18/09/2019 – Day 6 Volunteering, Easter Island, Chile

We got up and had some breakfast, before brushing our teeth and spying from our kitchen window (quite a handy spying spot!) the guest from bungalow 3 getting her stuff into the car for Peter to drop her to the airport. We quickly grabbed some fresh sheets from the laundry room, put another load of washing in the machine (there is ALWAYS washing to be done!) and walked up to the bungalow to start the deep clean. A week ago Peter had insisted it was problematic and not ok for Josh and I to work together but it seems he thinks it is ok now as we actually seem to work quite well together, and I think it means less for Peter to do too. The exciting thing when someone checks out is what food have they left?! Josh basically ran to the fridge to find out. A small bit of butter, a few bits of bread and… jackpot!! A whole bottle of peach juice, wahoo! We quickly snaffled it down to our studio and into our fridge before finishing the clean. Josh and I scrubbed, mobbed swept, ironed, de iced the freezer e.t.c. I have been thinking a bit about how nursing is a much more varied job than I have ever considered it to be before. Cleaning – sure I have a little bit of experience with that (ok maybe not in as much detail as Peter like here but still I’m used to wiping down bedspaces, cubicles and drip stands etc!) Making beds (ok fine, I don’t iron the beds but I can do a mean hospital corner) Talking to guests – no problem, making conversation/playing with the kids – yep fine. Handling people (aka Peter) if he is feeling stressed – how stressful can it be, is someone dying?! Long hours, no time for a wee or a drink? - it’s cool, 5 hours on the trot is not an issue! O.K. so maybe I am being a bit dramatic but I have never really thought about how many different things I normally do in a shift in A&E and it is quite cool really! I suppose it is what makes the job interesting everyday. Having said that it has been absolutely glorious to not have to do a night shift in over 5 months! And obviously 5 hours work a day is just LOVELY! Imagine if you could work 10:00-15:00 5 days a week and that be you!

Josh got asked to crack on with gardening after helping me with bungalow 3. He got into his grey prisoner onesie again, and his plan was to do some weeding then dig up some flowers from around the rental bungalows and replant them near the entrance gate. I continued cleaning the other two bungalows, as the guests had gone out for the day already.

It is the national Chile day today, so we could hear music blaring and people were out celebrating. Peter and his family went out for a big lunch with his wife’s family, so we were given some delicious empanadas to warm up for our own lunch. We had a chicken, olive, and egg empanada out on our garden furniture outside the studio. Josh and I normally do all the clearing up after lunch at the main house (while Peter watches football and his wife has a nap I think) which takes at least half an hour, so it was nice to just have a couple of bits to clear away afterwards! Josh went and saw to his gardening and I sorted out the laundry and tried to scrub the teeniest tiniest red mark off a white towel, which Peter had requested I do. It didn’t budge and I gave up after a little while. The soil here is red, and all the linen and towels are meant to be white, it’s not a good mix! I went to see what Josh was up to and was in absolute hysterics, all the beautiful flowers he had replanted were already well and truly dead! I sent a photo and dad asked if he had considered the Chelsea flower show, which set me off laughing again! Josh told me he hates gardening and that it is boring! I left him to it and did some more laundry. I grabbed the cleaning bucket and I scrubbed our bathroom in our studio (I don’t think the volunteers before us gave it much thought) and Josh cleaned our kitchen up. I sat outside in the sun catching up on the diary and Josh in the room reading his book. Peter and family and all the guests are out so it is very peaceful here!