here we are, home at last

2 minute walk behind my house! hot spring + pacific ocean, a really happy place

written on may 1 & 2 ish

I can't believe it's already May! Or that it's only May? Both thoughts have run through my mind a handful of times in my first month at site and both are always followed with the happy realization that this is my home, my family, and my life for the next two years. Here's to surviving month 1 at site!

The plan was to come back to Vila in June for PST2 (Pre-Service Training 2) to binge on dairy and showers, but I'll be going back May 9th for a week now, too! Most (maybe all, I'm not sure) Peace Corps posts have two elected groups: VAC, or Volunteer Advisor Committee, and GAD, Gender and Development Committee. I applied to join GAD and found out a couple of weeks ago that I was chosen to join! gad (I'm going lowercase because you say "gad" not "G-A-D" and that's enough screaming in this post) does great things and I loved their sessions during training. gad holds trainings and workshops to teach and encourage sustainable development through gender equality. It's important in Vanuatu where there are traditional roles for men and women in most settings and plenty of room for community action. Next week I get to attend the GBV (gender-based violence) workshop for the older volunteers and their site counterparts in Port Vila and in August, I'll be facilitating the ToT (Training of Trainers - Peace Corps has a thing for acronyms) which trains the other volunteers and their counterparts on how to run Camp GLOW/BILD (here we go again - Girls Leading Our World and Boys In Leadership Development) I'm really excited about the gad committee stuff and know that it will be a rewarding part of my service! the committee's chair Lynn created the website, it explains things much better than I can: http://gadvanuatu.com/

It's difficult to take this 24/7 fascinating experience and turn it into words on a screen. How do writers do it? I'll never know. I'm in limbo trying to not sound like an informational monster, but still explaining things enough where they make sense. There are so many unusual things happening in my life and they're quickly becoming normal, which is even more unusual. Here's another attempt at articulating some of it -

I got to site on April Fool's Day, because that's how the world works, and sighed with relief of arriving home (literally, arriving - the planes here do not make smooth landings) I took the hour truck ride to Qwatuneala Primary School and arrived just when work party was ending. Work party, also known as "bring your bush knife to school day," is this wonderful event once a week when the students clean up the school and do projects around campus after lunch. The kids love being outdoors with their friends and 160 students really get shit done! Plus, they've been doing this stuff in the villages since they were toddlers so they're good at it. Since being at site, the students have helped me build my garden, collect firewood, clear out my backyard, and build a handwashing station. Party on!

house from the back - kitchen on the left, swim house and toilet on the right

I talked with my parents, telling them about second half of training and they helped me settle in. Most of my belongings (including my mattress- should of thought that one through) were on a cargo ship planned to a arrive to Ambae in a couple of days. Planned and actual usually don't match up here, especially with transportation, so my first two weeks were lacking most of my things. As you can imagine, this made the arrival of my boxes with nothing missing all the more sweeter! My family took care of me and it wasn't a problem. They are wonderful people and I was thrilled to be back on Ambae! More on Ambae in another post. But for now - I live in northeast Ambae in Lotahimamavi, or fire water in local language! I have a hot spring in my back yard... it makes a chilly day feel like a treat! My house is on school grounds where I teach, Qwatuneala Primary School.

My primary assignment is teaching English to class 1, 2, and 3. The students learn English from 7:30-9:30 am, so I've made a rotation where I see those classes throughout the week. Pretty sweet gig! Other than that, I've been figuring out secondary projects and getting my house set up. I spend a good portion of my life between two trees, either in a hammock or walking (fumbling) across a slackline. I've been working through crosswords, practicing yoga, and exploring new music. A life without internet and other time fillers is very refreshing. No complaints! I brought my laptop with me and, thanks to the volunteers who know how to download massive amounts of media, have an external hard drive full of tv shows, music, podcasts, and movies. This really comes in handy.

view from the hammock

My parents, Ishmael & Jennifer Mala, are the second coolest parents ever (you're welcome, real mom and dad!) They've been together for 25 years and have both been teachers for a long time. My papa is the zca or zone curriculum adviser. His job is to oversee the 12 schools in our zone on Penama province - north Ambae. My mama is the class 2 teacher at school.. along with my aunt who teaches class 2, my cousin teaching class 4, and another cousin as the headmaster/class 6 teacher. We all live on school grounds. It's a family affair! In fact, the whole island of Ambae is family. I sing out ankal, anti, brata, sista, bumbu, mami, and dadi to most people. This makes me feel safer. You may be asking something along the lines of "if you're related to everyone, how do people still act/look normal after so many years of this?" Michelle, a volunteer on my island, explained that there are two overlapping blood lines in Ambae and everyone knows who you can marry/make kids with and when it's taboo. It's a pretty good strategy actually. Personally, I'm avoiding the whole situation for my own happiness and security, so no worries of incest for me. Phew.

at the school entrance. howdy!

school grounds. check out that mango tree!

