It is the Lord, It is the Messiah of all blog posts!!! (with videos)

Just a heads up, this is a very long post. For those who want some quick entertainment, down the bottom you will find some videos from so far on the trip.

So pretty much here was my plan. Last night, bed at about 11:30 so I could get a decent sleep, be up at 8 and get up to date with my dairy which I am already a THOUSAND days behind. Ale and I watched our now regular Star Wars night movie (we’re now up to #5) and then after that, I watched the little yellow bar reach the end signaling the long awaited 9 hour download of video’s I have taken while out here. So just as I’m about to close up shop and then I hear movement. The camel? Kids outside? Nope, its Steph coming in claiming that she can’t sleep, I see this as just a temporary thing and think “Ok, She’ll only be in my room for maybe half an hour tops, then she’ll go back to her own bed.”

4 hours later, she’s still in there facebooking and doing god knows what else on her phone all because she has discovered that my bed is by far the superior bed which doesn’t squeak with every movement and just has an overall comfort rating off the charts. Its at about 3am that I discover that Steph is deadly afraid of fire, yet still after waving a lighter in front of her, singeing the edges of my blanket she was using and a few bits of her hair, she still didn’t move. I think it was about the moment where I turned her Rexona deodorant can into a flame thrower that she though it was time to leave. Just as I went back into my room, I heard the familiar “E.A. SPORTS! It’s in the game!” So Ale was up playing Fifa, I’m guessing either as a rebellion to Steph who had kept him awake for 4 hours or just as something to do because he couldn’t sleep. So now Steph was making cookies, Ale was on the playstation so I made myself some Nutella toast and went to bed.

After a good sleep and some weird dreams, (a lot involving Aboriginals fixing cars like Flintstone style but more sticks than rocks. I don’t know if that’s racist to post but I don’t think it is) I was woken up by Steph sneaking into my room. She played the ‘I was just coming to get your Nutella to make you breakfast’ card but I saw through her deception. There was a distinct time frame between the presentation of the breakfast and the return of the Nutella jar. It’s a big burden holding the only jar of Nutella in Balgo, I feel kind of like Frodo…

Anywho back to where I left off! Holidays are well and truly upon us and sorry to disappoint those who got excited by my new ‘morning person’ lifestyle, it was just a phase. Steph always goes into her room to do her own thing at night but Ale and I have been watching movies every night and when one finishes at midnight, we look at eachother and say “Yeah we have time for one more.” So I havn’t seen Balgo before 10pm many times this holidays.

So now to where I last left you, on the last day of school, we actually had a lot more kids than I expected but this was probably because they all knew they would be getting easter eggs so fair enough. I think there was about 36 kids at school that day so we just split them up to a few in the pool, a few in the computers and a few watching a movie which was nice and easy. I had bought easter eggs to give the kids myself but I didn’t realise that every other teacher in the school had the same idea so mine were nothing special. Instead of giving them to every kid like I initially planned, I just threw a few in the middle of a basketball game which caused a bit of chaos when they eventually saw them, handed a few sly eggs to a few of my personal favourites and then my personal favourite, the classic ‘dad’ magic trick, “What’s that behind your ear??” Works every time!

That night we had another disco with more booty shaking 8 year olds and all the boys breaking out their Michael Jackson moves.

With the funeral happening for the local women killed in a fight with another local while they were in Broome, we kept hearing that there would be revenge but one day, I walked outside and there were at least 20 cars around the basketball court and hundreds of people gathered around. I immediately thought that this was the revenge taking place and that was confirmed when Ale and I walked over and saw two men exchanging blows. Everyone was out to watch, mothers, kids babies, dogs, all gathered around. The weird thing however, was that there would be a few seconds of vicious fighting and then it would stop while they stopped and talked to each other, all while an older woman was screaming in kukatja from in the distance. Ale wanted to go but I was really interested in the formal and organised way it was being handled. The strangest bit was when the two families separated for a few minutes while two elders talked to each other, then the families crowded around the elders. Then an old lady got a massive stick, handed it to a member of the other family who beat her 5 times on the back with it. They then turned and talked for a while before she did the same again. It was at this point I was summoned by Brudda Rick so I couldn’t watch it anymore.  The day after, I thought it was interesting that Father John asked a local man if he went to the ‘town meeting’ yesterday so it really was a formal, organised event.

It was pretty sad to see Lane, Anton and the kids off last Saturday. I am a little upset I didn’t get to know them a little better while they were here but I didn’t really want to add to the competition Ale and Steph were having for their favouritism. We went over the day before they left and I had a good chat with Anton exchanging band stories and songs. He was in a band called ‘Second Sight’ as lead singer who are actually really good and I think I may have recruited a new Zebs fan as well.

