Lists, Paintings, Camels, Keys, Funerals, Dingalings, Aerobics and Rainbows :)

I am absolutely blown away by how fast the days are going by. Take today for example; I was absolutely convinced it was still Monday because I had absolutely no recollection of the transition from one day to the next, just because things had gone by so quickly! It didn’t help that I was kept up most of the night by a fear that my washing was going to be blown all over the community, but that’s another story. What concerns me most is that I can’t really recall the time passing from the end of our Northern Territory trip to now. I think because most of the teachers believed the last term would kind of go slowly but we have had so much to do things have just flown by! It’s so intense and I can’t get over the fact that I’ll be leaving soon. Occasionally, the rational Steph will take over and for a moment I get this awful fear of panic that engulfs me as soon as I realise that yep, the year you never wanted to end is soon ending. Then the irrational Steph takes over and I think I’ve still got AGES to do all the things I want to do before I leave! I have a list, and it is as follows;

·         Go to Billiluna (achieving this on Sunday!)

·         See the Luurnpa Holes.

·         Buy a Balgo painting (sale coming up).

·         Camp out in The Pound (actually doing this with my class, stoked!)

·         Go to a 7am morning mass (it’s meant to be quite nice and I’ve been trying to go for a month. Every time the alarm goes off I snooze it and postpone it to the next. NOT THIS WEEK!)

·         Go to Yagga Yagga (don’t think this is likely because of the state of the road. Unfortunate, but I’ll be back eventually!)

I’m anticipating the last week and a bit to be epically fast paced as I attempt to cram as much into my time left, plus there are a lot of exciting things happening so there will be heaps to tell you all about. Therefore I’ve decided to do a Ten Day Balgo Countdown, from t-minus 10 days until I leave till day 0, when we fly out. Plus, with all the time we have in between airports if I manage to score free wi-fi or something look forward to awesome pictures from the mail plane; hopefully it won’t be raining like last time. Just what my mother needed; more blog posts to write essays of comments on! <3 you Mother dear.

As you all may have known, last Friday was kind of a special day. So special in fact that a Facebook event was created like a year and a half before it happened. The 11^th day of the 11^th month of the year with another 11 in it. Pretty cool really, especially if you’re like me and consider the 11:11 time to be wish worthy. Anyway I spent 11:11am on 11-11-11 in the Mangarri room eating a plastic cheese grilled sandwich (not as good as normal cheese, but it’s growing on me) listening to Henry very emotively sharing with me his opinion of the significance of the day. Apparently it was nothing special. Tut tut Mr. Jones, tut tut! I don’t think the universe liked that very much because karma was thrown at him in the form of stolen keys. His keys were pinched from the mangarri room by a very sly child as he was sorting out lunch. It’s kind of a thing in Balgo; keys are very important and signify great power. Of course, everyone was on edge knowing a child with keys basically meant any room in the school was a target. So the very devoted Henry spent the ENTIRE weekend in the foxtel room upholding the job of the Luurnpa security guard, popping his head out of the room every time he heard a classroom door being unlocked, even if it was a teacher. The commitment to the position was incredibly admirable. Unfortunately between the hours of 2am and 5am on Monday morning when the incredibly fatigued Henry let his eyes rest the culprits stuck and broke into the Mangarri room. Fortunately all that was taken were some icy poles but in an uncanny twist of fate the door was locked with the missing keys inside the room. The keys were returned by the thieves! Sure, they shouldn’t have been taken in the first place but Henry slept peacefully all of Monday knowing the keys were safe and sound in his possession. A true happy ending.

There was a funeral held on Saturday to remember Margaret Bumblebee, a very special and much loved community and church leader who passed away last term. Two of my students were closely related and spoke fondly of her and I decided to go and show my respects that morning. I’m not a funeral person; I tend to cry regardless of whether I knew the person or not but I found this ceremony to be rather beautiful and in a way, more celebratory than sad. The customs and practices were very different but I found allowed for everyone to grieve a lot more and fully accept the passing of someone they appreciated. Faxes were read out with messages of love from those who were present and those who were unable to attend the funeral, people got up and shared their stories about Margaret and the liturgy was quite moving. It ended up being quite a mammoth funeral because so many people wanted to talk, a testament to the kind of person Margaret was. It was lovely and I’m glad I came. Unfortunately for the people of Balgo, there is another funeral on Friday, this one probably a little bit sadder because of the tragic circumstances under which the deceased passed away. I know I’ll definitely cry at that one, especially after seeing the beautiful mass booklet Sister Alice made and reading the lovely things people wrote.

It was also Jenny’s birthday on Saturday. We marched from a funeral to a celebratory morning tea, quite opposites. I missed a call from my future employer and when returning the call, apologized for missing her, saying I had firstly been to a funeral and then to a birthday party and had my phone off, something she said was rather surreal and certainly a jam packed day. It was a lovely gathering, with everyone making a bit of sweet food and combining it all to provide quite a spread. I think I’m still full from it all!

