Still Here

Now I've heard everything with Jingle Bells and other Christmas songs on the radio as I was going home from work.  It was a compilation of many songs and went on for many minutes, much to the delight of a child who was on the bus as well as some of the other female passengers.  I was glad to get off, and it was still going.

I think I am becoming an activist, or maybe it's just what you do as a volunteer.  I was asked to march with people from work for White Ribbon Day and jumped at the opportunity, not just to get out of work, but it’s a cause I believe in, although I am not sure if it will stop Denise from hitting me.  This is the 2nd protest march I have ever been in.  The first was against poaching in Tanzania, and now in Kiribati.  What a rebel I have become. Please explain to me why I am always the bad guy.

Kev, there is a job here for you and Luke - alternate days.

Above is the motor cycle cop on the island with his bike.  I am told there are two of them.

The march itself was the short and easy part, although it was supposed to begin at 3pm and didn’t start until after 4pm.  We then had to stand in the middle of the football field, in the sun, for an hour while people spoke.  The next thing I know I am being told how to actually march and salute.  The next bit was to do a march past of the officials and salute as we actually passed them.  We were even backed by what they said was the Kiribati Police Band which comprised of 3 drums and a set of cymbals.  I decided to be a rebel and just walked, and my salute was a wave to the officials, a few of which I knew.  I was advised later by several of them it was noticed and those who didn’t already know me wanted to know who I was.  Emma, you would have been proud of my marching and salute...well maybe not.  After everybody got their chance to march we got the privilege of sitting on the football field which is definitely not grass and listen to even more speeches.

At 5.30 I was wondering when it would finish as I had a Christmas party to go to.  I finally finished left at 5.45, and it was still going.

Since the last blog Denise has had an issue with kids making a nuisance of themselves around the house.  This quickly escalated to 20-30 kids, mainly girls being outside the house and then over 50.  She reported this and the end result was I met with the local elders together with our landlord, while Denise met with the school.  This resulted in being introduced at the local school and the kids were told in no uncertain way to respect their elders.  The hair colour always throws them, it has a purple patch at the moment.

There is no update on the house entry, although I did hear that one of the policemen may be in trouble for not investigating.  The good news is it hasn’t happened since.

The other week I saw one of the ladies at my work was supplying eggs to others and the price was $6 per dozen.  Expensive for Australia, but here they cost $12 or more in the shops.  I asked if I could get some eggs and promised to bring in a cake, without asking Denise.  Game I know, but I enjoy living dangerously.  The cake was a huge hit.  I call it cake diplomacy.

We have found a nice little getaway to escape the crowd and watch the sun set across the lagoon.  You can even swim in the water and the boat trip is 50c too cross 200mtrs of water at high tide.  Might we worth just swimming across next time, although I don’t like swimming after dark.  I will dive, but not swim.

For the last 10 years or more, the start of the village, where we live has been indicated by a grounded small ship in the lagoon.  The word was that it had been run aground deliberately.  Whenever you gave directions to our place it was always based on the village after the wreck if you are coming from the airport end (Eastern end).  The other day on the way to work I noticed another small ship just out in deeper water from the wreck.  While checking it out I noticed there was a dingy tied up to the wreck.  As we passed I also noticed water coming out the opposite side of the wreck to the dingy.  There was obviously some sort of big pump on board and as a big high tide was predicted that day I deducted it was a salvage operation.  On the trip home there was no wreck or sign it was ever there and the other ship was gone as well.  The new indicator for our village is the Toyota yard.  I have pointed it out to people days later and they hadn't even noticed.

Gee I must lead an exciting life here, constantly commenting on the road and the things going on or around it, but as it is the central to life here you can't do too much without it being part of the story.  I have now seen a licence check where the police were stopping traffic in both directions at the same spot.  Remember there is only one road so it's impossible to go round the police.  I was on the bus, but luckily the bus driver had a license.  A few days later I saw another police check and this time there were two buses pulled over about 200mtrs before the checkpoint.  Not sure why, but my guess would be they wouldn't have passed whatever check was being carried out.

A big surprise was seeing a black Porsche Cayenne S.  I have no idea why you would bring a Porsche of any sort to Kiribati, but obviously somebody thought it would be a good idea.  For starters there are no parts or mechanics for it.  The standard cars here are 2^nd hand Japanese models.  Very similar to Tanzania where Japan dumps their used cars.

I saw the first bit of cycling lycra the other day.  On my way to work there was an expat riding a mountain bike with cycle knicks and a proper fitting bike helmet.  He had to be an expat as the helmet was on his head.  Not sure who he was but we passed him a few times.  That made me think that I should bring one of my bikes over, but I don't have the luggage allowance to get it here, plus I would have to bring tools, spares and other cycling stuff.

