hakuna matata!

(picture is borrowed)

a dream of endless savannas with grazing giraffes, thompson gazelles, zebras, elephants and lions hiding in the grass in masai mara with a gin tonic in ones hand... the gorgeous coast around mombasa - or the picturesque muslim town of lamu?

last time I visited kenya, in 2002, we went on a safari in masai mara that I will never forget (I cried when I saw a giraffe for the first time.. they are totally surreal!). we took the train to mombasa and had some fantastic days by the beaches.... (oh yeah, some nice memories there!) this time, in april 2007, my trip would be just as amazing, but totally different; thanks to my wonderful friend thor erik!! - next time I will head to lamu, I promise jane! ;)

essential kenya; tusker, den ensomme planet and mosquito repellent! ;)
(its a samburu warrior on the lonely planet!)

nairobi
we had some lovely days in nairobi - nice foods, beers&cinema (that I think thor really appreciated!), swimming pool and all kind of lovely things - including great kenyan coffee! it was great to walk around the streets of nairobi and to feel the vibes that are totally different from cape towns! when thor did research in the national archives, I had some quiet hours to myself to walk around in the exhibition on african heritage in the national archives gallery! very interesting, highly recommended! here are some gorgeous coffee baskets from ethiopia and different masaai weapons:


on the road heading north! after a few days in nairobi - thor described them as luxury, hehe, I would later understand why - we jumped into a matatu (mini-bus, type toyota hiaceish) and headed out of the city. numerous donkeys by the road, fruit- and vegetable stands, people everywhere.. the smell of grilled goat (not exactly my favourite..), lots of smiles and churces every 100 meters - on both sides of the road mind you! we drove towards the stunning lake naivasha, we passed hells gate national park and I was continuously stretching my neck looking for giraffes!

i think we got a masters degree in sitting in matatu's - or thor has a phd in that concern! haha! humpetitten-humpetatten-humpetitten-teia!

nyahururu! thor was one of my very best study friends when I studied social anthropology in trondheim, and what an amazing man he has become! when i first met thor, he was 19, had long hair, was a little bit shy and he was very philosophical. maybe even too philosophical? hehehe. like he said himself, as we were sitting in the little kenyan town of nyahururu a few weeks ago, having a nice evening meal by the thompson falls, drinking our tusker; "actually, I think I was too sensitive when I lived in trondheim..." - and he states this, totally serious, as he picks out a dead bug of his food, shoves it onto the table - and continues eating of the same food!!!! I thought I was gonna die of laughter!! thor - you are my african bush hero! no one above, no one on the side! respect!!

having a cosy time under the mosquito net in nyahururu... (finally I was safe from all the bugs.. thank you thor, for being so brave!)


samburu district and maralal! thor does anthropological fieldwork amongst the samburu people. the situation in northern kenya has deteriorated alot the last few years. conflict has emerged between the different tribes, and distribution of land (or lack thereof) is one of the main problems. this is far away from nairobi, in the middle of the areas that the government doesnt invest any money or find much interest in....

however it is not a unique story for northern kenya- people fighting over land and cattle, raiding each other... but big groups of people become displaced, chased away from their homes. they loose their live stock, the few things they own, they starve... and no one really cares about the refugees and their horrible situation - which is not bad enough to qualify for food aid or other actions to be taken. I really hope and believe that thor's work can have a positive effect on some of these families destinies, at least over time. the first hand experience he gets on these peoples traditions and challenges, and the research he is doing, is priceless - driving around in the semi arid samburu district with his tent on his back! I really must say I admire his strength so much!

it was absolutely breath taking to drive into northern kenya. as we left the paved roads and bigger towns, the vegetation got dryer and the buildings and people scarcer. everyone also tended to wear amazing traditional clothing in bright gorgeous colours! for me, that was a huge experience, and quite surreal.

as we drove through rumuruti I felt we entered another world. morans, that is warriors, are young men that have been through the initiation rite of circumcision and are in a "state" between being children and married men, walking around, looking so proud and handsome. in our modern world almost like bachelors - but they have a responsibility to protect their societies, which our lazy bachelors doesnt exactly do ;) haha.

girls and women in amazing colours and extreme amounts of beaded necklaces, every single on of the beads symbolizing different things in their lives. as the ride got bumpier and the roads more and more dusty we passed the little village of suguta marmar, where samburu district begins. an experience I will never forget! unfortunately I do not have lots of pictures from the samburu district, according to thor and my dad, its because I am "too nice" and show "too much respect" to call myself a photographer ;) hehe.

