He says, "The bachelor is back!"

Having started the blog on such a positive note for 2015, we need to keep the momentum going!

I am now a bachelor with her having taken an exciting role with my/our organisation in the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI). It is an exciting opportunity in a very interesting part of the world. I had no hesitation in letting her go, although the thoughts of her living 40km down the road from an unruly mob of Jihadists, did give me a few restless nights. She is a strong woman though and I am sure she will put them in their place.

We have loved the cooler winter days and nights. Wearing socks and long pants to bed and sleeping under our quilt with no fan or A/C is a real novelty for us.  I'm not sure it will continue much longer though as we are headed back to high thirties later this week.

Rhodes has not been his normal cheerful self. He seems to be unsettled by our constant coming and going. The site of suitcases being packed /unpacked seems to send him into a state of melancholy... I managed to take him for a run at the American School yesterday. He loves the grass and spends more time sniffing and trying to find puddles of water to jump in than fetching the ball.

There is also an eagle that patrols the school oval. It has a massive wing span and very large claws. I know this because it (I should call it Woosha, Summa or Jacko) has taken to trying to swoop down and collect Rhodes. Thankfully he hasn't managed to lay a claw on our little doggy, but yesterday he managed to pick up a plastic bottle and then drop it just near us. We have been warned!

Speaking of melancholy, to be or not to be? That is the question. We were visited this week by the Globe Theatre of London and their worldwide tour of Hamlet. Siberia was destination number sixty-nine. They plan to visit every single country in the world by the end of 2016. This is in celebration of the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth (I think)! I am sure Siberia was one of their more challenging whistle-stops. The performance was held in an outdoor amphitheater next to the river. We started very late (9:15pm) as we had to wait for the Minister and Under Secretary for the Arts) to arrive. The sound was limited and to make matters worse, another concert of local music was being held next door. By half time (10:45pm) we, along with more than half the audience decided to leave as it was getting later and later and we could hardly hear what was being said. Despite all this, the backdrops and acting were fantastic and we'd love to see the performance in full sometime in the future when the quality of the sound can be guaranteed.

On Wednesday night we had dinner with a representative of the Australian Embassy. I think they see us as a bit of a novelty! Every time a staff member travels to Siberia, the Ambassador makes sure that they invite us out for dinner. She was a pleasant young lady and I have been asked to visit them sometime and have breakfast with all the non-resident Ambassadors/representatives for Siberia. I think I will definitely take her up on the offer!

She says...the end of Year 1

As He mentioned, we've just returned from a wonderful, month-long holiday down under with our families. We spent two indulgent weeks with each of our families (in their respective countries) at the beach. A few tidbits for those of you who know one or both of our families:

• He performed a beautiful ballet dance with dear little friends on a giant jumping pillow.
• We left one family with 4 extra legs and a lot more trouble than they had before we arrived.
• We held a My Kitchen Rules competition with one family - 4 couples each spent 3h preparing and cooking a main and dessert for all, which was then judged by the other couples. The scores were out of 90 and all 4 couples scored within 3 points of each other. We were unfortunately at the bottom. Good food. Good company. Good fun.
• One Mother turned 70. An event worthy of much celebration and a headstand by the birthday gal.
• One beach holiday included approximately 10x as much alcohol as the other.
• We swam at the beach in only one of the countries. No prizes for guessing which.
• We met the youngest of our siblings' 13 children for the first time, and missed seeing the eldest as he's away adventuring on his gap year after finishing high school with very impressive scores.

Naturally, every one we met down under wanted to know what life was like here. I'm not sure I shared many positive thoughts about our experience, if any. In that, I'm sure I did this country and her people an injustice. It is much easier to think of and express those things I find difficult, sad. frustrating and infuriating than to talk of those that I've appreciated, enjoyed or celebrated. So, here are a few, in memory of our first year in 'Siberia'.

• The local people are very generous towards one another with their possessions and money, even in their own difficult circumstances. 
• I've had a growing fascination with the items that are sold at intersections in our city. Those I can recall include:

• various kinds of fruit, clothes drying racks, toy tuk tuks
• a coat stand
• a whip (I thought it was for the donkeys, but our house helper reported that they are for household use i.e. wives and children)
• rugs of all sizes, including ones which would cover the majority of the floor space in our house
• children's clothing in every shape, colour and size, and consistently with misspelled English phrases
• an electric iron and kettle
• a machete (I was in a local taxi when I was first offered one. I said a bad word in my shocked exclamatory question about what I would do with a machete, and my taxi driver who, until then, had not said or acknowledged one word of English laughed out loud).
• a Sudanese passport cover (He has been tempted to buy one of these)
• a V slicer for vegetables in multiple brands and colours
• a battery-operated guitar with coloured flashing lights
• wind wipers (they appear every time it rains)
• a fishing rod

• Unlike all other local foods that I have tried, the fish served in many local restaurants is absolutely delicious. It's usually deep fried and prepared as a whole fish or filleted pieces, crumbed. It's served with a plate of raw onion, some green leaves that look like spinach and taste like grass, an extremely hot but addictive chilli paste, lemon wedges and wads of hot bread. It's served on a large platter and everyone eats from the one dish with their right hand. The restaurants are often open air, scented with a local perfumed smoke, complete with mist-spraying fans and local music. Lovely.
• A byproduct of living in the "country that fun forgot" (His term), it has been special to have so much 1:1 time as a couple in our first year or so of marriage. There are parts of the week when nothing can be done other than being at home, enjoying a cup of coffee, our favourite music, our books, or a TV show at our home cinema.
• The many weekend afternoons we've spent at an international hotel swimming pool where we have a membership, chatting with friends, meeting new people in the pool, reading books, drinking litres of cold water, enjoying the 'cool' 32 degrees in the pool.

He says, "Rabbit surveys and the relief of winter..."

Two wonderful examples of Siberian English (Siblish?) that I have seen this week.

The first is from my wonderful WASH (Water and Sanitation) Adviser who is 60+ and suffers from poor eye sight and is deaf as a door nob.  He sent me an email with a  very detailed assessment of the water and sanitation indicators for two localities we are hoping to work in. However,  the document is entitled 'Rabbit Survey'. I am fairly sure he meant rapid.

The second came from a government agency inviting me for a meeting tomorrow to discuss "relief of winter." I am chuffed that they think that my organisation and other INGOs (International Non Government Organisations) control the passing of the seasons. Or, maybe they are concerned that the affects of global warming are yet to sufficiently present themselves in Siberia?  I am thinking of putting them in touch with Tony Abbott.  I suspect that winter relief will not be required. The current cold snap is due to pass in the next few days and we will return to our balmy winter days with highs of 30 degrees. That will be' winter relief' to the many who are not enjoying single digit temperatures during the night.

He says...Did we land in Siberia?

We have returned from the antipodes. We landed back in Siberia at 12:15pm on 8 January 2015, exactly one year to the day of our arrival here. It's good to be back but it's cold! Maybe we are in Siberia? It was 8 degrees yesterday at 11am. I was wearing three layers of clothes. It reached a top of 22 degrees late in the afternoon. Tomorrow is supposed to be 17 degrees... I imagine that all the staff at work will be wearing gloves, beanies and jackets. We will need plenty of hot tea.