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Diary - Thursday, September 24 2009Hello everyone and warm wishes once again from the "Team" here in Jambiani. I'm probably a tad overdue with this update but as usual, life here has been full on and very busy. The diploma students have returned to the JTTI as of Monday so things are getting back to full swing on the educational front. Needless to say, Pat has spent weeks in preparation for this event, putting together curriculum and teaching packages so that all continues to run smoothly at the Institute. I even taught my first aid class today to the first year class. It was really a lot of fun and a nice addition to the daily schedules. We had a great two week visit with my cousin John Walter, father of Alex who you'll recall was with us for several months just recently. John is a second cousin but we used to work together many years ago in the family dairy business so it was too much fun catching up on the news and reconnecting. If you're reading this John, thanks so much for your great energy and positive input and support. We really appreciate it. Your home made pasta was pretty amazing too!!! Like I said, if it doesn't work out in Ottawa, you've got a spot with HABS in Jambiani. ;-) We are very happy to announce the safe arrival of Ms Val Pitt and Ms Jane De Block from South Western Ontario. What a power house we have in these two. Both Val and Jane have begun teaching at the JTTI and although they just arrived here on Sunday, they are already settling in with ease. However, there were some obstacles they had to dance with earlier on in their adventure. To start with, the beginning of their journey was delayed a couple of days in Toronto, and after their arrival and on our way to Jambiani we were witness to a very ugly accident that we subsequently got involved with as we did an on-road assessment of the casualty and provided some first aid and then when we arrived in Jambiani the power was out and did not return for 24 hours! Not exactly the best start to a three month stay but Jane and Val as they say, like to "shoot from the hip" and have moved through these initial challenges apparently none the worse for wear. Welcome Val and Jane. :-) As usual, we'll try to coerce them into adding some of their thoughts in another update. Here are a couple of pictures of Val and Jane with their respective classes. I've really enjoyed being back in the clinic working with patients again. I had a two month break when Cate was here so it feels right to be "back in the saddle". I'm pretty lucky in that after 31 years of practise, I still love what I do. That has to be a good thing. :-) There are still lots of challenges and it's not a walk in the park everyday but the rewards are very significant and seeing people get well after lengthy periods of discomfort is irreplaceable. I am still at times "blown away" by the effectiveness of Chiropractic adjustments. On the local scene, we are in the final few days of Ramadan, the Muslim Holy month. This is a time when most people abstain from food and water from sunrise until sunset for a one month period. You can feel the excitement in the village as another Ramadan nears completion and the festivities of Sikuku rapidly approach. It's a bit like Christmas in that new clothing is purchased for the children, friends and family visit one another accompanied by lots of good food. Just like Christmas, this can be pretty stressful as the increased financial demands of this season can place extra burdens on people who are already just making ends meet. At least most people do not have credit cards so they really can only acquire what they can with what cash they have on hand. Things are slowing down a bit now in Alibi's Well as the number of tourists decline, however, our Sunday dinners are still proving very popular with the expat community. This weekend's theme is Indonesian and my taste buds are already starting to come alive in anticipation of this superb dinner menu. Mmmmmm :-) The slow down will give us time to take care of necessary maintenance work and to continue our development of "Owen's Deck" which is destined to become a very laid back patio area just in front and to the right of the main restaurant area. We will try to get all of this done before the next tourist season starts in December. All in all, we have no complaints. We have an awesome team here both with our students and our current volunteers and we just continue to improve and refine all of our programs with each passing week. It's all good and we are proceeding to power along with good energy and with optimism that sees success as our constant companion. That's about it for now. We hope that this update finds you all well and that life is awesome!!! Much love from all of us here, stuck in the "Jam". :-) PS: We had a record Sunday dinner with 37 guests!!!!
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