As I write this, I am sitting in a converted Hi-Ace Toyota camper at the base of the Katherine Gorge. How did I get here from Warruwi, you may ask? The short answer is that Aaron drove me, the long answer is below:
Last Monday was the very harrowing task of the last day working with the students of Munbirri Class Warruwi School. The children and I were honestly really sad to see me go. Community members and assistant teachers asked for my email and phone number and I extended an invitation to basically the whole of Warruwi to visit me. It may seem like a remote possibility, but some students are going to Canberra to play sport, so maybe one day they may play in Sydney and then I can show them around.
I was particularly sad to say goodbye to my star pupil. He has improved so much since I began working with him one on one. He has gone from a level 3 reading recovery to a level 10. I know I've made a huge difference in his life and his interest in school has improved so much. He is always picking up books wanting to read, ever disobeying the teacher on occasion to keep reading! I am very proud of him and reinforced to him that he should be proud of himself. He told me that when he grows up he wants to 'drive planes' (we won't get into the issues with grammar there) but I told him to keep reading and trying hard in school and one day he will get to drive planes. What particularly broke my heart was that he did not have a stable home life. He does not live with his parents but rather lives with a family of the same kin as him. And to add another difficulty, when he came onto the island two years ago, he did not speak either Mawng or English. So basically he's had a bit of an uphill battle with just getting on. For the first time I experienced great maternal instincts and honestly wanted to adopt him to ensure that his life path would become easier. But of course I can't do that, it's wrong on so many levels including culturally, so I am left with the feeling of accomplishment. I know I have significantly contributed to his learning and hopefully his future quality of life. I hope that one day he will become a strong member of the Indigenous and Australian community and drives all the planes he wants. I just hope that he remembers me, because I know I will remember him.
I gave the Munbirris the book Bollygum for there class library. It was a favourite of mine growing up, plus there are some awesome paintings. I also gave the kids, which honestly I think they were more excited about, a huge lollybag each. Aaron brought all these leftover small Darrell Lea easter eggs so we put them into bags, tied them with ribbon and the kids loved them.
On that Monday the school also gave Jen and I a pandanus woven mat each. They were woven over the wet season by the cultural liaison officer to the school. They were beautiful. My teacher also gave me a pair of shell earrings again made on the island.
Tuesday the day of our leaving was one of slow goodbyes. If it were up to me, we would have left straight away in the morning. Unfortunately life doesn't go always as you want. Tuesday was the athletics carnival (hence the official goodbye the day before). So although we couldn't run an activity as we would be leaving halfway through, Jen and I were given cameras and therefore became the paparazzi of the day. The school records most of its activities.
When it was time to go, I went around to all of the teachers and said my goodbyes. There were a few tears and many hugs. I truly felt that I had become close with this community. Two assistant teachers from the Torres Strait were particularly disappointed that they wouldn't have anyone from NSW to bag out when QLD wins the state of origin next week. As we got into the car, Jenny the liaison officer beeped the horn and all the students who were on the oval competing yelled out cheers to say goodbye! It was a truly lovely moment and one that I will remember for the rest of my time.
The rest of Tuesday however wasn't uneventful. Even as we waited at Warruwi International Airport, a baby magpie goose hatched from an egg. A man had brought these eggs over from the mainland to eat, however during the flight two had hatched! When the police were checking the bags a squeaking was heard and out came a magpie goose still half sitting in his shell! Don't worry I have photos to share with everyone at home.
The flight back to Darwin was also disgusting! So so much turbulence! We even landed at the airport strangely with one wheel on the tarmac rather than all three.
I had my first beer at the Tap accompanied by a huge Aussie burger. Aaron and I then went down to the wave pool for the rest of the arvo. Jen unfortunately was caught up with the ash cloud fiasco. She managed to catch her flight to Brisbane, but from what I can understand was forced to wait there until Sydney airport reopened.
On Wednesday Aaron and I did some touring of Darwin. One thing I can recommend, if you ever get the chance to come to Darwin, go to the WW2 oil storage tunnels under the city. It's like a wet, metal maze of tunnels that stored oil for the Australian and American Navies in World War II. Interesting fact that I learnt however about the bombing of Darwin. Did you know that twice as many bombs fell on Darwin than Pearl Harbour? And that more people were killed and more ships sunk? I did not know that, and although not a war history buff, I do enjoy my history so was perfectly astounded that I was ignorant of that little fact.
On Thursday Aaron and I picked up our little converted Hi-Ace and began our adventure through the Top End. Our first stop was the Adelaide River, where we did something that probably my environmental friends can't support but which I will say was amazing and will recommend everyone to come and see. We saw the Adelaide River Jumping Crocodiles! There are three companies that work along the river, however we chose to go with the small company that was further downstream and only had a small boat of 20 people. Other operations had boats of up to 100 people (and they were more expensive!). So we supported the little man, and by gosh we were not disappointed. It is at this point that I have to update Croc Watch. I have now seen so many crocs that I can no longer maintain my scientific doubt and am now assured that crocodiles most definitely inhabit the Top End. Croc Watch sits close to 30. On the cruise, we saw little ones and big ones all which jumped out of the water to show off their jaws and snap a piece of buffalo off a stick. As you can imagine on a small boat you are definitely up close and personal to the crocs, well one particular croc nosed the boat twice exactly where I was sitting. I can tell you now, I have never been so appreciative of thin stainless steel.
