Sunday, July 24, 2011

Carl's building update

Hey everybody! Well the Blogs are coming thick and fast now. The next 2 posts will give you an up -date as to what we have done, and where we are at now. Similar to the previous post, they will mainly be pictorial.
Photo1- This is the house site.


Photo2,3,4-Clearing the site. Luckily Uncle Varomue had cleared the site previously when he built his house. So it was mainly weeding , burning down stumps,  clearing rocks etc. 




Photos5,6,7,8- Collecting the rocks and sand which will be used as aggregate for our concrete mix for the foundations. That’s  Dad and Uncle Riga proudly sitting upon our heap of aggregate. It took days for us to get that pile.


Photos9,10,11- Shane, Dad and myself building the workshop.


Photo12- The first hole dug and waiting for concrete.

Photos13,14,15- Concrete mixing ,placing of the steel post holders and setting the foundations. Thank God Dad was there to help. He did all the surveying for the foundations and then also worked out all the levels for the posts, exactly where we were going to notch the posts to house the bearers, joists and top plates. Later when we started to bolt the house together, everything went together perfectly, the house is perfectly level, square and plumb. Once the top plates were installed we checked the square of the house by measuring the diagonals. The house was out of square by a matter of millimetres. This is quite amazing considering that all the major members of the house are hand cut with a chainsaw and therefore are far from being straight.
Photo16- Foundations are in and awaiting the posts.


Photos17,18,19,20- Preparing and installing the posts. By the way these posts were forkin heavy. The tree we used for the posts is specifically used for posts here as they last a long time in the ground. Of all the wood we cut the posts were the hardest and heaviest wood to work with. At times it felt like cutting through concrete and I would have to sharpen the chainsaw 3 times as often, compared to other trees. You can also see us cutting the notches in the posts, which will later house the bearers, joists and top plates.



Photos21-25- Installing the first bearer. Photo 24, Post has been notched and painted with creosote. As you can see with all those notches in the posts, if our levels were out and the major beams that were to be housed in the notches didn’t fit in perfectly, we would have to throw the post out, and go cut another tree down. Which is something I really did not want to do. Photo 25 is the bearer housed and bolted into the post. The bolts at the bottom are for the post holder to attach the post.





Photo 26- All the posts are up. It took 3 days to install the posts. I was nervous as all hell for those 3 days as the only way we could lift the posts up to the vertical was manually. I was so scared that the posts would tip over and land on somebody, which if happened would injure them permanently due to the sheer weight of the things. We managed to install all the posts without a single nail chipped only my nerves a little frayed, thank God!!
Well thats the house to the post stage. Dad and Shanes presence made a huge difference for me as I felt for once I could just ask them to do something and not have to worry about it being done properly or something going wrong or breaking. I felt like I was on holidays for once, which was very nice. I must say I was surprised by dads stamina and strength. All the work we did was hard and heavy labour. This in itself is difficult but when you add in the climate- the humidity and the sheer strength of the sun, it makes work during the middle of the day almost impossible. For example none of the local men work during the middle of the day, due to the strength of the sun. We, on the other hand, worked all day long and only had a break for lunch. I didn’t think Dad would be able to do it, but as it turned out he was always the first one out after lunch, keen as mustard. At times I felt like knocking him out just so we could have a longer break. I took him spear-fishing thinking this will bugger him. We first walked from our village to Itumuta which is about 5km, jumped in the water and spear-fished all the way back to our village, which is about 3km.By the way your not just lazily swimming along, its hard work spear-fishing. He looked pretty buggered when we got back, but he  had a nap and was ready to go again that afternoon. With any luck when I get to dads age I will have the same strength and stamina that he has.
Until the next exciting instalment, Au revoir.. Carl..


Am adding Carls next blog here so you can see the whole process up to date, sorry it is so long, have a nap if you need to.. X Nadine


Hey, Here we go again. Well this post will bring you up to date to where we are at right now in regards to the house. The work has slowed down a bit in the last week as we are all a little burnt out. Also Nadine and the kids are leaving soon so there have been a few going away parties to attend, which means the ensuing day is a right off. Once again another pictorial post.
Photo27-30 are installing the joists through to them being painted with the creosote solution. The joists took us quite awhile to do as we had never laid joists before and they all had to be exactly level, so that when the floorboards go on they don’t undulate or step up or down in level.








