to Liberia a bit early, but nothing is settled yet. I am quite exited to go there tough.
:D

Billeder...

to make it all more confusing, I am uploading the photos on my facebook.

life in and around camp

July 22 2008

So got back from the beach Sunday. We were all a bit busted, it is so weird how two days of doing nothing but relaxing and eating will just knock the energy out of you. Anyways it was very nice :)
we got back to camp and all was pretty good. Though I went to see Ora, she wasn't too fine, but I mean that is to be expected, her husband and daughter are in Liberia already and she is trying to go, but the process is very slow. Yesterday she got really ill though, and is now at the clinic where they just say that it is stress. A pretty bad case as it is. She cannot rest, the drug they give her don't work, and she hasn't slept since she got there. Instead she is getting really upset screaming and cramping in her muscles, so we have determined that it must have been going on for a long time, and now it is culminating in panic attaches and extreme stress. I feel so bad for her. I mean things here are hard enough without being in the hospital. And the clinic here, well, I wouldn't want to be there.
The church has now said since the doctors cannot diagnose her (apparently here, nobody believes that stress can make you sick) and she is screaming and things, she is possessed by a daemon. They therefore want to do an exorcism of some sort. I don't know. But if she believes it, I guess it will help. Also apparently a woman has walked by her house stating that she would make her sick so she would strip her clothes and run around the camp naked. I am telling you. Of witches and demons there are plenty on camp. :) Well i guess we all have our believes, and we need to. I just really want her to get better.
Today different trouble has shown itself. A truck left here (I think yesterday) to carry peoples things to Liberia. It has been sitting here for some time waiting to go, so everybody was pretty happy to see it take off. Trouble is that the man everybody paid to take their things there, has spend the money, and didn't have money to pay the driver. This has resulted in all the things being unloaded at the Ghanaian /Cote d'Ivore border. So now a truckload (literally) of things is standing there just waiting to be taken. I believe that it has been moved from the roadside and to safety, for now anyways. I guess that is bad enough, but for the people on camp they can go and take a look at it tomorrow, talk to a different driver and negotiate a new price to have it picked and taken to Liberia. The serious trouble (well it is serious enough for people here too, as they spend all their money on having it transported the first time) are for those who are already in Liberia waiting for their things to arrive. If they have no one left here, they will not be informed for quite some time about their things being unloaded at the boarder here. And they also cannot come to claim it, and tell the driver, this and this is mine. So I don't know how that is going to end. Well, life of a returning refugee is not easy.
As for me, things are better. I have not (hopefully) given all my things to someone, paid him all I have, and then have him run off with it all. On the other hand, I still have not seen where my things are. But I am sure it will be ok. At least now I heard form the guy who picked it all. So my hopes are back up. He even wrote the address and all again (and it is the same as he informed me earlier, so I am optimistic).
We are going to Accra tomorrow, not that we really want to, but it is easier to upload photos etc there. I need to find out if I can carry my own computer to the internet cafe here, but the net is somewhat slow. Also we are going to the market (we are hunting for fabrics...) there tomorrow (which is the time of uploading this), and probably we will see a girl who has been doing studies here throughout the last year. So she will have a lot of information about the demonstration that went on in the beginning of the year. It will be nice to get the whole story. Also it will be nice to get it from an “outsider”. So I am kind of exited about that. Arh and plus. We get to go to the sunshine salad bar in Osu.. mmmmmmmm
I don't think I have ever spend so much time (with the exception of last time I was here) thinking and talking about food, as we do now, especially when we are eating. All the food we cannot get that is... But when we are in Accra tomorrow, I guess we are buying a stock of ryebread. The mice got into our last pack. :(
besides from all of this, not much is happening, we have more or less gotten settled. We have started our work (small small) and things are moving ahead. Even if it is slowly.
I am getting pretty exited to go to Liberia though. I might even go a bit earlier, especially if Sidsel decides to go home in the beginning of September instead of staying the month. But all that will be sorted.
It is raining quite a bit today, and the power has gone for the now. So I am on battery, which is about to run out.
Oh, so power is back. I actually went to do an interview.. for 1½ hours. Oh my God, have to transcribe it later.. OH, no. But the good thing is that now i have started for real, I have real data so Erika can stop teasing me about never getting started... :)
uh, the plan for this evening now is, that when Erika and Sidsel comes back, we make small food, we had so much food for lunch, Trine and two of her friends were cooking. Very nice. We had stew and rice, oh it was good. So dinner is bread and eggs. Oh and then we are watching a film and drinking hot chocolate. Because that is what you do when it is raining! :D