Corryanne was learning about baby animals with Jenny yesterday morning and what the different names are. When asked what a baby duck was, she responded with ‘a dingaling’ and couldn’t figure out why Jenny and I were laughing so hard. Eventually, she did herself when Jenny told her the real name. I just loved the confidence of her response, almost as if that was what she had called it her whole life. Not a bad name really, could change it! That’s something I love about working in a primary school; you never get the day you expected and are always laughing at the cute things the kids say or do. Not a dull day ever!

There is community art exhibition in a few weeks just for students in Mulan, Balgo and Billiluna. The only stipulation of what the kids have to create is that it has to be something in their community. Primary C painted big pieces of butcher paper with some incredible designs. Julian did a dreamtime story, Francis did a picture of emu hunting, Tegan did a picture of the wind blowing things around and so many amazing creations were produced. I will have to get photos of them when they’re at the display but at the moment the only one I have is Renelle’s; a painting of Mulan road. It is so good and certainly anything better than anything I could do. I hate it when nine year olds paint better than me!

Jealous of the skills of a nine year old. Oh dear...

I have joined an aerobics class! Now that’s not something you expect to hear from someone living in Balgo, but it’s the truth! Rhonda at the Trade Training Centre is developing fitness classes and has enlisted a few of us to trial some of the routines before they are promoted. Sister Nola, Jenny, Rhonda and myself have started with a 3 mile workout DVD and once we get the hang of that will move on to latin dancing, belly dancing and Pilates. The good thing about exercising in a group like that is that I myself know that I’d feel rather embarrassed if I got sick of it and just gave up. Having other people there pushes me to keep going, as does my presence for them. It’s a win win situation for everyone, plus it’s a lot of fun and I certainly feel great after a workout. It also helps we’re doing it all in air-conditioned rooms, score!

Ok, so now here is why I explain why I was worried about my clothes being scattered all over Balgo. Yesterday, I realized I had no clean clothes as I hadn’t found a few hours where I was completely sure it wouldn’t rain over the weekend to do my washing and hang it out. That’s when you know the wet season is in full swing! Yesterday I finally did the washing and when it hadn’t rained by 6pm, I put everything out in the hot humid air hoping it would all dry by the morning. Not to be. About 9pm I heard the pitter patter of rain on the roof which eventually increased to what sounded like a pool being emptied over the house every second. It was intense. The lightning and thunder was non stop and the wind threatened to pull the glass of my windows. Things fell off my shelf because the thunder was so close and the wind so fierce. That’s when I began to think I was either going around in borrowed school uniforms for the rest of my time here or in my dressing gown; basically all I had. So I lay in bed waiting for the storm to slow down enough for me to fall asleep (I don’t think it did, I think I just got so tired I passed out) and awoke to find my clothes still miraculously pegged on the line, just absolutely soaking. After a rewash (they were pretty grimy as well, blurgh!) they were hung out and dried before any more rain was dumped on them. Brother Martin said we had 55mm of rain last night, enough to get the creek running this morning. And they say this is a desert! HA!

I thought I’d finish with the below photos of a rainbow that coloured the sky the other day. Actually, remembering now this was the same day that I watched two dogs attacking the camel (the dogs were winning, camel went psycho!), the day after the camel freaked out during a rainstorm and came and hid under the roof of the Trade Training Centre, watching us do our aerobics and the day before the camel got into our yard and wouldn’t budge. We spent half an hour trying to get her out. Wow, these pictures sure did stir up a few camel stories I forgot to tell you, which is strange because I wouldn’t dare associate a rainbow with a camel…curious. Enjoy :)

A double one!

Happy Wed-nes-day!

I put off writing my blog this week because between the last time I put up a new post and now, I didn’t actually think anything had happened. Then I go and plan what I’m writing about and the list just grows and grows, the little things always meaning more than big bush trips and trips to Uluru. Plus, most of it’s so different to anything experienced back home so while I take it for granted and accept it as the norm, there are always amazing things to be shared!

Anthony turned 20 on Friday; one less juvie to hang with, although I appreciate he isn’t any more righteous now that he’s older and technically more mature than us 18 and 19 year olds. We celebrated with dinner and cake on Thursday night and being the Balgo cake maker, my creation for Ant really tested my creative side. We had teacake with yellow icing (the butter gave it colour, totally unintentional) 100s and 1000s and a lovely ‘A’ on the top made from maple syrup. I’m so resourceful, obviously! 

It was a lovely night and although his present is still somewhere between Balgo and Hong Kong he got spoilt by us all. The boys were planning a camping trip over the weekend, but then this happened…

and considering they were only planning on sleeping in swags, it was probably a good decision! Therefore the weekend was spent showing Sister Lia and Genevieve all the sights and sounds of Balgo and the surrounding area, namely Mulan and Old Balgo while I took the time to paint and make a house look fifty times better!

