Bits and bobs...

Okay, so it JUST occurred to me that I should have called my blog ‘the Princess and the Pee’. Damn. I’m always just a little bit slow on the uptake…

I know I’ve been slack at posting, but I think I’ve become accustomed to things being a little bit different here- the lack of refrigeration (and hence meat), hot water, and footpaths have become a part of everyday life (the rubbish still drives me a bit mad though, solid waste management should definitely be high up on somebody’s list of priorities…). I have never sweated so much in my life (probably even when exercising in Perth on a 40 degree day), and about 50% of my day is spent drinking water. A couple of weeks ago I got really dehydrated and made myself sick (as well as ridiculously emotional, sorry to those poor people who had the pleasure of dealing with THAT). So I wasn’t overly jubilant for a few days there…

Earlier this week I had another unlucky accident. I had woken up for a couple of days with weird insect bites, including ones that looked like hickeys on my thigh (so either I had an insect issue or a secret lover sneaking in during the night), so I decided to try out my mozzie net before I went on fieldwork. It turns out that I’m allergic to the insecticide mine was treated with, so I woke up feeling like my face was literally burning off- I couldn’t stop touching it, and I literally felt (and possibly looked like) the chick in that painting ‘The Scream’. You know…

Burny burn burn. My arms also felt like they were being stabbed by a thousand tiny needles, which wasn’t great fun. Anyway, a few hours, Nurofen, antihistimines and a wet tea towel later (coupled with a fear of drowning in my own dirty tea towel), I managed to get some sleep… for most of the next day and night. It actually lasted a couple of days, ouch. However, looking on the bright side, at least I tried the net out at home, and not for the first time on fieldwork- I’m pretty sure that waking up like that and knowing that I was a 5 hour hike and 4 hour drive on dirt roads away from even a simple form of medical treatment would have freaked me out a bit more than laying on my bed feeling sorry for myself but knowing that the medical centre was only 5 minutes away.

In Kahloo news, he’s in the bad books again. On getting home yesterday I noticed that he’d been marking his territory by peeing outside my door (which is inside the main house still). I haven’t dobbed him into the family yet, because he always seems to be in trouble, but between this and the chocolate thievery- three strikes and I’m dobbing him into his Mum!

Sunday morning I leave for my first work field trip, and will be gone for a few days. I’m hoping that I survive the hike to the villages, and my backpack consists of, in roughly equal proportions; toilet paper, band aids, and painkillers. Oh, and my She-Wee. That thing is THE BOMB!!!

http://www.shewee.com/

Happy travels everyone, have a great weekend, and definitely have a beer or three for me.