I have arrived! Wow! It's so strange being here in the Caribbean. It's warm (28 degrees Celsius), humid (74%) and sunny. Almost completely different to Norway when I left it - chilly and dry. I left Norway on Sunday afternoon, stayed overnight in England, and journeyed on to Saint Vincent via Barbados yesterday. That was a very long flight, and I was very ready to leave the plane when we landed. At check-in in Barbados, I was wished a happy birthday! That just made my day. I travelled here with my friend who is here to do approximately the same thing as me, and we arrived yesterday evening local time (after a gruelling one and a half hour taxi ride), and tumbled into bed at 4 AM according to our body clocks. That was a very long day.
Today I have seen the place I am staying by daylight for the first time, and it's absolutely gorgeous. The view is fantastic, and everything is green. I have also met the horses, and they seem very nice. These first days I am going to spend time with them, but I am not to communicate with them more that just saying hello (which means offering them the back of my hand to sniff, and then moving away), and that suits me fine. That way I will get to know them and learn how to tell them apart. The people here are very nice and welcoming, and it is not very busy around here, which is nice. I will never tire of the view and nature here. It is so fantastic and rich! I even found a leafy growth on the ground that closes if you touch it, to protect itself.
I love it here, but it is still a bit unreal that this is going to be my home for the next three months. I suspect that will change soon, as I get into the routines and get used to the climate. Pictures will come soon.
Tuesday 29 March 2011
Thursday 10 March 2011
Exciting adventure beginning soon!
The days are slowly but surely (actually not that slowly) ticking away, and the date of my departure for the Caribbean island St Vincent is coming closer. I am both looking forward to and dreading that day, the 27th of March. Or rather, I have mixed feelings when it comes to the whole trip. I think this is partly due to my lack of knowledge about what I am going to be doing while I am there, and generally all the unknowns involved in this trip. I am quite a control freak, therefore having so many unknown factors involved in this big thing I am going to do is quite unnerving.
I don't think I have explained fully what I am going all the way to the Caribbean to do, and that is partly because I haven't known and partly because I didn't want to admit that it was so soon. Now that I have come more to terms with this, however, I feel the time is right for me to tell you what will be happening with me and consequently what will appear on this blog.
On the 27th of March I am headed off to the Caribbean, and I am staying on St Vincent for three months. I am going to be a working student, learning about a method of horse training called Liberty Training, which was developed by Carolyn Resnick. I am going to be learning this from a certified trainer in this method, Stina Herberg. I am also going to learn about horticulture, or rather how they grow their food (which is all organic), and help train and care for the other animals they have where I am going, like sheep, donkeys, and hens. I am staying at Richmond Vale Nature and Hiking Center. This is going to be something out of the ordinary, and I think it will be really interesting.
I am planning on blogging about the experience, so you will hear about what I learn, what I think about it, funny things I experience, and so on. I will still read books and keep you updated on that, of course, since I haven't finished my 30 books challenge. I hope you will enjoy following me on my big adventure, which I am looking forward to sharing with you.
Books read: 12
Pages read: 3549
I don't think I have explained fully what I am going all the way to the Caribbean to do, and that is partly because I haven't known and partly because I didn't want to admit that it was so soon. Now that I have come more to terms with this, however, I feel the time is right for me to tell you what will be happening with me and consequently what will appear on this blog.
On the 27th of March I am headed off to the Caribbean, and I am staying on St Vincent for three months. I am going to be a working student, learning about a method of horse training called Liberty Training, which was developed by Carolyn Resnick. I am going to be learning this from a certified trainer in this method, Stina Herberg. I am also going to learn about horticulture, or rather how they grow their food (which is all organic), and help train and care for the other animals they have where I am going, like sheep, donkeys, and hens. I am staying at Richmond Vale Nature and Hiking Center. This is going to be something out of the ordinary, and I think it will be really interesting.
I am planning on blogging about the experience, so you will hear about what I learn, what I think about it, funny things I experience, and so on. I will still read books and keep you updated on that, of course, since I haven't finished my 30 books challenge. I hope you will enjoy following me on my big adventure, which I am looking forward to sharing with you.
Books read: 12
Pages read: 3549
Sunday 6 March 2011
Failing and quitting
The two concepts in the title of this post are a pair that many people (often including me) have difficulty separating from each other. To many people, quitting is synonym to failing. Not finishing a project is considered the same as being defeated by your task. Although I disagree with the view presented in the previous sentence, there is a fine line between quitting and failing. According to Thesaurus, to quit is to abandon or leave, while to fail is to be unsuccessful. Also, in the area between quitting and failing, we find giving up (often resulting in quitting), which is not usually looked upon as positive.
To me, quitting involves a planned, and thought out, decision, and can therefore be regarded as strength of character. Giving up, on the other hand, indicates weakness of character and giving in to circumstances. Giving up is often degraded to failure. But, more often than not, I find that my decisions to stop doing something is often based on, among other things, the thoughts and feelings that accompany throwing in the towel. I suppose decisions are always more complex than they seem.
When it comes to failure, that is mostly in the eyes of the viewer. Failure is mostly a label placed upon a project which has gone in the 'wrong' direction in the eyes of the observer. The results were not as expected, the people did not live up to expectations, etc. Expectations, expectations... We, as independent people, don't have to be bound by other people's expectations. We decide what, in our own lives, is failure, giving up, and quitting. This is something that I know can be very hard, and I am often having trouble with making those decisions myself (see my blog post about a tiny bit of that...).
The reason I bring this up is that I have decided to stop reading Emma by Jane Austen. I know that it is a classic, and I know I should probably love it (since I'm a girl and all), but it is just not the right time for me to read that book now (and it was going sooo slow...like syrup). Oh, look at me, making excuses... I am having a hard time making a decision and standing by it, but I guess that is part of growing up (at least for me :P). So, I'm moving on to other books without having Emma hanging over me, like for example Natascha Kampusch's story of the nightmare of her life: 3096 days.
Books read: 12
Pages read: 3451
PS: I am NOT going to apologise or make excuses for not having posted anything in a while. It is MY decision! (See, I'm trying to practice :P)
To me, quitting involves a planned, and thought out, decision, and can therefore be regarded as strength of character. Giving up, on the other hand, indicates weakness of character and giving in to circumstances. Giving up is often degraded to failure. But, more often than not, I find that my decisions to stop doing something is often based on, among other things, the thoughts and feelings that accompany throwing in the towel. I suppose decisions are always more complex than they seem.
When it comes to failure, that is mostly in the eyes of the viewer. Failure is mostly a label placed upon a project which has gone in the 'wrong' direction in the eyes of the observer. The results were not as expected, the people did not live up to expectations, etc. Expectations, expectations... We, as independent people, don't have to be bound by other people's expectations. We decide what, in our own lives, is failure, giving up, and quitting. This is something that I know can be very hard, and I am often having trouble with making those decisions myself (see my blog post about a tiny bit of that...).
The reason I bring this up is that I have decided to stop reading Emma by Jane Austen. I know that it is a classic, and I know I should probably love it (since I'm a girl and all), but it is just not the right time for me to read that book now (and it was going sooo slow...like syrup). Oh, look at me, making excuses... I am having a hard time making a decision and standing by it, but I guess that is part of growing up (at least for me :P). So, I'm moving on to other books without having Emma hanging over me, like for example Natascha Kampusch's story of the nightmare of her life: 3096 days.
Books read: 12
Pages read: 3451
PS: I am NOT going to apologise or make excuses for not having posted anything in a while. It is MY decision! (See, I'm trying to practice :P)
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