Saturday, July 31, 2010

Tropical tales...

Another Sunday arvo, but this one is slightly different, as we are spending the weekend at our “holiday house” in another village... I’d like to think of it as our house, but really, its Carls uncles place in the village of Hapmak, about 3km away from where we are at in Itumuta. Varomue lives here with his youngest son, in a house he built about 4 years ago, and to me it feels like luxury... Its up on a hill with cracker views of the bay and the other small surrounding islands, it is big and spacious with intact screens’ on all the doors and windows, therefore no pests penetrating the house and my blood, there is electricity power 18 hours a day, which means ceiling fans, an electric kettle to boil water for tea in 2.5 minutes rather than waiting about 30 minutes for a huge kettle of water to boil for one cuppa, there’s breeze from every direction, a great open plan kitchen, a real and clean bathroom with the best showerhead, Cable TV (Cartoon network for kids), rooms with doors that actually close, and a decent washing machine... It all feels a bit familiar, as if I have lived a life like this somewhere in my past...
There is an abundance of pawpaw trees surrounding the house, pineapples growing down the hill, a Soursap tree – has anyone ever tasted those things? OMG!!!! SO delicious! I think its part of the custard apple family, as they look similar and taste similar, (I tried to google it, but the internet is so slow that I couldn’t bother waiting for Wikipedia...)and yesterdays dinner was the most “instant” one we have had yet... One minute we were sitting on the veranda spying on a bunch of wild chooks walking into a trap to munch on coconut husks, then next thing the trap was shut, uncle Varomue was inside pulling out 4 chooks, next he chopped their heads off, next him and Rob went down to the water to pluck them and chop them up, and next thing I knew I had a bucketful of chook to make a chicken curry. So fresh, so yum!

One rare moment of relaxation


 "Holiday house" snack with uncle Varomue

Dinner, just before they were beheaded

Its nice to have a bit of space from the rest of the household in Itumuta, am thinking of coming here every weekend... Varomue would be delighted, as his wife is in Fiji and he needs the company and a bit of woman in the house...
So a few stories to tell since my last post, first being a “Grog party” we were invited to by our friend Fay... he called early Friday evening and invited Rob to come and I just dragged along, partly to just get out of the house for a night, partly to look after Robby, and partly out of curiosity. People here love their “grog parties”, a bit like how we love our nights out back home... only these are so much more boring...
So Fay came by to pick us up wearing red tracky pants, a red over the shoulder T-shirt and sparkly earings, and took us to what used to be the old Catholic Church’s Nuns convent, now just someone’s home, and he explained that this is where he has a Grog party every Friday night. He said that he is always the only one that gets dressed up, and I thought his Little red riding hood outfit was good enough, but as soon as we got there and sat in a circle with a bunch of strangers, he disappeared, only to emerge wearing the skimpiest shortest open back glitzy turquoise mini dress, dressed with pearls and makeup, and gave us the full drag spin-around. Robby and I couldn’t believe our eyes... it was so surreal. The Nun’s convent, the silent strangers, and then Fay looking like a Rotuman Kylie Minogue... and we hadn’t even started drinking...
The Grog drinking, refers to Cava, the local root they harvest and dry, grind it into a fine powder with a man-size metal mortal and pestle, then mix with water in a wooden bowl, scoop out a cupful and pass it around in a circle. Every time you receive a cup, you clap 3 times and down it. It tastes very bitter, and all we felt was a mild numbness in our mouth, but when one drinks allot of it over hours of sitting in a circle, it has a muscle relaxant effect, so you’d feel like a big blob of jellyfish or something. And would be quite as interesting a conversation as a big blob of Jellyfish.
Being in a roomful of Rotumans is the most boring thing for me, (and for Robby too- as he soon discovered...), as they speak only Rotuman, don’t bother involving you in a conversation, never ask you anything about your life and where you come from, and if you ask them a question, if you even get an answer at all, it is usually a grunt or the traditional lifting of one eyebrow... which to this day I still haven’t figured out what it means (Yes? NO? I don’t know? Oh wow that is so interesting and how did it make you feel???). So at this Grog party, there were a few silent Rotumans, but also a few Fijian nurses, who didn’t speak Rotuman, so luckily alot of the little conversation there was, was in English. Rob and I just sat together and giggled and took the piss out of the situation, laughing at Fay’s stories of his massive thighs and faraway lovers...
At some stage, the “Hot stuff” came out, which was a big bucket of iced instant coffee with a couple of bottles of Rum poured in. I might just mention that most the people in the circle were about half our age, and Rob and I really started feeling it... we had a couple of sips of their “Cocktail”, and when everyone else just started to get a little too excited, we thought its a good time to leave, and strolled home in the full moon light, giggling our heads off...
Fay Minogue, robby and moi at Grog party


