We're in the training village now and it is really beginning to feel like the experience I expected. It is a little bit like camping all the time. There are pit toilets and outdoor showers, mosquito nets, lots of sunscreen and a walk on the beach every morning. The papa in my family is a small chief in the village, so not the main chief, but one of severl smaller chiefs. He and his wife are in their 60's. My sister and her husband have 2 children, Junior or Choo Choo who is 10 and Leon who is almost 4. Nem blong mi papa i (my papa's name is) Michael and he retired from the Ministry of Education around 1992. He speaks good English as does his daughter, Dorana and son-in-law, Obid. And, both Dorana and Obid speak French. So, I'm learning Bislama, some traditional language AND French. Until now I did not think I remember enough Spanish to have a conversation with anyone, but it looks like I know enough to really confuse the Bislama language. My Ni-Van (pronounced nee-van) family is very patient and are good teachers.
Every morning we have breakfast together and then send me off to classes being conducted by the Peace Corps training staff. At lunch, all of the village women make lunch and we have this huge buffet lunch. Our trainers tell us that we are very lucky because all of the women are very good cooks and that the last class wasn't so lucky. I believe it! Some of the volunteers are not liking the food too much though. Getting enough protein in the training village is definitely going to be a problem though. When we came into town today, I immediately went to the store and bought a hugh chicken leg.
In the evening, we storian and toktok (tell stories and talk) and I learn more Bislama and more about Vanuatu, Ni-Vans and village life. Sometimes it seems as if there is too much information/knowledge we need to absorb and sometimes it seems as if things are not moving fast enough. I guess I'm in that in-between world all volunteers find themselves in before learning aelan taem (island time).
It is actually getting hard to not spell and write and think in English at times too. All very exciting when I'm not scared to death, but it is all becoming easier.
lukyu bekegan, tata (look you back again, bye for now),
Sandy
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Language, Food and Fun
Gud moning, olsem wanem? I gud tumas tedei. Good morning, how are you? I'm doing very well today. Bislama is pretty easy compared to some languages plus we hear it all the time. We went to the mama's market Friday and got to practice asking what things were and how much they were. Found a thing called a custad apel (custard apple) which has this hard green outside kind of like crusty leaves, but when you peel that off, the inside is filled with a sweet white custard like paste and big black seeds. You just spit out the seeds - really good. Leave it to me to find all the best food! Vegetables and greens of all kinds, some with equivalents and some not. Like pumkin tops - the tender green vines growing on pumpkin plants and aeland kabij (island cabbage).
And, I'm now the proud owner for my very own bush knife! We learned how to use it to clean the husk off of coconuts and pop the eye to drink the water inside as well as crack it to get to the coconut out. The liquid is a natural rehydration substance plus has an enormous amount of protein and vitamins. We're learning an incredible amount in a very short time. Well, let's say we're hearing about an incredible amount, the learning will probably come with more experience.
We're heading to our training village today and I'll be staying with a host family that has 3 children (2 girls and 1 boy) as well as tu oldfala (2 older people). I'm looking forward to actually doing something with all the info we've been given and experiencing life here first hand.
I think I sent you all the email address you can use to get to me while I'm not connected, but if you didn't get it, let me know and I'll send it again. Can't post it here though.
Got to run and finish packing...
And, I'm now the proud owner for my very own bush knife! We learned how to use it to clean the husk off of coconuts and pop the eye to drink the water inside as well as crack it to get to the coconut out. The liquid is a natural rehydration substance plus has an enormous amount of protein and vitamins. We're learning an incredible amount in a very short time. Well, let's say we're hearing about an incredible amount, the learning will probably come with more experience.
We're heading to our training village today and I'll be staying with a host family that has 3 children (2 girls and 1 boy) as well as tu oldfala (2 older people). I'm looking forward to actually doing something with all the info we've been given and experiencing life here first hand.
I think I sent you all the email address you can use to get to me while I'm not connected, but if you didn't get it, let me know and I'll send it again. Can't post it here though.
Got to run and finish packing...
