Back in Alice

Well, leaving behind the dating saga for a bit, i'm back in Central Australia for some more adventures-and a much needed cash injection!
This time I'm heading out to Docker River, a small community of around 300 people a few hundred km's west of Uluru.
I've spent the last few days in Alice Springs, doing some mandatory and pretty useless "training", which as so often in our modern world, consisted of 2 days of lectures about corporate structures, the endless importance of using the correct paperwork, and the odd useful phone number of who to ring when u are trying to organize a plane evac out of the middle of nowhere...
I did learn a bit more about the role and training of Aboriginal health workers...
It's an odd job that was created to bridge the divide between the white medical system and the communities...
Aboriginal health workers basically do nursing work. But their training is aimed specifically at the kind of things needed in remote communities. And supports people with low literacy and numeracy skills, as this is a huge problem outback.
Personally i have found these health workers to be some of the most important people in each clinic, as their local knowledge and position of trust within the communities is invaluable. But not everyone sees it that way it seems, and the funding and support for them from the government is pretty pathetic it seems.
Apart from that, i realized that even though its in the middle of nowhere, there are all the trappings of civilization amongst the resentful indigenous people glaring at the tourists from the lawn patches in the mall...so i had my eyebrows and lashes died and plucked, and found a chinese hairdresser to trim my fringe.
Ive bought food, a pair of hiking boots and a warmer jacket (all on the suffering credit card). Feeling guilty about every dollar. Im still so used to worrying about feeding the family that I'm just not comfortable spending money on myself...but I'm practicing....
Yesterday i had dinner with Robyn, one of the other remote nurses undergoing "induction".
As we were sitting in the cafe chatting, an elderly Aboriginal woman came up to us and tried to sell us a painting. Neither of us wanted it, and we are both also living off our credit cards till next payday which wee tried to explain to her....
She came round the railing of the verandah, and sat down at our table. And said "i'm hungry!"
Well, i got her another plate, and we piled it with half of our food, and poured her a glass of water...and then went on talking....
There was something special about this strange old woman, and it seemed the decent and respectful thing to do.
The cafe owner came out and offered to shoo her away, and her granddaughter came over to check on her, but we reassured both of them that it was fine...
The old lady finished her meal, demanded the rest in a take away container, then smiled, said "thank you!", patted me on the arm and left.
And i felt...as if i'd been honored....
And now I'm slouched on the bed of my 4th floor hotel room, safely ensconced above the black people still sitting on the grass downstairs. Talk about clash of 2 worlds....
Tomorrow i get to fly to Yalara, wave at my beloved Uluru from afar and then drive on to Docker River, leaving white civilization behind at the end of the tarred road...

The photos are taken from the hotel looking down on Todd Mall