My last week on Tanna was full of tearful goodbyes and many many presents. Seeing all my friends and family in tears as the airplane took off left me crying my eyes out the whole 35 minutes to Vila. It was bittersweet. Although I will miss my people I feel like I have good closure and am at peace about it all. I'm a little terrified about the next year of my life....

Thanks for following me over the past two years and for all of your kind words and prayers. The past two years have been pretty amazing and I'm glad I was able to share a piece of my Peace Corps service with you. Please keep me and my travel buddy in your thoughts and prayers as we visit NZ, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam before heading back to the U.S.

Ale!

September 29th, 2011

Eline is one of my fifth grade students who comes to read with me every week to work on her reading skills. Today she came to school with her parents, which never happens in this culture. The word quickly spread that she was pregnant. She’s 11 years old. Back in May, she started her first period and then didn’t have another one. Her mom started to get worried and took her to the hospital in town. She is 3 months pregnant and brave enough to still show her face at school. But today was her last day at Lamkail Primary School. This morning the school council had a meeting to decided what to do about the situation. They kicked her out (even though she could have finished the school year off). It’s kastom here that once you start having kids your education is over. Even though the law says that all children are given the right to free education through 6th grade. After discussing what happened with several teachers and clost friends of mine in the community I realized there was nothing I could do. The school council justified their decision by saying that Eline would be a bad influence on the other students and that if she came everyone would want to have babies too….ridiculous. The part about this story that makes me most upset is that Eline and I were just starting to really work together on reading. She was finally putting sounds together in her head. All that’s left to do now is pray that her 11 year old body survives the pregnancy and that this boy is good to her.

September 30, 2011

And the week gets worse. Early this morning I heard two of my teachers talking outside my window. When I heard the name of one of our students and the word hospital I decided to get up and join the gossip. Someone in the village behind the school had told my neighbor this morning that Maureen, a 4th grade student was in town at the prayer house. Some students also said that they saw Maureen headed to town with her aunty and she could barely walk. And then my neighbor started telling the story she heard last night. Maureen had been raped by her father and a 16 year old boy in the community. No one had taken her to the hospital but she was taken to the woman who prays over people. I just about lost my mind. As soon as the headmaster arrived I told him I was going to find her and take her to the hospital. The 4th grade teacher and I jumped on a truck and headed to town. We found her at the prayer house lying on a mat with her aunty. As we began talking to her we discovered that this all started last year. When she was in 3rd grade her father started sexually abusing her and threatened to stab her with a knife if she told anyone. Now her body couldn’t take it anymore and her aunty and grandma called the police and filed a report. Unfortunately her father ran away before the police caught him. Maureen is now completely terrified that he will find her. She was taken to the hospital that day. When I saw how helpless she was and how scared she was to talk about it I started crying. A ten year old abused by her own father and his friend…and other family member just letting it happen for over a year……

September 29, 2011

After postponing it a few times due to deaths in the village, Lamkail Primary School’s first ever spelling bee finally happened! The students spent all term 2 learning how to spell their lists of words. More importantly though they learned that spelling matters and they learned how to study. The morning of the Spelling Bee I was so proud when I saw groups of kids practicing their words with each other. Parents slowly trickled over to the school as classes made last preparations and the stage was flassed out. A generator, sound system, DJ, and a decorator were all hired for this event. The students showed up in their best clothes which for some meant a clean uniform. And before coming on stage they combed their hair and oiled their faces. One class at a time, they took the stage and took turns spelling their words into a microphone. For most students it was their first time holding a microphone. Each class had a trophy for 1st prize and I made bags of goodies for 2nd prize winners. I was also able to give every student who participated a silly band thanks to my lovely nieces. The best part of the whole day was seeing how proud parents and teachers were. Some of the old men in the community really got into it and were on the edge of their seats the whole time. You would have thought they were watching a football match.

•Washing volcano ash off my vegetables (locals call it shitshit blong volcano : )

•The titi pawpaw next door

•Asked my Class 6 girls what time church started and they pointed to the sun and said “When the sun is just over that mango tree church will start”

•The sound of my neighbor walking on the coral back from kava and relieving himself just outside my window

•The roosters at 4 o’clock in the morning

•Nights with a full moon when you don’t need a torch

•The stars and the Milkyway

•My tippy tap to wash hands

•Fresh, organic, homegrown veggies

•Going on a walkabout and not taking snacks because there will be a mango or mandarin tree somewhere

•Besides my fat Uncle Jeffrey, every single Ni Van man, boy, toddler has a 6 pack and huge arm muscles

•The smell of laplap as it comes off the hot stones

•The sound of everyone scratching coconuts as the sun goes down

•Parakeets

•People taking plants and flowers from school, church, or a neighbor’s yard as a “memory” to go and plant in their own yard

•Ni-Vans shower before bed and before going to school/work in the morning

•Male-domination!

•Women, girls, men, and boys picking out each other’s lice constantly kind of like animals grooming each other all day

I woke up in the middle of the night last night because my eyes were on fire. Turns out I forgot to take my contacts out. I woke up and my eyes were basically sealed shut and red as the devil. The next morning I was talking to my neighbor and she told me she had a quick Kastom medicine that would clear my eyes right up. Then she grabbed her boob and said she just needed to squeeze some of her breast milk into my eyes and the red would go away instantly. All I could do was burst out laughing. She said people do it all the time to get rid of pink eye. I didn’t take her up on the offer.

