The first part of PST (Pre-Service Training) is over and on Sunday morning we left our training villages to come to Vila. In some ways I cannot believe 7 weeks have already gone by, and in others it feels like Takara has always been my home. Although I have only known these people for a short time, saying goodbye and moving on was incredibly emotional. I had such a wonderful experience in Takara and was blessed with such a welcoming and loving family, and I found I was not quite ready to leave. I felt like I was leaving yet another home and another family. It's hard to think I will no longer be cooking and going to the garden with my Mama, getting history lessons from my Papa, weaving mats with my sister, listening to my brother play the guitar, and swimming in the ocean with my cousins.
In true Vanuatu fashion we spent the last night eating copious amounts of food, telling stories, and making small speeches. My Mama made a very sweet speech and started crying when she talked about me leaving. The last month or so, she has been campaigning to have me placed on Efate so I would be close by, and she has even been searching the job adds in the newspaper for a business position for me in Vila (even though I tried to explain to her that Peace Corps doesn't exactly work that way!). When I came back from visiting a volunteer on Ambae with some infected bug bites she was convinced that was a perfectly good reason for me to just stay "home." What she said was, "Sapos yu ko lo Ambae, bae hemi spoilem Lelei blong me!" which roughly translated means, "If you go to Ambae, it will spoil my Lelei!" But I have promised to visit every time I come back to Vila and given her my phone number so she can periodically check in, and I think she's satisfied with that. My Papa's speech (to the entire village) involved a wonderfully embarrassing little story about the one night that something I ate didn't agree with me, and he updated everyone on my gastrointestinal problems and my several trips to the toilet. The other volunteers thought it was hilarious, and Robert told me I really have a true family here: a mother who fusses and cries and a father who tells embarrassing stories. I will miss belonging to such a loving family.
We are back in Vila now for one last week of training, and then we will be off to our new homes for the next two years. I will post soon with details of my site. Exciting news!!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Wish List
Ok, Blogger is acting up so here is my wish list!
Books
Silica Packs (for keeping electronics dry)
American candy (not chocolate - it will melt)
Sharpies/permanent markers
Cotton t-shirts
Lightweight cotton skirts (anything below the knee is appropriate)
Sturdy flip-flops or sandals
Protein bars
Guilty pleasure magazines (i.e. People, Glamour, etc.)
Any news publication
Bandanas/hair scarves
Pens
Colored Pencils
Photos/picture frames
Books
Silica Packs (for keeping electronics dry)
American candy (not chocolate - it will melt)
Sharpies/permanent markers
Cotton t-shirts
Lightweight cotton skirts (anything below the knee is appropriate)
Sturdy flip-flops or sandals
Protein bars
Guilty pleasure magazines (i.e. People, Glamour, etc.)
Any news publication
Bandanas/hair scarves
Pens
Colored Pencils
Photos/picture frames
Takara
I have settled into my training village of Takara and have now been living here for almost three weeks. Takara is a very small village of only 200 or so people (I think half of which are children) right on the coast of the northernmost part of the main island (Efate). It is in a beautiful location pushed right up against the beach with a view of several islands close by. Most of the islands here were formed by volcanoes, so almost every one is a fairly steep mountain (in Bislama the word for “inland” and “uphill” are the same) which makes for very dramatic scenery as you can see tree-covered peaks rising out of the sea. Although it has been hot here every day (and we are only just now entering the hot season), my village is well shaded and a constant cooling breeze comes up from the ocean making the heat bearable. Also, the weather here can change dramatically in one day. Saturday for example, it was sunny and hot in the morning, there was an earthquake in the middle of the day (around a 5.0) followed by dark clouds and a downpour of rain, and the afternoon was sunny and hot again.
