Adventure Island

Happy new year! This bloggie is going to be a bit back to front, with the New Year's adventure first in Savo and then the info about Christmas/Boxing day at the end.  I figured if you got here because you googled Solomon Islands, adventure, tourism, hotel, volcano...you will want to read the Savo Island bit first. 

Savo is essentially a volcanic island covered in jungle bush and rivers, about 20 kms or so from Guadalcanal.  The island can be seen from Honiara on a clear day and even, a not so clear day.  To say the island is lush is like saying the sky is blue; it simply is the lushest place I have ever visited.  We leave at 7 a.m., bright and early.  Unfortunately, it’s December and rainy season has decided to do her thing and pour down for the better part of eight hours. 

Its cloudy and the wind picks up.  By the time we reach the place where we take the boat across to Savo, the waves are between 2-3 metres high; a bit perilous in a 14 foot boat.  Its choppy too; so the boat guys decide to wait until things calm down.  We wait for about two or three hours for the boats to come across from the resort, brining back soaked tourists.  

The journey lasts about an hour and the boatman carefully navigates his way across the waves.  As we get closer, Savo reveals itself to be a volcanic island, with high peaks and black sand beaches.  The island looks like something out of Robison Caruso or Monkey Island video game (I loves me some Monkey Island!!!)

Savo was the site of many big battles in World War 2, especially the Battle of Savo, which was, according to some historians, the first major battle in the Solomon Seas.  Fighting in Savo would be rough; the bush is dense and the presence of two, slightly active volcanic zones create a sulphuric haze. 

We get to Sunset Resort; a locally owned and operated place located on the western end of the island, in the centre of a peaceful bay.  The beach is black sand and the water is muddy  from all the rains but we sit in hammocks and drink deeply from coconuts.  The resort isn’t anything flashy; the accommodation is in a large two story facility, with the resort workers staying downstairs and the stayers upstairs.  Everyone gets their own room if they want one; no other guests are at the resort.  The rooms are tidy and clean, with a large balcony (but no chairs, which is sad because I would have loved to have just sit outside and enjoy the view from my room).

The beds are comfy and nicely sized.  After checking out the rooms, we go downstairs and eat in a large hall.  The Sunset Lodge is nicely equipped for larger groups and it seems a bit sad to have just the six of us staying there.

While waiting for dinner in a hammock, I spot the dorsal fin of a small (probably 1.5 metres) white tipped reef shark, cruising in the muddy shallows.  The guide, John, confirms the existence of the shark; he saw it too the next morning. 

The food is great; fish caught that day and then fried up nicely.  The chicken is also pretty good, as is the fresh fruits and veggies.  All and all, it’s simple but delicious food, with fresh fruit for dessert.

We spend the rest of the day napping, relaxing in hammocks, playing with kittens, swimming and talking about the end of 2010.  In the evening, a nice beach bonfire is built for us by the staff.  We sit around the bonfire, talking about the year, life and everything in general.  We do a nice ceremony of writing down things we want to leave behind in 2010 and then throwing the paper into the fire.  We also write down what we want for 2011 and throw that into the fire as well.

I am ashamed to say that I didn’t quite make it to midnight; I was tired and I wanted to be fully rested for the next day’s activities.  I was happy to see 2010 and go, I felt I made my peace with the year and I wanted a fresh start to 2011.

The next day was adventure day! We woke up and munched on crispy bacon, spicy sausages, and yummy eggs.  We needed a big breakfast; we were going to climb up to Big Savo Volcano!

We slather on suncream (I still got sunburnt, what a shock!) and head out for the big walk.  On our way out, we encounter the resident pod of dolphins.  The grey and black dolphins danced with our boats, and swam so close I felt like I could just reach out of the boat and touch them.  We saw baby dolphins jump high into the air.

Under the water, which wasn’t terribly clear, the dolphins looked like phantoms, swimming quickly to keep up with the boat and jumping out into the wake.   It was magical to see the dolphins dance, sing and jump around happily in the waves.

After about 30 minutes, we jetted off to our big walk.  We landed on a large span of black sand beach and clambered out.  The group started walking through the large braided river bed; the guide said the water had been very high the night before, at least a metre...the river bed was now completely empty.  As we gently climb higher, we reach a black stone gorge, eroded by time and the rivers running down it.  

According to the leader of our group, Rachel, the river was much higher than the previous times she has walked up it.

Seriously folks, it was like Indiana Jones and the Lost Volunteers; large vines hanging down and heaps of foliage everywhere.  Strange birds and stranger spiders (one shiny black with, get this, RED WING type things on it!  I was horrified; hey that kind of spider is usually a black widow where I am from, when the guide let it crawl all over him).  As we climb higher and higher, the water gets hotter and hotter.

We reach a fork in the river and go up a small creek area.  Our guide, John, touches the water and says “Too hot! Be VERY careful now; could burn your skin!”.  Yes, we had reached the place where the water was too hot to fall into.  Now, I’m not known for my skills at balancing and, more often than not, I just walk through rivers rather than avoid getting my boots wet.  I know I have no skill when it comes to hoping from rock to rock so I just plod on through.  No such luck this time.

We climb up to a six metre or so waterfall.  The waterfall steams and, if any of us weren’t sweating yet well the waterfall solved all that.  Our clothes sticking to our bodies, we climbed up a lashed, wooden ladder with rungs too large for a midget to climb up (meaning that yes, I had problems with it.)

We continued to walk along slippery logs, landslides and steaming hot pools until we reached the top.  The cone area was HOT, with pools of steamy, hot, sulferic type water bubbling away at our feet.  The cone was hot to the touch (yes, I did touch it) and silica mud streamed out of crevices.  There were large steam holes and little hot pools.  It looked like being on the moon; if the moon was white/yellow/orange/red/rust/brown and HOT.

