random photos

I thought it high time for some non serious- no brainer photos. haven't posted a good photo in a while- probably cos they take so long to upload! so here's some stuff I thought worth photographing...but not worth a blog entry all to themselves :)

My village dishwasher - unfortunately doesn'twork so well for the outside of the pots.

I got my hair braided for a party. OUCH!!!! - for a super mullet from hell- why would you? -is all I can say for that. It stayed in 12 hrs exactly.

I took a visitor to Monkey Bay to catch the Ilala Ferry up the lake. I had no idea there was a full (mini) industrial port there! with all the locals washing their clothes and bathing right next to it of course!

Super size Ugali

I really like this photo. Not sure why. Maybe cos the red is pretty? cos it's so symbolic of the sheer amount of soft drinks consumed here. Or maybe the juxtaposition of the multibillion dollar? company as a back drop to the lady selling donuts for a return of $1.30/day if she manages to sell them all. or maybe it somehow captures that it can actually get cold here...sometimes.

More boats and another port- but this time of a different nature. Along the shores of Lake Chilewa the fishermen have cut a channel through the thick reads- all the way out to deeper water. Boats in every state of disrepair litter the shallows. I love it.

Unyago- Initiation Celebrations

It's that time of year again. I got back to the village to find that a few of my little friends (8-9 yr olds) had gone- taken into seclusion for their initiation. I also got back to discover that the initiation area for the boys had been constructed 100m from my house! wow- that's cultural exposure!

I couldn't figure out why they would have put it there where I can hear everything - when I'm such an outsider? Then I found out why. My night watchman is the head organiser, teacher and carer for the boys. He has to be there 24/7. He also has to make sure my house doesn't get broken into at night. Solution to the problem? Put the initiation area next to work! hahaha yay for me.

There are 3 symbolic 'gates' along the path to the grass enclosure and if the uninitiated enter- woe to them - the place is protected spiritually. The singing and drumming happens sporadically throughou tthe day. It's still early in the piece so they only drum and sing for a few hours each night- but I'm sure the best is yet to come.
I know this is an incredible experience that very few people get to witness- but Im thinking I might buy some earplugs.

Transmission Oil

I ran out of cooking in the village yesterday, so wandered down to the local 'golosale' (grocery) and brought myself a 10c bag of oil- like everyone elses.

That evening I pulled it out to cook with and it had changed from a golden oil consistency to a pale butter-yellow textured consistency.

Now it also happened that I had two young men visiting me at the time- one from Zimbabwe who doesn't speak Ciyawo and one who wants to learn English- both of whom were eating into my precious Ciyawo learning/speaking opportunities with frivolousness about my MP3 player that they were covoutesly making playlists on ... Anyways- I held up the oil and asked what the heck was going on and one of them said 'oh- that's transmission oil' as if it was the most normal thing in the world and continued to flip through Alicia Keys songs which reminded me that I really needed to cleanse my player of her music at the nearest opportunity. A discussion ensued about whether it might be sunflower or peanut oil- but they both agreed that vegetable oil doesn't change colour like that so 'yeah- it's transmission oil- they buy it cheap from Mozambique'. Back to Alicia Keys. Granted she probably does hold more appeal to red blooded males than my cooking oil.

Needless to say I didn't find this explantion very satisfactory. I've heard that the power problems are often due to people draining the oil form transmission boxes for cooking but I didn't think it happened on a massive scale- i mean- this cooking oil is sold EVERYWHERE.

Having to choose between dinner cooked without oil or with oil (even if it was transmission oil) I chose the transmission oil and decided to ask my language helper about it the next day.
'Do they sell transmission oil for cooking?' I asked - ever so tactfully. 'yeah' she replied. 'Isn't that petroleum based - like- really bad for you to eat? Isn't it like cooking with vaseline?' she thought about it for a while 'they sell that one cheap for the poor people- I think you should buy your oil from the supermarket'.
'ok'

Does someone out there in blog land know what kind of oil is used in electical transmission boxes? Surely it would taste bed?! Is there a correlation, by any chance, between this and malawi's horrifically low life expectancy? I'd love to know what's going on.

27/7/2009 The workers around here got a shock this morning. First a concoction of aloe vera gel, honey and lemon juice. Then a mug of lemon grass tea with honey. They're hovering to see what's next. Lucky them- I'm also in a baking mood, so it's chocolate cake.