I did take a break from pushing a roller up and down a wall to compile the Mirli Mirli, the Kutjunka Balgo Parish newsletter that I collate weekly. I get articles sent in from agencies in Balgo, Mulan and Billiluna, add them in, photocopy and then distribute at mass as well as emailing them to a very large number of contacts. It’s a great way to keep up with the Balgo news even if you aren’t anywhere near the community and if you do wish to be added to the mailing list email me at 2xmirli@gmail.com. Anyways I was almost finished when I heard Father John scream as manly as a man can scream. He then ran into the office where I was working, grabbed a decorative spear stick and ran back outside screaming ‘snake, snake!’ Having not yet seen one in Balgo and knowing I seriously cannot go home without spying a legless Balgo reptile I ran out with him despite the fact that it was a Death Adder and thus very poisonous. It was down a hole just next to the house and after poking around for quite a while, Father John was unable to extract it. It was then that we discovered that the same hole actually led into the house, a left over opening from the renovations carried out earlier this year. So that’s when the real party began! Father Mac stood at the hole inside ready if it came out, Michael the volunteer watched the hole outside and Father John boiled the kettle. I wondered why he was using such a tense moment to make himself a cup of tea when I realised he was planning on pouring boiling water down the hole, in an effort to burn the snake. I went inside for that, knowing angry and burnt snakes aren’t the best thing to be around but according to the trio of snake killers, nothing came up. I hope it never does! But seriously, only in Balgo do you kill a snake with boiling water!

Monday morning at school saw the kids say and do a number of funny and crazy things that makes me love working in a school. Frena asked me to practice the Word Wall in the Secondary Language she has become so fluent in (adding a ‘b’ sound after every syllable) because I am far from being able to grasp it. It was quite cute. Then at Mangarri time Justine and Sharelle, hot and bothered after running around in the sticky air put their heads under the tap and just as I walked past shook their hair like dogs, laughing as I shied away from the water droplets coming my way. They laughed as I cringed but it was rather hilarious, I have to admit! Kids are hilarious!!

You are reading the blog of the relief pool coordinator of Luurnpa Catholic School! Jim is leaving for Geelong tomorrow and as he usually does it, the torch has been passed onto me. I’m rather nervous about doing it all and ensuring chemical levels are all right and don’t hurt the kid’s eyes, but it is quite a good job and one I’m glad to have been asked to do. It involves testing the water every night, pouring in 60 litres of salt every week, looking after the filters and cleaning it when necessary. Quite a lot of responsibility, but rather cool :)

This week I’ve also mastered driving the school bus. It’s quite difficult because the brake and accelerator are really touchy and the first time I stomped on the break my passengers nearly went through the window. But as practice makes progress, I’m slowly getting better each time I drive it and despite the fact that the year is almost over I hope I can drive it somewhere substantial in the near future.

Last night I walked home around 9.00pm in the dark, nothing unusual, but as I got towards my gate I did notice something out of the norm. The light around the area didn’t settle right and as I got closer I saw the figure of a camel standing right outside the entrance to the yard. Fabulous! I began heading towards the side gate, about ten metres to the right trying very hard not to disturb the camel and thinking I was going ok when she turned, looked at me and made two steps. I was pretty sure I was about to get charged by a camel in the dark but made it to the gate without breaking eye contact with her. Camel, 0, me, 1!

Inside, I had another Mexican standoff, this time a cockroach on the wall in my bedroom. Luckily Henry saved me, flicking it, spraying it and picking it up by its antennae to get it out of my room. Apparently cockroaches can live without their antennae, and male roommates are the best to have around when insects threaten to take over ones private living space.

Four weeks today and Balgo will be a speck on the ground as I fly above in the mail plane! It’s crazy how quick the time has gone and I’m going to be so sad when everything comes to a wind up. The only problem is that I’m coming home a bit earlier than my family expected and apparently, my Dad is less than happy about this. He happens to have his Fire-fighter wind up on that night and with free food and drinks, picking up his daughter from the airport seems to be less exciting. That’s ok Papa, I have an 18th to attend to, see you Sunday morning? It’s great to have a date and time to be hitting up Perth after six months and I’m looking forward to catching up with as many people as possible on my return! 

35 Weeks Down, 35 Days To Go!

While Queen Elizabeth didn’t grace us with her presence to celebrate what is very much a belated birthday, we were granted a day off on Friday and for most of the staff, it was much needed. The end of week two brought exhaustion and bags under eyes usually reserved only for the end of the term we all marveled at how much we needed a break to get over the holidays. That’s the problem about school holidays in remote areas. You either spend the whole break seeing things, being really busy and while it’s all fun you’re really tired at the end (us). Or you go home and run the risk of spending two whole days travelling back, usually the day before school begins (most of the teachers). While everyone here had a brilliant two weeks away from Balgo I think we all attempted to cram as much in as possible and are only now feeling the effects. But thank the Lord for a public holiday so early into the term!

