adventures in vanuatu: new kids on the block

Last year when I got to my site for the first time, I was lucky to have Michelle and Sydney, two older Ambae volunteers, with me to help ease the transition. Even though bush life during training helped prepare me for the daily occurrences on an outer island, this new place was about to be my home, community, family, everything for the next two years, which nothing can quite prepare you for. At the time I was grateful (still am of course) for their tips, their grasp on Bislama and local kastom, and I admired the easy pattern they fell into when storying with people – things you learn after some time out here. Anyways, I knew at that point that when the new volunteers eventually (how time passes) come after me, I’d pay it forward and give them a hand.

The new volunteers’ site placements were not excluded from the things Cyclone Pam jumbled up in Vanuatu. Many of their sites were in the Shepherds, on Tanna, and on the outer islands surrounding Efate. So by the time the trainees became volunteers mid-April, plenty of them had new sites to look forward to. Ambae would be receiving her fair share of new kids on the block: Grace would be living in Saratamata and working for the provincial government doing IT work, Avery heading to Vuimberugu to work at the aid post, Kathleen to Wainasasa to teach primary school, and Thomas replacing Jessie Rae and Nathan at Ambaebulu as a teacher. Peace Corps asked me to accompany Kathleen to her site while Michelle (who used to be at Kathleen’s site) would be taking up Avery to get him settled.

Before the sites were confirmed, Peace Corps requires visible confirmation on elements such as locks on the house, screen windows, a toilet, and bathhouse. The office asked me to make these checks for the two North Ambae sites a few weeks before their arrival. My papa and I set off early in the morning and made our way up to Wainasasa. My parents were teachers (my papa the headmaster) at Simon School in Wainasasa for eight years when my siblings were little. They loved it there and (no surprise) the village loved my parent’s warmhearted, easy going natures. Everyone time I visit Wainasasa, many people tell me how they love being around my parents and I let them know I couldn’t agree more. We checked out Michelle’s old house, soon to be Kathleen’s new house, and hiked over to Vuimberugu. I had been to Wainasasa several times, but this was my first time at Avery’s future site. It is so peaceful in the bush and I fell in love with the hike to Vuimberugu, ups and downs and bridge crossings and overwhelming views of the ocean. We got to his house and met his family. His papa is the bigfala chief, who I call Dadi Paulwin, and he and his wife were so kind. Avery is a tall man and his little house would be a funny fit. Dadi Chief showed us his tilapia ponds which were close to harvesting and my papa and I got excited with the prospects of our own tilapia pond plans. We followed a different trail back down and leisurely wound up on the main road and eventually home. Hiking with my papa is always a treat because he, like most man-Vanuatu, is so in tune with nature. Walking these paths is as natural as breathing for him and he’s always generous with insight and outlook. It ended up being a really nice day and I was looking forward to returning to North Ambae sooner than later with its new residents.

The full 7 days before they arrived, the weather on Ambae was absurd. Minus a few short spells, it didn’t stop raining for the whole week! On one of these days, my mama, papa, and I decided to embrace the pouring rain and walk to town. It’s a good thing Vanuatu’s money is now plastic because nothing was dry about this journey. Right after the first big hill on our wokabaot home, my flip flops broke and I finished the 10 mile round trip barefoot. Minus the rocky patches, the dirt road (turned mud pit) felt great! We grabbed some bush cabbage along the road and took turns throwing coconut shells at a mandarin tree that bloomed early. When we got home, my papa shot a small pig and we roasted it with the cabbage for a delicious dinner.

It seemed as though the wet-ther wasn’t planning on easing up for the new pis kops’ arrival. It was a cloudy, gloomy, muddy mess and would make it pretty impossible for a truck to get us to the northern road village Vuivetu before the hike up to their homes. But! Lo and behold! Ambae must have read something somewhere about the importance of first impressions and the day they arrived the sun decided to show up and it was a gloriously cloudless blue sky kinda Wednesday. They hopped off the plane with grins on their faces (I remember these feelings vividly... so this little building is our airport? And did we just fly over an incredible reef and a coconut plantation before landing at it? Is this home now?) Everyone was here now, plus the folks heading to Maewo, Johanna, Aaron, and Leah who have to take a 1 ½ hour boat ride over from Ambae. As we waited for all of the bags to be flung off the plane, they looked around nervously, not seeing their stuff. True to nature, nothing happens smoothly in this country. I have come to learn that plan A is just for kicks and plan B, C, D, and so on usually unfold in their own roundabout ways. If Peace Corps has taught me anything, it would be the importance of flexibility. Life is much more enjoyable if you go along for the ride instead of always trying to direct the course. In my little home, I have a picture of my friend Shea and I at AfrikaBurn (Hey Shea!) and we’re holding a sign we found that says “Relax, nothing is under control.” Amen!