Yup- the whitey's been to a natural medicine course and has come back all full of garden, concoction and dietary ideas :) The course was great. it was called 'Natural Medicine in the Tropics', run by 'anamed' (http://www.anamed.net/).


I think what I liked most about it was the fact that half the medicinal palnts are growing in my garden already- ie readily available to normal people (people living inthe tropics that is!)

So a few natural health tips to my Aussie friends?


Garlic is fantastic for boosting the immune system. It has antiseptice, anti-viral, anti-biotic, anti- fungal adn antidiabetic properties. Include as much raw garlic in your diet as possible. Tip: chop it small, adn stir it through your food jsut prior to serving. If the whole family is eating it- no one will complain of the smell. If you're still worried about aroma- apparently eating a bit of ginger is good at getting rid of garlic breath!

Aloe vera - slit open the leaf adn scoop out 1-2 Tbspn of the gel/day, or chop and boil the leaf to make a tea. Add honey if it's too bitter for you. Aloe is an immune system regulator- boosts it if it needs boosting, settles it if you're having an allergic reaction. It also facilitates the absorption of vitamins adn other minerals and is great for soothing stomach ulcers.

Lemons are full of vitamins- drink the juice of 1 lemon every day.

Lemon Grass and guava leaves - made into tea's are also really good for you- but Im too tired to remember what they do right now...if you really want to know- email me :)

Goodbyes addendum

I'm sorry- I ended that last post badly. The news was a shock.

This place fades all my petty insecurities into insignificance. With life expectancy hovering around 40 and one in 5 kids not making it to the age of 5 - my friends all face the eternal goodbyes with horrifying (for me) regularity.

The well digger asked for an advance on his pay 2 months ago so he could pay for his young daughters funeral. Then a fortnight ago he asked for another advance so he could buy medicine. I gave it- but I had no idea how sick he was. I can only image how devastated his wife must be.

Not that we- in the west- are immune to death- most of us have had someone close to us die - it's just that the unexpected ones happen alot less frequently- with a lot more outrage.

Perhaps my loathing of goodbyes isn't insignificant. Perhaps it reveals my understanding and experience of the transience of life on this planet. I live knowing today could be my last. Not taking the gift of other people- relationships- forgranted.

In the past I've asked -what is the solution? how do I make goodbyes easier? make the pain go away?! (not cry embarrassingly :-x) But I think I've come to the conclusion that it's ok. It doesn't need to change. The pain is a good pain - it means that I've embraced life, and friendships- soaked them in deeply. And when they change, or end- although I feel deeply sad and have a hole in my life where that person used to fit- I've actually gained so much- the richness and depth of the relationship that has contributed to who I am.

I'm an introvert and I'm ok...

Personality types have been a bit of a theme at the moment. I've been reading a bit of stuff about Myers Briggs personality types, but then at the course this week, one of the facilitators came up to me and said- "I've got a book called 'The Introvert Advantage' that you might find interesting". I smiled and took the book and thought...where the heck did that come from? Am I THAT much of an introvert that someone I've met twice is lending me a self help book? Thankfully he was such a genuine person that you couldn't be more than puzzled.


I skim read the book. It said that introversion isn't about whether or not you're shy or like people- it's about where you draw your energy from. If you are energised by being in the thick of the action and interacting with lots of people- then you're an extrovert. Introverts (innies) have a lot less energy in general than extroverts- and really need to pace themselves and have quality time alone to recharge their batteries. It said innies are easily overwhelmed by too much sensory information and when it gets to overload- the brain just blanks out. It said that innies often forget stuff- basic stuff, like what they like to do. Brain blanking can happen when they're put on the spot- just a word lost- or a whole body of knowledge (that they're often experts in) just slips beyond grasp in the hot spotlight of other peoples gaze. Innies tend not to open their mouths unless they think they know what they're talking about- and they probably don't consider themselves to know much at all until they've studied something at far more depth than any normal person would bother. They hate being the centre of attention. They often feel guilty that they don't have the energy or the desire- or even abilty to do the 'group thing' - whether at work or socialising. And they rarely come back with a fast answer- they need time to think about stuff and are likely to re-open yesterdays conversation to say what they couldn't think of saying at the time.


man it made me feel better!!! :)


I remember when I first did the personality test- I got all the letters, looked up the description... and found myself reading all about my Dad. No- that's my dad- not me. Then I did the test again trying to draw my answers from how I would respond in a work situation. Different letter combo- different description. This time I was reading all about my boss. No- that's not me either. Did it again and got straight down the middle. A perfectly balanced human being?! :) really confused?! no just a 'pleaser'.