I woke up on Friday morning in a bit of a daze. My alarm wasn’t set but I was ready and rearing at 6.30am, confused why none of my school clothes were set on my desk, my bag not anywhere in sight and my shoes strewn over the floor. I can’t help it, creature of habit and routine! But as fog lifted and I realized that I could sleep in, I heard the thunder and rain outside and knew that of all the days for no school, today was the day. I love just lying in bed listening to the miserable weather outside, deep under the warm doona and all cosy, and that’s exactly what I did until quite late in the morning each day of the weekend. With coffee, peaches, wholemeal pancakes and chick flick movies on the laptop, rest and relaxation was assured!



Omnomnom!



Of course, I’m not the type of person that could stay in all day and headed out to do something both useful and therapeutic; paint a house! There’s something about pushing a roller of paint up and down a wall, covering up the old and replacing it with a new coat. Jim is restoring the old donga behind Brother Rick’s house and it used to be the most awful lime green colour before I got handed 60 liters of white paint, two ladders and endless brushes and rollers and told to go wild! It’s actually a lot of fun and with the aircon and music pumping inside I get a lot done in quite reasonable comfort. Plus, even just a new coat of paint makes the house look a million times better and I can’t wait to see the finished product.

After three days off, I wasn’t in the mood to return back to school especially as all those late mornings meant late nights, which meant a very grumpy Steph when I had to return back to the early starts. I am not regretting the thermos cup I brought up from home in July; the kids have become quite accustomed to me sipping my coffee in the morning while I listen to them read and quite frankly, I’m pretty sure it’s what I need to kick start my day. This term I’m supervising the students in Primary C on the computers during their literacy and numeracy time. We have a new program that covers an array of topics and questions are targeted at the level of the child. It’s quite good for the class and I enjoy helping them with the questions they are attempting to answer. For every five correct answers, the kids get 90 seconds to play a game of their choice; chosen from quite an extensive list. Often, all in the group will be completely in sync and will be playing the game at the same time, leaving me a minute and a half to do something else. On the downside, it means I have a lot of students asking me for help at the same time! You win some, you lose some! I have also learnt which of the five computers is the best. I assumed they were the same but every time we have a group change over, all the students mob to a particular one (which I would think would be the least appealing computer, shows what I know!) So now I have to have them sitting on the floor, log them in randomly to each computer and then get them going to stop the arguments, but as I found out this morning I’m in the firing line if the same student goes on the dodgy one twice. Oops!

It was Melbourne Cup on Tuesday! I hope you all knew that, because no one can ignore the race that stops the nation. Thinking back over the past few years, I haven’t had the best track record on Cup day. Two years ago I watched it from a hospital bed, giggling at every little detail as the painkillers I was taking for suspected appendicitis turned the usually poised Steph into a childish mess. Good fun. Last year I walked into my horrid WACE History exam just as the gates opened and the race begun. I blame that for my below average mark. I was convinced that for once, I would watch it in a normal situation and although you can hardly count where I watched it completely normal, it’ll do! With Luurnpa overrun by a million Victorians, the celebrations were hardly ignored. Anthony made a staff sweep and for $5, entrants would pick a random horse and get prize money if it came 1st, 2nd or 3rd. I don’t really like the Melbourne Cup and passed on the opportunity, which greatly shocked Father Mac when I told him I wasn’t involved in the sweep. It was like I had offended him personally!! He was so cute, giving me one of his own horses and refusing to take no for an answer. I don’t think the answer I gave him was good enough; ‘I don’t do the Melbourne Cup Father, I hate racing!’ I think he just thought that was un Australian. Whoops. Anyway, I was really hoping the horse I got didn’t win, because I was dreading the impending awkwardness if I won prize money that Father Mac should have!

(My horse came third and I won $20. I’m planning on hiding the money in a book he lent me when I give it back. Steph, 1. Mac, 0).

Jenny was really excited all day and planned great activities for the class to do. Every student picked out two horses, coloured them in according to the horse colour and the silk colour of the jockeys. They all got really into it and had a lot of fun, especially when Jenny got them to design their own silks and jockeys! At 11.50am we all marched down to the library, everyone clutching their drawings so they could look out for their horse and jockey during the race. They all sat quietly around the TV, the whole school mushed in staring at the small screen. It was quite a sight, and when the race set off even the quietest of personalities were revealed to be much louder fueled by the prospect of winning some cold hard cash. The kids got really excited when the silk of their jockey came up on screen but after a very exciting race, the mood in the library at its conclusion was a bit of an anticlimax. I filmed the end hoping for everyone to go crazy, but the whole photo finish was a bit of a downer. Sure, it got the anticipation going a bit longer but all the students were so confused. It took a while for it to be revealed that Renelle had the winning horse, Corryanne had the runner up and Rechelle had the second runner up. They were all so proud!

Everyone watching intentley.

The very anticlimax ending...not what I was hoping for!

The Melbourne Cup fever didn’t end with the conclusion of the race as Henry had collated a number of ‘horse races’ during sport time, horses being the noodles and Flemington being the school hall. The students had to run with their noodles, run on all fours, run with the noodles between their knees (harder than it sounds) and a whole heap of abstract methods of getting around the track. The sheer number of giggles I heard during the session was incomprehensible and I assume by how happy they all came out it was a huge success.