After stuffing myself with yam chips for lunch I decided to start my running back up. Now that the sore on my foot is healed I have no excuse. I set off with Gertrude, my 6 year old neighbor who has been begging me to go “tren” with her (she got some fancy running shoes from some kid who outgrew them). We were quite the spectacle as you can imagine. She made it 2.5 miles with only one small break! When we got to the beach in front of our school, she stopped and started pointing out to the reef. At first all I could make out were the waves crashing on the reef. But as soon as the waves calmed a bit I saw a fin sticking out of the water. A shark was looking for something to eat just off the reef at high tide. We both got so excited we ran home really fast to tell everyone. Personally I was more terrified than excited because the shark was in one of the pools of water that the kids and I frequently swim in. It was pretty awesome though. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a shark that wasn’t in a zoo or aquarium. And if I hadn’t been running with Gertrude I would have never noticed it.

After our exciting news was shared we played a round of kickball with the other teachers’ kids and then washed off in the shallowest (and shark free) part of the ocean. I think I finally understand why the locals swim in the sea even when it’s cold…because after having swam in the ocean the ground water to rinse with is extremely warm. No need to boil water. And just as I was settling down to read my neighbors brought me a plate of taro and chicken. Then my little friend Lina brought me three custard apples. What a great day.

Kastom Danis

Men talking in the Nakamal

Taro Garden

Sunset

Mama making simboro

Mama scratching coconut

Another Sunset

Girl Time

Charline, Gertrude, and my Namesake!

Dad and I set out on an adventure today to find this waterfall someone had told us about. After the second bus driver turned us down, we decided to catch a ride outside of town and then jump on another bus. After about ten minutes an empty bus pulled up and asked where we were going. The bus driver was a friendly guy who wanted to know where we were from and all the usual stuff. He admitted he had never been to the waterfall and wasn’t quite sure where it was once we’d been riding along about fifteen minutes. We saw some guys on the road and a man in a truck and the bus driver asked nicely if we minded if he asked them for directions…of course we said okay. The local guy said to ask the white man in the truck because he was the owner of the land. He said we were indeed going the right way and then said “yea hope you don’t get lost…” This was a bit discouraging since we had no idea where we were going. The bus driver stopped at the gate and just after I paid him asked if dad and I would come to the window. He then proceeded to pray for us and our journey to the waterfall and asked God to keep us safe. Now at this point dad and I are a little bit worried. Not only was there a cemetery next to the dirt road but the bus driver felt like he needed to pray for us. Dad and I set out a little unsure of ourselves…after about an hour walk though we found the waterfall. We snapped some pics, had a snack and managed to make it back to the dirt road before sun down. A truck driver who was taking some kids home from school dropped us off in town and refused any money. The kids were in French school and seemed impressed when we jumped into their conversation. We got some cold drinks, showered (and the hot water was on!) and shared some vegetable soup before calling it a day.

June 24, 2011

Staff Meetings

Friday we had a two and a half hour staff meeting, probably one of the longest ones so far. Let me paint a picture of what a typical staff meeting looks like around here. The headmaster sits on a stool while the rest of us teachers sit on the floor on mats. A couple of dogs always seem to find their way inside the classroom as well. An opening prayer is said by the headmaster and sometimes a chorus is sung as well. Then we all clap, because in Vanuatu you always clap after a prayer. The headmaster then goes through the agenda as the teachers look totally uninterested . . . one is texting on her phone, another one is popping out her boob to feed her baby, one is coming in and out of the room trying to get the unsupervised students to shut up. The meeting goes on for hours because although no one looks interested, every person in the room will have to comment on everything that is said. When we finally finish up another prayer and closing chorus. Then everyone stands up and we shake hand. Man I love Vanuatu!

June 1, 2011

The Rat Chronicles

So it seems to be rat season (although they never really left)! I haven’t slept in a solid week and wake up most nights to the sound of a rat chewing though my wall or knocking stuff down off my shelves. I decided enough is enough. . . I mean I know I only have 5 more months left but I have sleep. So I made a plan.

Step 1-Put my nasty old T-shirts in every rat hole I can find.

Step 2- Put screens (a cut up mosquito net) on all my windows because yes they can get in even with closed windows.

Step 3- Cover all remaining holes in the walls with screens (double thick)

Step 4- Buy a rat trap

The first night after all of this was uneventful. The rat ate the bait but the trap didn’t budge. The second night I decided to roast some yummy corn for myself and the rat to enjoy. I also put a little rat poison around the trap just for kicks before going to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night to a loud SNAP! I tiptoed around the corner to the trap and what did I see? Well I even took a pic . . . the defeated rat looking half-conscious and stumbling around like a drunk. He wasn’t dead yet but I figured I’d let him die in peace and went back to bed. The next morning I found him barely alive in the corner of the room. The cat from next door got a nice big breakfast.

Unfortunately this isn’t the end of the story. Later on during the day I saw a rat running around the beams in the roof. That night I set the trap again and had to change the bait twice in the night. What did I find the next morning? A hell of a lot of rat poop and no sign of the rat. The next night I set the trap again and emptied the entire box of rat poison on the floor (by now I’m exhausted). I wake up in the night to the sound of plastic bags shuffling. I torch the house up and with my light but see nothing so decide I’m hearing things. After the third time I think I’m either completely paranoid and crazy or blind without my contacts. Turns out I wasn’t crazy at all. The blessed rat had chewed its way through my food safe. I have been here almost two years and nothing has ever gotten in to that food safe. The next morning I patched up the hole with some wire and hoped for the best. The next night the rat found its way in there again and had a big meal of ziplock bags and rice. The next day I emptied my entire food safe into a plastic tub with a solid lid.

