one last shabang

At the end of service, the Peace Corps treats you to a few days in bungalows with your cohort before everyone splits. Really, its purpose is to remind us what resumes are, make sure we don’t have tuberculosis, and forewarn us of the realities of reverse culture shock and what a rapid increase in dairy consumption may do to our bels. Our COS (close of service) conference was held in January on the east coast of Efate at a charming place called Crystal Blue. Cyclone Pam really did a number on Crystal Blue, wiping out all of the guesthouses and many of the staff homes. However, the owner spent the last year or so repairing, and we had the pleasure of being some of their first guests after the storm. They did a great job rebuilding – the place is gorgeous! And our bungalows sat right on the water.

snorkel city

kate and bryan

The Peace Corps sessions were generally helpful, if not amusing, and it was a wonderful few days of hanging out with really great people. And the food! Wow! We were certainly well-fed with the best food I’ve tasted in Vanuatu. The chef is from the northern Banks islands, only schooled until 3rd grade, and never received any formal teaching on how to cook his delicious meals. I know all of this because I went to the back to ask for his recipes and this led to a never ending flow of life stories, which is the usual program here in Vanuatu, so I knew what I was getting into. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even wasemaot (wash ‘em out, the food you eat while drinking kava) were all incredible. Our last night there we had a big feast and I think everything on the menu was meat – pig, beef, chicken, fish, prawns.

conference room

lovers

The days of COS were spent in sessions, swimming, stuffing our faces, and storying. The evenings were filled with kava, wine, and chatter. A few times I would just look around and observe this group of friends knee deep in conversations about what’s next and where to now. There was even a pretty impressive dance party! It was such a treat to see everyone. During our in-service training back in June 2014, Jen took video interviews of each of us, asking what we’d tell ourselves in two years. Well, two years later at COS conference, we watched the video she compiled! It was fun seeing our past selves, a little chubbier and still wide-eyed from all the strange novelties of service. Recently Jen asked us to all submit a quote to summarize our service that she added to the video. Now I, lover of quotes, had a difficult time choosing, but I landed on this one because it resonates with me:

“Who could be so lucky? Who comes to the lake for water and sees the reflection of moon.” –Rumi

I came to the Vanuatu eager for two great years where I’d help a community, engage in some cultural exchange, and make lasting friendships. I had practical expectations of service, skill share, and exotic food. What I got out of it was immeasurably more profound and far beyond anything I could have ever expected. Who could be so lucky?

At the end of the 3 day dance, the whole staff came and we presented them with thank you gifts. Everyone boo-hoo’d in complete gratitude for the experience we’ve created and endured for two years – all pretty impossible without the kickass and ever-kind Peace Corps Vanuatu staff.

We headed back to town for our sunset booze cruise around Port Vila harbor. They let us know beforehand that it was, in fact, not a booze cruise, and that alcohol was “strictly prohibited.” Being the resourceful volunteers we have grown to become, everyone filled their nalgenes and baskets with the proper tools for a tipsy sunset. When we got on the boat, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that “strictly prohibited” actually meant that they gave us 3 free drinks! At least that’s what the captain decided, and you can’t really argue with a captain on board ship. So we drank champagne and strolled around the harbor while the sky morphed into one of the nicest sunsets I’ve seen, made even more magical because I was surrounded by some of my favorite company.

solo our training manager and his bottle of kava

That night we all found our way to L’Houstalet, a French restaurant with breezy outdoor seating and great pizza. We had a pretty drunken dinner and ended up at Laura’s house for a while. A brave group ventured to Vila town for dancing while the rest of us passed out.  Many of those voyagers had to wake up for a 4:30 am check in, which they all made! I was supposed to be on an early morning flight, but I changed it to have an extra day in Vila. I’m not sure if I would have been among those at the airport in the morning, as I spent mine nursing a hangover. When it was time for me to fly out, I got to the airport and found out the ATR was broken, so I’d be in town for a few more days. Laura moved from Malekula to Port Vila for her third year extension, so I stayed at her house. Laura is a fantastic cook and now has a refrigerator and oven! We cooked up some delicious meals and one night had a big taco feast with all the volunteers in town.

Air Vanuatu switched me to a direct flight on the twin otter and I got back to site for my final run. Flying into Longana airport I realized that this was my last time arriving to Ambae, at least for a while. This made me think about how many flights I’ve been on since being in Vanuatu. It comes to 31 flights! More than that in terms of planes because of layovers, but I didn’t count that. 25 of those were in-country flights. Wild! One more flight to Port Vila on March 14th and then on the 20th, a flight to Sydney. The next day we’ll be heading to Siem Reap and then land and air travel around Southeast Asia for a few months and then! Homeward bound!