Going back to site after my super long vacation was easier than I thought. It felt like I was going home in a way, because it’s where my life is (stuff, friends, job…). I don’t have too much to share, but I’ll give a short update.

I am no longer teaching this year, so I’ve been able to spend all my time training teachers. This has given me more freedom to travel around my island and to other islands to work at other schools. It’s made the last few months fly by. I enjoy the change. I think I would be unhappy doing the same thing as last year.

For those of you who are curious as to how I feel this year compared to last year, the change is phenomenal. My first year was really difficult, although it was easy to write in letters and e-mails that I was having a great time and because I’m optimistic I always put a positive spin on everything. It literally took me a full year to adjust and I’m still adjusting, it never ends. I thought two years was long, but now I’m realizing it’s probably not enough time. The first year no one knew anything about me and I was apprehensive in sharing certain things. I didn’t know how to balance being myself and the responsible volunteer that everyone expected me to be. Everyone was always watching me and I felt a bit suffocated. This year has been a little different. I’ve let my guard down and no long care too much whether I’m doing the right thing or not. I’ve started sharing dance with my students and people in the community. I started a hip-hop class at school and a country line dancing club with some girls in the community. Hip-hop and country line dancing are not exactly my specialty, but I make it up as I go along.

This past week I visited some friends on the island of Pentecost. South Pentecost is known for their land diving and custom villages. I was able to see both. Land diving is a custom done during the months of yam harvesting. A man in a namba and with vines tied around his ankles jumps head first off a rickety tower into a pile of dirt. It was cool and I think can be seen on the travel channel if anyone is interested. I also visited Bunlap, a custom village where the women still wear grass skirts and the men wear nambas (leaves or a small mat wrapped around their…). There is a show called Tribal Life on the travel channel that is filmed in Bunlap if anyone is interested in seeing it.

This week I’m in Vila for our annual all volunteer conference. It’s at Iriki resort again. Swimming, hot tubs, hot showers, comfortable bed, and the best part a washer and dryer!

I'm on my way to see Tanna Island. There is a very active volcano there (supposedly with lava shooting out) and as long they agree it's safe to go up I'm going to go see it.

It’s weird to be in my last 6 months of service and thinking about what my next step in life will be. I have lots of options (grad school, getting a job, traveling, extending another year…) but just choosing the best one is on my mind constantly. Hopefully something will push me a direction. We’ll see.

Hope all is well. I miss everyone and look forward to hearing from you!

Sadly, I’m at the end of my vacation but I’m looking forward to getting back to the island. New Zealand was more beautiful than I ever imagined. With the help of my high school friend Matt Bruno, I was able to see the whole South Island in two weeks. Matt has been working on a dairy farm outside Oamaru for the past 9 months, so he was a great tour guide. I also traveled with two other girls from Peace Corps Vanuatu (Teresa and Amy). I commend Matt for his efforts of putting up with three girls for two weeks; luckily he brought a book and has the patience of a saint.

I’ll just give a quick list of what we saw.

We began in Christchurch and then took a detour to see Mt. Cook and Lake Tekapo, both spectacular. We stayed on Matt’s farm in Georgetown for a night, which was very peaceful. Then we drove down and stayed in Dunedin for a night, my favorite sight there was the train station, oh and we also climbed the world’s steepest street, not too impossible.We drove out to Te Anau and took a boat out through Milford Sounds and by good fortune saw a pod of dolphins as well as sea lions. We also took a tour of the glow worm caves, which we’re okay. They just look like a bunch of tiny stars, not too exciting.

We then drove out to Queenstown, which was my one of my favorite towns. Tons of tourists, but it was the town with the most things to do and the only town with decent night life. I conquered my deathly fear of heights by jumping off a cliff attached to a parachute otherwise known as paragliding. The scariest part was running of the cliff. All I could think of as I was running was, “what if I end up tripping?” For all of you who know me, you know that unless I’m dancing, I’m one of the clumsiest people ever. I just kept envisioning myself tripping, the guide running/tripping over me and then getting dragged down the cliff on my face. Luckily, none of this happened. It was a smooth flying experience and lasted about 10 minutes. After Queenstown, we drove up to the glaciers. We were running out of money so we didn’t take the glacier walk, but we were able to get some nice photos. We then drove up along the west coast, which was interesting because of how topographically different it was from the east; much more rainy and greener. We stayed in Nelson for a couple nights which was my other favorite town, very artsy! We took an afternoon and toured seven wineries and were feeling pretty good after the seventh and had acquired several bottles of wine in the process. We then made our way down to Kaikora and saw several seal lions colonies and finally finished again in Christchurch. We caught the beginning of the Busker’s festival, a festival with all sorts of wacky street performances.

It was a fabulous vacation. It was a very safe and easy place to travel in, ideal for backpackers and hitchhikers. I wish I could do it all over again...someday.

It was nice to see everyone while I was home. Keep writing me and giving me updates about what’s going on at home. I’ll do my best to keep everyone updated as well. I’ll be going back to Gaua in about a week. Unfortunately, last week Gaua was slightly scarred be a cyclone. Many of their gardens, houses and some buildings as the school were damaged. Fortunately, no one was injured and hopefully we won’t get anymore, but we still have several more months of cyclone season so we’ll see.

Thank you for everyone who has been sending me letters and packages. I just started a wish list on Amazon so people have a good idea of what I like to read.

