adventures in vanuatu: epau part deaux

week two of Epau training. This post is all over the place on account of my brain has temporarily turned into jello due to class load. Enjoy!

Oh yes! And a really really big thank you to everyone who has sent me letters through Sam or good ol airmail. You’ve made my day, week, month! It’s so nice to open up a card and connect with someone, I really can’t describe how much it brightens my day. Thank you!

On Sunday I went to church with my family. Epau has 5 denominations: Presbyterian, Seventh Day Adventists, Bible Church, Assembly of God, and Christ Church. Christianity is a big thing here (in Vanuatu and Epau) so church is a big part of culture. I actually don’t mind going to church as long as they keep it under 2 hours (one hour preferably) Church is so ingrained in the communities in Vanuatu that it’s a great way to see everyone and become integrated. Plus, I like singing. And trying to keep up with the sermon is helpful with learning Bislama! This Sunday there was a big farewell to the pastor and his wife who had been living in Epau for three years. After church, we Presbyterian churchgoers went to the nakamal and had a smol kakae (huge meal) and everyone lined up to give the pastor gifts. It was a nice time

dr seuss’s church

Divya, a current vol originally on Maewo but now placed in Epau, offered to pick us up groceries in Vila and help is cook up a meal! That night, we ate spaghetti with lamb sausage and parmesan (I really miss cheese) and it was delicious! For dessert we had chocolate and I was able to fall asleep with a full belly, one of the rare occasions at the training village.

One day we were sitting around talking about the challenge of using any sort of schedule while also embracing island time. I’ve loved this slower pace of life, don’t get me wrong. But I think we’re so used to some sort of time table that being easy going in America is still far more structured than the norm here! Antoine, one of the ni-Vanuatu peace corps staff members came up and joined our conversation. He laughed and said, “We say that you’ve got watches, but we’ve got time!” I found this to be profound. He continued by explaining that a Ni-Vanuatu may be heading somewhere on time, but if they see someone they want to storian with, they always find that to be priority. They have time for living. Very neat! Not always effective in conventional terms, but if we’re talkin’ life here (which we are) I’d say that’s a damn good way to live.

Nangus has a bunch of pigs and piglets, which rocks, except the fact that you could confuse these pigs with big dogs because they’re so skinny. I’ve never seen skinny pigs before. Frankly, it’s disturbing. The families don’t seem phased by it, which is odd because of the importance pigs play in Vanuatu culture. I’m grateful that my Ambae family’s pig Wala is a fatty- as he should be! They’re fattening him up to help his tusks grow long. More on pig tusks later..

The actual technical training has been hit or miss. I’ve really liked learning the alternative teaching styles and will probably take that path inside (and outside) my classroom. Because I’ve never formally taught before, I have plenty to learn and think most of that will take place in Ambae as it’s happening. I’m alright with that! Next week we have our practicum in the classroom and I’m looking forward to figuring that out. Lesson plans, here I come! Maybe?

We’ve been celebrating so many birthdays here! Kelsey’s on the 5th (also Chief’s Day) and Jen’s on the 13th. 8/9 trainees from Sunai had a February or March birthday, plus our trainer Elinda and her sister! Pretty interesting dynamic if you think of all the Pisces floating around during our sessions.

March 11th we had a cyclone, which I’ll write about in another post. Crazy stuff! Glad cyclone season will be finished soon.

kelsey’s house, post cyclone, with tires holding down the roof!

We were assigned topics about Vanuatu and had to give oral history presentations to the community. The topics ranged from how plantations led to independence, the sandalwood era, and US presence in Vanuatu during World War 2. Kelsey’s topic was about yams! Who knew how significant yams could be? Quite fittingly, my topic was missionaries. I had a good time learning about who came to what islands, what diseases they spread, what traditions they destroyed, and what violence occurred. Along with that, I learned about how highly these foreigners are now thought of and the good they did: bringing the gospel to Vanuatu. I’ve mentioned before how important Christianity is here and I’m glad (to some extent) that they have it because it seems to help the community function positively. If you ask someone (which we did) what he or she would think if another Ni-Vanuatu didn’t believe in Jesus, he’d laugh. It’s nonsense to them to even throw that idea into the universe! It was pretty eerie seeing old pictures of natives wearing the European’s clothing – it just wasn’t natural. I think it’s sad that so much kastom was lost with the shift to Christianity, but I don’t think that all changes were bad for future survival. I think the most radical change missionaries made was ending cannibalism in Vanuatu. Apparently Jesus doesn’t want us to eat each other.