Photo31-32 are the first and the last top plates being installed. Effectively they form a ring beam around the house, on which the rafters will be notched into and also the walls.




Photo33-35 Here we are building the platform for us to stand on for when we install the ridge beam. Of all the parts of the house the roof was the part that concerned me the most. I had no idea how we were going to build it, and I had been stressing about it since the idea to build a house came into my head. Luckily Uncle Varomue had previously built his house and had been paying attention when he and the carpenter installed the roof. I must say that if it wasn’t for Varomue I don’t think I would of been able to do the roof. In the end it was no where near as difficult as I imagined. I found it strange that of all the things that we have tackled in this house, the roof was of most concern to me. You can also see us building what look like goal posts. The ridge beam will sit on the goal posts and be held in position for us to nail the rafters onto it. The last photo is the goal posts finished and the ridge beam centred awaiting the rafters.






Photos36-38 Installing the rafters. The first set of rafters through to completion of the rafters. Something that amazed me about the rafters is that once we cut the birdsmouth joint at the bottom, which is where the rafter sits on the top plate, the rafter practically held itself in place, despite the notch in the rafter only being tiny. I admit the last sentence was probably as fascinating as bat shit, unless you are budding diy builder, which somewhat narrows the audience down to 2.   



 

Photos 39-42 are of the purlins [don’t think this is the correct name], being installed, the verandah roof being built and the rafters being straightened so as to look neat. Oh yeah also the brace for the roof, which is that V shape you can see in all that tangle of wood. I was very proud of the brace which we did, which was notched into the rafters before we put the purlins in place. However we may have made a mistake as apparently it goes on the underside of the rafters not the top of the rafters. Hopefully this makes no difference structurally. It doesn’t seem to as the roof became solid as a rock once it was braced.






Photos 43-48 is the roofing iron going on. The last few photos are of where we are at right now with the building. The roof has got another 2 days work and then we will have completed everything on the roof, fascia boards, side flashing, battens, the lot, which will be nice. In the photo of us all sitting on the side of the roof, you can see one person sitting on the ridge of the roof. This is Uncle Riga, who is 73yrs old. At this age he is still able to climb through rafters and swing himself up onto the ridge of the roof, which is something that I struggled to do at less than half his age. He then pulls the roofing iron up and holds it in place by himself whilst the rest of us screw the roofing iron down. Last post was me showing my amazement at Dads stamina and strength. Even by Dads reckoning Uncle Riga is a freak!!







Once the roof is done we will start building the framing for the walls, windows and doors. I have no idea how long this will take but I have 5 weeks before I leave. If history is anything to go by the walls will not be finished before I leave, which means the walls and the floor will have to wait till we come back before being installed. As it always seems to go with building projects, they run over time and over budget, and this one is no exception. The main thing however is that the roof is on and the wood is somewhat protected from the elements. It would be great to be able enclose it completely, but we will see how we go. In some ways it works out good that we are going away for a period of time and that we will come back again to finish the house. We have been working from sunrise to sunset 6 days a week and as I said before we are all burning out a little and now that we are coming to the finishing touches on the house it would be a pity to not do a good job, just because we are tired of the work. Even spearfishing has become a little boring for different reasons, and I have only managed to go once a week for the last month.
This will probably be the last post from me for awhile, as Nadine is going and she looks after the blog. When I get to Israel I will update the photos and post another exciting instalment in the longest running house construction in the Southern hemisphere.
Bye and take it easy peeps.. Carlos

