I’ve attempted in the past few months to finish this first blog posting, but haven’t been able to scrape up the energy to actually write… via computer. I believe I have about 4 different files all labeled the same, but nothing worth posting. So, here it goes bakbakagaen J I do want to point out that I am in no way a professional writer, so be easy on my grammatical and/or spelling errors… I’m sure there will be a few. I’m only using this site as a tool to share my thoughts and experiences with you, my friends.
On the 5th of November, myself and fellow volunteers where officially sworn. Our swearing took place in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu in Efate. I don’t really think the realness of being an official PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) had sunken in until I landed on my island, Ambae. For the most part I was very comfortable at first, even during my 7-week stay at my training village. I think it was because I was always surrounded by other ‘Whiteman.’ The training village was a great way to learn about the culture and language of Vanuatu, but it was almost like a mini holiday, something that you knew would be over in a few weeks and then it was off to Port Vila for the remainder of training. Well, that is all behind me and I can honestly say that it feels very much real now that I’m here.
A little about my island and what I’ve begun to call home for the next 2 years, Ambae. From the moment I landed on this gorgeous island, I knew was where I was supposed to be. Very unsure of what to expect when I arrived and not knowing if anybody would be at the airport to greet me, all seemed a little unnerving. About a week before my arrival I had tried ringing both my principal and host papa, who’s also the deputy principal, to discuss the details. They never returned my calls and this did make me slightly nervous. Not really knowing what to expect on my first day, I boarded my small plane and headed to Ambae.
After a few hours and one stop in Pentecost to drop off some other volunteers, I landed at the airport in east Ambae. The airport was a single story, white and bare building. The only action this building sees is on flight days, the other days is sits alone and abandoned. I was thankfully greeted by my Principal and the school driver. Before, I imagined my principal in the usual island attire – shorts, t-shirt, and flip-flops, but surprisingly, he was wearing slacks, a maroon button-up shirt, and shoes. This is something you don’t see much in Vanuatu unless you’re either in Santo of Efate. We all loaded up into the school pickup truck and headed down the (very) bumpy road to my school.
The pickup finally made it to the top of what seemed like a never-ending hill and we were greeted by a sign that welcomed staff, students and visitors to the school. We made the right turn and headed down the road and into a valley. I was told by my CD (Country Director) that this school was extremely nice and he stood correctly. The school was positioned in a valley right next to the sea. This location, I believe, it very safe if ever thrown a cyclone or tsunami because it’s protected from the sea by a massive hill. There is a small break in the hill that allows access to the black sand beach. I will tell you about that a little later.
I was dropped off right in front of my apartment where I was greeted by my neighbor. He is 25 year old teacher, but looks older because he has facial hair. It was at that moment when I decided that having a boyfriend back home was a very good idea. Anyway, he took it upon himself to give me a tour of the school grounds and then led me back to the main office to have a chat with the principal. My meeting the big chief of the school didn’t last very long, but I was introduced to my counterpart, Stephanie. Stephanie was once a student at the college, but was now taking Computer Science classes at the technical college in Vila. I’m very thankful to have a female as my counterpart.
After my meet and greet with almost all of the staff at the school, I headed back to my house for a smol spel. I didn’t arrive with my all luggage due to weight restrictions of our small plane, so I couldn’t do too much unpacking. It was Monday and I needed to wait till the next plane came in on Wednesday for my other bag to arrive. I also had five parcels on board a ship named The Tina 1 – most of my belongings needed to set up shop in my house. I really had no idea when this was going to arrive, basically because I stops a nearly all the islands. Weather had a big part to do with its arrival time. If the weather was bad or the sea was rough, the boat would take longer. All I could do was sit and wait. Luckily, only a day later than I was told, my parcels arrived and I was ready to unpack and cook some food!
I met my host family the same day I arrived. As I said before, my host papa is the Deputy Principal and my host mama works up at the school’s store. They have a total of 4 kids, one who is schooling in Vila and will be home on the 10th of December. I have met so many other family members all who are called either, mamas, aunties, bratas, sistas, daddies or Apus. I’m starting to think that I’m related to almost everybody who works at the school… this is reassuring to me. I usually eat lunch and dinner with them. I was trying to get up early for breakfast, but it didn’t make any sense to me to do that. I’d have to get up at 5:30am, get dressed, walk up to their place (they lived on the other side of the school), eat and then come back and go back to sleep until I needed to get up. This did work for a while because I needed to get up early to help supervise exams, but school is over and I enjoy sleeping too much.
Now that school is over, I usually spend my time either working in my computer lab, watching movies, reading, storian with the family, or sleeping. The days seem to last forever, but the weeks fly by. I enjoy it for the most part and surprisingly haven’t been home sick yet. I’m guessing that it’ll sneak up behind me and hit me one of these days.
