© irene waters 2018
© irene waters 2018
© irene waters 2018
© irene waters 2018
© irene waters 2018
In response to Weekly photo Challenge
Buy Nightmare in Paradise
Irene Waters Writer Facebook Page
Irene Waters Photography
-
-
Recent Posts
- Washroom Stories: Times Past June 5, 2019
- Dawn light: Silent Sunday June 2, 2019
- From blooms to survival: Delicate: Lens-Artists Challenge May 19, 2019
- Raindrops: Wordless Wednesday May 15, 2019
- In Brisbane and Sydney: Street Art: Lens-Artists Challenge number 45 May 12, 2019
Recent Comments
Archives
Categories
- 5 photos 5 days
- A Lingering Look at Windows
- A Word A Week photo challenge
- A-Z challenge
- Australia
- Awards
- Book reviews
- Carrot Ranch
- Cee's Black and white Challenge
- Cee's Fun Foto Challenge
- Cee's Odd Ball Challenge
- Cee's Which Way challenge
- creative writing
- cruising
- daily events
- Daily Post prompt and challenges
- Dogs
- Eses Weekly Shoot and Quote Challenge
- family
- fiction
- flash fiction
- Floral Friday
- Friday Fictioneers
- Guest posts
- haiku
- Historical Perspective
- irenewaters
- LILO
- Look up Look Down
- Macro Monday
- MBPOTW
- Memoir
- Memoir Monday
- memoir writing
- migration
- musings
- Nightmare in Paradise
- Noosa
- opinion
- Past Challenge
- pets
- Phoneography Challenge
- photo challenges
- photography
- poetry
- road to being published
- Shadows
- Silent Sunday
- Skywatch Friday
- story telling
- Sunday stills: The Next Challenge
- technology
- Three Things Thursday
- Thursday's Special
- Times Past
- travel
- Travel Theme
- Trog and other Animals
- Uncategorized
- Weekend Coffee Share
- weekend funny challenge
- Weekend photo challenge
- Weekly Discover Challenge
- Weekly photo challenge
- weekly smile
- Wordless Wednesday
- Writing
- Writing Challenges
- Zach
Blog Stats
- 120,034 hits
Pages
Irene Waters
Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist
I began my working career as a reluctant potato peeler whilst waiting to commence my training as a student nurse. On completion I worked mainly in intensive care/coronary care; finishing my hospital career as clinical nurse educator in intensive care. A life changing period as a resort owner/manager on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu was followed by recovery time as a farmer at Bucca Wauka. Having discovered I was no farmer and vowing never again to own an animal bigger than myself I took on the Barrington General Store. Here we also ran a five star restaurant. Working the shop of a day 7am - 6pm followed by the restaurant until late was surprisingly more stressful than Tanna. On the sale we decided to retire and renovate our house with the help of a builder friend. Now believing we knew everything about building we set to constructing our own house. Just finished a coal mine decided to set up in our backyard. Definitely time to retire we moved to Queensland. I had been writing a manuscript for some time. In the desire to complete this I enrolled in a post grad certificate in creative Industries which I completed 2013. I followed this by doing a Master of Arts by research graduating in 2017. Now I live to write and write to live.
Blogging Challenges Available
Monthly early each month Times Past
Every Weekend Weekend Coffee Share
Sunday: Sunday Stills
Meta
Blogs I Follow
In India it was a real curse if they spat the betel nut onto your feet/clothes, impossible to wash out! It gets them high …
LikeLiked by 1 person
Every culture has its drug of choice. I’m glad betel nut is not ours. Yes we saw red pools of spit everywhere. Luckily none landed on us.
LikeLiked by 1 person
yes here it’s pharma abuse … doctors are happy to write scripts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes that is true but I think it is alcohol that is our societies biggest problem.
LikeLiked by 1 person
pharma is very close behind now!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sad that we can’t enjoy life without being out of it. Seems self defeating.
LikeLiked by 1 person
guess for some it’s accidental while others definitely pursue it … never been for me!
LikeLiked by 1 person
For some life is so bad it is a way out of it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: WPC: A Story in Pictures | Lillie-Put
Fabulous photo essay, and I didn’t know about betel nuts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is a drug of course that acts like coffee whilst giving a sense of euphoria. They chew it with slaked lime (crushed coral or builders lime) mixed with a bit of lime juice to make it palatable. It has a horrendous effect on their gums and teeth although some of the girls like the redness it gives their lips.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yikes! Kind of like meth and how it destroys users’ teeth.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh gosh. I didn’t know meth did that to teeth. Just looked at a picture – ghastly. The same without the red staining.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Meth is tragic. Kate’s SIL is a police detective in Montana where Meth became a huge problem. Gangs from Los Angelos would drive up to these small communities and get people hooked. He worked on a Meth task force and said the first time it was the biggest high ever. The rest of the addiction was trying to get that high again but never achieving it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So sad a life for them and their families. No easy solution sadly. I think we have the same problem here that ice (I think that is meth) is becoming the drug of choice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is a revealing photos essay. Does the betel nut rot their teeth? Or is that coincidental?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Direct result Sharon. They cut the betel nut into thin strips and roll it in a betel leaf with slaked lime (crushed coral or if you can afford it builders lime). That is the white bags of powder. They also add lime juice but I think that is just to flavour it. It is of course a drug which gives euphoria and all the symptoms of high caffeine intake such as alertness, high blood pressure etc. The concoction discolours the teeth (it gives women red lips which is seen as desirable ) and the lime of course leads to mouth ulcers and gum disease. It is addictive and hard to stop doing once started. You can always pick a betel nut user from their mouth.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a high cost for addiction.
LikeLiked by 1 person
True.
LikeLike
Pingback: Story of “Hope” – What's (in) the picture?
Old folks back home use it like chewing tobacco. Young folks use it for facial colorings such as temporary tattoo or henna.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for adding your experiences. Where do you come from? I have to admit I didn’t know anywhere other than New Guinea used it but I have learnt that it is also used in India.
LikeLike
Philippines. We tried chewing them when we were kids. Yuk. They are better as food colouring.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL. You probably did your teeth and gums a favour by finding them yuk.
LikeLike
Laughing, they were used for medicinal purposes, not to get high.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL. Another use I hadn’t realised it was used for.
LikeLike
Sample recipe we call it asuete
http://www.filipinofoodrecipes.org/pork-adobo-asuete-recipe
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for that. I’ve never heard of it being used in recipes before.
LikeLike
Try using the recipe. It’s a common famous meal. You can use chicken instead of pork.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I don’t know if I can get the ingredients but I’ll have a look.
LikeLiked by 1 person
An interesting set of photographs, Irene. It is quite an eye opener to see these sorts of photographs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Couldn’t agree with you more Robbie.
LikeLiked by 1 person