Anyways, Air Vanuatu said the bags would be on the afternoon flight, so we decided to postpone our trip up North until the next day so Avery and Kathleen could have their luggage (and mattresses, mosquito nets, medicine, everything) with them at site. The Maewo folks had it a little more difficult – with a boat to catch before afternoon set in, they took mental inventory of what was in their carry-ons and decided to head to their island. They were already aware that this is all a part of the adventure!

We dropped off Thomas at his site (Jessie and Nathan’s old place where I spent many a slumber party sharing jugs of cheap red wine and storying until late in the night) and we all dropped our stuff off at Grace’s new place. Her situation is a bit different because she’s working at the provincial office and lives in town. Her place is a little two room (but two-story) building inside a guesthouse with an amazing porch upstairs that catches the ocean breeze. I wouldn’t trade my little world for her flush toilet, icebox, and running water, but that doesn’t mean I won’t cherish it every time I come in for pay day! We went down to the saltwater and swam for a bit, relishing in the incredible view of mountainous, waterfall-filled Maewo just across the way while savoring our own slice of paradise. Turns out that afternoon when we went back to get the bags from the airport, they hadn’t arrived and were promised to be on the next morning’s flight. Okay, okay, sure! That night we made burgers and got to know each other (as someone pointed out, our newly assigned friends!) and the next morning we headed to the airport for their things. Surprise! No gat. Nothing i kam, no wan samtin! They were a bit bummed, but life travels on, so we hopped in the truck and headed North. Once we arrived at Vuiveto, Kathleen and I split from Michelle and Avery and started the half hour hike up to her site. When we finally reached the clearing, we heard shouts of “Michelle, Michelle!” from all the little kids, really disappointing them when they realized we weren’t their favorite tuturani (language for white man) ever. This, along with our sweat-soaked, huffing puffing selves, made for an awkward first few moments at Kathleen’s new home for 2 years. Michelle is basically a North Ambae superstar and Wainasasa’s pride and joy. They knew she was visiting, but Michelle wasn’t going to spoil Kathleen’s welcome with her reunion and planned on stopping by on Saturday. I’m pretty convinced that sooner than later Kathleen will join Michelle in superstar status, just gotta be patient. We met her host parents and discovered that I singaot Auntie to Kathleen. Everyone’s family in this neck of the woods!

That night the school hosted a welcome kakae where the headmaster, Kathleen, and I gave speeches. They nervously asked Kathleen if she liked drinking kava and when she Kool-Aid man answered “Oh yeahhh” they were all thrilled. We drank our shells, ate some food, and went back to Kathleen’s and split the bottle of wine I brought for first night celebrations. The next couple of days were filled with an ample amount of handshakes (what’s new? I taught Kathleen a helpful hint in the land of not enough spoons to go around: shake with your right, eat with your left) and plenty of mandarins. We explored the creek and got her bush kitchen equipped with firewood and dry coconut leaves.

On Saturday I left her with her own headspace and visited Avery’s site, a 30 minute hike away. We checked out his aid post and caught some great views of the ocean. On Sunday we went to morning service in the little Wainasasa church house and by the time it was over, Grace, Lin, and Thomas had carried up all of Avery and Kathleen’s shit! If hiking it with a small backpack leaves me out of breath, you can imagine 3 people hauling up loads of stuff in the morning heat. Awe le le! After lunch we walked back down, leaving Avery and Kathleen in their new solitary yet noisy, busy lives. The truck dropped me off at Lotahimwamwavi and everyone decided to check out my site. We went down to the water and ended up spending the next couple of hours jumping off a cliff and swimming around. A lovely afternoon (and last few days) spent with newly assigned friends!