That afternoon we drove to Kakadu arriving at a campsite just as night fell.
On Friday, we travelled to the northern part of the park to visit Ubirr. Ubirr is the site of some of the oldest rock art. These date back some 10 000 years. Puts to shame really all the old art we saw in Europe. That was a merely 600 years old. Barramundi and turtle were painted on the walls to record fabulous catches. There was hand prints and of course Dreaming stories that can only be half told to Balanda due to their significance. We stayed at Ubirr to view its famous sunset. Again it did not disappoint, sitting on top of an escarpment with my fabulous boyfriend watching a red, orange and purple sun set over flood plains. It was amazing. Words can not express.
The next day we headed to the middle of the park visiting Nourlangie. Nourlangie is also a rock art site open for tourists. There are some 5000 rock art sites in Kakadu however only 3 are open for tourist viewing. The site in Nourlangie I found particularly hard, as the clan who owned this country have all but vanished so the neighbours now maintain this land. At this site there was also painted images of a gun, meaning that this site was definitely used in the last 140 years. That afternoon we travelled down to the famous Yellow Water Billabong to see the wildlife. We were suckered a little and kind of forced to go on the cruise. There was no alternatives to the expensive cruise (like a bushwalk!) but again we weren't disappointed. We saw huge flocks of birds including Whistling Ducks, Jabirus, Sea Eagles, Magpie Geese, Corellas and not to mention lots of crocodiles! We stayed the night at the Billabong.
Yesterday we headed south, visiting the Bukbukluk lookout before departing Kakadu. We decided to have lunch at Pine Creek. The tourist map said it was a quaint, historic town, so we thought that it would be a nice spot to get some grub after being bush for so long. To put it simply, there ain't that much there. Ignore the tourist map. It's a good town for a 'stop, revive, survive' but don't ever think of it as a tourist destination. We ate lunch at the water gardens (water stores converted to gardens after even the train line decided to avoid the place) and then drove up to the premier tourist destination of the town, the Mine lookout. Well I'll give it that, there sure was a lot of mining going on in the town in the past. The hill is full of old mine shafts, some open, some half collapsed and some secured, all of which I avoided. So while we had to drop off at a place not so appealing, the place we slept at was paradise.
Not usually on the tourist trail, Edith Falls are a spectacular location. When you first arrive you see small falls landing in a pandanus fringed plunge pool. This is even open to swimming! Just avoid the freshwater crocs at night. But what is more beautiful is the 2 km walk up the escarpment to the upper pools. The upper pools are to the topmost part of the falls, most of the falls not being viewable from the bottom. These first falls have carved out a series of small pools out of the rock. These again are panadus fringed and there is even a sandy beach! Needless to say we loved the place. It is part of Nitmuluk National Park.
Today we headed further south into the town of Katherine. Katherine is just a town like any other, there's a woolworths, a toyworld and even a subway and Maccas. So after picking up supplies we headed straight out of there and further south again to Cutta Cutta Caves. These limestone caves formed millions of years ago, are home to bats, snakes, rock wallabies (we saw all three) and these strange blind shrimp. There are only two places you can find blind 4mm shrimp; in the back pool of Cutta Cutta Caves and in Madagascar. I'm thinking there must be a pipeline direct from the caves to Madagascar. The caves weren't even found until the early 1990s when a stockman named Smith, lost a heap of cattle when droving. Turns out they had fallen down the cave! In the afternoon we headed back to Katherine to enjoy the hot springs, flowing from a natural spring into the Katherine River. We are now staying again at the Nitmuluk National Park at the base of the Katherine Gorge.
I know we are going on a cruise tomorrow up the gorge (again there is no way to experience the gorge without the cruise!) but who knows where we will end up tomorrow night. Loving this freedom!
Until next week!
xx
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Week Nine (the last week on Warruwi)
This week began rather slowly with the Queen celebrating another birthday last Monday. I celebrated her birthday for her with a huge workout and then doing some preparation for the week ahead. I also got some dreadful news that our property had flooded with all the excessive rain. (Lucky our house escaped!) So all in all the Queens birthday celebrations were a little flat.
Tuesday through to Thursday were pretty regular regarding school. However on Wednesday we had an extra exciting day (that is I had lots of fun!). In class the students are doing a module called My Place. For the last couple of weeks they have been researching an animal that comes from their country and on Wednesday we introduced the concept of 'threats' to that animal. Well being ever the environmentalist, I was in my prime. We introduced the idea of plastic bags being bad for sea creatures but especially turtles. For those not in the know, one of the turtles' favourite foods are jellyfish and a plastic bags look like jellyfish in the water. Needless to say they are accidently consumed. Don't worry I didn't just relate my thesis but also told the children all about ghost nets. Then after lunch the rangers from Darwin (Ranger Ally and Ranger Tracey) came into the school and gave a lesson to the Munbirris on being Croc Aware! There were four messages that we were supposed to learn, between being handed crocodile skins and skulls. 1. Crocs are deadly. 2. Crocs are everywhere. 3. Follow all warnings and 4...... shit! I have completely forgotten lesson number 4. So if you never see me again you will know the reason. I didn't concentrate hard enough to be Croc Ware and have probably been eaten by one.