The first of November not only brought the Melbourne Cup, but a rather horrid change to Henrys face. Celebrating Movember (which I think is awesome), he shaved his beard and fashioned his moustache into a really seedy French type mo (which I think is considerably less awesome). What makes it worse is that he sits there and twists up the corners so the whole moustache points upwards, a sight to make sore eyes sorer. I only hope he gets a lot of donations to make up for the teasing and taunting from the kids, and adults for that matter. He sure is brave to do it, but 67 likes (and counting) on the photo on his Facebook page seems to suggest he has a lot of people supporting him! I have a feeling he may get his working with children card revoked, simply because if I had kids they wouldn’t go ANYWHERE near him for fear of them developing bad taste.

So you all know what a klutz I am, but up until this stage I had managed to keep that fact away from the students. Until the other day when I tripped over the internet cord in class. As usual, I made it look really classy and recovered well and walked away thinking everyone was too busy to have seen it. Just as I headed off I heard the tiniest giggle to my right and looked over to see Sharelle laughing. She’d seen the WHOLE thing and was silently dying with laughter, the silent part something I thought was nice because it didn’t draw attention to my inability to walk. Gotta love Sharelle, she didn’t make a scene but just went on with her work, only saying something to me later in the day when I tripped up a step and laughing again at my earlier stack. Bless her silent cotton socks!

We’ve had a number of visitors here this week. Brother Ambrose arrived on Sunday and left today for what was a rather whirlwind visit, but it’s always good to have Brother Ambrose around. We also had a number of people from the CEO, including former La Salle principal Mr. Ciccarelli (sorry for incorrect spelling!) I love having anyone connected to La Salle Middle Swan around and it was great to see him and hear about all the happenings in Perth, especially with the Queen visiting Clontaff, an Indigenous and CEO run boarding house for Kimberley and Pilbara students. It’s all very exciting down south by the sounds of it!

Just an update on my culinary skills; I’m coming home a freaking Masterchef! Tonights meal was Chow Mein Noodle Stir-fry, just casually whipped up after a hard day cleaning. Stephanie. Remember that name; I believe you may see me winning season 50 of the show in the future. Woo :) I have to just master the art of chopping onions…

Very yummy!

The title is just a fun fact for you all that I figured out today, just randomly. Not long to go; where has the year gone!

Royalty, of the MUSIC kind in Balgo!

I've been pretty homesick the past few days, but not the normal type of homesick. It's more the fact that I just really want to be in Perth right now, because it's where all the action is happening! The Queen and Prince Phillip are chilling there as we speak, my good pal Julia Gillard is probably causing more controversy over her non-hat and curtsying ways and for once, Perth is the centre of the world. Well, the centre of the Commonwealth world, but whatever. It's still pretty cool. I'd be the type of person that would hang out wherever the heads of nations are just to get a chance to talk to them and open up a Pandora's Box of political conversation and debate, something I love to do. I'd be eating a hot dog on the foreshore with Lizzie and Phil, observing the royal way to handle a pig in a blanket. And most importantly, I'd probably be reforming about something (I'd have more an idea what about if I was more up to date with current affairs). But as you’ll soon find out, I did meet someone today that was almost, if not cooler than all those mentioned dignitaries. Twenty guesses, starting now!

On Monday I took part in a coaching clinic. Anthony, Robert and Louise run a program after school three times a week called Active After School Communities. It’s all about encouraging students to be more active in that vacant block between 2pm when school finishes and 5.30pm and is run across all Australian schools. I think that it probably works best in small communities like Balgo because the teachers are so involved with the student out of school, as well as during school hours. We had to take part in drills and activities that gave us an idea of the better coaching strategies, devise our own lessons and understand the methods of keeping students engaged for an hour to an hour and a half. We were all pumped to go out that afternoon and display everything we had learnt, but it wasn’t to be…

The afternoon brought thunder and lightning, which was ok because there was no hint of rain and the dry thunderstorm, was nothing short of normal for this time of the year. But it didn’t last long. The usual became unusual as a strong wind blew heavy clouds in and rain drops the intensity of hail stones bucketed down over the community. Stranded in the staff room at the time, I attempted to make a beeline for home until the sideways rain driven by the wind slammed the door shut and I succumbed to sheltering inside until the storm passed. The thunder shook the buildings; the lightning lit up the entire sky and everything outside was kind of manic, but absolutely amazing. I have missed squalls like that! The storm seemed to take breathers every ten minutes and I anxiously waited to see if it was permanent. After half an hour of one of the craziest Balgo storms I’ve seen this year, the rain stopped, the wind halted and I braved the cool outside air and ran home as fast as I could just in case it started up again. The thunder and lightning continued for another hour which was lovely to watch but luckily for my load of washing that evening, no more rain!

The storm brewing.

It's sooo raining!