Another little story, one late afternoon, everyone was hanging out on the veranda, playing chess, lying down, when suddenly Litisia, an auntie who lives 2 houses away came running to me with a blank look on a very pale face, holding onto her wrist asking if I can help her. I looked at her wrist and it was pouring out blood like a fountain, I took one look at the cut and saw her veins and tendons and freaked out. She had accidently cut it on a piece of glass that broke off from one of the louvers in her bedroom, she came running to me, as I have become the village bandage lady, and I took one look at it and saw it definitely needed to be stitched up. We grabbed some tea towels to tie it up, and I grabbed my phone to call the hospital to send the Ambulance, but no one knew the number for the hospital!!!!!! What tha??? Whoever was sitting around on the veranda, just sat there and continued doing their thing, men playing chess, kids playing ball, Litisia sitting there bleeding away and only Rob and I were running around trying to figure out what to do while Carl was holding the tea-towel tightly on her wrist. The only one who freaked out besides me was Saulei, who probably sensed my distress and stood on the side crying... we sent one of the kids down the road to call Uncle Alexiyu who has a car to come take her to the hospital, luckily he was there, as the hospital is about a 30 minute walk away. They took her to the hospital and she managed to ask us to clean the mess in her house, as she was expecting some people to come stay that night, and she lives with her husband who is recovering from a stroke and cant walk properly, and her little grand-daughter Shannon- Noah’s best mate here. The poor girl saw it all, and was hardly fazed. Rob and I went back to the house and cleaned the drops of blood from around everywhere, changed the bloody bedding and removed the broken glass.
We brought her family some dinner, and a couple of hours later she came back from the hospital with her wrist bandaged up. She said they put a few stitches in and wanted her to stay overnight, but she didn’t want to as she was worried about these people coming to stay the night without her being there... so I got her settled back at home and punched my phone number on speed dial in her phone and showed her how to use it (she only knows how to answer the phone, nothing else...) and told her to call me if she needs anything during the night. Luckily I did that, because at around midnight I was woken by a phone call from her telling me she has been bleeding all night and her bed is covered in blood, I told her Carl and I will be there right away. In my half sleep I grabbed my first aid gear thinking I can help, but when we got there and saw she was covered in blood, Carl ran over to wake Alexiyu to come take her to the hospital. This time I went with her, driving in a very dodgy ute in pouring rain on really bad roads, which in itself freaked me out. As I do, I started imagining these terrible things that can happen, half asleep. Not good.
We got to the hospital, it was very dark, and a sleepy nurse came out to see who it was that’s disturbing her sleep. We took Litisia inside, at this time she was feeling weak and dizzy, and the nurse very slowly, very sleepishly removed her bandage. I took one look at what was underneath and had to sit down and resume the Brace position, otherwise I would’ve probably passed out myself. Her cut was like a gaping L-shaped slit in her wrist, with about 3 stitches barely holding it closed, her veins and tendons still exposed...
The nurse called the doctor, who came over looking just as pissed off by being woken, took one tiny look at her through his sleepy eyes and mumbled “observation” before he marched off back to bed. I guess “observation” meant “keep her here and watch her through the night”. So the nurse bandaged her up again, gave her some pain relief, and I went back home with Alexiyu who was waiting outside.
When I got back home around 1am, I couldn’t fall asleep. I was having the worst thoughts go through my mind, all the “what if” thoughts I fear about being here, and try to push out of my mind. I had to do a bit of breathing exercises to calm me down and put me to sleep...
The next morning Rob and I rode up to the hospital to take her some fresh clothes, but she was ready to come home and was driven home in the ambulance. Since then she has been recovering, the poor thing is hating not being able to do anything, as she is the kind of person who values herself by the work she does. Luckily, the people who came to stay at her house ended up being a blessing, as they are doing all the work for her. Feeding the pigs, working in the plantation, bringing the food, fishing, cooking and cleaning. It turns out that she probably should have had surgery done on her wrist, as she cant move her fingers and they are really swollen and sore. Maybe some nerve damage, I don’t know, but over here nothing is descriptive. If someone has terminal cancer, they just say he is “sick”, if someone has been vomiting, they are the same “sick” as terminal cancer or heart disease. Its very basic.

