I had a nice little visitor late on Saturday afternoon.
I
was in my living room with my music turned up loud, as I tend to do
often, and had the back door open to let in some light (my house is
really dark! it needs more windows) and some fresh air, when I heard a
rustling noise at the back. At first I didn't think much of it, but it
went on for a bit too long to be anything innocent, so I went to check
it out.
The next thing I saw was someone scrambling up
the embankment behind my house, heading for the trees. He was carrying a
box and a plastic bag with something large in it. When I yelled out
"who's there?" at him, he dropped everything and continued up the slope.
But then he stopped and waited at the top, watching me. I could see his
outline clearly in the trees, but he thought I couldn't see him! He sat
there for a while, so I yelled out (in my very crappy Bahasa) "I can
see you!!" and "what do you want?". I couldn't quite understand his
answer but what I heard was that he was looking for food.
Yeah
right. He would have to have watched my place for some time, from the
back, to know how to get in. You can't access the back yard unless you
come over the steep hill behind the house (it's cut into the hillside)
and climb through the barbed wire fence. It's the same way he got out as
well. The fence was damaged a few months ago after some heavy rain,
where the soil collapsed from the hillside and slid down into the back
yard, taking some of the fence with it. It was this breach in the fence
that he utilised.
Anyway, I couldn't get hold of anyone
to come and help me - my boss was in Medan and mobile signal was crap -
so once I was sure he had gone, I climbed up the hill and retrieved
what he had dropped. Inside the box was nothing valuable, just odd bits
and pieces left behind by a previous delegate, and in the bag a blow-up
mattress. Strange. Our premises manager went and followed his track up
the hill the next day, and found a tool box that he had abandoned as
well; a bit more valuable than the other crap!
Most
creepy though was the fact that he would have to have come inside the
house and into the room right next to the living room to steal those
things. I didn't even hear him come in. Let's just say I won't be
leaving the back door open any time soon. And I'm getting that fence
fixed!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Scariest day of my life!
We had a real scare here on Wednesday: a 7.5 magnitude earthquake.
The biggest one I've ever experienced. The epicentre was actually on the
island, not out at sea: it was on the north-west coast, just north of
our project area (Salang), in Simeulue Barat sub-district.
http://www.gdacs.org/reports.asp?eventType=EQ&ID=34930&system=asgard&location=IDN&alertlevel=Orange&glide_no=&datetime=20080220&groupid=34919
I was in the landcruiser coming back from the field, and we were crossing a bridge (all of which are already suspect without an earthquake to destroy them!) when the driver slowed down; ahead of us, a motorbike and its two passengers, one a little girl, fell off for apparently no reason. It all seemed a bit strange! Then the car started to stutter, like it had a flat tyre and was stalling (that's what I actually thought it was). It was only when I noticed all the trees swaying and the car was really rocking that I realised what it was! It was such a bizarre, unfamiliar sensation.
Luckily, we were off the bridge by then but had stopped to wait it out. The passenger in the front jumped out quick smart, he was so scared. In the back, I didn't have time to get out, and I couldn't do anything I was so shocked by it. It was really disconcerting and I was in shock for a little while once I realised what had just happened. I didn't like it one bit, being totally unable to control what was happening to me. Thank goodness we didn't get stuck on the bridge.
There was quite a large aftershock soon afterwards, and a small one about ten minutes later. People were clearly traumatised by the whole thing, the memories of the big one here three years ago still fresh in their minds. As we continued back to Sinabang, there were hundreds of people sitting on the road and outside of their houses, with shocked and scared expressions on their faces, packing up their things, all their valuables bundled up in boxes, rucksacks, bags and wheelbarrows. Some households had put out their valuables by the road: stereos, tvs etc. Many people were heading to the hills to wait it out on higher ground; others were just sitting outside their houses waiting for the next aftershock. There were also a lot of people warily watching the sea to find out if a tsunami was coming. I must admit I had one eye on the beach as we drove along the coastal road. I don't think many people slept in their houses last night.
Our staff were all pretty scared by it too. Most of them aren't from here and haven't experienced big quakes before. Some of the staff that were still in the field slept outside in the compound or in the landcruisers. Others slept in the office here in Sinabang, particularly if they would have been home alone otherwise. My boss camped out at my place, as his wife and baby are still in Medan and he didn't want to be in his house alone either! We polished off a bottle of gin to calm our nerves while contemplating it all that night!
The other thing that was a bit scary was that all mobile signal was lost and so we couldn't communicate with anyone. The sat-phone in the office had a flat battery but luckily the other one was working and my boss managed to get in touch with all staff to make sure they were ok.
There wasn't much damage in Salang, even though it was quite close to the epicentre. The major damage happened in Simeulue Barat. A few temporary shelters and some BRR(govt)-built houses collapsed (not surprisingly given the quality of the construction!), and unfortuantely some of the Japanese Red Cross community halls suffered damage to walls and ceilings. Our latrines held up really well, apart from a few; many more were damaged where construction had just begun and the brickwork was not yet reinforced. So we came out of it unscathed, thank goodness. We don't need any further hold-ups to our program!