Being in the Caldara of a volcano was freaking cool.  After we came down a little, John took some local foliage and created crowns for all of us.  Apparently, this mossy foliage only grows on Savo near the volcano.

It was slippery going down and I thought to myself “my parents warned me not to do stupid stuff like this”.  The walk down was pleasant enough and it was great to get out of the hot zone.

We got back to the beach in no time and proceeded back to hang out with the dolphins some more.  This time, three of us got to get into the water to swim with the dolphins.  Now, swimming with dolphins is not what one might expect; the dolphins weren’t in a playful mood and liked to run away a lot. 

With the water clarity being poor and the idea of hanging off of a rope in the pacific like bait off of a hook not seeming too fun, I decided not to go.  Plus some members of our group who really wanted to go never got the chance, because the dolphins swam quickly away.  When we arrived, hungry and tired from our big walk, back to the resort, the dolphins followed up and played not 100 meters off the beach.

The rest of the day was spent...well resting.  Hammock time was a must and I took a nap, enjoying the sounds of the crashing surf. 

At night we played a rousing game of spoons, tongues that included an interesting component of truth or day.  It was lots more fun than I remembered it at 16; clearly years of experience make the game more interesting.  If you want to know what went on, forget it. What happens on Savo, stays on Savo. 

During one hand of spoons, the smallest geiko in the world fell from the rafters, some eight metres above, on to my hand of cards.  He was clearly stunned and then proceeded to vomit a little on the table cloth.  After he regained his composure, he scampered off. 

The next day, we packed up and went back home.  I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time on Savo and can’t wait to go back.  The whole island has a magical feel to it; wild and unexplored. Climbing up to the volcano was a real highlight.

In summary: If you visit the Solomons, GO TO SAVO.  Sure, there is no snorkeling or diving, really, but it has so many beautiful things to see and many great activities to do.  The resort is locally run and man, do they do a good job taking care of you.  I HIGHLY recommend Sunset Beach Resort, sure its pretty basic but hey, its cheap, fun and the people who run this establishment are very accommodating.  

Prices (in Solomon Island dollars, which is between 6 and 8 dollars per NZD or 9 USD) are as below, for those interested and reading this blog for tourist tips:

Accomd.: $120 per night, per person

Food: $300 per day (three BIG meals a day)

Big Volcano Tour: $50 per person plus $30 for transport  (HIGHLY RECOMMEND)

Dolphin swimming/viewing: $40 per person.

Megapod viewing (which I was too lazy to do): $40.

Sitting in hammocks, drinking from coconuts, playing with the local kittens, getting a gigantic huntsmen spider out of your room (A big thank you to Steve for his spider wrangling skills!), and seeing the BIGGEST, FATTEST geikos every: FREE!

   

Christmas and other holiday stuff

Christmas Day was spent with a lovely bunch of expats. Again, the people around the table were from far off lands: Taiwan, India, Austria, Australia, Spain, New Zealand and American (me!). 

We sat down to a beautiful Christmas dinner with a honey basted ham, a leg of lamb and a roasted chicken.  Steve and I had a bit of struggle roasting the chicken and lamb; neither of us had ever used a gas oven before and the ignition switch was taking Christmas off.  After a few panicked phone calls, we got it sorted.

The day was filled with merriment, good food and good conversation.  The Princess Bride was screened after the dinner.  Manny, our resident Spaniard, clearly loved the filmed and quoted it to:

"My name is Inigo Montayo...you killed my father.  Prepare to die!"

Unfortunatly, Santa also gave me the raging Honiara flu, which meant that I spent much of Christmas evening and Boxing Day in bed with a high temp, coughing and hacking away.  

On Christmas evening, I suspected that I might have malaria and went down to the hospital to get a blood test.  Now, normally I would just go to a local clinic, where everything runs pretty well. But it was Christmas evening, the clinics were closed and the Number Nine clinic was all there was available.

When we arrived, the” Number Nine” (so named during World War II) clinic was packed full of sick kids and people.  Mothers and children were laying down on mats, trying to sleep, waiting for doctors.  I spoke to some local ladies and they told me they had been there since 10 a.m. (it was 8 p.m. at that point), waiting to see a doctor.  No doctors were actually at the clinic.

It was a huge wake up call for me to witness the public health care service in the Solomons in action.  Triage nurses were set up in various rooms but I actually didn’t make it too far.  After speaking to a few people, everyone seemed to have the flu in Honiara and their symptoms seemed closer to mine than malaria.  After looking around at the really sick and injured people, I thought it was best not to waste the medical professionals precious time with my hypochondria and went back home to die quietly in my room.

Now, having the flu is no fun but having the flu in the tropics...well...thats really no fun.  By the end of the flu, the sheets were soaked, and I was still sweating profusely even after the fever broke.  After the fever broke, I was euphoric to be feeling better, so much so I almost went out to finish off some partying but then decided against it.  Good call; turns out I was weaker than I thought; I almost passed out on my way back to bed.

So a good, fluey time was had by all.

When I did get back into the social scene, turns out almost everyone had the same thing.  Tales of fever breaking fun littered conversation and everyone was still sniffling and sneezing.  

Steve and I attended a rousing game of Texas Holdem Poker and we munched on cigars, drinking some fine whiskey.  We also spend some time with the other Choiseul volunteer, Sam,a lawyer, and his girlfriend.  Sam has been out there a long time now in Choiseul and is Steve's only other expat around.  Sam is good value; we joke about getting him a white linen suit, Panama Hat and gin and tonics to get the full colonial expat look going on.  

