fredag den 28. august 2015

First week in the apartment, my birthday and Spanish classes!

Now I have been living one week in the apartment in Pomasqui with Stefanie. (Yeah, I'll post some pictures at some point - when I have taken some..)

Nu har jeg boet i min lejlighed med Stefanie i en uge. (Ja, jeg skal nok tage nogle billeder.. På et tidspunkt.)
Meet my roomie, Stefanie
Mød min roomie, Stefanie

The apartment is in a beautiful place and in our "backyard", we can take a short walk into a valley and the view is so beautiful. I think we would be able to see many birds if we got out of bed early one day (and had plenty of time) and walked down there just before sunrise. That is definitely on my list of things to do before I go home!
The whole place is fenced in, but when we went for a walk, the other gate was open! Then it will not help much to lock the front gate.
Furthermore, there is many ownerless dogs in the streets around our apartment that follow you if you walk by them, but fortunately they don't bite.

Vores lejlighed har en virkelig flot udsigt og i vores "baghave" kan vi gå en kort tur ned i en dal.
Jeg tror der ville være en god mulighed for at se mange fugle, hvis vi bare står tidligt nok op og går derned lige før solopgang. Det er bestemt en af de ting jeg skal gøre i løbet af min tid hernede.
Der er hegn omkring hele området og to porte, men da vi gik en tur var den ene port ikke låst. Så hvad hjælper det at den anden er låst?
Derudover er der rigtig mange ejerløse hunde i nærheden af vores lejlighed, men heldigvis bider de ikke.

View from our backyard
Udsigten fra vores baghave
View from our backyard
Udsigten fra vores baghave
View from our backyard
Udsigten fra vores baghave
Birds in our backyard
Fugle i vores baghave
This week we have had language-classes from Monday-Thursday, which meant that we had to be in Quito at 9 o'clock. As we have two hours+ to go there, we have to get up early. I am glad that the project is nearer to our apartment.

 I løbet af denne uge har vi haft sprogkursus fra mandag til torsdag og vi har været nødsaget til at være i Quito klokken 9. Hvilket betyder at vi har skullet tidligt op, da vi har 2 timer plus til skolen. Jeg er glad for at vores projekt er tættere på!

During this week a lot of other stuff have also happened.
For example I have had the experience of eating a really delicious and really large meal consisting of soup, another dish with rise, meat, vegetables and potatoes, having juice and a little serving of fruit for 2.5 dollar. That is definitely a lot cheaper than in Denmark.
Otherwise, I have visited a market where I bought a beautiful painting - as a sort of birthday present to myself. Because I actually had my birthday yesterday! And the picture will decorate my room in the apartment and I will take it with me when I go home.
It was a bit weird having my birthday in Ecuador. One of the other volunteers had done the sweetest thing ever and bought me a piece of cake on her way to the classes!
And another had written me a letter and bought me chocolate. When I arrived at the school people sang "Happy Birthday".

I løbet af denne uge er der også sket en masse andet.
For eksempel har jeg fundet ud af at du kan spise suppe, samt en ret mere med ris, grøntsager, kartofler og kød samt få juice og lidt frugt for 2,5 dollar - Det er bestemt meget billigere end i Danmark.
Jeg har også købt et maleri - som en slags fødselsdagsgave til mig selv. Jeg havde fødselsdag i går! Og billedet vil både pynte på mit værelse hernede og jeg vil bestemt tage det med hjem.
Det var lidt underligt at have fødselsdag hernede. En af de andre frivillige havde været virkelig sød og købt et stykke kage til mig og en af de andre havde lavet et kort til mig og købt chokolade til mig. Og da jeg ankom til skolen sang de fødselsdagssang for mig.
Me and my cake!
Mig og min kage!

Picture of my new painting, my two birthday cards and some memories from Denmark
Et billede af mit maleri, mine to fødselsdagskort og minder fra Danmark.
After class I headed towards el Centro (the old town) with 4 of the other volunteers, where we had lunch and ate ice cream. At the ice cream place (San Agustin Heladeria) we asked about some of the flavors, as we couldn't look them up in any of our dictionaries and we wanted to know what was in the ice cream. As they couldn't explain it, they gave us tastings of some of the flavors. It is a nice place with great service and tasty ice cream. If I were to show someone around Quito it would definitely involve a stop in there to have either ice cream or traditional Ecuadorian cakes.