I really hope that's the worst one I experience here. I never want to experience it again.
Here's the report from the initial assessment of the damage:
21st Feb 08 at 11.30
Subdistrict: Simeulue Timur
2 deaths, 26 light injuries, 1 light damage to a harbor, 1 light damage to Junior High School
Simeulue Tengah
3 offices – light damage, 2 health facilities –light damage, 1 Junior High School/SMP – serious damage
Simeulue Barat
25 people light injuries, 3 mosques – serious damage, 1 mosque – light damage, 1 market – light damage, 9 offices –serious damage, 11 offices – light damage, 2 health facilities – serious damage, 2 health facilities – light damage, 1 harbor – serious damage, 5 Primary Schools serious damage, 2 Junior High Schools – serious damage, 1 Senior High School - serious damage, 2 Senior High Schools - Light damage, 1 Police Office – serious damage
Teupah Selatan
1 death
Salang
2 Primary schools – light damage, 1 Senior High School – serious damage
Teupah Barat
3 houses – light damage, 2 mosques – light damage, 15 market/kiosks –light damage, 15 offices – light damage, 2 bridges – light damage, 5 Primary schools – light damage, 2 Junior High Schools –light damage, 1 Senior High School – light damage.
Teluk Dalam
7 houses – serious damage, 13 houses –light damage
Alafan
No info – so far
So that's all pretty devastating ...
http://www.gdacs.org/reports.asp?eventType=EQ&ID=34930&system=asgard&location=IDN&alertlevel=Orange&glide_no=&datetime=20080220&groupid=34919
I was in the landcruiser coming back from the field, and we were crossing a bridge (all of which are already suspect without an earthquake to destroy them!) when the driver slowed down; ahead of us, a motorbike and its two passengers, one a little girl, fell off for apparently no reason. It all seemed a bit strange! Then the car started to stutter, like it had a flat tyre and was stalling (that's what I actually thought it was). It was only when I noticed all the trees swaying and the car was really rocking that I realised what it was! It was such a bizarre, unfamiliar sensation.
Luckily, we were off the bridge by then but had stopped to wait it out. The passenger in the front jumped out quick smart, he was so scared. In the back, I didn't have time to get out, and I couldn't do anything I was so shocked by it. It was really disconcerting and I was in shock for a little while once I realised what had just happened. I didn't like it one bit, being totally unable to control what was happening to me. Thank goodness we didn't get stuck on the bridge.
There was quite a large aftershock soon afterwards, and a small one about ten minutes later. People were clearly traumatised by the whole thing, the memories of the big one here three years ago still fresh in their minds. As we continued back to Sinabang, there were hundreds of people sitting on the road and outside of their houses, with shocked and scared expressions on their faces, packing up their things, all their valuables bundled up in boxes, rucksacks, bags and wheelbarrows. Some households had put out their valuables by the road: stereos, tvs etc. Many people were heading to the hills to wait it out on higher ground; others were just sitting outside their houses waiting for the next aftershock. There were also a lot of people warily watching the sea to find out if a tsunami was coming. I must admit I had one eye on the beach as we drove along the coastal road. I don't think many people slept in their houses last night.
Our staff were all pretty scared by it too. Most of them aren't from here and haven't experienced big quakes before. Some of the staff that were still in the field slept outside in the compound or in the landcruisers. Others slept in the office here in Sinabang, particularly if they would have been home alone otherwise. My boss camped out at my place, as his wife and baby are still in Medan and he didn't want to be in his house alone either! We polished off a bottle of gin to calm our nerves while contemplating it all that night!
The other thing that was a bit scary was that all mobile signal was lost and so we couldn't communicate with anyone. The sat-phone in the office had a flat battery but luckily the other one was working and my boss managed to get in touch with all staff to make sure they were ok.
There wasn't much damage in Salang, even though it was quite close to the epicentre. The major damage happened in Simeulue Barat. A few temporary shelters and some BRR(govt)-built houses collapsed (not surprisingly given the quality of the construction!), and unfortuantely some of the Japanese Red Cross community halls suffered damage to walls and ceilings. Our latrines held up really well, apart from a few; many more were damaged where construction had just begun and the brickwork was not yet reinforced. So we came out of it unscathed, thank goodness. We don't need any further hold-ups to our program!
I really hope that's the worst one I experience here. I never want to experience it again.