This seems the most appropriate time to bring up my Croc Watch Count. The Count remains at 0. Therefore after 9 weeks of acute observation there are no crocs near Warruwi. (I'll ignore the fact that Annie and Relma saw a 4m one swimming offshore Bottle Rock last weekend).
On Friday, awesome Friday, I had the best experience. Firstly school was cancelled again owing to another funeral. I'll explain about that later, but most importantly Aaron came to Warruwi. He is my first and probably only Guest Blogger. Aaron take it away:
Well what I can I say, thursday afternoon I was at work meeting with a client in sydney and within 18 hours I had packed flight to darwin, a quick stop at the hostel of 3.5 hrs of rest before I was off again on the flight to my destination Warruwi. I must admit it was a strenuous trip but once I hit the ground and saw Lesley it was all worth it. Once I finally got out of Warruwi international airport and through all the busy crowds (five in total) we made our way to the school where Lesley and I went on a little guided tour to see some of the sites and meet some of the locals.
I was genuinely impressed with the community, it is really beautiful up here and i could already understand why Lesley has raved about the place. Once we were a little more settled in I was informed that there was a funeral in the afternoon which we were asked to attend. It was definitely an eye openning experience and all within a few hours of being on the island.
Saturday was a little less intense and started with a walk around the community dropping into the CBD which consists of the art gallery, medical centre, the general store and a round about which apparently no one knows how to use. In the afternoon we went on a bike ride out to bottle rock where we say the western side of the island where we enjoyed the rock pools, we ran into a couple of the local balandas (as I learnt is the word white fella) Trish and Daz who were out to do a bit of fishing which ultimatley was successful for Baz when he caught a giant Queen fish which was about a metre long! In the evening we had a little get together at Trish and Daz's place where I met all the teachers and we sat around the fire.
Today we started early going on the weekly ride out to bottlerock where we left the group and went on out own ride along the great ocean road where we saw dolphins and sea turtles. Our ride was great despite the fact that Lesley happen to get us a little lost and we had to backtrack a little, but I did enjoy it as I got to see a lot of the island. After the ride we were spent and have the relaxed a bit. I have really enjoyed my time here so far and unfortunately it is going by far too quick but school is back tomorrow and I get my first chance to experience a day at Warruwi school and I can't wait.
Well thats all from me at the moment, and I will hand you back to Lesley.
So the plans for the next couple of days are:
Monday: Last day at school with a morning tea in honour of Jen and I. I also have the book Bollygum to give to the Munbirris and a lolly bag for each of them
Tuesday: Morning Athletics Carnival and at 11.45am leave Warruwi. Arrive Darwin about 1pm. Then do whatever
Wednesday: Darwin
Thursday: Pick up hire campervan and then go on a journey through Australia's Top End. Not sure where we are going yet.... The many mysteries of life, but I'm sure Aaron and I will have a good time at any rate.
I will write a blog next Sunday from who knows where with who knows what content.
Till then!
xx
Tuesday through to Thursday were pretty regular regarding school. However on Wednesday we had an extra exciting day (that is I had lots of fun!). In class the students are doing a module called My Place. For the last couple of weeks they have been researching an animal that comes from their country and on Wednesday we introduced the concept of 'threats' to that animal. Well being ever the environmentalist, I was in my prime. We introduced the idea of plastic bags being bad for sea creatures but especially turtles. For those not in the know, one of the turtles' favourite foods are jellyfish and a plastic bags look like jellyfish in the water. Needless to say they are accidently consumed. Don't worry I didn't just relate my thesis but also told the children all about ghost nets. Then after lunch the rangers from Darwin (Ranger Ally and Ranger Tracey) came into the school and gave a lesson to the Munbirris on being Croc Aware! There were four messages that we were supposed to learn, between being handed crocodile skins and skulls. 1. Crocs are deadly. 2. Crocs are everywhere. 3. Follow all warnings and 4...... shit! I have completely forgotten lesson number 4. So if you never see me again you will know the reason. I didn't concentrate hard enough to be Croc Ware and have probably been eaten by one.
This seems the most appropriate time to bring up my Croc Watch Count. The Count remains at 0. Therefore after 9 weeks of acute observation there are no crocs near Warruwi. (I'll ignore the fact that Annie and Relma saw a 4m one swimming offshore Bottle Rock last weekend).
On Friday, awesome Friday, I had the best experience. Firstly school was cancelled again owing to another funeral. I'll explain about that later, but most importantly Aaron came to Warruwi. He is my first and probably only Guest Blogger. Aaron take it away:
Well what I can I say, thursday afternoon I was at work meeting with a client in sydney and within 18 hours I had packed flight to darwin, a quick stop at the hostel of 3.5 hrs of rest before I was off again on the flight to my destination Warruwi. I must admit it was a strenuous trip but once I hit the ground and saw Lesley it was all worth it. Once I finally got out of Warruwi international airport and through all the busy crowds (five in total) we made our way to the school where Lesley and I went on a little guided tour to see some of the sites and meet some of the locals.
