Yirgacheffe, Thesis and Travel!

(View from my balcony as the sun set over Signal Hill last night)

Yes, I admit it. I am a coffee snob. Or I rather prefer the term coffee nerd :) It is pissing with rain outside, the capetownian winter is here for real. It feels strange that I am done with all my exams, and that I can focus solely on my thesis. I wish I could sit through the winter here in Cape Town, drink my gorgeous coffee (today I am drinking one of my favorites, Yirgacheffe blended with Tanzanian beans) and work on my research. But no - the universe wants it different! No chill for little Camill... So in 3 weeks I am again packing my suitcase and travelling off to new places, experiences and fun - I am so excited! The homeland of Yirgacheffe, the birthplace of coffee, will be my home for the next 6 months, hurray! Wanna come visit?

Hipp-hipp hurra!

Sunday 17th of May 2009 we had a great celebration here in Cape Town! We kick started the day, after a crazy fun night on town the 16th, with champagne breakfast at Mari's house - croissants, scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, cheeses, Namibian salami, great coffee - and of course lots of Villiera (great South African 'champagne')!

Happy (and full) we walked up to De Waal-park where the Norwegian Society had arranged a 17th of May celebration. About 100 people showed up, and even the sun put her grace on our cold noses! Waffles, hot dogs, chocolate cake with seigemann (when did they get skis??), bolle, games, an amazing bras band and a parade! In the evening we wined and dined with the Norgie gang who lives here in Cape Town, a fun experience. In bed around 1 am full, tipsy and with sore feet after walking in heels the whole day = just the way 17th of May is supposed to be!

You can see more pictures HERE!

It's written

Its May 2009. Wow. How did that happen? 5 years of university education is slowly coming to an end. Its many experiences ago that I took bus number 5 to my first lecture at NTNU in Trondheim. Now, I have spent over three years in Cape Town. At the moment,I am working on a take home exam and I have a week to complete it. After that I have to finish my master thesis, and after that - well, then I guess I have to become a grown up, whatever that entails? (I think I told myself about the same thing when I finished school at age 19 and went to Spain to work in a stable, haha). Now time has come for me to move on from the university, out into the real world!

New opportunities are arising, life is a continuous exciting and challenging process for us all. Small challenges, great opportunities. Great challenges, small opportunities. I miss my family. My sisters are doing great at school, with jobs and with horses, and they are such gorgeous little women. One of my brothers is becoming a pilot, the other one just got a new prestigious job he really wanted. They are absolutely hot. I am so proud of my siblings. And my parents are just wonderful, all four of them. How blessed am I. They successfully juggle between taking care of us in every way, as well as following their own dreams, jumping onto new challenges, projects, developments. I admire them so much!

Outside its raining, Cape Town is cold and grey, covered in fog. Inside its also cold. But with candles burning, 340 ml streaming out of the speakers, freshly squeezed orange juice and freshly brewed coffee, knekkebrød med kvitost og agurk (!), its actually lovely.

I will now sit down and really enjoy writing my last exam - ever.

Let the sunshine take me where I want to go, and my footsteps will follow slow...
♪♫♫♫♫♪♫♫♪


PS: It makes me incredibly happy if you leave a little trace when you have been to my blog. I have adjusted some settings and everyone should now be able to leave comments.

La folket tale!

Litt på etterskudd kan du lese artikkelen min på
Fellesrådet for Afrika sine sider
om valget i Sør-Afrika den 22. april!

I morgen, onsdag 22. april 2009, går sørafrikanerne til valgurnene for fjerde gang siden frigjøringen fra apartheid i 1994. Og det er første gang i landets demokratiske historie at stridigheter innen frigjøringspartiet African National Congress (ANC) har ført til en splittelse i partiet. Formasjonen av et nytt opposisjonsparti i november 2008, the Congress of the People (COPE), utfordrer nå ANCs dominans, og nykommeren har dermed tilført en uforutsett dimensjon til valget. Samtidig har korrupsjonsanklagene mot ANCs kontroversielle presidentkandidat Jacob Zuma blitt frafalt, bare to uker før valget.

Les heile artikkelen her:

Aktiv valgkamp og styrket opposisjon i Sør-Afrika

South African joy!

Days are flying by, weeks seem to disappear without any notice
and March and April - where did they go?

Luckily, to my own comfort, I know where February went
- I had visitors from Norway!

These two albums below will let you see some of the fun we had!
(if you are on FB you have probably seen them before..)

If I was a Penguin



If I was a Zebra

Autumn Sunday

Its Sunday afternoon. My favourite time of the week, I think. The world feels soft and chilled.

Its been raining the whole night and its cold - autumn is here! Today I am wearing socks (bestemortjokkelesta!) for the first time in months - my toes are not happy, as they cannot dance and look around as they like. My blanket, the most important accessory during South African winter, has just started her busiest season. I am considering to buy wood and test out my fireplace, however I am sure that will be a smoky and not particularly warming experience.

The sun is not here today. I wonder where she is and who she is busy shining on. I think she said she is paying a visit to Volda. Its just what the people there need, after a long, dark winter. I hope she gives their pale skin a fresh glow and lots of freckles!

Here I am, in Cape Town, drinking my "morning" coffee, catching up on whats going on in our world. Beautiful music is flowing out of the radio, and the clouds are hanging heavy and grey over the mother city. And we have a very exciting week ahead - Wednesday 22 April is Election Day in South Africa!

Despite the coldness of autumn; life is good, my friends!

Draumar

"Uten draumar er vi ingenting;
av voner og draum er livet vevd".

(Olav Duun, 1876-1939).