This week has been much more enjoyable than the last. The first big change is that Gian came to change my shitty blinds so I actually have some semblance of darkness in my bedroom. The additional sleep I’m getting is certainly making me feel better. I’m also (finally) getting used to my bed and cheap bedsheets so again this is helping me feel ready to carpe diem.

A Prickly Lesson

We had a new visitor join our classroom for one day last week. His name was Spikey and he is a Thorny Devil (Katapuda - pronounced Gadabuda).

The night before the kids had been hunting and had killed a cow which they’d all enjoyed for dinner. They found Spikey on the way home. He is quite rare to find, Haidee (my colleague) has been working in remote communities for 6 years and has never seen one. Bushmen use to use them to comb their hair. They’re very placid animals and can eat over 1,000 black ants in one day.

When my student brought him into the classroom I shit my pants but I said he could stay with us for the morning (I had no idea what I was supposed to do in this situation). When they went outside to brush their teeth they just popped him on the ground and he stayed in one place. In lesson they put him down in the reading area and went and layed with him when they had their reading time. It was actually such a lovely experience. All the teachers were very excited about our new student and he went into another class after lunch time. They made a little box for him with some sand and shade in, probably a better idea than just leaving him on the floor to be stepped on. I will probably adopt this approach next time.

Some Unfriendly Critters

On the topic of animals I seem to have experienced an influx of them in my house this week. Notably a cockroach on my ceiling. There are plenty of cockroaches here but since I put down the killer soup for them they’re often not alive and are swiftly swept in my dustpan and brush. The one on my ceiling was initially alive, until I killed it. I’m also slightly concerned I have a silver fish infestation in my bathroom. At first I thought it was an earwig problem but on further inspection I’m not too sure. Please let me know what you think.

The fly problem is ongoing and infuriates me more everyday. Finally, there was a massive spider in my house. I realised a bit late that I needed to defrost my mince from the freezer. You can’t just leave meat outside here because the dogs will come and get it so I had the ingenious idea of hanging my shopping bag up high somewhere outside with the mince in. I was already aprehensive grabbing my shopping bag, nervous of any critters in there. In a flash, a massive spider (maybe a huntsman?) jumped out and I let out a wail. Safe to say the spider has now joined the ceiling cockroach in insect heaven.

Residency Update

In other exciting news I have started the process of applying for my permanent residency for Australia. It is a very expensive ball ache but I think it’ll take a very long time so best to get it sorted now. I spent $500 on an English test which I have booked in for when I’m back in Melbourne. I really need to get the highest points to have the best chance of getting an ‘invite’ for my visa. I then spent $1150 applying for a teaching assessment which isn’t actually an assessment at all. It’s a check of all my teaching documents which have already been checked many times due to applying for my teacher registrations. It’s a scam if you ask me.

Greedy Goblin Update

Over the long weekend I decided to bake a lemon cake, completely for myself. This exercising of free will has been very exciting and I have nearly eaten the whole cake less than 24 hours after I baked it. What’s additionally exciting is that I’m not even cutting it in slices, just whatever shape and size piece I fancy in that immediate moment. I haven’t even used a plate when I’ve been eating it, just a hand plate. Free will!

UPDATE: As I was writing this I got a knock at the door and it was Haidee with a fresh muffin for me, warm out the oven. I’m starting to think I should have shared my cake. Gian previously has also dropped by some freshly baked bread. Whoopsie. Whoopsie Whoopsie Greedy Goblin. I might invite everyone over for lunch tomorrow but I’ll just have to make sure the cake is all gone by then so they don’t see I ate a whole cake to myself without sharing.

I received my school laptop in the mail and it is an Apple Mac! Rather exciting. The mail plane comes every Thursday but there was an issue the last few weeks (maybe because of the rain?) so I was waiting a while for my amazon delivery. Finally, I received my Visualiser for school! The most notable delivery was my care package from the Knibbs’. A vast array of homely goods made their way safely to Punmu, including:

Tobacco, papers and filters
Marmite
Cress seeds
Goat soap
Mascara
Loofah
Nicotine patches
Vitamin C powder
Drink cooler
Stocking full of oats (for my eczema)

There has definitely been a change in my appreciation for the little things, so this package absolutely made my week!