I felt better and decided to go down and finish mailing all the packages to various volunteers throughout the islands.  

When I arrived at the post office, the guys knew me by name and had a big smile on their faces.

“Mrs. Sara, we garem goodfella package for you!”

Excitedly, the guys went into the back room and grabbed a lovely package that had my name on it from my friend Helen back in Christchurch.  I was speechless. In my hands was the first care package I had received in many, many years.  Probably six or so.  My cousin Amy used to send them but she gave it because I never sent her anything back.  I suck as a friend; that’s why I don’t get typically don’t care packages.

I excitedly opened it up…first off were the pirate stickers! Yarg! Me love a good pirate sitcker!  Second, the kiwi chocolate.  Third, a precious little ornament for a tree (which I didn’t really have this year).  A card, and the last was a handmade calendar with pictures from 2010 of me and Helen’s adventures.

I must admit, I wept when I opened the calendar.  I was so touched; words cannot express how much this small care package meant to me.  After all these years, I felt I was so over receiving things and that I didn’t need anyone to send me anything.  I hadn’t realised how wrong I was until that moment, when I flipped through the funny calendar with beautiful pictures.  In that moment, I felt all the years of being away from home, missing birthday, Christmases, Thanksgivings and all the other big and little moments.

Occasionally, the universe hands you the bill for being an expat.  Right now, the price seems higher and higher and I’m beginning to wonder if it’s worth it. I wonder if being away from my family for nine years has been the right decision.     

Over the next few days, it’s a blur of social fun and activities until we get ready to leave for Savo Island...(please read above to see what happens next! OOO its like a Choose your own adventure...but...not...hey, these blogs can't all end awesomely...)

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

Truer words were never written about 2010.  At least for me. 

2010 will go down as being one of the best years of my life.  Not because it was easy; hell no.  But because it was the year when everything changed.  Every aspect of my life turned upside down; I left my well paying job to become a volunteer, I moved countries, my marriage fell apart for good, it…was a very tumultuous time.  I can honestly say that this year has been the most transformative of my life.  I grew, changed, and freaked out with the best of them this year.  Blessing rained from heaven and I fell between the cracks of life for awhile.  

Things got pretty bleak, and then things got much, much better.

This is the year that I really had to face myself and all the really ugly things that I had been denying.  I had to dig deep and really learn something about loving myself more completely, to stop hiding in other people and enjoy my own life more fully. I took risks, huge risks.  I sold everything I own (pretty much) and lived out of one suitcase for five months.  I jumped without looking.  I took leaps of faith every day.   

I travelled around the world, made new friends, reconnected with the old ones, had some pretty amazing entanglements and ate some great cheese.  I reflected, screamed, raged, cried, sang, played and danced my heart out. 

I think the most important thing was to realize that I have very little control over things that happen.  I can only control my responses; everything else is beyond my control.  I think it is a completely delusion and a waste of time, now, to try and control anything. Life is messy; people do stupid stuff to each other all the time.  That’s part of being human; no one is perfect. What a boring place the world would be if we didn’t have conflict or make mistakes.     

Anyway, psychologists used to have a stress test with key indicators of stress and man, I scored the highest you could score in one year.  Technically I should be a basket case.  Or so emotionally cut off I can’t feel anything.  Or just be a bastard to everyone and blame everyone else for my problems.  Or drink myself under the table.  Or do all kinds of bad things to other people.  There are a thousand ways this could have played out for me.

I guess I chose a different path cause I don’t feel or do any of the above. I’m pretty sure I’m not a basket case.   

During challenging times, I guess you can choose to walk the bitter victim path of blame, anger, hatred and misery or a path of acceptance of responsibility, growth and change.  I chose the latter.   I figured out that you either learn and grow or you just stay the same bitter, horrible person you were.  And I couldn’t be that person anymore.

I remember one game changing moment came in early January. The old bed in my apartment had an interesting fault.  The slats would come unbalanced and the mattress would usually slip to one side.  You usually needed two people to adjust it and even then it was always a bit of challenge. So there I was, one January evening, contemplating my life, when CRACK, the bed slipped out and my face was suddenly facing the floor.

I panicked; I had never fixed the bed alone before.  After about an hour of trying to adjust it the old way, with a partner, I gave up.  I sat in the middle of my bedroom floor and I cried.  I didn’t know how to live this new life alone.  My face turned bright red and I just wailed with frustration, anger, loss and grief. Then suddenly, everything became really calm and still.  I realized that the reality of me being in a couple no longer existed; no one was going to help me out.

No one was worried if I didn’t come home for dinner or if I was stressed out at work. I had no one.  I had lost not only my husband but my dear in-laws who had been such a supportive, loving family over the years.  I was 20,000 miles from my family, in a foreign country, completely alone. Those things hit me hard. Before that moment with the bed, I had been full of bravado and anger; enough to be really cut off from the reality of the situation. Now, I felt the full impact of the loss, wanting to sink into the deepest hole on earth.

And suddenly, in the storm of self pity, came this calm. 

I got up, pulled the mattress completely off the slats.  I picked up the slats and put it firmly back into place. I put the mattress back.  I tidied the bed and it all took me less than two minutes. I went to sleep.  I woke up the next morning and realized that I could do this; I could be alone.  I could manage on my own; I didn’t need anyone else to fix things for me or prop me up.

This revelation was pretty awesome; in that moment, I knew that despite the ups and downs, I would come out of things okay. But if I was going to do this right, I was going to have to stop running and face things full on.  I made a promise with myself that I wouldn’t try to cover up my feelings, I would ask for help and I would feel my way through every moment of the process.  I had to accept that the life I had known was gone forever and the future was a complete gray area of no guarantees.