My parents are from villages antap (on top, or in land closer to the volcano) but both went to Qwatuneala when they were pikinini. It was the first school my mom taught at when she became a teacher 20 years ago, and my dad and her lived there in the 90's for 8 years when my dad was the headmaster. They have plenty of memories on school grounds and I love when they tell me where the old mango tree was, how they helped build the kindy building, and a whole variety of stories of the past. They are wonderful! I can tell by how he interacts with everyone that my papa is really respected where I live. He's goofy and the three of us have inside jokes and laugh a lot. They have been so kind and generous to me and I am already so grateful for their friendship.

Because the school term ends mid May for two weeks, I haven't taught on my own yet - just observing and giving pre-assessments to the kids. The literacy levels are all over the place, so hopefully I can help even things out. Hopefully is the key word here, considering I've never really taught before. Learn as you go!

The kava on Ambae is far superior to that on Efate that I drank during training. The outer islands grow large amounts of kava, so when you drink it, it's fresher and more potent. It also doesn't mess with your bel as much. Kava is the national drink here and a big part of culture. It isn't a violent, addictive substance, but a way to connect with the earth and those around you. I drink kava 4-5 nights a week. My papa usually goes to the kava bar and takes a few shells and then brings back a jumbo water bottle for my mama, him, and myself (me? I? dami, I'm not sure.. sorry!) to split. Sometimes my brother and friends are around to drink or other family members stop by for the evening. You fill up a glass, go to a corner of the yard, and sing out "malogu" or the local word for kava, and gulp it down. the tastes sucks, but a few minutes later, the effects settle in and you feel nice. After 15 or 30 minutes, you take another shell if you'd like and that's how the night goes. I usually drink 3-5, depending on the strength and how i'm feeling. It's not aggressive back-to-back chugging, just a great way to socialize, storian, and get a good night's sleep. No hangovers, too! I think I'll end up writing more about kava in the future, but this is enough for now! Haha one last thing - my family has a kava garden and one night my papa and brother grinded down some kava for us to enjoy. I like plays on words so I sang out "ishmael mala-gu" when we drank and my papa spit out his kava laughing, it was quite a scene! And another-when I started drinking, I would make sure I had on a darker shirt because I'd end up spilling some of it. I guess I'm still a toddler. But I called this my kavattire and they'd always get a kick out of it. Gotta love the world of spoken language!

I love my little house. I've added a couple pictures from it. When I go to Vila, I'm going to buy some paint for the outside and inside. all of the square panels you'll see below will be different colors and outside will be a light brown ish color. I'm hopefully going to find some cheap broken tile so I can mosaic my front porch.

my ode to vanuatu corner. gotta keep those island dresses wrinkle free!

food-making zone

where i sit and ponder, do crosswords, and play with watercolors

dream station

food safe-turned-armoire.. no more rat holes in my clothes!

my pretend bathroom counter

figured out how to do panorama!

view from my porch

A bunch of my uncles helped me build my bush kitchen, too. I convinced them to make the walls low and to have a big opening because those things get smokey. We ended up compromising because it wasn't conventional enough for them, but it turned out great! I blared Bob Marley and cut up oranges for them (the secrets to getting shit done here) and it was finished in a few hours and ready for cookin'. Woo hoo!

kitchen in progress

finished! always trust a man who wears a belt with his sweatpants..

Once I get to town, I'll find some time to sit down in the resource room and type up some more life happenings. Adios!

a few lessons i've learned so far

• all good things must dry in the end. and if they don't, throw them on top of your tin kitchen and let the sun kill the mold
• too much kava means peeing in the middle of the night. the infamous pee bucket is a volunteer's most prized possession when its 2 in the morning. 
• always keep your mosquito net tucked in
• washing your clothes by hand takes the same time but you're present during all of it
• ill never underestimate the value of a good book
• cleaning out a french press is challenging with no running water, but coffee is worth the clean up. when it rains hard and you have all the time in the world, a fun game is letting the drops of your roof clean it out. also fun with cleaning your toothbrush!