Efter skole tog jeg til den gamle bydel sammen med 4 af de andre frivillige, hvor vi spiste frokost og is. Ved is-stedet(San Augustin Heladeria) spurgte vi om nogle af smagene, da vi ikke forstod hvad det var og ikke kunne slå smagene op i vores ordbog. Da de ikke kunne forklare det kom de med smagsprøver på nogle af isene - Virkelig god service.
Det var et virkeligt fedt og hyggeligt sted med god service. Hvis jeg skulle vise nogen rundt i Quito ville dette sted helt klart være et stop på ruten.
Our tastings of ice cream.
Vores smagsprøver på is.
Afterwards I had a meeting at the VASE-office and we were home at the apartment pretty late. At the apartment I had kept a letter from some of the guys from my old high school class, that was given to me before departure and was to be opened on my birthday.

Efterfølgende havde jeg et møde med VASE-kontoret og vi kom ret sent hjem. I lejligheden havde jeg et fødselsdagskort fra nogle af de personer jeg gik i gymnasieklasse med, som skulle åbnes i dagens andledning.

Today (28/8) we went on a trip to el Centro, where we saw a number of old churches from the outside, had a guided tour in the president palace, went into one of the churches and went to a museum that explained about the history of Quito, where we also had a guided tour. This was really interesting and a really nice day where we saw a lot, learned a lot and walked a lot. Making us all a bit tired by the end of the day. I find the history of Ecuador quite interesting as you don't really hear much about the history of Southern America in school in Denmark. (And we also told the meaning behind the word history, literally meaning "his story" because the history is written by the winners and because earlier only men were important for the history and had the possibility to write it down.)

I feel like I have something to do all the time - being bored? That is not gonna happen!

I dag (28/8) var vi på tur til den gamle bydel, hvor vi så et par kirker og så havde vi rundvisninger på et museum, hvor vi hørte om Ecuadors historie, i præsidentens palads og i en kirke.
Det var virkelig spændende at høre om Ecuadors historie, fordi man generelt ikke hører så meget om Sydamerikas historie i skolen. (og vi snakkede også om meningen af ordet historie = "Hans historie". Hvilket er fordi det var mændende der skrev historien og vinderen der skrev historien)

Jeg har det som om der hele tiden er noget at lave. Jeg keder mig i hvert fald ikke hernede.

And I feel like I'm getting better at the Spanish, but I still have a hard time with learning and understanding, as I have had almost no experience with Spanish before coming to Ecuador.
But I am learning the grammar and a few words in class, which is really great. I succeeded in buying bananas in a fruit store where the seller did not speak a word of English and I start to understand the meaning of some conversations and sentences. I hope that I will learn a lot more during my time here. I probably will, as almost no Ecuadorians speak English.

Jeg føler også at jeg er blevet bedre til spansk, men jeg har det stadigvæk svært med sproget, da jeg stort set ingen erfaringer med spansk har fra tidligere.
Men vi lærer både grammatik og ord i timerne, og det er lykkedes mig at købe bananer i en grønthandler, hvor sælgeren kun snakkede spansk. Jeg er også begyndt at forstå meningen af nogle sætninger.
Jeg håber at jeg kan blive meget bedre til spansk i løbet af min tid her - men det kommer formentlig også til at ske, da næsten ingen ecuadorianere snakker engelsk.


Me and my bananas
De bananer det lykkedes mig at købe

lørdag den 22. august 2015

Orientation Camp

In this post I will write a section in English and then in Danish. I will start every Danish section with a word in bold letters.
I dette blog-indlæg vil jeg skrive alle afsnit på først engelsk og derefter dansk. Alle danske afsnit vil blive startet med et ord i fed skrift.



