lause ting!

Altfor mange lause ting, altfor myrke krokar,
altfor mykje skummelt rot, altfor store flokar,
altfor store rom, altfor mange ord,
altfor mange gode råd gjev altfor mykje å tenke på.
Kor er den beste teori for ei lukke og litt fri?
Kva er pensum for å få raustlause kvinner til å få ro?
Ikkje boka eg les no. Ikkje den eg las i går,
og faga eg må ta opp att til neste år.
Altfor mange lause ting!

(Odd Nordstoga)

(ej prøva å vere tapper)

stellenbosch

like cancer spreading in my mouth
an exhibition of segregation
a reflection of the failures in history
stripped of dignity..
a perpetuation of conforming to his demands. ignorance!
the wine tastes sour
what is to become of this world

©amilla

perspective

the heavy rise in oil and food prices worldwide affects all of us in one way or another; notably with minor or major consequences depending on our socioeconomic status. when i first moved to south africa in 2005 the fuel price was around R4.50 (more or less equal to nkr) - lately it has been way over R10.

our prime minister jens stoltenberg recently stated:

- imagine you have 10 nkr/rands to live for a day, and of those you spend 7-8 on food. then the food prices are doubled, and you have five children. this is so brutal and so incomprehensible that we cant possibly understand it..

i came over some great graphics - showing the average spending of a norwegian and a jordanian family's household. the graphs not only illustrate how much norwegians spend on housing, but really puts into perspective how insane our lifestyle is in comparison to the majority of the worlds citizens.

blue/bolig = housing
red/mat= food















think about how much money you spend on food every month. then look at the jordanian graph, and imagine how little they actually spend on housing, water, electricity and clothing! (i am glad i grew up in the eighties and often felt the pinch, in comparison to the splurging life many youth in my home country have today :-P)

"break"

comrades, its been way too long since i left a sign of life here!

i have just finished the first hectic part of this semester, including an exam - pfffh, only a few more to go! to celebrate this first stunt of the season, i spent 4 wonderful and very relaxing days in durban with friends - great success! durban is an interesting city of crazy people, endless beaches, fancy new taxies, herbs, great samosas, hot hot hot lamb rogan josh and beautiful mosaic sidewalks!

i am now back in western cape, just in time to rip my hair out about the zuma saga, as well as waiting for the details of the political settlement in zimbabwe - which will be released on monday. eish, we better cross all our fingers for south africa's and zimbabwe's future!

for now, i am enjoying the beautiful days in stellenbosch, whilst i dream about month long vacations on a deserted beach with no conflict, no armsdeal, no drama, no mugabe, no mbeki (all honour to you for the settlement in zim, though), no zuma, no robert cox (sorry for putting you in that line of people!), no corruption, bribes or tips... :-)

(me on a air matress on that deserted beach, aka south durban!
all my private waiters and entertainers in the background..)