I thought I could defeat the rats and diminish their population around here. But I guess rats are incredibly smart. Not only did they spoil my food safe but they have managed to chew through all the holes in the walls again and the screens on the windows. Why do I have to be allergic to cats?

Random Highlights

1. There is a boy in class 5 who is extremely shy and soft-spoken and who never really shows much excitement or enjoyment while reading. He is one of the lowest readers and therefore shy about reading out loud. After we read together the book he took home last week and another easy reader I tell him thank you and to go get the next student. He doesn’t get up immediately but instead opens his empty reading folder and looks up at me with sad questioning eyes. I explained to him that because of the 2 weeks break I am not letting kids take books home (because that’s how we lost so many last year). He finally stands up, clearly disappointed and says “thank you very much” and then leaves. I had no idea this kid even liked reading these books. It’s moments like these that remind me why I’m here.

2. Lina left a custard apple on my window sill one morning.

3. Jeff, another quiet and shy student in class 4 read Sweet Dreams Maisy to me during reading groups. There’s a part in the book where Maisy says twinkle, twinkle little star and Jeff started singing the song. It was adorable.

4. Watching a 3 year old girl breatfeed…there is something seriously wrong with that.

5. I went to see the Canadian doctor up at the hospital to check the status of my ear (I’ve been half deaf for awhile). When I finally reached the top of the hill, drenched in sweat, I was relieved and looking forward to the easy walk down hill. I saw the doctor and was feeling great about my ear healing up and almost back to normal again. I started walking down, watching my step as the dusty road can be slick. I was almost to the bottom when my phone rang which I decided I could handle walking down and talking at the same time. About 2 seconds later, I literally bit the dust with the phone flying in the air. Never thought I would leave the hospital looking worse than when I went in. I was quite a sight walking through town with blood dripping down my leg and foot.

6. Making sangria with some sweet and fresh pineapple!

7. I was walking back from the store and passed a big group of yungfala boys on the sandbeach. They of course yelled the usual obscenities to try and look cool in front of their friends. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing though when I heard what they were jamming out to on their radio…My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion!

8. I was storying with a mama in the next village over when she saw the bandaids on my foot and asked what had happened. I told her the story and removed the bandaid to show her. Her response: “I have never seen a white woman with a sore like that. That is a black man sore.”

Well the two week school break finally arrived in mid-May. The other two lady PCVs and I decided it was time do some women empowerment stuff! We set off Monday with our first two day camp GLOW (Girls as Leaders in Our World). At our first location we recruited 27 girls from 7th to 12th grade and 24 at our second. We talked about gender roles, women’s rights, the body, healthy relationships, reproductive health, and AIDS. And to lighten the mood we played games, tie-dyed shirts and bags, made cheers, shared meals, and watched some movies. The three of us made an unstoppable team! We truly had a fabulous time and the girls were so grateful and showered us with gifts on the last day. At both camps the girls told us that no one ever talks about these things in their culture and explained how thankful they were for our presence and willingness to open up to these “tabu” topics.

Fire Dancing

We decided to celebrate our Easter with a ten mile pilgrimage to a resort here on Tanna. We splurged on some cheese and ham omelets and cold drinks for lunch. We walked back and shared some Easter chocolate sent from home and smol spel and swim before going to pray with a neighboring community. This community has formed its own church because of some unsettled disputes with the other churches around the area. The leaders of this church are all related and include many of the outcast families from around (many single mothers and broken families).

We arrived before the campfire had begun so we busted out some classics on the guitar and entertained the kids for a bit. We ate some delicious roasted corn and yam as the sun set and more people showed up. A woman elder in the church blessed the campfire and welcomed everyone. The community’s chief lit the fire and danced with a fire stick to get the kids excited. The guitars chimed in and we all started dancing, jumping, singing, clapping, and running around the fire. The kids especially loved running around the big bonfire! A few people stood up and sang or shared their testimonies as the kids rested on the mats. And before you had time to really cool down another song was starting and the kids were jumping to their feet. This went on for three hours before we decided it was time to retire and sleep. I don’t ever remember celebrating Jesus in my church back home the way these people did on Easter!

Earth Day and Bake-Off

Lamkail Primary School held their first ever Earth Day celebration last week! Each class presented a song about the earth and a short drama or lesson during our assembly. The students really got into their role playing and talked about the importance of picking up rubbish and not burning plastics and things. It was an extremely educational and fun filled morning. And if that wasn’t enough we then all jumped into an afternoon of baking sweets! The menu consisted of sweet rolls, peanut butter cake, popcorn, gateau (which is like a doughnut), wacky cake, brownies, fresh coconut cake, and chocolate cake. I jumped around from class to class helping with the recipes and teaching the kids about how it is necessary to lick the mixing bowl clean before washing it. Around 2PM the students had created a beautiful spread of backed goods and delicious treats. Each student was given a small sample of every single dessert! This was not only the first time the students had made cakes but also the first time most of them had even tasted such delightful treats! And thank the lord I couldn’t eat any of the flour filled goodies or I would have had a stomach ache. I did go home and make some gluten free scones for dinner which made up for it!

