While I have been here there have been several farewell dinners at local restaurants. The last one the other night seemed special as everyone had been feeling a little demoralised; the heat and the inevitable frustrations that crop up working in the Centre; the heat only stops for a few hours before and after dawn.
At night I often wake up drenched in thick sticky sweat; I wriggle around to try and find a cooler, and less damp, part of the bed or somewhere I can catch a fragment of a breeze through the mosquito net and eventually I drift off to sleep again. If I am lucky I wake again around 4am feeling cold. So cold I could almost stand the touch of a sheet on my body. But it is so good to feel cold that I just want to enjoy it as much as I can in the hour before the alarm goes off.
Not that I need an alarm; there are roosters down at the kampung and what is more like a party of Glaswegian drunks returning home after a night on the town than an English morning chorus.
The birds here seem to prefer volume and gusto over a good tune well sung.
So the meal was a good chance for everyone to relax, and for the carnivores to eat chicken.
Towards the end of the meal the lights went out and did not come on again.
That put paid to the live entertainment and kareoke.
The Indonesian girl on the left Selina has just started and is in charge of educational visits, trips and admin of the Volunteer and Lodge, she had just finished doing kareoke and was trying to get some others to give it a shot. The other Indonesian further down the table and in front of the red headed Swedish woman, Ulla, is Dr Dian. sadly she is also leaving very soon. The Indonesian girl on the right is Stephanie a student from Jakarta (But originally local and staying with her minahasa family) doing somevolunteer work and some study. She seemed very girly and giiggly at first - and still is - with a squeaky voice and painted nails. Noone thought she would stick at it, but she surprised everybody and turns up at six every morning to pick and carry the heavy sacks of browse. I won't go through the list of bule volunteers.
They're just bules...like me
I am trying to decide when to leave Tasikoki; I want to spend a few days on Bunaken island and do something else before I return to the UK. What that something else will be I don't know yet.
I'm feeling vey tired, or lazy , and just a few days sitting watching the birds
-some recent visitors saw 51 species in two days! -
and drinking palm wine with ice seems so tempting.
But I should do more than that.
At night I often wake up drenched in thick sticky sweat; I wriggle around to try and find a cooler, and less damp, part of the bed or somewhere I can catch a fragment of a breeze through the mosquito net and eventually I drift off to sleep again. If I am lucky I wake again around 4am feeling cold. So cold I could almost stand the touch of a sheet on my body. But it is so good to feel cold that I just want to enjoy it as much as I can in the hour before the alarm goes off.
Not that I need an alarm; there are roosters down at the kampung and what is more like a party of Glaswegian drunks returning home after a night on the town than an English morning chorus.
The birds here seem to prefer volume and gusto over a good tune well sung.
So the meal was a good chance for everyone to relax, and for the carnivores to eat chicken.
Towards the end of the meal the lights went out and did not come on again.
That put paid to the live entertainment and kareoke.
The Indonesian girl on the left Selina has just started and is in charge of educational visits, trips and admin of the Volunteer and Lodge, she had just finished doing kareoke and was trying to get some others to give it a shot. The other Indonesian further down the table and in front of the red headed Swedish woman, Ulla, is Dr Dian. sadly she is also leaving very soon. The Indonesian girl on the right is Stephanie a student from Jakarta (But originally local and staying with her minahasa family) doing somevolunteer work and some study. She seemed very girly and giiggly at first - and still is - with a squeaky voice and painted nails. Noone thought she would stick at it, but she surprised everybody and turns up at six every morning to pick and carry the heavy sacks of browse. I won't go through the list of bule volunteers.
They're just bules...like me
I am trying to decide when to leave Tasikoki; I want to spend a few days on Bunaken island and do something else before I return to the UK. What that something else will be I don't know yet.
I'm feeling vey tired, or lazy , and just a few days sitting watching the birds
-some recent visitors saw 51 species in two days! -
and drinking palm wine with ice seems so tempting.
But I should do more than that.
When there is nothing amusing in the Lancaster Guardian I sometimes start to read the blurb on the back of the Indonesian DVDs.
This review was chosen to go with the recently released film Noah:
Even before its official opening Friday,as miniscule Ashville audiences trickled out of late Thursdays screenings, laughing with exasperation, director Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah” had already entered the pantheon of colossal fiascos by otherwise respected film makers.
Bet that makes you all rush out to the cinema!
Another DVD proudly says 'Mediocre performances by everyone involved.'
Underneath are five large golden stars.
This review was chosen to go with the recently released film Noah:
Even before its official opening Friday,as miniscule Ashville audiences trickled out of late Thursdays screenings, laughing with exasperation, director Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah” had already entered the pantheon of colossal fiascos by otherwise respected film makers.
Bet that makes you all rush out to the cinema!
Another DVD proudly says 'Mediocre performances by everyone involved.'
Underneath are five large golden stars.