Here is a photograph of the most precious part of our apartment at the moment. It is a socket in the kitchen that the cooker is usually plugged into. Yes, ovens here are not wired in - rather, they rely on a standard socket.

The school has a problem with its power source currently, and the socket in our kitchen is the only one that draws power from outside. This too can be unreliable at times but at least it’s something. So, we can use either the oven or the coffee machine, or have the fridge plugged in, or use the printer, or my hairdryer- very important!

With the help of a small distribution board passed through from the kitchen we can also have a lamp turned on which saves the candle stock from depleting too quickly.

The other feature of our apartment which helps us to see our way through this rainy season, is the log fire. Ever since childhood days I would have liked a property that included one. Somehow radiators or gas fires with remarkably life-like coals don’t quite have that same cosy feel, and oh the smell of burning eucalyptus leaves!

The school is benefiting from the changes carried out last semester and during the break. The library is a great new space and I’m pleased to report that the stuffed animal heads that haunted me last year in the old library were not transferred (only a small stuffed mongoose made it across). The new chapel is bigger and a more versatile than the last one too and feels more friendly for large group events.

Along one side of the chapel runs a corridor. It is a main thoroughfare housing the staff pigeon holes. The staff room, staff toilets and Kindergarten lead from it.  So I pass through it all the time. Imagine my horror recently when I was reaching into my pigeon hole to retrieve something looked upwards and there were the self same stuffed animal heads proudly hanging in a row, staring down at me.

Not every change in life is for the better.