sher gave me the go ahead to publish this one, that she wrote about a month ago. while we were away, i received a couple more in the mail :). also, watch for a guest blog soon, written by none other than: me. oh yes, a firsthand account of our maewo experience. enjoy-b Disclaimer - This is a long one! We recently attended the all night dance on the eve of the 100th day of the dead who I have written of before. We walked to the site in the dark around 7:30 at night and were not surprised that we [View Full Entry]

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Yes, we're back in Vila again and getting ready to go meet family for a few weeks in New Zealand and then bring them here to show off the wonderful country and culture of Vanuatu. While we're here though, here's some more eye candy to supplement our photo-less blogs. I hope to get a blog in while we're in New Zealand as well. [View Full Entry]

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sher snuck one in on me. we leave for new zealand TOMORROW!! sooo excited! one more blog before i sign off of my duties for a while... - b 29 may 2009 i write the date and wonder, "could it be that only one year ago we were rushing around tending to last minute wedding details and in the company of all our family and friends?!!" and then i marvel at our rather adventurous first year of marriage. wouldn't have it any other way! but enough nostalgia, i've got to buckle down and write this blog so it can be sent [View Full Entry]

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i am officially counting down the days. i held off on this blog so sher could add pix while they were in vila! enjoy...- b 12 may 2009 we're writing from pentecost this time, the island just south of maewo. the months of april and may are peak times for land diving in pentecost, so we came to check it out. the cheapest way to travel between islands is via cargo ship, so we packed and waited for the MV Keidi to come pick us up from the beach just a minute walk from our house. the ships have regular routes [View Full Entry]

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i was appreciative to notice that sher had only written two pages front and back...until i noticed that she had also written smaller... - b 27 april 2009 the longer we're here, the more grateful we become that we have two sets of eyes and ears to try and piece together personalities, current events, and the intricate infrastrucure of family relationships. so much can get lost in translation; especially when we're off school grounds and submerged in the local language (which we are still slowly picking up). we often come home from a day or two in the village and spend [View Full Entry]

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have another blog and a good week. - b 15 april 2009 we had a visitor for easter weekend; a volunteer who is stationed in port vila and was out visiting the "outer islands" to get a taste of village life. he had heard about maewo from other volunteers and added it to his must-see-before-leaving-vanuatu list. school let out friday and monday for the easter holiday, so we got to play tourist along with jeremiah and justine, the volunteer farthest south (which is really still central) on maewo, who tagged along as well. the other two came walking into betarara friday [View Full Entry]

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sorry it's taken me so long to get this one published, this week just got a way from me! -b 5 march 2009 "halo yufala" from "mitufala" on maewo! yes, we are still here, sweating, and enjoying it. we are looking forward to a trip to the capital in about two weeks where we will have an early service training conference. also, we are hoping to take advantage of air conditioning, ice cream, and internet as well. i hope to update the blog with pictures, which will probably get there before this letter makes it to the usa, but writing the [View Full Entry]

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had a good talk with sher last night, doing well. here's another blog. =) --b 15 feb 2009 it's true: whether due to some tropical fluke or strategic adaptation, the oranges here are green skinned. my own greenness in this culture is something i am slowly fading out of, thought there are some instance that remind me of my white skin and foreign perspective. this morning, for instance, i was awake around 6 am and went outside to use the "smol haos" first thing. i'm washing my hands with our nifty bar-of-soap-in-a-plastic-mesh-bag at the water spicket when the neighbor lady strolls [View Full Entry]

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hey everyone! this week we got like 5 blogs in the mail from sher. sure will keep my little fingers busy! - b 3 february 2009 it's february already and school was scheduled to start a week and a half ago. but, much to no one's surprise, things with school operate on the same "aelan taem" that the rest of life here does. the secondary school is still waiting to find out who will fill the role as principal. teachers and principals here get shuffled like playing cards at the start of every year; with the provincial office having the ability [View Full Entry]

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Hello all! Yes, this one is coming to you live from Port Vila as we are back in the capital for training and heading back in about a week. Even though this will seem out of order as there are still blogs I have written and sent for my sister to post, I'll go ahead with a few little news and tidbits and trust you all to put them into context with the letters yet to come via snail mail. Coming back to "civilization" was quite a process. For weeks, we've been making lists, phone calls, and plans on how to [View Full Entry]

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