I woke up on Tuesday to a brilliantly clear day that reminded me of how beautiful everything is the day after a storm. The puddles and debris around were the only indicators of what had occurred the previous afternoon and I wandered to school to feed an alarming number of students; it seemed as if the storm had shaken them all out of their holiday hiding places and to school! Not long before the bell sounded, I noticed a few kids huddling around something Chris was holding. I asked them to bring it over and was excited to see that they had found a perfectly formed bird’s nest. However, my excitement didn’t last long. As I peered closer, I saw that the nest still contained chicks! They looked so little and vulnerable and I felt awful that they had been taken from the tree and away from the mother bird. Knowing full well that they couldn’t survive, I tried to convince the kids to put the nest back in the tree in the hope that they wouldn’t be totally rejected, but they convinced me instead to try and feed them. I raised my own Weiro from a baby but that was different; these birds were barely a week old! When feeding them mushed up bread failed, I got my teacher voice on and the nest was back in the tree in a flash! Still, it was kind of cool; the chicks were so cute and I know the kids didn’t know what they were doing was wrong, but the whole circle of life thing is a total pain sometimes!

So tiny!

Henry, Anthony and I are doing an Anaphylaxis training certificate sometime next week, and I mentioned this to the cool nurse Shaun when I went to the clinic to drop off some child health forms. Going completely off the topic as he usually does when I’m seeking help for something else (he knows I’m a future medical student) I got my own demonstration of the proper use of an epipen after I made him cringe with what I thought was the correct way. I learnt how NOT to cut off the circulation of my thumb and how to correctly save the life of a child who’s blowing up like a balloon! However, I still need to do the training to get the certificate but as Shaun said, I can be the annoying know it all kid up the front of the class that gets on everyone’s nerves. Memories of high school come flooding back…

The most amazing thing happened when I went out on a walk to The Pound the other day. I was just walking along, humming along to my music when I saw something poking out of the grass ahead. Thinking I was about to get mauled by some dogs who were rather annoyed I was coming near, my heart fluttered with fear and I stopped in my tracks. But as I watched, I realised they weren't dogs; they were KANGAROOS! I have NEVER seen a kangaroo around anywhere, let alone so close to the community. As they bounded across the path away from me, I noticed how healthy they were and realised they were probably drawn closer by the water that has collected around the area in the past few days. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of them but managed to get some spectacular shots of the surrounding area as a storm was blown in, photos that turned out really good, considering I only had my phone with me!

There's a rainbow in there as well.

The sun streaming through the clouds. It was magnificent.

Ok, so now for the story you've all been waiting for. Who came to Balgo this morning? None other than the current Education Minister, former Environmental Minister, former Midnight Oil star PETER GARRETT!! (and the crowd goes wild!) He's doing a roadshow o various community schools and picked Balglo, having previously come here as a tourist once before on a trek around Australia and wanting to see more. We were all very excited when, only three days ago Brother Rick received word that he was gracing us with his presence. As always when a Minister comes to Luurnpa, a fabulous morning tea was organised, the students looked fabulous, the school looked amazing (still thanks to the La Salle crew) and when a very tall bald man walked into the staffroom, we all got very excited! I never realised how tall Peter Garrett is, it's actually quite an effort to have a conversation with him without craning your neck. He was very polite and introduced himself personally to everyone in the room, getting to know us and what our roles are at the school. Brother Rick, who turned another year younger today had Happy Birthday sung to him by a crowd that also contained Peter Garrett! How many people are able to say they had Happy Birthday sung to them by a former pop star? So jealous!

Addressing the staff (he's so tall!)

After morning tea and a rather impressive speech to the staff (he's certainly switched on when it comes to education, good to know considering his job description I suppose) he went out and talked to the students at assembly, some of them who knew the Minister in his previous career. They all listened very attentively as I managed to take a few stalker shots of him while he was talking (unfortunately, no shots with us both in it) and he made a quick visit into each classroom before he left. When in our room, Tegan asked if he could sing and Frena asked if he could dance for us but he said he was a bit old for that. He did however try and touch the roof when Renelle asked, blown away by his epic height. Jenny entertained the kids just before swimming with a compilation of a whole heap of Peter Garrett dance moves which they absolutely loved. He certainly is a 'talented' dancer, that's for sure!

The school.

Minister Garrett speaking to the students.

Picking PATHS Kid of the week.

Congratulations Ainsley!

The long weekend is much needed for all the Luurnpa staff, who all unfortunately have the 'Week 9' exhaustion look about them. Me included. It's scary to think it's only Week 2! Many thanks to Queen Elizabeth for been born; you may be bailing on Balgo but thanks for this much needed break!

La Salle College Balgo Immersion 2011; Memories in a Movie :)

This video was made after the students that were a part of the La Salle Balgo Immersion of 2011 headed back to Perth after a week organising games for the kids of Balgo, cleaning the school and modelling the life of St. John Baptist de La Salle. This video is a reminder of the things they achieved, the relationships they forged with the Balgo community and what they did to touch hearts. Congratulations to all the students and staff who were involved; you did an outstanding job and are already missed! 

Waterbombs, Cockroaches and MICE!

