My kind of thing

I went to Guatemala the 9th of October to the 23rd to visit my sister who has been living there for a little over 4 months. I have not seen her for 18 months so it was a strange, new and enjoyable reuniting. I went there with my dad who went there with my mum in July this year (2015). My sister was staying in a little town called San Morcos and this place is know as the hippie town of the Atitlan Lake. 

We had a lot of these so called cacao ceremonies and before you go "oh my gaaard.. it is some kind of sect she is adverticing" then I will just tell you about the whole cacao thing so just hang on a little more:

•Cacao as a multidimensional partner and facilitator for creative, spiritual, or ceremonial purposes… artistic, new age, or shamanic.  Chocolate brings the door but doesn’t push you through it.

•How to use the Food for the Shift for your creativity, productive workplace focus (solo or team), all day trekking or all night dancing, yoga, meditation, processing, emotional release, journeying, deeper partnered connecting, therapy, group facilitation, kirtan, coaching, team building, or cacao ceremony, etc.  Truly helpful... a major facilitator from inner change and play - to outer creativity and productivity.  

- This is directly taken from the Cacao Shaman; Keith. His website is on my homepage!

My story with the cacao is very colorful and full of experiences even though I have not been using it much. When I do cacao in teams I experience that I do have a lot of questions but something I do not ask them because an eye that I am seeing infront of me is telling me who have to sort something out before I have to sort my things out.

This is one of the eyes I have seen while meditation with cacao.

To most people I have shown this it is a scary eye but to me they all look gentle to me but they are also very see through. The eyes look at the people that attend the ceremonies that are there just to talk and then they look at the people that need help.

I am not trained in this at all enough to be able to tell what the people need to say or get sorted out but I think I will get there! 

Amsterdam & a Gay Pride kick start

Amsterdam, byen med flotte kanaler, husbåde og vindskæve huse ved kanalerne.

Vi tog alle til Amsterdam fordi vi skulle mødes med Willemien, som skulle være vores guide.

Godt at vide:

Når du skal til Amsterdam, fra hvilken som helst by (vil jeg tro), kan du kun købe billet ved Billet Kontoret, og kun med kontanter. De har lavet meget om igennem årene, og dette er en af dem

We gik direkte til kanalbådene til at starte med, for at få et andet perspektiv af byen, og desuden er bådene en rigtig god måde at få set byen på. Det koster 9 euro for en voksen og kun 5 for et barn. Turen vare en time, og vær klar på, at der er varmt inde i båden, da den er overdækket. I båden er der højtalere, og i bådene snakker de både hollandsk, tysk, engelsk og fransk.

*Amsterdam, the city with all the beautify canals, houseboats and cock-eyed houses along the canals.

We all went to Amsterdam to meet up with Willemien once again because she was going to be our guide for today.

Good to know:

When you are going to Amsterdam, from any city (I imagine) you can only buy a ticket from the Ticket Office and only with cash. They have changed a lot of things the past years and this is one of them.

We headed to the canalboats at first, just to get a different look at the city, and the canals is a great way to do that. It costs 9 euros pr. adult, only 5 pr. child and the trip lasts one hour. In the boats there are speakers and they speak dutch, german, english and french. It was unimaginably hot in the boat because it was roofed but you come by a lot of beautiful places.

Efter bådturen gik vi rundt i De 9 Gader. Amalie og jeg gik også lidt alene rundt i området. Vi kom forbi Gay Monument tæt ved Anne Franks hus, og vi var begge rigtig glade for, ikke at skulle stå og bage i den lange kø, som går ind til museet. Efter et frokost hvil i skyggen af et træ, lige ned til en af kanalerne, valgte vi alle at tage til Eye, som er en ø tæt ved Amsterdam Central Station. Det er gratis at komme derover. Didde og hendes veninde tog hjem, da de ikke havde det så godt.

* After the boat trip we walked around in the 9 streets. We split up and Amalie and I just wondered around as much as possible. We ended up at the Gay Monument and at Anne Franks house. The line was very long and luckily for us we did not have to stand there and wait. The weather was so hot today and after lunch in the shadow from a tree, by the canal we went for the island Eye. It is free to get to the island Didde and her friend went back home because they did not feel good.

På Eye slog vi os ned ved en container cafe, med en lille strand tæt ved hvor både Willemien, min far, min mor, Amalie og jeg sprang i for at blive kølet af, og det var bare fantastisk efter en lang varm dag inde i byen. Efter at have hoppet i vandet nogle gange satte vi os ned, nød en øl og blev tørre i vinden og af solen. Vi var ved den fine cafe i nogle timer, og så tog Amalie og jeg ind til byen igen for at dufte lidt til alt hashosen der kommer ud fra de små coffieshops.