Lamkail’s Little Readers

Happy April Fool’s Day Everyone! My April fool’s joke was that I fell down my longdrop….it really is one of my biggest fears. I’m sure you guys have seen that part in Slumdog Millionaire where the kid is stuck in the longdrop and can’t get out….that just haunts me.

Anyway I just wanted to update everyone on my library progress. I have successfully received 23 boxes of primary level books from my church back home!!! They only took about a month to arrive and the fact that they all made it is a miracle. The best part however is that I managed to get a couple of free rides to my school and didn’t end up paying much on transportation at this end.

Digicel I No Tuf Tumas

Digicel is one of two cell phone companies in this beautiful Country of Vanuatu. I learned yesterday that it is actually an Irish Company based somewhere in the Caribbean (I think) and is overtaking the South Pacific at a speed that no other cell phone service provider has been able to match. My phone service has been quite limited at my house this past year as Lamkail School is far from any Digicel tower here on Tanna. But this shall be no longer….I spent a weekend away from site and came back to find that about 26 paces from my front door and about 5 from the school gate was the beginning of a Digicel tower. Now I am no environmentalist nor do I know much about these towers and their effects on their surroundings but I do know that I have never seen a tower built so close to a village (let alone a school). I mean this thing is literally in someone’s backyard (if there was such a thing as backyards here).

As weeks passed more and more men started showing up to work on this ugly looking thing. Every time I walked to my host family’s house or to town I had the luxury of walking by about 30 young men who were not ashamed to tell me how they felt about me walking by…awo Man Tanna. On the bright side, this tower project became quite the entertainment for my neighbors. Instead of coming home and turning on the television, we finished school and set mats outside to watch how “island construction” is done. I don’t think I had ever seen a man shimmy up a tower like it is a coconut tree. I had also never seen this intricate system of ropes and trucks and part of a crane to get the parts to the top. Talk about prime time television here! I’ll try to post a few pictures next time so you can see folks enjoying watching this whole affair.

March 1, 2011

A Father and a Healer

I’ve gotten pretty used to my host dad’s lectures, usually about marrying a ManTanna and staying here forever or about how the US is good and Vanuatu is bad. On Sunday afternoon, I was feeling bad about skipping church so decided to pay him a visit. He was lying on a mat in his front yard wearing only a piece of calico around his waist (the usual). He asked me what kind of sick I had last year that made me go all the way to Australia. I explained what kidney stones were and how Peace Corps has rules about certain illnesses. He then went on a 20 minute lecture about how he is the best doctor on Tanna. Not the kind of doctor that puts poison and bad chemicals in your body and uses machines like in the US. He is a doctor sent straight from God and heals by using natural things that God sent to us. And this kind of doctor is the only good kind of doctor. He ended by demanding that next time I’m sick, I must only come to him.

March 12, 2011

Tsunami Scare

Yesterday, after shopping a bit in town, a PCV and I went to charge our electronics and sleep at another PCV’s house. She is currently in New Zealand but left me the key for charging purposes since she is the only one out of the three of us with power. After watching some Modern Family and scoring some meat at the market across the street my friend’s phone rang. I found my phone and saw I had missed a voicemail. When I heard my sister’s voice I immediately got worried as the family only calls when there is an emergency. In the voicemail, my sister said that an 8.9 earthquake had just devastated Japan followed by a tsunami and the entire South Pacific was on red alert. My friend and I immediately called our Safety and Security officer in the capital who confirmed this information. She told us to get to higher ground before midnight as that was the projected time of the tsunami. I walked across the street to the store to start spreading the news of the tsunami to the locals. Luckily I ran into a truck driver who was headed to a boxing match on the beach but decided he could take us up the hill. The other men headed to the beach spread the word quickly on their walk. My friend and I grabbed our belongings and jumped in the truck. We stopped on the way to inform another PCV and pick her up. On our way we passed the meteo truck that was driving along the coast yelling the news over his megaphone. On our way up the hill, the truck driver’s phone ran constantly as other folks were needing a taxi to higher ground. If we hadn’t gotten that ten minute head start thanks to my sister’s call I don’t think we would have found an available taxi driver. Just being on that hill away from the solwota I felt relieved and safe. I said some pretty intense prayers before going to sleep. Thankfully we were spared this time but I am afraid since nothing happened that folks will take it less seriously next time.

March 20th, 2011

What a crazy week! I’m completely exhausted and tomorrow is Monday…A PCV whom I visited in January came to Tanna to visit for a week. I met her at the airport on Monday morning and we got a truck to my school. We took a short walkabout the school and the neighboring village and I showed her the hotspots (like the water pump). We had dinner and storied with my neighbor for a bit before turning in. Students presenting their papers

On Tuesday, we went to each classroom and did a toktok on diarrhea, how it spreads, and how to prevent it. Then each class did drawings of ways to prevent diarrhea and the best drawings got an award. The students really enjoyed this as it involved lots of hilarious pictures (like of men relieving themselves in the gardens). A neighboring PCV came over in the afternoon and we made manioc tortillas with rice, beans, and avocado for lunch (tortillas over a fire take forever).

On Wednesday morning we ventured over to Black Man Town, as they call it here, for some shopping and lunch. We met the two male PCV’s for lunch and planned to reunite at my school in the evening. The guys agreed to help with a health talk we were planning for Thursday. We made our way back to school and started preparing a big meal for the guys. Just as we were finishing up, my phone rang and the guys said they were at a Nakamal taking kava for a bit. Instead of getting annoyed, my friend and I realized that this is probably how every local female feels each night her man goes to the Nakamal. Our wait was worth it however as the boys arrived with sausages and fish…..like a Christmas meal! After strorying and a delicious meal which we flattened, the boys slept next door in an empty house (in order to remain culturally appropriate).

