beaches of normalcy

passionfruit flower power

vira and moris modeling with the passionfruit

One morning I woke up thinking about the things I’ve gotten used to over the past 10 months. The funny thing about thinking about the things you’ve gotten used to is that you overlook so many other things because they are now normal occurrences of life. Otherwise saying, this list does no justice to all of the other elements of normalcy that I don’t even notice anymore. But, for shits and giggles, here are 10 things I came up with. Enjoy!

1. Reading the sky for the weather. Knowing what corner over the mountain to look to for rain. Trusting, without hesitation, people who say it will rain the next day. Removing my clothes from the line when this happens and not regretting it the next day

2. When it does start to rain, putting all of my buckets out for water collection. Each bucket and bowl has a strategic location in the chance of downpour. Feeling sheer joy when seeing full buckets of clean rain water!

3. Waking up to my puskats crunching rat bones. Having to remove the faces and tails left behind in the morning. Knowing where they hide the tails I don’t immediately find. Having a new connection to the term “rat tail” and being weirdly proud of my animals for their hunting abilities

4. Building a fire once or twice a day. Choosing the correct dry, but not too dry, coconut leaves for kindling. Controlling the strength of my fire depending on what I’m cooking. Slowly getting used to the burning, teary eyes that the smoke brings. Finding out that cooking is not only a favorite part of my day, but also a useful coping method for me

5. Bucket baths. Using less than half a bucket and considering it plenty of water. In Vanuatu, they call bathing “swimming” or “swimswim,” which is something I say now. It just makes sense! And is probably one of those weird pidgin language terms I’ll always say. Another one is saying “sipos” instead of “if.” Fancy!

6. Sitting unfazed in the midst of local language chatter, pretty much all of the time. Learning to read expressions to figure out the tone of the conversation. Making up fake scenarios in my head and getting stared at when I break into laughter. Appreciating the beautiful fact that many of the local languages in Vanuatu are alive and thriving. Cherishing that I get a glimpse into an ancient mother tongue. Learning phrases to better connect with my Ambae community. Shocking oldfala who hear me use vernacular!

7. Naturally making the sounds of exasperation made in Vanuatu… “Awo!” “Awe le le” “Cas” “Hmm hm hm” “Maaaan” and randomly saying things like “Curry” and “Kakae” and “Honest” (non-silent H) to express disbelief. I’ve even found myself with a slang of my own- turning “Maaan” into “Maaanday Tuesday” which just pours out of my mouth as if I’ve been saying it my whole life

8. Shaking hands with every person I pass, telling them where I have been and where I am heading. In turn, asking them the same questions and being genuinely interested in their answers. Always assuming I call them either uncle, anti, mami, dadi, bumbu, brotha or sista if we are in North Ambae. Enjoying this interaction!

9. Knowing the different stages of baby fright. I’ve defined this by <4 months means they are okay with me, 4 months-1 year means they are afraid of me and cry, and 1-2 years means they are also afraid of me and cry. Anything past 2 years is a wild card. I make a lot of babies cry. It’s the white skin thing.

10. Sweating. I forgot about sweating when it was “winter” and I slept with a blanket! Now it’s November and I spend most of my time sweating. Or in prettier terms, purifying and detoxing my body. I can confidently say that this makes swimming (both with the bucket and in the sea) the most satisfying sensation in the world.

There you have it! 10 things that are perfectly normal to my current self. The phrase in Bislama is “Laef i olsem” or “Life is like that” or that this just the way it is!

bath house visitor