So, it’s 8:17pm and I’m sitting on the faded, dirty, blue &
yellow-checked couch in my field office in Tameng. The fan is humming
away in my direction; it’s pretty humid in here. I can hear big drops of
rain smattering on the roof, and the kids a few houses up are jamming.
There’s a couple of guitars and a vocalist, and it’s nice to have some
background noise. I enjoy hearing them try to pull together their songs,
and after a couple of nights here I’m recognising familiar tunes. I’m
all alone in our little wooden office, apart from our security guard
sitting out the front playing with his phone and humming along to the
melody. I think they’re his kids jamming over there!
I recently packed up and moved my bed here, so I could give more room to the guys in the guesthouse – about ten of them squeezed into two rooms of bunk beds, while I had one room all to myself. But then we got a new female PMI volunteer who occupies the “girls’ room” and for a month we have a female English teacher staying with us, so that plan went out the window. But the benefits of being here include not being kept awake by night owls, or my engineer’s distinctive snoring, plus the water quality is terrible in base camp – here, about 5km up the road, it’s lovely and clear. It’s also easier for me to cook my own food here, without the crowded kitchen. I’ve got my little gas stove, microwave and a fridge, so I’m all set.
I’ve taken to bringing and cooking my own food, because there are so many freeloaders in our midst who don’t pay for the food provided by the staff – leaving the costs to me or them. Plus I don’t want to eat rice, fried fish, chilli and eggs 3 times a day! Most of the food cooked by our Pembantu (housekeeper), Risam, in typical Indonesian fashion, is heavy on the oil. By cooking my own food, I can choose what I eat as well as what’s in it. The staff find my food kinda strange, but every now and then one of them gets up the courage to try it! They just can’t fathom why I don’t eat rice with every meal J
The TV is at the guesthouse, as is all the company. But for now I’m content on my own, able to read my book or let the contents of my brain spill out onto the screen in relative peace and quiet.
The office itself is kinda crappy. It’s ok to work in during the day, with the windows open and sunlight streaming in. I like the fact that it’s wooden, and airy, and has a lot of open space. But the mossies get in too easily! Which is not such a good thing if you’re sleeping without a mosquito net. Unfortunately PLN (the local electricity supplier) hasn’t got their shit together (normal) and we use the noisy generator approximately 30% of the day. We go through a shitload of fuel.
It’s also pretty grubby. The bathroom out the back is all concrete, and while totally fine for having your mandi (the water that you haul out of the well with a broken old bucket is certainly much cleaner than at the base camp!), as soon as you step out of it into the back room, the feel of dirt on the bottom of your feet is rather disconcerting… as for when you use the latrine attached to the back of the house. Sponsored by ARC, of course. But this is the norm. None of our Australian luxury. It’s definitely a liveable place; it just needs a good scrub!
The rain has just become heavier, and sounds a lot more like the downpours I’m used to here in Simeulue. I wish I could hear it properly – last week I came down with a cold and subsequently an ear infection, and then I got a perforated ear drum when I flew from Medan to Simeulue, so I’m currently almost deaf in my right ear. It’s driving me crazy! Not much I can do about it til the drugs kick in and solve this little problem. It was kinda strange going to the Sinabang Rumah Sakit Umum – Simeulue general hospital – and having an x-ray of my head to determine if I had sinusitis! Still, I hope it rights itself before I fly out of here on the 10th December for my Christmas holidays.
I recently packed up and moved my bed here, so I could give more room to the guys in the guesthouse – about ten of them squeezed into two rooms of bunk beds, while I had one room all to myself. But then we got a new female PMI volunteer who occupies the “girls’ room” and for a month we have a female English teacher staying with us, so that plan went out the window. But the benefits of being here include not being kept awake by night owls, or my engineer’s distinctive snoring, plus the water quality is terrible in base camp – here, about 5km up the road, it’s lovely and clear. It’s also easier for me to cook my own food here, without the crowded kitchen. I’ve got my little gas stove, microwave and a fridge, so I’m all set.
I’ve taken to bringing and cooking my own food, because there are so many freeloaders in our midst who don’t pay for the food provided by the staff – leaving the costs to me or them. Plus I don’t want to eat rice, fried fish, chilli and eggs 3 times a day! Most of the food cooked by our Pembantu (housekeeper), Risam, in typical Indonesian fashion, is heavy on the oil. By cooking my own food, I can choose what I eat as well as what’s in it. The staff find my food kinda strange, but every now and then one of them gets up the courage to try it! They just can’t fathom why I don’t eat rice with every meal J
The TV is at the guesthouse, as is all the company. But for now I’m content on my own, able to read my book or let the contents of my brain spill out onto the screen in relative peace and quiet.
The office itself is kinda crappy. It’s ok to work in during the day, with the windows open and sunlight streaming in. I like the fact that it’s wooden, and airy, and has a lot of open space. But the mossies get in too easily! Which is not such a good thing if you’re sleeping without a mosquito net. Unfortunately PLN (the local electricity supplier) hasn’t got their shit together (normal) and we use the noisy generator approximately 30% of the day. We go through a shitload of fuel.
It’s also pretty grubby. The bathroom out the back is all concrete, and while totally fine for having your mandi (the water that you haul out of the well with a broken old bucket is certainly much cleaner than at the base camp!), as soon as you step out of it into the back room, the feel of dirt on the bottom of your feet is rather disconcerting… as for when you use the latrine attached to the back of the house. Sponsored by ARC, of course. But this is the norm. None of our Australian luxury. It’s definitely a liveable place; it just needs a good scrub!
The rain has just become heavier, and sounds a lot more like the downpours I’m used to here in Simeulue. I wish I could hear it properly – last week I came down with a cold and subsequently an ear infection, and then I got a perforated ear drum when I flew from Medan to Simeulue, so I’m currently almost deaf in my right ear. It’s driving me crazy! Not much I can do about it til the drugs kick in and solve this little problem. It was kinda strange going to the Sinabang Rumah Sakit Umum – Simeulue general hospital – and having an x-ray of my head to determine if I had sinusitis! Still, I hope it rights itself before I fly out of here on the 10th December for my Christmas holidays.
I’m getting excited about these holidays... only two weeks to go! I fly to Glasgow via Doha and London for the wedding of two friends who met and worked here in Simeulue. One is an Australian-adopted Canadian, the other a pom. They are getting married in what sounds like a beautiful little corner of Argyll in Scotland, overlooking a beautiful Loch. I’m not looking forward to the cold though! So far I’ve managed to get hold of a couple of warm jackets, I have a beanie and scarf, but that’s it. I need to get my hands on some gloves, thick socks, a pair of boots and definitely some thermals! Those might have to wait though – I am yet to see thermals in Indonesia! It’s definitely going to be a shock.
I’ve managed to track down a whole bunch of people living in England that I hope to catch up with. Not difficult though – name one Australian who doesn’t know at least a handful of people living in London! I’ve already planned to catch up with Lisa and Dave, two friends from Uni, and housesit their place while they’re away over Xmas. A Cameroonian friend, Zul, lives in Bournemouth (south west of London) so I’ll cruise down there to see him. Another friend from uni, Rach, and I will then be heading to Edinburgh for their big New Year’s celebrations, which should be rad. So, along with a bunch of other crew living in and around London, plenty of good times to look forward to!
Now to just get this work thing sorted …
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