Christmas in the Tropics

The ship did come. It wound up arriving sometime in the early afternoon and I went down to the shore to wait for my stuff to be unloaded. They unload the ship via small boats while the ship is anchored a little ways away from the shore (in order to protect the reef). Anyway, I waited and waited (typical Vanuatu) and by the time it got dark around 6:30 my stuff had not arrived yet and also i hadn't eaten. Nonetheless I waited some more and then finally heard the news that the ship decided it was going to drop all the stuff of at one beach which is by another village. Therefore, my stuff did not come to where I was waiitng along with everyone else from my village. So one of the people who owns a boat in my village decided to go over to the other beach and start to transport anything for our village to our beach. This was about 9 pm. Maybe by 10 or 11:00 two of my 14 items that were put on the ship arrived. By 11:30 I just walked back up the cliff and went to sleep. The next morning I heard that the ship had worked throughout the night. Down by the water, 9 of my items had safely arrived so I moved them all on top of the cliff with the help of my brothers. It was exciting to get my stuff and unpack and see all the crap I thought I'd need. At least I got a bunch of books. This stuff on the ship was all my stuff that i had packed up on Ambae and stored in Vila until now. Lots of useless stuff, but that's okay. Anyway, the next day I went to check at the other beach to see if the rest of my stuff was there. I only found one box which meant that the other 4 things were missing. They're still missing. I've heard rumors that people have seen them but I've gone back to check and found nothing. Oh well. My gas for my cooking stove is among the missing so more over the fire cooking for me. I'm not sure where all this stuff is. It most likley got dropped off at another island by mistake which means I don't think I'll be seeing it again.

Anyway, lots of people who are from Futuna but are living in Vila came to Futuna on the ship so I've met lots of new people lately. Futuna is a fairly small island with not too many work opportunities, other than teacher, so if you want to work, you have to go to Vila or Tanna. It's probably best that way anyway, since I think if all the people of Futuna came to live on the island it'd be a little crowded. We had a few events surrounding the Christmas celebration. A new church in a neighboring village hosted its opening. An American missionary came to talk because he'd organized the donation of lots of money to help build the church. It was interesting to get another American's perspective on Futuna, but it also made me realize that now I have a lot more in common with the people I've made connections to here as opposed to some random American. I think when I first got here I thought the most important thing was to be able to talk to another American, but now that's not necessarily true.

After the church opening, the next main event was Christmas which included a church service in the new church and then a sort of talent show/ dance off type thing which included quite the variety of dances including Pacific style and Christian gospel of sorts. I'm not sure if I mentioned how the whole island of Futuna celebrates Christmas in just one village. Everyone from around the island goes to the one village where it is decorated to the max (mostly with various flowers) while the rest of the island remains completely unaffected by Christmas. On Futuna one of the main symbols of Christmastime in my opinion is watermelon. Watermelon season is in full boom and I think I eat watermelon almost every day. It's quite nice.

Anyway I think throughout this week there have been various programs involving singing and Bible study at the Christmas village, but the next time I'll head over there is for New Years Eve. Apparently we stay up all night singing or something. They like to sing here.

That's about all the news here. It's hot, which is nothing new. There has been intermittent rain which is also nothing new.

Anyway I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

The Ship Called Tomorrow

This ship that was supposed to come to Futuna still has not arrived. The story of its non-arrival sort of exemplifies Vanuatu. When I asked the people here what ship was coming they said "Tomorrow". I said "really?" and they said "yeah when you ask when it's leaving the answer is always tomorrow." Unfortunately this prophecy has come true. I first heard that the ship would be out on December 1st. December 1st came and went but no ship left (it would be coming from Vila the capital). Anyway since then this ship has made countless trips to other islands but none to Futuna yet. Then FINALLY they loaded it up for Futuna. It was full with passengers and cargo directed to Futuna. It left the wharf in Vila but unfortunately the police stopped it because it was too full. They made it return to the wharf and unload. Then it reloaded with only cargo for other islands and left. Apparently it is now en route back to Vila and its next trip will be for Futuna. We'll see when it happens. I'm sure the answer will be "tomorrow". The stores here are now done to scraps. This ship hopefully will come soon. I'm enjoying a lovely diet of roasted breadfruit and banana and boiled manioc until then.