And what else has been going on? We went on a big walk up to the top of a mountain to check out the views of the island from above. With kids on shoulders (not mine of course – Carl, Robby and cousin Johnny took turns) climbing up steep slippery mud and rocks, swinging off vines, with me having my usual fear of heights panic attack refusing to go any further, tears in my eyes and shaking, the kids just charging along with no fear what so ever. Needless to say I didn’t enjoy it, not one little bit, even when we reached the top and sat on this massive rock hanging over a big drop into the ocean with views all the way to the tip of the island, I just wanted to be back on the ground, on the beach, drinking coconuts. Which is what we did next.
What else? Lots of baking and cooking with Robby, who is equally into food as I am. Lots of Green Pawpaw Chutney, Cumquat and Ginger Jam, Banana and Cumquat Jam, Gnocchi made from Tapioca, Gnocchi made from Pumpkin. Its good to have Robby’s enthusiasm to inspire me to cook a bit more interesting. Not that it has any value tor anyone else besides me and him...
View from the top of the rock

  
Tree monkey fetching coconuts



The other night Carl and his cousins went out to sea to get Lobsters, they came back with a sack full of about 8 lobsters and a couple of Balmain bug type thing. The kids were still awake and were screaming with fear when they saw the things, who were still alive when brought home. I had to sooth them to sleep, then proceed to the kitchen to share the freshest Lobster tails one can eat with Robby. He ate about 4 of them, feeling very guilty, not realising that they were caught especially for him. What a treat.

Robby with pre cooked dinner

Next week is the Doom day, Robby will be leaving to go back to his life in Bondi. Same life I had there. I am quite jealous. I hate the thought of him sipping on a quality latte, eating beautiful fresh bread, cheeses and the variety of fruit and veg I cant get here, which I miss so much. But most of all I hate the thought of missing his company, his humour, his cynicism, swims with him and the kids, endless chats over cups of tea and sneaky biscuits. Back to being the only white person around for miles. The only one who sort of understands my head. Till our next guest Lauren comes here in October hopefully.
Loads of Love to all of you out there!!!!!!! xxxxxx

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Island times with Rob


Long time no blog!!!!! Thats probably because I’ve been too busy having a good time with my dearest Robby here, who has been living our life for the past 2 weeks.  He made the long journey on the same dodgy old boat that we came on, and we met him at the warf at Oinafa village, fed him local goodies and sweet fresh coconut juice on arrival, and took him to our home. His first day was a bit of a shock, as expected, but also the house was full of people who were hanging around helping to prepare his “Mamasa” welcoming ceremony. It’s always interesting to see the reaction of other people to the whole process, it could be quite overwhelming with all the preparation and all the strange people who arrive to eat coz there is such an abundance of food.
Welcome Robby!!!

Its been an absolute pleasure having him here, in every way. We have been laughing so much, talking so much, going for long walks and bike rides, we rode all around the island the other day, stopping for little swims and munch breaks in the islands most beautiful spots. It took us about 4 hours to ride around the island and my legs at the end of it were KILLING!!!! Its the longest distance I have ever ridden a bike!!! I think I have seen more of the island since he has been here, than I ever have in the 3 times I have been here.
It’s been amazing having him here as our “fresh eyes” jumping in and fixing and renovating and doing things that I have been wanting to get done since I arrived but haven’t had the chance to and Carl been too busy to.  He removed some corrugated iron and unnecessary louvers from a window in the kitchen which has allowed allot more light and airflow into my tiny cooking cave, he has helped me plant seedlings and will be preparing a vegie patch outside the kitchen, as the one that Carl and the boys prepared and planted in the bush didn’t quite take off, he’s helped Carl with the tree cutting and slabbing, and he is like an angel in the house, helping with the cleaning and preparation of food, the washing and the kids. We don’t quite know when the next boat is arriving in Rotuma to take him back to Fiji and home, but I am secretly planning not to tell him about it so that he misses it and will have to stay longer... (Sorry Michelle...)
Planting vegie seeds