Getting adjusted

July 18-08

This morning we went for the ALP graduation. Well it was supposed to start at 11 so by 12 we got going... But that was mainly due to Dianas delay, as she was the special guest. And the director of SHIFSD had chosen to go to Accra for something. So we really needed some official person to be there. It was a nice programme though, fairly short. Only trouble was, that they asked me to speak, without telling me first. So out of nowhere they were like, “yes so we would like to hear from one of our international guests” and we were four girls just looking at each other, while Diana and Ora were looking at me with eyes saying “come on, you're up...” So there I went. I had thought I would be safe from those things now that I am not here with an organisation... But I guess I was wrong.

Anyways right now we have 3 Liberian guys in our kitchen cooking potato-greens, with fish and chicken. Smells really nice, just a bit sorry I saw when they were gutting the fish. I am such a girl in that matter. Oh, I don't like the smell of raw fish. But, as I said, now it smells very nice. And I am actually getting hungry... I feel a bit sorry for the guys though, since I don't eat the pepper here. Oh, it burns so bad. And Sia (the new Danish IBIS intern in Bole) is a vegetarian, so they have to make separate portions for us... But they say it is no problem. Hehe, well, eating will be a whole different thing as we have no furniture... And we have had to go get extra pots and plates for us all to be able to eat... :D I know this must sound very crazy, but it has been quite a lot of work getting everything ready. And our kitchen is very small, so 3 guys out there must not be easy, but they sound like they are having an ok time. It is a different world though, 1 girl sleeping, two working on their blogs, and one fixing her phone, while the guys are in the kitchen... That is how it is supposed to be... :D

We have gotten pretty good a fetching water now, I don't spill so much any more, but all our neighbour still find it kind of funny that all these white girls go hauling water in buckets everyday. I guess it wasn't less fun when Trine and I went to get drinking water today, and carried the sacks with water back on our heads. OH well, we are in Africa, so why not do things the African way...? even if it means having a headache for a few hours after. I have new found respect for anyone who can carry loads on their heads... OH my, and our loads were not even that heavy... All respect for African women (and men).
Besides from that, I am getting quite used to being back here. It is still a bit strange living pretty much next to my old place. When I sit on our front step I can see right into my old fence. But then, our house is very nice, so it is ok.

As the observant reader will have noticed, this says absolutely nothing about my alleged field work... Next week!!! I have to get started... I know, but for now I am just getting readjusted. :D
And I think I will have most to do in Liberia anyway, because for now everyone is just telling me that they are happy to go back because “home is home” and their family are there. Buuuttt, they are not all that happy, I know. They are nervous, and it is hard for them to go. It is very costly, and I always dread meeting people who says “We need to find time to talk”. How do I go about saying, “yes, I really want to talk to you, and I want you to help me with my fieldwork, but I will not help you”? I mean, I am very much against giving out money, I simply don't have enough to give to everyone who needs, and also, I am just against the idea. I would very much like to help in different ways, nbut all they really want is the money. So what to do....? It is so difficult. Try to let people down nice, and when it is people who are a bit distant, then it's not that difficult, but when it is friends asking. Arh, it is hard!!!! I hope to find a way around it though.
But maybe it is just an excuse to push my field work. It is really hard getting started. But most people has already agreed to talk to me, so why am I pushing it all the time??? I guess I just don't feel all that prepared. I have questions I want to ask, sort of, but I don't feel they are all that fulfilling. And I don't know if they will take me in the right direction. But I guess I have to try it and then correct it as I go along. So next week. I have to do at least 1 interview! :) And I will...

