July
Well hannahs departure was swiftly followed by the arrival of my motorbike. VSO has a number of motorbikes which are given to those who need them in their placements, which does not include me. However, if there are spare ones knocking about then they can be borrow and used until they are needed by the organisation. To this end I my Honda Mega Pro arrived with it’s devastating 160cc of power arrived. Now I know in England even I would mock someone calling 160cc a big bike however here it really is as big as you can get.
It makes such a difference to my life, it really open everything up. Don’t get me wrong I really like Ba’a however without a bike, you really are just consigned to the town and at the mercy of Ojek drivers. With the bike I can nip down to nembrala any time I want and generally do as I please. It was especially well timed as I had by this point moved into town into a new flat (complicated why) so it made my commute much easier. One less nice aspect was that in the first few weeks someone kindly pushed it over outside my house overnight and then a couple of weeks later, Suzanne borrowed and subsequently dropped it. It took quite a battering in those first few weeks and it took me some time to get everything fixed and running smoothly.
I forgot to add in my last post, June actually saw the departure of Jude. He’d been here by himself for about 18 months before Suzanne had arrived working in the regional health office. It was really good having him here, he had a lot of personal contacts and was always willing to help or just make you a cup of tea or coffee and sit around and shoot the breeze. The new flat I’m in is actually a different room in the one he was living in before.
The flat is basically a penthouse in the middle of Ba’a above a shop. The room isn’t massive however it does have a really nice balcony area which I have pretty much to myself. I live with three other guys but they are no trouble at all. It just makes a big difference to me having some privacy and freedom, living with the family before really was a pressured situation for me. For example every time I was ill (which is considerably less these days) I would have to have the following conversation when I stepped out of my door
'mr john where are you going?'
'I'm going to the toilet'
'oh..... but you've just been to the toilet'
' yes I know'
'you are going to the toilet a lot'
'yes I know'
'are you sick?'
'Yes'
'diarrhoea?'
'yes'
'oh do you have drugs (their answer to everything)'
'Yes (I lie)'
'good'
And it just gets a bit much every single time. on another occasion I got up craving a shower and coffee and as soon as I walked out of the door, the daughter was there with a towel in her hands. She ran up to me and thrust it right in front of my face and said:
‘Mr John, look the dog had puppies in the night and this one was born dead’
Now as a general rule, I believe still born puppies should not be displayed in public especially not about 8 inches from my face pre 7am before my bloodstream has been sufficiently caffeinated. I know they were just being friendly and concerned but I guess it’s a different culture and I needed somewhere where I can retreat to and not be harassed because I’m white. There were quite a few reasons why I decided to move which I don’t really want to go into here.
The end of June (towards the end of hannahs visit) and July was incredibly busy for me because I was made the assistant manager of the Islands adult football team for the Regional competition in Flores, it was really quite a challenge. They aren’t bad players at all however they play as what they are, people who only get to see football on TV not actually watching it live. So their understanding of movement and positioning (especially for defending) is quite poor. SO I was there to help with training and try to drill some defensive discipline into them, all of which is quite difficult in a second language.
In the weeks preceding the competition, it really was quite a drain on me. we would hold training from three until six in the evening, for six days a week. This meant I was running training for about 18 hours a week, I would have just an hour between finishing work and then starting training in which to eat and get changed. This was pretty tiring as well as difficult to actually keep the training fresh and original.
When it actually came close to the event which was to be held in Bajawa (I have no idea of spelling) in Flores, it was decided by the powers that be that in addition to the manager, coach and players that a trip leader, local doctor, a government official, a treasurer and a number of individuals (none of whom had actually been involved in the training or preparations) should be paid for to travel to the competition BUT not me. It was decided that being white, should there be any trouble with the crowd, I may get scared and run back to England which would cause friction with the hospital. This is neglecting of course that I am at least two foot taller than anyone here and have spent years going to English football matches (including away matches at leeds, being under siege by several hundred unhappy Birmingham city fans and having to run the gauntlet of Blackburn vs Burnley matches) so a little hooliganism isn’t going to scare me!
So anyway, they went without me and promptly got pummelled in all their games, which without being egotistical, I believe is because I wasn’t there. I say this because having seen them play friendlies, despite all my work with them, if I wasn’t on the sidelines bellowing defensive instructions then they were pretty frail at the back.
It did mean I wasn’t away for my birthday which was a bonus. It was pretty low key really but very enjoyable. It was picnic on the beach and then spaghetti bolognaise in the evening (another bonus of having moved, it gives much more cooking freedom). So it was an enjoyable day but it’s a bit weird having it here, it’s just not the same as it is in England with family etc, not better or worse, just different.
The end of the month actually saw my older sister Jenny and her friend Alex come to the island for a holiday. I went to meet them in Bali, partially because I’d promised Doro I’d go visit her before she left. It was really good just to hang out with them all and generally get my hit of western food before heading back.
When we were all back in Rote I think they enjoyed themselves. We had a trip down to Nembrala including having a fire on the beach one night and generally chilling out. They also went to my friend Denvers school and helped out with an impromptu English lesson which included Jenny singing ‘I’m a little teapot’, she will probably kill me for writing that and she was highly embarrassed about it, such a sterling rendition is in fact still the talk of the island. But generally I think they had fun and enjoyed seeing how I live. They were also welcomed with open arms as they brought me a handsome supply of hobnobs and other goodies as well as a load of birthday presents.
As far as I can remember that was july, I’m sure loads more happened but my brain is old and weary...