I’m in Vila for a week break. Island life is good as usual, simple and not too much has happened. Last month a couple people from my group came to visit me. I think they enjoyed it, but they decided that Gaua is ideal if you enjoy hiking through the bush all day in the rain, sleeping in a puddle, then hiking the whole next day to the waterfall which was so strong because of the recent rain that Blake’s dog (the other volunteer) got swept away and was found days later dead. So yea, unfortunately, the weather wasn’t cooperating so I’m not sure how great of a time they had. Afterwards we traveled to Mota Lava for a relaxing week. Mota Lava is a small island north of me and has one other volunteer from my group. Mota Lava is probably what you might picture when you think of me living on an island in the South Pacific. It has long white sand beaches, beautiful palm trees and reefs, and I ate lots of delicious seafood all week. We were also fortunate to visit the Reef Islands. They are I think about 5 or 6 small islands which are uninhabited. It was the most beautiful beach I’ve ever been to in my entire life. No exaggeration in the least. The sand was so soft, we caught enough fish to eat for 2 days in 10 minutes, and the water that divine blue, green color that you might see on the web shots desk top photos. So I don’t live in a tropical paradise all the time, but I’m not too far from it if I need a small break.

School is going well. We are in our third and last term. I’ve given several workshops for the teachers and am still teaching class 5/6 English. The most rewarding part is the significant progress I’ve seen in my students. They have become such proficient readers and writers compared to the beginning of the year. They are no longer afraid to participate, although they still hide under their desks if they say a wrong answer.

My community projects are not really moving at the moment which has been a bit frustrating. I helped to starts a Women’s Club in my community, but they haven’t found the time to meet lately. I also have been trying to assist my community in starting a Kindy and that is also not really going anyplace. We have a committee now and have had several meetings and created a work plan which is a great start. But no progress has been made since. Little effort has been made as far as acting out the work plan. This has been a bit frustrating, but at the same time I know that I can only do so much and the rest is in their hands. So hopefully it will be a success and if not, I know that I did as much as I could to assist them, so either way it’s ok.

The Gaua Annual Art Festival was in mid September and was awesome. It was three days of custom dancing, singing, dressing and water music (which is a native custom to Gaua). I have several videos of each and can’t wait to show them to everyone at Christmas time.

After a year of working at it, I finally have a decent garden. Lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, spring onion, basil, island cabbage, corn and snake beans. It’s a start and I’ve been able to finally give my host family some food instead of them always giving me food. It also feels nice to know I don’t have to depend on them so much for everything, making me feel a tad more independent in that sense.

I just wanted to update my wish list…

Instant pudding mix(the kind where you just add milk and stir)

Marshmallows

Chocolate as always

Anything instant that just needs milk or water

CD’s (I’m not picky, just whatever you can burn off your computer)

Card Stock (different colors)

Construction paper

Pencils/pens

Granola

Dried fruit

Almonds

A sturdy garlic press

Index cards

Notice that most of the stuff is food, I think grocery shopping in Wegmans will be one of the most exciting things about going home.

I’ll be coming home in mid December around the 15th and staying a little over two weeks. Then I’ll be traveling around New Zealand with another Peace Corps friend for a couple weeks then back to Vanuatu.

My sister just left this past weekend and I was sad to see her go. She had a real “bush” experience on Gaua for a week and a half and finished it off with an amazing island massage in Port Vila. Her impressions of my life were funny and I haven’t laughed so hard since I was home last year. She was mortified by my idea of hygiene. I guess the pit toilet and the fact that I bathe, do my dishes and laundry in or using the salt water, and a zillion people using the same glass over and over to drink juice because there is only one was a bit disturbing to her. She also was terrified of the monster spiders, irritated by the flies and mosquitoes, and was ready to not be woken up by crowing roosters, grunting pigs, and screaming kids by the time she left. Sounds like she had a rough experience, but I think she enjoyed it once she adjusted. She came to school with me everyday and absolutely loved watching my student’s bashful personalities. My village welcomed her with a large feast featuring fresh fish, 2 kinds of lap lap, boiled kumala and yams, and chicken soup (she got to witness the chicken being hunted, killed, and prepared). They “laid” her with beautiful flowers and serenaded her with a few church songs. She tried and enjoyed most of the custom food, although I think the portion sizes were a bit too much for her. I’m used to the portion sizes now, but I guess that must be why everyone calls me “fat-fat” at least once a day. She thought that was hilarious where as I am incredibly embarrassed by their “compliments.” We went on a two day bush hike. Unfortunately the first day it rained the entire day. But on the upside we both got to hike a volcano for the first time. The volcano on Gaua has 6 holes, but only one is active. We practically fell over coughing from all the smoke as we were trying to look into the live hole. Day two we spent hiking to the gorgeous waterfall (not justified by any of her photos). I think that by the end she had adjusted fairly well and enjoyed the experience. Her favorite part was how generous and kind Ni-Vanuatu people are. She felt a bit like a celebrity, because people kept coming up to her and shaking her hand and giving her food. She enjoyed all the attention. I wish she could have stayed, but it looks like I’m coming home for Christmas, so I won’t have to wait too long to see her again. I miss you all and hope all is well. Looking forward to seeing many of you around Christmas.