Here's the report from the initial assessment of the damage:
21st Feb 08 at 11.30
Subdistrict: Simeulue Timur
2 deaths, 26 light injuries, 1 light damage to a harbor, 1 light damage to Junior High School
Simeulue Tengah
3 offices – light damage, 2 health facilities –light damage, 1 Junior High School/SMP – serious damage
Simeulue Barat
25 people light injuries, 3 mosques – serious damage, 1 mosque – light damage, 1 market – light damage, 9 offices –serious damage, 11 offices – light damage, 2 health facilities – serious damage, 2 health facilities – light damage, 1 harbor – serious damage, 5 Primary Schools serious damage, 2 Junior High Schools – serious damage, 1 Senior High School - serious damage, 2 Senior High Schools - Light damage, 1 Police Office – serious damage
Teupah Selatan
1 death
Salang
2 Primary schools – light damage, 1 Senior High School – serious damage
Teupah Barat
3 houses – light damage, 2 mosques – light damage, 15 market/kiosks –light damage, 15 offices – light damage, 2 bridges – light damage, 5 Primary schools – light damage, 2 Junior High Schools –light damage, 1 Senior High School – light damage.
Teluk Dalam
7 houses – serious damage, 13 houses –light damage
Alafan
No info – so far
So that's all pretty devastating ...
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Australian adventures ... you little beauty!
So I managed to squeeze quite a lot in to my little holiday. I
arrived on the morning of the 25th Jan, was collected by mum and
dad (yay!) and then it was off to the second day of the Adelaide Test
with Scott and Glenn, Liv, Dan and Jack, and a bunch of other
random mates who I ran into on the day. After a long day on the hill in
the sun, beers in hand, and almost starting a fight with a total
w@#$er who deliberately snapped the pole of the large Aussie
flag I’d managed to flog off some unwary spectators sitting in front of
us, Dan, Jack and I went down to Seaton for a nice birthday barbie in
the park. Just what the doctor ordered after a long day at the cricket:
snags, salads and beers! And most of my extended family. The young-uns
of the group (even though I turned 28 the next day, I still considered
myself part of this category) proceeded to the beach to spell out
random words using only our BODIES (see Facebook album #2849324839203
for evidence…hehe). In fact, evidence of all of these adventures can be found in various Facebook photo albums.
My birthday and Australia Day (yes, they’re one and the same, and I love it) started off with a great brekkie at the markets with my old pal Renee, who also shares the same birthday as me, and who I haven’t seen in ages. Then it was off to the cricket again, for another drunken adventure with my good buddies Bel, Troy and Scotty Bradey. Had an awesome day on the hill with them, then we made our way via the new, fancy-pants electric tram to Glenn and Louise’s to catch the tail end of their Hottest 100 barbie – not that we needed any more beer! We cruised to the Goody for a few, then I went into town to join the gals for Zoe’s hen’s night.
It was a fun night out with my old work buddies, although it was a bit quiet. I managed to convince them to come to Supermild because I thought that the bar/club we were at was a bit mellow, plus everyone was being pretty lame and not dancing or anything. Supermild was itself kinda mellow, but I liked it a lot more and I had planned to meet up with Trace and Isaac there. They never showed (boo!), but Bradey did a bit later on. By then I was totally knackered and cabbed it back to Dan’s where I crashed on his couch. Ahhh sleeeeeep!
I was totally knackered on Sunday, but it was the perfect remedy to lounge around in Dan’s backyard and talk shit until mum and dad came past in the early afternoon en route to Jamestown. I was in awe of how brown and dead everything seemed on the drive up there, but it was nice to be home. The wind farm being constructed on the Hallett Hills had progressed quite a lot, but everything else about Jamestown and the farm was pretty much the same. I went to see my grandparents, and caught up with my old school mate Lauren and her family. We took little Bree to the Hallett Pool and then organised a barbeque with Helen, another school mate who has just moved back to Jamestown to teach at the local school, which was a great catch up. And then Lauren and her mum offered to drive me back to Adelaide the next day, which was awesome. We took Bree to the beach for the first time; she was quite apprehensive about this new environment!
By this time I was getting all revved up for one of the highlights of my trip: The Big Day Out, a day-long music festival that happens at the start of February every year and tours the capital cities of Australia. The headline acts this year were Rage Against the Machine and Bjork. Awesome! I had been to Trace and Isaac’s new house for dinner the night before, and the day of the BDO we cruised to Goodwood to Glenn and Louise’s for a pre-fest barbie and beers, before walking to the Showgrounds. Spent the day with Trace, Isaac, Scott Searle, Glenn, and Lana and George. It was a bit of a funny day, because Scott met Lana’s new flame and I met Matt’s. Anyway.
I love the BDO not only because the music is RAD(elaide) but you run into so many people you haven’t seen in ages. Rage were AWESOME, as was Bjork; other great sets were Regurgitator, Faker, Midnight Juggernaughts and Spoon. Silverchair were kinda lame but I saw their whole set, as I was waiting on the other stage for Bjork. Loved being right at the front to see this crazy, amazing woman, who came out after her all female brass band in her appropriately Bjork, colourful mumu! It was quite amusing because after Bjork, Rage were playing, and there was a very clear distinction between the crowds that were there to see each; in fact you could almost say that each crowd hated the other act as much as each other. Rage were also fantastic, and as I was in the D –zone for Bjork, I was also there for Rage, and managed to get a great view without being sucked up into the writhing mass that was the out-of-control mosh. I was totally knackered after that, and so after a bit of time in the boiler room to catch Carl Cox I got outta there and headed to HJ’s with Lana and George for some onion rings on the way home.
