Our Norwegian friends!

Zanzibar is full of Norwegians! We meet people from Norway everywhere, but most of them are on holiday.

There is a house in Mbweni called The Haukeland House. That is a house with doctors from Haukeland Hospital in Norway. Some of them are alone, and some with their whole family. They work at the local hospital here in Zanzibar.

We know two families especially good. One of the families just went, and the other family is leaving soon.

Now I'm going to tell you about these two families.

The Thomassen family

This is a family with a mother, a father, a son (12) and a daughter (10). They just left, so now they are back in Norway.

Øyvind

Øyvind is the doctor in the family. He is a very active, funny, nice guy.When my dad and him are together they are a bit childish, they always start to play fight. 

Liv Karin

Liv Karin is a very social, active, nice woman. She often invites to a dinner or a dugnad (a Nowegian word for voluntary work, usually for helping public places). She was the "boss" of the dugnad at the Haukeland house.

Jørgen
Jørgen is a twelve years old boy who went to the Internasional School of Zanzibar. We were in the same class. He is very active and likes to make movies.

Ingrid
Ingrid is a ten years old girl who also went to the International School of Zanzibar. She is (like the rest of  the family) active and a very nice girl.

The Hærum family
The Hærum is a family with a mother, a father, a daughter (8) and a daughter (5). They are leaving Zanzibar soon.

Thorbjørn
Thorbjørn is a very nice guy. He is a diver, but here in Zanzibar he doesn't have a job.

Melissa
In this family, Melissa is the Doctor. She works at the local hospital here and she really enjoys to live here.

Eira
Eira is a eight years old girl who goes to the International School of Zanzibar. She likes to play basketball and to swim.

S
olvår
Solvår is a five years old girl who goes to the nursery at the International School of Zanzibar. She is a very sweet, funny girl.

So that's our Norwegian friends. Here are a few other pictures:

Solvår and me

The Norwegian running team, at the half marathon in Zanizbar

The children

My weekend!

This weekend I went to a friends (Shannon) house/hotel. Her hotel is in Matemwe and is called Azanzi (http://www.azanzibeachhotel.com/). Jane, another friend, also came with us.
We went after school on friday, and drove to Shannon's house to pick up her stuff and then to the hotel.
The reason why there are so many pictures of Shannon is because she really likes that people takes pictures of her and to take pictures of herself :)
And the reason for why there is no pictures of Jane is beacuse she didn't want me to share any.

Jane brought Korean noodles, which we ate raw...

We played a lot of games, this is one that Jane brought.

This is Shannon!

Another picture of Shannon, in the restaurant.

Desert (vanilla cake)!

Shannon is looking very important here. 

Me

We went running!

We borrowed a very cool electric bike, which actually went very fast!

We became "addicted" to a card game called speed.

Shannon drinking tea by the breakfast table.

Another picture of Shannon. Here she is reading her book early in the morning.

I tried to take some pro pictures of Shannon doing butterfly!

Me and Shannon

Me!

Shannon!

Help me! 

A picture I took while I was sitting at the back of the electric bike, and Shannon was in front, while were driving!

On Sunday night, we went to Shannon's house to sleep there. They have 5 dogs, 1 cat and a parrot!

On Monday morning we ate some breakfast and went to school.

Science Diving!

On our school we have something called a science fair once a year. To participate (which we have to) we need to make a science project. Our is about why you need to equalize while diving. So we had to dive. Laila and me didn't know how to dive, so we took a Discover Scuba Diving.

The first day the diving instructor told us what to do in the pool. We learned what the signs meant, how to breath, how to get water out of your regulater and other stuff.

The next day we went in a boat out in the ocean! Under water we brought an empty bottle and we filmed what happened to it, which you can see in the movie. 

Here are some pictures:

Since you can't see our project, this is the video we made:

What happens with the bottle is what happens with your airspaces ( like lungs and ears) if you do not equalize while diving.

When we went down, there was more pressure, so the bottle shrank, and when we went up, it was less, so the bottle expand.

Just a normal sleepover, all inclusive

My good friend Selma lives at Spice Island resort at the east coast. I was going to her house for 5 days.

We called a taxi and the driver came to pick me up on Monday. It was an hour drive and I was sitting alone in the backseat, listening to music. When I got there, I met Selma. Laila (another friend who was there) was still in bed. Selma and I went down to the restaurant where we could order anything we wanted. Selma ordered breakfast, and I took a juice. Laila came after a while, ate, and then we spent the day in the TV-room. It's an AC there, so it is very nice and cold. We worked at our science project and just relaxed. After a while, Laila and I went for a walk on the jeti, a large pier out in the Indian ocean. We weren't really thirsty at the time so we didn't bother to order anything in the bar out there. We just sat in the hammock, chilled and talked. When we started to get hungry, we just went to the restaurant. And if we were thirsty, we just went to the bar and ordered what we wanted. They make delicious juice and they really know how to make a good meal. All the staff know Selma, so we do not have to pay or anything.