This week also is a week long prayer group called Transformation. They are praying 24 hours a day all week. They are visiting everyone at their houses. Its really intense. Needless to say, I'm a little bored. On Sunday there will be a culmination by the opening of a brand new church in another village on the island. Apparently some American is coming tomorrow who gave money to build the church. Also the Prime Minister (who is from Futuna) should be arriving tomorrow. It should be an exciting day at the airport (and maybe I'll even get some mail)!

I realized I haven't written much about Bislama on my blog. Bislama is the National Language of Vanuatu (French and English are the official languages). Bislama is a sort of pidjin English/ French but has developed into its own language. Its similar to the pidjins of PNG and the Solomons. Anyway, it was super easy too learn since many words are just English in a different accent and also the vocabulary is very minimal. I think the best way to describe it is that I'll write something in it. Then you can try to read it. Its best if you try to read it outloud. Written Bislama is completely phonetic so just sound it out.

Vanuatu hemi gud. Mi laekem fulap samting long ples ia. I gat fulap kakae mo i minim se sipos sip i no kam long taem yu save kakae ol kakae we i gro nomo long aelan. Mi laekem se mi stap klosap long solwota. Yu wokabaot nomo mo yu kasem solwota. I hot be i no hot tumas. I neva kolkol. Mo tu i gud from se evri wan i wantem storian. I no gat tumas nara samting blong mekem i minim se yu mas storian nomo wetem ol narafala man. Wan las samting se mi laekem hemi se yu no spendem tumas mani long ples ia. Yu no save pem eni samting long stoa be i minim se yu no spendem eni mani. Hemia nomo.

Bislama once you hear it is really easy and I often find myself thinking in Bislama. It also has effected my English. I find it difficult to speak English without using only my Bislama vocabulary. For example, in Bislama the word "smol" (small) is used for any deriviation (little, tiny, small, miniscule- only one word smol). So when someone in Bislama says "yumi stap klosap?" i would answer "klosap smol". But in English this would be translated as "are we close?" "close small". Close small just isn't really appropriate in English. Other examples "Is it raining?" "small" in english doesn't really work. So hopefully when I'm reimmersed in English my English vocabulary will improve once again.

I'm slowly learning the local language but am totally not able to write a full paragraph in Futanese. I'll just leave you with:

Rufie Tabo- Good night

Okay, seriously, no more internet... I think

Today is the official last day of school in Vanuatu so after today I really don't think I'll have internet anymore.

Just to some up my activities since my last post. We did wind up going to the beach last Thursday which was Thanksgiving in the U.S. We were supposed to sing Christmas carols on the beach, but it started to rain so instead we did them inside the church. The next day however it was nice and sunny, in fact too sunny. In the morning we all went to the beach to catch some fish for a picnic. In order to catch fish at this specific beach, everyone stands in the water holding large sticks. You then proceed to beat on the water for hours with the sticks. Everyone stands in a circle around a tide pool. You start hitting the water at high tide to make the fish scared to pass you and when the water goes to low tide, all the fish are trapped in the pool. Anyway, about 2 hours into this activity I realize that I was being burned to a crisp by the sun and unfortunately my sunblock was no where near me. I got out of the water and stayed in the shade for the rest of the day, but I still wound up red as a lobster and confusing everyone, since they are not really familiar with the concept of sunburn. As the days progressed and my skin started peeling off, they were all quite worried, but I assured them it was typical of post-sunburn recooperation.

Anyway the rest of the week I have done not much. I have gone online a lot and watched a bunch of super random DVDs that are in the house. I've walked to the airport just to have something to do and I've been slowly learning the local language by interacting with my two year old sister who doesn't speak Bislama. I'm good at saying "no" and "come"- "Jigai" and "mai". We've also had lots of fun using Photo Booth on the iMac. The two year old just loves it. She's also been learning some new English and Bislama words. I enjoy that if I'm reading the news online she can correctly identify "Obama, President" and she is also good at saying "iPod" as about 4 people have ipods here. She likes to "talk" on the telephone to no one. At least it's entertainment. Recently she has been really into showering in the real shower whenever I go in. It's cute, unless I actually want to shower.