And then, I had Zoe’s wedding to attend the next day; another planned highlight of my trip home. I was pretty knackered from the BDO but still excited about the event! The ceremony was held at St Paul’s church in Glenelg, which a small crowd of friends and family witnessed. Zoe looked absolutely gorgeous, as did her bridesmaids, and the groom and his party were very smart. I took Scotty Bradey as my hot date, on Zoe’s request, which I was more than happy to do! He didn’t scrub up too badly either :).
We went for a beer or two at the Pier before cruising down to CafĂ© Salsa at West Beach for the reception. A totally great fun, drunken night ensued with my old workmates, including Pete and Laura who had come over from Canberra, so it was a great catch-up session and an especially good reason for doing so. I got bailed up by some of Zoe’s family friends, who were trying to set me up with their son. Surely he can do his own groundwork?! They even took my photo and showed me a seemingly endless stream of photographs: “here’s Matthew out fishing, with our yacht, with the dogs…” – la di da! It was kinda amusing, but quite uncomfortable!
So I crashed with Pete and Loopy at a mate’s house, and embarrassingly he had to kick me out of his bed at about 3am (not my fault – Pete said I could sleep there!). Thank god he gave me some time to put some clothes back on before crashing on the couch! All amusing the next day. We cruised to the beach in the arvo as a hangover remedy, which worked, before having a quiet beer at the Goody. This quiet beer turned into a random drinking session with Scott Searle after the others all left, and we chilled on the couches in front of the cricket on TV before crashing at Glenn’s house around the corner.
The next adventure was three days in Melbourne, good old Tiger Airways for having $20 fares! So Jess and little Sam came to pick me up, bless em, and we had a great old catch up and babysitting session that afternoon when her sister Kylie brought her 3 kids over. Was great fun doing art and craft, going to the park and generally playing mum with two babies and two little kids running around. Good part is, I can give them back at the end! Pete came over for dinner and with Mike home after work we had a fun evening in. Lounged around the next day at the beach, before catching up with Alison, my aunt, and seeing her new house. I took her for coffee in Church St and found out all about what’s been happening with my cousins. Then I went for dinner at the best restaurant in the world, the Moroccan Soup kitchen, with a whole bunch of mates who live in Melbourne: Lear, Troy, Dave, Pete, Jess, and Rob, who’s just moved over from Radelaide. It was so great! Day 3 was yet another one of leisure with Jess, and we perused various book stores with Sam in town before having a delicious Japanese lunch with Pete and the Sallys. It was awesome to see them too, and find out all the exciting info about the Sallys’ plans for a child and the process they’re going through to do it.
The most amusing thing that happened on that trip was that a certain mother called me out of the blue to “apologise for bailing me up at the wedding, but to follow up on our conversation” and “put the ball in my court”. She had seemingly got my number from Zoe and after discussion with her son Matthew, decided to call me and give me his number – then it was up to me what I did with it! She went on about how it was hard for young people to meet each other these days, that you could meet a potential mate in a dodgy bar somewhere only to find out they were a stalker, and that by introducing her son to a friend of “such a reputable family” it would make things so much more pleasant. So I thought I’d have a bit of fun with it, and invited this young man to some drinks I’d organised in town for Friday. Unfortunately he was unable to come due to work and fishing commitments. Dammit! I would have loved to see how this would turn out… and just to meet the guy; surely he can find his own girlfriends without the help his MOTHER! Ha ha haaaaaaa, totally hilarious!
Unfortunately Cee was ill with pneumonia and had returned home to Radelaide, but the good thing was, I could see her when I myself returned there. So that I did after leaving good old Melbs, I spent the afternoon at their place with her, Jo and Flick before sprucing ourselves up for dinner in Gouger St with Bradey, Trace and Isaac.
Then the madness began. I had organised (what I thought was) a ‘farewell’ that night at Sangria Bar, and invited a whole bunch of people to come – and many of them did! Sangria was already packed, and we just added a few more sardines to the tin. I haven’t been that drunk in a very long time; the 2 bottles of wine at dinner were a good way to start, and while I didn’t buy another drink for the whole night, I always had one (or two, or three…) sangrias in my hand. I was having so much fun seeing everyone and sangria is so easy to drink, that I totally lost control of my drink-moderation activities and, well, went in headfirst. Not that it was a problem, except at the end of the night, after relocating to Supermild for a while, when I had to be escorted home in a taxi. Hehe, thanks Frosty! (Again – you certainly are the Symonds guardian angel!) I had such a great night, and so many people that I didn’t expect turned up, including Matt, who also brought along Chris and his other mate Belts, who has been living in London the last couple of years. It was great to see everyone, and it would have been a very apt send-off and put me in perfect condition to get on a plane and sleep for 7 hours. But due to a problem with getting my passport back (see next blog), I was staying extra days, so I was able to sleep in at Cee’s place, and while ratfaced the whole day, we had yum cha in Gouger St – the perfect hangover cure.