I've gotten to know myself a lot better in Africa and be ok with it. Take myself less seriously. Accept the facts. The fact is- I did find it a big effort to socialise at the course. 15 new faces were overwhelming and I was quite happy to spend a large number of the breaks in the corner with a cuppa and book. I watched on mildly envious as people formed little cliques - but really enjoyed one on one conversations with people- even if I did forget my words sometimes....


The book also provided much entertainment both to me and my extrovert room mate (for the duration of the course) where it got into relationship advice - starting with tips for how to meet a potential partner. It included gems like 'smile at people in the elevator, do your washing at the laundromat, or take your dog to the dog park' which had my friend in stitches imaginging all these really shy people buying dogs so they can meet someone in a dog park... :)


Thankfully introversion-extroversion is a continuum and I'm hovering just off centre :-p

So- a question for you- the book said 25% of the population are innie and 75% are outie- do you recon that's true? what are you?

goodbyes

I have issues with 'goodbyes'. I always have. Ask anyone that knows me - I really don't cope with 'em very well at all. You'd think it'd get easier with practice- or less get wrenchingly painful with age...but for me-nope. The tears still well up and very goodbye is a trauma.

Unfortunately I'm not exactly living in suburbia where people are born, live and die in the same suburb. Nope, the expat community in third word countries are incredibly fluid. Two years is classified as a 'long haul'. Just as you get to know someone they leave.

My house mate left today. A year and a half ago I moved in with a complete stranger. Today I said goodbye to a dear friend. We've laughed together, cried and prayed together, gotten annoyed and tiptoed around each other, shared life, cooking and dishes... and now she's going for a 6 month break back in Australia and by the time she gets back I'll be gone and...and life has moved on.

I want to hold on to it. Let the moments linger. But now they're just echoes in this big empty house.

I think separations and goodbyes are so difficult because other people become a part of our lives- who we are - and when they go- they leave a gaping hole. The only way to make goodbyes easier is to not let people in. But where is the joy in that?! nope- it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

I just got a phone call from the farm manger. The man that dug the well at the farm just died a few minutes ago from 'infection'.






goodbye

Rambling

Sorry I've been useless at blogging this week. it's not that there's nothing to write about.. I just haven't had time. village living, farmer training, house mate packing for home assignment, car juggling...and im going on a 'natural medicine in the tropics' course on Wednesday. I'm really looking forward to it- a change in pace, learning new stuff and meeting new people. it's gonna be good!

I got my RAV back today. I never thought I'd be SO happy to get a vehicle back- but I guess a few months of vehicle juggling had taken it's toll. The RAV got taken to South Africa to have (among other things) the wind screen replaced for a crack where a kid lobbed a rock while I was driving one day. The windscreen got replaced... and chipped on the drive back to Malawi :( so now, instead of a top to bottom crack on the passenger side, I have a star right in my line of sight! hehe

Well- must sleep, but will leave you with a pic from my weekend.

Training

There is something so beautiful about this part of Malawi. Maybe the grassy plains and the thorn trees. Perhaps its the blue smudge of lake in the distance- or the rising hills. It's certainly not farming country- floods, poor clayey soil, termites mounds galore- but what the heck!

Siyala

Friday 10th July

I think I earned my stripes today. I’m not sure if I told you already about pump cleaning duty? Well, a few weeks a go I was visiting random people and was telling this lady that I wanted to learn everything- how to talk, cook, carry my own water…. So she took me seriously and enlisted me to join her ‘team’ for 6am water pump cleaning duties on Fridays. So I had set my alarm for 6 and had woken to the sound of her yelling at my night guard to get me out of bed- and him yelling back that its wrong to make me do that work and he wasn’t going to wake me up and I smiled wryly to myself that I had now found my ‘special’ friend in the village. And lucky me-she’s a tough task master!

I had rolled out of bed and faced her chiding for being 5 min late and learnt all about how to sweep and clean the pump. Last Friday I was in Mangochi. This morning – I was there before her. In fact – I’d swept half the area before any of them got there and she was as proud as punch. I told her off for being late and she was beaming from ear to ear.

