Pernille in Mexico

2009-10-24T22:49:00.001-07:00

Sorry for not writing in a while, I've been busy traveling... I went to Mexico City for to weeks with my family, to visti more family. I meet my two brothers, the wife of one of them, my grandmother, my uncles and aunts, and all my cousins. I love the family, they took me in like I was a real family member.

In Mexico City I went to Chapultepeck, it's a castle. And Sochimilco, los dynamos, and ofcourse Six Flags. We also went to Puebla, but that was only for one night. I saw the vulcanos, a mall, a university and a couple of churches with my brother, my cusin, my brothers friend and his girlfriend (who live in Puebla).

When I came back to Huatulco my family told me that we were going to drive to Alvarado, Veracruz. We sat in the car for many hours, I liked it, it reminded me of the trips I've been on with my family in Norway. It's a really good way to see the country.

In Alvarado we meet my aunt, uncle and cusins from Mexico City. They showed us varius places in the state Veracruz. We went to the fishmarket, meatmarket, a parade of horses, a parade of men dressed like girls and the aquarium in Veracruz, Veracruz.

2009-09-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

I've been going to school for 2 weeks now, and I love it! The classes are a bit boring because I don't understand much, but the class is really nice, and we're having alot of fun! Everyone at school seames really nice, I love it!
My friends here are really nice aswell. Eventhough it's hard to communicate properly, they are including me and the three other exhanges in alot of activities. I'm always meeting new people, it's confusing!

I've eaten alot of wheir food, like Grasshopper, bunny, tortilla with spaghetti and tortilla with crayfish. The food is "muy rica"!

The weather is beyond nice. I thought it would get cold in the eavenings, but no... It gets colder, but it's still hotter than Norway. I can't wear my hoodie! I'm just walking around in my shorts and dresses every day, no pants or sweathers. It's wheird, but I like it.
I don't really miss Norway yet, ofcourse I miss my family and freinds, but I know that I'll see everyone in one year, so I'm not gonna spend my time here thinking about hov much I miss them and beeing miserabel. That's not my thing.

Yesterday we calebrated the Independance of Mexico, yay! We went to Santa Maria to see the foreworks and eat dinner. At about 1 we went back to Bahias de. to got to La Papaya, we stayed there till 6 in the morning.

2009-09-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

I've just started school. It's kinda confusing, but the class seames really nice, I think I'll like it here! I'm in 3 year og high school, yay! We have school uniformes, but I haven't got mine yet. It's really tiering listening to spanish the whole day, I can't wait till I can speak spanish!

I've been given heaps of "wheird" food, like goat, grasshoppers... Thats all I can think of now, but I'm shure there's more! Huatulco is a really nice place, you should come to see it! The people are really nice aswell!

I'm sorry for not writing more, but I have to log off... There are alot of pictures on facebook, you should log on there, if we're friends...=)

my new parents and me...=)

Paradise

2009-08-27T22:16:00.000-07:00

I LOVE MEXICO! At the camp in Mexico City I got to know people from all over the world, I miss them, hopefully I'll get to see them again sometime. The people here are so nice, ecpesialy my family! It's hard to understand the language, but I'm getting there. I love the food, it tastes so good!We eat alot of spicy food, yummy
I'm here with three guys, two from germany and one from New Zealand. They're really nice aswell. I've been to the marked, the beach and the park, this is going to be a good year! I'll write more when I've got time for it...My new home!The beach

Craig (New Zealand), Felix and Daniel (Germany)

I'm home...

2009-08-05T07:10:00.000-07:00

I'm back from Lithuania now. I've been sailing for about 2 weeks with a Norwegian ship called Sørlandet. I've been in Tallin, Turku and Klaibeda (Estonia, Finland and Lithuania). It was so much fun! When your sailing a ship like that you have to be patient, and you'll have a lot of time to think. I spent my "thinking time", thinking about the UNP trip, the people I meet there and the things we did. I miss them so much! I had the 12 to 4 watch. At night it was to dark to do anything, so we spent our time watching the stars, I love the stars. We saw a lot of shooting stars, so there were a lot of wishes made, lets see if they come true...

In Turku me and Marthe meet a lot of people from the other boats, that was fun. We went to a art museum and shopping, and we bought a lot of pancakes! When we arrived Klaipeda a lot of people we meet in Turku remembered us. We hung out with some of them. Klaipeda was fun, we went to a chinese restaurant, me and Christian took the "Sky Screamer" and me, Even, Christian, Kristin and Kristin took the Ferris Wheel. You can see the videos at facebook.

I've got my host family! They live in Bahias De Huatulco in Oaxaca, it looks so pretty! I don't know much about them yet...

I miss the US!

2009-07-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun in America! We went to NYC, DC, PA, Ottowa... We saw the Niagara Falls (I did the lightshow), we went to Broadway (and saw In The Hights), we went to Top Of The Rock, we saw the UN building, we saw the Statue Of Liberty and Ellis Island, we saw Times Square, we saw Ground Zero, we saw the Lincoln Memorial statue, we did it all!...

