Indiana Jones Style

Driving through "the bush"

Yesterday I had the opportunity to ride down with a few people to "the bush" to pick a woman who is going to learn sewing skills at the Bethesda Disability Center. This woman has a spinal cord injury which has led to her having very poor stability and strength, which forces her to use a wheelchair. Her son, Bruno, who is around 10 takes care of her as the woman's family has essentially abandoned her. What makes this story even harder is that her injuries are due to domestic abuse, she was beaten so badly by her husband that she can barely move. And stories like these are not uncommon here. Hopefully though, the skills that she and her son learn at Bethesda can help her earn a bit of income to support herself and Bruno.

Theresa, Eroma and Vickie

Riding into the bush was certainly an adventure, it wasn't a long way distance wise, but due to the poor conditions of the roads it took a while to get to the little village. Again, as I attempt to embrace the Solomon way; I volunteered to ride in the back of the truck. It was quite a bit of fun, standing up, gripping the bars for dear life, trying to go with the bumps and sways in order to prevent being thrown off, overlooking the forest and the teeny tiny rickety bridges we crossed (those moments were a tad nerve-wracking). Basically, just imagine the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland; just without all those lame safety features.

Me looking like a total goon (as usual) 
and Theresa looking like a cutie (as usual)

I also had the opportunity to go snorkeling in the ocean and checking out an sunk Japanese freightliner ship from WWII, which was quite incredible. This one is very close to shore, and there are a few other remnant ships and planes from the War that scuba divers come from all over the world to see. It's just so sweet to see these sights, especially with so much history behind them. (You should check out the mini series "The Pacific")

Doxycycline (the malaria medication I am currently taking) has a tendency to cause the skin to be extra sensitive to the sun. This fact, coupled with my poor judgment in personal usage of sunscreen and two days in a row of extensive sun exposure, caused my skin to turn a deep pink colour which only got even deeper as the day went on. This is nothing unexpected or particularly exciting for me as this happens often to my pasty complexion, however, I have never had so many discussions about it in my life. These were not merely the typical comments and jokes that normally arise, these were genuine questions and concerns about what was happening to me. I was asked what it felt like, if it hurt and how I got rid of it. Due to their dark skin, the people here have never experienced sunburn themselves before (so friggin' lucky!) My favourite thing is though that I found out later, a group of the guys had been asking each other what was wrong with me. (So….so much for not being the weird one!)

The beach where we went snorkeling