technological difficulties and reliefs

Mid May my watch kicked the can. I am currently experiencing the effects of watch liberation and loving it! The days both fly by and crawl along, but in a pleasant way. I still use my phone alarm to wake up in the morning- my brain has successfully learned to ignore the sound of early morning cockadoodle dooing (or coo coo reh tu, the Vanuatu cockadoodledoo) I do miss the two daily beep blasts that helped ensure I was eating my malaria meds, but I haven't actually missed too many days, so that's something. 

The plunger washing machine works great! Or atleast it works better than not washing my clothes at all! Put the clothes in the bucket with detergent, soak em in the sun for a bit, and give it a dozen good plunges (is that the right verb for the plunger?) every 15 minutes. Twist, dunk in clean water, twist again, and hang to dry! Gotta love basic technology. 

Speaking of, my fried laptop, which is not as tasty as a fried green tomato, is in Port Vila under operation to remove the hard drive. It is being repurposed and recycled and that's the end of that ride. I guess typing out my thoughts on this old iPhone is the closest I can get to watching an episode of something good! 

Computerlessness just means more time for other activities such as learning to tie various knots, observing chicken laying patterns, and teaching myself how to pluck a guitar. Additionally, more time for the alternate universe that books provide! I've happily devoured some more great books this past month- 

The World According to Garp by John Irving

Dharma Bums and On The Road by John Kerouac 

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

I'm elbow deep in both A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and Damien the Leper by John Farrow. One's on the kindle for night time reading and the other is a paperback that satisfies the need to hold an actual book. Both stories are so good that I can't put either down to finish the other, so it's a big swirl of storyline overlap. I think John Irving is becoming one of my favorite authors and I hope to get through more of his stuff while I'm here! 

I was high with anticipation because my new laptop was supposed to be on it's way from the states to Vanuatu! I guess the word "supposed" gives away the unfavorable fate that sometimes accompanies the things we want most. (You can't always get what you waaant..) 

One extendee volunteer, Michael Stafford, was home for a wedding and was planning on bringing Laura and my computers (that were shipped to his folks' home) back to the islands. Sadly, I was informed last night that something happened with FedEx, and 2 day shipping turned into 3 weeks. The laptops got to Michael's house the day after he left to come back here. Womp womp.

As frustrating as it is, I will gladly admit how lucky I am that this is my biggest "problem" right now. Rerouting is underway and detours are being made - I guess that a business degree in Supply Chain Management is coming in handy, mom and dad! The computers are now being sent to Dave's family and he'll bring them back in September after his brother's wedding. End of October, I'll get to meet my new laptop when I go into Vila for my trip South! Let's see what kind of house projects and how many books I can get myself wrapped up in until then...