This entry is coming hot off the press in Port Vila. Turns out we got a few hours of freedom in the capital this afternoon, and I'm taking some of that precious time to keep you all updated. We are settling in to our training village and temporary house. We are trying to utilize the video sharing with this entry, so hopefully you can see a tour of our house. (Given the slow internet connection, that may not happen.) Just yesterday a small menagerie of animals made themsevles known to us, including two varieties of crab and a mouse. We are [View Full Entry]

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Our last day in Port Vila before we move into our training site. Our day was packed with non-classroom style teaching, a nice break but still LOTS of information! First stop, a troop of us went running through town. I have been so lucky to find some fellow runners. I've been getting up around 5:30 am each morning, so instead of waking Justin up to chat, I have a run to look forward to. Plus it has been a great way to get a better idea of the layout of the town. Today we ran through the residential area and found [View Full Entry]

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It's raining raining raining! The rain is beautiful here because, as of yet, there hasn't been any thunder or lightning. Just the calming sound of rain. Some volunteers complain of rain making them depressed or mellow, but I am rather hyper about it. The fauna of the area definitely reflect the constant rain and warm weather. Even our hotel has a mini rainforest in the center. One bad side effect, however, is that the rain drives the cockroaches up to higher ground - this morning we found a dead one in our room. This week, our training group has been taking [View Full Entry]

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2 things upfront: 1) Vanuatu's newspaper is online! AND, our training group is in it! Now, I haven't taken the time to look up the article on the website, but here is the site in case you'd like to keep up on the news: www.dailypost.vu 2) I'm rating this entry "PG." Moms and Dads, you may want to glance through this one real quick before reading aloud with your kiddos. Alright - Kava. My understanding of kava is constantly under reconstruction. I will tell you what I know and modify it as need be. Kava is a ceremonial drink that comes [View Full Entry]

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Since we arrived on Saturday afternoon, Sunday was ours to regroup and familiarize ourselves with our new home. A group of us took the advice of current volunteers and took a bus to Hideaway Island. When I say bus, think the Mystery Machine meets Volkswagon Van type vehicle. For 100 Vatu (Vatu are comparable to pennies, so think $1) we can get anywhere in town. The bus itself actually took us to a ferry, which then took us across about 800 meters (yes, meters, everything is metric system here: meters, kilograms, celsius, etc) of water to a very touristy little island. [View Full Entry]

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After a little bit of drama in the New Zealand airport (4 of us were waitlisted, including me, which could have meant the group splitting up. Thanks to a whitty kiwi behind the counter, we remained calm and hoped for the best - a few days hanging out in New Zealand until we could get on one of the twice a week flights to Vanuatu. Didn't happen though) and a great welcome by our in country staff and a few current volunteers, we are settling in to the time changes, new food, and early to bed/early to rise lifestyle of Vanuatu. [View Full Entry]

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Hey All, We're happy and healthy in Los Angeles, awaiting our 12 hour flight to New Zealand, followed by a 5 hour lay over, followed by a 3 hour flight to Vanuatu! We leave 9:30 pm Cali time tonight (Thursday) and arrive on Saturday, kind of weird. Our group consists of 21, all but 4 are female, and ages range from 22-60 something. We are diverse and dynamic. One of our ice breaking activities revealed a prison volunteer, one who worked with the deaf in Zimbabwe, even a guy who has already served two seperate Peace Corps trips! Justin and I [View Full Entry]

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Hello All, This is our first entry on behalf of our service in Vanuatu with the Peace Corps. It is partly to distinguish this portion of the blog from my entries from Mexico and partly to alert those who are still on the e-mail list that they are still active subscribers to this blog. I'm sure that action can be reversed if you are uninterested in our upcoming adventure (imagine...). We'll be leaving September 17 for 3 days of preparation in California. Then we depart for our island home in the South Pacific. Further contact information is available through our parents. [View Full Entry]

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So last night our little group had quite possibly one of the most cultural experiences of the whole trip. We went to La Lucha Libre. A rough Spanish translation = free fight. These are very popular in Mexico, sometimes underground. In my Spanish Civilization class we actually watched a little excerpt on the fights that tied them to indigenous roots. The theory is that the fights give the people a chance to escape reality and live in the fantastic realm that was so prevelant in the indigenous culture. I can see it to, the wrestlers as well as the audience seem [View Full Entry]

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Our real host brother, Manuel, came to visit this weekend. He is a flight attendent in Mexico City and gets about 5 days off each month. So for the weekend, he and his boyfriend Sergio came to stay with us. It was fun to get to know our long lost brother. He introduced me to sushi for the first time. (Ironic that my first sushi experience was in Mexico...) He insisted that I use chopsticks, but offered me a fork after I completely dropped a piece of sushi in the soy sauce and mutilated it while trying to get it back [View Full Entry]

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