An Island Adventure: 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 1/8^th 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 22^nd 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 1^st and 13^th 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....