Late on Wednesday afternoon last week we had an insect hunt. Primary C went around the playground with little containers looking for those lovely six legged creepy crawlies we all love to hate, yet outnumber the human race by some staggering number. Despite them been so plentiful, only a few were captured and the students were therefore allowed to take the containers home and find their own delightful bugs. Thursday morning saw moths, flies, beetles, crickets and a grasshopper coming into the classroom and all were placed in a lovely aquarium that Jim found and turned into a cool housing unit for all the things we find. Of course, when Sharelle returned to class in the middle of a literacy group after a quick drink clutching a cockroach by the antennae, my enthusiasm about the new arrival cannot be described as sky high. What did make me happy though was how into the topic they are all getting; Jenny sure did hit the jackpot deciding to do insects this term!

Having keenly been watching the weather forecast over the past week in the hope of seeing some rain, I was very excited when on Thursday morning there was an 87.5% chance of rain (statistics courtesy of the Bureau of Meteorology, thank you for making me such a budding meteorologist). I shared my anticipation of precipitation with Henry, who responded with ‘I like those odds’. Of course, he was laughing at how disappointed I was when at 7pm that night; there had still been no water falling from the sky. How sure I had been, and how disappointing for the odds to be wrong. But only an hour later cyclonic winds had developed outside, thunder was so loud it was shaking the house and lightning was lighting up the night sky every two seconds. It was stunning. The wind was so intense that a massive dust storm had enveloped the community and it looked exactly like rain. My excitement was short lived when I figured it out moments later. Just as our dinner guests for the night were about to leave, a pitter patter on the tin roof led me to exclaim one of our favourite family sayings from a TV add that was on when I was younger; ‘Marge, the rains are here!’ And boy, were the rains finally here! It absolutely bucketed and I awoke to a wintery, windy and miserable looking Friday morning; just what I love about Perth weather! Every so often Balgo feels like home and when it’s cold enough to even contemplate putting a jumper on, Perth seems less far away.

The miserable conditions during the day certainly did not stop Anthony going ahead with a planned waterfight/capture the flag competition later that night. The boys had spent two hours debating the rules and guidelines at the dinner table the night before and had eventually finalized an idea conjured up on the long trip home from Alice Springs during the holidays. Promoted as a ‘team building’ activity, it was hoped that most of the staff would be keen to play in the cold and in the dark on one of three teams protecting their own flags while trying to get the flag of another team, using water bombs as ammunition. Our own battle (we referred to it as ‘war’) was quite ironically played on the same night that American troops were pulled out of Iraq. Just a fun fact I thought I’d throw in there, seeing as for once I’m actually on top of a current affairs!

At 7.30pm that night a decent sized crowd gathered in the staffroom, some more geared up for getting wet (Maggie in her raincoat), some more geared up for camouflaging (me, completely in black with the cool commando lines on my face drawn smartly with waterproof mascara) and then just plain old what the hell; of course, Henry in yet another of his whacked up costumes.

Excuse the dirty mirror, and the lame photo.

We split into our teams, were given a tour of the boundaries, potential hazards and bases and had a few minutes to strategies before the game began. I was with Maggie, Brother Rick, Ralph (Jenny’s visiting relation) and Ale. Our base was quite good; many easy places to defend it and a good view of who was coming where. We didn’t think anyone capturing the flag would be a problem but were quite a distance away from the two other bases so while Maggie stayed to defend, the rest set off. I was quite awful in the game; the first balloon I popped on someone was myself, and then I copped one to the stomach from only a meter away by Brother Rick who didn’t realise it was me when I was coming back to base. That hurt, a lot! The first game ended rather quickly with Team A capturing the flag of Team B. With many balloons still left, we continued on.

It was decided to switch bases to make it fair and the game certainly was made more interesting as strategies changed depending on the position of the team. Many players had personal interests during the game; I’m pretty sure Brother Rick was keener on water bombing Anthony than actually capturing the flag, but he made for an interesting player and the game was made a lot more humorous with his personal motivations keeping us entertained. When all our balloons had gone and all that was left was a bucket of cold water, he goaded me into helping him carry it over to Anthony’s base and saturate him. The only problem was that Anthony and Darren had the same idea so we all ended up absolutely soaked but grinning nonetheless. It was a great night and we’re keen on another game as soon as some more water balloons get posted up because we were very much rationed this time around.

The after party was held at Anthony’s and I made myself comfortable in his ‘shed’, as I usually do. I was just chilling on the couch when of all things, a cockroach just casually climbed over me. Of course, I jumped a mile, screamed so loud Perth could have heard me and ran the house jumping up and down and all around making sure it was off me. Just my luck, that happened twice more and things only got worse when Anthony went to change iPod’s in his dock and discovered another rodent mushed in between the iPod and speakers. Not cool. I was worrying his house was infested and he really needed to get it fumigated as I opened a half eaten box of crackers and tipped them onto a plate. Only crumbs were coming out so I gave it a shake and to my extreme horror a MOUSE flew out of the box, onto my hand and down my body into the next room. I screamed and screamed and SCREAMED (not that I’m too terrified of mice but it was kind of a shock), much to the entertainment of Anthony, Darren and Brother Rick who had all witnessed what had happened and were in stitches. It was absolutely awful and I spent the rest of the night expecting another awful insect or animal to release its horror on me. Luckily nothing came but it definitely wasn’t my night. As you can see in the below picture though, they're sneaky little beings.