Takara is a bustling little village filled with the smell of cooking fires, the sounds of neighbors shouting hellos, and the sight of chicken, pigs, and kids running free among the houses. I have a fabulous host family that has made me feel so welcome and comfortable. “Papa” is the pastor of the Presbyterian church here, and he is a wonderful person who is patient with my language learning, loves to tell me about the U.S. troops here in WWII, and tells corny jokes and laughs and laughs at them. “Mama” always knows what’s going on in the village and gives me updates on everything while we drink tea or cook. She is very sharp and nothing gets past her. She also loves to mother me and gets concerned if I don’t eat enough or if she thinks I’m going to be late to class. Although all their kids are grown and living in various places, the house has a constant stream of people coming in and out and they are all introduced as my sister, brother, uncle, or even my child. I have learned that these sort of relationship titles are used very loosely here. Regardless of who is actually “related” to me, the entire village has completely taken me in and already treats me like family. My mama and papa have given me a new name – Lelei – which means something along the lines of “my girl” or “darling” in their native tongue and every morning on my way to class every person I see says, “Gud moning Lelei!” In Vanuatu, even if you don’t know someone that you pass by on the road you wave and say hello and sometimes even get in an extensive conversation with them. It is not uncommon for someone passing by to ask you how you are, where you are going, what you are going to do when you get there, and when you’re coming back. This sort of curiosity takes a little getting used to, but you definitely feel safe! Someone always knows exactly where you are. Being one of only four white people in the village (which is rare as some of the training villages have up to 12 volunteers) every move I make, action I take, or food I eat is big village news and spreads like wildfire. It is not uncommon for someone to randomly give me a banana or anything cooked with banana or anything that at one time touched a banana since it is already well known that I’m a big lover of bananas.
Although at times this experience has been daunting and frustrating, for the most part I am getting along really well. I’m making progress in the language and can actually hold a conversation now. I’ve also learned lot of the traditional activities of women in the village, including weaving a mat, cooking several traditional dishes (over a fire!), washing my clothes by hand, and killing and roasting a chicken. Ok, I didn’t actually do the killing but I was a bystander and then had to pluck the thing. Not my favorite, especially when we had a false pronouncement of death followed by a bound chicken flapping around the yard trying to escape its eminent demise. I think I will stick to weaving mats. I have been in very good health and my only complaint is the fact that apparently I’m irresistible to the mosquitos here (last count I had over 55 bites on my body at one time despite sleeping under a mosquito net and practically bathing in insect spray).
Now a little information about what will be happening next. In about a week I will be going out to one of the other islands to visit a volunteer for a few days. This is so we can see what village life is like away from the main island and to get a better idea of what volunteers actually do on a daily basis. After that I will come back to Takara for one week and then go to Vila (the capital city). In Vila we will be given our site assignments and have our swearing in as official Peace Corps volunteers. We will be in Vila for a week going through last minute training and buying all the things necessary for living at our site. They have still given us absolutely no indication of where our sites may be, so unfortunately I have no new info on that question. Some people have asked what might be some good things to send in care packages, so I’ve put up a wish list on the right side of my blog. Please keep in mind that what I really want most of all is communication, so I would be overjoyed with something as simple as a letter or postcard. If you are so inclined as to send me a package, try to keep the value under $100 as we are charged a hefty fee for inspection of anything with a greater value. Also, all packages with meat products or seed products will be inspected, so maybe stay away from that too. Thanks for all your love and support!
