Sorry about the delay in posting. We left again for Australia on December 1st, and were so busy for the entire month (retuned January 5th) that I didn't blog at all!
Well, just a quick summary. We (Nini and I) made the trip over on our own, so that I could attend my gorgeous friends Leish and Jono's wedding. Despite the threat of a locust plague and in a "dear lord no" moment of nearly not finding the venue and being late (side story - Leish and I travelled to Sydney together for a wedding last year, got hopelessly lost and missed the ceremony completely - the irony would have been too great) I made it! The wedding was topped off by a fantastic reception aboard a houseboat on the river Murray, catching up with friends from uni and a brilliant roadtrip with Suha and Avhan.
The rest of our time in Adelaide was great, although I felt less overwhelmed with love than I was last time. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but more that last time I was sort of desperate and clingy with Adelaide. This time we were much more relaxed about our relationship.
We caught up with friends, family, went on an excellent wine tour of McLaren Vale (where copious wine may have been consumed, and a glorious nap on the tour bus in the afternoon sun while everyone else was at the final winery may have been had), had playdates, beach swims, pool swims, trips to playgrounds and a good time in general.
Christmas, too went very well. We had 3 lovely Christmas meals with our various families, and Nini was thoroughly spoilt. So much, in fact, that we will require probably another 2 trips to retreive all her loot. She has also started to understand the concept of "presents" and now every present is "mines!".
All too soon, it was time to return home to Pt Moresby... and it really does feel like home now. All our stuff is here, our new friends are here (however sad we are to leave our family and Aussie friends behind!) and our lives, for now, are here.
Now, for some exciting developments....
Firstly, I have a JOB!!!! Wow! Hooray! Although, when I logged into facebook last Sunday night immediately after my phone interview, my news feed was full of people whinging about having to go back to work the next day... which did give me a pause to wonder why on earth I am voluntarily terminating my endless Summer holiday! Anyway, it may or may not work out, but I'll be volunteering in the dept of obstetrics at Pt Moresby General Hospital two days per week. Hooray for baby catching/ wrangling. I've heard mixed things abou the hospital - some describe it as a dire place. I've set my expectations very low, and hope that I won't have my eyes opened further than they already are.
Mary has started back with us, and Niamh is loving having her back - she cried when Mary left to go home on Monday! I'm not at all worried leaving Nini with Mary, but I am worried they'll be bored all day stuck up in the apartment.At this stage I'm not sure how happy I am for Mary to take Niamh down to the kindy club, because the pool there is unfenced, Niamh can't swim well and I doubt Mary can swim at all (although it's shallow enough that Mary could go in after her if need be). Plus, none of the girls down there know even basic first aid... I suppose I'll just have to leave her loads of stuff to do.
I started another blog a little while ago, about activities to keep her occupied here. So far it's been great - keeping a blog has helped me share ideas with people about entertaining toddlers, and that's something I really can't get enough of up here!
Here's the link if you want to have a look.... http://keepbiscuitbusy.blogspot.com/
Another exciting (for me, maybe not so much for you) change is that we have a new callsign. This is actually quite funny, and very PNG. Previously our callsign was (letter)112 for Dan, and (letter)112Whiskey for me. Usually, callsigns are allocated from the top of each department down. So, the most senior (and in PNG, important) person in each department is, for example, Foxtrot1, and next down is Foxtrot2, etc etc. However this doesn't always hold true as the newcomers get the next number on the list regardless of seniority. Our previous department has had a lot of people come and go, so a lot of the numbers had been used up along the way and we were up to a 3 digit number, so according to the drivers and dispatch, obviously insignificant in the pecking order.
Well, now our new callsign is (new letter)3. Yup. Due to their department branching off, Dan has become a "bigman" in the eyes of transport. And do you know what that means?
Prompt bloody service!
We have not had to wait for a car yet since being back in PNG. This is at once hilarious, awesome, and infuriating. It confirms my suspicions that the dispatch/drivers operate on a tribal/heirarchical preference system... and now that we're benefitting from it, well... I'm not complainiing right now let's just say that.
Hmmm what else?
We went out on a boat to Fisherman's Island with some friends last weekend. It was a terrible day, weather wise unfortunately - windy, rainy, very choppy seas. It was actually warmer in the water than out. In the sand dunes, kids from a nearby village were digging little cubby holes, then some ran down naked to the surf and did cartwheels. It was still a great fun day, despite the weather.
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| Windy?? |
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| Kids playing in the dunes |
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| Swimming in the rain |
I think that's about it for now. I think of new things I'm going to blog about every day, and then promptly forget them again. But I am definitely enjoying being back here. Gorgeous weather, lovely people, and someone who cleans my house for me every single day. Amazing.
Love to all! Here are some recent facebook albums...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=304878&id=694951048&l=d4d78ec567
And some pics....
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