YEAR ONE FINISHED WITH RAIN – YEAR TWO BEGINS WITH RAIN

So, my first year is over and completed and I feel pretty darn good about it. I know the work that I did at my school and the surrounding villages have really been successful in every aspect in regards to IT. My classes all managed to run smoothly with only a few hiccups that I was able to suppress. I was able to fix pretty much every computer that came to me that either needed updates, repairs, or new installs. Also, I managed to teach the entire bit of term 3 without power and the use of my very small computer – this probably being the hardest. 

Now that classes are over and I started to enjoy my spel, I’m taking the time to look back and figure out what I can do to better improve my classes, manage my time, update my computer lab, ­­and prepare myself in case I end up without a counterpart next year.  The loss of my counterpart will end up forcing me to take on years 12 and 13, letting go of years 9 and 10, and keeping year 11. I admit that I am a little sad about dropping the younger classes (which are headaches at times, but fun headaches), but I will do whatever I have to next year to make sure things go as they should. I have a total of two weeks left to figure out what all I need to do before the school officially closes – which I think will be sometime after December 2^nd. As far as extending my contract, I’ve moved more to the idea of not staying and heading back home after a few months of travelling. I figure I’m not getting any older and I should probably figure out what I should do with the rest of my life – get some sort of plan in action. Then maybe I can re-apply back to PC and then serve again at a later time. Yea, I think that’s more of the way to go. Ahh, but the life of a PCV teacher – the long summer holiday off is pretty nice... give me a couple more months to make a decision on that.

After the holidays (Christmas and New Years), two of my good PCV friends and myself are taking a well deserved trip to Sydney Australia. We are staying for two weeks and during this time I will get to see my dad and step-mom. Really looking forward to the time away from the islands and eating some good white man kakae. The only thing that I’m afraid of is not having any decent clothes to wear, haha, never thought that would ever be a problem I’d have to face! The first thing on the list of things to do when we first arrive in Sydney is shopping for clothes after eating of course.

I think that’s it for now. The rest of my dad is fully planned, but completely dependent on the weather. I have a little shopping for my Secret Friend gift for our staff party this Friday, work on a virus-infested computer at the Education office, and check on the girls about Thanksgiving plans for tomorrow... oooh Thanksgiving J Rain rain go away please!

Term 2 Finished, Afta Sports and VILA!

Happy to announce that the end of term 2 has finally arrived! I'm surprised with how fast it has flown by, but at the same time sorry that it's going by so fast. Now that the students are finished with all their exams, we will head to Maewo tomorrow for the start of PISSA games. The games officially start on Sunday, so we'll have a few extra days before hand to get settled in. I'm looking forward the time on Maewo as well as the time I get to spend with the students! Also, I finally get the chance to try this strong Maewo kava I keep hearing about.

After PISSA, it's Vila time for a little training, project planning, and a little re-charging of the body and soul. A well-deserved break from the island is well over due and I'm extremely looking forward to this. I'm excited to see all my fellow pcvs as well!

Coaching at PISSA

Myself and my counterpart have been given the duty of coaching the senior and junior girls soccer teams for our school for the PISSA games next month. I'm a bit nervous because I have never coached a team before, only played. The girls are excited and so am I... hoping we do well!

On a sad note - the US Girls team lost today against Japan in the Women's World Cup. Megan and I went to a neighboring village to watch the game. We were lucky to watch it, but sad to have lost such an important match. It's only a game, right?! Next time girls :)

Term 2 - Bae Hemi Klosap Finis Nao

Term 2 is nearly over and I'm a eagerly counting down the days until my next trip to Vila. This past term has been great and very busy. We haven't had any trouble with any of the computers in my lab - hoping this lasts until at least the end of the year. We finally got Internet, but now I never seem to have to time to use it. I managed to get most of the students into the lab for an Internet/Computer orientation class... that was fun and a headache at the same time. Image at least 150 kids all ages 15-20 with no computer experience using a computer WITH Internet for the frist time. It was a challenge, but I think most of them are getting the hang of it.

Besides school, there are few more things in the planning. My friend Megan has started a girls youth soccer league on our island. She has three teams at one school and I have about three teams (unofficially) at my school in the works. We had a small coaching workshop this past weekend to train a few of the senior girls - I want them to coach the younger girls. The registration will start on Monday or Tuesday for the official teams. This should be exciting once things get going. Megan and I are in dire need for equipment, but hoping to get funding next month for balls, jerseys, and cleats.

On a spell note - a few of us are planning a trip to SE Asia during the skul spel. I can't even imagine how much fun this well be! I think the planning will begin sometime in August. I'm glad that we decided to go there instead of the states because I think a trip back home would be too hard on me. It would be too hard to go see friends and family (emotionally), eat good food, and then have to come back - that's just my opinion, but I do know some other volunteers that are planning on going home and who are excited. I just know that I wouldn't handle it too well. Might at well take advantage of my time in the part of the would to travel around.

Sorry bakagen - I know my English spelling and grammar are both worse now than ever before, but Bislama will do that. Until next time, lukim yu

A little bit of everything samting

Ah, Ambae… probably one of the best islands on Vanuatu (at least in my opinion.) I finally made it back to my site on Wednesday of last week. Leaving Vila and coming back to island life after nearly three weeks of crazy white man bliss was almost too much to handle. Unlike my first arrival on Ambae back in November of last year, this time is was troublesome to say the least. I’m not quite sure what put me into a funk when I returned, but the feeling of emptiness and loneliness crept its way into my soul and wouldn't leave.

My two evil and unwanted friends stayed with me until Friday, when I finally made it out to my family’s village, Mataravi. There, I was greeted with an abundance of kisses and handshakes from all my mommies, daddies, aunties, bubus, and pikinini. I think all I really needed was to be surrounded by happiness, and if you’ve ever been to a village in Vanautu, you know that this isn’t something hard to find.