  
Lobsters for breaky

The best part of him being here is the fact that I have someone to talk to!!!!! I think I have had verbal diarrhoea since he has arrived, spilling out all I have not been able to talk in the past 3 months, the poor guy, but its been great!!! And in the moments that I have been loosing it and wanting to slit the throats of everyone around me, he always comes in and cracks the silliest joke to make me laugh my head off and calm me down. I haven’t laughed this much in so long!
Robby is also a bit of a foodie like me, so we have been improvising different dishes we can make with what we’ve got here, (did I mention we had Lobster for breakfast today? And Octopus for dinner last night?), as we speak he is busy cooking up some Cumquat jam, we’ve been making Tapioca, Banana and Coconut puddings, and secretly snacking on bags of really bad ‘Made in Indonesia’ biscuits bought from the local shop while drinking cups of my Israeli coffee. When he arrived he brought with him some delicious treats from Oz, bags of M&Ms that I had been craving, which I hide and munch on in moments of need and greed, with not even the kids or Carl knowing about it (oops, now you do Carl.... the things we do for the promotion of mental stability...). in a culture where NOTHING is only yours, everything is everyone’s, this woman needs to keep her sweet treats private... is that a major sin?????? I hope that one day when my kids are old enough to read this, they will forgive me for not sharing my M&Ms with them...
One great thing that has happened since he arrived is that we have started a little campaign on teaching the locals about rubbish management. Every time I come here I am, shocked but mostly saddened to see how much rubbish is thrown on the beaches, in the ocean, in the forest and on the roads. It is really sad, because since the introduction of western processed foods into the island, they have no education or resources to deal with the rubbish it produces, so they either dispose it on the beaches or in the water thinking that the tides will take it away from them (it doesn’t occur to them what might happen with the rubbish once the tides take it away...), or they burn it (plastic and all) or burry it. There is an unbelievable amount of broken glass,  rusting roofing iron, cans and tins lying around everywhere, and people and kids are constantly cutting themselves on it, as well as loads of plastic bottles, bags  and rubbish to be found everywhere. On one particularly blue day I was having a couple of weeks ago, I went for a bike ride to one of the closest beaches to have some quiet time, and almost cried when I saw the amount of rubbish on this one particularly beautiful beach. It was COVERED in plastic rubbish, old shoes, household goods and even an old fridge. Carl recons it came from Australia and New Zealand, but to me it didn’t matter where it came from. It was there and it was awful. So I proceeded to walk to the further end spot on the beach, blast Madonna’s “Like a prayer” in my ipod (yeah I know Im a dag, whatever...) and dance like a madwoman on this beach with no one else to be seen (or if they saw me, they knew they’re best not to come too close...).
So after seeing that, and after conversations with some locals and understanding how ignorant and indifferent not only the children but especially the adults are, I felt like while I am here, I really have to try do something to help and educate these people in how to manage their rubbish. When Robby arrived he was equally shocked and saddened by it all and just wanted to start cleaning up. I watched him do it and realized that I have become as apathetic to it as the locals have, which made me sad too, so with the help of Robs enthusiasm we decided to do something about it.
Incidentally, there is the local Queen called Fay, who is a part of an initiative called Laje Rotuma, which is a NGO that aims to educate the kids about environmental issues. They organize Eco camps in which the kids do different activities such as bird watching, Sea grass monitoring, beach auditing and forest management to learn about the environment they live in and to understand that all are connected to each other. I thought Fay would be a good person to talk regarding how we can reach the community to teach them a bit about rubbish management. He was super excited, fluttering his eye lashes and waving his long colourful nailed hands, that finally he has found someone else “on his side” and was very keen for Rob and I to come and do a presentation at schools he was visiting to talk about the eco camps. So after some hilarious talks and planning what we were going to say to these kids, off we went last Friday to 3 different schools, 2 primary and one high school. We received the warmest welcome from all the kids and the staff, the kids were the cutest in the primary schools, and too cool for us at the high school. Robby and I had to try so hard to keep a straight face when Fay,  with his bleached hair, groomed eyebrows, painted nails and a G-string poking out of his pants, stood in front of a hall full of giggling teenagers trying to get them interested in environmental issues. It was hard enough for Rob and I to take him seriously, not to mention the kids...
We talked to them about preserving the beauty of the island so that future generations could enjoy it, we talked about the dangers of battery acid containing Lead leaking out of old batteries in their back yards and into the ocean, feeding the fish and then them. We talked about plastic, rusting tins and iron and glass disposal, which was a bit of a difficult topic, as there is no recycling facilities on the island and their only options are to burn or bury the rubbish. We encouraged them to teach their elders and younger siblings not to throw rubbish into the ocean, told them the consequences of plastic breaking down in the sea and killing fish and other marine life. We had to keep it very simple, information and language so as not to overwhelm them. We also encouraged them to write letters to the Government asking for assistance in rubbish removal from the island, to keep their island beautiful.
Kids performing the traditional Rotuman dance at the primary school we visited


