Actually up to date!!! Bloody hell!
Trip Start
Jul 24, 2008
1
10
22
Trip End
Ongoing
Umalas, Indonesia
Sunday, September 14, 2008
After the upsetting news from last week I thought a more up beat message might be in order.
This weekend I have cooked for the guys down at Tuka Pizza, (Yes, if you think I am hanging out there a lot, it is true and yes, if you think there is an alteria motive, I do fancy one of them, just a bit...) It ended up being for about ten people and boy was I sweating at the end of it but the food was ok - maybe not quite as I would have planned, (sweet potatoes here are as purple as beetroot and also dye food just as effectively - bugger!) but everyone was too polite to make a big deal out of it.
Luckily for me I am doing the same thing in a few hours for a cultural evening in with some teachers, (Faw haw, don't chu know!) but should be fun. Hopefully I can lower the sweet potato content and maybe raise up the level of... leek - a strangely illusive vegetable here... worse even than parsnips - although heaven knows they were bloody pricey! Had to pay the equivalent of half a month's wages for the ingredients, (Indonesian not mine!).
Also have had a stressed out and emotional time at school this week but have expertly managed to construct a pair of bell-jar lungs, without a bell-jar, or rubber sheeting, or indeed any experience of such manufacturing processes! (As you can tell I am particularly impressed with myself). Made them from a large aqua bottle with the bottom sawn off, then cannibalised a reception years space hopper for it's rubber - with I might add a most convenient handle pre-made! And oodles of sticky tape finished my air tight masterpiece - Photo's of my loving creation will no doubt arrive soon! The kids were not blown away by the subtle inflation or deflation but were very impressed with my ingenuity! Yay for hawking other peoples ideas as my own! Not really had to tell them in the end, but still was worth the bloody effort!
In other news I am starting to accumulate resources. They are coming slowly but surely. Mostly so far it is rubbish brought in by staff and kids. Recent events have meant that ordering stock has taken a definite back seat! Still struggling to get any movement, but I am hopeful of being given my actual budget soon - Once I get it then purchasing will begin undisrupted! Yay for shopping with other peoples money!
Ari is getting on a plane as I post this... Boo! (Tuka guy). Will be seven months until he is back and then only for a month - weird to make friends with people and say goodbye to them so quickly!
Have been out photographing the rice paddies near my house today - awesome changes, at the moment they are all flooded and muddy, can't wait to see them transform again. In a world without seasons the rhythm of the rice is the only way to regulate time! Yay for nature and it's dependability in an ever shifting world! It is starting to heat up and with it the humidity increases, but so far is all very bearable - as long as I'm not too far from A.C!
Speak to you all soon, in about five minutes actually!
Ixxx
