Elsa Loving your first Lao entry. God damn envious as well. Take care and keep on posting :)

Peter Hej Mette Tænkte jeg "lige" ville læse din blog... Det tog lidt længere end forventet, for du oplever da godt nok en masse. Håber du er kommet godt igang med det rigtige arbejde. Det kommer der nok mere om hvis Internettet altså når helt derud hvor du nu end er. Her i Tokyo er alting ok, men det må du høre mere om en anden gang. Peter

Vijay Hi Mette, Nice to read you…….From your writings, I can understand how westerners "see" India. Also, since I have been in Europe for about 5 years (probably this is the last), I realize there are lot of misconceptions on both sides - east and west. I am also writing my EUROPE STORY. When completed, it will be online :-) Now that you have seen the world outside of the fairy tale land of Denmark (and some parts of Europe) and decided to join some NGO to make a difference, what will you start with?Ask the girls in Eastern part of the world to wear Jeans ? :-) A woman in Portugal commented that Indians are very traditional and asked me if girls / women in India wore pants…….as if wearing pants in the ultimate state of evolution!Referring to your blog dated 19th Oct, about arranged marriage, I will definitely add it in my story because I know some Europeans / Americans who have weird assumptions. But just to answer your question, "… I really wanted to ask the young girls how they felt about arranged marriages and the prospect / risk of having to give up their dreams for a marriage…." What did the wives of the foreign post docs (from the developed western world and NOT married in the "arranged" way) that came to Aarhus do? You now some of them - right ?Did they give up their career or their husbands? You know the answer. So, do I. Is there any difference in the decisions of an Indian and a Westerner then? About - Women in India (blog dated 15th October) Did you really see bill board posters with the text "Spend 500 rupees now, save 500000 later?" Or someone told you?Because "sex determination" is banned & illegal since several years. (though there are a few illegal doctors) Dowry and Sati practices were also banned several decades ago. The "widow re-marriage" and "prevention of Child marriage" laws were made by Indian reformers, even before British left India. Did some missionaries fill you up with all this? There are many of them in Goa under the guise of social workers. Once a Spanish guy asked me how old was my wife (Shilpa wasn't there then). I said, "25 - 26 years". He was surprised….,"so old, but in India, don't you marry at 15?" It was my turn to be surprised :-) Now, for the next amusement A Danish lady, very well educated and well travelled too, happens to be a coordinator for foreigners' spouses activities in Aarhus. We had invited her for tea. As I was making tea, she asked me if I sold tea at railway stations in India? I was about to have a "laugh attack" (apparently she had seen some boys selling tea at railway stations in India - Jacob you too?) Isn't it amazing? That a boy who sold tea at railway stations in India, was able to publish research articles in International journals and go to Denmark for a post doc? :-) So you see, perceptions can vary from naivety to stupidity! But then the world is a big place with many strange, funny or nasty things happening. More again later… Ciao Vijay Oh dear Vijay - I have soooooo many comments for you!!!!! And soooo little time - so I will take this discussion with you later!

Marianne Kære Mette. Så er jeg blevet opdateret på din blog -hold op, du har været en flittig bi til at skrive:-) Det lyder spændende alt det, du oplever, måske lige på nær det med rotter og andet kryb... Og mht. kvinderettigheder priser jeg mig lykkelig for at være født i denne del af verden. Herhjemme går det godt, har lige været på efterårsferie i Tyskland og i Sverige, og maven vokser som den skal, så det er bra. Pas godt på dig selv og nyd de mange oplevelser! Kh Marianne

Jacob Hej Mette Dejligt at læse din blog - specielt nu hvor jeg har tid. Ah, Goa, that takes me back. Jeg er ret så misundelig når jeg læser om alt det du oplever. Jeg ville bare ønske jeg kunne tage min backpack på og drage afsted. Alas, det var dengang, og nu er der andre glæder i livet. Men jeg håber da vi kan tage Rasmus med om et par år. Det er dejligt at høre alt er vel. Jeg glæder mig til du kommer tllbage så jeg kan få en førstheåndsbeskrivelse. Hold dig munter og sug nu endelig til dig - figurativt ment:). Jacob

Frederik Felding Hej Mette fedt at læse om jeres ophold på global platform Goa, bliv endelig ved med at skrive. Vi rejser til Himachal Pradesh om 3 dage, er nu meget spændt på Indien og det frivillige arbejde. Følg med i vores blog: blogs.kilroytravels.dk/indien .... Hils de andre rigtig mange gange, ved du om der er nogle af dem der selv skriver om deres tur ? Knus Frederik

Sonja Hatz Hi Mette, really sorry I missed your defense (but had a really nice holiday, hehe). Have a good trip and lets have some of those Goa pictures uploaded soon!!! Love from Sonja

Malene Kære Mette. Tak for sidst. Det var en rigtig god reception. Håber, at du kom rigtig godt frem og har det godt. Glæder mig meget til at høre fra dig. Kh Malene

Elsa Oh that looks like a nice skin that is going to get so badly sunburn..... Lookign forward to see you in Bangkok :) Elsa