Was it always that easy? Nope, there have been dark, dark days indeed. Has it been scary? Absolutely mind numbingly terrifying.  Have I wished things were different sometimes? Sure, I play that game.  I wouldn’t say that I’m happier than I have ever been but I’d like to think, I hope, I pray, that I’m smarter, wiser, more loving and independent.        

People say that everything happens for a reason.  I think that’s far too tidy a sentiment.  Or that everything that happened is meant to happen.  I still think that’s a heap of bollocks as well.  I think it’s better to say that something happened, you made a choice and you can learned something from it.  That you won’t repeat the same mistakes or hurt people the same again.  I think, for me, that is much healthier. 

When my dad came over last December, we went on a brilliant road trip together around the South Island.  Dad is sort of my spiritual guru; I trust him completely.  He is very loving and forgiving of people, even when they don’t do what he thinks is best for them.  As we went through the countryside, we listened to a LOT of music together but one song was a favorite from the Mountain Goats.  The lyric he loved the best was:

“I am going to make it through this year, if it kills me.”

We both laughed and laughed.  When I said goodbye to him at the airport, he told me that I would have a rough year.   I sort of didn't believe him; I thought I was totally over it.  I was wrong. 

He said he felt that through the year I would be sad, frustrated and alone.  But he smiled and said that I was going to make it through the year, even if it did kill me.   Later, in October, we spent a lot of hours together.  He put his arms around me and said “Kid, you made it through the hell year; I’m proud of you. It will all get better now. Trust in God and trust in that.”

He was right; I had turned a corner.  I felt it in my bones; the years of sadness, anger and isolation were over; now it was time to celebrate the coming through of a great ordeal and to start a new.

I am truly grateful to all the friends, family, lovers and strangers that carried me through this interesting time of change.  I could not have done this without you.  And despite all my self love, independent blah blah blah diatribes, I did lean on all of you quite a lot.  So thank you.

And thank you, 2010.  You have occasionally been a bitch of a year but I can honestly say, I’m glad I lived through you. I had some of the best moments of my life this year; such amazing highs! And less amazing stuff too.

2011 already appears to be a much more stable year; Casa Turchese is going to be in full swing (Marco is going to put in an outside wood fire pizza oven!!! Tessa going to help me train for a 21 k in Bali in May), more travel is in the cards (Bali, back to N.Z. in October probably!), kittens abound, new hobbies (hello Karate, mural painting, guitar and Melanesian cooking), new languages (hello Italian, pidgin, and catching up on my French!) and many new adventures await.

Already I know one thing about being here in the Solomons: it is wasn't what you expect.  I don't think I could ever work hard enough to balance out, as a thank you to this place, everything that I have learned already about myself from being here. 

I hope you have a year, sometime, like 2010.  Not because I hate you but because of how much I hope you will grow through meeting some pretty big challenges.  Sometimes you need certain things to happen in your life to humble you.  I can honestly say I have MUCH more empathy in my heart than I did a year ago.

So if you do have a year like this one, I hope you chose a path of kindness and forgiveness, love and empathy, strength and occasionally being a bad ass. If you do have one of those years, email me; I’ll be a support person. Cause I’ve been there.  And because I owe the universe some pretty big favours. 

I thank you, 2010! I hold you in my heart with much affection; loving and respecting the past and looking forward to a new year.

Till 2011,

S     

  

The Santa Nightmare

I'm scared of Santa.  Here is why.

Okay, so here is something that very few people know about it.  As a little kid, about 12 years old, I played Santa Claus in the school play.  This play was about Santa losing weight and getting healthy.  To clarify for any confused readers, yes, I am a girl. 

Now a couple things happened during the play.  First, I got a horrific case of strep throat right before the performance.  I went on anyway. Secondly, because I was wearing so much padding, my pants fell down during a crucial running scene.  In front of 500 people.  Luckily I had on black leggings.  But still; not cool for a 12 year old girl.

I was in the play with a sidekick, my buddy Mike.  Recently he got back in touch (thank you Facebook, you are occasionally an awesome thing) and he reminded me of the play, which involved copious amounts of twinkies and other food that I had to eat.  He also reminded me that I stole the part from him. 

But what is awesome about this, as a sidenote, is how cool my sidekick buddy turned out to be when he got older.  He is now an the armed forces, serving his country and generally doing cool things.  And while I’m not one for serving my country through military means, I respect his service.  Its cool to see people grow up around you and achieve amazing things; even if you beat them out of a part in a play almost 20 years ago.  

Plus, Mike, if you are reading this…there is no way you had the lungs for Santa.  Just sayin. J

Why is this relevant to Christmas this year?  It’s not.  Or it is…I don’t know.  I’ve always had a pretty love/hate relationship with Christmas.  I haven’t had a Christmas at home with my parents since 2004.  Why? Because its bloody expensive to fly from where I have lived back home to the states during Christmas time. And it is HUGE hassle.

Also, mostly during Christmas, everyone seems really unpleasant and stressed out; too strung out of candy canes and sugar plums to really chillax and enjoy the season.  The other Christmas’s were spent at my ex’s family house, which was really lovely and I have good memories of ye olde Christmas BBQs and drinks…very, very good memories.

Last year I spent Christmas with my friend Louise and her miniature donkey and 14 alpacas.  My theory was that if I was going to have a weird Christmas, I was going to make it all out weird.  Her family was so lovely and welcoming (I got gifts even! Wahoo!) that it didn’t feel like a weird Christmas at all.  Thank you so much, Louise and family.