Okay that's all for now. I think I'll be going to the nearest island sometime during this school break just to go to the bank and buy a few things. The stores here are completely out of almost everything. There's supposed to be a ship coming, but every time they keep delaying when they'll actually come to Futuna since Futuna is so far out of the way. Now the stores are out of sugar and rice which are like 2 of the main imported foods that people like. Luckily we still can buy the 40 cent instant coffee, but it's just not that great without sugar. Yesterday someone who came in from Vila on the plane brought bread, and honestly it was so amazing. I hope when I go back, I can get that excited over a piece of bread!

Alright, seriously now, enough already, or in Futanese "Tao oji"!

The time of internet is drawing to a close...

We are approaching the end of the school year here which means soon I'm not sure if I'll be able to use the internet. Tomorrow we are going to go to a beach on a different part of the island and the kids will all perform/ sing in a Christmas carol night. The next day we will have a picnic on the beach. I don't think anyone will be singing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" unless they mean white sand beach. It's interesting that in the States we often associate Christmas with winter/ snow. You see Santa riding his sleigh through the snow, but us in the southern hemisphere/ tropics don't get that image. Maybe their Santa is riding a surfboard.

Christmas on Futuna should be good. One of the villages is opening a new church house so there will be a big celebration for that. Also there's a couple weddings at the time (Christmas is wedding season here). They say that for Christmas everyone on the island goes to one village to celebrate. Also a bunch of the Futuna people who live in Vila come back to the island for the holidays so I'll get to meet a lot of new people. However, some of the teachers and students who are from other islands will go back to their own islands so I won't see them again until January.

School officially starts up January 26th. This is like summer vacation in the U.S. So I'm not sure if I'll be online again before then. But you can email me and I'll get it eventually. Or write me a letter!

Poison Fish

Things are going well on Futuna. School is winding down for the year. On Saturday we had a staff picnic on the beach. We used a large net to catch a bunch of fish. Well I grabbed one to throw it in a canoe but it's tail cut my hand. I didn't think much of it until my hand started throbbing. Then I swam to shore. My hand hurt extremely bad. It was bleeding a little bit so some kid chewed up a sweet coconut and spit on it "to stop the bleeding." Then my ears started ringing and everything got blurry so someone helped me to lie down. After that I was just in excruciating pain for the next few hours as they put various custom leaf medicines on my hand. At night I went home and went to sleep. The next morning the pain had subsided but my hand had swollen like a balloon and I could not move it. It was my right hand which made eating with a spoon rather difficult because I could not hold anything. But now, Wednesday, my hand has returned to normal and I am able to use it again for all those important activities (like typing).

Also this week I caught a nasty cold which is not fun at all. I am spending my days lying on the concrete floor because it is the coolest place in the hot weather. My nose is running and tissues do not exist here.

Also I finally received mail from the U.S.! You can send directly to Futuna if you want. I think you could write Alyssa, Futuna, Vanuatu, South Pacific it'd get here, but to be safe you can write:

Alyssa Thiel- Peace Corps
Ishia School
Futuna
Vanuatu, South Pacific

The sun has returned

For the last week we have had sun, sun, and sun. I really like it. Before that all we had was rain. Now I can do my laundry without worrying too much about it staying wet and growing mold. Also when it rains here it gets extremely muddy which also isn't too fun. But now it's sunny!

We are now entering the week of exams. In Vanuatu in 8th grade students have to take a National Exam and the results of that exam say whether or not they can proceed to secondary school or not. It also tells what secondary school they'll go to. Vanuatu ranks the secondary schools so in order to get into the good ones you have to score high on the test. The students will take exams in English, Math, Basic Science, and Social Science. There are also exams for 10th graders (but we don't have any 10th graders at my school). This exam will tell if they can go on to 11th grade. It's quite stressful if you ask me. Also even in many of the primary grades (elementary) the students have to take end of year exams. I think it's a little absurd to ask an 8 year old to take a test about everything they've learned the whole school year. The school year here goes from January- December. Our school officially closes November 27th so after that is school break until it starts up again at the end of January.

