NORWAY? NO WAY!

Hi there!
Since this is our final day on this journay, we just celebrated (or emotional eated) on a fine restaurant nearby. I had a traditional course which is called bobotie. Bobotie it's finely chopped meat with curry. Ida had a bredies - meat, tomatoes and vegetables. If you're allowed to drink, the beer named umqombothi from South-Africa is recommended.

This trip to South-Africa wouldn't been the same without Nelson Mandela. This fantastic man fought against apartheid and for dark-skinned people's rights. If it wasn't for him, dark-skinned people would still be discriminated by 'us whites'. Unfortunately, discriminating like this still takes place in several parts of the earth. We are in 2012, racism has to stop now!

This is our last day on our colourful and educational journey. It has been the time of our life, which we will never forget. I've had such a great time, that going back home to Norway today is unthinkable. We have experienced both people and places we will never forget. I also feel that we have grown older on our travel. When we saw how people lived in both India and South-Africa, we realized how lucky we are because we're born in Norway. I definitively recommend a travel like this to become able to look at life in perspective. When we're older, we will definitively go back to the beautiful countries we've been to!

- xoxo Ingrid


http://www.travelmarket.no/S%C3%B8r-Afrika/c-ZA/reiseguide.htm

Africa’s living conditions

HELLO!

Here is a big reality check for you guys. Did you know that of South Africa’s 45 million citizens half of them live below the poverty line? More than one in five adults has HIV, and that it is greatest among the poorest and when they die, their children sitt back all alone.

Today there are over 1 million orphans in South Africa and the number is increasing. The worst part is that there are no people or organisations that can take them in and take care of them and love them. When poverty and bad living conditions are spread over South Africa it makes the people living there more exposed for drugs, prostitution and abduction. The kids get abducted to become child soldiers that get used, manipulated and brain washed to kill people even their own parents. If you don’t know that much about child soldiers you should watch the movie “blood diamond”. The movie is about a boy getting abducted and the father trying to get is son back both physical and mentally. I really recommend the movie!

The orphans that loses their parents and don’t get mixed up with that are very ill prepared to cope on their own. In most cases, the grandparents have to take care of these children, grandparents who basically barely have enough to feed themselves. In other cases the eldest child in the family has to take responsibility for her or his younger siblings.

Just think about that before you start to complain about your own life. Me myself am very blessed whit my life. I live in a family with enough money, love and food. If you want to make it better for the less fortune you can donate money to several helping organisations that build schools, homes and give out food. So, think before you speak about how bad your life is, somewhere it is worse.

Here is a picture of a woman with her children living in poor conditions.

Here is a picture of the movie cover "Blood Diamond"

 

Sourses:

* http://www.google.no/imgres?um=1&hl=no&biw=1366&bih=634&tbm=isch&tbnid=HUt5zirJFexaoM:&imgrefurl=http://www.tv2.no/nyheter/utenriks/ny-sultkatastrofe-truer-afrikas-horn-3516657.html&docid=xlxdLVAsH23VMM&imgurl=http://pub.tv2.no/multimedia/TV2/archive/00888/Sultkatastrofe_888647i.jpg&w=680&h=383&ei=y9h_UM3gBcbNswbfj4DwCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=386&vpy=297&dur=297&hovh=168&hovw=299&tx=144&ty=106&sig=116274262349567330191&page=4&tbnh=139&tbnw=224&start=66&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:52,s:20,i:285

* http://www.google.no/imgres?um=1&hl=no&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=634&tbm=isch&tbnid=okCarMJiZBiflM:&imgrefurl=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450259/&docid=mrPTRZ9SAY_WKM&imgurl=http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTY5MTYyNjkwNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODE3MTI0MQ%2540%2540._V1._SY317_CR0,0,214,317_.jpg&w=214&h=317&ei=Gtt_UKTdJM7GswbA94C4AQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=560&sig=116274262349567330191&page=1&tbnh=154&tbnw=109&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:70&tx=15&ty=70

* http://lokal.rodekors.no/Vart_arbeid/Internasjonalt_arbeid/Fadderprogram/Sor_Afrika/

xoxo ida

BLOODY GOLD MINING CONFLICT

Hey guys! 

Have you heard the news? Right now, it's a bloody conflict over gold mining in South Africa! It has been going on for two months now. It's actuallyn the most serious labor conflict in in Africa's economy since apartheid was abolished in 1994. 100 000 workers have been striking for better working conditions and higher salary. The 16th of August 36 of the workers got shot by the police. Overall, 50 workers have been killed and 15 000 have lost their jobs during this conflict. It is really important for the companies, the trade unions and miners, the country's economy and social conditions to solve this violent conflict. This worries me a lot, and I hope that we won't get involved in this crisis.


This is a picture of what happened on the 16th of August. This tragic case helps me to appreciate my life in Norway. To be born in Norway is like winning the lottery. I think that everyone need to see their life in perspective. Me included. The moral of the day - appreciate the small highlights in life, and be grateful of the life you have!

- xoxo Ingrid.