Even still, the many years of living overseas in a warm climate has taken something out of Christmas for me.  And this year, there were no miniature donkeys to cheer me up.  To rub salt in the wound, I had to go pick up all the Christmas packages for my fellow volunteers and I didn't have ONE.  Not one.  After years of living overseas, I've gotten used to getting left off the Christmas card list, but still.  One card or letter might have been nice.

So with this in mind, I wasn’t in the Christmas mood this year.  I’m far away from home and slightly grumpy about most of my mates clearing out of town to be with their families for Christmas.  Sorry but I’m needy and shallow occasionally. Or often.

Anyway, I got the job of hand delivering Christmas Cards this year to my host organisation’s partners.  Honestly, I didn’t want to bring on the shiny, fake smile but I agreed to do it.  As I visited the partners, I began to realize all the amazing work these people do every day.  I smiled and delivered the cards with my colleague, Tina.  I said “Me hope you garem goodfella Christmas and New Yai”…to everyone I met. 

I began to feel this lightness.  My smile didn’t feel so fake; I felt the happiness come from naturally.  And the people around me changed too; before I was intimidated by some people but they warmed up to me like a snow man on a beach in Honiara.

I went to places where they are helping manufacture soap with local communities and I bought some as gifts.  The next was farming, naturally and sustainably, sponges from Western Province (I bought some too).  And so on…the work really inspired me from earlier in the week where I had started to become disenchanted with those expats taking advantage. 

I saw the other side of the work we do; the good stuff, the smiling people and the great community projects.  Development can and DOES work and there are a whole group of people here who do this work every day.  I am proud to call myself one of them.  I am so glad I accepted this role, although it did come with its share of sacrifices. 

And isn't this what Christmas is about? Helping others, being kind and loving to each other?  Serving our fellow men?  Some do it by coming here, or singing carols at home or fighting for their country (like Mike) or feeding orphans in India.  Or being a stay at home mum or dad, who serves their family.  And so many other roles.  Maybe its just as simple as sharing a smile, an email, a letter or kind words.

And sure, sometimes we get roles that we are happy to play.  That makes it easy to be smiley and happy.  But sometimes we get stuck with roles that we never want.  But how we embrace the challenge of all these roles is what really makes or breaks the experience.

I wish you all a happy upcoming Christmas, wherever on the planet you are.  I will let you know how the expat Christmas events go (I believe there is a three day party I am going to attend.  Pray that I survive).

May you all have a very Merry Christmas and may your pants never fall down in front of 500 people.  

Seriously, I still have nightmares (maybe I should have let Mike have the part after all…).

P.S. My mother would like everyone to know that twinkies are of the devil and should never be eaten.  According to her they are as toxic as a cigarette.  She said that once in church and was almost run out of Relief Society (a women’s group) by an angry mob…ah Mom…anyway, don’t eat twinkies.  

S

The Exodus

Over the next couple of days, Honiara begins to clear out completely of expats and locals alike.  The office only has a handful of people left and its pretty quiet.  Everyone is ready for Christmas break.

Before that happens, the three amigos, Tessa, Marco and myself go out to dinner at a French couple’s house, Celine and Arneau.  It’s a great meal and a good time; French, Italian and English are all spoken liberally throughout the meal.  My French is still shaky but I get the drift of most things.    

One of the wonderful things about holidays is access to vehicles left behind.  I was lucky enough to grab one; a lovely little Toyota Hilux, which I love so much, I am considering orchestrating some kind of “accident” of its owner.  Just kidding.  Sort of.

Anyway, Honiara is EXTREMELY difficult to navigate around in at night time.  There are no streetlights, no road markers, no signs…nothing.  It’s pretty much a road (and often times barely that) and that is it.  Pedestrians walk in the centre of the road and are typically impossible to see due to the dark clothing.  It’s amazing I haven’t hit anyone; I worry about that all the time.  There are many small panicky moments with the Hilux; it is much bigger than anything I have ever driven before and I am a horrible backer upper. Or at least I thought I was; I’m actually better than I thought!

The week is spent saying farewell to my new, dear friends.  At the airport while dropping off my friend Tessa, I experience a whole new level of queuing…literally we wait for two hours to get her checked in.  Now, I know that things go at a slower pace here than back in good old New Zealand or the U.S. but really…I mean seriously the line wasn’t that long and there were three people at the desk.  Seriously, they could use some kind of efficiency experts here or something.  One couple I knew took forty minutes to get through (due to excess baggage).

(Editor's Note: In the original posting, I had a very large rant about certain expats.  At the time, I felt I just needed to vent some perceptions that I had.  However, it has come to my attention that some people, who were never considered when writing this post, took it personally.  I have never intended to hurt or offend anyone with this blog; the work the expats do here is amazing and I am honored to be counted amongst these people.  My sincerest apologies to anyone who felt as if I was personally attacking them or their lifestyle, it was never my intention.  I have deleted this rant not only because of other people but because on reflection, I felt myself that it was an unfair and overly critical assessment. For that, I apologise. Hey, nobody's perfect, especially not the author of this blog!!!!)

Anyway, the rest of the week was all about trying to deal with the transition of moving from my little hotel room in Sanalae, working and hanging out with Steve, a volunteer from Choiseul.  Steve’s experience is VERY different than mine; don’t worry, he is writing his guest blog as I write mine, so more on him later. 

I’m sad to be leaving Sanalae; the people are so lovely there and I learned so much.  Like washing all my clothes by hand.  Or how to make sticky cabbage soup.  Or how the people who worked there walked and talked with me about what was going on in their village or settlement.  So thank you Sanalae; it’s true, you were just for the time being.  And it was a wonderful, interesting time of transition. 

Until the next bloggie, hope you and yours are happy, healthy and loving where you are at.

S

Solomon Island Recipe of the Week-Fish Curry, baby!