Nothing too much is new here. I ran my first workshop for the teachers at the school last Friday on helping slow learners and I'm running another one this coming Friday on teaching spelling. I have been eating lots and lots of fish lately. However I'm quite inept at it. I seem to frequently choke on the bones, especially in the small fish. Oh and I ate a snail the other day too. It was interesting, rather chewy and slimy. They call it local chewing gum here. This coming Saturday we will be having a staff picnic so we will all go to the beach and cook things over the fire to eat (like fish, crab, coconut, banana, etc) and then we will go swimming. It should be fun.

Also interesting to note that I thought it would take so long for me to hear the results of the election, but I actually spent that whole day on the internet and the people here heard Obama's speech on Radio Australia. I think it's interesting how Obama made the comment in his speech about people in far away corners of the world huddled around radios. It just made me think of my life here.

Alright well that's all for now. Send me an email if you want!

Life here

Life here is still going great. I am on the internet quite frequently now so send me an email to my gmail- alyssathiel@gmail.

Everyone is so nice here and the teachers actually appreciate my help. I've been working with various classes on English and then will be running some workshops next month. I have also started to eat at different houses to get to know people better, and that's been really good as well.

The weather has been rather rainy lately so the solar power is low, but today is sunny so I'm back on the computer.

My daily life I get up around 6:30 and drink tea and then go to school for a couple hours in the morning. I eat lunch and hang out and talk to people in the afternoon. I've been doing some knitting too. Crazy huh to do knitting in the south pacific, but it does get cold here sometimes. I should say it gets "cold" because I'm sure when I go back to the US I'll absolutely freeze. I'll need someone to meet me at the airport with a winter coat and real shoes (not sandals). I haven't worn real shoes in over a year. Also it's weird to think I haven't worn jeans in over a year, because in the states I wore them almost every day. Oh so back to my life here. At night I'll eat dinner and then we hang out and talk till maybe 9 or 10 and then I sleep. I'm lucky because a few people have solar power here so we have lights, but in my house I do not. So I typically don't go back to my house until I'm ready to sleep. My house is made out of tin and has a concrete floor. It's small but bigger than my house on Ambae. It's nice.

Anyway that's about it for now. Write me an email if you get the chance!

So I'm on Futuna

Guess what?

I'm on a tiny spec of an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and we have internet!

It is absolutely amazing. I don't even know where to start.

The people here are probably the nicest people I've ever met. Everyone is so friendly. And not only that, but they also have solar power and laptops! So although yes I'm in the middle of nowhere, it doesn't matter at all.

It's absolutely beautiful here, but I don't think I'll be spending my time trying to upload photos from the dial-up internet anytime soon.

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm here and it's awesome.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Today I depart for Futuna. I am very excited. I will begin my journey by going on the large plane (42 seater) to Tanna. Then I only have about 15 minutes at the airport until I get on the small plane to Futuna (8 seater). I should arrive before lunch today. I don't know when I'll be back online, so if you'd like to know what's going on with me, write me a letter or send me a message to my satellite phone!

Futuna!

I have just recently found out that I'm going to a new island called Futuna! It is in the south of Vanuatu and is the most easterly island. It is super small (only 4.5 sq miles). It is in the shape of a cake sort of, with a big plateau on the top, but all the villages are along the sides, so it looks like lots more hilly walking is in store for me.

I will be working at the one school on the island as a teacher trainer still, but my actual work will depend on what the school wants me to do.

I am very excited to go there. I am still waiting for my stuff to come on a ship from Ambae. I'm going to have to narrow down what I plan to bring to Futuna, because I'll have to take it all on the plane, and that's expensive. The next ship won't go to Futuna until December. There are 2 flights a week there, so I will either head out next week or in two weeks.