Sources:
http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/verden/1.7263398
http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/verden/1.8353090

THE SAVANNA NEXT

HI!

Yesterday we were out on a night club, and met some cute, native boys that promised to take us sightseeing. We have been looking forward to go sightseeing in South Africa for so long! The thing I am most excited about is seeing all the cute, wild animals, especially leopards. I have seen a lot of animal programs on my television and have been dying to see them in real life for a long time now.

I just love animals! The sad thing is that many animals, such as leopards are endangered because of loss of habitat and hunting. The leopards have been hunted because they were seen as dangerous for mankind, but luckily there are wildlife sanctuary’s many places all over South Africa. Another African animal that is threatened is white rhinos. Poachers hunted them illegally for their horns and reduced their population from 500 to 15 in the 1970s and 1980s. By the early 1990s through mid-2003 the population recovered to more than 32 animals. Surveys in 2000 indicated that the population had started recovering with 30 animals confirmed in 2000 with up to a possible six others. Between 2003 and 2006 poaching intensified and reduced the wild population to only 5 to 10 animals. Then According to the WWF, there were only four northern white rhinos left in the wild; however in June 2008 it was reported that the subspecies may have gone extinct in the wild. In 2011, the total number of northern white rhinos on the planet is reported to be five males and two females. Luckily now they are working very hard to save the s species.

The wildlife sanctuary we are going on a safari in is Haweqwa Nature Reserve. It is filed with harsh nature, beautiful mountains and allot of wildlife. It is going to be a long ride, but it will be worth it. The animals we will most likely see are lions, leopards, white rhinos, blue wildebeest, kudus, impalas, hyenas, hippopotamus and giraffes if we are lucky.

Here is a picture of a white rhino and a baby w.hite rhino

Here is a picture of Haweqwa Nature Reserve.

sourses:
*http://www.protectedplanet.net/sites/351300
*http://blog.webosaurs.com/2011/05/05/weekly-environmental-fact-northern-white-rhinoceros/
*http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B8r-Afrika



-xoxo ida

HELLO CAPE TOWN!

This is our first post located in South Africa! We are in the hotel lobby right now. The time is 09:39 AM, so we have plenty of time today to explore the capital of South Africa; Cape Town. This beautiful city is the most popular tourist destination in Africa, due to its good climate, natural setting and well-developed infrastructure. Cape Town is the second-most populous city in it's country after Johannesburg with 3,5 million people citizens.

Similar to India, South Africa was a British colony from 1975 until 1931. That's probably the main reason to that 51,9% (2001) of the people in Cape Town have English as a first language. 43,7% of the population in this city has Afrikaans as their first language as well. 

Our first task here in Cape Town is to take the gondola up to Table Mountain. The trip is expensive, but I've heard that it's worth it! That's believable if you take a look at the picture of Table Mountain below. When South Africa was a British Colony, the brites tried to take advantage of the Table Mountain-area. They wanted to have several places to stay at on the route from Great Britain to India.

After that, our next task today will be to check out the local nightlife. We will try to get in touch with some native boys, and probably convince them to take us sightseeing tomorrow!

Stay tuned!
- Xoxo Ingrid

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town
http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Det_britiske_imperiet

LAST DAY IN INDIA

Hi!



To day was our last day i India. its been a blast being here, and we will miss it. Because it was our last day we did something special today. We  went to explore how the living conditions are in the slum of New Dehli. When we came there we smelled a stank of trash and feces. When people think of the slum they think of a criminality and that it is dangerous. Of course it can be dangerous to flash your money around, but if you act normal, you will find the trip worth while. 85% of the people who live there actually have jobs. Even well paid people live there.

here is a picture of the slum from above.

here is a picture i took during the trip.

 If you want to take a trip in the slum you should bring a local, so that you wont get lost. At times it can feel like a labourint. The streets are narrow and if you are claustrophobic I don't recomend it. There has actually been a lot of discussion around the slum of New Dehli. In 2010 they hid the slum with bamboo curtains during the commonwealth games. This was not well accepted by the people and that was debated. But in spite of this, I recommend you all to go to the slum when you are in New Dehli. You will become able to see trifles in perspective and to appreciate your life. We definitely did.







sourses:
*http://mya.blogg.no/1295563387_slummen_i_india__et_u.html
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slum

- xoxo ida

EXPLORING THE INDIAN FOOD CULTURE

Hi guys! 

Today is our official food-exploring-day. Our plan is to try out at least ten different dishes. Indian food is full of hot spices and sauces. We started our day with nashta, which is breakfast. Each region of India has a huge variety of hot and cold dishes to start the day. We are in New Delhi, north in India. Here they serve big, hearty breakfasts. A lot of the population here are farmers, and they need the correct nutrition to survive the day.  A popular dish is different varies of stuffed bread called parathas. We had that for breakfast, and they were really delicious!

Later we'll try proper indian tandoori chicken! I can't wait! My body is screaming for more exciting tastes and spices. Yummy for my tummy!

- xoxo, Ingrid 

http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indisk_mat