To be honest, we didn’t feel we really got through to the kids, but if we know that one or two kids got something from it, then we’re happy. What was good though, was that the school staff- teachers and Principal seemed very keen and enthused to do something.
We had a meeting with the high school Principal who seemed quite progressive and onto things. He told us that they have glass and plastic recycling bins at the school, but what is done with it once full, I am not sure. Apparently Coca-Cola has provided a couple of large plastic recycling bags (which I have seen only 2 of on the whole island), so we might see if we can approach them to sponsor more of them, as well as the freight of rubbish back to Fiji, in the hope that it could be recycled there. We also thought of approaching the battery companies to supply Battery recycling bins and again, pay for the freight out of the island, as Battery disposal is a big problem here.  You see old rusting batteries everywhere, and with that kids playing with them and throwing them around...
Lots of work and research to do about how we can get things done here, and with such little spare time on my hands, and internet connection which is as slow as a crippled snail, it might be quite challenging...
If any of you have any ideas, connections with other NGO’s that might be interested in helping or sponsoring, any way of raising funds to help Laje Rotuma  with their work, or any ideas of how we can help deal with all this rubbish collected on this tiny little island, I would love to hear from you.
We had such a fun day going to the schools, after our meeting with the high school principal, all the staff had a morning tea spread which they invited us to be their guests, as well as a crew of Fijian electricians working on connecting the high school to the government electricity grid. As usual, before having a meal or a gathering, the host stands up and introduces everyone and thanks us for coming, they introduced everyone by name, and mentioned if they were married or not... (we all were, besides Robby...). we had a lovely morning tea of fruits and coconut juice, coconut cake, Indian pakoras, puddings and more.... very yummy and unexpected, which made our day extra sweet...
The last school we went to was a tiny little school on the north end of the island, with only 32 kids in the whole school. They had been waiting for us for a while as we were running late, so when we arrived, they gathered all the 32 barefooted kids in ages ranging from 6 to 11,  in a room which I think was a library, sat them all on the floor and we did our little presentation. At the end their teacher asked if anyone had any questions, they all went silent and hid their eyes, besides one tiny little cutie girl who put her hand up and asked her teacher what I had in my bag.... it was so funny. They then proceeded to do a dance performance for us, lining up and dancing the traditional Rotuman dances while singing along (one song was different words to “By the Rivers of Babylon”, to which Robby and I cracked up laughing...) It was SO cute, all these children of different ages, singing in harmony, the acoustics in the room were great and it sounded like little angels singing. All of the schools sang songs for us, but this last one was our favourite because they did the traditional dance to go along with it... another hilarious detail was that while we were visiting that last school and sitting in front of the kids with one of the 3 teachers in the school, the other 2 emerged at some stage and they were each more camp than the next, one was even a Dame Edna look alike...  we questioned Fay about it and he said that all the school teachers were gay. Who would’ve thought that  even on this tiny island, where everyone seems so Asexual,  there was a gay community... Good on them!
Upon our departure, each school prepared a gift for us, they were told they were having guests so they had to bring something for us so we were given baskets of coconuts to drink and some fruit from each school. Really sweet.
So I don’t know what will come of it all, hopefully we can get a bit of interest and support, maybe even some publicity in the Fijian newspapers, but I would really like to see some changes here.

And on the building front, a short update coz Carl is too busy to breath, he has cut down all the trees he needs to use for the building, and is now in the process of slabbing them. He has asked for the help of a Fijian guy living here who mills tree’s as a profession, as he realised that it will take him way too long to do it himself, as he doesn’t have enough experience to do them fast enough, so hopefully by the end of this week they will all be slabbed, and he could start cutting them to size and dry them. Once that is done, we hope we can get the retaining wall completed and the sand delivered to fill the site to the level he wants to build on, and then he can start digging for the foundations. Not before they build an outdoor kitchen for me.
Carl in action with his man-tool

Carl's first cut of 80x250x2500ml timber

Carl is working harder than I have ever seen him work, and those who know him, know what a hard worker he is at the best of times. He is looking very skeletal, as he doesn’t eat enough to sustain his hard work, and I am sounding more like a Jewish mother pushing him to eat than I do with my kids...
Im hoping to get Robby to write a few lines, so you get another person’s experience of the life here besides mine. I think he is being a bit shy. I will put the pressure on him....
Loads of loving to you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Carl's accomplishments!