The next morning we did 2 reproductive health/ knowing your body toktoks with classes 5 and 6. The two guys took the boys down to the solwota and my friend and I brought the girls up to my house. We taught them about sikmoon (their period) and how reproduction works. At the end of the talk we passed our papers and pens for the girls to write down questions they were scared to ask out loud. I was amazed at how these girls didn’t know about their own body and about how much they did know when it comes to sex. This kind of health is not in any curriculum books in this country and teachers are scared to discuss it in class. It is also taboo to talk about these things at home so most of the students were hearing it for the first and last time.

In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day we made avocado manioc pancakes…and then had stomach aches. My PCV friend painted a sign on the library door and helped make another one to go inside the library. Then we hauled some coral to put around my house and swam. We of course made the mandatory trip to the volcano.

Truck to volcano

At Mt. Yasur

February 11, 2011

Pregnancy in Vanuatu isn’t like pregnancy in the USA. You don’t call your friends and family and announce the big news. Instead you wear your biggest island dresses and cover it up as long as possible. And even when you start showing, no one will talk about it in public or say anything on the subject. My neighbor and favorite teacher had a huge belly when I got back from holiday. She failed to mention her pregnancy all the times we chatted on the phone…style blong olgeta. Yesterday after sitting through our school teacher meeting, she took her bamboo stick and fished out on the reef for a few hours. Shortly after, a truck nonchalantly showed up and drove her to the hospital where she gave birth instantly to a little girl. Women here don’t spend hours in labor. They don’t spend days lying around and ordering their husbands around the house. The Canadian doctor at the hospital confirmed that most Ni-Vanuatu women pop out their babies without signs of pain in 10 to 15 minutes. Can you imagine?

The best part of the story however is what happened when the baby and mother arrived home. Most women take several weeks to name their new born child. It is kastom for others to come give names to the baby and the family then decides which is best. Following kastom, I offered up the name Eloisa after my newest niece born last September. A few weeks went by and I hadn’t heard a name yet so I went to ask. My neighbor told me that the baby not only was given the name Hali but also Eloisa. They combined the two to make Heloisa. Another one of their family members had a baby the next day on Santo and also named her little girl Heloisa. I now am proud to say the I have a “Namesake”!

February 7th, 2011

Under the Sea

Tonight I decided to take a break from Ratsville and get a full nights rest at my fellow PCV’s house. Sunday morning she went on her usual run down the beach but instead of her usual cat calls she got stopped on the road. A yangfala sang out her name and handed her a huge flying fish that he had caught that morning. While to most this fish might just look like lunch meat, it was probably more of an engagement offer. I showed my friend how to scale and gut the fish (that’s right…because I am now an expert) and we had ourselves a little fish fry. Let’s just hope that this young man doesn’t show up later expecting her hand in return.

As dinner time crept up on us we realized our food supply was a bit limited. So I went on a little walkabout around the village. Families are always generous with their root crops and laplap. Not expecting much on a Sunday afternoon, I went to visit one of my teachers from last year. We storied for a while and then she asked what dinner looked like. I told her honestly that I wasn’t sure yet. She jumped to her feet and grabbed some dishes and calico. We walked down to a few mamas who were having a fundraiser for school fees for their kids. One of the mamas piled a plate high with root crops and fish soup. The next mama whips out a huge lobster from her saucepan and throws it on top of the pile. Talk about ask and you shall receive. I proudly walked back with my incredible find and we devoured the lobster in record time. A day of sincere generosity!

February 4th, 2011

I came back to Tanna with a particularly bad case of the runs. Now I used to think they called it the “runs” because it ran out of your body . . . but now I think it’s because once you hear that grumble in your stomach, you better run. Unfortunately cyclone Vania did quite a number on my back yard area and a large coconut tree is now blocking my smol haos. Needless to say my “runs” to the smol haos have been pretty comic. To make matters a bit worse, at night I not only fell on the way to the smol haos, I also chased three rats. This was seriously straight out of some British slap stick comedy show. Please take a moment to picture this scene: me chasing 3 rats with a wimpy broom in and out of my room…all of the sudden my stomach grumbles…drop the broom, forget the rats, and run to the smol haos…trip and fall, run back to the house, grab the broom and start chasing again…and so on until 4:30 AM when I surrendered. And the worst part is that I didn’t even have any food in my house so the rats were clearly just after me. Welkam bak Hali!

Lina’s Birthday!

Lina is a fifth grade student at my school. Her mother has been teaching kindergarten for over 15 years now. They live in one of the smallest kastom houses I have ever seen. They don’t have a kitchen but cook right outside their one room hut. Lina’s father is a fisherman and used to bring some money by selling his catch of the day. Last year, he was sent to prison for raping three young girls…his daughter was one of them. Lina doesn’t spend much time with the other kids at school because she is always doing house work. She is a wonderful student and really cares about her studies. On several occasions she has come to ask me for help with her homework.