Monday I arrived in Quito at half past 2 after a 15 hour flight. From Wednessday untill Friday I was on introduction-camp.
When I arrived in Quito, I was picked up at the airport. It turns out that I shared flight with all the German volunteers who where going to Ecuador (around 30) so when I was picked up I met almost all the other volunteers! We were taken to the place we were going to stay in a bus. In this bus my first friendships with other volunteers emerged.

I mandags ankom jeg i Quito halv 3 efter en 15 timers flyvetur. Fra onsdag til fredag var jeg på ankomst-camp.
Da jeg ankom til Quito blev jeg samlet op i lufthavnen af folk fra VASE og det vidste sig, at der i mit fly fra Amsterdam til Quito havde været omkring 30 tyske frivillige fra den samme organisation. Vi blev kørt hen til ankomst-campen i en bus og allerede her begyndte mine første venskaber med de andre frivillige.
Playing a Russian card game with the German volunteers.
Russisk kortspil sammen med de tyske frivillige

The rest of the day, we had the possibility to relax and get to know each other. It turned out that all of the German volunteers already knew eachother, as they had just had 10 days of preperation camp in Germany. For the orientation-camp we stayed at a catholic center, where I shared a room with 3 other girls.
I knew it would be cold in the evenings and in the morning, but it is very cold!

The day after we had to go to the city for our visa-regristration. It took a looong time! They are not as effective as in Denmark. But that is just a meeting with the Ecuadorian culture.

Resten af dagen havde vi til at slappe af og lære hinanden at kende. Alle de tyske frivillige kendte hinanden temmelig godt, eftersom de har haft 10 dages camp i Tyskland inden ankomst. Under ankomst-campen boede vi på et katolsk center, hvor jeg delte et værelse med 3 andre piger.
Under denne tid fandt jeg også ud af hvor koldt det rent faktisk er om aftenen. For jeg vidste godt at det ville være koldt, men ikke at det ville være så koldt.

Om tirsdagen skulle vi ind i byen for at påbegynde registreringen af vores visa. Det tog rigtig lang tid - de er vist ikke så effektive som i Danmark ;-) Men det er jo bare et møde med den ecuadorianske kultur.
Nice view of Cotopaxi near the orientation camp.
Udsigten til Cotopaxi fra vores ankomst-camp.

Everywhere you go in Quito you have very nice views! Almost everywhere you can see mountains.

Uanset hvor du tager hen i Quito er udsigten skøn. Du kan næsten se bjerge overalt.

Mountain view at the orientation camp.
Udsigt over bjergene fra det katolske center.

Wednessday orientationcamp started for real. Now all the volunteers had arrived (which meant more volunteers from other countries! 3 volunteers from the UK, 4 volunteers from Austria and 3 from Switzerland and 1 from Mexico.)

During the orientationcamp we had to get to know each other, but we also had to talk about how it is to be in a Ecuador, about prejudice and about how Ecuador really is. In many cases we had to discuss different things in groups, for an example we discussed the difference between being a volunteer in your home country and in Ecuador.

Onsdag startede vores ankomst-camp for alvor, hvilket også betød at de resterende frivillige var ankommet. (3 fra Storbritannien, 4 fra Østrig og 3 fra Schweiz samt 1 fra Mexico).

I løbet af ankomstcampen arbejdede vi blandt andet med hvordan det er at bo i Ecuador, med fordomme og med hvordan Ecuador så rent faktisk er for et land. Vi diskuterede også en masse ting i grupper. For eksempel har vi diskuteret forskellen mellem at være frivillig i dit hjemland og at være frivillig i Ecuador.
Group for one of the exercises.
Min gruppe til en af øvelserne.
During the orientation camp we also had a ceremony to welcome us to Ecuador and to make sure we are going to have a nice stay here. The ceremony were performed by two Ecuadorians. During this ceremony we where cleansed with smoke and by flapping a set of condor feathers towards us.

Om onsdagen havde vi også en lokal ceremoni for at byde os velkommen til Ecuador og den skulle sørge for at vi får et rigtig godt ophold her. Ceremonien blev lavet af 2 ecuadorianske kvinder. I løbet af denne ceremoni blev vi renset med røgelse og ved at en af kvinderne viftede med nogle kondor-fjer.

