Rain and Wind/Wind and Rain

It's been raining off and on here for the past week or more. We've had the tail end of a cyclone which passed by Fiji and are still getting some wind as I write this. Cyclone Thomas was the last one and there was also another called Ulie...both in the large South Pacific area between the island of Kiribati (pr. Keerabas) and westerly towards Australia.

School has been out since Monday when the the heavy rain made it impossible to walk between classes without getting soaked to the skin. The school where I work has playing fields which turn into small lakes after a heavy rain and the students normally meet outdoors on a large concrete area for morning assemblies, so all activities get cancelled when we get a long lasting downpour.

The wind on Monday night was very strong and last night, although it had lightened considerably, it was still blowing heavily. The lagoon outside my patio is rough and the water has risen toward the house by about 3 feet. I haven't been to the school yet to check on the state of the library but I hope to find less damage than the last cyclone (Rene) produced since this one wasn't quite as bad.

So, I've been taking things pretty easy, sleeping, eating and nursing a sore shoulder which seems to be improving.

We've been having water problems here and the rainwater usually used for drinking wasn't available for awhile so this rain was a good chance to get some fresh water. I placed a large plastic container under a run-off point from the roof and boiled up a fresh supply. We are on city water which is treated with something that leaves a kind of white gel in the water. If you boil it you can skim the stuff off the top and if you pour a glassful from the tap you can see what I believe is called "particulate matter" floating around in it. Rainwater is definitely the drink of choice no matter what polluting materials may be in the atmosphere or on the roof.

The winds are a nice change from the humidity and heat of the previous weeks. When I arrived here in September one of the other volunteers told me it would get hot around about December, so hot she said, that you couldn't walk a block without having your shirt soaked through! Well, December came and the weather was still pleasant....a little warmer than the usual Canadian summer but not a problem. Round about the end of January just when school was starting up again the temperature climbed and the humidity increased and I understood what she was talking about....it's hot and sticky all the time. Makes me homesick for good ol' Ontario where you scrape the ice off the windshield each morning in January and February.

This is turning out to be an interesting plase to live. I have two puppies sleeping by my front door each morning because they know I will throw them something to eat. I've begun tearing up pieces of bread and soaking them in milk to throw to the pups. I tried cutting up a bun one day and throwing pieces one at a time so that while one of them was eating I could make sure the other one got some. Well, I was a little too slow one morning and the second dog jumped for the piece I had in my hand and bit my finger as well. Very sharp teeth have these little starving dogs. Took about a week and a half to heal while I tried very hard to remember if I'd had a tentanus booster before I left Canada and spent many anxious moments looking for "symptoms of rabies" on the internet. All is well tho', finger healed and no dogs in area foaming at the mouth.

I'd been told that the Tongans like to "visit" meaning that they would come by at any time to do nothing more than sit. So far the Tongan family who runs the place where I stay has been very considerate of the privacy of the palangis living here...all except for one chubby 12 year old who is staying with his grandfather in what is referred to as the "big house" (the house beside the apartments where I live). He has no hesitation of standing outside the door calling until you appear when he asks what you had for lunch/dinner/breakfast....so I tell him, asking what he had for lunch/dinner/breakfast. He always has had lots to eat so I can only assume he is a budding gourmet just wanting to exchange menu ideas. Today he dropped by 3 times, yesterday he woke me up while I was having a nap on the couch in full view of the open door...to ask what I was doing! Cute!

The Japanese teacher, Susuki, who lives in the next apartment is moving out sometime this month so we have to make alternate arrangements to keep our internet here. The account is in his name. Luckily Mark and Jen, my British neighbours also want to keep it and will take over the account from him...now that I'm used to having internet at home I don't want to be without it. They are leaving next December tho' so I'm keeping my fingers crossed we get another internet user moving in to share the cost once they leave.

Well, all for now...enjoy the lovely spring weather that I hear you have now. Will try to post soon when I have something to add.