I'm now back at work on Wednesday morning, having returned from Ruteng yesterday. On Thursday last, we had more or less constant rain for about six hours so I decided to leave the motorbike at home and let someone else do the driving instead (and of course, it hasn't rained since..). There are a number of options for inter-town travel on Flores ranging from a truck to buses to what is called a Travel (a seat in a shared 8 seater car). I opted for the latter and was collected from the hospital at 7.30 am on Friday morning. I then sat in the car for four hours waiting until we had enough passengers on board to justify departing and eventually arrived in Bajawa at 7.30 pm, exactly twelve hours later (driving time 8 hours). I won't describe the rather hair-raising journey but I now know that an 8 seater car can fit 12 people (plus luggage) if you push hard enough.
On Saturday morning I continued to Ruteng (another four hours) in the luxury of a private jeep owned by a friend from Bajawa and then the party started !
Festus has been in Ruteng as a volunteer for two years and is now returning to Kenya to look for a job (he is a water engineer and has been working with a local NGO here helping villages to arrange secure clean water supplies). In his time in Ruteng he has obviously amassed a large circle of friends who all turned out on Saturday to wish him farewell. Unusually for Indonesia, there were no speeches (they were being saved for a lunch on Monday) so there was just music, dancing and drink. Oh, and of course the food !
The goat (see here) had been seen nibbling the grass outside the office where the party was to take place on Saturday morning but by the time I arrived had been despatched and was on the fire behind the office.
The party got underway with plenty of dancing and drinking and stage one of the meal (Billy the kid wasn't scheduled to appear until later on in the evening).
At last, the special guest made his appearance and was unceremoniously dumped on the table with a knife for self service snacking - and it was delicious !
As well as saying goodbye to Festus, the weekend was a great opportunity to catch up with Mark and Anouk, two Dutch volunteers based in Ruteng who were in the same intake group as me all the way back in February. Ruteng struck me as a nice place to be based, smaller than Maumere but a good bit cleaner and a lot cooler (long trousers and sweater required, plus a blanket at night).
My return journey to Maumere started on Monday morning when I left Ruteng by bus and travelled to Ende (uneventfully except for a puncture and a dead dog). I spent the night in Ende and travelled on to Maumere on Tuesday, arriving at about 12.30 pm. The total distance from Maumere to Ruteng is about 400 kms.
Arriving back in Maumere, I was struck (literally) by the heat - there is a massive difference and I found it very difficult to sleep last night,even with my electric fan strategically aimed. Today it is very very humid (unusually so) and, to maker matters worse, a team of auditors will be occupying the (air conditioned) office that I normally use for the next two weeks !
So, goodbye Festus and good luck with whatever comes next !
Oh poor you. Your comments about being struck by the heat reminded me of how H and I used to feel once we reached the outskirts of Naharia (North Israel) which had huge humidity. It felt like an industrial hairdryer was being pointed at you and we spent our year there in a very sticky sweat. It was very hard going at times I remember well. Best of luck and hope you acclimatise soon xx
ReplyDelete