Reflection On Productivity (or lack thereof)

I have noticed the correlation between my unproducitivity and feelings of loneliness. Yesterday (Saturday) I made sure I was up and showered even though I was just at home all day. I had a very productive cleaning and cooking day and felt great.

This morning was a fairly lazy one and I felt myself start going into the small spiral that I want to be back in Melbourne. But after speaking with Grant on the phone I was persuaded (forced) to be productive with the blog. As per usual, Grant had some pretty good advice and now I’m feeling much better.

Managing Big Feelings With a Pros and Cons List

We saw a really gorgeous sunset at the Ranger BBQ earlier on in the week.

After school on Friday I went round to Haidee’s house for a cup of tea and got a nice dose of companionship outside of school time. I also got some juicy gossip which I always thoroughly enjoy. It just fills my cup, what can I say. To help manage these feelings when they do occur I decided to write a pros and cons list of being out in Punmu. I am pleased to say the pros list is definitely longer and more substantial than the cons list. I would like to share it with you below:

PROS

SO CLOSE TO SCHOOL: This makes such a difference in the morning, I’m never in a rush. I have a full hour to get ready and have breakfast. Especially nice at the end of the day too. When I worked at West Hatch I was constantly in traffic or tailoring my day to avoid traffic. It also gives me enough time to listen to a whole episode of The News Agents before school, so I am completely up to date on that.
NICE THINGS TO DO IN THE EVENING: We often go out for a walk or have a meal catch up once a week.
COMMUNITY OF TEACHERS TO BAND TOGETHER WITH: A little community in a little community. And we all live next to each other.
OWN HOUSE: Which is paid for by the school. I do really love having my own space. It really needs some nice things like pictures and fairy lights though.
NO OUTGOINGS: Definitely a positive and a negative. No outgoings because there’s nothing to do. But good capacity for savings and a new excitement and appreciation for the things I will do when I’m back in Melbourne (like drink copious amounts of wine).
LOVE THE JOB: Cannot fault the team or the kids. I really like working at the school.
KIDS AND COMMUNITY REALLY MAKE ME LAUGH: The kids think it’s really funny when I use the indicators in the car. Also one of the community members berated all the students in assembly for bullying their grandson and then started bullying another boy straight after essentially saying ‘you should bully this one instead’.
FREE LUNCH AT SCHOOL: Such a sucker for a free lunch. We can also cook with the kids so I’m hoping to make school lunch with my class at some point. We made a couple of banana cakes last week.
LANDSCAPE: It is absolutely breathtaking and so unique to this part of the world. As someone who is not outdoorsy it is so fascinating to learn from people who are so connected to their land.
NEW ANIMALS: Love hate relationship with the new animals, but its undeniably pretty cool.
NEW PERSPECTIVES: Always a good thing to have fresh perspectives. Whether it be from other teachers, members of community or students I really enjoy learning what other people think e.g., there is a bit of debate at the moment with the direction of the school. Some people want to continue with a focus of On Country learning but others want a focus on classroom based maths and literacy. I am but a mere mortal, I’ll just do whatever I’m told.
HUMBLING: Being here has forced me to confront the facade of Australia. Seeing how people are disenfranchised, how they live and the struggles they continue to face is humbling.
MORE THOUGHTFUL ABOUT FOOD: Knowing that there is not an endless supply of whatever you fancy means you have to be mindful of when, how and what you’re eating.
MY NAILS ARE HEALING FROM THE MANY YEARS OF WEARING GEL NAIL POLISH: Healing from the outside in babes.
NO DRINKING: Punmu is a ‘dry community’ which means its illegal to buy and drink alcohol here. This is good for the waistline and the bank account. I have never not-drunk for so long. It’s funny, I actually forget about drinking quite a lot which is nice.

CONS

FLYS/ANIMALS (DOGS)/INSECTS: Very annoying, all the time.
ISOLATING: Can be boring when I’m by myself, I’ve really realised I have no self discipline.
NOT IN A GOOD ROUTINE: Completely my fault and something that can be changed.
NO DRINKING: I fancy a drink quite a lot right now.

That is all the news I have to share at the moment. While I am counting down the days till I am drinking a Negroni but I am definitely settling into the lifestyle here and trying to focus on the positives!

Thank you for reading <3

Love Lottie xxx

3. Onwards and Upwards