Success!

I did it! I have successfully completed my assignment, and not just that, but successfully overcome the challenges thrown at me by the printer, laminator, binder and computer. Woo :) I have also come to realise that the binder doesn't just punch holes in the paper; instead it makes it easier for you to bind instead of standing there for hours threading each link through each hole on each piece of paper. Not that I did that, but I was seriously very close to a long, LONG night before I realised that there has to be an easier way! I have also come to realise that everything in the staffroom is designed to frustrate me; the computer monitor keeps going black, the chair is all funny and won't move and the LAMINATOR! Don't even get me started on that because I might just have a nervous breakdown. However, having just written a very large assignment based on the importance of dealing with challenges in our lives, I'm determined not to get angry and instead throw all my vent up anger and frustration into blogging, seeing as I've left you all hanging for far too long now. It's been a crazy week!

The most terrifying news of the week; there is something very alive in my air conditioner. On Tuesday morning at 1am I awoke to the scratching of an unknown something in the vent above my bed. Lying there in the dark, I feared an utterly disgusting and alive object falling from the aircon and landing on my head, or somewhere in the bed. This paranoia and my sincere lack of bravery forced me to the couch where I slept blissfully without fear of a mouse, cockroach or the very scary cockamouse (watch How I Met your Mother for more info, not sure which season or episode but you’ll enjoy getting up to the part I’m referencing). The next morning through while I was getting ready I heard it again and ran but luckily no evidence of anything other than air in the con as of late. Which is a relief, especially as Henry pulled a five inch cockroach from his the other day. As they are my eternal phobia, I best not be seeing any of these feral rodents anytime soon!

I have discovered that I should never get a job in the watermelon profession. Being on Mangarri duty sees me mostly dealing with apples and oranges, small and easily divisible fruit that I can still not manage to cut up without cutting myself. For this reason I took a few weeks to build up the courage to serve up watermelon as fruit of the day on Tuesday. I had to cut up a WHOLE watermelon, divide it between 75 kids and do so without making a humongous mess or stabbing myself with the knife, which was quite possible due to the sincerely unorthodox manner of cutting I chose to observe. As luck would have it, things went kind of haywire as soon as someone came into the room and Anthony bore witness to me making one rather clumsy hack at the melon only to have half of it slide off the board and fall a meter onto the floor. Awkward! So despite the fact that the kids got their food, I was left with watermelon juice and pips absolutely EVERYWHERE, a sticky and pink mess that almost clogged the drain. I will be sure to stick to the easy fruit from now on.

Camille turned eight last Monday but as Mindy was on a PD in Broome, we decided to celebrate it this Monday just passed. As usual, I was on cake duty (packet cake, we ran out of cooking chocolate and they don’t actually sell it in Balgo which is a real pain!) and was really excited as I was finally able to use the pink fairy dust we have in the pantry at home. So it comes as no surprise that I was getting quite depressed when she wasn’t at school for the majority of the morning. I was just about to invite everyone over for cake and coffee (mmm, coffee) after school when there was a knock at the door and she came :) woooo! I was so excited and we all enjoyed a yummy treat, pumped for the next student’s birthday. Sophie and I are on cake duty for Henry and Jarred’s birthdays next week and were planning a super amazing three tiered masterpiece before we realized we both suck at the cooking and decorating part of creating said masterpiece. Awkward. Oh well, whatever we make will be fabulous!

Cody made Jenny laugh so hard yesterday, which in turn got me and Sophie cracking up because she was laughing too hard to talk. We eventually got it out of her and discovered that Jenny had tried drawing something on Cody’s work to demonstrate what the kids had to do, only to have Cody say to her that her drawing ‘disgusted him!’ An insult like that from a nine year old kid is more hilarious than confidence breaking and it was the funniest thing! Poor Jenny was just trying to help. I had to laugh at Antonio the other day. We were lining up to do something and he just broke from the line, did a cartwheel and then went into the splits. The look on his face afterwards was as if he was expecting a huge round of applause. It was so funny. No matter how naughty the kids are, they make me laugh. Like Noah the other day. He came and gave me a hug (for no reason, cute) and then I made him promise that he would be good and we shook hands on the promise. Next thing I know he’s poking Moses for the fun of it. Ah well, it was worth a try!

