Ruben bloggar frå turar, innland og utland: Work, wedding, surprise parties, African food poisoning, nurse parties, “unlocking” doors

It’s been a while since I last posted a blog, because I’m now without internet at home, and I’ve been ill, but I’ve also experienced a lot since Thursday 24/10.

Wedding and a returning mom
Last weekend I went to a wedding, but I couldn’t go to the church ceremony because I HAD to work at OYDC, which turned out to be doing nothing except taking some pictures and helping Mark (a hurdle-sprinter) with the hurdles. It was a national athletics event, but and I will not say how it was run, at least I got home in time for the wedding in the evening.

The African weddings cheer me up so much! The moment I got there I smiled. It is so much music, dancing and it’s filled with happy people. Yet again I was seated on the first table, so I got to see everything from the front row. We had to leave early to pick up Doreen (host mother) from the airport, which was cool too, because I got to drive the car back home (driving in Zambia is NOT like UK, US, Norway or anywhere else in the world!). Doreen had been away for a week, so it was good to have her back (no one can cook like she does).

Surprise parties and vomiting
The following day I went to a surprise party for a friend of a friend, she turned 40 and it was a lot of fun, cake, music, rain, food, surprises etc etc. Then on Monday I went to a dinner with the same group of Zambians, but I got food poisoned that day, so even before I got the food I vomited what I’d eaten earlier. I went to the clinic with Anja and took a blood test just to be sure it was not malaria. Slept for almost 2 days and recovered on Friday (4 days later). Apparently I lost some weight, but I don’t have any scale here, so I don’t know.

Nurse parties
On the Friday I recovered, the Norwegian nurses were going out clubbing, and they asked if I wanted to join. Party with nurses? Who says no to that?! I got ready but couldn’t find my keys, I looked everywhere, so I convinced myself that I had left them at the office. Without keys I can’t stay out for later than 10 PM, so I came back early that evening. I still had fun those two hours with the nurses though.

The next day, I booked a bed at backpackers in Lusaka, so I could party without worrying about coming home 5 AM knocking on the door to wake my family. The backpacker is cheap, so it’s not a problem. Me, Anja, the nurses and a girl from the Norwegian Embassy went out to party, and it was a lot of fun. I haven’t been out much in Lusaka, so it’s good to explore the night life as well.

Breaking in doors
On Monday I was supposed to be doing a Kids’ Athletics course at OYDC, but again it got postponed. Reason: unknown. So I booked my holiday (29^th of November. Destination: Cape Town, SA). I met Anja at the coffee shop and we organized and booked our tickets there, but when we went home she noticed she had lost her keys. Typical Anja. So shortly after we arrived home, Anjas host family called my host dad to break into her bedroom. We went there with a couple of screwdrivers and broke into the door, without making too much damage.

It's my mothers birthday today, so I made this class say "Happy birthday Øydis" in Norwegian!

Here is a standard start of the day in a classroom

Here is me taking photos of the 5000 meter runners

3 laps to go!

The stadium in the background is still not open, even though it was supposed to be in 2009

Another Monday at the office. Here I'm giving my hair some protein. It made it soft!

OPS! It fell on the floor

Thankfully I had two

When I was sick I had a lot of sparetime, so I cleaned my bag, and found these. I was supposed to give them to my Godmother in Oslo this summer, but I forgot