Cleansing ceremony
Renselsesceremoni

Cleansing ceremony
Renselsesceremoni.
During the ceremony they worked with all 4 elements and I was choosen to represent the element of Earth - Apparently a very important job.
During the ceremony we burned leaves that would make us fullfill the purpose as to why we are here. We also had to burn some sort of spruce to let go of all of our anger and our problems.
Afterwards we had to roll our own cigarette and for every time we added tobacco we should make a wish. When we burned it afterwards, it would make the wishes come true - But we won't know when! Of course someone tried to smoke it and one of the guys even said that it was the best cigarette he had ever smoken!

I løbet af ceremonien arbejdede de to kvinder med alle 4 elementer og jeg blev udvalgt til at være jordens kvinde, hvilket var en meget vigtig post.
I løbet af ceremonien brændte vi blade, der skulle gøre at vi fik opfyldt formålet med vores år i Ecuador. Vi brændte gran for at få vores vrede og alle tidligere problemer til at forsvinde.
Vi skulle også lave vores egen cigarret. For hver gang vi tilføjede tobak til den skulle vi ønske noget. Efterfølgende skulle vi brænde cigaretten og fordi ilden var meget kraftfuld, så ville alle ønskerne gå i opfyldelse - vi ved bare ikke hvornår.
Der var selvfølgelig nogen der skulle prøve at ryge deres cigarret, og en af drengene sagde at det var den bedste cigarret han nogensinde havde røget.


The package we made during the ceremony.
Den pakke vi lavede under ceremonien.
The last thing we had to do during the ceremony was to make a package with a red seed, a black stone, a white stone and something from the llama, which we had to break in four pieces.
During this time we where also given a bracelet. The purpose of these things is to keep us safe and make sure that we are going to have the best year of our lives! Of course we have to keep the package near us and we have to wear the bracelet.
The ceremony and the local ritual was very interesting to experience and a lot different from going to church at home.



Bracelet we were given during the ceremony
Det armbånd vi fik under ceremonien.
Den sidste ting vi skulle gøre under ceremonien var at lave en pakke med et rødt frø, en sort sten, en hvid sten og en ting fra lamaen, som skulle brækkes i 4 dele.
I løbet af denne proces fik vi også et armbånd.
Formålet med armbåndet og pakken var at de skulle sørge for at vi får det godt, at intet går galt og at vi får det bedste år af vores liv. Derudover sørger tingene for at vi ikke kommer til skade. Selvfølgelig bliver vi nødt til at beholde armbåndet på og beholde pakken i nærheden for at det virker.
Det var virkelig interessant at opleve ceremonien og det var meget anderledes end at gå i kirke herhjemme.




Thursday we also had orientation-camp and in the evening, we had salsa-classes(yes, how to dance it)! It was so funny and I think everybody really enjoyed it.

Torsdag var der også ankomst-camp og denne aften havde vi salsa-undervisning(ja, dans)! Det var virkelig sjovt og jeg er sikker på at alle nød aftenunderholdningen.

Picture with some of the volunteers and the teacher after the salsa-class!
Et billede sammen med nogle af de andre frivillige og vores salsa-lærer!

On the last day of orientation-camp we also had to go on a "scavenger-hunt" in Quito, to become more comftorble with the busses. So during this time we had to find our way to 3 places in Quito.
The mission failed! I'm actually really nervous about having to find my own way with the busses in Quito! I think it will help when I learn Spanish and will be able to ask people for help. Only very few people here speaks Spanish. I hope that I will learn it fast!

Den sidste dag på vores ankomst-camp skulle vi på en "skattejagt" i Quito, så vi kunne blive mere komfortable med at finde rundt i byen og med at bruge busserne. Jeg føler ikke rigtig at missionen lykkedes, for jeg er stadigvæk ret bekymret for at skulle finde rundt selv.
Jeg tror at det bliver bedre når jeg lærer spansk og bliver i stand til at spørge om hjælp - Det er meget få personer hernede der snakker engelsk. Jeg håber inderligt at jeg har nemt ved at lære sproget.