I was genuinely impressed with the community, it is really beautiful up here and i could already understand why Lesley has raved about the place. Once we were a little more settled in I was informed that there was a funeral in the afternoon which we were asked to attend. It was definitely an eye openning experience and all within a few hours of being on the island.
Saturday was a little less intense and started with a walk around the community dropping into the CBD which consists of the art gallery, medical centre, the general store and a round about which apparently no one knows how to use. In the afternoon we went on a bike ride out to bottle rock where we say the western side of the island where we enjoyed the rock pools, we ran into a couple of the local balandas (as I learnt is the word white fella) Trish and Daz who were out to do a bit of fishing which ultimatley was successful for Baz when he caught a giant Queen fish which was about a metre long! In the evening we had a little get together at Trish and Daz's place where I met all the teachers and we sat around the fire.
Today we started early going on the weekly ride out to bottlerock where we left the group and went on out own ride along the great ocean road where we saw dolphins and sea turtles. Our ride was great despite the fact that Lesley happen to get us a little lost and we had to backtrack a little, but I did enjoy it as I got to see a lot of the island. After the ride we were spent and have the relaxed a bit. I have really enjoyed my time here so far and unfortunately it is going by far too quick but school is back tomorrow and I get my first chance to experience a day at Warruwi school and I can't wait.
Well thats all from me at the moment, and I will hand you back to Lesley.
So the plans for the next couple of days are:
Monday: Last day at school with a morning tea in honour of Jen and I. I also have the book Bollygum to give to the Munbirris and a lolly bag for each of them
Tuesday: Morning Athletics Carnival and at 11.45am leave Warruwi. Arrive Darwin about 1pm. Then do whatever
Wednesday: Darwin
Thursday: Pick up hire campervan and then go on a journey through Australia's Top End. Not sure where we are going yet.... The many mysteries of life, but I'm sure Aaron and I will have a good time at any rate.
I will write a blog next Sunday from who knows where with who knows what content.
Till then!
xx
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Week Eight (only a week to go!)
To summarise my second last week in the paradise called Warruwi, has been pretty darn fine!
To start at the beginning of the week as usual, on Monday Jen and I were given a new roomate for the week, a substitute teacher called Sarah. She is a pretty awesome person and has seen and experienced so much of different cultures and countries throughout all her travelling adventures. Sarah spent her last three years in Monogolia teaching at an university in the capital. Really no need to say, but we got along like a house on fire and hopefully will meet up again in Darwin in a couple of weeks.
So Sarah lived with us from Monday through to Saturday. She was replacing Sue in the Dolphins class, as Sue and Marty attended a ceremony on Bathurst Island (one of the Tiwi Islands) celebrating 100 years of Western settlement. Their time at Bathurst Island had great significance to them both, as they were new teachers when working in the community and they met and married on the Island.
So Monday was an usual day of classes for the Munbirris and I. Beginning with tutoring and then working as a teacher's assistant.
On Tuesday however the rhythmn changed. While Sarah had been sent to replace Sue, no one had been sent to replace Marty. Consequently the Munbirris were broken up in the Wampa and Eagles classes for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Whilst this caused some disruption to the week's classes, I continued with the one-on-one tutoring and then also completed literacy activities with different groups of students. I was always in and out of both classes for Tuesday and Wednesday, although I was officially assigned to the Wampas class. I think the students missed the steady rhythmn of their Munbirris' class as from the very beginning of Tuesday morning I was being asked 'when is Marty coming back?' I think when regular Friday classes rolled around the students were quite relieved.
The funeral continued for the elderly man this week. As Wednesday was his predicted burial date, Tuesday evening was filled with celebrations. The Elcho people were painted and dressed with traditional ornaments and branches in a sacred male place. They then emerged from the bushland singing and dancing. We were even permitted to take photos and film the Elcho people dancing. I have taken some photos and a couple of clips which I can show you when I get home.
However as with most Indigenous customs I have experienced living on this Island, the burial date was changed. The day 'when he went underground' as one of my students adeptly described the situation, was moved to Thursday. On Wednesday evening at the funeral place, although I didn't attend, elders asked that the school be closed on Thursday out of respect for the burial. We can't officially close the school, so instead classes weren't exactly running.
On Thursday, as previously stated, having not attended the night before, all three of us woke up, got ready and I even went outside with my tutoring box. I must admit I thought the atmosphere at the school was quite strange. Usually we have students arriving at school from 7am (remember most homes don't have a clock so students kind of guess when to come to school), and there were no students. Pete, the handyman then yelled out to me from across the playground, that it looked like there was no school today. So, instead of teaching, we spent the day cleaning. I cleaned out the Munbirri's classroom, tidying the maths and literacy cupboards. I put artwork up on the walls and even the adjoining kitchen was cleaned out. As the Munbirri's class is the newest class to Warruwi School, its classroom has been in a constant state of building. When I joined the class at the beginning of the term, the wall between our classroom and the class it shares the building with was only a thin piece of wood. In the time since, I've seen carpet go up for soundproofing, shelves and skirting boards and a new air-conditioning unit added to the room. Consequently the classroom has been in a state of transition which hasn't allowed for the final touches. I think I added those final touches on Thursday. It was hectic work.
