The Bare Essentials

so fall break has come and gone. however, i really haven't fallen back into the homework groove yet. probably wouldn't be a bad idea to read a little tonight.... - b

21 August 2009

Just how far would you go for “The Bare Essentials”?

A Peace Corps staff member was coming to Maewo to do some site development for a new volunteer (yes, we may have a new neighbor with this new batch of trainees at the end of the year!). She called us to set up a boat to take her from Ambae to her meeting on Maewo and back to Ambae on the same day. We decided to take advantage of setting up the boat by allowing ourselves to go along too. A trip to Ambae would be a chance to get to the post office and maybe even pick up some meat. Plus, since the Peace Corps was chartering the boat, our transport would be free. And what else did we have to do with ourselves anyway?

So we asked the boat to come pick us up at 10:00 am. The ride takes about an hour (weather, among other factors, permitting). We would get there two hours earlier than the staff member was wanting to leave, do the shopping, and be ready to ride back to Maewo with her at 1:00. But ya gotta love making plans and then just watching them crumble before your eyes.

Around 9:30, my host mami showed up at our house. We had everything set out to go: life jackets, re-useable shopping bag, and some packages to be mailed. She had heard through the coconut wireless that we were going to Ambae and wanted to go too. One of her sister-in-laws from Ambae had just had a baby and she wanted to go visit her at the hospital, which is about a five minute walk from where the boat would drop us off. Always room for one more; or in this case two, as small brother Aldayer wanted to come along as well. We assured her it was fine and she was off to “swim,” change clothes, and bring a change of clothes for Aldayer too. She was adamant that Aldayer had to change because his red sweat pants were ripped from his rear to the back of his knee, and this would not be at all acceptable for the big, broad world of Ambae. Aldayer she left to swim at our house. Half an hour later she came by with a plastic sack full of juice mix, sugar, a blanket, and some Twisties. Gifts for the new parents. Then she was really off to freshen up. No worries, the boat wasn’t here yet anyway. We were finally on our way at 10:45, wondering if the post office would close for lunch and we’d miss our chance.

The boat ride with Mami and Aldayer lasted about 4 minutes before he started crying into her lap. It was the poor little guy’s first boat ride and it scared him. At the next place for a boat to go to shore, we dropped them off, promising to stop by the hospital and drop the gifts off anyway.

The water was pretty rough and we bangled and jangled our bones across slowly. We arrived at 1:00, just in time for the boat to turn around and get the staff member on the way to her meeting. So we decided to wait until his return trip and go back with the boat later that evening.

Our first stop was the post office. I had planned ahead and brought my own boxes and stuffing materials, even pre-made labels with addresses on them. All this sat with us on a stump outside the post office for a good hour as we waited for the post master to come to work. Inside, he scaled our packages and we filled out customs forms. I asked if the boxes were okay to be mailed, and he shrugged. Then, he pulled out a roll of scotch tape about a centimeter wide and started to prepare the packages for shipping. Did he know just how many plane rides away these packages were from their final destination? If only I had thought to bring my duct tape! Well, there was no going back now. We’d already taken the time to come to Ambae, wait for the post man, and pay the postage. I just hope that when those packages made it to the Vila post office to be passed on internationally that some caring postal worker reinforced the tape job.

With the post office checked off the list, our next stop was the hospital. We walked into the large room used for maternity. Easily enough, the only patient there was the family member we were looking for. They seemed excited by our delivery and laughed politely at the story of Aldayer wanting to come and then crying in the boat.

Then, on to shopping. We picked up our usual: sugar, meat, and bread and made a snack/lunch of gato (fried bread, kind of like a donut but not sweet) and cold chocolate milk. So far we hadn’t had any luck finding a restaurant open for lunch, typically a bountiful commodity on Ambae. Then we stopped for a quick visit with the volunteer who is on Ambae so that Justin could look at a computer problem for her. After that, we were headed back to wait for the boat.

We started heading back around 6:00 pm in the darkness. The water was still very rough and now a rather intimidating shade of liquid black. Justin noticed some glowing specks flying out with the spray of the boat. We couldn’t really get a good answer out of the boat driver, but we think it may have been some type of algae. Entertaining to watch though. The sky was a little fuzzy, but we could still enjoy some star gazing between the crashes and bangs of the waves. I’m fairly certain my spinal cord was compressed at least one inch during that ride back. Not being able to see the waves coming and brace for them made my role as a passenger particularly challenging. And, as usual, we were soaked. But since we were now in the dark, it was cold. So I stared at the stars and willed my capillaries to warm the extremities of my body: toes, ears, fingertips. And planned that even though I was covered in salt, since a shower would be way too cold, I would just take a sponge bath with warm water to hold me over until morning. And then I’d make hot chocolate and one of those instant, just add boiling water dinners and call it a night. And then I ran through my mental list of cousins, wondering what each was up to at that very moment. You can never have too many cousins to distract you during times like these.

Sure enough, we finally made it to the boat’s parking spot and slowly drudged back to the house with our to-do list complete. A good ten hours later and we had accomplished the post office and a bit of shopping. We had a quick meal to warm up (instant mashed potatoes never tasted so good) and Justin cooked the meat so it would keep until tomorrow. Oh the joy of quick shopping trips for the bare essentials!

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