thor in front of his little house where he lived when he wasn't out in the field with his tent :)

ehm.. no further comment...

thor took me on a little walking safari, in between the zebras, the camels and the herders in their red skirts with their cattle/goats. we just sat down on the warm ground between all the trees to have a picnic - for sure one I will never forget! I find this picture of thor so good in describing the atmosphere right there and then. the colours, the softness, the peace.... and the fabulous tastes of the fruit, which is grown locally of course. it was really good catching up with one of my best friends again!

adamson's daughter, little miss giggle!

a fantastic view from the losiolo viewpoint overlooking the great rift valley - which stretches all the way from mozambique in southern africa to syria and the dead sea in the middle east! here, it is also a kind of border between samburu land and pokot land - who considers themselves enemies in the conflict...

then this old samburu man, with a sweet smell of smoke and alcohol, had registered that there were people by the viewpoint (han va definitivt på en god snurr!). he wanted us to come to his little house to drink kenyan homebrew, however this time we had to say no thank you... alcoholism is a big problem here, as in most places on earth where people are poor.

red african soil...........

and as the motto of kenya says;
let us all pull together!

peace!

slipp tærne løs, det er vår!!

ah! norwegian spring is here! may is a fab month cause it feels like being reborn! walking home from work in the afternoon with the sun in my neck - the birds are singing, flowers are blossoming everywhere, the butterflies are playing flirtatiously in the air. the horses are lying down whilst eating - a clear sign of total relaxation and a good life - and the children are trying to convince their mothers to let them walk around barefeet. yoh, even the spiders seem friendly these days! however it is not allowed to swim in the lake until the rotsethornet (mountain in the middle of my town) is free of snow! but remember; rules are made to be broken!


marthe's confirmation!


fortunately my country and its people still has the ability to keep tradition close to their chest in some instances; however things are constantly changing and adapting (thank the angels for that as well!). throughout the last few decades an increasing number of 15 year olds get confirmed in a non-religious ceremony, nowadays called "humanistic confirmation". my youngest sister, marthe, went through this rite of passage this spring, as my other sister, my brothers and I did in previous years. marthe attended different meetings and discussions about everything from solidarity, ethics and conduct, to sexuality, tolerance and drug abuse and they had field trips and pizza nights. on the 8th of may they had a beautiful ceremony to seal off this symbolic phase of transition from child to a "grown up". I am so proud of her, she has become such a wonderful little woman!

marthe in the middle, with her cousins kine and nora!

I am also proud of my country, being able to fusion the traditions, previously grounded in christianity, with the humanistic view of life and the world. family and friends celebrated at the gorgeous old farm, rekkedal gjestehus, with mouthwatering foods and drinks. the steep mountains dotted with snow against the blue sky were towering up over us, and the vapour of spring (cow-shit spread on the fields....) danced up our noses - and check how irresistible we are in our bunads (national costume) - different ones from different regions of the country! ;) thank you sonja and dad for making this day perfect, both for marthe and the rest of us! lots of hard work and planning behind this day for sure!


then 17th of may came - our national day!! we got our independence from sweden in 1814 (however with a danish king..), our constitution and "ja, vi elsker!" - the national anthem. norwegian flags, icecream, pølse (hot dogs), cakes and bunads are necessities on this day!


with a face full of icecream - enjoy the spring! :)

a taste of trondheim..

a short little trip to one of my favorite cities - trondheim!
great cuisine, great friends and.. great drinks!! ;)

hilde, my gorgeous cousin, & her ketil

hilde&moi - whats up with those faces?!! I look more than a frog than anything else %)

jan stian&moi - more great faces! lets blame the mohito's!


say no more! and the only thing that works the day after.........................


more politically correct posts will come later...! :P

war photographers

james nachtwey is one of the best photo journalists in the world. without a doubt he is one of my favourite photographers. RESPECT!!

james has devoted his life to capturing the reality of conflict and war - he calls himself a war photographer. he focuses on the social implications of war - the affect it has on the people who are caught in the middle of the violence; the men, the women and the children, civilians as well as soldiers or freedom fighters. i more than highly recommend his documentary, war photographer. its the best documentary i have ever seen!

for a shorter introduction to james nachtwey you can also spend 20 minutes (they fly by, i promise, and i can assure you that you dont have anything that is more important to do. facebook, you say? oh my god, get a life!) listening to james nachtwey in this amazing talk, seeing some of his grand and intense pictures: james nachtwey TED talk.


i am sure you have all seen the photography that won the pulitzer price in 1994, taken by kevin carter - a starving child in sudan, crawling on all fours on the ground, and a huge vulture standing behind it, as if its ready to attack. kevin was one of the foursome of photographers called "the bang bang club". the book the bang bang club: snapshots from a hidden war tells the story of four of the greatest south african photo journalists who amongst other things covered the violence in south africa between 1990-1994. it is a great book in so many aspects, both to understand the complicated role as a photographer in conflict zones, as well as understanding more of the "peaceful transition" of south africa. løp og kjøp! tomm kristiansen also talks about kevin carter in the beginning of his newest book afrika - en vakker dag.

