When we first settled into our hotel room and quarantine, we weren’t sure how things worked. Soon we learned that if there was a knock at the door, we should grab our masks and  open the door. A masked staff member would stand at a distance and pass on information. 

Sometimes, the staff knocked at the door to let us know that we had a meal in a small styrofoam box on the table at the end of the hallway. So, we would walk down to the table, find the package with our room number and return to the room.  Very soon, the staff did not even stop to talk to us.  The just knocked on the door to let us know that something was on the table for us.

The table on which things are left for us, stands in a doorway to an outside patio area. The table normally blocks the opening to keep people from entering/exiting the corridor. 

When the staff arrive to deliver the food, they often move the table a bit, in order for them to come into the corridor and knock on doors. When they slide the table, its metal legs scrape against the tile floor with a screeching noise. 

It didn’t take us long to learn that when we heard the table moving, shortly afterward, there would be a knock on the door. 

By the end of the first week, we had learned that when we heard the scrape of the table, we should put on our mask and peek down the corridor to see if we were getting a meal. 

It was then that Tim realized we had been trained! Just like Pavlov’s dog – we hear the noise and go looking for food. Wow. It’s scary how easily we were trained!

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Mr. & Mrs. MacGyver in Quarantine

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Mrs. MacGyver Craves a Fruit Smoothie

Background: A fresh tropical fruit smoothie is a wonderful treat in the tropics and Mrs. MacGyver has been craving one!

The Problem: No blender

The Solution:

Our colleagues sent papaya and bananas to us. We peeled and cut up the fruit and placed it in a ziplock bag. Then we placed the bag in the freezer section of our small refrigerator overnight. 

The next day, we thawed the bag a little, smashed the icy fruit and scooped some into a tumbler. We added a little apple juice, stirred it in and we had a yummy fruit smoothie. 

Mr. & Mrs. MacGvyer in Quarantine 

Mrs. MacGvyer makes a Dustpan

Background: Because we are in quarantine and no one can enter our hotel room, we are not getting room service of any kind. 

Problem: Our floor was getting gritty and needed sweeping, but we didn’t have a broom. Several times we requested a broom and finally a broom, mop and bucket were delivered to our door. I was happy to sweep the floor, but alas, no dustpan was included in the delivery.

Solution: Mrs. MacGvyver took an empty cardboard cracker box, made some folds, a couple of cuts (with Tim’s trusty Leatherman) and formed a dustpan. We don’t have any tape (real MacGvyers would travel with duct tape!), but there were a few pieces of masking tape on our wall from posters that must have hung there at one point. The new dustpan works great!

Problem: Our hotel room has 2 very small glasses for drinking.Solution: Take a plastic water bottle from our travels, remove the label and cut off the top. (Thankfully Mr. MacGyver never goes anywhere without his trusty Leatherman tool!) Use an emory board to smooth the edges of the new tumbler, rinse and you are good to go!

Mr. & Mrs. MacGyver Solution #4 

Guacamole – no bowl, no fork, no problem!

Background: At our home here in Honiara, we have an avocado tree which produces huge, wonderful avocados in January and February and we’ve looking forward to enjoying them! In preparation to our return, we brought along packets of guacamole mix and our colleagues were able to send down a couple of avocados. 

Problem: We only have plastic forks and no bowl.

Solution:

Place a ziplock bag in a coffee press (to keep it upright). Place slices of avocado in the bag and sprinkle guacamole mix on top. Close the bag and mash the avocado and mix in the seasoning. Open the bag and squeeze out guacamole. Add chips and enjoy!

Mr. & Mrs. MacGyver Solution #3 

Securing a window?

Problem: This window latch was missing the pin to keep it closed.

Solution: Mr. MacGyver put a pen in place of the pin.

Problem: After we wash our clothes by hand, we needed a way to hang them up. Fortunately, we brought a travel clothesline. We took a picture down from the wall and used the nail underneath it for one end of the line. The only other object suitable for the other end was a circuit board – but the line was a little too short to reach that. 

Solution: Mr. MacGyver took out a belt and wrapped that around the circuit board and attached the end of the clothesline to the belt. Now we have a clothesline for drying our wash!