Home Sweet Home

It has been a quieter week this week, but all in all, we still did a lot. Independence Day in Sri Lanka was celebrated last Monday with a public holiday. We had a quiet and relaxed long weekend and it was WONDERFUL. On advice, we avoided any parades or large gatherings that could attract political themes. We did house work and the main outcome was Jacinta rearranged her kitchen. She is very happy now in that there is (to a greater or lesser extent) a place for everything and everything in its place (sort of, mostly, generally ….well anyway she is a lot happier!).  The animals can do longer steal our food.

Home away from home

What I would like to do this week is to invite you into our home. We have a wonderful little haven set up now. Amongst the chaos that seems the everyday life here, this is the place that we have control over (well mostly, can’t do too much about the daily blackouts), but we are very thankful there is a backup generator on the school grounds. In most cases recently the power is back very quickly. The girls have a game of counting down from 10 to 1 and it is usually online by the time they get to 3 or 4. It is hard to express the sense of peace we have in our little hide away.

We live towards the back of the school grounds in what is called “the principal’s bungalow”. It is a two story building and we are upstairs and downstairs is vacant. We have set up daily and weekly routines that seem to work well for us.  One of our major tasks is cleaning. The house is always dirty, and by that I mean the school grounds is made of a very fine grained sand or powder that blows about with the slightest of breezes. We have often done a really good sweep of a room and less than 2 hours later do another and sweep up just as much dirt.

Gourmet kitchen

Lounge / dinning/ general purpose room

The main residents of the school (other than our very caring and diligent security guards) are the two dogs Rexi and Rexi, (don’t ask me why...... I have tried to find out and still can’t get an answer I understand!). We also have a huge population of squirrels. It has got to the point that when the girls get a photo taken the say “squirrel” not smile or cheese. Squirrel spotting is the main entertainment on afternoons and weekends

Girls room

Our room

Study / Wardrobe

shower / loo

The neighourhood

Sarah had a visitor in her room during the first few nights of our stay here with a squirrel coming in through a hole in the roof, running across the ceiling and out a hole on the other side of the room. This did not, to my surprise, upset her or Emma as I would of thought and she is only disappointed now that it has not been paying regular visits. Much to Sarah’s and Emma’s delight, a squirrel also paid a visit to Jacinta’s and my room. While sitting on the bed one morning I felt water dripping onto my hand and wondered, not another hole in the roof!  On looking outside and realising that it was not in fact raining, I then came to understand that I had in fact been pee’d on by a squirrel! Not the nicest way to get out of bed in the morning. The girls have even come up with a song they break into every now and then to celebrate the event. The other regular house guests are the frogs, which we gently but firmly evict each night as we lock up for the evening. I must not forget to mention the metre and a half yellowy green snake I almost stepped on when on the way to collect a wayward ball from the basketball court where the girls and I play every afternoon before bathtime. I think I'll ask if the ankle high grass can get cut back a bit. I don't know who got the bigger shock, the serpent in fast retreat or me. It certainly is not good parenting to say those kinds of words in front of a 9 and 5 year old.

One of the locals

Rexi..or was it Rexi????

No, no, I'm sure this is Rexi.ummm???

Emma in the "front yard", amazing how much fun a stick in the dirt can be!

Notice the family resemblance?

A tough nut to crack

By what we have seen here we are very lucky with our little home. We are living and what would be considered absolute luxury in comparison to those around us. We have a large amount of space by local standards, a functional kitchen, running water inside the house, hot water system and good security. We are very grateful for the accommodation provided to us.

Fresh cocnut milk...Yum!!!!

Years at Toogoom pay off, thanks Grandad!

It has also reminded us in so many ways of just how much we do have at home and has given us a whole new sense of appreciation of our lives in a country as blest with so much material wealth as Australia. It is so easy to reflect here on the relationship between how much you have in a material sense with your degree of happiness. It does seem true that in many cases the more some individuals have the less satisfied we are. I hope this is a lesson we don’t forget too soon on our return to Hervey Bay.