On Thursday afternoon, another teacher Rob and Pete invited Sarah and I out to go crabbing at Whale Bone and Wiggu. I hadn't been to that side of the island before, firstly because with the end of the wet season the roads have been impassable with floods and secondly because we don't have a car. So I gladly took up the offer. The track was overgrown with long grasses reaching up beyond the height of the troopie. This area will be burned shortly, to prevent a huge grassfire in the area. As the track was so overgrown we actually got a bit lost and never made it to Whale Bone.
Whale Bone is a spot in the mangroves where a whale beached itself some indeterminate time ago and where the bones still remain. As the whale bones are now separated from the ocean by fully grown mangroves and some scrub, and as most are dryed out to flaky white powder, locals estimate that they have been there for about 30-50 years. Also you gotta remember the place is named after it.
Instead we found a spot between the mangroves where the low tide had created a low and thick beach. The area would be great for crocodiles at high tide, but at low they had vacated. As with my usual attempts at hunting. I failed miserably at catching any crabs. If I was lost in the outback or anywhere for that matter where I had to rely on myself catching or gathering food, I would absolutely starve to death; major fail in survival techniques 101.
After our pathetic attempts at unnamed crocodile Meca we travelled onwards crossing a saltplain to get to Wiggu. Wiggu is the north-point in the curve of the banana-shaped island that I live on. Instead of catching any crabs or any fish for that matter, I gathered two sea cucumbers to go in older class' fishtank. One of the industries on the island (when I say industry think cottage industry) is the growing of sea cucumbers for Chinese traditional medicine. Subsequently the older students just about to enter the workforce are learning about sea cucumbers, the requirements of their growth, their market etc. With the pilot farms located just offshore Wiggu, Sarah and I collected two exceptionally fat ones (that we think escaped from the farm) to go in the students' tank.
From Wiggu we also watched the sunset over the island. It was beautiful and have some photos to share. Actually below are some lovely photos from our Thursday afternoon adventure.
So Friday was a usual day at the office. Attendance was startling low with only 8 students turning up for the Munbirris.
Saturday morning Brett gave us a lovely trip around the island with Jen, Sarah, Pete and I. He took us to the North-Western side of the Island. Again the roads of which were impassable until only a couple of weeks ago. We went to a lagoon which is infamous for big crocodiles. Running parrallel to the ocean, the freshwater lagoon serves as a point of rest for salties where they come down and can have a big meal of horse. Now I have an update with Crocwatch. Although I never saw a crocodile at the lagoon, Sarah and Jen swear they saw a little baby saltie. Ok I don't disagree with their finding but as I am yet to see any true evidence of crocodiles on this island, I still maintain my scientific doubt over their existence. After the lagoon we adventured to Whale Bone. After telling Brett about our getting lost on Thursday afternoon, he was determined that we see the remains.
Brett found the remains so that's why I was able to describe the scene of Whale Bone to you earlier. The vertebrae of a whale is huge.
Now I'd better go because I'm typing this outside and now I have helpers coming from every direction who keep pressing different keys. It's kinda annoying, I'm not going to lie, but they are gorgeous. The kids are playing with my bell, plaiting my hair as I continue to type. Now I'm going to go off and tackle them. Lucky for me, they are too young to read my plans of attack.
Until next week!
P.S. 5 sleeps until Aaron comes!!!!!!!!!!!!
To start at the beginning of the week as usual, on Monday Jen and I were given a new roomate for the week, a substitute teacher called Sarah. She is a pretty awesome person and has seen and experienced so much of different cultures and countries throughout all her travelling adventures. Sarah spent her last three years in Monogolia teaching at an university in the capital. Really no need to say, but we got along like a house on fire and hopefully will meet up again in Darwin in a couple of weeks.
So Sarah lived with us from Monday through to Saturday. She was replacing Sue in the Dolphins class, as Sue and Marty attended a ceremony on Bathurst Island (one of the Tiwi Islands) celebrating 100 years of Western settlement. Their time at Bathurst Island had great significance to them both, as they were new teachers when working in the community and they met and married on the Island.
So Monday was an usual day of classes for the Munbirris and I. Beginning with tutoring and then working as a teacher's assistant.
On Tuesday however the rhythmn changed. While Sarah had been sent to replace Sue, no one had been sent to replace Marty. Consequently the Munbirris were broken up in the Wampa and Eagles classes for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Whilst this caused some disruption to the week's classes, I continued with the one-on-one tutoring and then also completed literacy activities with different groups of students. I was always in and out of both classes for Tuesday and Wednesday, although I was officially assigned to the Wampas class. I think the students missed the steady rhythmn of their Munbirris' class as from the very beginning of Tuesday morning I was being asked 'when is Marty coming back?' I think when regular Friday classes rolled around the students were quite relieved.
