Nearly Home for Christmas...Maybe

Denise and I love getting all the email responses to our blogs and the stories of other people's adventures and experiences.  Please keep them coming as some of the stories we get make our stories look normal.

The other day somebody sat beside me on the bus when there were still a few spare seats remaining.  Believe it or not, that wasn't the reason why I am mentioning it, although it is a significant step.  As she was typing something in Kiribati on her iPad I happened to see something she typed and it contained the word corrupt.  I checked twice and yes, I had read it correctly.  Now I am intrigued to know what it was about.  Probably never know.

The work bus is treated by some on it like it's their own personal transport.  Some of the examples include:

·         Driving in to some place just to pick something up or drop off.

·         Bringing the kids to/from school

·         The old, just wait, this won't take long

·         Back up or go forward 10mtrs so I don't have to walk

It is currently winter, the wet season, but the rains are not here yet.  Tarawa is in drought, as is most of Kiribati.  We get the occasional shower but need some drenching tropical rains.  Something like Fiji is getting now.  I will regret writing this, but if it brings rain, great...and guess what, you will then get rain stories and everything associated with rain.  The first thing I see happening is the road becoming potholed and to make matters worse the road contractor is supposed to be leaving Kiribati, so who knows how it will be repaired.

Non-road things for a change

Parliament was back for two weeks and it seems that the whole of Kiribati listens to it on the radio.  It sounds to me as exciting as listening to Australian parliament, not that I do that either.

Work is frustrating as I can't really do anything while I wait for the delivery of supplies.  They were supposed to be delivered by the end of November.  Yes, I know it's half way through December.  Once delivered it has to be counted (not me) and then, if it is different to what was ordered (good chance me thinks), I have to recalculate the allocation quantities.  I also have to see how many items are in each box to see if the allocation changes a second time.  That bit will mean burning the midnight oil to ensure it is completed for the next day.  Then it's hand over to the packers and go on leave.  I am guessing I'll come back to a total mess - anything better will be a bonus.  I am also hoping it is all delivered before I go on leave, but that is not looking too promising at this stage.  That will mean working while on leave.  If I do have to work I will claim those days back to use for another break.

The biggest surprise was discovering through a third party that the work I have been doing for the last 14 weeks may be a waste as somebody above me has decided to change the way things are procured without even mentioning it to me or anybody else, or at least the others are denying any knowledge of it.  I think I need a break.  I have requested a meeting to understand the full meaning of what is being proposed so stay tuned.  That won’t happen until January.

I have decided my seat at work is uncomfortable but I can't find any seats that I can "borrow" so maybe I have to put up with a sore bum.  I might get a little more proactive in finding another chair.

The weekend just gone was a long weekend, the 2^nd in two weeks, for us to support Human Rights.  Luckily we didn't have to attend any functions so instead there were about four or five expat functions planned for various reasons.  I like having two additional public holidays in December.  It makes the time fly so much quicker.

The week leading in to Christmas I only work Monday & Tuesday as we fly out on the Wednesday afternoon for 2 days in Fiji before going home to Brisbane.  It seems about time we had another dose of first world.  That assumes we go, as todays flight was cancelled due to Fiji weather and Tarawa’s lack of fuel.

It has been one of the highest tides here lately and that means water levels close to the road with kids making the most of it swimming everywhere.  Luckily we don't get strong winds causing a storm surge. That would make things really interesting.

Denise was invited out for dinner by a preacher the other evening so I went as she had never met him.  It was as a result of her involvement with the Days for Girls program she is involved with.  The only problem was we sat on the floor in a little hut outside the house when I noticed there were perfectly good chairs inside.  We were entertained by the preacher and his adopted son.  Inside the house was his wife and real son.  Apparently this is customary that the wife is happy to stay out of the way.  Note to self, teach Denise that.  I can feel the whack as I write this! Hahaha Peter!!!

Days for Girls is a project Denise wishes she had been involved with in Tanzania.  She is a qualified Ambassador for the Days for Girls program is assisting locals to become part of the program. Please look it up on the internet, I think it is a very worthy cause.  Rotary money has gone to this initiative, hence the ad below.

Denise is trying to sell 2017 Rotary calendars that have some great photos of Kiribati.  I want all readers of the blog to buy one ($10) to help support the local initiatives in Kiribati.  Send an email stating how many you would like. I will post from here as the postage, surprise, surprise is cheaper!!

Well I’m getting excited; well I was until last night when they cancelled the flight for today because of some cyclone.  Inconsiderate I say.  So now we wait and see what Mother nature has up her sleeve for us.