Takara is a bustling little village filled with the smell of cooking fires, the sounds of neighbors shouting hellos, and the sight of chicken, pigs, and kids running free among the houses. I have a fabulous host family that has made me feel so welcome and comfortable. “Papa” is the pastor of the Presbyterian church here, and he is a wonderful person who is patient with my language learning, loves to tell me about the U.S. troops here in WWII, and tells corny jokes and laughs and laughs at them. “Mama” always knows what’s going on in the village and gives me updates on everything while we drink tea or cook. She is very sharp and nothing gets past her. She also loves to mother me and gets concerned if I don’t eat enough or if she thinks I’m going to be late to class. Although all their kids are grown and living in various places, the house has a constant stream of people coming in and out and they are all introduced as my sister, brother, uncle, or even my child. I have learned that these sort of relationship titles are used very loosely here. Regardless of who is actually “related” to me, the entire village has completely taken me in and already treats me like family. My mama and papa have given me a new name – Lelei – which means something along the lines of “my girl” or “darling” in their native tongue and every morning on my way to class every person I see says, “Gud moning Lelei!” In Vanuatu, even if you don’t know someone that you pass by on the road you wave and say hello and sometimes even get in an extensive conversation with them. It is not uncommon for someone passing by to ask you how you are, where you are going, what you are going to do when you get there, and when you’re coming back. This sort of curiosity takes a little getting used to, but you definitely feel safe! Someone always knows exactly where you are. Being one of only four white people in the village (which is rare as some of the training villages have up to 12 volunteers) every move I make, action I take, or food I eat is big village news and spreads like wildfire. It is not uncommon for someone to randomly give me a banana or anything cooked with banana or anything that at one time touched a banana since it is already well known that I’m a big lover of bananas.
Although at times this experience has been daunting and frustrating, for the most part I am getting along really well. I’m making progress in the language and can actually hold a conversation now. I’ve also learned lot of the traditional activities of women in the village, including weaving a mat, cooking several traditional dishes (over a fire!), washing my clothes by hand, and killing and roasting a chicken. Ok, I didn’t actually do the killing but I was a bystander and then had to pluck the thing. Not my favorite, especially when we had a false pronouncement of death followed by a bound chicken flapping around the yard trying to escape its eminent demise. I think I will stick to weaving mats. I have been in very good health and my only complaint is the fact that apparently I’m irresistible to the mosquitos here (last count I had over 55 bites on my body at one time despite sleeping under a mosquito net and practically bathing in insect spray).
Now a little information about what will be happening next. In about a week I will be going out to one of the other islands to visit a volunteer for a few days. This is so we can see what village life is like away from the main island and to get a better idea of what volunteers actually do on a daily basis. After that I will come back to Takara for one week and then go to Vila (the capital city). In Vila we will be given our site assignments and have our swearing in as official Peace Corps volunteers. We will be in Vila for a week going through last minute training and buying all the things necessary for living at our site. They have still given us absolutely no indication of where our sites may be, so unfortunately I have no new info on that question. Some people have asked what might be some good things to send in care packages, so I’ve put up a wish list on the right side of my blog. Please keep in mind that what I really want most of all is communication, so I would be overjoyed with something as simple as a letter or postcard. If you are so inclined as to send me a package, try to keep the value under $100 as we are charged a hefty fee for inspection of anything with a greater value. Also, all packages with meat products or seed products will be inspected, so maybe stay away from that too. Thanks for all your love and support!
Monday, September 13, 2010
My first from Vanuatu
Well, I’m back in the “city” for interviews with the Country Director, and the medical staff, so I’m taking advantage of the internet available in the Peace Corps office. I made it to Vanuatu and we’re currently living a few miles outside Port Vila for our first week of training, and have been bombarded with information. Unfortunately we’ve been learning a lot more about what could go wrong than language and culture training, but I’ve been assured we will get there. We’ve spent lots of time in health class learning about the possibility of malaria, dengue fever, worms, giant poisonous centipedes, scabies and lice, coral cuts and infections, etc. etc., and we are having a 2 hour session just on diarrhea tomorrow. . . before lunch (E, I guess you should have given me that book ☺ ) . But although my head is reeling, I am having the most amazing time.
Last night we had dinner at the Country Director’s house, and our first Kava experience! His house is beautiful and looks right out on the water, and he and his wife were so welcoming and wonderful (note to anyone who will understand this: the Country Director reminds me so much of Doug Banks! It makes me feel at home and hope later we’ll be throwing spaghetti on the ceiling ☺ ). I was, however, slightly disappointed with the Kava. Despite all the buildup, really all it did was make me kinda tired. But the strange thing about Kava is apparently it works the opposite of alcohol: instead of building up a resistance, it affects you more intensely the more you drink it. And, it takes smaller people MORE kava to feel anything. So maybe I’ll give it another try.