Hi Everyone,


Because I lack any real cooking facilities until I move into Casa Turchese (Jan. 7th! Woot!), my dear friend Helen has kindly volunteered her kitchen and cooking skills. She even New Zealandised the recipe...here is her review of last week's recipe:


Who can resist trying out a recipe with “Slippery Cabbage” in the title?  Unfortunately I had no slippery cabbage, let alone a puzzle of it, but I did have a three-week-old remnant of red cabbage sitting forlornly on the bench (Editor's note: Clearly my bad behavior re: ignoring my cabbage for weeks on end has rubbed off on poor Helen.  Anyway, continue on).  For a low saturated fat option I went with a can of coconut flavoured evaporated milk (like a true kiwi dairy lass), a curious mix, but quite tasty and much easier than scooping out coconuts themselves (I imagine, having never scooped out a coconut)(Editor's note: I have...its hard work!).  In went the finely sliced red cabbage, some chopped red onion, a dash of chilli powder, a chopped tomato and some spring onion (no shallots in cupboard either) (Editor's rant: THE OUTRAGE! NO SHALLOTS! WHAT KIND OF SHODDY CHEF ARE YOU, HELEN???), finished off with a generous sprinkling of salt.  Result: a tasty purple soup (Editor's note: ala Bridget Jones, who made blue soup.)  To my surprise the soup was just as nice reheated gently the following day for lunch.  Am looking forward to more recipes and will be stocking up on coconut flavoured evaporated milk in anticipation.


Okay that's the review.  If you want to give this recipe a go, here is the link to last week's recipe:
http://stilettosinsolomons.blogspot.com/2010/12/solomon-island-recipe-of-week.html


Many thanks to Helen!


Now for this week's Solomon Island Recipe:


Fish Curry with Tomatoes:
You will need:

• 1 medium size fish (fresh fish/Snapper/Yellow fin tuna/Trout...whatever, it has to be fishy)
• 2 table spoons of curry powder
• 2 table spoons of oil (I think sesame seed oil would be nice with this but I have a fondness for the stuff...up to you, really)
• Tomatoes (go nuts...really, the recipe says any amount...)
• 1 bush lime (or a regular lime...bush lime is like regular lime only wild...WILD LIME!)

How to prepare:

1. Pour yourself a gin and tonic.  You will thank me for it later.

2. Cut tomatoes into desired size (I have no idea what this means....I guess quarter the suckers)

3. Heat oil and add curry, stir under low heat.

4. Add tomatoes, stir...stir like the wind, damn you!

5. Add fish into the mixture; stir to allow mixture to coat the fish.

6. Cook them very slowly on low fire (I assume that means heat but in the Solomons, it DOES usually mean fire) till the fish is cooked.

7.  Add salt/pepper to taste.

8.  Make sure to eat the fish head.  I'm a big advocate of eating fish heads; they are tasty and highly underrated. The eyes are especially yumtastic!

9.  Pour another gin and tonic and/or mojito.

That's this week's recipe...next week: Christmas Feast: Solomon Style!

Till then, wear you stilettos and keep rockin on.

S

Hash Addiction

Normally I don’t blog back to back but I made an exception today.

Remember in the other bloggies, I said that expats are weird?  The event on Monday night proved it to me FOREVER.

I lucked out and received an invite to a running group called the Hash.  Now, I had heard snippets of about the Hash group but I hadn’t had the time to go.  In Hawai'i, I heard tales of a running group that ran for a mile, then drank a pint of beer, then ran another mile etc...for about ten miles.  I believe that these urban legends were trying to explain the Hash.

After some miscommunication about the location of the Hash, I was off in my truck, zooming through the streets of Honiara, wearing my stinky workout clothes.  Along the way, I got heaps of hoots and hollers from the local boys; apparently they aren't too used to seeing a girl drive a truck alone. 

Finally I roll up near the beach with Marco.  A crowd has assembled amongst stakka four wheel drive trucks and utes.  All are wearing athletic gear, many are wearing hash t-shirts.  There are a few kids and adults of various ages and sizes. I walk up, the last to arrive, hoping to understand what this hashing business is all about.

The Hash Hound Harriers is an organization of long standing and fine tradition.  It started in December 1938, in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.  It started as a way for members to “get rid of the excesses of the weekend” e.g. a hangover cure.  The race aspect of hashing is that someone starts off as a hare and everyone else are the hounds and we have to give chase.  The hare’s trail is determined by markings; typically paper.  In this case, it was shredded paper resembling snow.

The run starts off fairly easy and I keep up okay; it had been about four months since my last run.  The heat doesn’t bother me too much at first but within five minutes I’m covered in sweat.  My new flatmate, Tessa, runs beside me; unfortunately for me, Tessa has run five marathons and totally outpaces me.

After about ten minutes, my calves are burning, I'm sweating buckets and completely out of breath. I decide to give up the run and go with the walkers. As I head back, the tail end Charlie person of the group, a guy with a huge grey beard, screams at me that the entire running group is going the wrong way and I have to run back to tell them.  I make chase, screaming that they had to go back; finally the runners believe me.  By then, the walking group was well and truly ahead of me and I was stuck running a six kilometer run.

The run itself was an adventure; over small trails, through villages, running behind people’s houses, over rickety bridges and along the road.  The villagers were very friendly, helping us find our way.  Many of the young men joined us and the children laughed and ran with us part of the way.  One little girl, wearing a pink t-shirt and a black skirt, keeps up with me and Marco the whole way, running fast and laughing.

