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.