We will be staying in this village until Friday, and then we’ll be split up into “training villages” where we’ll spend the next six weeks. We have a huge group of 40 volunteers, but only about 10 or so will be in each village. I have a really awesome group and am looking forward to getting there. Right now we’re sleeping in tiny houses with 9 other people, living out of our bags, and I can’t wait to get my own room, unpack, and start to feel settled in. We do have the luxury of running water here, but the showers are cold (very very cold!) and this site has a generator, so we have a few hours of electricity every night (although I think there are about 2 outlets in the whole compound, so charging things can be tricky). We don’t have any information on how our training villages will be, but I’m assuming this is pretty high living as far as Vanuatu is concerned. We were issued a bucket for showers and a solar powered lantern, so I have a feeling rougher living is to come. Despite this, I am so happy here. The weather is perfect for me, and even though it’s been pouring rain today, the temperature is still around 80 degrees. The people are amazingly friendly, the water is the kind of blue they don’t even have in a Crayola box, and the natural lush beauty is breathtaking. There are lots of little critters here, but we’re told only the centipedes are poisonous, which makes it easier to appreciate the cute little geckos and brightly colored (giant!) cockroach‐type bugs.
I can’t wait to get to my village, meet my host family (I can’t wait to have a “mama” although I know she’ll be a poor substitute for my mama), and start practicing the language. We’ll be back in town around the end of the first week in October, so hopefully I’ll be able to update on all the new happenings. The only thing that could make this better is if all the people I loved were with me.
I’m off to roam the town looking for things I’ve been told I need to buy. Including a machete. Which should be interesting considering I’m afraid of my Swiss Army Knife. Can any of you imagine me hacking
my way through the jungle? Apparently that’s a likely possibility. Pray I don’t cut off a finger. Ta‐ta! (Bislama for bye)
A quick note about communication: I have a phone! It’s fairly expensive for me to call and text the United States, however, it doesn’t cost me anything to receive texts and phone calls ☺ . I’m told that Google Voice is an excellent way to call internationally and I think the rates should be pretty reasonable. Just thought you should all know that. My number is 011‐678‐5690395. I think the training village will have reception, so for the next six weeks I’ll be available, but I’ll have to wait for site assignments to give you any information after that.
Last night we had dinner at the Country Director’s house, and our first Kava experience! His house is beautiful and looks right out on the water, and he and his wife were so welcoming and wonderful (note to anyone who will understand this: the Country Director reminds me so much of Doug Banks! It makes me feel at home and hope later we’ll be throwing spaghetti on the ceiling ☺ ). I was, however, slightly disappointed with the Kava. Despite all the buildup, really all it did was make me kinda tired. But the strange thing about Kava is apparently it works the opposite of alcohol: instead of building up a resistance, it affects you more intensely the more you drink it. And, it takes smaller people MORE kava to feel anything. So maybe I’ll give it another try.
We will be staying in this village until Friday, and then we’ll be split up into “training villages” where we’ll spend the next six weeks. We have a huge group of 40 volunteers, but only about 10 or so will be in each village. I have a really awesome group and am looking forward to getting there. Right now we’re sleeping in tiny houses with 9 other people, living out of our bags, and I can’t wait to get my own room, unpack, and start to feel settled in. We do have the luxury of running water here, but the showers are cold (very very cold!) and this site has a generator, so we have a few hours of electricity every night (although I think there are about 2 outlets in the whole compound, so charging things can be tricky). We don’t have any information on how our training villages will be, but I’m assuming this is pretty high living as far as Vanuatu is concerned. We were issued a bucket for showers and a solar powered lantern, so I have a feeling rougher living is to come. Despite this, I am so happy here. The weather is perfect for me, and even though it’s been pouring rain today, the temperature is still around 80 degrees. The people are amazingly friendly, the water is the kind of blue they don’t even have in a Crayola box, and the natural lush beauty is breathtaking. There are lots of little critters here, but we’re told only the centipedes are poisonous, which makes it easier to appreciate the cute little geckos and brightly colored (giant!) cockroach‐type bugs.