While at my village I decided to take some time for me. I have found a favorite palm tree that sits overlooking the ocean, and from there you can see both Maewo and Pentecost. I often go to this place when I need alone time. I sit there and look out and imagine what my friends on doing on either island… are they doing the same thing, looking back at me? I always feel uplifted after I sit there for any amount of time, like it’s a mini getaway from reality. The view is amazing and always reminds me of how lucky I am to be living in such a beautiful place – Vanuatu.

I knew that these horrible feelings of homesickness and despair would eventually show their faces, I just didn’t know when. We are all too good of friends now and the relationship that we share is one that now knows it’s boundaries. The past few months leading up to my past trip to Vila was a strong sign that I’d be able to handle my time alone so far away from home. Also, I can say thank you to my friends here in Vanuatu for being so supportive. Even though my sadness showed for only a few days, talking with friends who were either experiencing the same pain or had already faced it, really helped me a lot. J

After letting you know about the struggle of my return, I’ll let you know how much fun I had while in Port Vila…

Basically, the entire first two weeks were spent at the Peace Corps office in what was called “Phase Two” training. Most of the sessions that we sat in were very informative and then information presented will definitely be handy tools for once school actually begins. For the second week of training, the IT teachers and the Teacher Trainers were separated and put into two different groups. Unlike the first leg of training back in October and September, this was actually very helpful.

Besides all the actual PC work, we did indeed find time to have a good time. I spent the majority of the time paling around with my friend Jennifer. The spark in our relationship revealed itself early on due to the fact that our minds and bellies both have similar interests. Anyway, along with Jennifer and all my other SHREPer friends here in Vanuatu, we took our time in Vila as a way to enjoy ourselves and relax from island life. I’m pretty sure I drank kava almost every night… I like kava and maybe just a little too much hehe.

Kava weekends always ended up leading to nights of dancing at Voodoo and then Maxies (a favorite of mine). After dancing and drinking, a quick bite to eat at Emile’s (a little 24/7 restaurant and then a nice stroll back to the Coconut as the sun was coming up. The end of the first crazy night in Vila, with the sun coming up, made me miss Las Vegas just a little bit. Oh, how I can still remember the many times I came home after a wonderful night of dancing with my girls… soon my friends, soon.

Ok, so now I’m back home in my lovely house at Saint Patrick’s College. After my little unhappy hiccup, I’m really to get back into things. This is the last free week until school commences next week. School is scheduled to begin on the 14^th, but classes usually don’t really start until the following week. More teachers have arrived and it’ really nice to see everybody back again. My neighbor has also returned – hopefully this will aid in deterring any creepers from coming around during this next year.

I’ve started going back into my lab, cleaning and doing small repairs on what I’m able to fix. Sometimes I still feel that I’m not really fixing anything rather just moving things around, but I think I am. The lab has 13 computers in total and two that I still haven’t been able to fix… this drives me crazy! Eventually I will figure out what’s wrong with them and get them fixed, but nothing too concrete can happen until I more reliable power during the day. This is something to look forward to once school starts – POWER.

I got a glimpse of the classes I’ll be teaching next year, ouch! I have all of year 9, two hours of year 10, and two hours of year 11. I’m not really sure how everything will come together, but I have faith that things will and I’ll just be fine. I’m very nervous and can’t wait for this feeling to be over with. I’m guessing in a couple weeks things will start to settle into place and I’ll be in a routine that fits me most appropriately. I’ll try to do my best with keeping you all posted on my successes J Oh, and a big Thank You to DJ Gil Barba for supplying me with my ‘Getting Ready for School’ soundtrack, and for Jessica Rodriguez for sending me the CD… miss you guys! There is nothing like great beats to get you on the right track haha.

Island Life Bakagen

So, we finally just finished our last leg of training in Vila and are finally heading home after two weeks of being away. I'm happy to be going home, but very sad to be leaving all my fellow SHREPers. The past few weeks have been full of teacher-training, kava drinking, dancing, and spelling. Now, as I sit here in Santo, I'm just beginning to realize how much I wasn't able to accomplish while I was in town. No worries tho, I'll have plenty of time to work on stuff once I get back home.

Now, a little about training...

Our training began on the 18th and lasted until the 28th. The days all began around 7:30am and finished around 3-3:30pm. Each day we had talk talks with various people who work within the Education sector here in Vanuatu. The training was great, especially the IT. I believe this time around, the training for our group was a step up from the last. I'm taking back a bunch of resources that I think will be beneficial for both Stephanie and I for the new year.

What did we do on our down time? Well, plenty of things to do and not enough time to do them all. Myself and a few other volunteers took it upon ourselves to enjoy kava almost every night while in Vila. I managed to check out six different kava bars while in Vila. Seaside Maewo was my favorite one out of the group with Reynolds being a close second. I've named Reynolds the 'Epcot' of kava bars because they offer kava from different islands. I like having the option to choose different kinds at one location.

The downside of drinking kava, for me at least, is the lack of desire for food afterwards. Some people enjoying eating a big meal, but me not so much. I was planning on having a 'Last Supper' with Jennifer on our last night, but kava took precedence and I missed out on a delicious pasta meal from the hotel. I'm a fan of kava, so this wasn't such a bad thing.

So now, after all this time being away from my site... I'm ready to go back. I actually miss my host family and my house. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own 'large' bed and showering in my own shower. I might have even possibly gained a little weight while I was in Vila, so it'll be nice to shed that off again, haha. I'm excited to see if my avocado tree has started producing it's delicious little fruits :) I was told that it would be by the time I returned... fingers crossed. Also, power should be back on all day which will allow me to start working in my lab during the day again. So many things to do... ale for now!