We have been given a VASE t-shirt.
Vi har fået en t-shirt fra VASE.

Friday afternoon I was taken to the apartment I am going to stay at here in Quito. I will be living with another volunteer from Switzerland named Stefanie. It is in the northern part of Quito. There are no more houses behind our apartment.


Fredag eftermiddag blev jeg hentet for at komme hen til den lejlighed, hvor jeg skal bo her i Quito. Jeg skal bo sammen med Stefanie, en anden frivillig, fra Schweiz. Vi bor i den nordlige del af Quito og du kan nærmest ikke komme længere og stadigvæk være i byen. Bag vores lejlighed er der faktisk ikke flere huse.

tirsdag den 11. august 2015

Introduction

I will try to write every post in both English and Danish, starting with English.
Jeg vil prøve at skrive alle indlæggende på både dansk og engelsk. Den danske udgave af indlægget findes derfor længere nede.

On this blog I will post pictures and stories from my adventures in Ecuador, as I am going to volunteer in Ecuador. If I have internet access and the time to do it I will try to post regularly.
I will leave in less than a week on Monday the 17th at 6 o'clock in the morning.

I will stay in Ecuador for a year and I will be travelling with an organization named ICYE (International Culture and Youth Exchange). You can access their international web page on www.icye.org and the Danish organization's web page on www.icye.dk

My host organization in Ecuador is named VASE/ICYE Ecuador (Voluntariado Para La Ayuda Social Del Ecuador), and I will be working on a project named Fundación Sembrar Ezperanza. I will live in an apartment owned by the project and I will be working in the north of Quito, the capital of Ecuador. The project is a kindergarten and the description of my role as a volunteer is:
"The volunteer’s tasks would be to prepare teaching material for the children’s English classes that he/she gives together with the teacher. Other tasks are playing with the children and help to do some sports. If the volunteer is musical, he/she should as well help with the music class."

When I arrive in Ecuador, I will be picked up at the airport, and the first couple of days in Ecuador I will have orientation. Afterwards I will have 2 weeks of Spanish classes, which will be a good start as I have a very limited knowledge of Spanish.

I really look forward to leaving and the next couple of days will be spend trying to pack.
Link: http://www.lejournalinternational.fr/photo/art/grande/6014304-8968346.jpg?v=1383504608 
A picture from the beautiful country of Ecuador
Et billede fra Ecuador


På denne blog vil jeg, såfremt jeg har internetadgang, forsøge at lægge billeder og historier fra min tid i Ecuador op. Jeg rejser allerede klokken 6 mandag den 17. august og har derfor under en uge tilbage i Danmark.

Jeg skal være i Ecuador i et år, og jeg rejser dertil med en organisation kaldet ICYE (International Culture and Youth Exchange). Den internationales organisations hjemmeside er www.icye.org og den danske organisations hjemmeside er www.icye.dk.

Den ecuadorianske organisations hedder VASE/ICYE Ecuador (Voluntariado Para La Ayuda Social Del Ecuador). Jeg skal arbejde på et projekt der hedder Fundación Sembrar Ezperanza og skal bo i en lejlighed ejet af projektet. Projektet ligger i den nordlige del af Quito, der er landets hovedstad.
Projektet er en børnehave og mit arbejde som volontør kommer til at bestå i at forberede undervisningsmaterialer til dem samt at sørge for at børnene har det godt og kan lege/dyrke sport.

Når jeg ankommer til Ecuador, bliver jeg hentet i lufthavnen, hvorefter jeg de første par dage er på ankomst, hvor jeg får information omkring landet og andre vigtige oplysninger. Herefter har jeg to ugers sprogkursus, hvor jeg skal lære det mest bassale spansk, eftersom jeg kan meget lidt spansk. 

Jeg glæder mig rigtig meget til at rejse og de næste par dage skal bruges på at pakke, så jeg ikke skal stresse med det natten til mandag.