The weekend was spent recovering from all the shenanigans of the past 2 weeks, although on Sunday I headed to the beach with Lana and friends, and then out to the Largs Pier with Scott Searle. James came down to join us for a few beers and we watched the cricket before crashing out. I love random Sunday adventures! The best kind :)
So the rest of the week was down to just cruising around and enjoying my time at home. It was kinda boring because everyone was working, but I still made the most of it. I spent a day at the SA vs TAS one-day match (which was dismally lost by SA in a lacklustre display of batting) with Rover and Burnsy, had lunch and random beers with old workmates, went out to my old tennis comp to see the crew, and got in a couple of hits of tennis (had to get my eye back in to take on Nam when I returned!). I even had a final dinner at the Colonist with Bel, Troy and Bradey, which culminated in getting pissed with Bradey, talking shit and cruising down to Henley Beach in the van with CC and Dry cans in hand. Helped me to sleep on the plane the next day!
All in all: a totally excellent adventure. I am really gonna miss everyone this time around. And I’m not back for at least 6 more months. Still, it’s all part of the deal :)
So.... back to work for a holiday.
My birthday and Australia Day (yes, they’re one and the same, and I love it) started off with a great brekkie at the markets with my old pal Renee, who also shares the same birthday as me, and who I haven’t seen in ages. Then it was off to the cricket again, for another drunken adventure with my good buddies Bel, Troy and Scotty Bradey. Had an awesome day on the hill with them, then we made our way via the new, fancy-pants electric tram to Glenn and Louise’s to catch the tail end of their Hottest 100 barbie – not that we needed any more beer! We cruised to the Goody for a few, then I went into town to join the gals for Zoe’s hen’s night.
It was a fun night out with my old work buddies, although it was a bit quiet. I managed to convince them to come to Supermild because I thought that the bar/club we were at was a bit mellow, plus everyone was being pretty lame and not dancing or anything. Supermild was itself kinda mellow, but I liked it a lot more and I had planned to meet up with Trace and Isaac there. They never showed (boo!), but Bradey did a bit later on. By then I was totally knackered and cabbed it back to Dan’s where I crashed on his couch. Ahhh sleeeeeep!
I was totally knackered on Sunday, but it was the perfect remedy to lounge around in Dan’s backyard and talk shit until mum and dad came past in the early afternoon en route to Jamestown. I was in awe of how brown and dead everything seemed on the drive up there, but it was nice to be home. The wind farm being constructed on the Hallett Hills had progressed quite a lot, but everything else about Jamestown and the farm was pretty much the same. I went to see my grandparents, and caught up with my old school mate Lauren and her family. We took little Bree to the Hallett Pool and then organised a barbeque with Helen, another school mate who has just moved back to Jamestown to teach at the local school, which was a great catch up. And then Lauren and her mum offered to drive me back to Adelaide the next day, which was awesome. We took Bree to the beach for the first time; she was quite apprehensive about this new environment!
By this time I was getting all revved up for one of the highlights of my trip: The Big Day Out, a day-long music festival that happens at the start of February every year and tours the capital cities of Australia. The headline acts this year were Rage Against the Machine and Bjork. Awesome! I had been to Trace and Isaac’s new house for dinner the night before, and the day of the BDO we cruised to Goodwood to Glenn and Louise’s for a pre-fest barbie and beers, before walking to the Showgrounds. Spent the day with Trace, Isaac, Scott Searle, Glenn, and Lana and George. It was a bit of a funny day, because Scott met Lana’s new flame and I met Matt’s. Anyway.
I love the BDO not only because the music is RAD(elaide) but you run into so many people you haven’t seen in ages. Rage were AWESOME, as was Bjork; other great sets were Regurgitator, Faker, Midnight Juggernaughts and Spoon. Silverchair were kinda lame but I saw their whole set, as I was waiting on the other stage for Bjork. Loved being right at the front to see this crazy, amazing woman, who came out after her all female brass band in her appropriately Bjork, colourful mumu! It was quite amusing because after Bjork, Rage were playing, and there was a very clear distinction between the crowds that were there to see each; in fact you could almost say that each crowd hated the other act as much as each other. Rage were also fantastic, and as I was in the D –zone for Bjork, I was also there for Rage, and managed to get a great view without being sucked up into the writhing mass that was the out-of-control mosh. I was totally knackered after that, and so after a bit of time in the boiler room to catch Carl Cox I got outta there and headed to HJ’s with Lana and George for some onion rings on the way home.
And then, I had Zoe’s wedding to attend the next day; another planned highlight of my trip home. I was pretty knackered from the BDO but still excited about the event! The ceremony was held at St Paul’s church in Glenelg, which a small crowd of friends and family witnessed. Zoe looked absolutely gorgeous, as did her bridesmaids, and the groom and his party were very smart. I took Scotty Bradey as my hot date, on Zoe’s request, which I was more than happy to do! He didn’t scrub up too badly either :).
