Kva ho Ragnhild Rostrup driv p� med

I am leaving this shitty blog!!

I have created a new, much better blog which will soon have more things in it. The link is: here

SO GOODBYE SPRAYBLOGG, IT'S BEEN GREAT. BUHUUUU

Mexico: Here I Come!!!!

Finally got round to booking my flight to Mexico. I am leaving 13th of November. yeah yeah yeah!!! Will stay in the area until february. I am going to visit Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Costa Rica and El Salvador and not do anything else than enjoying life to the full.

yep, how great everything is. I am so happy. My knee will be happy too not having to deal with all the slippery ice here in Iceland!

Ragnhild and her knee

My bloody knee ....yes, there´s not much else worth reporting from my life these days. I´m getting better all the time. I can bend my knee 120 degrees and moreso, my physiotherapist tells me I might not have torn the cruciate ligament after all (??) If this is true, I am indeed very lucky. But I still need to practice and strengthen my knee after the inner ligament tore. I handed my cruches back to the doctor. great!!"

I am able to hide the brace underneath my long skirts when I am out on the town, my travel plans are not affected by the injury, I am going to Central America in the start of December, yooooohooooo!!! And staying there until March or April I think. Relaxing in the sun and letting my knee heal. I need to buy a backpack on wheels I think, because my knee cannot take the weight of a 20 kg backpack yet. Old lady, Ragnhild.

The slaugher season is finished, we killed around 25000 sheep. I left lovely Vopnafjörður yesterday, but I will be back for the next kill I think. I am in Reykjav�k at the moment having just landed a job behind the meat counter in a supermarked chain. Just for a month you know, to get some cash.ladidiadidadida.

Shit, we were so drunk last night. me with my walkingstick sliding around on the ice outside pubs. oh well, life is a gamble. I gamble on NOT falling on the ice whilst drunk. That would really mess up my life! But I am generally quite a lucky person, and I betcha that horse incident happened for a reason. Perhaps if I had not fallen off the horse and kept on cutting the heads off the sheep, I would accidentally cut off my hand or something. Perhaps the horse knew all this and threw me off so I had to change job in the slaughterhouse. Hm, I believe in things like that.

Now I am the most careful person in the world when it comes to walking around on slippery surfaces. I don´t think I will ever fall again. I have learnt. To be able to walk is quite important.

Right after I had injured my knee, I was in so much pain and was not very happy. I was in fact considering just amputating my foot, so I did not have to worry about it anymore. Then I would be happy rushing around in my wheelchair. However, I don´t think the doctors would have let me amputate.hahaha, quite funny to think that these thoughts actually crossed my mind (!)

A small step for mankind but a big one for Ragnhild

I managed to walk a few steps today WITHOUT my crutches! Wow, and it did not hurt. But I really moved like a snnnnnnnnnnnnnnail.

And then it hurt when I tried it again, damnit!

Anyway, went to a garden centre today with Hössi´s mum and there was a WHEELCHAIR at the entrance! I was delighted and "jumped" into it immediately. What a wonderful invention these weelchairs, I put my crutches across my lap and wheeled around and around the big store. great, just looking at the shelves and imagining how difficult it would be to grab something from the top shelf. People smiled and looked at me. I had decided to be a happy, charming handicapped person and it seemed to have a positive effect. People moved out of the way and were very helpful.

But then I needed to leave the store and the wheelchair had to stay for it´s next customer, buhuuu.

Invalid

God damnit! stupid f****** horses. I knew I should not have climbed up on that horse. Evil bitch. well, as you can see, I have turned into a vegetable (almost) and cannot walk or do anything. I feel like I am in prison. Shiiiiit!

I fell off that bolting horse and landed right on my foot, which was on a wrong angle at the time, the knee bending inwards. Needless to say, this was kind of fatal for my future health. As I landed I heard an awful snapping crunching sound inside my knee and a terrible pain spread making me unable to stop crying out in agony again and again.

