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