I visited her this afternoon and she is going to take me to some religious celebration that goes all night Saturday through to Sunday morning. She reckons showing up 7am Sunday morning is enough. Maybe she ain’t such a hard task master after all.

Thursday 9th July

My language helper visited me in the village today. It was lovely. It was freezing cold and raining most of the day which is very unusual. So it was a perfect day to sit in the house and do language and grammar. But first we sat and chatted and prepared lunch- futali and cabbage…yummm.

Futali recipe.
Approx 1kg sweet potato
About ¾ cup of finely ground raw peanuts
About 1 tblspn salt.

Peel the sweet potatoes whilst sitting on a mat, chatting to your friends. Cut into 2cm rounds. Light your fire. Wash sweet potato and put in pot with water ¾ the height of the potato. Add the salt, put on a lid and steam until just starting to get soft. Pour the ground peanuts (previously crushed and sieved (a coffee grinder will do!) …or brought from the market) evenly over the top. Add more water if needed. Replace the lid and steam until cooked. And peanuts have formed a sauce over the potatoes. Share with friends. Also tastes great cold the next morning for breakfast.
Any staple can be prepared this way: cassava, pumpkin, plantain bananas and white potatoes- but I like the sweet potato version the best.

I am so exhausted - my head is throbbing from talking ciyawo from 11am to 4pm straight. It’s only 7.30- but I gotta sleep.

Wednesday 8th July

Today was the first staff meeting for 6 months- and I found it interesting that it ran for the same amount of time- if not shorter than the monthly variety: all day :) 9am to 4pm with an hour for lunch.

What I wanted to tell you about though was the trip home. Now that I live ‘up the mountain’ I offered to provide the lift home from the meeting for the 4 staff members that live nearby. So, we left the office at 4.30 and I thought awesome, home by 5.30 before dark to get water and cook dinner’.

Wrong.

The first requested stop was a roasted maize stall for snacks, then the bank for cash, the supermarket for some groceries, the market for tomatoes and of course…2 fresh fish and a large bag of dried ones. Now I must admit at this stage that I had already stashed two sacks of reasonably ripe cow manure in the troopie and was also carrying half a sack of particularly smelly fruit as a gift to someone in the village…but the fish tipped the scales. Then, half way up the hill we stopped for three large bundles of firewood and a little further on three huge sacks of charcoal and the chiefs wife who wanted a lift further down the road. By this point I was thinking it was all a bit ridiculous. But we didn’t stop any more cos there wasn’t any room. By the time I had dropped everyone and their shopping off it was after 7pm.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but in the nearest ‘town’ there is a little restaurant that does particularly good goat stew or chicken stew with rice or ugali. Yay for Neptunes!

Tuesday 7th July

It’s a full moon- step outside and enjoy it with me.
Oh- it’s 2am in Australia. Ok- another night.

In fact it’s so bright outside right now that there’s a bunch of kids noisily playing hide-n- seek chasey around my house and car. I’m being old and boring and threatening to go to bed- but I figure two pre-dawn starts in a row is a fair excuse.

Let me tell you a story of how things work in here. Villages A, B and C are all in another District. A and B are roughly 2 hrs drive and village C is another hour on a horror dusty track. So we tackle these villages by heading off 5.30 am Monday morning, doing village A at 8am, and Village B at 1pm. Then we used to drive all the way home again- but I decided this time instead to drive 30min to a local tourist spot, find a hotel, then we hit Village C Tuesday morning and slot in village D- much closer to home, on the drive back. Clock work huh?! Never.

We arrived at Village A-after dark wake-up, no breakfast, no coffee and 2 hours drive through thick fog?!... to find no-one. Those that knew we were coming had gone to a memorial feast. The rest didn’t know we were coming and had nothing prepared. SO we cancelled village D and said we’d be back the next afternoon. Then we drove to the memorial feast and waited while someone went in and informed the group leader of the new plans. Then we arrived at village B by 9.30 am. They were keen to start- but hardly any group members were around so they spent a few hours rounding them up. We started training at 11.30, finished by 1pm, were generously served lunch and with hotel kerfuffel (don’t get me started!) we were resting by about 4pm. Next morning- another early start. More hotel kerfuffel. Get to village C about half an hour late. They’re all there- but they weren’t expecting us and nothing is prepared. They insist that we wait while they dig the pit for compost, gather the leaves, manure, bring the water etc. We start training by about 9am, done by 11.30am. By the time we drive back to village A it’s 1pm. We arrive and two men are preparing for the lesson but…there’s been a death and most of the participants will be attending the funeral. Sorry. So we go home. 2 days, lots of effort, 2 groups. Ad the annoying thing is- this is all perfectly normal in my job. Sometimes it gets to me. Sometimes it doesn’t. The fact is- we’re working with a communication system based on very few people having phones- even less having those phones charged at any one time, and even less having any credit to talk with- not to mention a phone network in haphazard disrepair. Then there’s the unexpected events of illness and death, funeral and memorials – all of which can happen at any time and are vitally important to attend.