Native Rotuman Monkey (Sauleiphyllus Humanous)

Hey people! Its been awhile since I have put fingers to pad, but I have a decent excuse of being a tad on the busy side.
I have had a query about the lack of surf stories. Well the bad news is that I am actually, you guessed it, too busy. I never thought that those few words would ever cross my sun kissed lips, but alas it is true. I went and had a look at the point break that is closest to our village, and just happened to turn up at the right time to see it firing. OUCH! The only reason I went to have a look at it was because it just happened to be near a stand of trees that I am going to fell next week.
Talking about trees, I have now cut down a shite load of trees, none of which are for the house, but for people who have asked as a favour. Its not all one way they also happen to own the land that the trees that I want are on. People have such a different attitude to trees than what we do. Everyone that I have approached that owns land with trees on it that I want, have all said go for your life, in regards to cutting them down. People are very kind and have not asked for any payment or anything at all in return for their assets. Even the guy who owns the Mahogany tree didn’t want anything, I had to convince him that it was a good idea that I pay him. By the way this tree is huge! I am now waiting for the moon to be in its dark cycle, which should be at the end of next week and then I will cut down a heap of trees for the building. A Fijian guy who cuts trees down for a living told me to cut the tropical trees down at this time as the insects that go for the trees are dormant at this time of the moon cycle. I will cut down about a dozen trees, one of which is about 1.5 metre in diameter. This one is a hefau tree {Callophylum inophyllum}, which apparently is worth a fortune overseas, especially in Hawaii.
The work has been going very well. We are very close to finishing the retaining wall, but unfortunately have to go back to the bush to get more rocks {very hard work}. I have finished the workshop and next week will start slabbing my first tree, which conveniently is right next door, literally and so therefore all my tools are close at hand if I need to make any adjustments to the chainsaw mill. My 2 other cousins arrived on the boat about 2 weeks ago. This now fills out our work crew to myself, Rigamoto {73 yr old work horse, hard as nails], Gagaj Veu[same school, similar age], Romana[his son, who is my age], Jione [big and strong], Mangel[even bigger and stronger], and finally Fernando[young, smart arse but works hard with a bit of physical cajoling]. There will be photos. Every Sunday we have a little meeting and plan out what will be done in the following week. We have 5 months to finish the lot and I am feeling quite confident that it will all be achieved on time.
The workshop

Building site, only retaining wall in view by the water, the rusty sheds to the right are going

Retaining wall in progress

Retaining wall close to being finished

The fishing has been going great. It now serves 2 purposes for me. The first is to provide food for all of us, and usually several of the surrounding families, and also its become my replacement for surfing. I usually go twice a week. Saturdays I go with my cousin Rupeni and Joe and we usually go net fishing. We are gone for most of the day and usually come back with around 150 fish. In the middle of the week I go spearfishing off the edge of the reef. This is my favourite as it is a little bit more challenging and I also am floating out in the middle of the sea, beautiful. Last time I went I was followed by 2 small reef sharks, saw a huge Manta ray and 2 massive parrot fish about the size of a motorbike. Last time I was here, Shane and I went spearfishing at night with other guys and caught 3 of them. I could only just pick one of them up.
I will take more photos, I promise. Photos of some of the trees before I cut them down, the finished workshop, and the retaining wall. Robbie arrives next week , should be a massive shock to his system. Gay man from the Eastern suburbs arrives in the 3rd world. Good luck!! I will try to be a bit more proactive with my blog entries from here on in. Take it easy and I hope people are surfing for me in this time of drought.
Carlos...

