Things That Go Bump in the Night

There was a time when I loved to sleep. There is nothing better than crawling into a comfy bed at the end of a long day and drifting off into sweet slumber… that was until I discovered the things that go bump in the night…

My house is beautiful. It’s a tiny seaside shack, cosy but newly renovated. It is on the edge of a lush tropical jungle, which the locals call the magic forest. Lovely to look at, lovely to walk through, lovely to listen to the sounds of the insects at night… but full of gigantic, hairy, creepy spiders!!!! These are not just your normal household huntsman spiders… they are about the size of a dinner plate (no exaggeration), they are fast moving, and only seem to appear at night… and lately in my room.

On Friday night, I walked blissfully unaware into my room, ready for a good nights slumber, then horror of horrors, I saw it… a huge, black hairy beast on my wall. I ran out of the room screaming like only a big girl can and sent a visiting friend in with a can of Mortein. When she went in, she said ‘which spider… this one or that one?’ There were two of the hairy beasts! This sent us both into a screaming hysteria as we tried to douse them in bug spray… I ended up standing on the kitchen table crying like a big baby when the neighbours came over to check that there wasn’t a murder taking place. I think we must have woken the whole neighborhood.

When I thought the ordeal was over, I worked up enough courage to go back into my room, and there on the wall, was THE MOTHER OF ALL SPIDERS. Words cannot describe the horror I felt at that moment. Even my brave friend Kiri who had killed the last two freaked out at this one. The scene that followed as we attempted to kill this vile beast was like a scene out of the 1980’s horror film ‘Arachnophobia.’ Again, concerned (and somewhat amused) neighbours came running as I screamed words that I didn’t even think were in my vocabulary, with tears running down my cheeks… I must have looked a treat. I think the locals thought it was a very entertaining Friday night, because quite a crowd had gathered. The house was surrounded by big white grins glowing in the dark, eager to help the silly white girls. After the madness was over, I put the spare mattress up on the kitchen table, where I spent the night out of reach of any creepy eight legged creatures.

I spent the next day dousing every inch of my room in Mortein and blocking up every single crack with the duct tape mum insisted I take (mothers are always right!) I have now added a new bedtime routine that includes checking over every nook and cranny with a torch and can of Mortein… I don’t want to risk bumping into any more creatures in the night!

17 Days

As I write this, I am missing a certain someone so much that I cant concentrate on anything else… and in only 17 days I will be picking him up from the airport… Oh I can’t wait! In the meantime, I’m trying to keep myself busy. Our cat ‘Cheese’ has been busy… she’s about to drop a bundle and she is barely a kitten herself. Naughty girl! We think she is due around Christmas or New Years… I hope I am there for the birth! I have never seen a birth before, even if it is only a cat. I have been rubbing her fat belly all day and paying her lots of attention… I’d be a great father!

Yesterday I went on a cruise out to the little island where John F Kennedy was once shipwrecked. Its called ‘Kennedy Island’…. Funny that. It was beautiful… snorkelling, beach volleyball, barbeque with fresh caught tuna… all for $10 AUS. We ended up at Fatboys resort which is on a nearby island. They have a lovely little bar out over the water with 360 degree views of tropical niceness. I sat in the hammock and read some trashy mags and played some pool for the rest of the afternoon. Perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday... A typical weekend in Gizo town. I can’t wait to take my certain someone to all these places in 17 days!

Just another day in the office

There is no such thing as a 'normal' day in the Sollys... I never know quite what to expect! Yesterday I found myself piling into the back of a truck (ute) with about 10 other people and bouncing along something which is a cross between a road and a river bed. We eventually made it out to a little village where we hosted International Children's Day festivities.

It is my third International Children's Day program in one of these villages... and again, I never quite know what to expect! After waiting for about 4 hours for the minister to open the day with a word of prayer (we couldn't start without him... and we couldn't find him), the children paraded through the village singing songs and dancing along. They then performed speeches on children's rights, dramas on issues which affect children in their village and performed custom dances... they are unbelievably adorable! I want to adopt them all!