We went for a beer or two at the Pier before cruising down to CafĂ© Salsa at West Beach for the reception. A totally great fun, drunken night ensued with my old workmates, including Pete and Laura who had come over from Canberra, so it was a great catch-up session and an especially good reason for doing so. I got bailed up by some of Zoe’s family friends, who were trying to set me up with their son. Surely he can do his own groundwork?! They even took my photo and showed me a seemingly endless stream of photographs: “here’s Matthew out fishing, with our yacht, with the dogs…” – la di da! It was kinda amusing, but quite uncomfortable!
So I crashed with Pete and Loopy at a mate’s house, and embarrassingly he had to kick me out of his bed at about 3am (not my fault – Pete said I could sleep there!). Thank god he gave me some time to put some clothes back on before crashing on the couch! All amusing the next day. We cruised to the beach in the arvo as a hangover remedy, which worked, before having a quiet beer at the Goody. This quiet beer turned into a random drinking session with Scott Searle after the others all left, and we chilled on the couches in front of the cricket on TV before crashing at Glenn’s house around the corner.
The next adventure was three days in Melbourne, good old Tiger Airways for having $20 fares! So Jess and little Sam came to pick me up, bless em, and we had a great old catch up and babysitting session that afternoon when her sister Kylie brought her 3 kids over. Was great fun doing art and craft, going to the park and generally playing mum with two babies and two little kids running around. Good part is, I can give them back at the end! Pete came over for dinner and with Mike home after work we had a fun evening in. Lounged around the next day at the beach, before catching up with Alison, my aunt, and seeing her new house. I took her for coffee in Church St and found out all about what’s been happening with my cousins. Then I went for dinner at the best restaurant in the world, the Moroccan Soup kitchen, with a whole bunch of mates who live in Melbourne: Lear, Troy, Dave, Pete, Jess, and Rob, who’s just moved over from Radelaide. It was so great! Day 3 was yet another one of leisure with Jess, and we perused various book stores with Sam in town before having a delicious Japanese lunch with Pete and the Sallys. It was awesome to see them too, and find out all the exciting info about the Sallys’ plans for a child and the process they’re going through to do it.
The most amusing thing that happened on that trip was that a certain mother called me out of the blue to “apologise for bailing me up at the wedding, but to follow up on our conversation” and “put the ball in my court”. She had seemingly got my number from Zoe and after discussion with her son Matthew, decided to call me and give me his number – then it was up to me what I did with it! She went on about how it was hard for young people to meet each other these days, that you could meet a potential mate in a dodgy bar somewhere only to find out they were a stalker, and that by introducing her son to a friend of “such a reputable family” it would make things so much more pleasant. So I thought I’d have a bit of fun with it, and invited this young man to some drinks I’d organised in town for Friday. Unfortunately he was unable to come due to work and fishing commitments. Dammit! I would have loved to see how this would turn out… and just to meet the guy; surely he can find his own girlfriends without the help his MOTHER! Ha ha haaaaaaa, totally hilarious!
Unfortunately Cee was ill with pneumonia and had returned home to Radelaide, but the good thing was, I could see her when I myself returned there. So that I did after leaving good old Melbs, I spent the afternoon at their place with her, Jo and Flick before sprucing ourselves up for dinner in Gouger St with Bradey, Trace and Isaac.
Then the madness began. I had organised (what I thought was) a ‘farewell’ that night at Sangria Bar, and invited a whole bunch of people to come – and many of them did! Sangria was already packed, and we just added a few more sardines to the tin. I haven’t been that drunk in a very long time; the 2 bottles of wine at dinner were a good way to start, and while I didn’t buy another drink for the whole night, I always had one (or two, or three…) sangrias in my hand. I was having so much fun seeing everyone and sangria is so easy to drink, that I totally lost control of my drink-moderation activities and, well, went in headfirst. Not that it was a problem, except at the end of the night, after relocating to Supermild for a while, when I had to be escorted home in a taxi. Hehe, thanks Frosty! (Again – you certainly are the Symonds guardian angel!) I had such a great night, and so many people that I didn’t expect turned up, including Matt, who also brought along Chris and his other mate Belts, who has been living in London the last couple of years. It was great to see everyone, and it would have been a very apt send-off and put me in perfect condition to get on a plane and sleep for 7 hours. But due to a problem with getting my passport back (see next blog), I was staying extra days, so I was able to sleep in at Cee’s place, and while ratfaced the whole day, we had yum cha in Gouger St – the perfect hangover cure.