(all pictures from www.jamesnachtwey.com)

kunsten å være hvit? eller naken??

the art of being white... or naked? well. lets face it. its not always easy to be white, regardless of where!!

if you are clever and you speak norwegian, take a few minutes and read this incredibly good article from dagbladet(at least to make me happy!).

kunsten å være hvit

it has been a quite big debate in norway, on all levels, since our society is facing a threat to our homogeneity and protectiveness; a multicultural society! yikes! one of the essential questions is who can be defined as a norwegian ("nordmann") and who cannot. "ethnic norwegian" has developed as a sensitive term used to describe what many people regard as a "real" norwegian (your skin is white, and your great great grand is either harald hårfagre or olav tryggvason)...

what does the category of being a white norwegian really mean? and how does that affect our views on the changes in our society? the writer states that "us white norwegians rarely view our self and our culture as something that makes norway a multicultural place... to see oneself outside a multi coloured collective is a typical trait of the white understanding of self; whiteness is neutral and without content. white is "only" human, the universal, normal and rational, thus having obvious authority"... (my quick translation)
READ IT! i couldnt agree more!

or if you dont have knowledge of the norwegian language, read "we will walk naked in africa" and weep! hahahah! i am laughing my butt off! kaalgatte! (orania is the all-white enclave in south africa where justin and i have talked about going, just to make out openly on the street and see how many heart attacks we can manage to create!)

psst: since we are talking about afrikaans.....
the afrikaans expression of the day:

koffie filter sakkies (coffee filter bags. haha!)

yoh-yoh-yoh! check this...... de la rey, de la rey....

i give myself over to south african affairs, norwegian affairs and the world in general. i will now retreat, drink my coffee and eat my toblerone! (dark one that is! no white chocolate in this house!)

leaving the mother city!

after almost 2 sweet months in cape town i have headed north again. however it wont be long till i am back! yes i know, yes i know, yes i know now, a-a-a-a-a!

before i left i managed to climb a mountain (lion's head) with some crazy people, celebrate seiphemo's twenty-tenth birthday with a huge party, as well as visit ocean view primary school!

gorgeous view of cape town city (and gorgeous norwegian girls! pictures from jane)


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master seiphemo's birthday in muizenberg!


hurra for deg som fyller ditt år! ja, deg vil vi gratulere!
alle i ring omkring deg vi står og se nå vil vi marsjere.
bukke, nikke, neie, snu oss omkring, danse for deg
med hopp og sprett og spring,
ønske deg av hjertet alle gode ting,
og si meg så hva vil du mere,
GRATULEREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!


a braai only worth seiphemo, a bottomless keg of beer, hookah pipe and wonderful people - what more can a man want! some of the late pictures (as well as certain "braai-balance-style" onces..) are censored - sorry peeps! ;)

i wonder what he is thinking!!!

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as i brought stationary from class 3 ab at bratteberg school, volda, norway (where sonja, who is married to my dad, is a teacher) to grade 2 at ocean view primary in cape town (where justin's mother, fatima is a teacher), i was lucky enough to come and spend a friday afternoon with the 37 learners in ocean view. a very interesting and humbling experience! i brought pencils, stickers, rubbers and reflex' from norway, and i have seldom seen such happiness and excitement for such small things! most of these learners come from poorer homes, many with parents who abuse drugs or alcohol. few of them have breakfast before they go to school in the morning, and even fewer bring lunch boxes with them. still, i have never seen more interested learners, and so well behaved! it was such a pleasure to spend time with them! i also read from the book that sonja sent, about the trolls who live in the norwegian forests! before i left they all said LOUD: "tusen takk! tusen takk, bratteberg! tusen takk, sonjaaaaaaaaaaa!!" and thank you so much, fatima!


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justin and i also went to nyanga to say goodbye to all our friends there. pictures, small books, soccer balls, magazines and "såpeboble" was a success! and little tim-tim even fell asleep on my lap. he is the sweetest thing! "popeye, popeye!"

the sistasmore updates from my travels in kenya coming soon!

SMASK**