Later in the day I found myself sitting in a homemade hut... I was soon asked to leave because I made the babies cry. I didn't mean too... they have just never seen a white person in their house before! So I sat outside in the rain feeling homesick and sad that I make babies cry. Not to mention busting for the toilet (because there is none) and starving hungry. Then I thought it could be worse... I could be having just another day in the office!

Home Sweet Home

Okay, so Its 3am and I am lying awake in my dodgy motel, tired as I can be but still cant sleep. Its so noisy! People have no respect… they steal my food out of the communal fridge, bang around at 3am… and there is hardly ever running water. So I crack it… 3 weeks of this and I’ve had enough. I started to pack my bag and decided I would move into the office if there was no other choice… I say a quick prayer, then try and sleep.

Next day I am on my way to work and I bump into a guy who I briefly met once… it comes up in conversation that my accommodation sucks and he says he knows a guy who has a room… Five minutes later I am in a truck with the guy with the spare room. He takes me to the beautiful, QUIET, little house on the hill and says I can move in tomorrow… for half the price I was paying at dodgy motel. I have already packed my bags so of course I say yes… Oh how sweet to finally have a place to call home!

So the new place is small… only two bedrooms. But its lovely and quiet, has a TV (so I can watch last seasons Home and Away), has running water, loads of books and a cute little cat named ‘Cheese.’ We even have ‘house Mary’s’ to do our washing for us and at night it is so quiet I can even hear the ocean... My new housemate Luke is really nice… he cooks, he cleans and he never stops talking (or smoking!) He is an American scuba diving instructor who has been here for a year already, so he knows everything about everything in Gizo… and my landlord is the island Mayor and he and his wife already treat me like a daughter. Oh I can’t describe the relief. Thank you God for answering my prayer… and for throwing in a ‘house Mary!’

Boredom Town

I have discovered that living by yourself in a dodgy motel in a tiny town on an isolated island can only really mean one thing… Boredom! Oh my goodness I am so bored! Ahh!

After I have exhausted every excuse I can think of to go to the shop, I tell myself to relax and read a book… except that I read them all in the first week! I have even resorted to the old half finished Suduko book that I found at the second hand bookshop (where I go to get my weekly retail fix)… and writing a thousand letters and emails a day to poor Ben who has given up trying to reply (sorry Ben!) Thank goodness for Stacey’s ipod… I have grown addicted to playing hangman and checkers… desperate times! I even went to the extreme of joining a local Hash House Harriers (running group)… at least that way I can get in some much needed exercise as well as socialise with some other expats… and get out of boredom town for a couple of hours a week.

On the flip side, work is great… I am in the office about 3 days a week, and travelling out to villages on the other 2 days (although this is soon to increase). We travel either by boat (this is my personal favourite) or by ‘public transport’ (piled onto the back of a truck)… this takes up half the day, then we run a little workshop and do some stuff with the kids, eat ourselves silly on all the food the villagers cook us, then begin the epic trek back to town. The work is very rewarding and the people are great to work with... I actually look forward to going to work most days. And the best news of all… drum role… my lovely Deutscher man is coming over for Christmas… and staying for two whole months! I am so excited… I can introduce him to boredom town. Ben, you are in for a treat!

Saving the Children

I have just finished my first week working with Save the Children in Gizo town. Although the office is nothing exciting (its hot, dirty and empty), the people are lovely and they are doing an amazing job with limited resources. My counterpart Lisi is lovely. She is two years younger than me with a new baby, and has just taken on the role of Children’s Advocacy Project Officer… it is my role to support her in her new job, and offer her some on the job training so that she can be more effective in her work.