Hi everyone! I am at the end of my small vacation, we have a two week break between every term for school. Peace Corps sent all the volunteers for Port Vila for an All Volunteer conference. It was held at Iriki Resort, which is the most beautiful resort I’ve ever stayed at. We all had Jacuzzis on our porches, an amazing view and rooms with everything we’ve been missing from the states. I was very spoiled for 4 days, but it was much needed after living on a remote island for so long.

After the conference I hiked up the highest mountain in Vanuatu, Mount Tabwemesana. It’s 6,150 ft. It was the most physically challenging thing I’ve ever done. It was a 3 day hike through the bush. The first day we hiked 4 hours over a creek bed and then another 4 hours up hill. I used every muscle in my body to climb. That evening we camped out at a base camp. The next morning we hiked another 4 hours up hill, my body is slowly deteriorating at this point. We had to hike through white grass which if you touch it the wrong way gives you paper cuts, so I now look like I got in a fight with a cat. We spent the night at the next base camp because the summit was too cloudy. The last day we hiked a total of 14 hours. We hiked up summit, but it was still cloudy so we didn’t see much when we got to the top. Then we hiked all the way back down to the village. It was the first time in history that anyone has ever hiked up summit and all the way back down to the village in one day. I spent half of the descent on my butt (kinda like when I ski). The last 3 hours of our hike was over the creek bed in the pitch black dark. Luckily we all had small flashlights. It never felt so good to be finished with something, although I’m proud I did it.

The past month at site was good. I held my first workshop. It was planned and carried out my headmistress and I. It was a 3 day workshop and covered all the basics in teaching, lesson planning, assessment, classroom management, ideas for games and activities, and shared and guided reading strategies. 12 teachers from the 4 different Anglophone schools came. It was very successful and raised my confidence about my abilities and skills as a teacher.

Next term I’ll be teaching class 5/6 English again and team teaching with the Class 2 teacher in his English class. My goal is to hold workshops more frequently for the teachers at my school.

My little sister, April is visiting in mid-July, I can’t wait!! But that will be the next time I’ll have computer access again.

Oh yes…I have now have a Satellite phone at site given to me by Peace Corps. I can’t really use except to call Peace Corps, but I can receive text messages.

You can send a 160 character message – spaces count – through e-mail at

00881621455543@msg.iridium.com

So please send me messages! Just know that I can’t message you back.

Miss you all!

After my first four months of being on the island of Gaua I’m not exactly sure where to start. I’d like to thank everyone for all the letters and packages, especially in the beginning when I was still getting used to my environment. Your thoughts and support were much appreciated, especially on those days I was feeling frustrated or just bored out of my mind.

Now that I have been on Gaua for four months, I have integrated well into my community and my school. For the first two months I lived with my host family and shared a room with my two sisters (ages 15 and 20). I waited patiently for my hut to be built, but nothing was done for the first two months. (My hut, local kitchen, toilet and swim house were supposed to be finished before I came). At the end of the 2nd month I began to strongly feel the need for space and independence. Peace Corps also began asking questions as to why nothing was finished yet. After a frustrating week of figuring out details, they decided to change the location of where my house was going to be built. It was originally supposed to be built next to my family’s house, which is outside of the village. But they changed to location to be directly in the village of Aver. So I have been staying in a guest house for the months of February and March waiting again patiently for my house to be finished. It looks like when I get back to Gaua (on April 9th) I will be officially moving in to my house (keeping my fingers crossed). But it’s really cute!

The school I am working at, Losalava Primary School is currently on midterm break, that’s why I had the opportunity for a little vacation. School was supposed to begin on January 29th, but to no ones surprise on January 29th only two of the seven teachers were on the island. So about a week and a half later school finally started, but only classes 1, 7 and 8. The rest started a couple weeks later due to lack of classroom space and teachers waiting for approval to teach. We still currently don’t have enough desks and chairs. Classes 2 and 3 have to sit on the floor. The first week of school I taught class 1, which was a very frustrating experience because on Gaua they speak local language as well as Bislama, but the younger kids are used to their local dialect. As I am trying to give them directions in Bislama with my improper accent, they had no idea what I was saying. After a week of that, I taught class 5/6. Then I taught class 3 and class 4 English the week after that. Finally, I got to settle down for the past month and I have been teaching class 5/6 English and as well as teaching with/training the class 3 and class 4 teachers, who don’t have any formal training. I really enjoy teaching in Vanuatu. Although my class 5/6 is a bit bigger than I would like (40 students), I enjoy the freedom of teaching the way I want to teach without administration breathing down my back. The students also have so much more respect for the teachers, making my job easier!

I am working on starting a Kindy (kindergarten) in my community. The school starts at class 1, so some communities form Kindy’s as a type of pre-school program. There are about 20 pikkini’s that would be eligible for it between my community and the neighboring one. I’ve found 3 teachers and am now working on finding a building for it and getting the teachers to the training sessions. I have a feeling this project will happen on island time though.

Other than that, I feel like home in my community. I am learning the local language, which is very difficult because it’s an oral language and has never been recorded and many of the sounds my mouth just refuses to make. I am also taking some classes in French from a French teacher at my school. Hopefully when I return I’ll be able to speak close to 4 languages…we’ll see though. I’ve adjusted to island time, am learning a great deal about myself, and finally truly appreciate the slow pace of life because it gives me time to process all my thoughts and feelings, which is something I never found I could do in the States.

