Hey there! I’m a bit more well rested now, and hopefully I can write and entry with a bit more content this time. As I may have mentioned, it is the beginning of school holidays, and as such, I have gone into the usual mental slump that inevitably follows the mad rush to the end of term. It also means that I cane come into Villa, and so has half of the village, so I'm bumping into family, friend and students all over the place, which is not so different from home except that here, people grasp you by both hands kiss you on both cheeks and stand talking to you while continuing to hold both hands. And that’s the students as well! Well… the girls anyway. The boys shake hands and blush and avoid eye contact while trying to simultaneously appear indifferent and engage you in conversation. This often means having a conversation with someone who has their back to you, or something equally awkward. Its quite different in the village though, my students at least, have absolutely no concept of personal apace, every opportunity is taken to generate physical contact of some description, the women shake my hand and the men and I ignore each other. Funny old place.
In other news, I have become addicted to rice and tuna, I saw a sea snake while snorkelling, I purchased the DVD of my village string band and can not wait to play it for people – this music is SO cool!! The year 7 boys climbed up the coconut tree outside my kitchen window and pruned it for me, cut down heaps of coconuts and drank the juice before leaving me the mess to clean up. My little brother and cousin have rekindled my love of jokes, riddles and clapping games and I am slowly getting a handle on the local language, which is quite tough, but sounds beautiful. Today is another grey one, but who is going to complain, at least it is not humid.
OK love to all back home xoxo