A brief update

Another couple of weeks down. Not much to report really. I’ve been biking to work most days but alas the coral dust, mud etc is destroying the gears on my bike so think I will cut back to a couple of days per week. The coral dust is like course sand paper and combined with the sea salt off the lagoon and reef destroys moving parts of bikes. Not a good combination!

My neighbour John and I have continued to go out surfing with the local kids when the tide is right. We took the boys out surfing after work a couple of days last week but towards the end of the week the tides were still too low by the time it was getting dark so arranged for them to go out first thing Saturday at high tide. The boys were impatiently banging on the rusty corrugated fence by the lagoon about 8 am to get John up as they wanted to surf! I’m too far from the beach to hear them, ha! It was a bit windy and messy but we got the boards out and the kids were out for a good 2 ½ hours before the tide dropped too much. This weekend head the tides should be right again so as long as its not too windy we should get out for a surf. 

I’ve been spinning my wheels a bit over the past couple of weekends as I count down to Julie and Finn arriving in Kiribati. They’re coming over for ten days arriving on Monday then we are heading back to NZ via Fiji for a couple more weeks- coinciding with the South Island Masters games so I can join my team for a weekend of footy. I’m looking forward to seeing them both and Finn is getting excited about getting here and I’m sure will enjoy the experience.

Then from there is its the final run home till I finish, time just seem to be flying by. I've got myself settled into a pretty relaxed routine. I break up my week by going with John and Frances to Koakoa, the restaurant just over the road from home, on Wednesdays. It is a great location and is a nice spot to sit, have a beer and watch the sunset over the lagoon. 

Saturday's I clean my place, make myself some scones, wait for the tide to be right for a surf, maybe go for a bike-ride to Bairiki to get some groceries. On Saturday nights I usually go with John and Frances to another of the other nearby restaurants, Utererei (pronounced ew-sa ray-ray) or the newly reopened Chineese- yes that was how it was spelt but they have recently dropped the second e, making it now appear to be called Chin ese.  so popping out for dinner on Wednesay and Saturday nights are my two weekly treats for myself. Sunday is my favourite day out here. Most people go to church so the road is usually deserted and is a much quieter day then during the week, its a nice relaxing do bugger all day.  

As I mentioned, I've been keeping a pretty low profile out here. On a few occasions I've planned to meet up with the other i-matung at some of the various events on the monthly social calendar but when push comes to shove I usually just really can't be bothered and more often than not end up flagging it and chilling at home instead. Interacting with other i-matung and taking part in whatever events are on in the community is an important part of staying sane for many of the expats out here but for me I really can't be bothered getting too involved in the events. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a hermit and enjoy a chat when I do meet up with other expats but the thought of spending a few hours at the Aussie High Comm Sandbar or the Betio lodge having a few beers after the local fishing comp weigh-in or for their monthly quiz night simply doesn't appeal. I came out here to chill, relax,  get away from it all, do a bit of surfing.

Sunset at Koakoa last night

I've found that I don't really need to get out and spend a lot of time with the other expats as part of my week, it's not why I came here for. If I wanted to hang out with people in a local bar then I could have stayed in NZ and done it there. For me coming to Kiribati was a chance to get away,  spend some time by myself to think and reflect on my life to this point and and maybe decide what I want to do next. Volunteering for VSA has been a chance to step out of my regular life and comfort zone to do something totally random and different for a year or so. So for me being a big part of the i-matung community doesn't feature very highly on why I'm out here though it is a very important social/ support network for many of the expats out here.

I'm not criticising those of the expat community that do get involved in the various events out here. It is an important part of people's coping mechanisms and the various events on the monthly calendar make life out here tolerable for many but we each came out here for different purposes, for our own reasons. We all need to do what we need to do to stay sane and maintain a sense of normality. There isn't a great deal to do and you need to make you own entertainment but we all have different strategies for coping with daily life but for me I've come to the realisation that i don't want to be too involved with the expat events and am happy doing my own thing. 

Other news in the past week or so is that my daughter Hana started her 3 month overseas volunteering experience. She and her boyfriends are going to be doing a range of different projects in South East Asia before going to university next year and is currently helping teach English in a small school somewhere in the highlands of Cambodia. It should be a good experience for her and maybe a bit of an insight into some of the potential pitfalls and challenges of volunteering and voluntourism around the world. It will an incredible experience which I’m sure she will love and will give her a better insight into how the world works and some of the challenges faced by people in different communities around the world , and so will be invaluable for her as she heads off to uni next year. 

Craig