I will actually have a telephone in my village so I'm excited about that, and I've also heard that the school has dial up internet, but I doubt I'll be using that much. I'm impatient enough as it is on the internet in Vila.

So now I've been in Vila almost 2 weeks. I have been doing a lot of eating, emailing, sitting, and ummm... not much else. I've been trying to find odd jobs to do in the office. I do love doing menial tasks like typing, especially because I haven't done any of that in a year. That and photocopying is always fun. Although I did try doing some stapling, and I realized I'm completely inept at stapling now.

I will still have my satellite phone at site so you can email me on that once I leave for Futuna, but for now just keep sending emails to my gmail account. Also for now just send any mail/ letters to me at the Peace Corps office:

Alyssa Thiel, PCV
Peace Corps Vanuatu
PMB 9097
Port Vila
Vanuatu, South Pacific

The Peace Corps office will forward my mail to Futuna since there is no post office on the island.

I'm also excited because Futuna's closest neighbor is Tanna which is where the big volcano is, Yasur. It "fires up" quite frequently and is a definite tourist spot. To get to the top of that volcano, you take a truck so I won't have to repeat my 12 hour Ambae volcano experience. But I'm planning to go to Tanna sometime in December/ January maybe so we'll see.

Ok well I'll be sure to update again before I leave for Futuna. And you can Google Earth the island. Just type: Futuna Island, Vanuatu into the Google Earth search bar and you'll get a great picture.

Still in Vila

I am still in Vila- the capital. I have not been doing much, other than being online every day for like 10 hours. I don't have any new news in terms of where I'll be headed next, but hopefully I will hear soon. I'm online all the time so please email me!

Custom tattoo

"rod blong manaro"- kastam tatu

Just in case you didn't read the super long last post:
I got a custom tattoo on July 4th. They use a thorn from an orange tree to stick you. Then they use the juice from a flower and ash to make the ink. Yes it hurt.
It symbolizes the walk up to the top of the volcano.
oh and yes I know my leg/ foot is disgusting and gross- sorry but that's what you get from being a Peace Corps Volunteer :)

And just another photo of me with 2 teachers:

what I wrote on july 21st

Me and my sisters.

I thought I was coming to vila at the end of july so i wrote this blog before i left the island. Then i didn't come:





So I'm back in Vila and thought I'd do a nice update on my blog. Actually I'm writing this in a notebook while sitting in my hosue on Ambae, but when I type it I will be in Vila.





I can't really remember what I wrote last time, but I'll just start with what I've been doing since I came back to Ambae in May. Honestly, the first week or two back were hard. It was quite the adjustment going from a five star resort surrounded by all the Americans and Ameican food I could want to being back in my village where I'm teh only American and I'm eating roots. Life in my village is not "hard" in terms of everyday living. I have everything that I need. Sometimes it is hjust hard to read for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and not really talk to anyone about how you're feeling.





After a couple weeks things started improving for me. I feel like I've finally made friends who I can be myself around. I'm not always by myself or with my family, but now I can laugh and joke around with people my age. Before I joined Peace Corps I remember reading how your first year is cultural adjustment and you'll actually do work your second year. I didn't really fully understand that until now. Slowoly people are getting to know me and not seeing me just as the white girl. As much as I'm adjusting to being here, they are adjusting to having me. So maybe next year I won't have 10 kjids staring in my window to watch me read.





In terms of "work" I;ve done some. I have given small workshops for teachers and done some observatyions. I'm also often the substitute teacher when one is out. We've all been wokring on fundraising a lot too. I'm normally designated salesgirl at fundraisers.





At the end of June I got a boat to West Ambae to go see another PCV. I arrived late at night and unfortunately the only telephone within walking distance of me was broken all of June (and still is) so I hadn't gotten a chance to call her first. She was quite surprised and proceeded to tell me that she already had plans to walk to my village the next day with another volunteer and the postman.





So the next day we all set off on the treacherous walk. All the locals say how there is this huge cliff that makes teh walk incredibly difficult. Another PCV had done it and said he had to crawl along using his hands and one wrong step would mean falling down the cliff. Well after 7 or 8 horus we made it. It was quite the hike, but not as death defying as they all made it out to be. Needless to say, the next day we were all fairly sore.





