Tate est arrivée!

I guess it's time to start this blog in earnest, given that at least one of us is now in New Caledonia. I'm interested to see how good we'll be at updating. I can't speak for Chris, but given my experience with keeping childhood diaries, I'm not particularly confident. Chris can tell you about the "scrap book" that I started when I was in 5th grade. It has 3 pages, all hyping how great it's going to be (more or less verbatim excerpt : "Welcome to the wild and crazy world of Tate--in this book you'll see all the best memories of my life! But hold on to your seats! It might get crazy!"). Then after page 3 it just stops. But now that i'm in a profession where taking fieldnotes to record my daily experiences is necessary, maybe i'll be better.

Anyhow-- I arrived last Tuesday, after 36 hrs of transit. After getting into Nouméa I discovered my new apartment had no electricity, no refrigerator and no furniture (i only knew about the no furniture part ahead of time). After spending the first night sleeping on a camping mat and eating some bread and (delicious) fromage while sitting on my suitcase with a flashlight in the dark, I woke up and went straight to the conference I was to present at. Long story short, the conference went pretty well (despite the fact that a prominent Australian scholar thought I referred to Australia and NZ as "Anglo-Saxon Satellite States"--instead of SETTLER states). I made a lot of great contacts and got encouraging feedback on my project. Also i now have electricity and a bed. AND a refrigerator. And i am somehow stealing someone else's wireless. And there is a gecko in my closet! And Chris comes in 4 days. I can't complain too much. More to come. For now, here is the view looking out our apartment balcony.

To the left, Hôpital Gaston-Bourret--where my friend from last summer, Naomi, worked as a stagière (she is now a super-fancy Scottish doctor).

To the right, the placid Baie de la Moselle. For those interested in military history, it was filled with US Navy Ships during WWII, when New Caledonia was used as a base for many of the battles of the Coral Sea.

And also, a huge cargo ship that's been parked outside since I arrived. Mysterious. Apparently it's from Marseille.