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Parties and progress


In less than 2 weeks from now I will be back in Civilization. I am super excited, but I must admit that it is mixed with a bit of sadness, as I have been feeling the build up of tension around “the goodbyes” for a couple of weeks here. We have become very much a part of peoples life here, as well as a part of the landscape in and around our village, and everyone keeps telling me how much they will miss us.
Last  friday night the Preschool held a “send off” party for me, and I felt truly blessed and honoured. The teachers and mums decorated one of the classrooms with the school kids coconut leaf crafts, woven mats and balloons, They had speeches of gratitude, speeches of prayer, Primary school head teacher and high school principal spoke, the preschool teachers and mums all got up and sang “I see the moon”,( a song in English and Hebrew that I had taught the kids) in perfect harmony, they garlanded  Carl and I in beautiful fragrant handmade flower lays, they garlanded themselves in flower lays and leafy hip belts and danced a few traditional Rotuman numbers (and dragged me up to join in with them in one of the dances, to their traditional rolling laughter...),  They prepared a delicious dinner (including a “Lovo”- underground oven cooked pig...), they sang me a beautiful farewell song they made up, and drank Kava, Beer and Whiskey under the beautiful full moon light.
The evening ended with me dragging a very drunk friend along the moonlit road home, about an hours journey, allowing me to savour my last full moon in Rotuma, which if I haven't already mentioned, is one of the most beautiful things about here. The moon is so bright, the sky illuminated almost like daylight, the moon has a rainbow-like halo around it, a sight I have never seen anywhere else in the world...
It was such a lovely evening, I felt so honoured and humbled by their efforts and kindness, and felt really happy to have left my mark in their school and their hearts.
I really hope that all the mums volunteering to work this project will be strong enough to keep going with it , at least until next year, when apparently the Fijian ministry of education will be sending a qualified teacher to work there.
And in my final weeks here on the island, I am at last learning how to weave the traditional mats made from dried Pandanas leaves. Maggie, one of the preschool teachers has been coming over on Saturdays to teach me the art, and I am really enjoying it.
The house is looking great! The roof is almost done, and it is really looking and feeling like a house. Carl has started sorting photos to post, so the next instalment will be his.
Just cooked two big octopuses (octopi???) in coconut cream for lunch, so gotta go rest my belly and soul...
Hope all is well on your side of the world, will see (most) of you soon!!!!!
Xxx N

 
All dressed up and ready to go to party! (with uncle Varomue and Aggie who we're living with)

Maggi, one of the preschool teachers in the decorated classroom (note the hebrew on the black board!)


All the preschool teachers and gang!




