My family and house

This is my brother Alcides, he is 16 years old and we share room together. This is my bed and my part of the room.
During Carneval all kids was running around with waterballons, spray and sometimes painting. Its was not safe to be a Gringo in a small city those days, or anywhere for that matter. Does in La Paz and Santa Cruz had all the same experience. This is my youngest brother James and two other neighbor kids.
Me, my mother Simona and Juan Carlos preparing food. I am preparing Yuka, a root vegetable we eat a lot of, its really tasty, jsut a shame it mostly grows in Paraguay, Bolivia and Brasil in the tropical zone.
Celebrating Pacha Mama (mother earth), in my yard.
Me dancing Quechua dance at Juan Carlos b-day. And my aunt in the background is very pleased.
Birthday to Juan Carlos. The man to my right is my father.
When its raining it comes quick and leaves quick, but it is always thunder and very intense.
Me doing laundry.
My shower that is very tall. I am standing on some bricks in the mud. I havent showered in regulated heated water since Norway. It's never really cold, not even in the mornings and during the day the water can be so warm I cant stand in it.
Breakfast with 3 of my brothers, my mother and the daughter to another brother. I eat rice to each breakfast, lunsj and dinner.

Running

After trying to get up before its warm for the last week to go running, I finally made it today. Was great, only scary thing is that dogs chased me several time. Which ended up in me getting a little lost. Will try to do it 2 - 3 times a week. Alcides that I share room with, been up at 4 the last days for football practice, so its normal and the only resonable thing to do in the heat.

Breakfast today was also a little fun. Rice, which is normal, but to the rice I got fat, just boiled fat with a little meat. It was normal so I ate it without comment, but I wished it was more meat and less fat. The good part was tomato and avocado salat, all in all it wasnt bad.
When i got home for lunsj they were drying coca leafs in the yard.

Now I will have spanish and quechua again.

2 weeks

Today I had the most gross job, stand in the back of a big truck that collects trash. In the end I was standing in old food, broken glass, tires, plastic and all kind of trash, in my sandals and shorts and we had no gloves. In the heat the smell was incredibly bad.
After that my ´friend´, Carlos invited me home, so we drove a motorcycle cab to his house. Played a little command and conquere before I whent home for lunsj. Last weekend that the other brigadist was visiting us in Yapacani he first wanted Andrea, after a small failure he turned his interest on Kaja. So far this weekend me and Andrea been answering questions about what norwegians girls like, etc etc. Ps, Kaja I gave him your number.

Yesterday I had my first spanish and quechua lesson at a colegio. I think me and Andrea will have spanish and quechua monday, wednesday and friday from 2 - 5, that was what we agreed, but plans changes all the time. Hopefully it will be so, I really need some organized spanish practise. To learn a few words, maybe phrases in quechua would be fun to.

The only thing I miss is to go skiing. Its so much snow home now and I want to be a week in the montains. And Manchester won the liga cup final, Hans you are usually able to find any unnecessary thing on internet, but not that. And Robinson, why!!!!!

If anyone have any topics they wont me to write about just say so.

Sunday

Today its sunday and relax day!!! At 7.45 everyone already been up for a time and it was time for breakfast, just as good since it was already increadably warm and people been in and out my room for an hour. Breakfast was rice, potatoes, a egg and some home made chillisaus, todays speciall was coffee, first time in a while. After breakfast I was reading a little before I started to gather trash around the house. They just throw away in their backyard or where they are standing so its more than enough to do, and tomorrow the campaign is in our neighbourhood so it will be collected. After lunsj I will go and visit Andreas family, they live 27km outside the city in a village named San German.

Yesterday evening it was a dance competetion. It was 4 different groups and they had a kind of rap, quechua dancing, wind the crowed competition. Was really fun to watch, even though I didnt understand what kind of funny stuff they was singing about. One of the groups was almost just my family, my mother, Juan Carlos, and different other family members, they finnished second and my mother was not happy with the organisations.

Hans there are a lot of girls here, and they are often looking at me, guess it is because I am the onlyone with blond hair and are a head taller than others. I am getting used to their look but indians look a little different in the face, and I am still getting used to that. A bad thing is that they all have bad theets, something I dont like. Girls are like most places so beautiful and some not so lucky. Many of them are also a little big around their stommach and girls older than 16 usually have 3 kids, a rather scary fact.

I hope Manchester United win tonight against Tottenham in Liga Cup final, I am not lucky enough to watch it, but I will send happy thoughts and pray. All shall do the same.

Jallalla Bolivia

Hey,

Yesterday we begun the campaing ´no dengue, no malaria and no trash´. The mosquito that carry the sickness often bread in trash, or in small water ponds in bottle, cans, etc. The city doesnt have any public system to despose trash, it is in the streets and in the backyards, really gross and sad to look at. So the first days we whent around talking to different public institutions that might cooperate. Find a place to dump the trash later, find out who to pay for picking the trash up and drive it to the dumping place, etc. At the same time we cant tell them what to do, or why its a good idea, we have to make them feel its their idea, so they feel responsible for the campaing and so hopefully make it to more than an occational happening. So yesterday we started walk true a part of the city, innforming everyone living their and try to make them clean up outside their house and put it in the street and we would collect it later. It sounds easy but they have not tradition to dispose trash and they dont see the problem of it lying around, that why dengue and malaria is important, since people are dying of it they want to do something to stop it flourishing.

Yesterday I also got to play real football, 11 against 11 with some students and other people. It started at 4 and i almost died of heat, after 10 min i lost the ability to run and just walked around, occasionaly jogging after the ball. it was fun. A couple of cubanos doctors I meet a couple of days ago was there to. Each time I got close the ball they screamed Scooby Doo and Shaggy, they think I look like him, was not easy to focus clearly with that either.

Yesterday the people from Santa Cruz also came and they stay until tomorrow. Nice to see them and show them ´my´city and ´my´family. No I got to go to spanish lesson.

Chao

Start of normal days

After some days with carneval and celebrating of Pachamama, the normal days are suppose to begin again. It is strange how quick you adjust a new situation. I am starting to feel really home now, and I dont feel I miss anything. I sleep very good, even if there is incredibly warm in my room, there are one or two else sleeping there, gekos, ants. mosquitos and other things staying there, always noise from dogs, roosters, other people or music, they always play music and it is always the same music. From 6am until 12pm they play the same cd over and over again, of carneval music, i think i can sing it now in quechua.
During carneval it been dangerous walking outside the house, all kids have water balloons, sprays and paintings and gringo´s is there prime target.
Got to go
chao

Hola

The last days been jakotako. Carneval is nice but I never really know what is going on, and when I think I know something, they postpone it, so I end up waiting for something that never happens. Again I am quite sure its Juan Carlos b-day party, for the third day I believe so. Maybe it happens tonight. Yesterday was a big carneval, with dancing, dressing up and parade. Children are going insane with waterballons, water guns and sprays of some kind.
The neighbor kids are not afraid of me anymore, but they are looking at me with curious eyes. Every day there are friends over visiting the mother, and every has at least 5 kids. there are more kids than mosqitoes here. the brother that is 19 years old have a dauther on 7 years, he was 12 years old, insane.
The father arrived home for carneval, a day later than they first said, he seems nice. I have a lot to read but little time on internet.