Another thing I have seen is a virgin.  Yes, you did read that right.  At first I thought it was somebody doing a poor attempt at dressing up as Santa, all in red.  But when I asked what she was doing the response was she is showing that she is a virgin before her marriage.  I was told it doesn't happen to much nowadays followed by much laughter and many comments in the local language.

Another joy the other day was the trip to work being interrupted by a flat tyre.  So off we get and wait in the sun for the next bus which luckily arrived within 5 minutes.

This week has been particularly busy with the end of year festivities for schools and farewell parties for people who are going home after a couple of years of being on assignment.  I will particularly miss Heather who has been at the Special school.  She has introduced me to delightful students and teachers who are doing amazing work with the special needs of children and young adults in Kiribati.  She has driven the Deaf sign language book in e-Kiribati.  I have been to deaf sign language classes and have had an absolutely delightful day.

So Thursday night we met with our Program Coordinator from Fiji.  That was great to catch up with everyone since we are scattered all over the place.  Friday, the cleaning lady arrived early and she was done and dusted by 10.30am. so I started the trek up the island to see if the air filter for the car had come in for the car.  I must have been delusional, and yes, it wasn’t there but I was invited upstairs to speak to the owner in reference to the part.  After finding out we had to measure it, to make sure we had the right bit, downstairs I go, frightened the rest of the staff in my red summery dress and proceeded to take the air filter out of the car until I was stopped and the Men took over.  Just got to love some boys who think women are precious.

So what else. The piglets around our house were captured so they could be weaned but they certainly made a racket once they were caught.

I have hunted out some frozen roast potatoes.  I was told a bag of frozen corn cobs would cost $25 so I decided I really didn’t want them after all.  A 1kg bag of frozen mixed vegies was $13 and I could just go on and on about the price of food.  Most of the people I hang out with all discuss food as our main source of conversation.

Friday afternoon I attended Rurubao School Grade 6 Graduation.  Supposed to start at 4pm started at 5pm and I, like Peter, was going to Christmas Party.  I know that sounds flippant but when you start things late and I have to walk in the dark, Peter normally gives me a lecture on correct security, as if I need to be told.  Anyway, the graduation was wonderful.  The 6’s looked like they love seeing me.  Many came up to me to say thanks and goodbye, I reminded them to say Hi when they see me.  When I manage to get some internet I will put some photos on face book.

I feel like I have been rabbiting far too much. I’m OFF

Hugs from here to over there.

Break (walk) In

For those playing at home, in the last blog I asked you to find the problems in the basketball photo.  The ones I picked were:

1.  No shoes
2. Lack of padding on the backboard and on the backboard stand – looks like it has been torn off.
3. No referees in sight – this was a game
4. Shirts untucked

Now on to new news.

This morning I found two locals in the house.  Luckily for them, Denise was out praying for me.  The first I knew was when a young local bloke just walked in to my toilet while I was on it – surprise!!!  I told him to get out.  When I came out he was still in the house so I ordered him out.  He was reluctant to go and said something about a friend.  It turned out his female friend was in the main bathroom (yes, we have two bathrooms) using that toilet and appeared to be under the influence.  Long story short, I have reported the incident and I have been advised it will be handed to the police tomorrow.  Let’s see where that leads to.  Update, the police are on their way…on a Sunday.

Most of my blog is written on my iPhone while traveling to/from work, usually when something comes up that I believe may paint a better picture of what we are doing and how we are coping.

Our health was not the best after our trip to Australia.  I have now had my second bout of stomach upsets, the latest keeping me home from work for a day.  I did try going to work but decided I needed to remain close to a toilet.

Denise decided to bring a cold back from Oz, thanks Kerry, and took a while to get over it.  As they say, what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger.

We are all good now, and no, it doesn't mean we won't be coming back to Australia.

Mosquitoes are becoming a problem.  For the last week or two we have noticed a lot of mosquitoes around, including in the house.  No idea what set that off but we are trying to work out how to best get rid of them from inside our house at the very least without poisoning ourselves as well.  Send in your ideas.

The work bus continues to amuse, entertain and amaze me.  The drivers still take risks (for first world anyway).  Whenever I get a seat to myself you can nearly always guarantee the seat beside me will be the last to be taken, and when it is, it's quickly vacated when another seat becomes free.  Lucky I don't get a complex over it.  As I write this it happened again just to prove a point.  I even had a shower that morning so it's not BO.  Another one is getting the back seat to myself when the rest of the bus is packed.  Why can't this happen on flights?  The bus music seems to be getting worse, or maybe I am getting older.

One thing I just realised is that some of the buses I catch to/from work aren't air conditioned.  I get to enjoy traveling with the windows fully open, and they don't even have any bars or other safety devices to stop people falling/jumping out.  Guess what, nobody falls/jumps out.

