Week Two

This week as you can imagine began very belatedly as with Easter Monday, ANZAC Day and the extra public holiday, school didn't begin until Wednesday. The same will happen this week as well for us in the NT, with Monday being a very English celebration of May Day. I hope to see some young, fresh lass' skipping around a maypole, however something tells me that is highly unlikely in Warruwi.

Anyway I digress, so Monday and Tuesday last week were filled with the adventures of fishing with Louie. However yet again, after many hours of standing and driving around to different location and watching the magnificent sunsets we see on Warruwi, we failed to catch anything. This led to the facebook status which I am actually beginnning to believe, 'fishing is a euphemism for standing by the water and watching the sunset.' Actually I think one of the teacher's felt a twinge sorry for us (he pulled his boat up next to us on the shore and from the tinny's depths pulled out a shark, which strongly contrasted with our dismal efforts), so he gave us a couple of frozen fish that he had a caught a few days ago. Jen tells me that they were delicious.

Well I have also just figured out that I can add photos onto this blog, so below is some happy snaps of our fishing adventures from Tuesday.

I should probably also mention that even up here in Paradise, there were celebrations for ANZAC Day. Despite having no bugal to play the mournful last post, no soldier to relate his exploits or anyone to march down the 'main street,' a dawn service was held. After a prayer from the indigenous pastor, it ended with the congregation going down the beach to watch the sunrise. I think this effort demonstrates that despite being so geographically distant and having the huge cultural (including language) divide, that nationalism can connect a people. I'm sure those who have done my course, could of course present a different viewpoint, but this is surely evidence that I remain in Australia.

When school finally did begin for the week we were initially back on kitchen duty. YUCK! So we worked on the food, preparing the five meals a day for the students and then ran back to the classroom to do our teacher's aiding and one-on-one tutoring. Luckily by Friday the school had organised another girl to come in and work solely in the kitchen. This provided us with much relief and meant that from next week on we can concentrate on our tutoring program. My mission for this weekend is to find or make a Ben Ten easy-to-read book for a couple of students who love the damned cartoon. Did you know that even up here there's massive Bieber Fever? By living up here I was definitely under the misconception that I was going to avoid some of the tween culture. Major fail.

I have also decided to concentrate my ample time on becoming fitter. Oh, I remember, (read in a whimsical tone) the days when I was fit enough to climb the 4 day Inca Trail in heights of 4200m above sea level, with limited oxygen, Believe it or not that was only last year. Now due to work and commuting duties, I have become excessively round and unfit. So with the guidence of online 'get fit' websites and Danielle I have embarked on a fitness program. On Wednesday I did cardio fitness Zumba with Jen and another teacher, (the kids looked through the window and laughed at us and continued to do so the next day). On Thursday we played badminton and on Friday had a cycling trip. Yesterday I ran, did body weight exercises and a session of yoga. Today, not sure but am thinking its going to be cycling this afternoon. It's hard exercising here though simply because it is so hot all of the time. And then in the evenings you have to watch out for dogs.

Well I think that brings you up to the present, what else can I say? I'm having an awesome time here, surrounded by a great community and an almost pristine environment. At the moment, I'm sitting at a table under the shade of a tree watching birds search for food. A light sea breeze is taking the intensity off the 30 degree heat, the sun is shining and there isn't a cloud in the sky. Happy Sunday morning!

P.S. Croc watch has seen no crocs this week. Dammit.  

One Week In

Firstly and most importantly, Happy Easter everyone! Whether you're celebrating the five day weekend on the Central Coast, Sydney, overseas or even in a remote Indigenous community, I hope you're having lots of fun!

Yesterday marked Jenni's and mine one week anniversary of living together and tomorrow marks our first week in Warruwi. To put it simply, I love it here.

Ok I admit it, it is remote. There are very few distractions like shops (we have one general store that stocks everything from washing machines to four bean tin mix) or movie theatres (we have none) or nightclubs (it's a dry community). It is an expensive 1.5 hour flight on a small plane to Darwin and there are a whole range of creatures that can eat you, including sand flies. Man, those sand flies are nasty bi-atches. But what Warruwi has is a supportive, close-knit community that works and plays together. This community spirit is simply something that you will never experience in the 'burbs, where it is unlikely that you know your neighbours as friends.

I'll give a summary of the past week, however that week was unique. Next week we'll properly be teaching our small groups. Jenni and I mostly assisted in the kitchen serving five meals a day to the students, as the usual coordinator is having a baby and needed to go to Darwin to have scans. This was hard sweaty work with intervals between meal breaks spent in the classroom. Although this week was hard and definitely wasn't on our project description, it actually was a fabulous opportunity to meet all the students and get our presence known around town. Kids are the biggest gossips after all and tell all their family and friends about the newcomers to the island community. Today at the shop for example, the check-out lady, said 'you're the new girls to the island, you're teaching my four grandchildren!'

After school  at 5.30pm most days the teachers get together for a walk, a bike ride or even zumba! This has been fabulous in getting us used to the island and seeing some awesome sunsets and moonrises. We have also been lucky enough to see a sting-ray jump out of the water, a small pod of dolphins, a sea turtle, so so much fish and many brumbies. Unfortunately however I haven't seen a crocodile yet!