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
First Week in Vanuatu
It is wonderful. Upon arrival we were greeted by Peace Corps staff and volunteers who presented each of us with a lei and a lava lava. My lei was quite remarkable - big white flowers. We headed to a very nice hotel with a pool (albeit 15 x 15) and a very friendly resident cat. After dumping our stuff we all had our first experience with kava. Very bitter, causes the tongue to get numb, but what a great way to relax after all the stress of travelling. The next day a bunch of us headed out to the beach and spent the day snorkeling. All those tropical fish! And giant multi-colored clams! And blue, yellow, pink coral. Fantastic.
It is hot and humid and today we got our first rain storm. But it is starting to cool off and people here are actually cold! We've started learning all about malaria, Bislama and rules and rules and rules. We'll be here in in Port Vila until next Sunday and then we head to the training village. I'll be able to get online until Sunday, but it will then be another 3 weeks before I'm somewhere with technology.
It's a great group of people I'm training with, 24 in all. They range in age from 22 to 65, so I'm really glad I'm not the oldest. And, there are a couple in their 30's and 40's, so quite a diverse group. Even some yoga instructors, aromatherapists, massage therapists, and Buddhism practitioners - I fit right in!!!
It is hot and humid and today we got our first rain storm. But it is starting to cool off and people here are actually cold! We've started learning all about malaria, Bislama and rules and rules and rules. We'll be here in in Port Vila until next Sunday and then we head to the training village. I'll be able to get online until Sunday, but it will then be another 3 weeks before I'm somewhere with technology.
It's a great group of people I'm training with, 24 in all. They range in age from 22 to 65, so I'm really glad I'm not the oldest. And, there are a couple in their 30's and 40's, so quite a diverse group. Even some yoga instructors, aromatherapists, massage therapists, and Buddhism practitioners - I fit right in!!!
Friday, April 13, 2007
Sitting in the LA Airport
The mad dash at the last minute is over and in the last 2 days of orientation in LA I remembered only 1 thing I forgot to bring - my scuba diving certification card. Not irrecoverable. And, so far so good. And, I'm not the only one to bring duct tape, aroma therapy, art supplies and spices! There's 24 people in our group - pretty good size. They're a fun group, lots of energy, lots of different backgrounds, but we all have some of the basic things in common that brought me to this point. Feels like coming home to a people I've known for a long time.
For now, we're sitting in the LA airport with a 4 hour wait until we leave. Making new friends and because of that had an invitation to the United Ambassador Club and am sitting quietly, relaxing and taking advantage of the free internet. Don't expect much such luxury in the future, but it's a nice cushion for starting out. By the way, there are a number of people who brought computers and solar panels and had more than 80 pounds of luggage - no problems checking in. However, that 40 lbs of back pack I'm toting along with a 20 lb case filled with electronic equipment might be the end of me. :-)
For now, we're sitting in the LA airport with a 4 hour wait until we leave. Making new friends and because of that had an invitation to the United Ambassador Club and am sitting quietly, relaxing and taking advantage of the free internet. Don't expect much such luxury in the future, but it's a nice cushion for starting out. By the way, there are a number of people who brought computers and solar panels and had more than 80 pounds of luggage - no problems checking in. However, that 40 lbs of back pack I'm toting along with a 20 lb case filled with electronic equipment might be the end of me. :-)
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
And it Begins
Hi all!
This is my first post to this blog dedicated to my travels and adventures in Vanuatu with the Peace Corps. Since I left Santa Fe last July, I've already done quite a bit of travelling - mostly back and forth across the Midwest, but also to the East Coast, Santa Fe and an absoluately amazing vacation to Cambodia and Thailand. I've been busier than I ever was working full-time, and even more stressed at times. Guess that is just a state of mind and gratefully, it is temporary.