The funeral continued for the elderly man this week. As Wednesday was his predicted burial date, Tuesday evening was filled with celebrations. The Elcho people were painted and dressed with traditional ornaments and branches in a sacred male place. They then emerged from the bushland singing and dancing. We were even permitted to take photos and film the Elcho people dancing. I have taken some photos and a couple of clips which I can show you when I get home.
However as with most Indigenous customs I have experienced living on this Island, the burial date was changed. The day 'when he went underground' as one of my students adeptly described the situation, was moved to Thursday. On Wednesday evening at the funeral place, although I didn't attend, elders asked that the school be closed on Thursday out of respect for the burial. We can't officially close the school, so instead classes weren't exactly running.
On Thursday, as previously stated, having not attended the night before, all three of us woke up, got ready and I even went outside with my tutoring box. I must admit I thought the atmosphere at the school was quite strange. Usually we have students arriving at school from 7am (remember most homes don't have a clock so students kind of guess when to come to school), and there were no students. Pete, the handyman then yelled out to me from across the playground, that it looked like there was no school today. So, instead of teaching, we spent the day cleaning. I cleaned out the Munbirri's classroom, tidying the maths and literacy cupboards. I put artwork up on the walls and even the adjoining kitchen was cleaned out. As the Munbirri's class is the newest class to Warruwi School, its classroom has been in a constant state of building. When I joined the class at the beginning of the term, the wall between our classroom and the class it shares the building with was only a thin piece of wood. In the time since, I've seen carpet go up for soundproofing, shelves and skirting boards and a new air-conditioning unit added to the room. Consequently the classroom has been in a state of transition which hasn't allowed for the final touches. I think I added those final touches on Thursday. It was hectic work.
On Thursday afternoon, another teacher Rob and Pete invited Sarah and I out to go crabbing at Whale Bone and Wiggu. I hadn't been to that side of the island before, firstly because with the end of the wet season the roads have been impassable with floods and secondly because we don't have a car. So I gladly took up the offer. The track was overgrown with long grasses reaching up beyond the height of the troopie. This area will be burned shortly, to prevent a huge grassfire in the area. As the track was so overgrown we actually got a bit lost and never made it to Whale Bone.
Whale Bone is a spot in the mangroves where a whale beached itself some indeterminate time ago and where the bones still remain. As the whale bones are now separated from the ocean by fully grown mangroves and some scrub, and as most are dryed out to flaky white powder, locals estimate that they have been there for about 30-50 years. Also you gotta remember the place is named after it.
Instead we found a spot between the mangroves where the low tide had created a low and thick beach. The area would be great for crocodiles at high tide, but at low they had vacated. As with my usual attempts at hunting. I failed miserably at catching any crabs. If I was lost in the outback or anywhere for that matter where I had to rely on myself catching or gathering food, I would absolutely starve to death; major fail in survival techniques 101.
After our pathetic attempts at unnamed crocodile Meca we travelled onwards crossing a saltplain to get to Wiggu. Wiggu is the north-point in the curve of the banana-shaped island that I live on. Instead of catching any crabs or any fish for that matter, I gathered two sea cucumbers to go in older class' fishtank. One of the industries on the island (when I say industry think cottage industry) is the growing of sea cucumbers for Chinese traditional medicine. Subsequently the older students just about to enter the workforce are learning about sea cucumbers, the requirements of their growth, their market etc. With the pilot farms located just offshore Wiggu, Sarah and I collected two exceptionally fat ones (that we think escaped from the farm) to go in the students' tank.
From Wiggu we also watched the sunset over the island. It was beautiful and have some photos to share. Actually below are some lovely photos from our Thursday afternoon adventure.
So Friday was a usual day at the office. Attendance was startling low with only 8 students turning up for the Munbirris.
Saturday morning Brett gave us a lovely trip around the island with Jen, Sarah, Pete and I. He took us to the North-Western side of the Island. Again the roads of which were impassable until only a couple of weeks ago. We went to a lagoon which is infamous for big crocodiles. Running parrallel to the ocean, the freshwater lagoon serves as a point of rest for salties where they come down and can have a big meal of horse. Now I have an update with Crocwatch. Although I never saw a crocodile at the lagoon, Sarah and Jen swear they saw a little baby saltie. Ok I don't disagree with their finding but as I am yet to see any true evidence of crocodiles on this island, I still maintain my scientific doubt over their existence. After the lagoon we adventured to Whale Bone. After telling Brett about our getting lost on Thursday afternoon, he was determined that we see the remains.
Brett found the remains so that's why I was able to describe the scene of Whale Bone to you earlier. The vertebrae of a whale is huge.
Now I'd better go because I'm typing this outside and now I have helpers coming from every direction who keep pressing different keys. It's kinda annoying, I'm not going to lie, but they are gorgeous. The kids are playing with my bell, plaiting my hair as I continue to type. Now I'm going to go off and tackle them. Lucky for me, they are too young to read my plans of attack.
Until next week!
