Repercussions, Vila Town & 4th of July

So I’m not going to go into too much detail but let’s just say Peace Corps wasn’t too happy with what happened and granted that’s due to me breaking some policy. A few days after everything happened I get a call from the office telling me I have a plane ticket to go in two days and that was all. Obviously I was pretty worried because at that point I thought they were bringing me in to kick me out of the Peace Corps which would have really sucked. Anyway I get into town after saying bye to some close friends telling them hopefully I would be back. I go in to one meeting and then am pretty much left to just sit in limbo for two weeks which wasn’t too fun. All I kept hearing was “no decision has been made” so there were some pretty stressful times here but then our country director came back (he was away in DC). This was an extremely good thing. Our current country director is one of the best people I know, he’s really great. We talked and he listened to my story and understood more of what happened from my perspective and asked me to do a few things so he could try to get me to stay (writing up a report of what happened, etc..)

So what happened after that was pretty surreal, the country director himself decided to come to Ambae and see what it’s all about, and guess what else? I’d be acting as his guide. So it was pretty ironic and pretty fast planning but he asked me how to get around and where to go so I told him and he asked me to walk around Ambae with him which I of course acquiesced. We flew into East Ambae, saw some other volunteers sites and then hopped on a truck and went for a pretty bumpy ride up to Mac and Joels site and spent the night. The next day we walked to Zacks site and that was no easy walk, luckily our CD is in pretty good shape and he was able to handle it greatly and this was a real eye opener for him, he said he gets to see how hard it is and what we have to deal with every day so I’m really glad he got to come.

Anyway it wasn’t all bad being in Vila and I got to be there for 4^th of July which was really a lot of fun! Something pretty fun to do in this country is to browse through Chinese shops and find the most ridiculous and outlandish clothes you can possibly find and then wear them! This time I got pretty lucky and found some good stuff (pics below) and we got to drink bud light and party on a beach with a bonfire. It was a good night and I’m glad I got to experience the most American holiday there is with other Americans! Also everything is all good now in case you were wondering and I’m going back to Ambae very soon, so here’s to hoping I don’t get in to any more trouble!