Day three : 5th of December : Load that site : SUCCESS
While being at a shopping centre I walked up to one guy working on his laptop.
Me: "Excuse me Sir."
Him: "Yes?"
Me: (pointing at the computer) "Are you online?"
Him: "Yes."
Me: "Would you be able to do me a favour?"
Him: (just looking at me)
Me: "Could you please try to load a site for me?"
Him: (pointing at the waiter of the cafe)
Silence.
Me: "Don't you speak English?"
Him: "No."

Day four : 6th of December : Area Militar : SUCCESS
Two days earlier I came across a trail that lead me inside a military compound while running. To get inside I had to climb a fence. However I first thought the place was some kind of military museum from WWII, and not at all a restricted area. I chilled out on top of a hill, inside this compound, taking pictures of some old weapons and different old buildings. Only when I followed an asphalt road going down from the hill I realised it was a closed off area. A sign read “Area Militar”. However I only saw one person around, the guard at the front gate. I managed to run straight out of the gate with no questions asked. On the 6th I decided to redo this run, and check my luck once more. I ran up the hill through the forest, climbed the fence and discovered that there now had been placed two huge containers inside the area, with explosive stickers on them. I ran to a bar I had found the other day and did some chin-ups. I got the feeling the best thing to do was to climb the fence and sneak back out in stead of running down the main road that lead straight to the main gate. However, as a challenge I decided to do the latter. While running downhill I realised there was more activity at the camp on a weekday compared to a Sunday. First I ran past a house where four strict men, all in uniforms, closely observed the lonely jogger strolling by. Then I met a bunch of military guys further down on the parking lot. I decided just to keep an even pace heading for the main gate, without looking stressed, nor looking around too much. At the main gate one guard was watching. I smiled and nodded at him, he nodded back and let me run straight past him. I could feel the entire military camp observing me, not quite understanding what was going on. Guess they all were wondering where the hell I came from. As I hit the streets outside the camp I finally managed to relax. But not for long. I heard someone yelling from behind. I pretended not hearing, just keeping the same pace. Then I heard footsteps of someone running, and more screaming in Portuguese. I turned around seeing one soldier running after me. I smiled and waved at him. He did not wave nor smile back. I walked in his direction, as I thought it was a good idea pretending I had no clue that I had done anything wrong. "Hello, how are you." I said.
Soldier: "Where do you come from?"
Me: "I come from Norway."
Soldier: "No! How did you get inside this area? Where did you come from?"
Me: "Ah, I just ran inside."
Soldier: "How? Where did you run?"
Me: "On the other side of the hill."
Soldier: "Where exactly?"
Me: "I ran in a street, then up some stairs and through the bushes. I just decided to run to the top of the hill."
The soldier looked in the direction of a huge sign where it was written very clearly this was a military area with access for no one else but the military.
Me: (pretending to be very surprised) "Oh, so this area is military and I am not allowed to run here?"
Soldier: "That is right."
Me: "I am terribly sorry, I didn't know that."
Me: (Taking his hand and shaking it) "Sorry. It won't happen again."
Soldier: "It better not."
I turned around and continued running. I hoped the soldier had not seen the camera I was holding in my left hand. I increased the pace as soon as I was out of sight. I didn't know if more people decided to question me, and I would for sure not want them to check the pictures on my camera that I had taken from inside that place. I quickly ran off the road and down some stairs that lead into a field full of banana trees. Faster than normal I hurried towards my hotel, sticking to the small roads and tracks, worrying about the guys in green looking for the Norwegian jogger. However I luckily saw no more military personnel. And I had for sure been rejected from running there. Mission accomplished. I decided to try other running tracks the following days.

Day five : 7th of December : Ten percent : FAILURE
The day’s plan was to ask for discount when doing some shopping. First I entered “Madeira Island Surfshop” in my search for a new pair of shorts. When the salesperson came over asking if I needed any help, I asked him if I could get a discount if I bought something there. He immediately said that he could do adjustments of the numbers, depending on how much I bought. I found a shorts, a tee and a belt. When I payed for this I got a 10% discount. Then I went to another shop to buy a sweater. Same thing there, asked the guy behind the counter if he could give me a discount. The guy looked at his female boss, she nodded, and once more I got 10% off.

Day six : 8th of October : Crystal bowl : SUCCESS (unfortunately)
I decided to do a more practical task today. I emailed my ex-wife asking her to send me an old crystal bowl I have inherited from my grandfather's mother. Unfortunately this was left, by accident, when I moved away from her. I have wanted it back for a long time, and I guess it to most people should seem reasonable for me to get it back as well. However as strange as it might seem my wife rejected sending it back to me (the entire story is long and shocking).

Day seven : 9th of October : Melanie : FAILURE
While sitting at Madeira Forum eating chicken salad I decided to do the final rejection task. I had brought a map over the island just for the purpose. This time I had a plan from the start. While eating I scanned the area for my "victim", and suddenly she came. Dressed in a black uniform, seemingly working at the shopping center, hence I guessed she spoke English as well. She sat down by her self and ate dinner from McDonald’s (bad choice if you ask me). She was young and quite pretty. I hurried and finished my food and walked over to her.

Me: "Excuse me, do you speak English?"
She: "A bit."
Me: "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about the island? I want to go on a hike to one of the mountains and am wondering which one to chose."
She: "Ah, sorry, don't know."
She smiled and laughed, and told me in her broken English that she was not from Madeira. She was from Venezuela. Her English was too poor to make any proper conversation. However she did not at all mind me talking to her, and tried helping me out. I introduced myself and asked for her name. It was Melanie. She kept smiling and laughing. I grabbed my phone and started "Google Translate", I wrote "Sorry for interrupting your meal" which came out as "Lo siento por interrumpir su comida". I read it to her. She said "no no, no problem". Then I wrote "For how long have you been in Madeira?" which was translated into "Por cuánto tiempo ha estado en Madeira". I kept reading it, in stead of showing her the phone. She did understand though, and helped me pronouncing. She had been here for one year. Next question "For how long are you staying" was translated with "Por cuánto tiempo te quedas". "Maybe forever" she answered. On her uniform I saw she was working with "Gold Buyers", a company I had seen in Norway as well, buying your Grandma’s old gold watches. She told me that I should come with her and that her colleague would help me. I joined her and met her extremely helpful colleague. He told me about all the places to visit, recommending Pico Ruivo (with it's 1862m being the tallest mountain of the island), Pico do Areeiro(1818m), the Calairao do Inforno to Pico das Pedras water channel walk, the 25 fountains at Rabacal - Risco, the nice beach (or he actually did say "nice bitch") at Baia d'Abra. After several minutes of guiding I thanked them both and left the Gold Buyers stand. Mission accomplished. I failed, however it was a nice outcome to the last challenge.