One day I was teaching Lina’s mother some kindergarten songs and she started talking about Lina. She told me her birthday was coming up soon but that she didn’t have any flour to bake a cake. I told her that on Saturday evening I would prepare a cake if she made a meal. I invited my neighbors on both sides to Lina’s party but neither family showed up. I made her a banana cake and a bracelet. Then she opened her toothbrush and toothpaste that I had wrapped in newspaper. I wasn’t sure what her reaction was going to be…I mean what kid wants that for their birthday. A few days earlier, after noticing her rotting teeth, I had asked her if she ever brushed her teeth. She told me she had never done it before. When she opened it, she seemed pretty excited but I couldn’t tell if she was just being polite.

The next morning I woke up to Lina knocking on my door around 5ish. She had her toothpaste and toothbrush in hand and wanted me to show her how to do it. So we brushed our teeth together. I guess she really did like her gifts.

Oh traveling adventures just keep getting better and better. We canoed from Lamen to Epi...my arms are still sore. I thought I had already been on the smallest plane possible but then I saw this one land. A four passenger plane with only one pilot. Wow. The pilot actually had to rev up the propellors before taking off. The winds were so strong that we landed completely off the runway. I was so terrified at one point that I grabbed the hand of the lady behind me. She was just as scared as I was so we squeezed each others hand until we hit the ground. I don't think I will ever get over my flying anxiety...especially not as long as I live here.

We were extremely productive during my week on Lamen. Besides hanging out with the locals and eating a ton of island food we did a few little experiments as well. We made soap with some mamas by mixing lye, water, coconut oil, and bit of lavender. We made 6 bars in coconut shell molds. The only hard part about this process is that you have to wait 6 weeks before using the soap on your skin (lye is a pretty potent chemical). I'm going to take the materials back to Tanna with me and hopefully do a soap making workshop with the mamas in my village. While ManTanna swims (showers) everyday and sometimes even twice a day, soap isn't often used. So this project is really great for the island mamas.

My friend and I also made chocolate! Some kids helped suck the cacao seed off the fruit....and probably all got sick afterwards. The cacao seeds then dried on the roof of the swim haos for 8 days. We made a kranki contraption with a milk tin and a piece of iron to roast the cacao over the fire. Once it cooled we took the skin off each seed and then crushed them up into powder. Finally we mixed in a little powdered milk and sugar and drank some delicious chocolate milk. We were wired that night. I also hope to do this with some of my students on Tanna.

After waiting a week for cyclone Vania to pass, my PCV friend and I were finally given the okay to go to her site by plane (original plan was to take a little passenger boat). We boarded another small plane which landed on Ambryn firstaem and then proceeded to Epi. The landing on Ambryn was pretty rough....let's just say we swayed back and forth through trees before hitting the grass runway. We landed on Epi and scouted out a boat to take to Lamen Island.

The solwota was still really rough when we arrived and we got drenched on the ride over. It was pretty amusing however since we were on a boat with some chiefs...we all laughed at how wet we were getting.

Lamen Island is a small island of about 1 km in diameter and a population of 500. It is surrounded by bigger islands which protects it from tsunamis and cyclones. The people on Lamen take canoes to Epi to tend to their gardens. They spend most of their days making mats, laplap, and keeping the island clean and polished.

The island was so well groomed I felt like I was walking into a movie set. Apparently everyone rakes the road and around their house on Saturday...which explains why it was so clean. Everyone pretty much lives on top of each other as you can imagine with a population of 500 in such a small area.

Headed to a small island off of Epi with a PCV on Monday. Pics and stories to come! Happy New Year to everyone!

My fellow Peace Corps Volunteer on Tanna put on the Lion King at her primary school this week. I mostly assisted with costumes and music and the small back stage stuff during the performance. It was the first musical/play ever performed on Tanna!

We took some photos before the performance and installed all of the microphone and sound equipment. Just as the performers were lining up behind stage to begin, it started to pour like it hasn't poured all year. We couldn't believe it! God really does have a sense of humor. The man holding the microphone got electricuted a bit and then it took a good half hour to dry all the sound stuff before putting it in the hands of the narrator. The audience was patient however and once we started the rain held off until the dance finally (which added a lovely dramatical effect). It was a huge success and we are hoping to put on another one next year!

Happy Late Thanksgiving!

We shared a lovely meal on Tanna as well as Vila....I got two Thanksgivings! Our new Tanna volunteer arrived a few weeks before Thanksgiving so we decided to celebrate early with him and the other Tanna volunteers. To continue the Tanna tradition we shared a meal at a village near town with a host family that hosted a volunteer many years ago. There was cobbler, pumpkin pie, stuffing, some kind or meat, fried green tomatoes...and all sorts of delicious treats.

I have been teaching French classes to Class 6 for the past week and have really enjoyed it. Just to give you a bit of culture....Ni-Vanuatu folks are extremely non-confrontational...my headmaster came to my house a few weeks ago with a French curriculum book. He explained that he had taught two French lessons to his class but had taught all he knew already(he does not speak any French). Instead of straight out asking me to teach his class, he showed me his notes and waited for me to comment. I stood there a few minutes and asked if this was all he knew. He said yes with a smile and waited for me to offer my help. This was my headmaster's first attempt at asking me for help. All year I have helped my teachers who are all women...but as a man it has been a bit difficult for him to admit that he needs help. I was happy to teach his class beginning French. We had a great time playing vocabulary games and singing old church songs I remember from growing up in France.

Most teachers have already gone on holiday in their minds. I was the only teacher actually teaching anything this past week. Last Tuesday, two teachers and about half the girls at the school spent the afternoon making bracelets. All in all the school year is ending well!

