It was a rainy, chilly weekend, but that was just fine and dandy! Can’t really complain about full rain tanks and overflowing buckets after a long dry winter, so I won’t. Plus, rainy and chilly create the perfect scenario for a hot springs soak, which we sure did. Not sure how I got so lucky to have a beautiful hot spring tide pool in my backyard, but it sure does make the rainy, chilly days that much better! That evening, we ate some island pizza and poured mulled wine while it poured outside.
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| steamy bliss |
Island Pizza:
Make two pizza doughs, put the first one on the pan with olive oil underneath. Add your toppings – capsicum, garlic, onion, tomato, and mushroom. And some seasoning – za’atar if you’ve got any, simply because it makes the finest island pizza around. Cover the pan and cook over the fire (medium flames, but not roaring) for 15 ish minutes. Squeeze the coconut milk over the pizza, cover, and cook for another 10 or so. Uncover and let the dough crisp for 5 minutes, remove and cover to keep hot. Next is…
Dessert Pizza:
Re-oil the pan. Lay out dough numbatu and add your toppings – bananas, coconut shavings, and Milo cocoa mix. Cook, add the coconut milk, cook some more, and remove.
Enjoy in whatever order makes you happiest!
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| a smoky island pizza |
On Sunday we got to work on the big bad tile floor project. Except we realized that it wasn’t going to work – my floor isn’t flat or even (or anything closely related to those two adjectives) and, to make things more interesting, the doors would be jammed open if we laid tile! So we brainstormed for a bit and decided to start mosaic-ing the bottom half of my walls. It’s going to be a long project, but pretty relaxing and looks cool as shit. Long live arts and crafts! I decided to write an article about it in the Van Am, our volunteer newspaper. I’ll post it in another entry. By the end of the day, I was feeling quite sick and my papa walked Jessie Rae to the shortcut to meet her waiting husband. This began the 6 day blackout journey of stomach sickness, a tale of toilet treks and sorrow. The origin unknown, but can most likely be traced back to the ded I went to—there’s really no telling who or what passed this stomach bug to me, but it happened! I called myself a kiaman (liar) but had to keep reminding myself that this, too, shall (and did) pass. Back to that in a sec!
Once a year, the safety and security budget pays for a consolidation party for island mates. Because of natural disasters and other unpredictable events, Peace Corps wants us to practice coming together on short notice. It’s supposed to be a surprise so that each volunteer must quickly find reliable transportation, charter the truck to the consolidation point and stay there for the night. But! We actually got to choose our consolidation weekend, so that took half the fun out of it. But who am I kidding, this way is much easier. Reliable transportation on Ambae is about on par with ice cream on the island – every once in a while it’s available, but don’t hold your breath. Now that I type it out like this, it’s a little frightening! The ice cream part, I mean.
Our consolidation happened the second weekend in October. This was at the tail end of my 6-day solo expedition, consisting only of trips to and from the toilet. Quite the adventure! Bed was basecamp and my pit toilet was just what it sounds like. Can’t really fancy up the image there. Thank goodness for green coconuts! Because they sure beat ORS packets when it’s the only thing you’re consuming for a week. I’m not sure what upset my inner workings so badly, but I’d prefer it to stay away.
I will proudly say that my toilet timing was quite accurate – not once did I have any slip ups, even though it felt like all forces of the cosmic universe were rooting for that. I cannot, however, say that the same thing worked out in November. After a week of weak bel syndrome, I should have seen it coming… the tummy gurgles, the belly rumbles, the long squats over my beloved pit toilet. However, one idle Friday morning, I was totally unprepared to be initiated into the much-coveted age old society. I, Alison Terez Levin, pooped my pants. It wasn’t as horrifying as I would have imagined. It probably would have been light years worse if I had decided to follow a truck into town for pay day instead of waiting for my parents to finish up work before heading in. On the truck! In a shop! Away from the safety of my little world that consists of cottage, toilet, swimhouse, and bush kitchen! I’m shuddering in fear just thinking of it. Good thing I get along with myself and am pretty good at keeping secrets. Haha, or maybe not. This one is too ridiculous not to share! Sometimes you just have to surrender to this wild ride and laugh with yourself. Sorry Dami, but I hope you’re laughing a little bit, too. Shit happens!
I felt like casually inserting the above story has helped lower the shock of hearing it. Why not leave it out so that your 3-7 readers can go about their day without a wince, cringe or recoil? It needed to be shared. It begged to be shared! You must celebrate these things! My friend Dave said that when we head into Vila next week, we’ll buy each other a drink for both being new inductees. What a shameful, lonely world this would be without friendship!
So back to consolidation weekend! I hesitated going to town because I was still a slave to the pit toilet, but Sydney convinced me that it would lift my spirits, and she was right. I got to town and dropped my stuff off at Tui Lodge, one of the 4 guesthouses in Saratamata. They are all pretty simple, but at 30 bucks a night, Tui Lodge is by far the nicest! Cement walls in permanent structures, a big kitchen with stove and full gas tank, and water seal toilets! The place is covered in vines and flowers and has a nice cozy feel to it. I opened some letters and a package I received from home. The combination of antibiotics and hearing from a wonderful friend from home started turning my day around. Did I mention that friendship is a cure-all?
I went down to Lemus Store and sat with Jessie Rae as she and her counterpart passed out blue ribbons and info cards for World Mental Health Day. Most people in Vanuatu have been bombarded with enough aid orgs and NGOs to have heard the spiel on washing your hands and brushing your teeth, but many of the problems are much deeper than primary health. I’ve mentioned the domestic and child abuse, the defined gender roles, the pressures to become “civilized,” the corruption, and other elements of living in a developing country… And it seems that there is a huge disregard for how impactful these things are. Swept under the rug or woven mat or whatever you’ve got. This method of dealing with mental health sounds familiar to how we look at it back at home, too. Lolowai Hospital has a mental health wing and according to Jessie Rae, it is visited more often than you’d think. One of Jessie Rae’s main goals here is promoting positive mental health –spreading the word about mental health, that it’s not a disease or problem, but a state of being. Making sure we place as much emphasis on being healthy mentally as physically. Hey, sounds like an important message for all of us!
So I sat with Jessie and Bev as people’s eyes lit up at hearing them describe mental health, as if this concept couldn’t have been more relevant to their lives. One grandmother from Michelle’s village was blown away and said she’s seen signs of some mental health issues in her communty. They are organizing a workshop up in the village for next month! People were interested in learning how the collective mental health of a village affects the individual mental health as well. Although I was feeling horribly sick and useless, these interactions shifted my attitude. Thank you, World Mental Health Day and all of its allies!
Most of the day was spent relaxing. Sydney, Michelle, Jessie, Rae, Nathan, and I got settled and made some dinner. I didn’t partake in the eating, but enjoyed the company nonetheless! Nathan is an expert burger preparer, so I was bummed to miss out. My bel was grateful for my decision and thanked me passively by only dragging me to the toilet a few times that evening!
On Saturday we went swimming in the ocean and were lazy most of the day. Sydney hopped a truck back to site, Michelle stayed with family, and I went to Jessie Rae and Nathan’s for the rest of the weekend! A fun coupla days with good people. I headed back to site on Monday feeling much better than I had the week before. Back to work!
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| snooze town usa |
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