The weekend was spent recovering from all the shenanigans of the past 2 weeks, although on Sunday I headed to the beach with Lana and friends, and then out to the Largs Pier with Scott Searle. James came down to join us for a few beers and we watched the cricket before crashing out. I love random Sunday adventures! The best kind :)
So the rest of the week was down to just cruising around and enjoying my time at home. It was kinda boring because everyone was working, but I still made the most of it. I spent a day at the SA vs TAS one-day match (which was dismally lost by SA in a lacklustre display of batting) with Rover and Burnsy, had lunch and random beers with old workmates, went out to my old tennis comp to see the crew, and got in a couple of hits of tennis (had to get my eye back in to take on Nam when I returned!). I even had a final dinner at the Colonist with Bel, Troy and Bradey, which culminated in getting pissed with Bradey, talking shit and cruising down to Henley Beach in the van with CC and Dry cans in hand. Helped me to sleep on the plane the next day!
All in all: a totally excellent adventure. I am really gonna miss everyone this time around. And I’m not back for at least 6 more months. Still, it’s all part of the deal :)
So.... back to work for a holiday.
So, it's back to Simeulue.
...back to the 5:30am call to prayer. Back to my squat toilet and
cold water mandi. Back to “hello mister!” from everyone on the street.
Back to the electricity cutting out all the time and intermittent
internet connection at the office. But do you know what? It’s nice to be
“home”.
I got a few nice little presents on arrival. The ARC driver, Sumardi, was there waiting for me at the airport. My fancy-pants new front yard was complete, all plants installed, the tacky concrete fake-tree-trunk garden borders, the gorgeous little white stones laid in the concrete driveway and the gaudy orange and pink bars of the fence glistening in the sun (in fact it’s more like a beacon of light you can see for miles around, like the Batman symbol).
I had a large monitor lizard scurry away into the trees when I opened the door to my backyard, and a gorgeous, huge, black and brilliant blue butterfly sauntered past. My housekeeper had stayed back a little late especially to welcome me back and my fruit and vegie man was excited to see me (although he asked me where his present was). And, I had a Christmas card from my grandma waiting for me. All these little things made it easy to come back!
I thought it might be difficult; the last three weeks at home have been nothing but damn good fun. I will have to go on a serious alcohol detox though! I don’t know how many alcohol-free days I had, but there weren’t many.
My holiday was extended by almost a week due to some admin mistakes by ARC, which meant that my passport containing the new Indonesian working visa didn’t arrive from the consulate until Thursday morning (14th Feb). It was supposed to arrive the previous week. I had a few changes of flights, phone calls to and from ARC, and running around to get on the internet and visit airline offices to get it all sorted. In the end, I didn’t mind – it meant I got to stay longer! So I had more time to have coffees, beers, and food with more mates before heading back to Indo. Finally.
So, back to the grind. But I’m looking forward to it. Already I’m a bit disappointed because things haven’t progressed half as much as I would have liked. Our country manager hasn’t signed off on our big bulk order of WatSan materials due to the recent discovery of corruption in our organisation on behalf of one of the Logistics officers, which means all our construction is totally held up. And our new Indo Red Cross volunteers haven’t been interviewed nor training for them properly organised.
At least the new warehouse for all the (apparently) incoming WatSan materials is complete, and the corrupt Logistics officer has resigned. And I will be the most popular person in the office because I have presents for everyone!
I got a few nice little presents on arrival. The ARC driver, Sumardi, was there waiting for me at the airport. My fancy-pants new front yard was complete, all plants installed, the tacky concrete fake-tree-trunk garden borders, the gorgeous little white stones laid in the concrete driveway and the gaudy orange and pink bars of the fence glistening in the sun (in fact it’s more like a beacon of light you can see for miles around, like the Batman symbol).
I had a large monitor lizard scurry away into the trees when I opened the door to my backyard, and a gorgeous, huge, black and brilliant blue butterfly sauntered past. My housekeeper had stayed back a little late especially to welcome me back and my fruit and vegie man was excited to see me (although he asked me where his present was). And, I had a Christmas card from my grandma waiting for me. All these little things made it easy to come back!
I thought it might be difficult; the last three weeks at home have been nothing but damn good fun. I will have to go on a serious alcohol detox though! I don’t know how many alcohol-free days I had, but there weren’t many.
My holiday was extended by almost a week due to some admin mistakes by ARC, which meant that my passport containing the new Indonesian working visa didn’t arrive from the consulate until Thursday morning (14th Feb). It was supposed to arrive the previous week. I had a few changes of flights, phone calls to and from ARC, and running around to get on the internet and visit airline offices to get it all sorted. In the end, I didn’t mind – it meant I got to stay longer! So I had more time to have coffees, beers, and food with more mates before heading back to Indo. Finally.
So, back to the grind. But I’m looking forward to it. Already I’m a bit disappointed because things haven’t progressed half as much as I would have liked. Our country manager hasn’t signed off on our big bulk order of WatSan materials due to the recent discovery of corruption in our organisation on behalf of one of the Logistics officers, which means all our construction is totally held up. And our new Indo Red Cross volunteers haven’t been interviewed nor training for them properly organised.
At least the new warehouse for all the (apparently) incoming WatSan materials is complete, and the corrupt Logistics officer has resigned. And I will be the most popular person in the office because I have presents for everyone!
What happens next?