Yesterday morning I woke to the constant grumbling of thunder over the house, the pitter patter of rain on the roof and a cool wind blowing outside. The thing I love about Balgo is that the thunderstorms never really go away. They can hang around for hours, thunder shaking the house and lightning blinding everything. It was a lovely way to start the day; curled up in bed with coffee and pancakes listening to the wintery climate outside. I could have stayed like that all day but unfortunately the weather changed, the sun came out (I know I should be happy about that but I’m such an un-sunny person; bring on the cloud and rain!) and work had to be done. After Mirli Mirli-ing (the parish newsletter which I compile every week), a lovely chat with Father Mac who was intent on watching the horse races and scoffing down a bite to eat, I headed over to see Jim and begin a new project; painting! Now of course, this wasn’t like creative painting and all that arty farty stuff. I failed Year 6 art and never really recovered so there was no way I was going to put whatever artistic skills I have left in full display. No, this was painting houses! Jim had been telling me about all the painting he has to do and asked if I wouldn’t mind helping him, which of course I didn’t. Because in some weird way, I find painting therapeutic and relaxing and the busy person I am, enjoy doing things that relax me AND keep me busy at the same time. There’s a lot of work to be done and it’s going to take a while but it’ll keep me out of mischief for most of the time I have left and it’s in better conditions than the last time I painted something; painting the back fence with Mum in the middle of Summer was fun but very uncomfortable in 40°C heat! Most of it is inside with working air-conditioners, so jackpot!

I had a scary moment yesterday. I was walking home from school in the dark because once again, I had lost track of time and before I knew it, it was dark. I had just stepped outside of the school when I smelt something familiar. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was until I realised; it was the camel! It’s scary when you can smell her, but can’t see her. As you can imagine, that was a nervous walk home but fortunately I never came across good old Jellybean/Lucy/Camel/Noonerghay/Whatever she’s called these days. I don’t mind her when she’s in a good mood, you just can never really tell when that is!

Insects Galore :/

When my alarm went off on Monday morning at 6:30am, I was hoping that somehow, it was a joke. Still half asleep and 100% in holiday mode, I snoozed the alarm three times before it hit me; Term 4 had begun. I rolled out of bed, made myself look decent and headed to school to fulfil my Mangarri duty. Walking into Luurnpa, I felt like I had walked into a ghost town. Well, the teachers were all there but only one student was; Frena. Feeling kind of chuffed that the only kid in school was in Primary C I enjoyed a lazy pre-bell morning having only one mouth to feed and headed into class expecting an easy day to wean me back into the routine of school. Not to be. Our one student octupled and with most of the students still in holiday mode and Jenny and I being the only ones in the classroom, it was no wonder I went home and fell asleep!

I suppose you could say that by the end of the day we had nine students, but we're not counting creepy crawlies. Confused? I'll explain. Our class topic is insects and no sooner had we done a lesson on them did Quornetta run into class clutching the biggest and freakiest looking grasshopper I have ever seen in my life! Up until the point where I had to transfer it from a bag to a glass jar, I thought I was cool with the subject, maybe even excited. That is of course until the grasshopper escaped from the bag and I spent the next five minutes trying to coax it into a jar, without getting anywhere near it. Sure, it's not dangerous or anything but it certainly looked like it!

Ew!

Yesterday morning Henry and KP found a cockroach and decided to bag that also. However it wasn't any ordinary cockroach; it was an Albino one, completely white and therefore so much cooler and less gross than one would think. It really was quite a hit. The only problem was that by the end of the day it turned brown again. Kind of strange but seriously awful, just like all its disgusting relatives once again. No reason to explain an albino cockroach turning brown again but hey, we’ll go with it! Only in Balgo!

Ewww even more! 

Frena was really keen on bringing in a frog she had found in the pool as well and was disappointed to hear frogs aren’t insects. This was during the lesson time that Henry learnt that spiders aren’t insects either, a fact that shattered many of his childhood beliefs and left him seriously pondering many things. Anyway this fortunate frog spent most of the swimming lesson chilling on the top of a kickboard quite happily as Frena swam it around the pool and doing all sorts of crazy tricks along the way. It was quite cool and a sad goodbye for both Frena and Sammy Tammy the Frog when everyone had to go back to class. 

Sammy Tammy the Frog 

The students made ‘Superbugs’ yesterday, basically just a bug that takes on the persona of Superman. Pretty cool really, and so much less creepy! Check them out for yourself :)

Ok, these I can handle. 

The below video is from a few weeks ago when a massive Willy Willy crashed into Boystown and went by our house. It’s pretty cool!

Aaaand just a few photos from my walk this afternoon, because I love showing you the desert :)

Plane jet stream and the setting sun.