Host Village

So this post is all about my new host village. Myself, along with the other VITEL members (IT and education) arrived in the village of Tannilou on 10/16 Which was about 45 minutes ride from where we were, so we are still all on the island of Efate. We were greeted by a string band which was cool. The chief spoke (in Bislama so we didn’t know what he said) and there was clapping. One thing about the Peace Corps – there is a LOT of clapping. There was a big feast with all the traditional island food – taro (a bland sweet potato), laplap (no idea how to explain that), rice (there’s plenty of rice), papaya (there’s so much papaya I’m a little sick of it), oh and bread, there’s always bread, for any meal, for better or for worse. Also this is where everyone met their host families. So for the next two months we will be staying with these host families and they will treat us like we were their own pikinini. I met my host papa, his name’s Pascal and he’s 25, and yes I call him papa. He’s a pretty cool guy and only speaks in Bislama to help me learn but does know English for the most part. The people here are so accommodating and he actually gave me his bedroom/house where he lives and moved back into his parents so I could have my own place. When I say bedroom/house I really mean just that – it’s a one room house that has a bed. The people here really do treat me like their own kid and are so kind and generous and giving this is just a humungous culture shock for me never leaving my parents’ house for an extended period of time. I’m sure to upload some pictures and those will explain themselves but let me just say… I’m pooping in a hole. Also the shower you fill up a bucket and pour it on you. A lot of us don’t know how to react to these things but I guess you just roll with it. It’s about 9:00PM here on 10/17 (the generator just shut off so now I’m in the dark besides the laptop) so pretty late (funny right?) but it’s true so let me just wrap it up with one more quick little anecdote. Right before we left IDS there was a pretty big spider (not bigger than Little Richard but 2-3x larger than your average NJ wolf spider) crawling on someone’s luggage and I actually took off my sandal and killed it. It’s amazing in just a weeks’ time how much I feel I’ve changed. Just this morning when I woke up in my new bed when I threw the sheets back and got up – what comes crawling out? I bet you can guess – just another spider. The thing is I didn’t freak out, I was just kinda like, oh well that suck and just got dressed. It’s kind of funny when faced with an adversary of more than the norm how much you step up. Life here is just totally different and no amount of words could even begin to describe Vanuatu and its culture but so far I’m living and learning and it’s just incredible, I really hope some of you may get to come out to see me and this beautiful place. More to follow..ta ta lukim yu afta.

Here's my bathroom situation: