Travel Diary - Day Thirty Two

Day Thirty Two – More visiting…
Wednesday 30 Sep 09

We headed off to see the medical clinic at work to find that the person Harry was hoping we would see was out doing vaccinations. So instead of having a look around we went along to the market to have a look through. Just before we got there we visited a breadshop where I met Mr Peters and tasted Tamarind. It was pretty sharp, but I can see why they make a drink from it. Turns out the market is really just a cut down version of Starbroek, very cut down! From there we walked across to a fruit stall where Harry was looking for a member of the church. She wasn’t there but a phone call got us an invitation for us to visit her at home. Before we got there we visited Mrs Adams. A very little old lady, she seemed to think it was wonderful that a minister from NZ would visit her. From there it was down the road a little further to visit the next old lady. This one was rather feisty and spent the next 45 minutes talking church politics and affairs with Harry. I confess that by the end of it I was really struggling to keep my eyes open, but I did make it. Going further we met and chatted with a few more people. I know that the people were all enjoying it, and so was Harry, but it really was all a bit much to be honest. I had really had enough by then.

We arrived back in time for lunch – goodness how time flies when you’re having fun, or not as the case may be. After lunch I had a brief break before heading down the road to get on the internet. I have become all too aware of how important communication is when it is so hard to come by. It has been great to have a cell phone and to be able to text regularly, but it is very minimalist and needs more than that. Unfortunately, while I was able to download all my email, for some reason none of the emails I set up would send. Now that’s annoying!! So I tried to give brief answers where I could using web mail, but it’s not the best using webmail, especially when you have large attachments etc. Ah well…

From there I came back to the house and had a brief sit-down before heading off to a women’s group meeting. I confess that I couldn’t see the point of going before I went – the ladies were due to be working on cutting out skirts, not exactly one of my skills or interests. But I went along, keeps people happy, grrrr. After about 30 minutes of sitting around with nothing to do or say I wandered outside to sit on the steps and watch the world walk by. For a long time now I’ve wanted to have a veranda ministry, just having the opportunity to sit and let the world go by and as they do begin to build relationship with people. I can see that happening here. Lots of people have verandas and they sit outside, especially in the evening, and greet people as they go by, comment on the activities of youngsters and generally participate in their community. And it’s easy – I’m obviously a foreigner but people are happy to say hello as they pass by. I am quite confident that with a little more familiarity it would be pretty easy to strike up conversations and begin to build relationship. Of course, in Dunedin our weather is against us – it is simply too cold too often to be able to do anything like that, at least often enough for it to become a part of what happens in the community.

I sat outside for quite a while and spent part of the time texting with different people. It has been interesting watching the responses of the other participants in the programme and how they handle the various stresses and strains of being in such a different environment. That said I suspect I was interesting to watch too for the first couple of days as I adjusted to time and sleep patterns.

Finally the ladies finished doing their thing and I was free to wander off home. Harry took me on another detour to see a different part of the village. We got home and relaxed before dinner. It was quite good to get a fairly early night because the morning begins a bit before 6am – that’s when the sun comes up, that’s when everyone gets moving.