Fridays, for me, are a great day to unwind. I spend the morning and early afternoon volunteering at Cafe Paraplyen, have a great traditional Danish meal for lunch, then I can choose to either take the rest of the day off and relax in Helsingor or explore the Copenhagen in my free time.
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| Smørrebrød -- the traditional Danish open-faced sandwich I talk about incessantly. |
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| Stegt flaesk (thick slices of bacon) with potatoes in parsley sauce and røbeder (beets) on the side. |
I learned how to make a traditional Danish birthday cake (lagkage = layer cake) today. There were two volunteers that I haven't met before, Katerina and Jasper (pronounced "yasper") and they were just a hoot. Jasper would break out into song and everyone in the kitchen would join in. The layers were filled with coffee cream and a prune cream sauce that I thought looked terribly sketch. When we were beating the coffee cream, Jasper snidely remarks, "Looks like shit." BAHAHA. The ladies gave him an exasperated look before giving in and making their best "taking a shit" expressions.
After all that talk about learning Danish three weeks ago, I finally had the brilliant idea of carrying some pen and paper around in my pocket and writing down the things people were saying to me. Here are some key expressions I learned today:
"Hvordan går det?" -- "How are you?"
"Jeg ved det ikke." -- " I don't know."
"Jeg kan godd lide _____." -- "I like _____."
"Jeg kan ikke lide _____." -- "I don't like _____."
"Hvad laver du?" -- "What are you doing?"
"Har du brug for hjælp?" -- "Do you need help?"
"Ja tak"/ "Nej tak" -- "Yes, thank you."/ "No, thank you."
"Det ser godt ud" -- "It looks good."
"meget træt" -- very tired
I also learned that older Danes have atrocious handwriting.
The great thing about volunteering at Cafe Paraplyen is that I get to work alongside a very diverse group of people. There are the retired volunteers, the weekend volunteers, and then there are the work training volunteers. Apparently, in Denmark, the physically/mentally disabled undergo some sort of training where they work an increasing amount of hours and days in a week to acclimate to the workplace environment. I have also found that the attitude toward the disabled is very different in Denmark as compared to the United States. While in the United States, it is considered very un-PC to put down the disabled and institutions are made to go out of their way to accommodate the needs of the disabled, in Denmark the general population appears far less sympathetic. I don't often see ramps around public transportation buildings. There is a woman with cystic fibrosis volunteering at the cafe, and no one pays her any special attention, even when she is struggling to pull herself a chair without the aid of her two crutches. I thought maybe it could be a matter of personal pride, but I hesitantly asked her if she needed any help, to which she responded "Yes, thank you." What, Denmark? WHAT. She has been volunteering there for a loooong time and no one ever offers to help her pull out a chair when she is clearly struggling?? Also, one of the volunteers, Mercedes (who is actually native to Hungary), was talking about how she doesn't like one of the other volunteers because she never smiles. I was really shocked and a little appalled because the other volunteer in question was one of the mentally disabled workers enrolled in the training program. Did she expect her to whistle while she worked?
When we were on our short study tour, we learned that there were not very many specialized psychiatrists in Denmark and that care for patients with these needs often fell to the general practitioners. I find it a little surprising that a country that boasts of such comprehensive national healthcare coverage could neglect to address mental well-being. I don't know if this is because I grew up in the US where psychiatric issues have undergone heavy medicalization in recent years. Anyways, this attitude toward the handicapped is something I am definitely going to observe and analyze more carefully in Denmark. Maybe I will bring it up in Human Health and Disease class and get a native perspective.
Anyways, my friend from DIS, Shyniece, came to visit me at the Cafe today. She heard that we served some cheap, amazing, traditional Danish food and she knew she wanted in. We had lunch together, then I left my volunteer site a little early to check out Christiania. I don't know if it was because we were there at 2PM on a weekday, but it was rather deserted...but I've been told that it is usually that sketch. I guess I expected it to be kind of like Marijuana Disneyland, with big, clear signs pointing straight to it after getting off at Christianhavn Metro station. After about 30 minutes of searching, followed by some very sheepish asking of the locals, we finally found the shady little entrance...disappointing to say the least. We spent about 15 minutes there before we declared that we were bored and that we were leaving. We then took the metro back to Norreport and hit up the hookah lounge there to salvage the day. The apple hookah tasted a little bit like black licorice...but that's Denmark for you.
You're not allowed to take pictures in Christiania, but here are some random pictures from the past few weeks that have been collecting dust on my memory card:
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