I can’t wait to get to my village, meet my host family (I can’t wait to have a “mama” although I know she’ll be a poor substitute for my mama), and start practicing the language. We’ll be back in town around the end of the first week in October, so hopefully I’ll be able to update on all the new happenings. The only thing that could make this better is if all the people I loved were with me.
I’m off to roam the town looking for things I’ve been told I need to buy. Including a machete. Which should be interesting considering I’m afraid of my Swiss Army Knife. Can any of you imagine me hacking
my way through the jungle? Apparently that’s a likely possibility. Pray I don’t cut off a finger. Ta‐ta! (Bislama for bye)
A quick note about communication: I have a phone! It’s fairly expensive for me to call and text the United States, however, it doesn’t cost me anything to receive texts and phone calls ☺ . I’m told that Google Voice is an excellent way to call internationally and I think the rates should be pretty reasonable. Just thought you should all know that. My number is 011‐678‐5690395. I think the training village will have reception, so for the next six weeks I’ll be available, but I’ll have to wait for site assignments to give you any information after that.
Friday, September 10, 2010
We're off!
I only have a few minutes to catch up on this blog thing, but wanted to give a quick update about my time here in L.A. What an amazing group of people I am lucky enough to be setting out on this assignment with. I have only touched on getting to know them, but everyone is so great, with amazing stories and experiences. The best part about today has been all the unconditional support that comes along with being in the same boat (canoe?) together. Everyone has the same anxieties and can completely sympathize with all the thoughts racing through my head.
I have been inundated with new information and I have to admit I probably forgot it all again. Our next step is to get on the plane to New Zealand, arriving after a 13 hour flight, and then jumping the puddle really quick on a 3 hour flight to Vanuatu. Once we arrive (9:30 am local time on Sunday, Sept 12) we will immediately begin our training. No time for jet lag here! I'm not sure what the coffee situation will be, but I'm sure I'll still be running on excitement.
I will probably be without internet for at least the first three months, so snail mail will be key! I will try to update this thing as soon as possible. See you all on the other side of the equator!
I have been inundated with new information and I have to admit I probably forgot it all again. Our next step is to get on the plane to New Zealand, arriving after a 13 hour flight, and then jumping the puddle really quick on a 3 hour flight to Vanuatu. Once we arrive (9:30 am local time on Sunday, Sept 12) we will immediately begin our training. No time for jet lag here! I'm not sure what the coffee situation will be, but I'm sure I'll still be running on excitement.
I will probably be without internet for at least the first three months, so snail mail will be key! I will try to update this thing as soon as possible. See you all on the other side of the equator!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Goodbye Northwest
Well, the goodbye parties are over, the tearful goodbyes are (mostly) over, and all that's left is to make sure my bags contain everything I'll need for the next two years. I am so incredibly lucky to have such amazing friends and family and such a great boyfriend to send me off in style. I wish I had appreciated it more, but seeing all the love and good wishes made me realize what an amazing group of people I know. So thank you Seattle for sending me off with beers, hotdogs, and hugs, and thank you Spokane for sending me off with a bonfire, science experiments, and sloppy kisses from the kids.
I am off to LA for a day of orientation and then will be headed for the island country of Vanuatu (technically it's an archipelago, but only Shellooe can pronounce that word correctly). I'll be on the island that contains the capital city for three months and then will be given an assignment and sent into the jungle for two more years. I have no idea what the internet/electricity situation will be but I will be trying to stay in touch and post on this blog as much as I can. I love you all so much and although two years without y'all seems very daunting, I'm sure the time will fly and I'll be back before you have a chance to miss me. Of all the things I'll miss (cocktails, Indian food, running water, paved roads, crazy people on the street trying to convert me to Budhism, 1419, Gonzaga games, Predators games, soy lattes, etc.) I hope you know you are all what I will miss the most. If you have this blog address then you have probably touched my life in a profound way and I thank you for all you have given me. But I guess I'm getting overdramatic :) I'll be back soon. I love you
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