I was at the end of the group, chugging along and Marco joined me, not wanting me to run alone.  About halfway through, I was pretty thirsty.  We passed a coconut stand and bought two coconuts, walking while we drank deeply.  Coconut water is fantastic; it’s like a sports drink without all the sugar.  When we finished, we chucked the used coconut into the bush and started running, faster and stronger than before.

We ran through a palm oil plantation; huge palm trees created a canopy over our heads.  Finally we got to the beach.  The water was completely smooth, like a lake and the sun was setting beautiful behind the mountains and the sand was golden.  It was very scenic but exhausting to run through. 

We finally arrived to the Hash area, where I was inducted to the Hash organization.  The Hash circle was formed and the organization was explained to me a bit more.

The Constitution of the Hash House Harriers is recorded on a club registration card dated 1950:

• ·         To promote physical fitness among our members
• ·         To get rid of weekend hangovers
• ·         To acquire a good thirst and to satisfy it in beer
• ·         To persuade the older members that they are not as old as they feel

For many expats, like those in Afghanistan and Iraq, it’s the only way to get outside the compounds and run safely in numbers.

In the circle, they offered us a beer. Beer is an important part of the Hash; on many Hash events there are beer stops at certain points.  Members often describe their group as "a drinking club with a running problem but the Honiara group is family friendly and no one gets too pissed.  New members are forced to drink beer as quickly as possible (although you can ask for soda).

Everyone gets in a circle, and funny songs are sung and people are humiliated.  It’s all very British and all in good fun.  

We end the Hash evening with a meal at Taj Mahal; the premier Indian restaurant of Honiara and suck down curry and lime drinks.

I get home, happy, sweaty and full of Indian food, looking forward to my next Hash event. 

Ch ch ch ch Changes...

Man, things progress quickly in Honiara.

At the beginning of the week, I was stuck in my tiny, oppressive little hotel room, feeling a bit sorry for myself, feeling a little homesick and fragile.  By the end of the week, my life was sort of magically transformed.

It all started with a little pasta party at my friend Tessa’s house.  Tessa and I had sort of been playing with the idea of moving in together (sorry not in a sexy way), with Marco, our other Italian friend. 

The house Tessa lives in is amazing; the woodwork is spectacular and it is shaped like a chalet; an odd design for Honiara.  She greets me at the door and tells me the house next door is for rent and in our price range.  I take a look and immediately fall in love, with what has now been dubbed, “Casa Turchese”(Turquoise House). 

The name stuck because of the alarmingly bright blue paint on the outside of the house and also because of the amazing sea views from the balcony and two bedrooms.  The master suite, which is mine, has a huge bed, ensuite, and again, an ocean view with the islands and hills in the background.

Along for the site visit is two Australian blokes, who volunteer to come with me and ask the technical questions so that I don’t make any rash decisions.  I tend to go with my gut on things and well, that hasn’t always worked out so well.  They ask sound questions of the landlord about power, water, and security. 

But no matter what the answers might have been, I knew within five minutes this house would have to be mine.  Before I arrived in Honiara, I had all these plans to get a kitten, grow a garden, learn to cook great food and get an expat family around me.  I was disappointed that it hadn’t worked out that in Sanalae but I tried to accept it for what it was rather than what I wish it would be.

I go back with the Aussie boys and tell Tessa my decision.  Tessa isn’t as rash as me but she is excited too at the possibility. 

The pasta party turns out to be a real treat; the company is fantastic and I make some more new friends.  But I can’t stop thinking about the house; houses like that go QUICK in Honiara.  I stalk my work mates at the host organization to get things sorted as quickly as possible.

Tessa hums and haws a bit but commits early on.  Marco took some convincing; living with two singles girls in their 30s must be a daunting thing for a single guy but he eventually came around.

The house is secured with a contact and all issues with the house (wonky staircase, bizarre layout of the downstairs bathroom) are quickly resolved.  The landlord will allow us to paint a mural to cover up the downstairs (Tessa is a beautiful artist and is currently taking painting lessons from a local man to master Melanesian art).   

The landlord promises us not one but TWO kittens.  His cat just had kitten yesterday and will give them over to us after Christmas. 

There is a great space for a little garden and wild cherry tomatoes and pumpkins are already growing.  For Tessa it is ideal; her last place is across the street and her old flatmate, Elsa, promises to visit daily. 

This is the place I have dreamt about. 

I was so excited; I got sick the following day and had to go in for a malaria test.  I went to a local clinic that was basic but clean.  The nurse stuck my finger and put a bit of blood on a slide. It took about 15 minutes and the results, thank goodness, were negative.  My local doctor was named Lazarus, which I think is probably the best name for a doctor ever. He is kind and efficient and gives me an antibiotic for a sinus infection. 

After an afternoon in bed, I feel much better and start getting up the courage to do something I had been avoiding: the PADI course.

Now, those who know me well know that I have what one might define as an extreme and irrational fear of sharks. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t hate sharkies; in fact I am fascinated by them.  I’m the first person to sit on the couch and watch Shark Week on Discovery Chanel.  I find them to be beautiful creatures that are sadly facing extinction due to overfishing and destruction of their environment.

I just never, ever want to meet one in the water. 

I take a deep breath.  I pick up the phone and call for my lesson.  The Solomon Islands has some of the best dive spots in the world, due to the plethora of ship wrecks, water clarity, marine environment and temperature of the water.

I sign up and hope for the best.

The next day, its another party, this time for the younger Australian volunteers.  It’s a hot night and a huge thunderstorm is hanging around, just over the water.  The thunder sounds like God is playing pool upstairs.  We talk the night away and before I realize it, it is midnight already and this girl is about ready to turn into a pumpkin.

During Christmas time, it is a veritable gauntlet of parties; one almost every night and new people to always meet.