Interesting foods I’ve tried…

Eel, all sorts of nuts and exotic fruits, pigeon (they call all birds here pigeons), our pet pig, and the most delicious lobster I’ve ever eaten (beats the lobster at the lobster fest). I’ve finally acquired a taste for lap lap and actually enjoy eating it.

Fun Stories…

My walk to school is a 25 minute hike uphill…reminiscent of the Geneseo days except with a bit more bush involved. On my first day of school it rained so hard, even under the protection of my umbrella I was completely soaked when I arrived to school. Luckily, my headmistress had some extra clothes for me to change into. Then this past week, I was walking to school and part of the walk requires crossing over a small stream on a log, which two boys decided to cut last week. Anyways, as a result of heavy rain, this small stream became a gushing river and not knowing there was alternate route I pulled up my island dress above my thighs (totally taboo, but luckily no one was watching) and with a bit of a struggle because of the strong current, I trudged across praying I wouldn’t fall down. (Luckily I didn’t fall, but I think it would have made the story funnier if I had).

When I cook sometimes I feel like I am on stage. Normally it starts out with one or two pikkini’s/Mama’s watching me and by the time I’m finished it’s a whole crowd.

Although my island is very remote and isolated, there are actually quite a few tv’s/dvd’s people run off generators. I generally refuse to watch them, because the idea of being on a remote island and watching tv is just unsettling to me.

I’ve been living in the guest house for the past couple months in my village and one day I came home to find that I’d be sharing it with 2 guests that were going to stay for a couple days and ended up staying for a week and a half. I guess that’s why a requirement of Peace Corps is to be flexible…luckily they were very nice.

I’ve hiked up 3 times to the lake on my island and have seen the volcano from the base of it. I also hiked one time to the waterfall which is the most beautiful waterfall I have ever seen, although the next two days I couldn’t walk because my ankle was so swollen from the hike.

As some of you may have heard I have or now should I say had a cat – Aranis. My community keeps saying a man killed him, but I’m just going to stick with the story that he got a little lost in the bush…hopefully I can find a new one when I get back.

I spent the past 4 months without music, except of course the church music. First my ipod charger broke then when Dad sent me a new one my ipod got Alzheimer’s and lost all the memory.

Well that about sums it up. One thing people have asked me about it what they can send, Now that I’m on my island I have a better idea of things I need or actually I have everything I need, I guess these are my wants….

Things for the School -

Easy children’s books (level K-3), brightly colored paper (computer paper or construction), pencils, pens, tape, markers, stickers, folders, notebooks, staplers, laminating materials, index cards, glue, crayons, colored pencils.

Things for the community –

Led lights, playing cards, Band-Aids

Things for myself –

Any snacks (pretzels, chocolate, trail mix, granola/bars, twizzlers, almonds, fruit snacks, anything delicious and easy to send), packets of flavored oatmeal, those “on the go” packets of crystal light or green/ice tea, chai, a long lighter, Tupperware, matches, books to read, Easy Mac, simple earrings, spices, Ziploc bags, smelly candles, a quick dry towel (micro fiber), gum, an umbrella that has a fold up handle, and whatever else you think that I may want :)

Address – Valerie Selden, Peace Corps Volunteer, PMB 9097, Port Vila, Vanuatu, Republic of the South Pacific

Love and miss you all!

Halo! I am now an official volunteer as of November 30th. I signed an oath promising to dedicate my next two years of my life to Peace Corps. I am excited to go off on my own but I am feeling a little apprehension. Since I arrived in L.A. I have been surrounded by a group of other volunteers. On top of that the past two months of my life has been planned out and controlled. Now it is time to act as an individual and the experience will be what I make of it. It’s a lot of pressure, but I am utimately feeling excited and ready to move on and start working projects in my community.

My last few weeks in Lelapa were bitter sweet. I had some disappointing expeeriences with my family which were the result of my Mama being sick and not being able to be around. I’d rather not discuss the details, but to sum it up I learned that no matter where you ho money is what motivates the majority of the world and as much as it can helps it can also create serious problems. At the end, I was ready to leave. But it was sad, because Lelapa has been my home for the past 2 months. Everyone knew my name, it was safe to walk around along, I was surronded by my friends making it a very confortable environment. It’s always hard to change when something is comfortable. Lelapa was also just beautiful. I could hear the ocean waves from inside my hut. Looking at the night ski was equivilant to the site you would see at a planetarium. Everything on the island was close and easily accessible.

Some highlights of the last couple weeks…

- The Wedding! It was fun to watch it all unfold. The Mamas spent days preparing the food and decorating. In Vanutatu the man traditionall “buys” the woman. His family makes hundreds of mats out of pandanas leaves, dresses, kills pigs and bullock, and purchases assorted foods and small gifts to give to her family. The morning of the weddiing there was a huge parade in which the man’s family bring all the gifts over to the woman’s family. Lots of prayers and speeches were given. The actual ceremony was done in the church and was very similar to one in the states. Afterwards there was lots of food and dancing. One fun tradition is they sprinkle baby powder on everyone as a celebration. It was a great idea because it everyone was so sweaty cause of the hot climate.

