The days roll on

Well, time is flying by. It's been a month tomorrow since I landed in Australia, although in Melbourne. Crazy. I haven't blogged properly for a while.. so this is a bit of a whopper.

Had a family thing tonight to see my auntie, uncle and cousins who are visiting from Karratha for a doctors visit. The last time I saw my uncle was the morning I flew out to Singapore back in March. He was in a hospital bed, limited movement to his body, not very reactive, not speaking, being tube-fed, fresh from 4x neuro ops that almost took his life. I remember so clearly how I was so distraught about leaving in the midst of the trauma. But I knew God was going to do something with his life.

Tonight was a totally different picture - they had a big german dinner party before I got there and he was the life of the party. Talking, laughing, enjoying some wine with friends and family. It was weird. He pretty much got the all-clear from the doctors today which is great. It's a true miracle. Go God.

I've got the day off tomorrow. Doing a taxi run for my auntie so we can both go see my Nana in hospital. She had another stroke today. She can still speak this time, but her left side is limited. She's going to be fine though. My mind is racing with different things I could do.. I've been thinking of how I might be able to rent a place and take care of her somehow. Not sure it could work as she'd be home a lot on her own if I'm working. The place that's she's staying is nice but she doesn't like it. I don't think I can offer the best option though.

Work is going well. The place I'm at for the next 3-4 weeks is great. I'm with mostly middle-aged ladies and they're really cool. I love their humour, sensitivity and their zest for life. It's a great place to work. This week I got sent some gift vouchers from my contact person at the agency as a thank you for being flexible with my jobs last week. Crazy, I thought that was what temping was about: flexibility..?! It was so sweet though and it's great to feel as though you're not just a piece of meat being shoved around where ever required.

It's the Mercy Ministries fundraiser walk this saturday. I've organised some girlfriends to go together and it should be great fun. If you wanted more info you can go to www.mercyministries.com.au. If you wanted to go I'm sure you could still register. Just pray that it doesn't rain..

Speaking of which (what?!). If there's any non-freakish, NORMAL people - actually just girls - out there that are looking at sharing in Perth for some (?) period of time, please let me know. I'm not looking forward to the possibility sharing with strangers that could be absolute weirdos. I just want normal people! Do you think it will be too hard to find??

Last night I spent some time going through my India photos. I haven't printed them yet but I flicked through on my laptop.. reminiscing.. having a laugh at some of the memories. I look forward to having some walls of my own one day to stick lots of photos on. I've got some absolutely fantastic shots that my friend Chinni has taken. Blogger's not letting me add photos today. Temperamental bugger. Wouldn't it be great to just teleport yourself to somewhere else just for a while.. not have to tell anyone you were going or coming. Just fly.

Go for an afternoon walk at 5 with Suneeta to the bridge. Laugh with the children that are riding along from school. Say hello and goodbye over and over. Get to the bridge. Watch the sun setting as you stand over the bridge seeing the occasional snake wriggle through the water below. Throw some rocks to try to improve your aim at the snakes. The same boy rides past you on a bicycle everyday. Stops to say hello, again. Walk back down the dusty track. See the same houses, the same people sitting out the front. The old man that smokes home-made cigarettes while sitting near the buffalos out the front of his place. Everyday the same. Not much sound. The occasional motorbike that whizzes by with a guy driving, his wife and shopping (or a kid) on board. The "men in white": a group of eldery men that wear white shirts and trousers that walk the same time as us everyday, but along the railway line instead. Remembering not to stare at people. Picking up flowers from the side of the road to put in Suneeta's hair. Then she would do the same for me. Stopping in at BB's mother's house on the way home. Holding hands with Epsi or Lily. Practising some newly learnt Telugu on them (something really charming like "what curry for lunch?" or "your sari is beautiful") and watching them laugh. Trying to get away gracefully before the sun goes down. They always walk with us up the road, chatting, for at least another 10 minutes before we say goodbye for the fifth time. Shiny comes riding down the road on the front of the scooter with Surya driving. Normally Deena or Prema on the back seat. Play chicken with the scooter to get a laugh from Shiny. Wave frantically as they zoom by, tooting. They stop at BB's mothers, say hello, then back on the scooter to go home. Watching Rebekah (one of the cooks) come down the road, dodging the puddles, on her way home from work so she can cook for her family. Stopping for a brief chat before continuing on. Passing the leper colony with the kids that run around out the front. Chickens are always scuttling around the front. Keep walking around the bend in the road. Using our scarves to cover our noses as we passed where the local pigs are fed rotten scraps of food. The stench is so bad you feel as though your eyes may get a coating on them just from being kept open to the exposed air. Smiling with my eyes at the girls that worked feeding the pigs and hoping they could see I was trying to smile. The relief as you took a deep breath of non-swine air. Ahhh. Back past the rice mill. The aroma of rice cooking. The busy trucks and cars over the road, going into town. Just in time for evening prayer with the girls before dinner. Going with Suneeta to wash our feet of all the dust and mud from the walk.

Every afternoon was the same. It wasn't monotonous. Sure, it was simple. It was peaceful. No rushing. I could keep going on with the rest of the evening's routine but I won't. I'm sure it's boring. It's good for me to think back. Remember what life was like for such a different time in my life. When you knew exactly what was going to be happening for a large proportion of the following day/days.

Oh, I miss you Hebron. Suneeta, Sagar, Pandu, Chinni, Amma, all the children. BB, Ramah, Ramya, Akka-babu.

But life goes on hey? There's more things to happen that you can then think back on. Some memories will last longer than others though. There's so much about my life over there that I've never shared with people. Because I thought I would bore them. Because I felt people weren't interested. That it was my cup-of-tea but not everyone elses. I think I missed out on something by not sharing. It's releasing. It brings closure. It's healthy. I kept a diary over there. Pretty much just prayers. Or things about life in Australia that I missed. Not about life there. Not the routine and the exciting things to experience or learn. It's hard to write about that stuff when you're immersed in it and it's become "normal". I think I might write a book. Even if it's just for me to look back on in 50 years. It might be a really benefitial thing to do methinks.

Enough blabber. G'night anyone who might still read this blog!

xx