Would you believe it? The president slept in my bed!

It seems I have solved the mystery of the lone air conditioning unit. Mama Chief, our esteemed landlady, rocked up this afternoon to do the cleaning. When we first arrived, Chief, our greatly esteemed landlord, informed us that Mama Chief would come every day to clean. Well, she came every day for the first week and since then we’ve barely seen her.

Anyway, she came, she cleaned and then she gave us a lesson in how to make curry. At least, she gave Bella a lesson in how to make curry while I was dispatched to the shop to buy a pumpkin. Having returned with said pumpkin, I was banished from the kitchen once more on the grounds that it was too crowded.

Finding myself without occupation, I decided to take a turn around the garden with Chief as he surveyed his estate. He told me about the house and his plans for the garden – he’s designing a water feature don’t you know – and I asked how old the house was. It transpires that the house was build eighteen months ago just in time for a local fishing day celebration at which the Maldivian president was the honoured guest. As island chief, our esteemed landlord chose to accommodate the president in our house, more specifically in my bedroom! How exciting is that?! The president slept in my bed! I’m still getting over the excitement now.

As my tale demonstrates, there’s never a dull moment on Ihavandhoo. Quite the opposite in fact. At the weekend we received a last-minute invitation to an island wedding: round one, the ceremony on Thursday night; round two, the party on Friday. Never in all my life have I seen such a miserable couple - apparently Maldivians don't smile for photos - but it was a Maldivian wedding all the same and an informative experience. Friday also held a girls’ volleyball tournament. Volleyball is about the only activity capable of getting a Maldivian moving faster than a snail’s pace.

On Saturday afternoon the deputy principal called to inform me that I was going to deliver the assembly talk to the whole school at 6.50am the next morning. I was horrified. I’ve only been here a fortnight and every assembly so far has been conducted exclusively in Dhivehi, the local language. Bella on the other hand thought it was hilarious. Needless to say I survived and I thought I did rather well. Possibly as a result of my eloquence on the assembly ground, I’m now being pushed to become head of the English department. So, forget sipping cocktails and sunbathing on the beach, I’ve got work to do.

Toodle-oo xx
P.S. Thank you for all your comments. I'm gradually working out how the blog editor works, so hopefully you'll be able to see the comments soon, and some photos too.