* On the Eye we went to a container cafe with a sort of beach where both Willemien, my dad, mother, Amalie and I went for a swim in the water. After a hot day like today we were so happy to get cooled down. After a few jumps into the water we had a beer and sat on the side and got dry in the wind. It was very nice. We were here for more than two hours and Amalie and I went to Amsterdam city again just to look around and smell all the hash from the coffieshops. 

Da Amalie og jeg kom hjem, var der en mindre gay pride fest i gang, i midten af Amersfoort, som vi selvfølgelig gik hen til for at opleve. Selv efter aftensmad gik vi derhen, denne gang med Didde og hendes veninde, hvor vi dansede, snakkede med søde homoseksuelle folk og havde en masse sjov.

When we arrived home there were a smaller Gay Pride thing going on in the middle of Amersfoort so we went there of course, after dinner too with Didde and her friend. We danced, talked with a lot of gays, had fun and came home and went straight to bed. Almost ;)

Over and out

In Holland with friends and family

The day before our trip to Amsterdam

Amalie kom hjem til mig om søndagen, den 28., da vi skulle med toget fra Hobro næste dag. Vi var alene hjemme, hyggede og gik forholdvis tidligt i seng, da vi skulle op klokken 7 om morgenen den 29. Men vi havde en hel eftermiddag og aften sammen den 29. og her fandt vi på en masse ude i haven, hvor vi tog nogle billeder, fjollede rundt og grinede som i de gode gamle dage på efterskolen.

* Amalie arrived at my house at 2PM the 28th because we were going with a train from Hobro the next day. We were home alone and had a love time together and fell a sleep quite early because we had to get up at 7AM. In afternoon and evening we had a great fun with the camera in the garden and we laughed a lot like when we were on the boardingschool together.

The trip to Amersfoort

Vi skulle med toget klokken 9:30 og det tog 4 timer og godt 30 minutter at komme til Kastrup Lufthavn, hvor vi skulle mødes med Didde, min søster, og hendes veninde. Vi havde i alt 2 timer i lufthavnen, som Amalie og jeg brugte på, at få noget frokost og kigge på ankommende mennesker. Flyet lettede klokken 16:45 og turen varede ingen tid. Min far kom og hentede os i lufthavnen og så kørte vi til Amerfoort, hvor vi har lånt et hus af min mors kusine.

* We had to catch the train at 9:30AM and the trip lasted 4 hours and about 30 minutes and then we arrived in Kastrup Airport where we had to meet up with Didde, my sister, and her friend. We had about two hours before take off and Amalie and I ate lunch and watched all the people that just arrived to Denmark. The airplane took off at 16:45PM and my dad picked us up at the airport and drove us back to Amersfoort where we have a borrowed house. 

Amerfoort

Amersfoort ligger godt 50 km fra Amsterdam, og fra den mindre by, er det nemt at finde et tog der kører ind til hovedstaden. Den 30. gik stille og roligt, hvor vi cyklede med forældrene ud til et udendørs badeland, for at tjekke det ud, og for at finde ud af, hvor det lå i forhold til, hvor vi bor. Amalie og jeg cyklede tilbage til huset, for at hente badetøjet, og her mødtes vi med Didde og hendes veninde, efter de havde været i fitness. Både med hovedet først og på ryggen gik det ned af rutsjebanen, holdkap på 50m banen og lidt fotografering af badutspring ud i bassinet. Amalie og jeg tog hjem omkring 14 tiden og stoppede ved et supermarked for at købe lidt sødt. Vi købte lidt fudge, chokolade og ikke mindst Vanila Vla, som er en buddingagtig yoghurt der smager himmelsk. 

* Amersfoort is 50 km from Amsterdam and it is easy to take a train from the smaller city to the capital. The 30th went nice and quite: at first we took a little ride on our bikes with the parents to an outdoor swimming pool just to get to know the way from the house. Amalie and I drove back home and got our things and met up with Didde and her friends at the pool after their trip to the gym. With the head first or backwards down the water slide, a team competition and photos of funny jups into the water. It was fun and hard to be in the water again. Amalie and I drove home around 2PM and had a quick stop on the way and bought some fudge, chocolate and of course some Vanila Vla which by the way taste like heaven.