I don´t know if a knee can dislocate, but as I tried to move my leg after stopping crying out in pain, it somehow popped back.  And very painful still. The farmers helped me up and trying to stand on my leg I felt something was very wrong, the knee seemed to want to slide out to the side. Auauauauau

OK, to cut a long story short, my man Hössi ☺drove across Iceland to pick me up and drive me to a specialist in Akureyri. After examining me (with röntgen and MRI) the doctors shook their heads in a very serious way and informed me:  My front cruciate ligament (the cross one inside my knee) had snapped as well as the ligament at the side of my knee. oh NO!! I got given a brace to stabilise my knee and told to rest and come back after 3 weeks for (quite possibly) surgery to install a new cruciate ligament. yikes.

Well, I am in Reykjavik now, my great career as a sheep-head-cutter-offer gone down the drain. A swedish man has taken my job, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I try to stand a little bit on my foot, but it is really difficult!  It seems so unstable and it hurts. I move with the speed of a snail. Hm, and when it comes to eating and stuff, It´s really difficult to walk on crutches with a bowl of soup with me, or a glass of water for that matter. Only solid food will do.

Have you ever tried to SIT in a shower and try to get clean? Hm, not very nice. Well, I turned the hotwater tap too much to start with, and I just had to endure it because I could not move away anyway. hahaha, next time I will thing of a more clever way to shower whilst invalid. Perhaps I can put a chair into the shower like old people do. how embarassing!

Last night I dreamt I was able to walk. It was a wonderful feeling. Yeah yeah, that day will come. I am definitely going to be the happiest person when I can walk again. wow! Hey, I managed to bake lovely bread yesterday, yumm yumm OK, I am going to snail my way into the bedroom now and read a book.

Road Trip again!

yes, what a lovely time we had, one israel man, 3 swedish slaughter guys and myself on a two day drive around north east iceland. fantastic. We went to Myvatn, Krafla, H�sav�k, �sbyrgi, Dettifoss and then home to Vopnafjörður again.

We decided to sleep under the stars, because I packed a tent but forgot to bring the tentpoles and pegs (crap planning, you would never think I had ever travelled anywhere!! Forgetting something as vital as THAT! Buuuuuuu Ragnhild)

But it was not too cold and the northern lights put on a great display for us, including a couple of shooting stars. I was dreading getting into the car again knowing the swedish men would keep on farting. I think they must have some sort of cronic farting disease. And they actually enjoy farting. They only apologise if they burp (unreal!) But every fart always made us laugh at least.

The sheep executer

Yep, I am the one that cuts the heads off, 600 per day, what a lovely clean job. The weirdest thing is that I actually don´t mind this job at all (!!?) Does that make me a strange person?

Blood becomes such a normal thing during the slaughtering season. 2 months of blood. I was sitting eating in the cantine one day and a guy pointed out I had a bit of food at the side of my mouth, never mind all the blood spots dotting the rest of my face. hahaha

Desert

This is what you can expect to see when you land in Iceland, absolutely Nothing! But, hey, I like it anyway.

Because I always enjoy Champagne on the plane to Iceland, this has become a good habit. :)

Hm, went to see a power station in Iceland, why not. This is amazing amount of steam from a deep hole drilled down into the ground. The steam is used to heat water up and the stinky egg water is sent in pipes all the way to Reykjav�k.

...AND if any of you have trouble sleeping at night, just look at this picture..... you start to feel sleepy, veeeeery sleepy.. veeeeeeery sleeeeepy. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

OHHH YES, I have arrived

"It´s like the moon" a scottish man said behind me on the plane. sure enough that´s exactly what the landscape around Keflavik airport looks like. Dusty brown and full of craters.

Reykjavik is as busy as ever, full of stylish snobs, grungy people, lesbian and gay people, have spotted 3 gay couples in half an hour. It is 10 °C, windy and sunny. I am soon going to be driven to Landmannalaugar to meet up with a good old friend. And then to Vopna in a few days. yep yep. :)

Soon going to this out of this world village:

Vopnafjörður in East Iceland, Yet again! All sheep be afraid, very afraid....

Some pics from Norway

A Ladybird wanted to say hello to the black and white jing-jang ladybird on my ring. Haha. Nature is strange. Look at my hands, I promise you that it it the CAMERA that makes them look so .....old! Shit! Oh well, I am going to be 30 (!!!) in April. oh my God!

Here's a picture of my mum :) and I in the garden in Hardanger. Mmmmm nice mum! Nothing is better than sitting in the garden days on end with my mum!