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Lobster, Loosing it and Lamb sausages


The sky was orange and a slight rainbow in view (not the best pic)

Oh I am so full! Just had my first Lobster lunch this time around.  It would’ve been much more enjoyable if I didn’t have to kung-fu fight the flies away while trying to scrape the flesh out of the tails and eat at the same time.
Rule number one in Rotuma- better not to eat fish or Lobster in the day time, as you would have to share your meal with a million other black flying buggers...
Carl went last night with his cousins to fish and came back with a bag full’o’fish and about 6 Lobsters. They had to pre cook it all when they got home so it won’t go bad, so today I made green Curry fish and Lobsters in Coconut cream and lime. If I were to cook them fresh out of the sea, I would’ve put the tails on the BBQ, made up some Garlic butter and dipped. Oh well, next time. And I’m sure there will be one soon.
So the days are rolling by into weeks and months, and we have been here for about a month and a half now, and I am just starting to feel like this is my life right now. On the one hand, It feels like we’ve been here for so much longer, but on the other hand, it’s like time doesn’t exist at all, I don’t know what day it is most of the time, and Sundays come along so fast. Sunday is the only day I know, because everyone here gets all dressed up for church and no one does any work, it is the day of rest. I know it is 6pm when the electricity comes on and I know it is 9pm when it goes off. I know it is morning when I see an orange sky emerging on the horizon when I look out of my window, and that’s pretty much all I know about time over here...

Since my last post, our cargo load on the ship finally arrived, a big crate of stuff we sent from Australia before we left and only received it a week ago, together with a package from Carls family containing some goodies I have been craving. I was speaking to Selina, Carls sister on the phone after I received it, telling her how excited I was about receiving it all, and she laughed at me saying “Nadine, that is so sad, being so excited about receiving some first aid gear and nice soaps...” I laughed so much at how true that was. How sad...
But with that load came our nice clean sheets, and bikes and books and toys, I was so excited, like receiving a huge load of Xmas presents, the first thing I did was pulled out my sheets and flew them in the air like Mary Poppins and lay them on my bed and was so happy to have nice crisp white cotton sheets to sleep on (however, that night, Saulei was a bit sick, and spewed all over them... )
It’s great to have our bikes here, it gives me the opportunity to see a bit of the island, rather than stay at home all day, I’ve been having to escape the kids (literally- with them running after me screaming... they don’t like seeing their mummy go...), going for little rides to get a bit of a break and space. It’s really helpful. We’ve got little seats for the kids on the bikes, but I must say, I don’t know if I will be using mine much, as riding on sand is hard enough, but having a passenger on the back too, makes it a bit too dodgy for my comfort. Especially when my passenger is Saulei.
I must admit, I haven’t felt very inspired to write lately, been having a bit of a downer and feeling a bit over it all. I feel like I am a slave here. Who would have thought that living on a tropical island could feel like slavery?  I feel like all I do all day is slave in the boiling hot kitchen  to cook for the masses, I’m hardly enjoying myself, and there isn’t much I can do about it. We need to eat. These big hungry men need to eat to be able to work, and I am the one responsible for it.  Carls cousin Mua came and went with the last boat, and she was supposed to come back on the next boat leaving next week, but she isn’t. I’m guttered. She is a huge help, takes half the load of work off me, she manages the household and all the inhabitants in a way that I could never, and she is another woman to have in the house with me.  Luckily, I have the gorgeous Rechelli, a little aunt about my mums age and my size, who lives next door, and pretty much does everything here with me. She is the most patient person I have ever met, she can sit for a whole day, literally, getting up only for eating and toilet, and work on something, if it is making the “Tefui”- the flower lay, for a particular occasion, or cutting up coconut flesh to tiny pieces to make the “taroro”- a fermented coconut mush they use for cooking. She helps me with all the kitchen work, she is as strong as a bull, as graceful as a butterfly, she does everything with so much gratitude (we feed her and her elderly father and grandson), she sings and dances and is very creative. Always with a smile on her face. Never complains about anything.  She even reads books! I dunno what I would do without her.

Rechelli, little Shannon and I peeling "Vee" fruit to make jam

So I’m trying to keep sane, trying hard to focus on the positives, and mainly on the fact that Robby, our dear friend, is coming next week. I could really do with the company, the silliness we share, the laughs and cuddles, a bit of my tribe with me in this foreign land... AND, he’s bringing with him a bunch of goodies too, little mad cravings I’ve had like M&M’s and Muesli...