P.S. 5 sleeps until Aaron comes!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Week Seven
Now to begin where I left off...
Last Tuesday I was hurriedly finishing the last post to go and have honey chicken with the island's police Louie and Christian. Well, the dinner was divine and actually tasted like Chinese take-away. Asian take-away, whether it be Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese or Japanese is something I'm craving here. There's a distinct lack of any take-away, even some hot chips and a burger (not that I need that!)... Anyway the point of my digressing was that the evening was fabulous with great food and great company.
For the rest of the week school was pretty routine. The kids were fabulous, as usual. My star pupil has now gone up to reading level 8 and another one moved up to level 4. Another read all 12 of his golden words correctly on Friday morning. It was a first ever, as he usually gets stuck on the word 'the.'
On Friday we had 'Jump Rope for Heart.' For anyone attending school in the 1990's (and apparently 1980's) you'd remember this annual activity. I for one hate skipping with a complete blind passion. To me all skipping has to offer is uncomfortable, bouncing boobs and sore ankles, plus a hell of a lot of coordination which I think I fail at. The students however with this superb athletic ability that they all seem to have, don't join me in my disgust for the game. Basic skipping proved too easy for most of the students and soon there where more athletic variations of the skipping activities designed by our PE teacher. Boys were backflipping in time with the rope, girls were doing cartwheels and others were jumping while doing handstands. I can't get over most of the students athletic prowess. It makes me feel completely inferior, even as a child I couldn't do a handstand! And I've only just got the nack of backflipping into the pool without my swimmer bottoms coming off!
While school continued with its endless progress towards the end of term, we are of course in the middle of 'sorry business' for an elderly gentlemen. Most evenings Jen and I headed to the 'funeral place' to watch and I even partaked, in the dancing, to honour the gentleman. With a little girl as my chief instructor, I was taught to sway my arms with the music, minimicking cradling a baby, picking berries and then digging for yams. The men seem to have a lot of more complex moves to dance, including stamping, yelping, mock fighting and others. Kinda jealous I'm not a man...
I have also learnt some of the symbolic nature of the funeral place. There are numerous flags surrounding the main sandy dance floor. These represent the peaceful nature of the gathering groups. For example we have groups from Warruwi, Croker Island, Elcho Island, Maningrida and Darwin and probably other places that I am not aware of. Each group has a flag that is representative and when placed alongside eachother symbolises that the gathering is for cultural and peaceful reasons rather than warfare.
There have also been two Christian services for the gentleman. One is being held today and another was on last Wednesday night. To me, this is an interesting fusion of culture and history. After all Warruwi was a missionary site, therefore the inhabitants were subject to Christianity. Pastor Watson I dare say did not only preach, as there are a few children with the Watson surname. But I digress (again!), while Indigenous traditions are upheld, there are aspects of Christianity maintained, including services for the deceased.
Last night, there was a huge number of people at the funeral place. Numbering near 200 I believe. Five planes came in yesterday bringing elders from Croker Island. We believe that the burial will take place tomorrow. There was so much joy last night. After every performance all of the audience yelled 'yoww!' which is a mark of respect, similar to how clapping is for Western audiences.
Also last night, my little teachers again were trying to teach me Mawing, but as usual I failed. The linguistic patterns and the way they roll their tongue with each word, is proving difficult. I did nevertheless provide some light entertainment for some little scamps! I told them I would have to go to school for ten years to learn Mawing, just like they have to go to school to learn English. I've got a little list of words that I've been taught. However as Mawing is not a written language, I've spelt everything phonetically. Mostly the list serves as a reminder for me.
Here's a couple:
mom-wang: Mum
nan-goa: Nanna Goat (derived from English maybe??)
sharr: Piss Off
ee-rai: Go away (nicely)
dorock: Dog
nui-bal-cart: don't dig
gun-biddi-biddi: saltwater crocodile
gin-ar: freshwater crocodile
bal-lai-rei: I'll come
balanda: white person/people
yalunga: foreign person (used to describe Louie who is Filipino)
Again I realise how lucky I am to be privy to the sacred nature of the funerals and Indigenous culture. I am so honoured to be able to watch and be wanted at, the nightly dances. On Warruwi, unlike most Indigenous communities, it's a mark of respect to the Indigenous community by the balinda to attend the cultural activities. It is known if you do and do not attend.
Oh and I almost forgot last Wednesday, I went for the first time to the community radio station. It broadcasts Monday-Friday 9am-4pm to Warruwi and surrounding communities and outstations. It's full of easy listening and announcements relevant to the community, including activities, tide times, weather updates etc. If you're ever up this way tune into 102.1FM.
Well, that's about it for today. This morning I went on a lovely early morning ride with the teachers to Bottle Rock. Again it was fabulous with sparkling water, bright colours and landscapes. Made me realise again that I'm currently living in paradise! Nevertheless only 2 weeks to go then I leave and 10 days until Aaron's arrival on Warruwi. I'm so looking forward to seeing him, nine weeks is simply too long to be apart!
Croc watch: Still no bloodly crocs. I declare they don't actually exist, it's just a rumor designed to stop us going in the water.