I have not posted much on Facebook because the internet is so ordinary.  Drops in and out and then decides it is just not going to turn up at all.  I have managed to put some photos of our weekend in Abemama there, which is now just a fond memory.

I have a list of things to bring back, just so it makes life just that bit more comfortable.  Cheese, Bath mat (as Peter hates feeling grit on his feet), a wire brush to start a recycling project and bloody sandpaper.  Hunted the island for it!  I suppose I could always use the coral off the “beach” to rub the rust away. The beach in inverted commas means a very loose term for the ground that is near the water but isn’t really a beach.  Lava outcrops that are so sharp that if I have a senior moment and lose my footing I get damaged.  Adventure is what it is about!

December Already

In the last blog I was supposed to send a picture of our police escort for the march against domestic violence so here it is.  There's a role for you here Kev.

 

We have now found a local diver who is a research diver here.  He is a local and speaks great English.  As expected it had its hiccups getting the dive organised.

Do you all remember that truck I was talking about with a missing tyre.  Well, as I should have known, it now has two missing tyres.  It looks so much better balanced with the dual rear wheels now being singles.  I suppose it is still a dual wheel setup as the wheels are still there, it is just that it has two rims without tyres.  Now I expect to see him beside the road somewhere with a flat, or maybe he will just drive on the rim.  Remember that in third world you have to always expect the unexpected.

Basketball is going OK, but I am getting to referee more than I want as most of the referees are usually playing.  I have no idea where they disappear before or after their games.  At least I am getting some exercise.  The other day I was supposed to be running the first of a rules seminar, but that got cancelled, so the second night I turned up only to discover that nothing had been organised to ensure people turned up.

I have finally seen the Division 1 basketball, but it didn't live up to my expectations.  It was lacking the talent, passion and aggression I was hoping to see.  There were a few questioning looks after calling a travel or foul, but so far nobody has gone on with it, well not in the games I have been doing.  There was one game where I was running mechanics beside the officials and if I had a whistle I would have had two technical fouls within five minutes, but alas, it wasn't to be.

The Div 1 game was a better standard than the other games I have witnessed and the two referees I was refereeing with must have been listening to my mechanics talks as they did reasonably well.  Still a few things to iron out, but I looked a few times and was surprised to see they were both in the correct positions.  The big problem was that the first half was played in daylight and then at half time they turn the lights on.

To get the lights turned on, one of the officials wanders off to find the person who has the key to allow the lights to be turned on.  This normally takes ten minutes or more, but on this occasion it took at least 20 minutes.  Why the light man can't just be there when it gets dark or at a certain time I will never know.  I forgot, that requires planning and forward thinking, something lacking in Australia and unheard of in third world.

When the lights were finally turned on it was for the tennis courts behind the basketball court, so after another 15 minutes we still had no lights and I was then told that somebody had forgotten to organise payment so no lighting for basketball.  Great, I got to go home early.  The game was supposed to be replayed the next evening, but when I got there they had a lower grade game being played.

Work has been full of surprises lately which has meant a lot of rework and the occasional words under my breath.  It's the usual thing, I failed to ask the exact question so only got the story they thought I needed.  Unfortunately, I am not a mind reader, ask Denise, and I thought I had asked the correct question, but no, I should have known there would be multiple processes for the same thing.

At the moment work is a little chaotic as it's that time of the year when they receive all the supplies for the following year and then have to distribute them over the Christmas period.  No idea how it will go while I'm away, but that's another surprise for when I return.

We have been to our first outer island being Abemama.  See if you can find it.  The accommodation and food were rated better and cheaper than many other islands that others have visited. We went to Abemama by plane and then were trucked to Chevalier College where we were staying.  On the Saturday we took a boat to an island on the other side of the lagoon for the day.  It was a nice island, but we still haven't found that elusive coral or fish life.  The visibility was 10-15mtrs+ so that was good.

We discovered this little critter while in Abemama.

 

Out from our accommodation there were waves crashing on the reef which at times looked surfable so on the Sunday I went out for a look.  The waves were over 2mtrs when the sets came through but quickly flattened out on the flat coral/rock shelf.  The only problem with being surfable was they were breaking on jagged rocks.  Next thought...

On the way back to the airport to come home we picked up a man who the local nurse had told to get to hospital.  He was supported by others and was limping on the way to the truck but when he was helped on to the back of the truck he was laid down and completely covered with a light piece of material.  I questioned, as well as I could, to determine if he was cold and was told in broken English that he was hot.  I lifted the material a little to get some breeze on him as we were in the hot sun most of the trip.  When we get to the airport we checked in which involved a public weighing.  After the checking in I went back to the sick man.  Without knowing what was actually wrong with him it was impossible to do much for him so I ensured he was kept out of the sun and I stayed near his head using my hat as a fan and to keep flies off his face.  His family gave him a sip of water which he soon threw up.  I went around the truck to check that it was clear and discovered it was congealed blood.  Not a great sign.

