Q: What's Happening?

A: NOTHING

Which is why I haven't written anything here for a while.

The royal family has arrived

Well it's really just 5 members of my family, but it feels like it could have been the royal family with all the preparations and planning over the past few weeks. Getting 5 visitors is great, but when you've just moved into a house it requires some extra efforts to get everything ready in time... And Cliff has had some sort of pre-inlaws planning extravaganza so I had to tell him to remember it is NOT the royal family arriving. Anyway, we look forward to the company and showing off Manila and the Philippines. And best of all, come Wednesday we join them for 5 days in the paradise of Boracay. Now THAT will be nice!!

Hmmm

Ikke saa fristende aa flytte hjem til dette....


http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2006/10/23/480558.html

New member of the family

Ok, don't worry.... It's just a dog! I never ever thought I would actually get a dog but after one visit I was sold. We are getting one of these cuties next week and are already fighting over the name to give it. Give me some good ideas, I don't want my puppy's name to be Kim Yong-Il! Yes, hard to believe but that's one of the suggestions currently on the table! No, not mine and thankfully I have veto rights. Ok, here's the deal: whoever comes up with a name we'll actually use I'll treat to a night out when you come visit! I think that's excellent...

Camilla - Villa - Manila

We have a house!!!! Well, kind of - we can't move in until the end of the month because there was a really bad storm here last week that pretty much tore up all the trees in Manila by the root. There weren't that many trees here to begin with so it's a little sad.... And of course one tree decided to fall on one of the bedrooms of our yet-to-move-into house so we're homeless for a few more weeks. But that's OK, at least we know we'll be out of the hotel soon. And the house has plenty of room for visitors AND a swimming pool in the garden. Let me also mention 70 cent beers and the most beautiful beaches. Are you packing your bags yet....? Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the storm. Storm season is over - promise!

Pakistan - the land of men

I am in Pakistan for the first time. I arrived Friday night - two days ago - and can count the women I've seen on one hand. This is definitely the land of men! A very quick introduction to the challenges I will meet here since one of my assignments is to come up with a strategy for helping women participate more in our project activities and have a greater voice in decision-making. To do that, it would be helpful to actually to talk to some women so I hope I can find some...

Other than that, I haven't seen too much yet. Karachi is huge, crowded, and noisy and traffic rules don't exist (or they do, but of course everyone driving are men and we all know what that means....).

I just realized that the hotel gym is reserved for women from 10 to 4. Hmm, maybe I could see some women AND get excercise? I have a feeling I'll be pretty alone, but you never know. Good luck to me!

Camilla in Manila

So now I live in Manila! Just arrived 10 days ago after a great break at home where the highlight (of course) was Bitten and Frode's beautiful wedding. And the bachelor party was pretty good too if I can say so myself... I'll update more and put some pictures later, just wanted everyone to know I'm still alive.

I think these girls are looking at something very strange with blonde hair...

Relaxing weekend in Aceh

Finally some time to rest! We had a relaxing weekend in Aceh, going to the beach, visiting the grand mosque, and just doing nothing. A great change!! I'm posting some pictures so you can get a taste of our life here. To the left is me at the beach - lovely "bikini"huh? Unfortunately this is what we women have to wear at the beach, including in the water. It doesn't exactly make for the perfect beach experience but what can you do...
And above is when we filled our car with diesel instead of regular fuel... Not a good idea! Of course, the best way to fix the problem is to suck the diesel into your mouth and spit it into a bucket. Yes, it takes a while and doesn't make many safety precautions I'm sure.







And this is me at the grand mosque in Aceh. I'm sure you all love my jilbab (headscarf). Again, what can you do...?

Gratulerer med dagen Linda!!

Yes, I am still alive. Even if it's been forever since I posted anything on this blog. But today I have a very good reason to be back: It's Linda's birthday so I have to say Happy Birthday!! Always nice when another one hits 30.... I'm sorry I miss the party but am sure there will be plenty of opportunities to make up for it.

Other updates:

- there has been no more Aceh gay parties (at least not that I've been invited to)
- I have been working like an idiot, which is partly why I haven't posted anything here. 80 hour work weeks? I NEVER thought I would be one of those people!
- In a short, but nice, break from the 80 hour work weeks, Cliff and I went to Phuket for a long weekend. Admittedly I was a little sceptical to Phuket but we had a great time. We borrowed an apartment with private balcony and a pool, facing the beach. This was outside of the main tourist area, and season for that matter, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Rented a jeep and drove around, had a shower in a water fall which was amazing, ate really good thai food, got good massages and just enjoyed. We did go to Patong beach, which is the most touristy area ever but quickly got out of there: it was the standard package of drunk tourists, crazy and aggressive souvenir sellers and prostitutes. Oh well....
- If everything stays the same for two more weeks (never know..) I will be joining the ADB starting August and Manila will be my new home! So start booking the tickets people!
- And very importantly, I am coming home for 3 weeks starting August 3!!!!!!!!!!

-camilla