After a couple days of rest in my village, we decided it would be a great idea to climb the volcano. Someone told us we could go up and down before lunch if we left early. We left at 7 am and after 6 hosru of continous rain and mud, we reached the "top" or so we were told. The top of the volcano has 3 crater lakes however all we saw were dead trees and a big cloud. We shoved food in our mouths and started the trek back "down". You'd think it would be quikcker going down, but no, come 7 pm we finally got down. I was cold, wet, my feet were completely cut up, but at least I can say I've climbed the volcano. After that excursion, we took a truck to the luxury provincial center where there is electricity (sometimes), running water (cold only), and a store that sells ice cream. What more could one want?





For July 4th a bunch of us got together at someone else's village for a nice "cross-cultural exchange". We showed them the Shrek 3 movie to exemplify American culture. That and qwe waved around a US flag beach towel. To share their culture, they gave us custom tattoos. I was very indecisive about whether I was going to get one and where, but I knew I'd regret it if I didn't. So for 30 minutes i let some guy stick a thorn from an orange tree, dipped in the juice of a flower mixed with ash, into my foot. The result: I now have 2 parallel lines on the instep of my foot symbolizing "the road to Manaro". Manaro is the volcano, and I figured I might as well mark myself that I did that 12 horu hike to see a cloud, as if I didn't have enough scars from the actual hike.





So since then I have just been hanging out in my village. I got the cutest kitten who currently seems to be off exploring. I hope she comes back soon. Some people have expressed interest in eating her, so i hope she's okay. I have just been reading and playing guitar and doing lots of crosswords and other word puzzles. It's been cold here lately, and it still rains a lot, but not as much as the other season. I couldn't imagine doing Peace Corps in an actually cold country. I don't know the temperature here but sometimes I wear pants and a jacket and I doubt it drops below 70 degrees!





Okay that's the end of my happy little July blog.





Check out my pictures on webshots: http://community.webshots.com/user/alyssathielpcv/

In town for a bit

first pic: teachers hanging out in a classroom
second pic: me and 2 kids














Hi everyone.



I will update more later, but basically since May I was having a really good time in my village. I had lots of friends and was a lot more busy than I was when I first got here. I wrote out a really nice blog entry mid July, but I'll post that in a bit when I don't feel overwhelmed at being back online after 4 months. I'm in town due to some unfortunate circumstances in the village- if you want to know just email me to ask. However, I'm not sure what will happen next, but I'll keep you posted.







I can hardly believe I've already been in Vanuatu almost a year. Also I should be putting more pictures online at http://community.webshots.com/user/alyssathielpcv so check them out.

If you want to get in touch with me this week or so, email me at alyssathiel@gmail.com

It's been a long time!

It'sWell hello!

It has certainly been an incredibly long time. This blog is going to be extremely sub-par due to my lack of sleep and my frustration with Vanuatu internet.

Since I last wrote in January... I wound up moving in to my house right before school started in february. I was still eating with my host family because my gas tank hadn't arrived. I wound up teaching 3rd grade for a little while because they didn't have a teacher. In February, I pretty much stayed at my site the whole time.

In March, I went to the island of Vanua Lava and got to visit with some other PCVs which was tons of fun. I also helped with a Phonics workshop on my island.

In April, I took a boat over to the island of Maewo and had an amazing time. It was probably my favorite place in Vanuatu yet.

At site, I don't do much other than read. I've read 59 books so far. I also play guitar every day and do lots of crossword puzzles.

I came in to Vila last week some time for an All-Volunteer Conference. They put us up at a fancy resort (all 94 Volunteers) and a good time was had by all. I most enjoyed eating good food, taking hot showers, and just seeing all my friends. Unfortunately my camera got stolen from the room. I am trying to update the pictures I do have on my memory stick, but the internet here is incredibly slow.

Tomorrow I am flying back to Ambae and do not know when i'll be back in vila.