We did get him on the plane, but I'm unsure how he went after we landed.

Next year we get our first visitors.  Well they are threatening to come.  We were considering an outer island trip for the weekend before they depart but decided it was too risky as it is quite common to be stuck on outer islands for a day or more.  Reasons range from the pilot slept in to mechanical problems and anything else you can think of.  Instead we will go by boat.  At least that way we have options to get back.

Just so you all know, my motto while in third world is Expect the unexpected.  As you can tell from the many things I write they tend to back this up.  I saw a novel way to stop the work bus, you run across the road in front of the bus while dodging traffic coming the other way.  The brakes on the bus worked and she got on the bus to much laughter all round, not a cross word from anyone.  How more people aren't killed or seriously injured on the roads here I will never know.

The work bus was pulled over the other day by police.  I could hear a siren and was wondering why the ambulance wouldn't pass us.  When we stopped, still no ambulance, so I looked behind and there was a police 4WD with flashing lights.  After a few minutes of discussion, we drove off very sedately as they were following us.  The reason for being pulled over was speeding, 55 in a 40 zone.  The result was a warning and no fine.  I bet that wouldn't happen to me.  Once we lost the police it was back to normal bus speeds (speeding).

Monday was International Volunteer Day so we got the day off to participate in fun and games.  First up was a Coast to Coast race at 7am.  The early start was to avoid the heat and allow politicians and Department Secretaries who wanted to join in the fun, time to make it to parliament which is currently sitting.  Only one Department Secretary turned up, as a spectator, so we could have had a sleep in and started later after all.  I was initially concerned it was 30kms East to West, but luckily it was lagoon to ocean.  This involved starting at the waters edge on the lagoon, running across the sand, up a little rise, hurdle a small cement barrier (approx 10-15cm) at the edge of the road, cross the road and race to the other beach, a whole 100mtrs away.  Luckily we had the police in attendance to stop the traffic as we raced across the road.  I still checked both ways before attempting the crossing.  Surprisingly, I won the race.

The next event was at 10:30 so off we went to fill in time for a few hours.  Denise discovered another photographer who has a professional editing setup so she spent much of the time seeing him after breakfast and editing photos.

At 10:30 we started the next event which was Survivor Kiribati and the challenges were all team challenges.  We had a relay sack race on the beach in green garbage bags, basket weaving with a palm leaf, a bottle race on the beach where you had to stand a wine bottle up with only your feet while standing, separating mosquito coils without breaking them, and an eating challenge which included salted fish, 10 Sao type biscuits and a can of Bully Beef.  For the eating challenge I said I will take whatever was left and ended up with the Bully Beef.  I was still feeling it when I went to bed that night.  The fish eating bit was cancelled by the host after one participant started dry reaching.

The positive bit was the team I was in won.  The prize was awarded at a dinner that evening.  It was a box of Magnum ice creams.  That made me feel a whole lot better.

The surprise of the day was having a non-alcoholic dinner.  I am sure if we had all known we would have brought eskies.  The reason for the dry dinner was that the host couldn't buy alcohol on the account.

Hello Darlings,

I have never been so excited than going to the outer island last weekend.  All I could think about was jumping in the water.  The water out the front of us in quite warm and every time we have looked at going in, it has had terrible visibility.  Nothing like a bit of wind to stir up the waves.  So, we had flat seas for half of the week and I had high hopes for swimming in cool water.  Abemama didn’t disappoint me.  I swam for as long as I could, only to realise my skin aliments need to be checked more regularly.  My hands and tops of my feet are a lovely shade of dark pink which then became sore and blotchy.  Note to self, more sunscreen.  Nothing like getting a few lessons even as you grow older.

Since school is finished I’m now at a loose end but since I had joined Rotary, I now have to sell about 100 calendars.  They are $10 each and go towards projects like Days for Girls (an American woman’s initiative to keep girls and women in school and work when they have their periods).  Another project is money towards the purchase of legal books to help Legal Aid for domestic violence and other family related troubles.  So the decision is easy for you all, purchase one, or more calendars with postage and I will get it off to you as soon as possible.  I have posted on Facebook what the calendar looks like and have asked people to private message me for bank details.  Just one each household will shut me up.

So as usual I get on my soap box. I like to think I am helping!

I’m going to leave you all in peace.

Love you all lots

Denise and the boy Wonder