- The day after the wedding we visited Hat Aelan. An island that is about a 40 minute boat ride away from Lelapa. The island holds a great deal of historical signifigance. About 400 years ago Chief Roi Mata created peace among all the villages surronding Efate. He became famous for this and was buried on Hat Island with 50 other villagers who sacrificed their lives in his honor. Aside from learning all of the historical stuff – I also learned how to gut and cook a fish over an open fire. After you get over how gross it is, I felt it was a really empowering experience. It helped me to feel prepared to live off the natural resources of the island instead of relying on stores.

- Thanksgiving here was actually one of my most memorable thanksgivings I have ever expereinced. Each of the volunteers made a typical thanksgiving dish and then our families brought aelan kakae (food). I felt like it was what thanksgiving was all about – sharing your customs and culture with others. It was awesome and our families were excited take part in the feast. They loved trying all the new foods! I made chocolate peanut butter bars ( not really thanksgivingish but they were delicious) I thought of Shelley when I made them..miss you!

- The last 2 weeks of training was slow. It was a lot of waiting around and hanging out with a couple of educational sessions in between. It was nice to be able to relax at first, but near the end it got to be very frusterating. I get a lot of my happieness and fulfillment out of life in feeling productive. So the last 2 weeks, I began to get become unhappy and just frusterated with myself. I think I started experiencing a little bit of island fever (you were right dad). I can’t even imagine how I am going to feel when I am on Gaua and not leaving for spans of 3 months. I have been spoiled during training because we have been brought into Port Vila once a week, which is a more westernized environment.

- The night before swearing in the Mamas stayed up all night preparing a feast for us. It was flattering and delicious. We were all given matching purple island dresses, which we ended up taking for a swim because it was so hot. We spent all night dancing aelan style to the music of Lelapas string band with the Mama’s and pikkininis. The next morning for out departure the entire village lines up on the beach. We shook hands and said good bye to every villager. There were lots of tears. In Vanuatu, where they have a vistor for 1 week or 2 months, they always have a big good bye and cry as a sign of respect. Very emotional!

Sorry this has become so lengthy! It’s been a while and will be a while till I am able to update again. I have no access to computers at my sire it Gaua. Letters and phone calls will be the two best ways of communication. If anyone would like to call me while I am on my island, just mail me a letter of good times to call. I will call you first and then I would appreciate if you could call me back. You can purchase a cheap phone card at speedypin.com. The phone is located at the airport which is a 20 minute walk away. I am hoping to get to it once a week or once every two weeks. Otherwise, send letters directly to my site or packages to the Peace Corps address (the one I gave you on the contact sheet). I will do my best with writing back in a timely manner. I love you all and thank you once again for your support.

Halo! I am currently in my second week of technical training. We have been focusing on a program called the ELU (English Language Unit) which I will be helping to implement in my school. The program was developed by a past Peace Corps teacher trainer as a way to supplement the English curriculum in Vanuatu. ELU is taught at every school for 2 hours and the program that I will be helping to implement just structures the two hours for the teacher. The program is full of ideas for centers, activities, and games that liven up the curriculum and help the teacher to fill the two hours with meaningful materials. My main concerns at my school is just finding materials to read. We have a small library, but many of the books are outdated or at too high of a level. We need lower level primary books. So I am hoping to start some book drives with some organizations back at home. If anyone is interested, please let me know.

The big news in Lelapa this week is the wedding that is on Friday. My uncle is getting married and weddings are a big deal in Vanuatu. The family has been preparing for many months. Making gifts, having meetings, deciding the menu, fundraising….This week has been crazy! Since I am part of the grooms family, I have been able to watch some of the fun first hand. If you have a weak stomach don’t read this part…they are bringing in a couple bullocks and pigs to kakae (eat) at the wedding. Yesterday we watched them drag a dead bullock off a boat and then chop it up into quarters on the beach. Then we ate it later that night while various parts of the bullock were hanging about 15 feet away from us. Definetely an interesting experience. The meat was delicious, but it was a culture shock to watch the process.

I wanted to thank all of you who have sent me letters and packages. I’ve appreciated all of them! Many of you have asked what types of things I need, so I have been making a little list…games – i have a lot of down time and the pikkinis love games so anything like yahtzee or various small card games would be fun. Children’s books, chocolate or fun snack foods, toilet paper (they use custom leaves on my island), hand sanitizer, watercolor paints, teacher resources (any materials that I can use to teach the teachers - we are trying to develop a phonics program, so any phonics materials or worksheets or ideas to teach english to ESL learners would be sooo helpful – I didn’t bring any of my books from college and I wish I had), anything else that you think could fill up my time.

I love you all and hope all is well.

I don’t move to Gaua until the second week in December but I wanted to let you all know…

My new address if your package or letter is under 1 pound is…

Valerie Selden

Peace Corps Volunteer

Aver Village, Gaua Island

Vanuatu

Republic of the South Pacific

The mail getrs sent to my airport which is aout 20 minutes away and will get to me eventually…

If it is more than 1 pound than send it to the peace corps address I already gave you.

I recieved my placement! :) I am going to The Banks, the island of Gaua. It's an awesome placement in the sense that not many Peace Corps volunteers get sent to the Banks, so it's unique. It is very remote and you rarely get to Port Vila because of the cost. I ave to take two planes to get there. I am not sure how much communication I will have there, it depends if there is a computer at my school. From what I have heard Gaua is absolutely gorgeous. There is a volcano located in the center with a lake and a beautiful waterfall. It is about a 3 hour hike from the village I'll be in, Losalava. There is one other volunteer on the island. He is in a village next to mine. So although it's remote - at least I'll have a friend.