So the day they left, they were pretty disappointed that instead of the big van plane they were told they were getting, they got a small 5 seater, like a normal car set up. We spent a while putting Tetris skills to use trying to fit as many of their boxes in as we could but we only ended up getting half the stuff on. Tipene the oldest who is in kindy and the only white kid in school kept asking “Are we leaving Balgo yet?” so he wasn’t too sad to go but everyone else was.

For Good Friday, we went to the parish house during the day with Meg, the youth worker, and some of the locals to make ‘bush crosses’ by tying sticks together and then letting the kids paint them, the kids however found it more entertaining to cover their hands in paint so they looked like they were wearing gloves and chase each other around being super heroes fighting each other.

The Good Friday service was very nice with locals holding up pictures as Father John went through the Stations of the Cross. We then got Oaka (the white powdery paint they use) on our foreheads and each person worshiped the big painted crucifix in their own way. Daniel, an aboriginal man who is probably the most religious person I’ve met took the cross and placed it in a tree. Father John explained to me before the mass that a lot time ago, the natives would put the dead in a tree and then return when only bones remained and bury them. Then ‘Sharing Time’ started. This involved an open mic sort of thing where people could go up and share religious experiences and feelings. One man made a really powerful speech about the fighting going on because of the funeral and how people should forgive which I think really got to a lot of people. I feel bad saying it but the rest sort of dragged on a bit. Like one lady took a good 15 minutes to tell a story that from what I could gather since she was switching between english and kukatja was that she woke up the other morning and the sun was on her face and she saw it as a religious experience.

In Balgo, we have our Sunday masses on Saturday night because Father John is the only priest for here, Mulan and Billiluna so he does mass there on Sundays. Both the Good Friday mass and the Easter mass were outside the parish house which was awesome for a big open ceremony. When we arrived there was a big bonfire happening which at the start of the ceremony, the church leaders circled and sung around. During the whole mass, I was always throwing a kid up in the air, carrying them or having them on my shoulders. At the end of the mass, as soon as Father John mentioned easter eggs, all the kids came running! He was almost knocked off his feet as they surrounded him. He had ended the mass and then one of the women jumped up and asked for more sharing time so I made a sly get away. So it happens, just as I was leaving, Nunggarai arrived. All the kids were trying to climb up trees or onto the side of the church so that they could jump on her back but she never went close enough to them for them to make the jump so Trent came up to me and said, “You throw me on!” At first I didn’t think it was a good idea but in the end I gave in. I got a good throw in with Trent and he got all the way up but hit the camel’s hump pretty hard and slipped off. Darien then came up to me and said, “Try me, I’m gentle!” So I picked him up and was about to throw him but then Nunggarai started walking towards me so I was backing away not noticing that it would have looked a lot like I was using Darien as a shield. Eventually I got to the camel’s side and threw him up but he too fell off which was enough to send poor old Jellybean on her way home.



The church leaders singing around the bonfire



Church Leaders

 


Me with some of the kids

Father John discussing whether the kids should get easter eggs that night or in the morning.

 

The Blessing song we sing at the end of every mass.

On Easter Sunday, we got picked up early by Br Lou who was taking us out on some mysterious drive. There was some deliberation as to whether or not we’d make it all the way because of boggy roads but we in the end decided to try our luck. We went in convoy me and Ale in the lead car with Lou and Greg, a local man who used to work out the way we were going, then behind us was Vin and Judy who were followed by Br Marty, Sister Alice, Gracie and Steph. We got about 3 hours out before we got to the first boggy patch which lour got though after a bit of fish tailing but Vin wasn’t as successful. He was stuck in a good foot of thick mud. I know about the consistency of the mud because after a few failed attempts to get himself out, it was then passed to me and Ale to get the shovels out and start to move the mud. Since I was the one in shorts and thongs, I jumped right into the ditch to start digging and one pair of de-plugged thongs and a thick layer of mud on my hands and feet later, Vin was clear of the mud and Lou managed to get Marty’s car through after that.



Greg and Lou trying to get Vin out of the mud.



 As you can probably tell by the commentary, I did not trust the knot Lou had tied as I could see it loosening the more we pulled and since we were sitting out the back of the open troopie, we weren't exactly well protected.



Ale and I digging vin out






Walking away victorious.