It’s nice to be back in the village. Back home :)

It’s 8.30pm and I’ve just demolished a pack of biscuits after having popcorn for dinner cos lunch was ugali, greens and chicken at 4pm. I’m starting to wonder if my tiredness is just plain bad diet? Lets see…today I had 2 deep fried eggs, 2 pieces of bread, a cup of tea and half a bowl of greasy rice (don’t ask- that’s what bodgy hotel served) for brekky. Then we had tea with sweetened condensed milk and a bread roll at about lunch time and a coke and banana on the drive home. Then…see above. Mostly rubbish. Must work on eating better and taking my vitamins.

I chatted with one of my ‘friends’ tonight. The 12 yr old boy who washed my pots and today demanded a cloth and a bucket so he could wash my car. We sat eating popcorn together. ‘There’s no salt’ he stated bluntly. ‘I know- it’s coming’ I replied as I wandered into the house. ‘So- how many brothers and sisters do you have?’I asked- trying to make chit chat conversation. ‘Four now, but five died.’ He answered between handfuls of popcorn. I sat back down on the mat with the bag of salt ‘Woaw- five?’ I asked checking I heard right. ‘Yeah, there was two and then two and then one by itself’….ok- I won’t continue repeating the conversation word for word- but in the course of the bowll of popcorn I learned that his older sister (18?) has been married for 2 years and has no kids cos they both died when they were born. He doesn’t have a jumper and he sleeps with his siblings on a mat on the floor of their house with a chitenje- light cloth for a blanket. ‘Is it cold?’ I asked. ‘Yes’ he replied solemnly. He goes to school (grade 5) Monday to Thursday and stays home on Fridays to wash the clothes, pots, carry water and pray at the mosque. He wants to be rich when he grows up – to buy things. ‘A car…and clothes’ he said with a grin. He would really like to be a policeman or a doctor…‘This tea has no sugar’ he piped up. I smiled. I’d put 3 Tablespoons in the pot. I topped his mug up with a dessertspoon full of sugar and started to stir small and fast. ‘No’ he said, taking the spoon off me- ‘you stir like this’ as he stirred sedately – 3 times to the right, 3 times to the left. He’s taking this ‘teaching me stuff’ really seriously!

Sunday 5th July

I think you get a much realer view of stuff if I write day by day- so I’ll use the laptop I brought as long as the batteries last.
I was expecting to be going firewood collecting today with the ladies from the village (3am departure), but it was cancelled (yay?!!), so yesterday evening I went to visit the lady who had invited me to find out why. ‘How are you this evening?’ I asked ‘oh- not good’ she answered. ‘Are you sick?’ then she proceeded to tell the story. Last Friday I left for town at 1pm and she had asked if I could take her pregnant daughter to the hospital in town. As I was ready to leave I was told I could go- they had decided to go to the closer hospital about 15km away. That hospital was in a different direction so I left- not giving it a second thought. Her daughter gave birth that afternoon to twin boys. They both died. They got the mother to the hospital where she stayed for a few days and now she is at home recovering.
Sigh. I can’t help but think ‘what if?’ What if I had driven 15km in the opposite direction and gotten her to proper medical care? But I didn’t know she was in labour- I just thought they wanted to get there early and be ready. 2 little lives finished before they even started. I bet they would have survived if the mother happened to be Australian not African. I still struggle with why some of us are born into wealth and opportunity- and others to poverty and oppression. It’s certainly not cos we’ve earned it.