Until next week!!
xxx
Last Tuesday I was hurriedly finishing the last post to go and have honey chicken with the island's police Louie and Christian. Well, the dinner was divine and actually tasted like Chinese take-away. Asian take-away, whether it be Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese or Japanese is something I'm craving here. There's a distinct lack of any take-away, even some hot chips and a burger (not that I need that!)... Anyway the point of my digressing was that the evening was fabulous with great food and great company.
For the rest of the week school was pretty routine. The kids were fabulous, as usual. My star pupil has now gone up to reading level 8 and another one moved up to level 4. Another read all 12 of his golden words correctly on Friday morning. It was a first ever, as he usually gets stuck on the word 'the.'
On Friday we had 'Jump Rope for Heart.' For anyone attending school in the 1990's (and apparently 1980's) you'd remember this annual activity. I for one hate skipping with a complete blind passion. To me all skipping has to offer is uncomfortable, bouncing boobs and sore ankles, plus a hell of a lot of coordination which I think I fail at. The students however with this superb athletic ability that they all seem to have, don't join me in my disgust for the game. Basic skipping proved too easy for most of the students and soon there where more athletic variations of the skipping activities designed by our PE teacher. Boys were backflipping in time with the rope, girls were doing cartwheels and others were jumping while doing handstands. I can't get over most of the students athletic prowess. It makes me feel completely inferior, even as a child I couldn't do a handstand! And I've only just got the nack of backflipping into the pool without my swimmer bottoms coming off!
While school continued with its endless progress towards the end of term, we are of course in the middle of 'sorry business' for an elderly gentlemen. Most evenings Jen and I headed to the 'funeral place' to watch and I even partaked, in the dancing, to honour the gentleman. With a little girl as my chief instructor, I was taught to sway my arms with the music, minimicking cradling a baby, picking berries and then digging for yams. The men seem to have a lot of more complex moves to dance, including stamping, yelping, mock fighting and others. Kinda jealous I'm not a man...
I have also learnt some of the symbolic nature of the funeral place. There are numerous flags surrounding the main sandy dance floor. These represent the peaceful nature of the gathering groups. For example we have groups from Warruwi, Croker Island, Elcho Island, Maningrida and Darwin and probably other places that I am not aware of. Each group has a flag that is representative and when placed alongside eachother symbolises that the gathering is for cultural and peaceful reasons rather than warfare.
There have also been two Christian services for the gentleman. One is being held today and another was on last Wednesday night. To me, this is an interesting fusion of culture and history. After all Warruwi was a missionary site, therefore the inhabitants were subject to Christianity. Pastor Watson I dare say did not only preach, as there are a few children with the Watson surname. But I digress (again!), while Indigenous traditions are upheld, there are aspects of Christianity maintained, including services for the deceased.
Last night, there was a huge number of people at the funeral place. Numbering near 200 I believe. Five planes came in yesterday bringing elders from Croker Island. We believe that the burial will take place tomorrow. There was so much joy last night. After every performance all of the audience yelled 'yoww!' which is a mark of respect, similar to how clapping is for Western audiences.
Also last night, my little teachers again were trying to teach me Mawing, but as usual I failed. The linguistic patterns and the way they roll their tongue with each word, is proving difficult. I did nevertheless provide some light entertainment for some little scamps! I told them I would have to go to school for ten years to learn Mawing, just like they have to go to school to learn English. I've got a little list of words that I've been taught. However as Mawing is not a written language, I've spelt everything phonetically. Mostly the list serves as a reminder for me.
Here's a couple:
mom-wang: Mum
nan-goa: Nanna Goat (derived from English maybe??)
sharr: Piss Off
ee-rai: Go away (nicely)
dorock: Dog
nui-bal-cart: don't dig
gun-biddi-biddi: saltwater crocodile
gin-ar: freshwater crocodile
bal-lai-rei: I'll come
balanda: white person/people
yalunga: foreign person (used to describe Louie who is Filipino)
Again I realise how lucky I am to be privy to the sacred nature of the funerals and Indigenous culture. I am so honoured to be able to watch and be wanted at, the nightly dances. On Warruwi, unlike most Indigenous communities, it's a mark of respect to the Indigenous community by the balinda to attend the cultural activities. It is known if you do and do not attend.
Oh and I almost forgot last Wednesday, I went for the first time to the community radio station. It broadcasts Monday-Friday 9am-4pm to Warruwi and surrounding communities and outstations. It's full of easy listening and announcements relevant to the community, including activities, tide times, weather updates etc. If you're ever up this way tune into 102.1FM.
Well, that's about it for today. This morning I went on a lovely early morning ride with the teachers to Bottle Rock. Again it was fabulous with sparkling water, bright colours and landscapes. Made me realise again that I'm currently living in paradise! Nevertheless only 2 weeks to go then I leave and 10 days until Aaron's arrival on Warruwi. I'm so looking forward to seeing him, nine weeks is simply too long to be apart!
Croc watch: Still no bloodly crocs. I declare they don't actually exist, it's just a rumor designed to stop us going in the water.
Until next week!!
xxx
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