The little things

I’ve been sick this past week. I’ve had the dreaded dengue fever which, as I’m sure you can imagine, is not ideal in this heat. I’m well over the worst now and am currently just suffering from extreme tiredness. I’ve spent the past week in bed, watching tv and movies on my laptop (it’s come to my attention that Carmella Soprano and Dana Scully have awful fashion sense, despite the exciting lives they lead. Such awful unflattering man-ish pants and oversized, shoulder-padded suit jackets, and Carmella, what's with the hair? Dana - you should totally pash up Mulder while you can, don't worry, the truth is out there). Now, let me tell you, sweating through a fever in 38 degree weather, alone and bored is a poor substitute for inhabiting a big comfy couch, a pair of 3XL mens track pants (grey of course) and a million blankets and pillows, and watching Jeremy Kyle and Ricky Lake re-runs. Needless to say it’s been a bit tough not being nursed back to health by someone resembling a mother, who will bring you all kinds of treats and prizes along with significant amounts of sympathy no matter how much of a complaining baby you’re being. However, it’s been really great to see how wonderful my friends are over here, two in particular have been bringing me lots of meals and fruit and generally looking after me. So it hasn’t been all bad. Spending lots of time at home and by myself has led me to think about all the little things that I look forward to having back in my life soon. Side note: I am leaving the border at the end of April and will go and seek my fortune in Melbourne for a time, more on that later. So, in no particular order, here are a few of the things that I have longed for this week:

1. Carpet – a strange thing to desire, it’s true. But lying down on the floor because you got a bit tired standing up isn’t the same when it’s hard shiny tiles, not lush, cosy carpet. 

Creepy outdoor sink

2. Being able to drink the tap water – this has been a big one this week as my kitchen is downstairs and my bedroom is upstairs, so in order to keep sufficiently hydrated (one of the biggest things with dengue) I have to go downstairs all the time to get more of the good stuff, I can’t just drink from the bathroom tap that is a mere 1m from my room.

3. A washing machine – no one here has a washing machine. This means that even doing my washing this week has been a gigantic hassle so I just haven’t done it. Usually I hand wash small things and just take sheets and towels to the laundry lady, but this week, no hand washing or laundry lady, far too much effort. If only I could chuck everything in a machine and press go...

4. Having a functional kitchen – this is a big one. My kitchen consists of one gas ring, my sink is outside in a mosquito infested concrete box (probably where I got the dengue from to begin with). I love to cook, but this past year has been the least cooky of my life and I miss it. Plus, being sick, it’s meant that people have had to bring me pretty much all my meals. No one here really cooks, it’s far cheaper to eat out, which is a lot less glamorous than you think. 

Low grade kitchen

5. Having clean feet – this issue closely relates to point one, above. I’ve been doing a lot of lying in bed. Having tiles through the whole house and incessant dust coming in through the permanently-open windows means that no matter how much you sweep or mop, your feet are always dirty when you walk around the house (fyi – wearing socks is not an option). This dirt is then transferred into your bed pretty quickly, gross.

 

That’s about it. The top five things I’ve been longing for this week (couch, daytime tv, track pants and comfort food aside of course, those ones are the most important, oh except perhaps cheese rolls. Man, I want a million cheese rolls so bad). Hopefully I shall have all these things again soon enough (except perhaps the ever-longed for cheese roll as it is endemic to the lower South Island of NZ)

PS. There are orchids flowering in my garden. I think that's pretty good stuff.