I'm leaving in 2 days!! - April 11th - for LA and a couple of days of training and then a LONG flight to Vanuatu. I'll be posting stuff here occasionally, but I don't know how often since my access to the internet will be limited. I'll have a laptop with me and other electronic devices all self-respecting technology geeks are loath to be without. Electricity being a scare commodity in the hinterlands of the outer isles of Vanuatu, I've even become a little bit of a geek about solar power and am taking a portable solar panel for recharging all of the batteries needed. What a cool little device it is! 28 oz folded up into 11" x 8" x 1". I had the best time testing it out on a cloudy day - hee hee. Well, I guess you would have had to be there. I've also managed to load more than 35 GB of music onto my computer in prep for loading into my new Zen MP3 player. However, it only holds 30 GB so something has to give - kind of like giving up some of the things that won't fit in the suitcases or cause their total weight to be more than 80 lbs. It has been Hard getting 2 years worth of stuff into 2 bags. Ugh!!
On the home front, my mother has been quite ill lately and has been cause of much concern as well as time. I'm not sure which is more difficult - leaving my parents for maybe the last time or leaving my pets. I hope they'll all be around when I get back.
I'll try to upload some pictures from time to time, but just now, with high speed internet access, and only 1 picture, it was taking FOREVER. Of course, that is relative given that I'm feeling there is a lot to get done still before I leave.
Hope you all are well and enjoying spring - wow, to think only 6 weeks ago I thought the snow would never leave. Then overnight, everything was green and today the amount of it is almost blinding.
I think you can post comments to my blog, but might need to set up an account with google. You can also register with www.weblogs.com to get notified whenever I make a change to the blog so you'll know when there are new posts - might be easier than checking every week and not finding anything. I have to be somewhat circumspect about the contents of the blog since I'm working for the Peace Corps (aka US government), but can always be reached at the email address I sent you all awhile back. I'd love to hear from all of you and please don't be put off by my lack of response - I might be far away from the internet for long periods.
Be well all - Sandy
This is my first post to this blog dedicated to my travels and adventures in Vanuatu with the Peace Corps. Since I left Santa Fe last July, I've already done quite a bit of travelling - mostly back and forth across the Midwest, but also to the East Coast, Santa Fe and an absoluately amazing vacation to Cambodia and Thailand. I've been busier than I ever was working full-time, and even more stressed at times. Guess that is just a state of mind and gratefully, it is temporary.
I'm leaving in 2 days!! - April 11th - for LA and a couple of days of training and then a LONG flight to Vanuatu. I'll be posting stuff here occasionally, but I don't know how often since my access to the internet will be limited. I'll have a laptop with me and other electronic devices all self-respecting technology geeks are loath to be without. Electricity being a scare commodity in the hinterlands of the outer isles of Vanuatu, I've even become a little bit of a geek about solar power and am taking a portable solar panel for recharging all of the batteries needed. What a cool little device it is! 28 oz folded up into 11" x 8" x 1". I had the best time testing it out on a cloudy day - hee hee. Well, I guess you would have had to be there. I've also managed to load more than 35 GB of music onto my computer in prep for loading into my new Zen MP3 player. However, it only holds 30 GB so something has to give - kind of like giving up some of the things that won't fit in the suitcases or cause their total weight to be more than 80 lbs. It has been Hard getting 2 years worth of stuff into 2 bags. Ugh!!
On the home front, my mother has been quite ill lately and has been cause of much concern as well as time. I'm not sure which is more difficult - leaving my parents for maybe the last time or leaving my pets. I hope they'll all be around when I get back.
I'll try to upload some pictures from time to time, but just now, with high speed internet access, and only 1 picture, it was taking FOREVER. Of course, that is relative given that I'm feeling there is a lot to get done still before I leave.
Hope you all are well and enjoying spring - wow, to think only 6 weeks ago I thought the snow would never leave. Then overnight, everything was green and today the amount of it is almost blinding.
I think you can post comments to my blog, but might need to set up an account with google. You can also register with www.weblogs.com to get notified whenever I make a change to the blog so you'll know when there are new posts - might be easier than checking every week and not finding anything. I have to be somewhat circumspect about the contents of the blog since I'm working for the Peace Corps (aka US government), but can always be reached at the email address I sent you all awhile back. I'd love to hear from all of you and please don't be put off by my lack of response - I might be far away from the internet for long periods.
Be well all - Sandy
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