Part 10: End of Week 3.
I am so happy to see Friday afternoon again! I made it! One more week down. And surprisingly, today was possibly one of the best days I have had here so far. On the back of yesterday being so challenging and awful, today, was the complete opposite; fun, happy and rewarding.
My day started at 3.30am, when I woke to gentle footsteps outside my house. I could swear I had a late night visitor. Fortunately it didn’t progress any further, and I managed to fall asleep, back into my pleasant dream world. After telling one of my colleagues about it this morning I learnt something interesting; I just couldn’t believe these kids are wandering around all night long. Apparently, for some of these kids, it’s safer for them to be out on the streets than it is at home; it certainly seems to be a hell of a lot more fun for them terrorising the poor community every night! Literally there are kids out all night long, by themselves, trying to break into houses, jumping on roofs, running a general muck, it really is quite eye opening. And sad really. They need to be tucked up tight in beds and sleeping, ready for school the next day. Pipeline dreams.
My morning was smooth, I had the kindy kids, and they were really well behaved, and calm and cute, and my ovaries started warming up again. We played with play- doh, watched Peppa the pig, read a book, and played with puzzles. It was quite an eventful morning. Little ones often clamber onto my lap as I sit with them; I try not to cringe when I feel their rough warts covering their feet and legs rubbing against my legs, as they tuck and fold themselves around me. Cute, but horrifying all at once.
I had warts as a kid, and it was off to the Doctors to get them burnt off every now and again. But this luxury is not afforded to these kids. Warts are just part of their youth. I guess they fall off eventually. Eeeeeeek. Fingers crossed I don’t come home with warts, scabies and nits. The trifecta of childhood contagions, and the most common out here, literally every kid has all three. Oh and boils. They all have boils. I actually had a boil once on my back, it was gross, and painful. And one play leader teacher took great pleasure in popping it one day, I still have the scar to prove it. I know, so gross. But I don’t mind a gross story. Maybe I should have been a nurse. On the topic of grossness, apparently there was a poo found in the pool the other day… in the afternoon we had water aerobics and splashed the ‘poo water’ at each other. Lol. Trying not to think about all the contagious things we could get from being in the water, come on chlorine, work your magic!
After recess I had the pleasure of looking after the high school boys. Now the previous day they had tormented me to the point of a near walkout, so I was determined to have a better day with them today. Not only was it better, it was one of my best days here so far! The plan was to take the boys over to the hair salon to get their hair washed and cut. It was part of the ‘Close the gap day’ to help improve the health of Indigenous men, and increase their longevity. Indigenous people live a significantly shorter life than non-indigenous people, a sad but true reality. Well we certainly had a good day out! I helped wash the boys hair, firstly with some nit formula, then shampoo and conditioner, and they helped each other too. I took great pleasure in seeing them relax and enjoy a head massage. Then they had their hair cut or trimmed and styled. I even got some braiding in. It was really fun! The boys posed for some photos with big grins on their faces, a successful day.
Then the afternoon was spent playing in the pool! Yes! A great way to end the week that’s for sure. It was 40 degrees out today too, so a good day to be frolicking and having fun playing in the water. I had little kids crawling all over me, I threw them around in the pool, and threw toys for them, and most importantly, just watched them, gave them attention, and played with them. They loved it, and honestly so did I. And my ovaries seemed to get a little warmer again too.
Now it’s Friday afternoon, and I am feeling pleased with myself. I have made it through 3 weeks and now I have only 5 working days left. I plan to enjoy my weekend, rest, relax, explore and pump up for one more week out here Teaching, then it will be home to Perth perfection.
I have to also mention, I went on a cool outing last night with another friend I made here. He took me to a car graveyard and a place where they found copper! Over 1000 old cars lay unused and abandoned, creating a great place for photography. The copper in the ground was so awesome too, I love anything blue, and seeing bright blue illuminescent rocks everywhere was a cool experience. I am hoping to explore more this weekend and will be sure to share my experiences.
Cheers to cool new adventures!
Anita xx
Live Your Truth 
I love the ground with the copper-blue tints!
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I know me too!! So cool to see copper out in the wild☆
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