I mentioned before that Mua manages the household in a way that I could never do, I’d like to explain that.
Over here, you are judged and valued by how hard you work. Life here is very hard, to be able to eat, you have to work very hard. To have clean clothes, you have to work very hard. Same goes with a clean house, or anything else for that matter. If one doesn’t work hard, beyond their comfortable ability, the work load falls on others, those who do work hard, and they might happen to be old men or women. If someone doesn’t work hard they are put down and disrespected, and constantly picked on, in ways that I personally have a hard time with. When Mua is here, she is like a very vocal hen, constantly bossing everyone around, yelling at the ones who are lazy and don’t work hard, threatening them with no food or being kicked out, designating “bosses” and making it clear to whoever is in the house they are under the “command” of those “Bosses”... Funnily enough, I was designated as one of them. Everyone has to do what I tell them to, and follow my instructions. A bit of a weird job that I feel quite uncomfortable in, I’m not really the type to boss people around (especially when they’re three times my size), and I don’t enjoy putting people down and threatening them, but it seems like that is the only language they understand... I don’t want to become that kind of person. If when I get back home Im sounding bossy rude and condescending, please let me know, send me to “Kind school” to relearn how to be it...

One “exciting” thing that has happened is that I have become a business manager... HA HA!!!!  When Mua came back on the last boat, she brought with her a freezer, kindly sponsored by Carls mum. Now you’re probably asking what would we do with a freezer in a place that has only 3 hours of electricity a day? Well- exactly that... only 3 hours of power a day keeps the thing semi cool, and in it, we store packets and packets of Sausages, which we sell for $15 dollars per 1.5kg pack. Every now and then a random person arrives at my bedroom door to buy sausages, and I sell them the half soggy things that defrost and partially refreeze every day. It can’t be good for the poor Lamb Sausages (that’s what they’re labelled as, they don’t taste anything like lamb, or anything else for that matter...), but that’s what y you get here. Mua brought 2 cartons of them to sell, I have already sold one carton, we make $3 profit on each pack. I have to write down in a little exercise book every sale I make. We are expanding our stock with the next boat arriving from Suva, and will be selling butter and  what they call “Mutton”, which I think are lambs necks. I don’t want to think of the food miles on them, and the amount of freezing and defrosting they have been through, probably coming from New Zealand or Australia. Yet people here will still eat it happily...  I’m quite glad about the butter being sold here, as it means that I have a constant supply of it, rather than having to find someone going to another villages faraway to get some for me and pay a ridiculous price for it. Of course I have to pay for it coming from my business, am still not sure if I will get mates rates or not...
Mua and I with our new business- the freezer!

On the building side of things, Im sure Carl would like to tell about it, but he is so damn busy all the time, that he hasn’t got time to sit and write.
He has been frolicking in the bush with men who know, looking for trees to use for timber to build with, he has been practicing cutting down loads of coconut trees with his chainsaw and getting quite good at it, he goes fishing twice a week to feed us all, he manages all the rest of the men in what needs to be done and how, he has been building his workshop  for all his power man-tools, digging holes, building a bench top, playing with all his man-toys.  The retainer wall they built to extend the land into the sea is almost complete, this was a very hard process for all these hard men here, having to lug big rocks around for days and build a perfectly balanced wall, photos attached. Apparently next week he is going to cut down the trees he will use for building.
He has already cut down 3 coconut trees in front of the house, and every time I see one of them go down within 25 seconds, I feel really bad, thinking that it must’ve taken years to grow, and here we come, these western destroyers, and within seconds destroy it all. Carl explained that coconut trees in particular, have such a high turnover, they grow really fast, and when they don’t produce fruit anymore, it’s better to clear them to allow sunshine for younger shoots to grow better. Also, people here don’t have the same value on tree’s as we do in the “west”. Carl bought a whole huge Mahogany tree from one of the locals, and payed him $400 fijian dollars for the whole tree. Anywhere else, Im sure that would cost thousands, or maybe not. It doesn’t really matter. Each to their own I guess.

So I’m gonna sign off now, as I have to go prepare dinner, not before I let you in on a funny story about Saulei, who at not yet 2 years old, on an isolated island in the middle of nowhere, has become a fashion victim, and is very fussy about what he wears. Several times a day he pulls out different pants he wants to wear and comes begging “Mummy Peeeeeesh” wanting to wear them, and if I pull them away and try to put them back in the clothes box, he LOOSES IT... I think to myself, how on earth, in a place like this, where other little boys wear pink and floral clothes because that’s what their elder sister wore, and other kids wear rags and aren’t even aware of it, MY SON decides he has to take control over what he wears...???

And on that note, ADIOS till next time
Loads of Love to you all xxxx