We were 150 youths in New York, but when we went to DC we were only 51 left. The others went to Canada. Fortunatly we all met up at the airport before we went home. Arh, I MISS THEM SO MUCH! Hopefully I'll be stopingby Oregon when I'm on my way home to Norway!...

Can life get any better?

2009-06-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy! This summer, a couple of days after the trip to the US and Canada, I'll be sailing from Tallin to Turku to Klaipeda, (Estonia, Finnland and Lithuania), ! I'll be sailing with Sørlandet, which is smaller than Lehmkuhl (the boat I sailed to Den Helder with last summer), that will be a new experience for me. I can't wait for the exams to be over, when they are I'm going to the US! Yay!...

News!

2009-06-05T08:33:00.001-07:00

I just received a letter from Odd Fellow, containing a program for the trip to the US and Canada. We’re gonna see the Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Fifth Avenue, Ground Zero, Battery Park, Liberty Island, Ellis Island, and that’s just the first four days... Just imagine the rest!... I can’t wait! I’ve got in touch with a couple of people who’ll be going to America with me, they all seem pretty excited!

Still no news from AFS about my host family, doesn’t anyone in Mexico want me to come stay with them? Anyhow, the trip to the US and Canada will probably keep my mind of it.

Pre-orientation

2009-04-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

I’ve just been to a pre-orientation camp on Askøy (an island outside of Bergen). I had so much fun! I meet the other exchange-students in the area round Bergen. We had to walk for about an hour to get to the spot where we were camping. Some of the guys were complaining, but, since the weather was nice I kinda liked the trip. We got lots of information, we played games, talked about our trip and ate cookies. The weather was really nice, I actually managed to get sunburnt.

The food was delicious, we had taco for dinner, yummy! I hope we manage to stay in touch when we are abroad and when we get back to Norway.

USA and Canada...

2009-03-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

I just got some really exiting news!... A while ago I entered a contest where you could win a trip to the US and Canada, guess what! I won!... Therefore I’ll be going to the US and Canada, fly home, stay home a couple of days before I’ll go to Mexico! How cool is that! I’ll be going to the FN headquarters with Odd Fellow, I’ll meet lot’s of new people, I really can’t wait!...

4 Months?...

2009-02-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

I wonder what I’ll be doing in the summer. I don’t think we’ll be travelling as a family, I might go somewhere with some friends though… Hmm… I think I’ll be playing tourist in Bergen, just to see what it’s like, get to know more about Bergen before I leave… I should probably get a job, that’s not such a bad idea, then I’ll have some money for my year abroad. I can’t wait for the summer to come, the sun will shine, the temperature will crawl past 20c, the smell of sea will be everywhere, I’ll be able to enjoy my strawberries, school’s out, but most of all; I’ll be one step closer to Mexico!... Arh, the summer seams so faraway, 4 months… Well, 4 months isn’t that long, is it?...

Nothing but silence...

2009-02-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

I’m sitting here at my desk thinking about next year. I have no idea where in Mexico I’ll be living. I want to know more. Will I be living near the beach? In a small town? In a desert?... Every time I get a letter from AFS I believe they have found me a family, till now it’s only been contracts they forgot to send me, or contracts I forgot to sign. I know it’s a bit early, I just cant stop thinking about it. Where will I live? On a mountain? In a valley?...

I’m also thinking about last summer. The trip to Wisconsin. Me, my mother and a friend of hers went to visit some friends who live in Wisconsin. The airport lost our luggage, I got sunburnt and eaten by the mosquitoes. We went to Chicago where we saw Steve Wonder, ate in the Hancock Centre, went to the worlds largest indoor aquarium. Me and Emma went to Six Flags, she thought me mini golf, she made me eat a Gyro. That’s just some of it… I wonder if the airport will lose my luggage when I’m on my way to Mexico. I wonder how the trip will be.

I sailed to Den Helder in Holland last summer with statsraad lehmkuhl. I went all by my self, and came back with lots of friends and memories. I was awkward at first, I think everyone knew someone else there but me. The awkwardness flew away 10 minutes later, I was sitting there talking to two Norwegian boys, and suddenly we were five people at the table. The next day I came in touch with some other people, from both Norway and Holland. We washed the toilets, set the sails, watched the dolphins and slept in hammocks. When we got to Den Helder I and a couple of guys decided to go to Amsterdam, we went to the Dungeon. In the Dungeon the actors for some reason they always picked me to “suffer”… I was left alone with the doctor, apparently I was a witch and I also was supposed to be tortured...

Rhonja and I went shopping in Den Helder, I needed some new clothes for the parties. We only had fifteen minutes till closing time. We got to know people from Oman, Brazil, Ecuador, England, France, Italy and Russia. Will my trip to Mexico be similar? Will I get to know people from other parts of the world? How long time will pass till the awkwardness will pass?... I can’t stop wondering about all of this. I can’t wait to get a host family!

-Love Pernille