Sunday, July 10, 2011

The final countdown

So- here we are, less than 3 weeks to go before the kids and I depart the Island and head back to civilization.
Unfortunately Carl wont be coming home with us, as the house wont be finished in 3 weeks, or at least wont be done perfectly, as only he knows how, and we’ve decided that it would be a waste of years of planning and bloody hard work, to get to the point of the actual building and finishes on the house, and not to make them perfect. So having lost a few weeks work to sicknesses, rainy days and the constant random things that come up and hold back the building, as well as this being a first for us all and not really having any idea how long it should take, the end is delayed, and Carl will be staying on another 4 weeks to perfect his creation.
Meanwhile, the kids and I will head back to Sydney for 2 weeks, and then hop on 3 flights across the universe, to where the Cardamon flavoured Coffee I'm sipping on right now comes from, the land of milk and honey and sizzling hot summer with the luxury of air-con (oh how I’ve wished for a breeze of that here some days...), but mainly- to where my sista Pam will be bursting at her seams, ready to birth me a nephew! Needless to say I am ecstatically excited about that, and about spending some quality with MY peeps, MY family, MY roots...
So besides our house actually LOOKING like a house, and I’ll leave the building side of things for Carl to update, life is pretty simple still, and the only think I have to think about is what to make for the next meal...
There were a few weeks here, when all supplies on the island ran dry, the shops were empty and there was no boat on the horizon heading for Rotuma. Some locals say that at times like that, all the fun begins, coz people have to get very creative with the local foods. I am lucky to have the best fisherman in the village sleeping beside me every night, so for us it was a very fishy few weeks, and Tapioca (AKA Cassava) was the other ingredient we used allot of. Boiled Cassava, fried Cassava, Cassava and coconut cream porridge, grated Cassava and coconut (and lots of sugar) baked in the oven, grated Cassava, chilli and onion deep fried patties, Cassava, Cassava, Cassava. Breakfast lunch and dinner.  Now and again there were the odd beans I managed to pick from my crippled dwarf bean plants, and one Bindi a day which I picked to make a curry with at the end of a week’s collection. You can imagine how pleased we were when the boat finally arrived and brought- along with our building materials, supplies of flour, rice, eggs, sugar, noodles  etc. So loads of deep fried donuts and Roti’s and loaves of bread and muffins and cakes later, we’re happier and satisfied.
Vegies are still a bit of a treat when they come around, and we are lucky to have a relative who lives in Itumuta (the village we left) who has a massive plantation of vegies- Asian greens, cabbages, eggplants, beans, tomatoes, and Capsicum, and every now and then he comes by with a big basket full of vegies for us, sort of like home delivery of Organic produce, only an 1/8th of the price and much fresher than we would get back home....
The preschool is still running, with difficulty tho. The main problem is that we don’t have any qualified teachers, so the volunteering mums pretty much just make it up day by day, without really having any guidance, structure or program. I must say, I have the highest respect for preschool teachers now, it is such a hard job!!!!!! I don’t know if its just kids here or all over the world, but gosh- trying to control 18-25 kids for 4 hours is hard core!!!!!!!! It is constant screaming, trying to install the minimum amount of discipline in them is an almost impossible task, and for me, not (really) speaking the language is a major disadvantage when trying to get the kids to do/not do something. When it was my teaching week, I would come home at the end of the day absolutely  F****ED and crash for a few hours to recover, and by the end of the week, I was sick. Literally.
It is sad, because most of the women involved in the teaching are getting burnt out very quickly, and I wont be surprised if the whole thing crumbles in a few months, unless they get more support from the parents, the community and the government. A few people who have promised to be involved have pulled out, leaving more of a load on those who are struggling to stay in, including me.
I have suggested some practical changes many times, ways in which we can get the families more involved, fund raising, and ideas for support, but people here are very stuck in their ways and are afraid to make changes, as they’re concerned of what others would say about them. There is a bit of a “Tall Poppy Syndrome” thing happening here, in that they don’t like seeing other people succeed, and if those who are actually doing something great need help in doing it, rather than helping- they put down those who are trying in saying “I told you  you couldn’t do it” kind of thing.
Very frustrating for me to see, especially when I really want this preschool to continue and last after we leave. I told the women involved that they have to be brave and make big changes in the way things work here, otherwise the whole project will die. I really hope they manage to gather the guts to make those changes, otherwise I fear the preschool would be yet another unfinished project here in Rotuma.
But other than that, my kids are still loving going, and we have been preparing for a concert on the 22nd of this month, a collaboration with the primary school to raise funds for the preschool. We printed and are selling $2 tickets for the night, the kids will be singing songs and rhymes in English, Rotuman, Fijian and Hebrew, they will be dancing the traditional Rotuman dance to the words of Humpty Dumpty and Jack and Jill, and my boys have a duo of singing a Hebrew song too. There is talk of all the teachers doing an item too (yes- that’s me dressed in the traditional Rotuman gear doing the Hula!), we’ll be selling Roti’s and coconuts, and we’re hoping to make FJ$1000!
Also- next Friday they are having a farewell party for me- all the preschool and primary school teachers, which is really sweet. I am a bit concerned about it tho, coz I know they are planning on drinking, and as we already know, when Rotumans drink- they don’t stop, sometimes for days, and yours truly can handle only a very few before I get tired or bored or drunk, especially if it is the local home brew (made of fermented fruit or, you guessed, Cassava).  I told Aggy (who we live with, who loves her Friday night drinking and is a true Rotuman in the amounts she can intake) that I am bringing Carl with me to the party so that when I am tired and wanna go home, he can walk home with me (about a 30 minute walk home). Her response to that was “This party is for YOU- you will STAY, you will DRINK, you will LAUGH and you will DANCE!!!!”... Am a bit nervous now...
So the count down is on, 19 more sleeps until we touch down in Sydney. It’s been 4 months since we arrived, and this year’s experience is so different to last years. I now appreciate this place so much more, I see the beauty, I cherish the simplicity, I realize how lucky I am, we are, to have this place, and soon a house of our own which we can come to anytime, share with friends and family, and call it a home. Our kids are so lucky to have this cultural diversity as such an integral part of their lives, and for us a place we can escape to when life in a world of consumerism, stress and hectic lifestyle gets the better of us.
So to all my Australian peeps, book me into your busy schedules between 1st and 13th of August, and my Israel peeps- you’ll have us for much longer than that!
And to all my peeps scattered around this crazy globe, hope you’re all well, happy and finding time to cherish what you have and spend more time with your kids...
Xxx N
Oh Abundance....




 
Noah's debut attempt at cake decoration for Carl birthday

Happy birthday Carl

Saulei at preschool picnic