Yesterday was Good Friday and Jenni and I had a lovely holiday! Louie the policeman took us our to Bottle Rock to go fishing. To put it directly, we massively failed at the fishing part. We had three rods which caught nothing except two rocks where we lost the lures. However there was also some reels happening and we caught five little fish. Jenni and I with our southern city sensibilities however made Louie throw them all back. They were too small to eat so we weren't going to keep them. The biggest part of the day though was my oyster eating. That's right, I don't and haven't eaten seafood ever, and Louie was picking fresh oysters from the rock shelf. Jenni and Louie were having a good old chew and Louie not understanding the whole anti-seafood thing dared me to eat one. I figured that it was fresh, it was sustainable and there were so so many on the rock shelf that I ate it. That's right, that slimy, salty goop went down my throat followed by a gush a water. It was foul!! Why on earth are oysters a luxury and/or romantic?? Could someone please answer that for me? The view however made up for the oyster eating and the lack of fish. It was amazing and is an untouched paradise. If it wasn't for the crocodiles, sharks and box jellyfish it would have been amazing to go for a swim in such unpolluted and fish-fulled waters.

In the evening we went to a BBQ with the teachers and art centre coordinators. It was really lovely and just exactly what we do at home with lots of meat, salads and vegies. The only different aspect of the whole affair was the lack of alcohol. Everyone was drinking orange juice!

I've been learning so much as well about indigenous and island culture from the kids. There are range of different names in language for crocodile and apparently the eggs and the tails are the best parts of eat. You can eat the green tip of the green ant, but you have to be careful as they sting! Turtle eggs are also a pretty popular meal. If you're older sister has a child then you're its 'little mother.' I can't wait to learn more.

So its heading towards dinner time and we have a treat- we bought a pizza! So even though I'm in a remote community McCains reheatable pizzas reached me! Yum!

xx

Day One.

 Jenni and I have arrived at Warruwi and are about to embark on our 10 weeks of teaching.

We arrived stupidly early at the tiny hanger to get our tiny plane to Warruwi. We thought that we were going to Darwin airport and like the regional flights from Sydney would have to check in and go through the usual maze. That  was our first mistake. Instead we were dropped off in front of wire gate that was very locked. Apparently this was where we to board our flight. So we waited for an hour in front of the gate sitting in the gutter looking very bogan. So bogan in fact that a taxi driver on his way back from the actual Darwin airport pulled over and asked if we were ok. Unfortunately we had to answer 'yes'.

Meanwhile we were also concerned cause our baggage was ridiculously over the 15kg limit. We were told to bring just about everything including food. Did you realise how heavy spaghetti weighs? Like if you buy 500g packet, that's half a kilo! And then if you buy 500g of spiral pasta, well then there goes an entire 1kg. Only 14 more to go, oh and by the way you'll also need 9 weeks worth of sunscreen, shampoo, conditioner, moisturiser, face wash and definitely two bars of soap! Well just in basic toiletries there's another 3kg. Then don't get me started on clothes...

So when the hangar finally decided to open, about 45mins before take-off, our baggage was weighed. Um, so we were at least 20kg each. Plus our carry on bags, plus each of weighing an extra 10kg on the scales with our backpacks on. Yes that's right we were weighed like baggage. Opps! Well the staff didn't seen so concerned so then neither were we. Until that is I saw the plane.

It was tiny! I think its seated about 10 people. And we couldn't stand up inside. And as we were pulling down the runaway one of the passengers heard something funny. Yelled that up to the pilot and the pilot asked what kind of sound it was...

Did you know though, that cloud causes serious turbulence when your in a little plane? Like I saw happy, fluffy clouds and I thought, what a pretty little cloud. But no! It shook our little plane. I got sweaty palms.

The view however was magnificent. The rainbow serpent had carved beautiful, curvaceous rivers into the landscape. Bends nearly collided with each other and for once I understood what a billabong actually was.

At last having seen Goulburn South Island, I was amazed at the west facing gold cliffs that shimmered in the bright sunlight. The airstrip- I refuse to call it an airport- was actually a tarmac. Which was definite improvement, I was expecting dirt. The accompanying terminal though was actually a bus stop colourfully painted with 'welcome to Warruwi community.'

In this bus shelter the police searched our bags for alcohol and drugs, which of course we had none. The principal, Jenni and I were met by a teacher who picked us up in the school's 4WD. That's right, the school has a 4WD.

We are now staying in the pre-school room. Actually its a lovely little bedroom for us. We have some dollies, a play kitchen (and a real one!) and are surrounded by beautiful paintings the students have painted. We even have a smartboard!

After settling in we went on a community walk with some other teachers and got a good look around town. There's a police station, a medical centre, a beach (complete with crocodiles though I haven't seen any yet!), a shop and an arts centre. We walked through the bush along the road and came across some brumbies. There are numerous horses on the island and we have been warned not to let the herd be separated. We have also been warned about dogs in the community.

Tomorrow we shall begin the school day by assisting a teacher ring the school bell to remind kids to hurry up and get to class. Who knows what challenges tomorrow will bring!?

The Night Before...

Leaving tomorrow and not prepared at all.

Need to buy a torch, a water filter, chocolate, face wash, peppermint tea... I think that's about it....


I am really excited to begin the adventure but also kinda freaking out cause of all unknown ahead.


Keeping a relatively calm exterior as I rip my yoga CD onto my computer. Should do the yoga instead.