Saa er jeg i Ghana

Efter mindre forsinkelse i Frankfurt og Lagos, naaede vi Onsdag aften fram til Accra. Og inden vi naaede ud af lufthavnen var vi blevet huslet i det smaa. Dumme ATM ville kun udbetale 1 sedler, hvilket betoed maksimum40 cedi (ca 40 USD) som jeg saa kunne betale 30 dkk for at haeve. hmm.
Heldigvis er det ikke hverdagskost, ellers blev det hurtigt alt for dyrt at vaere ude at rejse, i hvert fald i Ghana. :) Naa ja, saa betalte vi ogsaa naesten dobbeltpris af hvad vi burde for taxaen, men men. Nu maa det ogsaa vaere nok! Ikke flere overpriser!!! Eller, ikke saa mange i hvert fald :)

Naa, vores hus er rigtig fint. Sidsel og jeg deler vaerelse de foerste 2 mdr, og har saa faktisk et ekstra vaerelse den sidste maaned, inden hun tager hjem, og jeg smutter til det der Liberia. det betyder at der er plads til mindst en gaest!!! :) Saa I siger bare til...
Jeg skal nok forsoege at laegge billeder af huset ud her, men det der med internet er ikke saa let, og mit USB befinder sig stadig i DK... Men Erika har et, saa mon ikke der er raad for det.

Lejren har forandret sig en del, stemningen er helt anderledes, eller, ja, ikke rigtigt faktisk. Men alting er mere konkret. Foer talte alle om at tage hjem engang, men nu tager de faktisk afsted, naermest hver dag. Paa sttionen ved indgangen til lejren, bliver lstbil paa lastbil fyldt med moebler og folk sidder taalmodigt (eller ikke saa taalmodigt) og venter paa at faa deres ting med. det er ikke let dog, det er sgu dyrt! Et lille hus koster op til USD 200 at faa transporteret. Saa det er noget alligevel. De har nu faaet lov til at tae 50 kg med i flyet pr person, men naar man har noet et sted i op til 16 aar, er 50 kg ikke saerlig meget.
hehe, jeg havde naermest 30 med herned naar jeg taeller det hele... og jeg skal kun vaere her 6 mdr. Maa dog indroemme, at en del nok oer her. Kan slet ikke overskue at pakke det hele ned i tasken igen.

Ellers tror jeg ikke der er saa meget at fortaelle. Jeg er ikke startet paa mit fltarbejde endnu, men har alle planer om at komme igang i morgen. Har lidt travle eftersom mindst en informant rejser tilbage til Libria i weekenden. Herefter smutter de saa loebende om 2 uger, naeste maaned etc. Kun 2 so far har ingen planlagt hjemrejsetisdpunkt. Men nu maa vi se, UNHCR staar for hjemsendelsen, saa hver dag gaar de op til en tavle og kigger efter om deres navne er kommer op. Saa man kan sige, at selvom de "gerne" vil afsted, saa er det ikke helt op til dem.
det er der faktisk ikke meget i denne process der er. Det eneste de naermest selv vaelger er om de vil registrere sig til at blive hjemsendt. Nogle vaelger at blive, mens andre tager tilbage pa egen haand, men det er en noget besvaerlig process, saa de fleste vaelger UNHCR loesningen. Saa kommer de ogsaa op at flyve :)

naa, har kun 10 min tilbage af min timer herforan skaermen, saa vil slutte for nu.
Beklager evt stavefejl, men det der med engelsk tastatur goer det om muligt endnu svaerer for mig at ramme de rigtige taster. :)

Så småt på vej

Nu har jeg så oprettet min blog, der skal fortælle mine historier fra Afrikas land.. eller to af dem i hvert fald...
Jeg havde svært ved, at finde den rigtige log overskrift, men med hjælp fra min evigt fantastiske (tidligere) roomie så blev det til signalhallodims, fordi det bare siger så meget om mig. Jeg takker og dedikerer dermed denne blog til hende. Tak smukke.

jeg rejser om ganske få timer fra DK til Ghana, og senere til Liberia. Denne blog kommer til at omhandle store og små oplevelser fra denne tur.
Håber I kan få glæde af den...