My job title was changed. I am now a literacy trainer, but it's pretty much the same as the primary teacher trainer. I'll still be setting up workshops for teachers, but focusing on literacy. So Kelly - any helpful information yo get from your classes that you think I might be able to use let me know.

I leave for wokabout tommorow (Monday) and I'll be back in Vila by next weekend - so I'll update everyone about my new village then.

Other than that, I have still loving it here. Training is becoming somewhat tiring. It's just a lot of information at once and I am anxious to use it.

I experienced some new "only in Vanuatu" moments...

Only in Vanuatu...

...will pikkinis (children) play dodge ball with Jelly Fish

....gossip will be passed through something we like to call the coconut wireless. Let me tell you this wireless system is far faster than phones and it is all fun and games until you are the topic of the gossip..haha

...will pikkinis be walking around with very large bush knives as if they were lolypops

That's all for now..I'll update you next weekend with how my wokabout experience went. Love you all!

Hi everyone! Thank you for all the birthday messages! I had a really nice birthday. The other volunteers made me cards and gave me chocolate and ice cream :) I got to spend my birthday on a beautiful island, I couldn't imagine a better place! This past week has been good! On Saturday we went to Pele island for snorkeling and hiking. The hike to the top of the island was amazing - the view was awesome!

This week has been a little more emotional for me. My host mama is sick and had to go to the hospital, so I am without a Mama for the week. My Auntie and all of the other Mamas have been taking care of me, but I have a close relationship with my Mama here, so I just feel bad that she is sick.

Today was my second visit to Vila North. The classsroom sizes are much bigger than those in America. They average 40 kids to 1 teacher resulting in a very noisey environment. Students here are much different than those in the U.S. They are more meek when it comes to discussion and are very scared of making mistakes. But they are incredibly cute! The teachers that I've met thus far go out of thier way to make us feel welcome. They are so thankful to have us there and very open to advice. At this point in training I am only here to observe, but it's nice to know that when I eventually start teaching workshops they will be open to what I teach. The one major difference in schools is the lack of access to updated resources they have. Once I'm out on the islands - I pretty much am going to have nothing to work with. If I'm lucky I'll have a chalkboard and maybe some books. So any supplies - construction paper, paper, pens, pencils, crayons, markers, tape, staples...would be extremely helpful. But I am going to have to learn to be creative with what I have. Other voluteers told me to save everything, because it will eventually come in handy in the classroom.

I am really becoming accustomed to the culture and lifestyle. I don't mind bucket baths so much, I am getting used to wearing a skirt everywhere I go. Although it is a pain when exercising in the morning. My friends and I walk and do yoga every morning. So I am finely finding routine.

I love and miss everyone dearly, but know that I am safe and having the time of my life.

Hi everyone! Thank you for all the birthday messages! I had a really nice birthday. The other volunteers made me cards and gave me chocolate and ice cream :) I got to spend my birthday on a beautiful island, I couldn't imagine a better place! This past week has been good! On Saturday we went to Pele island for snorkeling and hiking. The hike to the top of the island was amazing - the view was awesome!

This week has been a little more emotional for me. My host mama is sick and had to go to the hospital, so I am without a Mama for the week. My Auntie and all of the other Mamas have been taking care of me, but I have a close relationship with my Mama here, so I just feel bad that she is sick.

Today was my second visit to Vila North. The classsroom sizes are much bigger than those in America. They average 40 kids to 1 teacher resulting in a very noisey environment. Students here are much different than those in the U.S. They are more meek when it comes to discussion and are very scared of making mistakes. But they are incredibly cute! The teachers that I've met thus far go out of thier way to make us feel welcome. They are so thankful to have us there and very open to advice. At this point in training I am only here to observe, but it's nice to know that when I eventually start teaching workshops they will be open to what I teach. The one major difference in schools is the lack of access to updated resources they have. Once I'm out on the islands - I pretty much am going to have nothing to work with. If I'm lucky I'll have a chalkboard and maybe some books. So any supplies - construction paper, paper, pens, pencils, crayons, markers, tape, staples...would be extremely helpful. But I am going to have to learn to be creative with what I have. Other voluteers told me to save everything, because it will eventually come in handy in the classroom.

I am really becoming accustomed to the culture and lifestyle. I don't mind bucket baths so much, I am getting used to wearing a skirt everywhere I go. Although it is a pain when exercising in the morning. My friends and I walk and do yoga every morning. So I am finely finding routine.

I love and miss everyone dearly, but know that I am safe and having the time of my life.

Halo everyone! I am currently living on the island of Lelapa, which has no running water or electricity. Every Wed. we come into Vila to visit one of the primary schools - so lucklily I was able to get get some computer time while I'm here for the day.

In Lelapa, I am staying with a host family. I live in my own bamboo hut that they built for me next to my families house. It is very cute! I have 4 little brothers and an awesome mama and papa. I am starting to get used to bucket baths, my pit latrine, and all the noises that come with living in a hut with bamboo walls.

I am picking up Bislama failry quickly. We have language classes 3/5 days of training. My mama speaks excellent english, so it's tempting to just speak English with her. My little brothers always laugh at my attempt of a Bislama accent. haha, but nonetheless I'm doing pretty good with it.