I'm finally off to Tanna...the doc has perscribed rest and no lifting or carrying...so this should be fun! I will be back on for an update on Thanksgiving hopefully. Thanks again for continuing to send prayers and thoughts my way.

Lukim yufala!

My Peace Corps fan club greeted me at the airport and sang this rap song!

I went to Brisbane with a pain in my side

They thought it was my kidney that wasn't alright

They cut me up and found some funky stuff

And man were my next seven days rough

They took out twisted fat, a real strange fala mix

But, yo doc, where's my appendix?

All I wanted to do was hold a koala

But man, all I could think was they smell like olfala

Mi bin stap mi wan, mi bin stap all alone

Be Sara i bin kam blong help changem tone

We went on some dates and storied smol

But all I could thing was where's the closest Nakamal

Now I've come back and my friends have gone craycray

Now it's time for us to all go pleiplei

Where to begin.....

I won't bore anyone with the medical specifics....but I had a whole bunch of stuff taken out and poked around in my gut. I'm back and walking slow slow still with a little pain. It turnes out that I passed my tiny kidney stones before even leaving Vanuatu....but I'm glad that I got other things taken care of. Hopefully I will return to Tanna in a few pain free!

I also found out last night that my dog, Oli passed. The story is that someone fed her fish that had cigatera....but I'm pretty sure that means that someone killed her. She was very territorial and would attack men if they came near my house so she made quite a few enemies. I'm pretty upset considering she was my little companion that went to town with me and shared my meals...anyway I will just leave it at that.

Thanks for your prayers and thoughts.

Hali is out of the hospital but still in Brisbane until Monday at least. She does have easier access to the internet so will hopefully be able to access email, etc. through the weekend.

"Mother of Hali"

Just a quick word to say that Hali is still in the hospital in Brisbane. She had laparoscopic surgery yesterday and they removed and untwisted some things and also took out her appendix. The latter the doctor said was just because she lives in Vanuatu. The doctor hopes something he did will relieve her pain and take care of her infection. She should be up and about today and perhaps out of the hospital on Friday. Her return date to Vanuatu will depend on recovery and follow-up stuff.

I've had the chance to speak with her daily, which has been good for both of us.

Will keep you posted.

"Mother of Hali"

Since it has been determined that I don't have kidney stones the search is now on for what I do have. Showed up at the hospital on Friday for laparoscopy only to be admitted after a 9 hour wait. Spent the weekend in the hospital. Now looks like it may happen tomorrow. Will keep you posted....

Highlights

-Enjoyed flirting with this attractive dude that did my xrays...until we started talking about kidney stones. He mentioned he'd heard it's like giving birth and then said "But you've already been through that." Still not sure how to interpret that one...

-Waited for the doctor for two hours yesterday evening before giving up and going back to my hotel. After showering and getting into bed the phone rang...9PM so wasn't expecting a call. The doctor was outside my hotel....creepy...he told me I didn't have kidney stones but that the pain must be due to something else...like maybe the rods in my back! He basically said I should take pain killers until I can see my orthopedic surgeon. And then he started asking me about Vanuatu...that's when I started to get uncomfortable and said I should go....it was odd.

-Saw some wildlife today: kangaroos, platapus, koalas, huge lizards and so much more. I will post pictures later.

October 4, 2010

Still no doctor’s visit today as he was booked. Tomorrow wan taem. I walked around a bit today and treated myself to a hair cut. Shampoo and moisture treatment. The lady wasn’t too impressed with the way I cut my own hair a few months ago. I explained to her that I didn’t have a mirror so it was a bit difficult to cut the back…she was appalled. I met up with one of my brother-in-laws family members and we did a bit of running around and then settled at her house for the afternoon. I had a good time hanging out with her two young girls and enjoyed sitting on a couch and eating a home cooked meal. I also got to Skype with mom, dad, Whitni, Elie, and Anthony. The connection was so clear it was like we were all in the same room…no ten second delay or anything.

October 5, 2010

I took the City Cat (see pic) to South Bank Brisbane today to check out some art galleries this morning. Unfortunately the Valentino exhibit was 20 bucks which is over half of my per diem for the day…so didn’t do that. I walked around though and found some delicious gluten free pastries. I went inside the Library but immediately walked out because I was so freaked out by all of the T.V screens and flat screen computers and coffee shops…I mean what the heck happened to good old libraries where you can’t bring food or drinks and there are books everywhere….not screens. I walked back on the bike road beside the river (see pic). It’s only my second day here and I’m ready for some nature and some quiet. I can’t wait to get back to my little house on the beach.

After tests…

So I just ate sushi in a hospital…that’s right they do it gourmet style in Brisbane hospitals. As for the bad part of the day…I showed up after fasting for two hours which doesn’t sound like that much but apparently my body needs food more often than every 3 hours. I waited 30 minutes in the lab place then had to chug a pitcher of what tasted like water with a bad after taste. Then I waited 45 minutes. I finally made my way to the scan room to get some dye injecting into me. It took two nurses and a doctor to find my “small deep veins”. Three pokes later we were in business and I was told that the dye would make my mouth taste weird and I would feel like I wet myself…wow. Half the stuff was injected and then I had to go sit in a cubicle for a bit where I almost passed out and had to wait some more for the doctor to come in and make sure my body could handle some more dye. After that I had to go get some more pokes and my blood drawn and then pee in a cup. Basically it was just a grand ol’ time at the hospital. I’m sitting here in the café with my sushi waiting to see the doctor.