Jen’s topic was about Chief Romada and the Naflak clans. I think it’s a cool one so I’m sharing it now, but a shortened version. A long time ago (no one can find a date, but pre white man coming here) there was a lot of unrest on Efate. Clan vs. clan rivalry and wars were destroying society due to land disputes among the tribes. One well known warrior, Chief Romada, decided it wasn’t right and something needed to be changed. He carried the namele leaf and went into the villages. Namele is a peace leaf that is found on the Vanuatu flag. Today it’s used for protecting land and marine conservation areas and everyone respects it’s purpose. You can even see namele leaves on fruit trees if a family is trying to make thee tree stronger or keep the good oranges to themselves. Chief Romada went to the villages and wasn’t killed and eaten because of his reputation and the namele he carried. He told everyone that things are getting out of hand. He spread the word for all to meet on a certain date (also unknown) and bring food.

So people from every village on Efate showed up with different foods to eat. At this point, Chief Romada told those carrying manioc to all come together. Same with banana, octopus, shark, yam, coconut, etc. Once they all were in these new groups, he told them that these are your new families. And that is how the Efate Naflak clans came about. You get your clan identity passed down from your mother. To this day, everyone on Efate knows their clan. There are a couple of rules: you can’t marry within your clan (ex: clam can’t marry a clam) and you can’t kill another member of your clan. Chief Romada said that if you killed someone from your clan, it would be like risking a life without that food in existence. And to build on that, if you kill other clans, you are weakening the flavors of life! Such an interesting piece of history, I love it. My papa here in Epau is a fish and my mom is a nawita (octopus) so I’m a nawita, too!

Find yourself wondering what happened to Chief Romada once he died? On Hat Island, a small uninhabited island off of Efate, some people gathered to bury him and mourn his death. Apparently while wailing and drinking kava, they decided he couldn’t go to the afterlife alone, so many men jumped in and were buried alive with him. Jen’s papa told her that French archaeologist dug up the remains, but were so haunted by them that they returned what was left to the island.

On Saturday Nangus hosted a blockem ceremony for our very own Leinangus, meaning girl from Nangus. A blockem ceremony is a formal way of saying “we’re not getting married yet, but that’s the plan.” It’s similar to an engagement, but one you can’t call off. Relationships are a big thing here and once you make it public, it’s permanent. So we were in for a cultural treat! Leinangus and Feta (seriously, his name is Feta. This doesn’t help my cheese withdrawal) met over the phone and now their families are coming together to meet and exchange gifts. All morning the mamas of Nangus were cooking up food. These ladies act like a well-oiled machine when a celebration is in order. They made huge lap laps, the biggest pots of rice and soup I’ve ever seen, and tables full of bread for tea.

mamas at work

Feta’s crew of three pick up trucks came to Nangus from another village on Efate called Malfau. Both of the families exchange huge piles of gifts and we all gathered around for the ceremony. I thought it’d be nice to give them matching bracelets as a congrats! When it came time for the ceremony, my grandmother pulled me aside, fixed me aside, and dragged me in front of the crowd to deliver the bracelets. Didn’t plan on it being a big anything at all, but everyone clapped and a woman put baby powder on my neck – a kastom here at celebrations. I later learned that the bracelets are serving as their bonding symbols, kinda like an engagement ring. Whoa! After the ceremony, we drank kava and tea and hung out until the end of the evening. It was a cool experience and I’m looking forward to more celebrations here!