I really like the island food. Although I do miss dairy, wheat, salads, and chocolate dearly. I eat a lot of rice, reef fish, grapefruit, papaya, and this stuff called lap lap (a very dense bread type of food) - I'm still getting used to it.

The weather is very fickle. One hour it will be sunny and the next it will rain. Luckily this past weekend was gorgeous and I was able to hike to the otherside of the island with some volunteers and a local who gave us a tour. We hiked to the most gorgeous beach I've ever seen in my entire life. We took a tour of Devil's Cave and saw wreakage of a plance crash from WWII.

I am still adjusting to the style of life here. In Vanuatu, people just relax...everyone is on island time. Everyone just sits and storison (chat) with eachother. It's really funny to me, cause we are alwys going going going in the states. I have had so much time to just relax, get to know my family, and I play lots and lots of cards!

Other than that I am having an amazing time. I am learning so much about myself and about the world. Hope things are going well at home! Love to you all!!

Don't forget you can e-mail me at volunteer@vu.peacecorps.gov with the subject as Valerie Selden. They print out the emails while I am in Lelapa and give them to me.

*Only in Vanuatu....

- Will your Mama send you with a coconut for your juice box for lunch :)

Halo -

Today I bought a set of snorkeling gear...the flippers, mask and the snorkel. There is excellent snorkeling in Lelapa - I can't wait. I've been told that sharks don't bother you too much there - so hopefully I'll be fine! I also purchased my first island dress today - a "mother hubbard" It's cute! and a cotton Lava lava. A Ni-Vanuatu woman showed me all the different ways I can tie it - it's so pretty!

We broke up into language groups today for Bislama and began to learn all of the grammar and key phrases. It is so much fun! I practiced it today when I went to the market. I can't wait to become fluent in it.

I am still getting used to island time. Everything takes much longer here. I'm used to busy body New Yorkers. For all of you who know how busy I am normally - you'd be happy to hear that I am becoming much more relaxed. Patience is the number one thing Americans learn in Vanuatu.

Although I have only been gone for about a week. I feel like I've been here for a month. It's crazy how time feels. I am considering buying a guitar here. One of the older volunteers said he'd be willing to teach me. Every plays guitar here - so I am excited to learn. (Dad I may put it on my credit card for a early birthday present) The island guitars are cheaper - I should be able to get one for about 40$.

Oh I forgot the craziest thing I got buy today. A bush knife!! It's huge - at least to me. I look funny holding it. It's about 2 inches long and it's kinda heavy. I am not sure what to use it for. I hear they are the only thing that kills the massive centipedes I will encounter on the outer islands. I have also been warned about the rats, massive spiders (recommended to keep to get rid of the mosquitos), and cockroaches. I am a little anxious.

Oh - and Lelapa is the island survivor was filmed on. So we will see the beach that it was filmed on - pretty cool!

To check out pictures my friend chris has taken some amazing shots of everyone and everything. His link is the the side of this. "group 19B's experience in vanuatu"

Lastly - I wanted to let you know that you can e-mail me when I'm in Lelapa and peace corps will print out the e-mails for me and give them to me during training over the next two months. Just make the subject Valerie Selden

e-mail - volunteer@vu.peacecorps.gov

Tank yu tumas! (Thank you very much)

Lots of love from the islands - Ale tata (bye)

Halo - Olsem wanem?

We had a brief introduction to Bislama today. The local language. It is a very neat language! Once we get to our training site on Lelapa next week we will be doing two hours of training for Bislama everyday. We found out that our host family will only speak Bislama to us, so I'm going to have to learn it pretty quick! I also found out that during training we will have 4 full days of being in schools in the month of October, observing classes and teachers. It will be a great way to figure out what I will be experiencing once I get to my own village. My 6th week of training, I will take a "walkabout" and visit the village I will be serving in for a week. At that point I'll meet my host family and see the actual schools I will be working in. I take my oath of service on November 30th, which will be my promise to commit for two years of service. Then they will send each of us off to a different island. I won't know which island until I take my "walkabout." Once I get to my village in December, the students will be on holiday for the month of dec. and jan. which means I have all that time off to adjust to my village and figure out what sort of secondary projects I'd like to start.

Today I was able to see downtown Port Vila and go to the big market. Really neat to see! The market is open 24 hours every day - except it closes at 12am on Saturdays. Ni-Vanuatu travel from all over to stay and sell thier products then they leave after a couple of days and someone else takes thier spot.

The weather was really rainy when I first got here, but it's been nothing but sunshine and a beautiful breeze the past two days. I love it! :)

So far I havn't tried very much of thier food. I tried LapLap once, which a thick potato like bread and is usually flavored with something. But I have mostly been eating American food...pizza, french fries, milkshakes...shame on me. Tonight I'm going for sushi though. Once I get into Lelapa, no more westernized food, so I am eating it while I still can.

So far our group is still getting along great. I feel like they are my 2nd family. We are all very supportive of eachother which is awesome to me!

Alright - this blog is far longer than I expected it to be. Tata. Lukim yu!

Hello everyone. Today I had a day full of needles...it began with me having to learn how to test myself for malaria, which required me pricking my own finger with a needle and squeeze the blood out onto a slide. It was not my cup of tea. Then I got 5 shots in the afternoon for vaccines. The good news is I'm all done with needles!