Keep in touch. You can either write me a snail mail letter, send me a message to my satellite phone, or send me an email through the peace corps email system all of which is explained on my blog! And since I have not much to do, I will write back!

Ok I think this is the address for my photos: try it, if not, i'm sorry!

http://community.webshots.com/user/alyssathielpcv/

Ahhh! They actually have internet in Vanuatu!

So I really don’t even know where to start with a blog update. I have been living in my little village on Ambae for a little over a month now. I spend almost all of my time reading (I think I’ve read over 30 books already). I also play tons of guitar and do various crossword puzzles and stuff. I eat basically the same thing every day. I eat either cooked bananas (sometimes upwards of 30 bananas per day) or simboro (which is a root crop, like yam, wrapped in cabbage. Soon I hope to be cooking on my own but I am for now waiting for my gas tank to arrive. The first week of December my many boxes and bags were put on the shop coming to my site. All of my stuff came within a week or two except “5 items” which included my gas tank, toilet paper, mosquito net, bug spray, CDs, and I don’t even know what else. They said that those five items were stuck in the middle of the ship and they had to go to another port but would come and drop my stuff off on the way back. Well they did come back, but the water was too rough for the ship to land. The ship then went back to Vila (the capitol) and decided to stay there until after the Christmas and New Years holidays. As of now, the ship left Vila two days ago so should be getting to my site soon. Once all my stuff arrives, I plan on moving into my own little house (for now I have a room in my host family’s house).

So Christmas and New Years have been the subject of many questions. Christmas morning, I woke up and had rice (woohoo!) and then I spent the morning reading. However in the afternoon we went down to some relative’s house and had a little “party” where we ate and because it was my grandfather’s birthday we even had a small cake. They don’t do presents or anything like that.

New Years Eve: around 8 pm we all went down to the church. We proceeded to watch 2 Bible song videos, sing hymns, and then at 11 pm had the last sermon of 2007. Traditionally around Vanuatu, people drink a lot on New Years, but my village is Seventh Day Adventist so they don’t drink alcohol. Also as a note, staying up late is quite the rarity. Since we don’t have too many generators and people don’t buy kerosene for lanterns here, normally after dinner we just go to bed. I might play some Uno first, but I’m normally in my bed between 7-8 pm.

Ok, what else? I’m sure there’s tons more. I have been walking around tons. I walk to the telephone which is about an hour or so away. Even walking down to the ocean takes about 30 minutes. I went to the post office once via a 2 hour boat ride. It was great to get packages and also I ate a meal at one of the food stalls (like a restaurant that only offers one meal). Most recently, I have come to the island of Malekula to plan some workshops with other volunteers and buy some supplies. I flew over to the island which is incredibly “developed” compared to where I am on Ambae. They have internet (hence being able to post on my blog), a grocery store, and some of the volunteers even have cell phones!

My sat phone is working great, and you should send me some messages (instructions on the side of the blog). Also, everyone that has sent me mail, I greatly appreciate it and have written back already! I love getting mail, and it seems to take less than 3 weeks for me to get mail. Packages are great too: any food, snacks, or instant meals that you just add water, puzzle books, guitar tabs for any songs, hmm, I did have a lot of things in mind, but now I can’t think. Books, magazines (any type really). Photographs of you, me, anything you’ve done, or anything American (they love looking at photographs).

Well, I can’t really update any pics, internet is still dialup. But I am guessing some people have put up some pics on the flickr website you could check. If you are too lazy to actually send me a letter, you can still send emails to volunteer@vu.peacecorps.gov with my name on the subject line and they’ll print them and mail them to me once or twice a month. But I really like real mail too.

School is supposed to start at the end of January so we’ll see if that actually happens or not. I’ve heard rumors that school tends to be delayed if teachers haven’t come back yet. My job will be to help train teachers on various methods of literacy education through co-teaching and through holding workshops but I think at the beginning I’ll just be observing a lot.

Okay that’s all for now. I should be back online in May when I go to Vila for the All-Volunteer Conference but who knows what will happen between then and now. If you want to know, send me a letter and I’ll send you one back!