The days went like that, sometimes we woke up early, so we could eat breakfast, but sometimes we had to eat lunch because it was too late. We didn't feel like swimming in the 30 degrees hot seawater, except the day we were going to dive (which I will make another post about). They also have a very nice, large pool which we could use any time we wanted to.

We could stay in the lounge, TV-room, restaurant, office or by the swimming pool. Also, if we wanted to we could go to the SPA and get any treatment that  pleased us.

That is how the days went, and on Friday Laila and I were going home. Before we went we wanted a milkshake, so we went to the bar, ordered and got our milkshake.

Interview with Selma Lou-Lu Tallulah Wurmus

This is a interview with a 13 year old girl from Germany who lives at a hotel in Zanzibar. The interview is about how it is live at a hotel and what she thinks about it.

How is it to live at a hotel?

Well, it's different than to live at home because you don't have to cook for yourself, you have a pool, you don't have a kitchen in your house and things like that.

What is the 3 best things about living at a hotel?

Uhm.. 1. You have a pool all the time.

2. You can go to places where the guests can't go.

3. You can do everything that people only can do in their holidays.

What is the 3 worst things about living at a hotel?

1. You always have to wait until the guests are finished eating before you can eat!

2. You don't have food in your room!

3. The guests are always at the first place!

Do you sometimes miss a "normal" life?

Yes I do, because, well, school is an hour away. You can't walk to school. You can't make your own breakfast, you always have to eat what they have.

Do you ever feel bored at the hotel?

Yes I do, because you only have the same things and you can't go out of the hotel because there is nothing.

How long have you lived at this hotel and for how long are you staying?

I don't know how long I'm staying but I have stayed here for two and a half year and I lived half a year in a house in the village in Jambiani.

Did you know English when you got here?

No, it took me three months to learn it.

Would you like to live at a hotel for the rest of your life?

No.

When/if you are leaving this hotel, where do you wanna go?

France, to learn French or some other place to learn French. Or England.

When you grow up, would you like to work at a hotel like your mum?

Maybe, but I am not allowed to.

Why?

Because my mum says it's a terrible job.

Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by luxury because of the cook, cleaning lady, pool restaurant and all of that?

Sometimes, especially in the beginning.

Do you sometimes mix English with German?

Yes, especially when I go for a holiday in Germany.

From what country are most of your guests at the hotel?

Germany.

Do you think there are too many hotels in Zanzibar?

Yes, especially in the North.

When you are going for a holiday, do you prefer to live at a hotel or in a friend's house?

I think I would prefer a hotel.

How often do you go for a holiday to another country?

Once a year I go to Germany, and sometimes I go to another country another time, but not always.

Do you know all of the main staff at the hotel?

Most of them.

Do you spend more or less time with you family after you moved to the hotel?

More, because my mum, she kind of works at home, since the hotel is our home. So I see her when I get home from school and before. In Germany I always had to wait either at school or at home for her.

Can you tell me your normal daily routine?

I wake up in my room. I put on my school uniform, I drive to school one hour, I stay at school until 3 o'clock and then I drive home. Then I do my homework, sometimes I swim in the pool. I eat dinner, I take a shower and then I go to sleep.

This is a video of the hotel on their website: http://www.spice-island-hotel-resort.com/en/gallery/video

A suprise visit from Jan Henrik

Jan Henrik came the same day as Oda, Silje, Tove and Pål (the recent visitors) left. He had not taken any vaccines and suddely he was here, without much warning. That day we just drank something at Livinstone (where we saw dolphins!), and ate dinner at home.

Dolphins!

Cigale (lobster) for dinner!

On Tuesday, we went to Jambiani. There everybody except me went sailing, snorkelling and they went to the reef.

The reef.

I just stayed at home, reading, and then later we all went to eat dinner.

My dad is very prous of this picture, so I thought I should share it.

The next morning, my Dad and Jan Henrik went fishing, and we gave the fish (a baracuda) to a restaurant who prepared it and we ate it that night.

The next day, before we left, my Dad and Jan Henrik decided to go for a walk. A long walk. They were gone for hours.

The next day, Jan Henrik and my Dad were supposed to go to look at how they make soap, spices and material. My dad got sick, so I went instead.

Here you can see how they weave fabric.

Then we were going to see how they make the spices, but the taxi driver only took us to the marked to buy. The taxi driver didn't speak English at all, so he coudn't tell us anything. Then we met a boy and he said that he could show us a place where we could see it, but it was closed. Then we were going to see how they made soap, but the guy that was supposed to show us wasn't there.

After that Jan Henrik wanted to go to a local barber shop to shave his beard.

Before.

You come in 45 year old. You will go home 17.

After.

The next day Jan Henrik left.