I realize that it may seem like all I do here is party or go on amazing adventures, but I do actually do some work.  I chose not to write about it much because a) I don’t want my host organization to be embarrassed by this blog (or me) and b) its boring.  Who wants to read a blog about work?

But here is a moderately funny story. Today, I got invited to cover a signing of an important agreement between my host organization and another country.  As a comms person, I’m used to sitting the background, joking with the reporters and making friends with camera guys, listening to the radio jounros complain that they don’t get the same access as the t.v. crews…. But not this time; I was dragged up, front and centre, to represent my organization.  Now, I was wearing my organisation’s polo shirt and a pair of shorts, with jandels, no makeup and legs that hadn’t been shaved in a couple of days.

Now, the host country is very…formal.  So let’s just say I felt completely out of place and I inwardly scolded myself; the problem is here it is hard to dress fancy because the sweat wrecks your nice clothes so quickly.  So yeah, I looked like a university student in finals week.  I vow to step up the work wardrobe…

After that, the weekend perked up quite a lot with another party on Friday night and a beach party on Saturday.  We went to Kangaroo Point, where there is a lovely little house that you can rent for the day and you get the whole beach to yourself. 

We swam in the clear water and created a lovely flotilla of mismatched floaty thingys and gently drifted in the Pacific, with cool beer and good company.  I sit on the beach talking to friends and see a sword fish jump out of the water.  I'm the only one who sees it; everyone else turns around, looks, sees the wake and thinks I'm probably mad.

In the evening, the fire wood was brought out and a we sat around the bon fire, which worked pretty well until the skies poured down rain.  There was something pretty romantic about sitting next to the fire and getting soaked at the same time, with the waves lapping softly in the background. 

The next day was pretty much the same; we went to Bonege Beach.  Now, if there was one famous spot to snorkel and dive in in Honiara, it would be this one. There is a lovely sunken boat there and an artificial reef was created.  Sea urchins and brain coral have attached themselves to the bottom of the ship floor and through it sides.  I’m a bit nervous; the water near the beach is cloudy and the waves are slightly higher than I typically feel comfortable with.

Marco and Tessa stay with me the whole time and we make it over the bow of the ship.  Tessa holds my hand as we swim over the bow of the ship. The ship’s bow comes out like ribs from the ocean’s floor.  As I look below me, the whole thing feels like swimming in a gigantic fish tank.  Tessa grins as she see clown fish swimming in and out of a sea creature’s tendrils. After five minutes or so, I let Tessa's hand go; I felt absolutely silly holding her hand but it did make me feel more at ease.

When we surface she tells me why she loves the little clown fish so much.

“When I was back home, the school I worked with didn’t have enough money to go to the aquarium.  So I hosted a big party and called it “Funding Nemo”.  We made enough money that night to fund not one but TWO trips to the aquarium,” she grins broadly.

 

The ship's rusty old stack rise high about the ocean and local kids happily scale the structure and jump off from the top.  There are lots of people there; it’s a favorite diving and swimming spot.    

After the swim, we sun ourselves and dry off.  The beaches here are mostly rocky and have loads of shell and broken coral.  Note: if you come here, reef shoes are a very good idea!

I’m off to the airport; I’m dropping a colleague off and in return getting their truck for six weeks!   I am beyond excited at this point to be getting my own wheels.

I miss my Jeepie; a little Suzuki I picked up in Christchurch.  This year, after four months of not having any vehicle, I broke down and bought Jeepie.  It was an important purchase for me; it was the first vehicle I ever picked out myself.  I picked it because I wanted to be able to go anywhere; I wanted the freedom of doing what I wanted, when I wanted.  And I got exactly that.  Jeepie was a great symbol and it made me feel just good having her.

The new truck has that same feeling.  The environmentalist inside of me hates to admit it but I simply LOVE driving a truck.  I love the feeling of riding high and the visibility.  I like the feeling of power as well.  It makes all the men here smile when they see me, quite a short woman, climb behind the wheel and take off.

After the truck pick up, was a get together at a woman’s house to look at local art.  Many people are going home for Christmas (I’m not, I’m braving the orphan Christmas once again!) and they want gifts.  The artist’s work is beautiful; he works in three different media: carving, drawing, and painting.  His carvings are really, really special; he uses ebony and rosewood as well as stone.  He inlays shell to beautiful effect and has some 

real unique pieces. 

I don’t buy from him but enquire if he would consider doing a flying fish tattoo design for me (it’s something I’ve been toying with for awhile).  I like the concept of a flying fish; it’s such a unique, beautiful creature and I think it fits me.  He seems excited at the idea and I take down his phone number.  Time will tell if I have enough courage and/or desire to actually do it. 

The day ends with a visit with the new kittens.  Tessa and I pick a brother and sister; one is white with calico spots and the other is fully tabby with beautiful orange throughout her fur.  They are very small; only two weeks old but already the white one is showing his personality.  He talks a lot and playfully fights with his litter mates.  The little girl is the runt of the litter; small and petite and is quite shy but very laid back.  I can’t wait to bring them home. 

In the evening, we have a pasta feast by Tessa and some friends sit around the table talking about life and passion.  A great week, to be sure.

So from last Monday to this were monumental changes in my life.  My Solomon Island family grows; I have a beautiful home, great friends, kittens, a truck and am going to be exploring the underwater world. 

I don’t know how it happened. Maybe it is my constant worship of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (I mean, who can resist his noodlie appendages and the correlation between pirates and climate change?) or my belief that if are going in the right direction, things just work for you. Blessings rain from heaven. Whatever it is, I am so grateful.

I can’t take credit for any of it; I’m just a very lucky fish. 

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." -Anais Nin

Till next time,

S