Netball, Netball, a bit of Mountain Biking a Party and all the rest ….

Just adding a post script to the post script below …. So did you see the bit about getting up to 40kms an hour!!!!!!!!!! Only the hard core break spokes by the way and what Adam doesn’t know is that I was hoping and preying (must have been in Samoa too long!) and muttering “Oh My God” under my breath as it was a pretty fast descent but I figured jamming on my breaks on a gravel road at this speed would probably not be a good thing. Thankfully I made it to the bottom with only broken spokes and no grazes to the knees!! Next time Mum I’ll go a little slower I promise.

Anyway Netball, Netball, Netball seems to be about all we are doing these days so apologies for the lack of white sand beach and blue sparkling water stories to tell. The netball season has now started and so we are at training twice a week and play on a Saturday. By the time we work around Adam’s game, my game and when I have to umpire there is not a lot of Saturday left. Speaking of umpiring, little white palagi legs starred on Samoan TV3 this week during the Shield match!! Think I did an OK job (still trying to upload a video to YouTube so watch this space. Most worrying of all is that this weekend we will be playing and I suspect we are going to get beaten. How embarrassing. Of course Sunday is spent catching up on the “house work” and preparing for the next week of work so we do little more than eat, sleep, work and play netball at the moment! Situation normal right?

Mind you this said we did manage a Pina Colada on our deck in the 29 degree heat as the sun set on Sunday afternoon this week. Even managed 40 winks in the lounger chair …………………. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Us old farts get worn out by the lifestyle mentioned above!! Now the highlight of the past weekend for Samoa was that Condoleezza Rice, the American Secretary of State, was visiting. She was here for…… wait for it ……. All of 3 hours! We know someone who works at Aggies at the airport who had been told to cut his hair as it didn’t look very traditional Samoan. This was just for Condoleezza’s visit. I hope she noticed. I saw on the news though that she did a bit of shopping while in NZ so good on her.

Adam has reminded me to mention that we have averted the Jack Daniels crisis!! Yes the 2 bottles we brought in duty free ran out and the bottle store (THE bottle store as in the only one in town) had run out too so it has been a dry week or so. Never fear though as we now have a 1.75lt bottle to keep us going until Latika and Hedley arrive in September (I’ve put in an order for some more!)

Well it was a bit of a weekend of losses wasn’t it? First the AB’s on our Friday night. Many jokes were made at the party we had at work on Friday night as to whether I’d still be talking to my Australian friend on Monday morning – she is actually not that interested in the rugby so I got off lightly there. Speaking of the party – it was a leaving do for 2 of the senior lecturers. The culture around contributing to these sorts of things has blown me away. A list came around where we could all “pledge” how much money we were going to give to the party fund. Not wanting to look miserable I dutifully followed the lead of the other senior staff who had gone before me on the list. This meant contributing WST$50.00. The party was held outside where tables and chairs were set up. A massive cake was delivered (chocolate mud cake – very delicious). There was Vailima beer provided and red wine neither of which I drink so I stuck to the soft drink. Lots of lovely food, chicken, pork, palusami, taro, breadfruit, salad etc all cooked in the umu. Anyway not wishing to outstay my welcome we left at about 7.00pm. Low and behold I get to work today and an email is sent out to all staff with a spreadsheet outlining what everyone contributed (yes we were named) and a breakdown of the budget that was spent. Of course this then erupted into an argument over who’s contributions were left off and how the totals were added up wrong and how the balance was “demanded” to be deposited into the Senior Staff Social Group fund immediately!!! Well firstly I was astounded that everyone now knows how much I contributed and secondly that there would be an argument over the totals!! I then actually found out that some of the “boys” were still there drinking at midnight (long after the guests of honor left) and that the extra money not accounted for had been spent on more beer and CIGARETTES for them!!! Well oh well next time we will have to get our money’s worth right?

Anyway back to the losses, so first the AB’s, then Adam and I both lost our netball games (very depressing), the NZ Women’s 7’s team lost to the Aussies in the qualifying tournament for next year’s world cup and the Magic lost to the Swifts so not a good weekend all round for sport. Actually we weren’t even sure if the rugby was going to be shown on the TV as they started a movie 45 minutes before the game was due to kick off but in true Samoan style, the movie was cut off in it’s prime just in time for the game! (It resumed after the rugby of course).

We have been up to the new and improved supermarket on the corner of our street to look for Tim Tams! 1 packet polished off now. Sad to say though they are not like at home. These ones were made in Indonesia. They are thin and small in comparison and of course the chocolate does not taste the same but hey some chocolate is better than none right? I miss the double chocolate coated ones in the blue packet. This supermarket will be very handy when I’m having a Tim Tam crisis in the future.

I’m trying to grow some Frangipani. According to my trusty friend Mr Google you cut a piece off an existing tree (the ones by work sufficed here) and then starve it for a week. When I broke bits off it leaked a sticky milky stuff which I wasn’t expecting. I had to swiftly find something in my bag to wrap them in, all the while trying not to look dodgy hanging around on the street corner and breaking bits off people’s trees! I put these bits of stick on the table on the deck for a week until they looked suitably shriveled up. They are now planted in yogurt pots with Samoan dirt and a bit of water. Well this is supposed to be the recipe so I’ll let you know how they get on. Hopefully lovely fragrant and beautifully coloured Frangipani next time you visit ;-)