Settling in

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It's been an interesting first few days settling in. The other new volunteer Roi and I have been visiting the other volunteers at their jobs, getting my visa done, opening bank accounts, getting safety briefings from the police and the NZ High Commission as well as finding out where to buy different every day items from- no one place has everything so it looks like it will be a bit of  round trip doing grocery shops as well as  meeting with our new employers.

 I am settling in and really enjoying it so far, it has exceeded my expectations and I'm already starting to enjoy the pace of life. The heat too has not been as bad as I'd expected, sure it is hot and humid but not unbearably so. I have a fan on in my room when I first go to bed but end up turning it off in the middle of the night.

 I have met the other volunteers, there are 4 of us Kiwis, as well as three of four Aussies all doing different roles, spread the length and breadth of South Tarawa. On Tuesday evening Aaron, the guy whose accommodation I am taking over when he leaves in a couple of weeks, took us to a farewell for a British volunteer. We also met a Japanese doctor volunteering at one of the local hospitals there.  They hooked up a sheet in the backyard and used a projector to play a movie on. We sat under the stars in the backyard, surrounded by coconut an other trees watching a movie, it was a really great evening.  

 Over the past few days we've been travelling up and down the main road quite a bit and I'm starting to get my bearings. The main road along South Tarawa  has recently been resealed and is in good condition apart from the Nippon Causeway section which is under repair and will be for quite some time yet. In some parts of the trip along the islets you are able to look one way across the island turn your head and seeing the other shore! The islands are literally only a few hundred metres across at their widest point. This week there have been king tides so the water has been unusually high but fortunately there has been little wind so no swells have been pushed up over the roads and into people's homes.

 Tomorrow I am going across the lagoon to North Tarawa for a couple of nights as the final part of theorientation and then work begins properly next Monday.
My new home- we had to tie my surfboard on the roof with my legrope for the trip from the airport.
Yesterday we stopped at at small cafe near the airport called Titarbakti (Starbucks) for lunch.

 Last night Aaron removed this from Roi's bathroom, a rather large spider.
 
 Craig

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