 

A few hundred meters up the road, we hit some real water. When we got out to check it out, Lou and I walked through the water and it was only maybe knee deep and not a very soft so we thought it was drivable. With that, Lou turned around, got in the car and tried. When he was going well, I ran through the water and jumped onto the back of the troopie and then onto the roof. Ale, who was wearing sneakers and jeans was trying to keep up along the side of the water but eventually, there wasn’t any more dry land in front of him so he took a deep breath an started chasing the car, knee deep in water. There was one bit towards the end of the water which was a little mushy so when we got to the other side, Lou said we wouldn’t send the others across and we’d drive around and back to them. I don’t know exactly what they were planning and we couldn’t really ask since we were sitting on the roof but we went off road for a good half hour and some how came out about 200m away from where we wanted to be and still having to drive through the same bit of water. Just if any of you ever get the opportunity, traveling on the top of a troopie while driving off road, sitting on a metal grate is not a comfortable experience. But an experience nun the less.

So since we couldn’t get to where we were planning, we turned around and had some tea and cake at an old windmill. Steph who forgot her water bottle was pretty excited when the tea was brought out saying how keen she was to re-hydrate… I thought she was joking but apparently not.

The whole trip home ale and I attempted to sleep, him being a little more successful than me but I had a good sleep watching a movie when I got home trying to get rid of a headache which had developed.




Lou judging whether its drivable while Greg ponders.

 


Ale soldiering on through the water.

 


Panarama shot



View from on top of the troopie



Ale on the troopie



Me on the troopie



The windmill



Vin preparing the eating space with a chair he found.



Greg pondering again.



While cleaning and testing the pool out, I found 8 little lizards in the kindy’s pool so I put them all out into the sun to dry out and hopefully survive. After cleaning and a quick swim, they had all run away except one, I went to pick him up and he really didn’t mind so I decided to bring him home. He was to be called Rodregez, and he would be mine. And he would be my Rodregez. After spending the afternoon with him on my shoulder or on my shirt, we eventually got him a tub and made him a little home. I made sure his water was regularly filled and I injured many flies and moths in order to feed the little rascal but as the days went on, he was appearing more and more agitated so eventually I decided to let him go. We decided to play dumb when Steph came home not knowing what happened to him so she still accuses me of ‘losing him’ but you can be assured he got a proper send off.



Rodregez



J

Last night it was really nice because we got invited out to the pound for a sunset mass service with Vin, Judy, Sisters Alice and Nola, all the Brothers and Chris and his wife Judy both from Palyalatju. It was a really nice day for it and a really good sunset. The only bad bit was the fact that I wouldn’t have had a 5 second block where there wasn’t a fly buzzing beside my ear so that kind of ruined the serenity of it. Then at the end of it all, we had a BBQ which was very nice. On the way home I saw my 1^st snake of the trip, one of the locals had caught a blackhead python that was about 1.5m long and was holding it by the tail. Twas good to check that off the to-do list for while I’m over here



Father John at the pound mass



The congregation at the pound.



Last night also gave me another addition to the list of genius lines that come out of our ranga’s mouth. I was sent up a little light/torch/hazard light/whistle all purpose handy device and unfortunately it’s stopped working. Steph tried to use it last night and tried turning it on and nothing happened and said “Henry, its not working anymore…” she then blows the whistle, “Oh the whistle still works!” Again, funny if said as a joke, hilarious when she was being serious.

So basically, around the house, a actually spend about 90% of my time wandering aimlessly with a footy in hand but if its any consolation, I’m getting better with my left foot kicking to myself J

There are a lot of good photos and good information on she school's main website which is: http://www.luurnpa.wa.edu.au/MainSchool.htm

Here's a little map showing a rough idea of where some things are:

Ok so I know it’s been a while but I’ve finally had the patience to upload some videos from our time here.

Here it is, Antonio's famous Michael Jackson dancing! There is also Simba pulling out the MJ thrust, Cody is the one doing the back arch, Danielle is the girl in pink doing the really happy dancing and Sheralie attempting the robot.

 Julian steals the spot light here but I do love Antonio in the background going "Mindy Mindy, look! Michael Jackson go like this!". I do also love Sheralie's attempt at the moon walk here.

Now here are a few videos from Primary D's bush trip earlier in the term.

 I didn't notice this at first but here I've captured one of my favourite things about the kids when they take photos and that is the many different poses they go through before they decide on a final pose.

 The PRMD boys singing 'Every Breathe You Take'

 And then 'Knocking on Heaven's Door'

And now for those faithful who stuck with me through this monster blog entry, a little treat. I walked outside a few days ago and there was the camel, standing right at our gate with Julian, Kingston and one other boy were sitting on the fence ready to jump on her. I feel as though the way the clip ends is a good sign off so now, I'm off to Broome for the week but I will get back to you on my return.

Goodbye :)