Playing tour guide and late night card games

What have I been doing since my return to Futuna two weeks ago? Don’t get too excited. My absence from my blog has less to do with my “active” life here but really I just haven’t gotten a chance to use a laptop long enough to write an entry.

Well before i left Vila, I’m not sure if I mentioned that I got the chance to greet the incoming Peace Corps Volunteers at the airport. Forty fresh, naïve, excited, anxious, shocked faces arrived at the airport on a beautiful Sunday morning. They’ll have two months of training and then in November will go to their sites.

When I came back to Futuna, I came with a family of Australians. They’re friends of my host dad and were here for a visit. I had such a good time with them playing tour guide. I helped to translate, accompanied them to the beach, played some Scrabble, and walked around the island with them. It was so nice to have people around with whom I could be my sarcastic seld and be completely understood. Vanuatu sense of humor is just different from Western culture, and although I’ve gotten used to the Vanuatu style, it was nice to say whatever I feel. Also it was good practice for when I go back to the U.S. It’s not like I’ve forgotten English, but I feel like I’ve forgotten the sayings and expressions of everyday life. I’m hoping I’ll pick it up fairly quickly.

After the Australians left, I returned to my normal “work” schedule. I’m teaching the same remedial reading groups. The headmaster of the school told me that at the end of last term some of the parents of the students I work with said they’ve seen marked improvement with their children. For the first time, the ids have read at thome to their parents. That made me feel good about my work. I cannot imagine going back to the U.s> and having a “real job”. Here I teach like 2 hours a day, and if I have something else I’d rather do, like go to the airport to see the plane, I can just not go to work. But I think I”ll be glad to be busy again. I’ve had enough free time during the last 2 years.

Nothing much is new. Reading a lot and been playing a card game called 500 with my family most nights. The other night we stayed up until 2:30 am playing and the next day I slept until 8:45 which may be a record for me in Vanuatu. What happened to the old days of sleeping until noon?

A couple photos

2 pictures: One, me riding in a truck to go to a village on the other side of the island of Efate (where the capital is)

Two, in a cave with a big underground lake in it

Some more photos on Facebook

Chillin in the Capital

So I’ve been in Vila for a week and a half now. Why haven’t I been online every day? I’m in the big city. Normally when I come to the capital, I spend my days chatting online, devouring pizza, and taking hot showers. This current trip has been a little bit different.

I have a meeting for Peace Corps this week, but I came in early because I had some work to take care of. Also my school was on break, so I didn’t have much to do on the island. When I came, I decided to stay with some extended family of mine who live in a village on the outskirts of Vila. The good thing about Vanuatu is that no matter where you go, you have family. It doesn’t matter if it’s your mother’s uncle’s grand-daughter’s brother-in-law, if you show up that their house, you can stay with them. Anyway, I’m really glad I’ve been able to stay with some of my Futuna family in Vila.

What have I been doing? Well I pretty much lie in bed and watch movies, which has been awesome. Also I read (that’s new huh?). I haven’t been coming in to the office because I’m too lazy and cheap to pay the $1.50 for bus fare. I’ve come in a couple times though and that time I managed to get my ticket to come home. I arrive in the U.S. November 8th, so get ready! Also last week I went with my family to the other side of the island to a small village so that they could collect firewood and hunt for flying foxes (bats). Living near the capital, there’s not many places to collect firewood for cooking and then flying foxes, well that’s just a delicacy. We returned to the house and baked some flying foxes with yam in stones for dinner. Yum.

Now this week we have a conference for Peace Corps. It’s for all the people that I came with when we first came to Vanuatu in 2007. Since we’re all (or most of us at least) are leaving in the next few months, we have a conference to help us to readjust to life in the US. I’m excited because they’ll be putting us up at a nice resort and giving us food and it should be a nice time to reunite with all my Peace Corps friends one last time before we go to the States.

Well that’s all for now. Today I have my Close of Service medical to check me out before I go back and make sure I’m all healthy. I’m going to miss this free medical care when I go back.