! SITE ANNOUNCEMENT !

OK here it is – the biggest and most important post so far! We finally had our site announcement where everyone finds out which island they’re going to be on for the next TWO YEARS. Everyone was really anticipating this day, I was super stressed as there were only five IT sites and we knew most of them. 

Here’s a quick rundown of the other IT people and their sites: (note that we are just 5 out of the 29 in Group 24, also note that I’m the youngest at 23 years when the others are between 25 and 26)

Britt – He’s a graphic designer and overall cool guy and his site is actually on Efate (where we are now) and is close to our host village (and just a short bus ride to Port Vila, the capital) – no one was expecting it and it was pretty surprising but he’s happy because his host family rocks so he won’t be having to make himself too much food over the next two years so I’m pretty jealous.

Tim M – Tim is a pretty funny man and he worked at Apple for a while and managed some Apple servers. He is headed for Malekula, sound familiar? Well that’s where my HVV was to! So I know 
his site and he’s really happy with it, and not to mention they just got Internet so that’s a huge plus.

Tim H – Timbo as we like to call him is definitely the most computer savvy person in our IT group, he’s super smart. He was also placed on Efate at the best College of Vanuatu. It has a fantastic lab setup and Internet as well so Timbo is pretty pleased.

Ryan – Ryan or R-dawg (as I’m the only one who calls him that) got the site we were all vying for – Santo. The reason all of us wanted Santo was because of the location – let me explain: for the next two years he is staying on the island of Santo in the town of Luganville which is the second biggest town in Vanuatu (behind Port Vila) and is also very developed. He has a three bedroom house, a bathroom, shower and kitchen all inside his house, oh and did I mention the shower has hot water? Not only all of the above but also he has easy Internet access from his house which is just crazy. So needless to say we are all a little bit jealous of him but pretty happy for him as well and I’m sure I’ll be visiting plenty because I am placed on the island of….

(Drum roll please…)

AMBAE

Yes! This was a last minute change because the site on Tanna was scraped because they didn’t get their act together. I will be staying on West Ambae at a Technical College teaching IT with a counterpart! I am so super excited for this and can’t wait to get out there. Apparently they do have actual computers, well notebooks (not desktops), and about 15 of them so that’s really great. When I get to site they are on break for 3 months so I’ll have that time to set up the lab how I want it and all the software and everything. I can’t wait to start teaching computers here and most of the people (especially on Ambae) have never even touched a computer before so it’s going to be a challenge I look forward too.

So now that you know I’m going to be on Ambae, how about some very interesting facts about it? First off it’s located right near Santo and Malekula so I’m pretty happy about the location because it’s a great hub to visit people. (The rest of these facts are mostly from Wikipedia) Ambae, or Leper’s Island (I have no idea why) has a population of less than 10,000 and divided into 3-4 language groups. There are three airstrips, the closest one on west Ambae called Walaha. “The island appears to be covered in nearly unbroken vegetation; inhabited areas feature large gardens and managed forests…) So I’m pretty sure I’ll definitely be starting a garden which is pretty cool too! There are no reliable sources of surface water so all water comes from wells and water tanks from rainwater! 

Volcano..

Try not to worry mom but Ambae is characterized by the large volcano at its center called Manaro “indeed, the island is little more than the peak of a volcanic mountain rising dramatically from the sea.” In 2005 it was raised to a Level 2 volcano alert and it displaced half of the islands inhabitants and the evacuation of two hospitals.

“Manaro is widely regarded as one of the world’s top ten ‘most dangerous’ volcanoes, in terms of potential for a catastrophic eruption. One theory has it that given a large eruption, the water in Manaro’s crater lakes could become superheated steam and cause a massive phreatic explosion. The resulting landslides down the island’s steep slopes could cause tsunamis within Vanuatu’s northern archipelago.”

Insane.

I really wanted adventure and I’m pretty sure I got it. I definitely also want to buy a mountain bike and go exploring all the time. Also if you look on a map of Ambae and where the volcano is, the school I’m located at is directly west and I am the closest town center to the volcano! The really cool thing is Ambae’s volcano Manaro is the one that most people talk about climbing because when you do you get a tattoo signifying your journey, I believe the hike could be about 8 hours from one volunteer who told me. The good thing about this is MANY volunteers want to climb it and my house being so close I will act as a hub and will have a bunch of people to come visit me and stay at my house!

The other really great thing is there are two other volunteers going with me to Ambae! Zack Sherrard who is also in VITEL teaching English and is also probably the other most adventurous person in the group so we are going to have a hell of a time exploring this island. He’s also the closest volunteer to me although I’m not quite sure if the road goes all the way so he’s going to have to walk to get to my site part of the way. We already made plans and he’s probably going to crash at my place for a while because since school’s are on break, people have told us that there could only be one or two teachers left at the whole school itself leaving us pretty isolated and with no human interaction. The other volunteer is probably my best guy friend, my brosef stalin – Joel Klaus. He’s a cool dude from Texas and is in Community Health so he wasn’t in our village of Tanilou, he stayed in Mangaliliu. So needless to say I am super pleased with the volunteers on the island and there are also four other female volunteers on the island already.

Everyone got a folder explaining their site a little more, now I haven’t gotten a chance to read through it all yet but I did see some pictures and I like it so far. I have a two bedroom house and then a big living room area. It’s a custom house (meaning it’s made mostly out of bamboo and weaving). I’m definitely getting a cat or two to keep the rats away and for company. What’s a bummer about the IT sites, they are all on schools/colleges and not in a village like most of the Community Health and English vols. So I don’t really have a village but I won’t know what it’s like until I get there and I do have a host family so I’m excited about that because I really have no idea how to cook, especially on a foreign island. I also have my own bathroom, shower and kitchen but these things are all separate entities and they are all outside my house. I’m pretty sure it’s a bucket shower and I’m going to have to buy a little Rocket Stove they call it here so I can cook anything. I’m pretty sure that I have the most “bush” IT site but that’s not really a problem for me and I am looking forward to it. Because I’m on the western side of Ambae and because the airport on Santo (near Luganville the big city) is on the East, I’m only a 15 minute plane ride there! That’s really exciting so whenever I feel like I need some city life with hot water and Internet I can always hop on a plan and go stay with someone there. Now there is Internet on Ambae at the North I just don’t know how accessible it is from where I’m staying so I will update you all on that later and I just checked and the site DOES have Internet (how cool is that!?)

I was pretty happy with my Lonely Planet Vanuatu book up until I tried to look up info about Ambae – where they have a two paragraph section just saying that it has a volcano. So I don’t have too much to go on but I hear it’s a beautiful place, and also my College I’ll be teaching at is right on the ocean so that’s going to be incredible and I’ll have a constant view of this tremendous volcano I’ve read so much about. 

Well that’s pretty much all I know at this point, I hope after reading this you’re as excited as I am and you’re already planning your trip to come see me :) .