I still don't understand how people can dive at 20km/hr, or slower in the 40 and 60km/hr zones and it is accepted by everyone as normal and OK to do, except for us ignorant expats.  The most frustrating part is when you can't pass due to oncoming traffic, but remember that there is no road rage here - all the locals accept it as normal.

Slow driving is definitely not the case with one of the bus drivers.  I'm sure he believes that the 40 signs mean that's the minimum speed limit and he will be fined if he goes below it, although he does slow for the speed bumps.  It makes for a quick trip at least.

We had employed a cleaner for two days a week to see how it works out.  The minimum wage here is $1.60/hr.  We were paying $3/hr and it takes 3-4 hours to clean our house to Denise's required standards.  Yesterday Denise fired her, just like Donald Trump used to do.  White House here we come…One of these days Peter….. be afraid

Recently I have noticed the police are using the speed radar a lot more frequently.  No idea how we have both avoided getting caught, or maybe Denise just hasn't told me.  It wouldn't be the first time would it Kev.

Basketball is now happening.  Well sort of.  For our first education session there was one rule - be on time.  The penalty was one lap of the court for every minute you were late.  What I failed to tell them was the referees are a team so everyone gets to do the laps, me included.  That failed as only two turned up, sort of on time.  At least there were three other referees there who were playing at the time.  I substituted the duty referees to run three-man mechanics with the other two.  Yes, I was referring as well.  It's amazing how you just start calling the game after such a long break - as if I never gave it up, and I enjoyed it.  The funny part was making them run to make position and me madly waiving directions to them on the run.  At the end of the game both were sweating profusely and I hadn't raised a sweat, and for the referees reading, no I didn't stay as the centre official, in fact I ran more than the other two.  I know that last bit about not sweating is hard to believe for those who have trained with me - sorry Warren and Heather.

Christmas planning over here has begun including end of year parties.  There is an expat orphans Christmas lunch for those remaining on the island that will be held on Christmas Day.  We have our tickets for a Christmas dinner at the end of November.  Then there are work, basketball and other random functions to fit in as well, and yes, the work one is paid for by work.

This week I had to do my compulsory fire training which was all done in i-Kiribati, at least the PowerPoint presentation was in English.  After doing regular fire training in Australia I knew what they were speaking about and even questioned why calling the fire brigade is the last step.  The instructor couldn't understand so I let it go, but when I asked later about the response time when you do call, I was advised it is 1 hour.  The good part was I got to put out a fire that I hadn't lit.  I was full of suggestions like:

·         It would be more exciting if we lit the nearby car, but they said it was new.

·         I suggested the Aussie way to put out small fires, pee on it.

·         Roasted marshmallows

The first extinguisher they got was empty.  Good start.  The second one was full, but we managed to empty that one as well.

I did ask where some of the things they raised during the presentation were at work and was told we don't have them.  Things like:

• ·         Emergency rules and policies
• ·         Fire detection system
• ·         Alarm points
• ·         Exit signs
• ·         Fire extinguishers

Rule one - look after yourself

Rule two - learn to run

Clean up Kiribati is gaining momentum.  The other day I heard a presentation from a local about being a good global citizen – thinking global and acting locally.  This was particularly focused on what the locals could do to clean up their environment.  She was passionate and wanted to lead the change.  I commented about this to one of the expats and they had been looking to fund something like this so I have put the two in contact with each other.  I even had a chance to speak about cleaning up Kiribati with one of the local politicians who gave me a lift to work.  It received a politicians response – it is being considered.  This is something that doesn’t require any consideration, so Denise and I are doing our bit by cleaning up around our immediate neighbourhood, and slowly moving further out into the community.

A bug bear of mine is people not being on time for meetings.  Over here it has reached a whole new level where meetings are always late, and I mean really late.  It is common to wait around for an hour or more for others to turn up.  That is except for my meetings which start either on time or a few minutes late and they finish on time.  It seems to be working.

I have a few more bits of excitement to add. On Tuesday I went to Rotary meeting and managed to have the BBQ explode in my face. I had singed hair, burnt fingers, lip and nose and a damaged pride. I would just like to reassure you I am OK but learnt a very good lesson, check the gas more than once.

So my next adventure, was when I fell over at the front/back of the house that is covered coral and dirt. My thongs got caught on the obstacles’ that is the yard.  I now have grazes on my knee, elbow and hand. Just wondering what I can do next, hopefully it will be not get infected like other people here.

What other interesting things have happened. I have been asked to edit the school play. This always leads to more jobs. I was asked to tell the story so that the player will be able to have the right emphasis on some of the sentences. What next!

I have been to a dress maker and had a blouse and skirt made for $15. It is not wonderful inside but outside it looks great. So I am test driving the dress makers of Kiribati.