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?