Last week when I was in town I bombarded my language helper with questions about giving and sharing and taking and borrowing in this culture. I tell ya what- I learnt those words fast the first week here! She laughed as I told her stories of people coming to ask me to share salt, tea and matches with them, my sharp knife going walk about at meal times and people inviting themselves over after dinner knowing that I always make a cuppa tea (then complaining loudly that theirs didn’t have enough sugar). It wasn’t all one way though- my night guard happily borrowed a broom, machette and a big bucket for heating water for my morning bathe from next door as if he owned them. People sit and watch me cook and happily accept whatever I (feel pressured to) offer- but many of these same people feed me ugali when I just drop by their house to say hello- or send me little bowls of accompaniments for my ugali. Chicken one day, peanuts and sweetpotato another, linyololo (snot central). How does all this giving work? There doesn’t seem to be rhyme nor reason. Then one day, I watched as the grandmother next day called in one of the local kids and let him sit and eat all the leftovers by himself. You’re allowed to feed other peoples kids??!! Yes- apparently.

My language helper smiled broadly through all these stories. ‘now you’re going to learn real culture’ she said. And proceeded to outline the unspoken rules (thank God for my language helper!) yes, people can come and ask for salt, tea, sugar, oil, maize flour- you name it- but not every day. They can’t have the same problem every day- only once every 4 to 7 days can they come back and ask again (?!!). If you have a lot of what they are asking for- you give a generous amount. A heaped plate of maize flour, a heaped tablespoon of salt/tea/sugar etc. If you only have a little- give a quarter of what you have. Can you imagine if this concept hit OUR culture? J With the kids she said that a lot of kids only get fed once or twice a day- so if you have leftovers, or want to cook for them – that’s fine. Their mothers won’t feel shame that you’ve fed them- quite the opposite. She warned me not to let giving kids food become a habit otherwise they’ll stop getting fed at home. Wow.

So, last night the neighbors kid seemed pretty excited about my dinner so we shared. I tell ya what- he’s only 4 but I had to eat fast to get my half! Today one of the kids who I know rarely gets fed was eyeing off my beans as I was preparing them, so after I’d eaten lunch I invited him to join me. Have you eaten porridge today? Head shake. Drunk tea? Head shake. His mother left him and his sister with the grandmother and left the country about a year ago apparently. I served him up greens, beans and ugali. He ate the beans, squeezed all the juice out of the greens and drank it- then sat there with a big grin. I don’t blame him for not eating the ugali- his body is probably screaming for protein. Later some more kids came in and eyed off the left over ugali (that I didn’t know where to throw out discreetly!). Can we eat it? They asked. Sure. Have you got anything to go with it? I served up a small amount of beans. They ate the lot, washed up the bowls and quietly filed out. ‘thank you ‘doesn’t seem to be a big part of receiving things here, but their smiles said it all.

Im writing a lot aren’t I?! hehe its ok- the batteries are almost gone already. Besides cooking and feeding kids today, I also had a long chat with a friend from Australia- so refreshing! Then I went to the markets to buy greens- but there weren’t any so the neighbor donated some (J), then…I swept my house, washed the dishes- including pots, visited the ladies a few houses away, pounded maize till my arms burned (all of 10 min! shame). Then after lunch did some prep for tomorrow, watched the girls playing netball, went for an explore and met lots of ladies- but a few that might be good to help me with language, then carried water, cooked dinner…and here I am about to start work on reports. Don’t you love my prioritizing?!

Saturday 4th July

Happy Independence Day Americans! Me? I’m in town waiting for the power to come on so I can do some printing…and ironing before I head back to the village. I feel bad I haven’t posted this week. You’re probably thinking I’m toughing it out in the village- when really I’ve been flat out with visitors and work in town. In fact- I’m not sure I’m going to able to do the whole 2 months in the village. Yes, a lot of my work is w a y out of town (usually between 1 and 3 hrs drive)- so I’m actually closer living in the village. But training days still entail 6am starts and late afternoon/evening returns. Plus there’s the report writing and proposal writing that I can’t do in the village (no power). Just living is exhausting- not to mention trying to operate in another language. Then throw meetings and visitors into the mix (in town) and I’m thinking- I’m not super woman- something’s gotta give.
So I’m heading back out to the village today to give it one more shot. As much as I love it there’s no point if I’m never there… so I’ll see (now that the ‘newness’ has worn off) if I can shortcut some chores, get a rhythm and spend enough non-brain-dead time in the village to make it worth while.
I just called the power provider and the powers not due back on til lunch time. Grrr’. Sorry no posting. Gotta go.