recent happenings

More stories from my sliver of the pie! 

The World Cup started up while I was in Vila for training and it was very fun watching it with friends over a cold beer, even if that refreshing drink was enjoyed while watching the 3 am, 6 am, or 9 am games! The real joy arrived back at site while crowded around a small tv with handfuls of people from the community! My headmaster rented a satellite (still a question if the school was the one who rented it or the headmaster.. as are most things dealing with school money unfortunately) In the school dining hall, we'd watch the games, everyone with their favorite teams. Viewers would pay 100 vatu an adult or 20 vatu a kid (a buck or 20 cents) to help pay for the generator. The generator magically worked perfectly for every game, even though it's been "sick" plenty of times beforehand.. also questionable.

hey scooby

Anyways, it was a great and busy few weeks with men and women coming & going! The light in my house would wake me up at 3 am (life without an on/off switch) and I'd make hot chocolate and go watch the game as the sun rose around us. If the games were during school like the semi-finals and finals, we'd have morning assembly hovering the television! Soccer is a big part of life here and the World Cup brought a spirit to the islands that I loved. And the spirit lives on! For Children's Day until Vanuatu Independence, fulap celebration happen all over the country. In North Ambae, they've temporarily named the fields where the sports and dancing will be held "Sao Paolo Stadium" and we're suddenly back in World Cup mode!

I'm pretty sure my house is going to be an ongoing 2 year project. Which is great news for someone who loves crafts! Here are a few things I've been working on

It's taken a while, but I've finally finished painting my main room. I love it! A very long process of mixing, spilling, cursing, laughing, and of course painting - but a gudfala memory indeed. I've never been good at coloring inside the lines, so it was no surprise when I got impatient and made some paint splash here and there. I blame good music and bad dance moves, mainly. Needless to say, the house is bright and colorful and, most of all, it feels like it's my own. 

the gift of giving!

Laura enouraged me to make a fun fund. It works like this: you seal it up, you randomly put money in it, and you open it up when a trip arises! Our fun funds are staying locked up until the October trip down to Tanna and Aneityum. I found some beat up books on the verge of becoming fire starter for my headmaster and got to pastin'. Here she is! The patterns from the books inspired me to paint the area behind my front door. Wa-la! Tacked up some poems, letters, and quotes that friends have sent me (thank you Amanda Powell and Lauren Kurtz!!) and now I've got another favorite part of my home. 

The door into my bedroom stays open all the time and it asked me for a new purpose. I got out my handy dandy painter's tape (which I failed to use elsewhere, hence all the paint in the wrong places) and made a chalkboard planner! I bought a tin of chalkboard paint in Vila and painted a couple boxes throughout the house. The quote bubble on top is going to house a new quote every week. I really like quotes. Actually, if you have a chance, send me your favorites!

Anyways, the door planner is brand new and hasn't been put to use yet. I'll list which classes I meet with each day and any school events on the horizon. Looks like my busy, overworked life will finally be organized.. Haha... 

A nice reminder. What's a home without a motto?!

Some projects coming up are my new bed, a reading bench, and a swing for the big nakatambol tree outside my parent's house. Also, I need to finally set my solar up on top of my roof. The Peace Corps provides satellite phones and solar systems to those of us with shitty phone reception. Gotta be prepared for all of nature's unexpected visits while living on the coast of a volcano where earthquakes happen on the reg! That ring of fire...

As for fruit, nakavika are currently in season - crispy little wild apples! When the season starts, the tree bursts into bright magenta fireworks frozen in time. It's wonderful! Eventually it sheds the pink all over the place and it looks like a shag carpet the pink panther would have. Once the last petal joins the rest, the nakavika tree is ready to bare fruit. And what delicious fruit it shares! I've been eating them every day with honey for the past 3 weeks and I'm definitely not ready to let up. My family thinks I'm a little crazy for the apple honey combo (they clearly don't know the best part of rosh hashanah: apples and honey for a sweet new year!) they also think I'm nuts for eating peanut butter with my bananas, so it's obvious that we have different tastes. 

nakavika for days!

I'm sad to say that mandarin season is coming to an end. We've been eating those things like they're going out of style! Which, in fact, they are. In about a month. The mandarins here come in all forms: jumbo, bitty, soft, juicy, extra sweet, mild, and everything in between. The ones the ship carries from West Ambae are very delicious, so it's always a treat when my family on West sends us a citrus love gift. There hasn't been a day that I haven't eaten a mandarin (some days it's more like 10+) and pissing like a maniac in response! I've religiously been singing a part of a phish song called wombat that I can't stop listening to: 

Spit out the seeds

Gnaw on the pulp

Suck on the juice

Simmer the rinds 

Once I start peeling, it's habit to start singing. My brother Vira wanted to learn it, so now I have fun overhearing him repeating the mandarin mantra, too. I don't think I will ever forget the association of the song with this season!

Before mandarins, it was nakatambol. Little yellow balls a little bigger than a ping pong that really don't do much for me, but they love them here. There's a tree outside my house and kids were climbing all over it to collect the nakatambol. I ate my fair share, but they didn't have much taste and were hard and chewy. Oh well! Can't win us all, nakatambol!