Gonzalo Vargas

Gonzalo Vargas is a 70-year-old man from Chile; he works for amnesty and is fighting for civil rights for everyone. 

He was once held captive in Chile, torture prison for 3 years. He shared some of his horrible and cruel experiences. 

Some of the topics he talked about:

- The torture 

- Forgiveness 

Both topics had an impact on us. He talked about how he was tortured by his "best friend" Martin. Martin was his secretary for the past 3 years, but he was also a secret spion. One day he told Gonzalo that he was going to die. The same day Gonzalo was arrested because of his political point of view.

On the way down to the torture prison, he heard women, men and children screaming and crying for help. His first experience was hideous; he got an electric chock and was treated like a animal.

The prisoners were treated both bad mentally and physically.   

Cooking experience

Last Tuesday we made some international food. Two of the things we made were Bulgarian. We made four groups with four people in each and, 2 of the groups made filled peppers with beef & rice and the other two made a Bulgarian salad called “Shopska salata”. One of the groups had Nicole in it, and she is from Bulgaria, so she knew more about it than the rest of us. When it came down to eating the food, there was a lot of things Nicole could point out was different, because the rest of us made the food without her help.

The salad was meant to be served with a lot of olive oil and big cubes of cucumber and tomatoes, and the cheese was meant to be prepared a different way than the way we did it.  The salad was meant to be served in a deep plate.  Instead the groups, made normal medium sized cucumbers and tomatoes with a little amount of oil and the cheese was crumbled over the salad. The way you make the salad is that you cut up vegetables, pour some oil on it and add cheese and salt & pepper.

The peppers was meant to be moist and have nice soft rice and nice powerful spices

The groups peppers turned out dry and a little too bland/low on spices

The way you cook the peppers is that you mix your uncooked beef with some the vegetables, spices, vegetable broth and the uncooked rice, then you cut the top off of the pepper and cut out the insides, then you put the meat-mix in the peppers and put them in a pot of boiling water, with a plate on top, so no water ends up in your peppers and then you put a lid on top.  Then you let them boil/simmer for about 40 minutes.

Made by Nicole, Kezia, Thea og Nicoline

A visit from the role models.

We got a visit from 2 female role models, they told us about their life and their major culture chok. 

Nora is 21 years old, she was born and raised in Denmark, she's now studying to be a nurse. Her parents are from Palestine, but they grew up in Lebanon.
She grew up in a different culture with a different religion, but at the same time she knew about the danish culture because she have lived here all her life. When she was young, she studied at a elementary school called "dyrehaveskole". Everyone in her school had a different ethnic background, so she was not used to being around ethnic danish people.

After 9th grade she began to study in high school called "Kolding gymnasium"  she wanted to study there, because all of her friends did too. She experienced a major culture chok, because she was the only ethnic in the class. The first year was very hectic, she had to fit in and explain herself, her tradition and religion. The danish students were very prejudiced and they had a lot of questions about forced marriage and veils.
The second year she began to feel anxious, because of an early episode. In 8th grade she were on a family holiday in Lebanon where she witnessed a war. She didn't pass in her assignments and she skipped a lot of classes.
The third year was a good year, she didn't have anxiety and she was happy. She took a gap year, she worked at youth clubs and then she became a role model.

Sara is 19 years old, she was born and raised in Bosnia. Her family moved to Denmark and they lived in a asylum centre at the begging. She studied at a elementary school called "munkevænget". She hadn't experienced something major, because she was camouflaged in the society, she didn't look like an ethnic. In 8th grade she moved school were she experienced a massive culture chok, she was the only ethnic in her class. After 8th grade she decided to move back at her old school. After elementary school she was influenced by her friends, they were all going to "Kolding gymnasium". 

She chose that path and ended up being the only ethnic girl in her class. 

First year was a good year, because the danish students were never prejudiced against her. 

Second year was when she got integrated and really fitted in. 

Third year is a good year, and theres no problems. 

Be open and accept each others differences. 

Astonishments? 

What do you think of people wearing a veil? 

Have you ever experienced a different culture? If so how was it?

Whats your opinion about integration? 

Do you think its fair, that they have to explain themselves because of their different background. 

Written by Thea, Kezia and Nicole. 

Words

Words:

Refugee: A person which is fearful of persecution because of race, religion or a different political persuasion, and therefore is fleeing out of their country or state.

Immigrant: A person who has fled from their country or state, and then is settling in a new country or state.

Asylum seeker: A person, who has fled from their country or state to another country or state, where the person ask the government for an application to live and settle down in that specific country or state.

Asylum: An protection a person can receive by a country, because they have fled from their mother country.

Integration: A process, that unites separate units and creates a larger whole.

Residence permit: An permission you must have to be allowed access to a country, so that you can live and settle down in a specific country or state.

Citizenship: Gives a person privilege and responsibility under national legislation and international convention.