So then the question is: what the hell am I going to do with myself
after this adventure? I have 6 more months left of my contract; I’ve hit
the half-way mark.
I could see my contract out til August, and then return home. But the WatSan project is projected to finish at the end of 2008, and there’s still a lot of work to do considering the hold-ups to the project at the moment. I like the idea of seeing the project out until the end, to get a sense of closure, and to do the final wrap-up reports etc. Plus, once my project is over, the Simeulue office will close down and we will hand over everything to Indonesian Red Cross. It would be nice to be part of the hand-over ceremony and all the jazz that goes with this sort of closure. It would suit ARC for me to stay as well, instead of having to find a new recruit for a short-ish mission. I’m banking on them asking me to extend til the end of the project.
But by the middle of the year, many of the other expats on the island will have already departed, their projects finished. There will be some here, but they are the older, less sociable and less active of the bunch. All my ‘favourite’ people will have left, so it might become quite boring by then! My boss Paul has already said he might stay til the end; he’s been here since the beginning, plus he has an Indonesian wife and new baby, so it’s probably easier and better for him to stay. If he does, it will also make me more inclined to.
Ange will be coming home in August, as will Matt. Ange has already flagged her intention to travel enroute to home, possibly in India and Bangladesh. I’d love to do that with her and then come home, or I could even do it in between the end and the extension of my contract. A nice month off in southern Asia could be just what the doctor ordered! And I miss Ange a whole bunch, so it would be fun. She could even come and visit me in Simeulue before going home. I’d love that. So many people had said they’re coming to visit, but none have made it yet and I don’t expect any of them to do so. Boo! I’d love to show people what it’s like living here. Photos and weblogs only go so far.
I’ve already decided that I don’t want to go back to my old job in the SA Govt department of DWLBC; it’s time for a change. But they have kept it open for me to return to in August, which is a nice little option to have, should I get home and want to earn some $$ straight up while I decide what to do. But I found it strange enough returning there last time and I just think it’s time to do something different. I should just bite the bullet and officially tell them I’m not coming back. Leave it to chance, see where the wind takes me.
Maybe I’ll do another stint overseas; I’m sure there will be plenty of other opportunities. Maybe I’ll stay in Oz, find a new job in Adelaide and buy a house (heaven forbid, the idea of it makes me feel sick). God it all sounds too permanent for my liking. But maybe I could move interstate, try something different that gets me out and about. Or maybe I’ll just chuck it all in and take a year off to travel around the world. Don’t mind that idea so much! :) Only time will tell I guess. What a f*$#ing clichĂ©.
I could see my contract out til August, and then return home. But the WatSan project is projected to finish at the end of 2008, and there’s still a lot of work to do considering the hold-ups to the project at the moment. I like the idea of seeing the project out until the end, to get a sense of closure, and to do the final wrap-up reports etc. Plus, once my project is over, the Simeulue office will close down and we will hand over everything to Indonesian Red Cross. It would be nice to be part of the hand-over ceremony and all the jazz that goes with this sort of closure. It would suit ARC for me to stay as well, instead of having to find a new recruit for a short-ish mission. I’m banking on them asking me to extend til the end of the project.
But by the middle of the year, many of the other expats on the island will have already departed, their projects finished. There will be some here, but they are the older, less sociable and less active of the bunch. All my ‘favourite’ people will have left, so it might become quite boring by then! My boss Paul has already said he might stay til the end; he’s been here since the beginning, plus he has an Indonesian wife and new baby, so it’s probably easier and better for him to stay. If he does, it will also make me more inclined to.
Ange will be coming home in August, as will Matt. Ange has already flagged her intention to travel enroute to home, possibly in India and Bangladesh. I’d love to do that with her and then come home, or I could even do it in between the end and the extension of my contract. A nice month off in southern Asia could be just what the doctor ordered! And I miss Ange a whole bunch, so it would be fun. She could even come and visit me in Simeulue before going home. I’d love that. So many people had said they’re coming to visit, but none have made it yet and I don’t expect any of them to do so. Boo! I’d love to show people what it’s like living here. Photos and weblogs only go so far.
I’ve already decided that I don’t want to go back to my old job in the SA Govt department of DWLBC; it’s time for a change. But they have kept it open for me to return to in August, which is a nice little option to have, should I get home and want to earn some $$ straight up while I decide what to do. But I found it strange enough returning there last time and I just think it’s time to do something different. I should just bite the bullet and officially tell them I’m not coming back. Leave it to chance, see where the wind takes me.
Maybe I’ll do another stint overseas; I’m sure there will be plenty of other opportunities. Maybe I’ll stay in Oz, find a new job in Adelaide and buy a house (heaven forbid, the idea of it makes me feel sick). God it all sounds too permanent for my liking. But maybe I could move interstate, try something different that gets me out and about. Or maybe I’ll just chuck it all in and take a year off to travel around the world. Don’t mind that idea so much! :) Only time will tell I guess. What a f*$#ing clichĂ©.
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