Thursday, July 4, 2013

Long Overdue

Hello! Let me start off by apologizing for not posting in a very longtime. My access to Internet is so very limited and the times I do get it (when I go to town) is usually a very frantic time and I just don't have time for the blog. Anyway I just wanted to say this will most likely be the last post. If you enjoy reading this blog I'm sorry to say that murdering pigs, trudging through mud, and eating nothing but crackers and peanut butter has become the norm in my life so I just can't keep talking about things that are new and exciting. Currently I'm in Central Pentecost but in about a month I will be heading to a new island called Santo. Very excited about it, but if you want to get in contact with me you can always do so by email or Facebook. Thanks for following this blog!

Monday, February 11, 2013

Life in the Penthouse

When I say Penthouse I mean my new island of Pentecost. Go ahead, look it up, it's ridiculously close to my last island Ambae but it couldn't be more different. I used to go through droughts in the dry season but there's plenty of water here. In fact there are a multitude of rivers and waterfalls which is awesome and I have a tap right outside my house! I'll never have to worry about water again. My house is located a five minute walk from both the river and the ocean which is pretty cool. Interesting fun fact about my new school of Melsisi: it's totally francophone. Which means they all speak French. This is pretty cool because maybe I'll get to learn French but I can only hope. The really difficult part is all of the computers (all five of them) are in French! Just imagine trying to work through Microsoft Word when everything is in French, yea pretty difficult. Hopefully my Francais picks up quick but other than that everything is great. My new host family is actually the principal of the school which is nice, he's really helpful and says I can come over and eat with them anytime which I will be sure to take full advantage of. 

So this will be my last training for a while so I'm not sure when I'll next have Internet, but I do have an iPhone now and I can get Internet on it so we'll see what happens! Here's some pics from the past few weeks, take care all!

View first night I got back from the US.


My plane with ONE pilot..what if he has a heart attack?

It's funny because as I stand here, I have 0 cell phone reception.




French school, French word for showers? Douches.

My neighbor left his door open, woops.

The waterfall at Waterfall Village


Thursday, January 17, 2013

Lots of updates

Hey I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this but if you are, I apologize for not updating in a while. A lot has been going on so I'll do my best with this post to update everyone up to this point!

Let's see, first off and probably the biggest is that I'm getting a site change. I won't go into too much detail but my other school was the first site for a PCV and I just don't think they were ready yet for a volunteer. So I found out I was moving before I left for the USA in December. So I packed up all of my stuff, put it on a ship, and sent it to the capital (yes even my bicycle which I was a little worried about). Everything actually made it just fine which was a big relief.

So about 8 of us all bought the same plane ticket to go home for the states in December which was cool because it beats travelling alone. After some very long plane rides (Vanuatu -> Fiji -> LA -> North Carolina -> Newark) I finally made it home! It was so incredible to see my family and friends again after being away for over a year. In the US I feel like everything has changed and yet everything is the same, it's hard to explain but so much has changed but really its the same as how I left it. I had an incredible time eating all of the best foods there is. I really missed good pizza and calzones and it goes on and on but basically food is really great, don't take for granted the ease and accessibility for getting any kind of kakae (food) you want!

Some other things you shouldn't take for granted: electricity and internet. Both are few and far between in Vanuatu and having both all of the time is really crazy but also extremely convenient and nice to have.

When I was home I did a lot of stuff that I can only do in America like bowling, movies, etc... I won't go on too much about my trip back home because this blog is about being a PCV in Vanautu but one thing that I got to do was ski again which was awesome and probably the thing I miss the most when I'm over there. I even was lucky enough to go on a trip to Stratton, Vermont with my two friends which you guys can check out here if ya like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqNuPGE1krs

I just came back to Vanuatu mid January and I was really looking forward to coming back. I know I had a site change but I wasn't sure which island I was going to next until I actually got here. It turns out I'm going to central Pentecost which should be a good time. It's totally francophone which means I need to start learning French if I want to fit in! I also have a river right by my site which is really cool, never have to take a bucket shower again! I don't know too much about the site but I'll be back in Vila again soon for training and then I can update everyone on the new site.

In the meantime here are some random pics I took since my last post, enjoy:
The flier for my farwell party

Me and my host brother at my farewell feast

One of my best buddies on Ambae, the chaplain with my farwell gifts

Shaiah!!!!

I'll miss this dog

Me giving a speech at my farwell party

All of the bags the great people at Londua gave me

Tekeroi!

Me and my counterpart/best friend Samsley

The wonderful truck of Londua!

Me and my friend Calvin wearing nambas