Although I haven’t started working with the kids yet, they are so cute! There are some big burdens that these little cuties have to bear though… hopefully the work of Save the Children can help ease it for them. Our main role is to educate both children and the community on the UN Convention of the Rights of a Child, and to create space for children to take action if they feel their rights are being violated.

Lisi and I have been busy preparing for International Children’s Day. The Child Clubs that we run (there are over 25 of them) will each have a dedicated children’s day, where the children will parade, make speeches on issues that they are concerned about, perform dramas and songs etc. We have also been busy preparing for a big stakeholders meeting, where we have invited politicians, doctors, educators, police officers, NGO’s and children to discuss issues that local children here are concerned about and hopefully come up with some strategies to solve them. I’m enjoying feeling useful, although somehow I think I will learn more than I will teach!

My Island Home

Well after two weeks orientation I have finally made it to my new home… Gizo Island! It is a very beautiful place… just how you would imagine a tropical paradise… the bluest of blue water, countless tiny islands lined with white sandy beaches, surrounded by coral reefs… absolutely stunning!

Gizo itself is quite cute. It has all the charms of a quaint seaside village… very small and friendly. The town is still rebuilding after it was devastated by a Tsunami two years ago. It is buzzing with activity… everyone is here… World Vision, UNICEF, Oxfam… and of course Save the Children, my new workplace! My counterpart Lizzy is lovely, as are the rest of the team. I am the first volunteer they have had so they are very excited and accommodating.

The down side to all of this? My accommodation. I am staying in a Motel until January because of the housing shortage caused by the Tsunami. And not the kind of Motel you are picturing… think 80’s in downtown Mexico. Exactly. And it ain’t cheap! I could rent an inner city apartment in Melbourne for the price Im paying to stay here… fingers crossed that I find an alternative soon!

School Solomons Style

'We travelled out to a little village to do four days of intensive language training... what an adventure! I decided to get a bad case of gastro on the morning we left for the 4 hour boat trip (which turned into six hours)... not good when there is no toilet! To add injury to insult, the boat broke down and we drifted at sea while the driver managed to fix it, then recieved a seriously bad dose of sunburn because we were sitting in the sun for so long (and yes mum, I was wearing sunscreen!) It was no fancy yacht by the way... a little tinny with 15 of us crammed in, being drenched with water at every bump! Eventually we made it though to what I call paradise...

We spent four days 'learning' in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Hundreds of tiny little islands surrounded by white sandy beaches lined with coconut trees, the bluesest water I have ever seen and the nicest people you could ever meet. We canoed in little wooden canoes, went snorkelling, swimming, visited neighboring islands, played with the cutest kids ever... and of course learnt pidgin... sort of. I still have a long way to go but I can at least communicate the basics. And the food... yum! The villagers cooked us a great feast everynight... fresh caught tuna, sweet potatoes, rice, pawpaw, bananas, coconut stews... It is seriously good tucker. And to think I am being paid to do this... jealous?

Luckily the boat ride back to Honiara was much smoother. As sad as we were to leave, we were all in dia need of a shower and some clean clothes... 15 people living in one shack with no shower is definately testing! I have to say, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life (so far)! I have a few more days in the capital before I head out to my own little Island... Gizo!

Shelly's Solly Adventures!

Arrived in Sollys after teary farewells... Its hot, humid and dirty. I was picturing palm trees, white sandy beaches and hammoks... It the chaos of the last few weeks I had forgotton I was going to a 'developing' country... Honiara is dirty, busy and everything looks like it was bulit last century. The 'broadband' internet is the slowest I have ever seen. I nearly died trying to cross the road... No traffic lights here, let alone pedestrian crossings! On the positive, the people are lovely, although it is a little intimidating having everybody stare at you wherever you go...
Up at 5am tomorrow to head out to a village for a few days to do some language training. We have a four hour boat ride to get there. I cant remember the last time I went on a boat... will find out if I get sea sick or not! Have run out of time at local internet cafe... so much to say but so little time! Stay tuned for more I guess... Missing you all! XoXO