På trods af, at vi var totalt smadrede da vi kom hjem fra badelandet, så gik Amalie og jeg alligevel ud i byen, for at se lidt nærmere på den. Vi havde været på cykler aftenen inden, og havde set lidt af byen om aftenen, men i dag ville vi se lidt nærmere på den i dagslys. Vi blev budt ind i et gammel børnehjem fra 1600tallet, hvor vi fik en lille fremlæggelse om, hvorfor børnene gik rundt i det tøj de gik rundt i, hvordan verdenen var dengang, og alt for ingen penge. Det morede vi os meget med, og gik så videre ind i byen, hvor det så begyndte at regne. Så så meget fik vi heller ikke set, og valgte at gå hjem for at slappe af, og tage en lille morfar inden der ville komme mad på bordet.

* In despite of total exhaustion, from the hours in the pool, Amalie and I walked to the center of Amersfoort. We had a look at the city from our bikes the evening before but we also wanted to check out the city by foot and in daylight. We got invited into an old orphanage from the 1600 and here a girl gave a little presentation about the house, why the kids were dressed like they where and how the world was like back in the 1600 and all that for free. It was very instructive and then we went to the city and then it started raining. We did not get to see that much of the city and went home to relax and get a nap before dinner.

Over and out

Back in Denmark with the blue sky

19th, 20th & 21st - Gudenåen

Kom hjem klokken 00 om torsdagen. Vi havde været på vej hjem i 25 timer da jeg endelig kom hjem, og Sofie manglede stadig et stykke. Næste dag havde jeg aftalt med en veninde, hendes mor og min mor, at vi skulle en tur på Gudenåen. Vi tog afsted klokken 14 næste dag, og kom i vandet ved 17 tiden da vi skulle i vandet ved Silkeborg og den anden bil skulle lige køres til Bamsebo, hvilket var vores stop på ruten vi havde valgt at sejle. Vi havde også min hund med, Kilya.

* I arrived home at 00PM thursday. Sofie and I had been on our way home for 25 hours and Sofie was not even finished with her journey when I got home. The following day was the day were my friend, her mother, my mother and I were going to sail on Gudenåen. We had our dog, Kilya, with us.

My mother in her kajak. Looking good, hu?

Our first stop friday evening. 

Kate (my friend's mother), Silja and I in the morning right before breakfast

Dag to var meget afslappende i starten. Vi tog os god tid om, at spise morgenmad, pakke sammen og komme afsted. Strømmen gjorde det meste arbejde for os i starten, men ligeså snart vi kom til Tange sø kom der andre boller på suppen. Her havde vi modvind, så godt som ingen strøm der hjalp os på vej og en kano der vejede det dobbelte lige pludselig. Min mor og Siljas mor var i deres kajakker, og havde det ret nemt, for det var Silja og jeg der havde det tunge læs. Det føltes som mere end time vi var på den sø, og det var som om der ingen ende var på den, så ved slutningen af den, fandt vi et natursted, hvor vi slog lejer, så vi havde så lidt som muligt af søen at sejle på næste dag.

* Second day was very relaxing. We took our time to eat our breakfast, pack our things and get going. The flow in the water did most of the work in the beginning and then we arrived at Tange lake. We had  headwind all the way, no flow to help us at all and suddenly our canoe weighted twice. Siljas mother and mine were in kajaks and had a more or less easier time than we did because we had all the heavy stuff onboard. It felt like an hour on that lake and it seemed like there was no end to our trip but we found a place to camp so that we did not have to sail as much on the lake as this day.

Kilya jumped into the water after sitting on the kajak. 

The view from our new camp - Tange sø

Silja and I relaxing after the struggle on Tange lake

Den tredje dag startede ud som den anden; meget afslappet. Silja og jeg sejlede mod elværket ved 11tiden om formiddagen og her skulle vi have kanoen og kajakkerne over på den anden side af værket. Man skal gå over til der, hvor man sætter bådene i igen og hente en båre med hjul på og så kan man transpotere ens båd hen til der, hvor man skal have den i. Det tog lidt tid, og vi blev på elværket i et stykke tid, hoppede i vandet og nød varmen lidt inden vi fortsatte mod vores slutpunkt: bamsebo.
Resten af vejen var let, da der var en masse strøm på den her side. Vi havde frokost på et tidspunkt, hvor der ingen var, og så ankom vi til Bamsebo. Siljas mor og min mor kørte efter den anden bil, mens Silja og jeg fik fragtet vores ting op til der, hvor bilerne må køre til.

The third morning was like the other one: very relaxed. Silja and I took of at 11AM and sailed to the power plant where we had to walk with the canoe to get it on the other side of the plant. You have to walk to the place you get the canoes in the water to get a cart and then transport the canoe that way. We stayed at the power plant for a while and jumped into the water and enjoyed the sun before we got into the canoe again and headed to out final destination; Bamsebo. We has our lunch on a quiet place and then we arrived to Bamsebo, and while Siljas mother and mine drove off to get the other car, Silja and I moved our things to the parking lot .

Over and out