We were able to go to the cultural center today and saw some amazing traditional sand drawings and the tour guide played a wonderful song on his wooden flute. The culture and traditions here are fascinating. It is wonderful to be surronded by people who value what they have and do not waste any of it.

Things I'm finally getting used to:

1)All the people who ride around in back of thier trucks. I thought they were going to fall out at first, because the drivers go zooming around the corners. But, so far so good! It's just cool to see because it is illegal in the states.

2)The over population of dogs. They are all over the place, but you just have to pretend you are not scared of them and they will go away.

You should hear more from me tommorow. I am trying to use the internet as much as I can this week. Lots of love from the Pacific!

Hi! I am in Vanuatu right now, Port Vila to be exact. It is wonderful here. We got off the plane feeling like celeberties – many of the volunteers and staff were there to greet us and were cheering when we got off. In the airport, we waited in a long line but we were very entertained by exciting live music and dance. Then when we stepped outside the airport, the other volunteers “layed” us with gorgeous lays made out of real flowers and leaves. They smelled amazing. Then they wrapped lava lavas around us (big skirts) and handed us a coconut to drink the milk out of. We were able to see a tour of Port Vila, which is beautiful, but very different from anything I’ve ever seen in America. I love it here. I tried the potent drink of Kava the first night I was here. There are about 60 Kava bars in Port Vila and they are identified by a light outside of them. Kava was like I pictured cloudy, greenish, and it tastes kinda like grass. It numbs your tongue and lips immediately. I tried a half bowl the first night and a full bowl the second night. I definitely felt it the second. It make you feel very sedated. Kava bars are very mellow and chill. You take your bowl, find a private spot, drink it as fast as you can and then spit. The taste is unforgettable….Then you just sit and chat with people.

Oh - If you send a package, never let it cost over 100$ between postage and the stuff in it. When you write what is in the package and how much it costs…it is ok to fib a little. Religious/educational materials works.

Today I started my first day of training. It was a long day, but we covered a lot. All of the afternoon was spent on medical training - we have a total of 50 hours of medical training. All so you are able to pretty much treat yourself when you go out to your village. It's crazy - I feel like I'm learning soo much!

The rest of the week is all training. Sunday we go to our village Lelapa and I will be there for 3 months for cross cultural and language training. During that time, I won't have any access to phones or computers - only snail mail.

I hope all is well back home. I miss you all!!

Hello all!

I am in NZ right now. The flight over wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I watched 3 decent movies, slept and got to know the other volunteers. We are waiting in Auckland terminal and it's pretty nice here. I definetely am going to take sometime to travel back to NZ. I am a day ahead of everyone back in the US so it's saturday today. On monday we start training and actually get to spend a week in a hotel in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. time is up...

Love you all

Hello everyone!!

I am in LA right now and having the best time. The plane ride over was long and boring, but it was beautiful flying over the Nevada area! I definetely packed wayyy too much. I was 17 pounds over and had to pay a fine on one of my bags. Lucklily I found have an extra bag and found another volunteer who only had one bag to check some of my extra weight so I won't have to pay the fine again when I travel to Vanuatu.

Everyone is sooo nice! There are actually 23 of us, I got the numbers mixed up in my last blog. I wanted to give everyone a quick itinerary for the next few days...

I leave tonight at 11 pm for New Zealand

I'll arrive in NZ at 6:45 am

Then I will leave for Port Vila (capital of Vanuatu) at 12 pm and get there at 2:20.

I am then staying in Port Vila in a hotel for about a week just training.

Training includes information about peace corps goals, how we should act as volunteers, safety and security issues, the list goes on....We saw a video today of Vanuatu. It is beautiful there! I can't wait to get there.

The other volunteers are awesome! Most of them are my age, but I actually think I;m the baby of the group. I'm the only 21 year old. So that's kinda fun ):

It's nice to be around others who share the same feelings as me. I am so excited I made the decision to do the Peace Corps and I can't wait to actually get there!!

Love you all and I will be in contact wiht you when I arrive in Port Vila.

I am all packed and leaving for the airport in 3 hours...looks like I may get about 2 hours of sleep tonight. Everything fit in my 2 big bags and I actually had a little bit of extra room, only because of Erin's help - thank you hun! I am very excited! In LA I will be meeting 21 other people who will be in my group traveling to Vanuatu. Were called group 19B and I'm looking forward to meeting all of them. I will keep you all updated as much as possible!

Here is my contact information...

This address is only valid till December. At that point I will complete my training and move to another village to begin my service. I will give you my new address when I receive my placement.

Valerie Selden/PCV

Peace Corps/Vanuatu

PMB 9097

Port Vila

Republic of Vanuatu

My e-mail address is valerie.selden@gmail.com

Love to all you who have guided me to make this decision...

Be the change you wish to see in the world. – Ghandi

Hello everyone!

I decided to start a blog so everyone is able to view my experience as it is happening, not just the people on my e-mail list.

I will be leaving from Albany Airport on September 20th for L.A. I'll get in L.A around 10:30. My registration starts at 2:00 and I will then have an intense 12 hour orientation to the Peace Corps/Vanuatu over the next day and half. I'll be staying at the Sheridan with other Peace Corps Volunteers going to Vanuatu.

At this point I have 12 days till I leave and I am feeling a little anxious, but mostly very excited.