Hotness

If I thought it was hot last week, I was sadly mistaken. Last week was merely mild. THIS week, it's hot. The thermometer outside Nosy Cao now reads 39 degrees. And according to our Malagasy staff, it will get hotter still. I'm not sure how this is possible.
Am also not sure how it's possible to work effectively in this kind of heat. And in fact, it's not! Keep making silly mistakes and am definitely on a 'go slow'.
One of the volunteers brought us a National Geographic from 1944 with a section on Madagascar. It's really fascinating. I particularly like this excerpt: "The natives
themselves are goodhearted, merry do-nothings. They work only long enough each year to earn what they need for their taxes and their modest needs. Many of them, employed on farms or in the mines, quit and go home as soon as they have received five or six dollars. With two dollars they pay their taxes, and the remaining three or four are sufficient to buy a few sacks of rice and a new shirt. Between jobs they sit or lie all day long on their mats in the shade of the palm trees". The writer is talking about this in terms of how this attitude is a problem in terms of labour shortages -
because people stop work when they have earned all that they need.
Frankly, I think they had the right idea. How different would the world be if
everyone just had that attitude.....?
So... What have I done this week? Well, this week I have: enjoyed lying in my hammock swinging in the breeze, done five dives, logged my 350th dive, taken (and failed) a fish test, given two invertebrates tests - failing one person and passing another, done an invertebrate point out and two diving reviews. I really enjoyed giving tests and pointing out stuff. :) the visibility has been particularly bad this week, which makes pointing out stuff quite tricky.
I have also; read a book, started another, eaten some nice fish kebabs, some barracuda, mackerel and emperor fish. I have introduced myself (again) to the Nahudas of the village and introduced the new lot of volunteers to them too. I have danced joyfully in the epi-bar to Madagascan music, felt homesick for my cats (as I do most days) and my friends, eaten macadamias and almonds as sent by my cousin via an American volunteer, given a site and village tour, inducted the volunteers to the BV way of life and done yoga once. :) Phew. So it's been a busy week!
The first week with a new lot of volunteers always is. As the expedition manager, I have to do quite a lot of admin, quite a lot of informing them of rules and regulations and health and safety and also really want to keep an eye out for their welfare. Then, as a divemaster, I have to make sure they can all dive, and I've also been doing some of the point outs. So it's pretty hectic.
We ran the second day of the expedition really differently this time and it went really well I think. Instead of sitting them down in the classroom and talking at them, we got them to learn a lot of the duties and protocols 'in situ'. I think it worked well.
We had a day off yesterday and walked up to the phone point to make some calls to home. Luckily it was excessively windy so it cooled things down considerably. It was nice to speak to some friendly voices. My mum offered to send us some stuff with the January expedition but the the things I really miss are things that can't be sent - cat cuddles, friends, family. And ice-cream. And cheese. Mainly, I miss conversations with people who really know me. Oh, and on the way back from the phone tower, we saw a Hoopo (?) - a really cool bird. :)
That's it for this week. Oh... And kitten news - both have mysteriously disappeared. They've been taken into the village - though whether it's for pet or food purposes, I'm not sure. And the rest of our cats have such bad mange that I can't even look at them any more.