First Blog for 2007

First Blog for 2007

 

I am sitting in the bursars office frustrated by the slowness of the internet and the fact that we don’t have our own phone line yet and now there is no dial tone at all so… time to write a blog.

It seems that we are straight back into life as we knew it at Talua a year ago. Straight back into the frustrating internet conditions described above (If Jon were not so busy that he hasn’t had time to be on the internet much, I’m sure that he would be pulling his remaining hair out by now), straight back into stifling heat with high humidity, so hot that you don’t want to step out the door, back into careful monitoring of our power use so that we still have enough electricity to run our wee fridge and computers, etc. Jon is straight back into infections on his toes and has some kind of a bite that has swollen up his foot and lower leg, and we are all back into treating every little cut and graze as if it will turn nasty because it probably will. We are also back to people knocking on the door and asking for things or needing help at all hours.

          But I really should not have started with the negative things that we have come back to because we are also back to a whole host of good things as well. We arrived back at Talua on a beautiful clear evening just on sunset. Many of the views on the drive here were postcard perfect.  The kids arrived with great delight to see their friends again and were met with shrieks of greeting. They have loved being out playing with their friends again and always having someone around to play with, other than their siblings for a change. We have all enjoyed getting back into the wonderful warm water and the kids went to the nearby reef 3 days in a row, enjoying getting back into snorkeling. It’s just a few degrees warmer than the cool waters of the Marlborough Sounds! For me it is lovely to come back to having Madelyne working in our home and garden and to find it has been kept so clean and tidy over the summer. We are also very pleased to be able to return to the same house that we spent the year in last year as it is relatively cool and tidy.

          Some things are of course different on our return. The major and saddest difference for us is the fact that our family here is missing one member. As I write this Phillip is having his first day at Marlborough Boys College. He is living in Blenheim for the 2007 with Jon’s sister Raewyn in order to attend face-to-face school and have a wider range of activities and stimulation. We continually feel that we are not complete at the moment and feel such along way from our boy with our irregular email contact.

          There have been staff changes, too with our friends and immediate neighbours Glen and Rachael Conner returning to Australia for the birth of their baby. They will come back to Talua around the beginning of term 2. In their place next door to us are the Williamsons, also from Australia. They had hoped to come during 2006 but never made it because of Andy’s PHD commitments. We expected to have to move out of our home during the year to make room for them but didn’t need to in the end. We are thrilled that we haven’t needed to move and that they were happy to shift in next door. They have 2 lovely daughters aged 10 and 8, so needless to say Connie is happy to add to her large group of friends. Our kids are also quietly thrilled that they brought with them a large selection of books and a variety of other toys and games. Andy and Rosemary intend to be here for a number of years as they work on moving Talua towards a degree programme and work on producing a Bislama study Bible.

There is also a new COM Father/ lecturer and his family to get to know, and of course a whole host of new students yet to meet.

          Another major change for 2007 is Jon’s role at Talua. He will continue with his English teaching but adds on the complicated task of Talua’s Bursar. He really hit the ground running arriving just in time to start taking fees from registering students. He is developing a database to keep clear and accurate records of fees and allowances paid or owed, and an automatic spreadsheet for wages paid, etc. Nothing is straight forward in Vanuatu, however and this is proving to be a convoluted task. A challenge for him!!

          So 2007 will see new challenges for us as a family and some things will be easier because we know how things work, at least to some extent. We intend to enjoy this our second and final year in Vanuatu and make the most of all opportunities that come to us.