And this is a HusetHansOla, an empty house on Ingunn's property, but ....Hm.... it lies in the shadow, has asbestos roof and is falling apart. But very nice, you know. kind of idyllic as well. oh... I don't know what to do!!

Hey Hey back in Scotland!

Managed to hitchike down from Hardanger to the Airport in Sandefjord and slept under the stars on the way there. I left my tent and sleepingbag for my friend Anna to pick up in Hardanger and bring to Iceland, so I had only my reindeer skin and a wooly black coat. It worked well, but I lied to the lovely transsexual man/woman I was hitchiking with that I actually was going to sleep in my tent, otherwise she/he had not let me off in the darkness in the middle of nowhere. By the way I had a very interesting conversation with this 50 year old transsexual man with breasts and long blond hair.

Most people would probably think it is madness to go to sleep in some unfamiliar forest just on a reindeer skin. Oh well, I slept well, until it started raining and then I found something to make a cover out of. I slept until 7, took a few delicious apples from a tree nearby and hitchiked with a lovely artist-man who invited me home for breakfast and a nice walk in the sun on a green quiet island before he drove me right to the door of the airport!!! Amazing people are everywhere where I go!.

I am in Glasgow now, going to Isle of Rum tomorrow! And on Thursday I go to Iceland, whooohooooo!!!!!! yes yes yes yes. I cannot seem to get enough of this country :)

Made it down to Hardanger again!

Yes, again, life is wonderful, my hitchiking trip was fabulous!I got a lift with a german guy driving a low black car with flames on it! I could not believe it when he stopped and was going the same way. all together I think I got a lift with 30 different people. Mostly with 30-50 year old men in old Volvos. Strange. Look at the sunsets and the amazing Norwegian scenery. Wow. So many people drove out of their way to get me to my destination. excellent.

Did not catch anything by the way... But just sitting on the reindeerskin and drinking beer in the setting sun is just as nice as catching fish.

And then I made it to Sogn og Fjordane where I dressed up my friend in traditional sami costume. He totally took off and became a different person. running about and shouting like he was possessed. Quite fascinating! Perhaps he was a Same in a previous life? I bought the costume in a wooden same hut (gamme) from an old man who first told me that the costume was not for sale because it used to belong to his diseased father from Kautokeino. But he made a phonecall (to God??) and he said I could buy it after all. He suggested a skyhigh price, but then went lower and lower without me having to say anything. He probably understood I was a poor hitchiker and I believe he really wanted me to buy the costume. Perhaps he reconed I would suit it and take care of it. I bought it anyway for the same value as 4 crochet hats. (HAHA!) Yes!

This is a village called Gryllefjord in Northern Norway where the tourist guides wears high heels, small dresses and expose their cleavage to the world. But anyway, does this not look a little bit like Iceland?

Ragnhild is BACK!!

I have been spending the summer in this amazing place above called Hamningberg on the northeast corner of Norway. This place is a paradice (for people who don't need internet, mobile phone, TV and shops to survive). for three weeks there were white whales swimming all the way into the bay, around 50 of them whilst the reindeer were cooling off on the beach. Lovely.

I met all the fantastic people from last year as well as a few very interesting new friends. One 60 year old Norwegian vagabond who travels around on his ancient motorbike all over the world and has experienced SO much. I am fascinated! We will probably meet up in China in May I think. He is going to drive through russia, wow.

Yes, and I have been to many ethnic festivals and they were just as good as last year. here's my favourite picture I took from inside a Lavvo at the Riddu Riddu festival in Troms:

I am in Tromsø now, having just strarted hitchiking all the way down to Hardanger again. I am going to stop by quite a few islands on the way down the coast. Today I am heading to Vannøya in the sunshine and pitching my ruined tent there. That drunk idiot that threw himself onto my tent at a festival has totally ruined it. I hope he goes bald overnight. haha Anyway, must dash. The cars are waiting (I'm sure)

Yes, and I am heading to Scotland the 21st of August and then to Iceland 25th of August to slaughter sheep again.

Summer Break?

I spend so much time NOT sitting in front of a computer, so I am considering taking a break from my blogging until the midnight sun does not shine anymore. There are so many great things to do here in Northern Norway and I feel like I am missing out on things by spending time in front of this little grey box.

I will keep on enjoying my summer and I will be back when I feel like it! Have a superb summer!