The kids have made it their life’s mission to ride the camel. Just yesterday, I caught Julian climbing the school fence near where the camel was standing and trying to entice her close enough to jump on her. It was the funniest thing, but it ended in eventual failure. I heard a rumor there is a guy camel roaming the Tanami just out of town so it would be cool if he came to Balgo and then we had little camel babies roaming around. Cute!! But I think Sister Alice would find a way to stop that. The kids were telling me that ‘Sister got chased by camel, but then she ran and got away’.  It took me a while to work out which Sister they were talking about but when I found out that poor Alice got chased, it was so sad! She’s the cutest and kindest lady around and even the camel should know that. So rude of Jellybean!                                                         

Julian and Francis, so close to riding camel, yet so far!

I had a bit of a break from routine today. Meg, the Youth Worker asked me if I would be willing to run a section at the clinic on Education, as today was our first ever Balgo Women’s Health Day. It was such an honor to be asked and I jumped at the chance. We spent a bit of the morning rounding a few teenage girls up that we believed would benefit from the day and then were off, enjoying Balgo Champagne (apple juice and soda water, not bad) and bananas as soon as we arrived. It looked to be a good day and Meg and I supervised the girls when they learnt about a lot of girly stuff and had a bit of a sex-ed lesson, most of which, although funny, may offend some readers so I’ll refrain from going into detail. I talked to the girls about the importance of going to school as it opens up the possibility of them being able to board in Perth and then go onto further studies, but they were a bit too interested in the hair washing and nail paining that was available. Mine and Megs session was scheduled for after lunch however we didn’t have anyone come back afterwards which was a real shame so the day unfortunately drew to an early close. Still, I passed the photos around that were sent to me by some fabulous La Salle teachers after a mercy email at 3pm yesterday and the women and girls really got a lot from them, especially seeing those they knew looking super smart in their LSC uniforms. Despite the fact that the day didn’t go as they planned, I think the girls got a lot out of it and it was an exceptional clinic initiative. I even won some perfume!

The clinic got a bit of decorating!

Lunch was SO good!

Learning about Diabetes while lunching

I’ve been cleaning the house from top to bottom in preparation for the visit of our program manager, Mr. James Camden. Sure, it’s always tidy and clean but I’ve been giving it a huge scrub, probably getting off about ten years worth of accumulated dirt on the walls, fans, cupboards, blinds, etc. It’s such a good feeling finally getting everything to a decent standard and I hope it stays that way. I’m not too confident though; every time I get the kitchen to a pristine condition it’s trashed within three hours and stays that way until I can tolerate the mess no longer. I’m getting used to having a permanent smell of domestos on my hands! Blurgh!

Balgo is still cold. I’ve been wearing scarves to school most days, testament to the frigid conditions. I walked out of home today all rugged up and got to school before realizing it wasn’t as cold as I had expected and we were finally been given a break from the frigid conditions. That didn’t last long and the warm clothes are now back on. Everyone is saying that this is different from most dry seasons and far colder than usual so that’s interesting. I think most days it’s colder than Perth. What’s happening?!

This video is for my Mum. It’s of Francis the other day playing with a Space Cube thing she sent up for Primary C. For most of it he thinks it’s a photo but what you’re seeing, he sat and did for almost half an hour which was super cute. The kids love it!

If you’re in the area in the near future, there is a bonfire and dinner this Saturday at our place. BYO meat, we’ll provide the salads and dessert (and the desert haha). The address; House 13, Balgo. Time: 7.00pm till late. Cordial will also be supplied. Bring $100 for a fine if you’re game enough to bring anything stronger, but we strongly disagree with this. Hope to see you all there :)