After doctor’s visit…

I finally saw the doctor at 6PM and the tests showed nothing so I have to do it all again tomorrow…

October 3, 2010

So as we say around here, I won the lottery and have an illness that Vanuatu is ill-equipped and unable to fix. Who knew that kidney stones (or should I say renal colic) would require a trip to Australia. Nonetheless here I am in Brisbane. I am staying at what other PCV’s have deemed the “nursing home” and hope to at least see a koala or something if time permits. On my flight over I sat next to the only two Ni-Vanuatu men, one Man Aneityum and a Man Efate. Talk about some in-flight entertainment. Neither fellas had ever flown internationally. One lad spent a solid 30 minutes going through the Safety Instruction card and every now and then would look around for the exits and check under his seat for his emergency floating device. When the meal came around, the flight attendant automatically gave them the meal with meat and a coca cola. Without thinking about it, I devoured my meat with my hands like the two men. We spent the rest of the flight joking about how we’ve been in the bush way too long. And after instructions on how to use the radio and headset, they blared string band music the rest of the flight.

I was a bit overwhelmed when I entered the huge airport full of white folks. I grabbed my bag and found my way to the taxi line. Within minutes I was in a taxi with a young man driving speeding down the highway. The young man seemed a bit nervous and was biting his nails a lot. I noticed his gas light was flashing so just figured he was nervous about running out maybe. After a couple of minutes he called someone on his phone and though he was whispering I heard the word “American”. By this point I’m completely freaked out. I almost started crying thinking about how this man could be driving me anywhere since I don’t know Brisbane at all. I seriously thought I was going to be taken somewhere and sold into prostitution like on the movie Taken. Paranoid much? I made it fine to the “nursing home” and walked a little bit to a nearby petrol station where they sold rice cakes and milk….

Frogs, huge birds, cars, people on their phones, people with headphones, not saying good morning, butt shorts, rain, the smell of pine trees, cars and more cars…these are just a few of the things that I’ve noticed so far.

Made it. No news yet on the kidney stones. Seeing doctor tomorrow. Blog entry to follow on details of the culture shock and adventures. For those of you who aren't too good at geography, Brisbane is in Australia : )

The months of August and September here on Tanna are busy months for those families involved in kastom ceremonies. My host family was one of those families this year. My nephew, Ishmael's 5 years old and attends a French Catholic Mission school but has been absent for 2 months now. Two months ago he said goodbye to his mother and other women in the family and was led to the nakamal by the men of the family. Several things happened during these 2 months, including circumcision, some healing,and a new bond between all the boys at the nakamal. They will be like brothers from now on. Every afternoon around 4 o'clock the conch shell is blown by one of my brothers and the boys and men go swim (bathe) in the ocean together. The conch shell is to inform the women that their swim time is finished and they must stay clear of the path leading to the solwota (I found this out the hard way, no explanation needed). The boys spend 2 months naked eating, bathing, and sleeping at the nakamal with the men of the family. This time is followed by a large celebration known as the Coming-Out Ceremony.

On the first day the women peel the skins off the root crops and get ready for the big kakae (food). the next day is dedicated to laplap making...which I will someday show detailed pics of that process. That night the women danced in one place and then men danced at the nakamal while burning a certain type of wood. The third day is the big day! The families get all dressed up in grass skirts, face paint, tinsel, calico and so on. The baskets, mats (which have been made by the women over the past two months), pigs, kava, laplap, calico, and so on are put into piles according to families in the nakamal. The ceremony involves killing pigs and cows with huge wooden bats, the boys coming out and walking around the piles of gifts a few times, some kastom dancing and some tears from the mamas.

I realize my description isn't very detailed but I hope these pictures will help.

August 16, 2010

1. I thought I’d experienced it all when it came to smol haoses: missing the hole, rats crawling on the walls, huge hairy spiders, almost losing a flip flop, falling on my ass when my legs gave out (terrible case of the runs)…well today topped all of those by a million. As I assumed the squatting position and began relieving my bladder, something suddenly flew up from the long drop. I jumped back, pulled up my pants, opened the door for some light…and sure enough a poor little chick had somehow fallen in my long drop. I’m not entirely sure what attracted it to such a horrid and fowl smelling place to start with…but with no means of a rescue, the poor little chick stopped squawking within minutes. It probably died of intoxication, poor thing. I never thought my excrement would cause the death of a chick…Rest In Peace.

2. Cooking grits on a fire is quite a challenge. I do not recommend trying this at home (or anywhere for that matter). “Simmer on low heat,” let me just turn my fire down to low heat. I enjoyed eating them, thanks mom and Andi.

3. A few days ago, I was sitting with my neighbors just chatting about this and that. We started talking about having children and I asked them if they wanted anymore (they are in their early 30s with 3 kids). The conversation then turned to me having children and I said I had fulap time. They then asked me if I could have a baby when I got back to the US and send it to them. I agreed jokingly but they were convinced. They said I should just “friend” a Man Tanna here and give them that baby. Still not convinced, the husband offered to go find someone and I could just make a baby today! Wow. I politely declined the offer.

4. I had a sleepover with two of my year 5 girls Friday night. They came carrying island kabij and peanuts. We watched High School Musical, ate some lollis, made pancakes and hot chocolate, made bracelets, and did some weeding. Can imagine 12 year old girls in the U.S at a sleepover begging to weed your yard? We had a blast.