it's a cloudy, cool saturday morning in pittsburg. and it's silent. i'm often the only one awake early on the weekends. today i plan to be productive. i'm writing a term paper start to finish for my geography class. take a guess at which country i've chosen. -b 12 October 2009 We were treated to a full range of Maewo’s culture at a recent Mini Arts Festival in the nearby village of Kerepei. The mini festival was planned to prepare groups who are planning to attend the nation-wide event in Vila next month. At the larger festival, they will join Ni-Vanuatu [View Full Entry]

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oh wednesdays. i'm stressed. but, i will get things done...eventually. i'm going to be posting a couple blogs a week since s & j are gearing up for australia and will have computer access here shortly. for those of you who pay close attention, the picture of aldayer was repeated in this blog. but that's ok with me, because i love it. so much in fact, that i've actually made it my desktop background. have a wonderful second half of the week. - b 16 September 2009 As of today, we’ve reached our one year “anniversary” for being in country. Looking [View Full Entry]

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it's another cloudy day in the jungle. and another tuesday afternoon. perfect for blog uploading and homework. and a nap. =) i'm listening to a selection of songs sent by sher. i can understand for the most part the underlying message, which is sometimes humorous. have a good week - b 13 September 2009 I seem to find myself writing a lot about death and the traditions that surround it in these blogs. In a small village setting, death strikes close to home every time. People are so interrelated and interdependent that the death of one leaves an obvious mark. Here [View Full Entry]

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November third was a rather interesting day. It’s not that every day is like this for me, but days like this happen frequently enough. I haven’t gotten around to recording many of my days this year, but maybe that because I’m a little too busy living them up. To fully grasp the entirety of this single day in the life, one needs to learn a bit about the night before. Simply put: there was a kava session. Un-simply put: I got to further the bond between a village chief’s family and myself, opened the eyes of an in-experienced companion traveler, engaged [View Full Entry]

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I am having the biggest exercise in letting go that ive ever had in my life. Learning to let go is something I think most of wish to master, but few of toil to accomplish. Living in a material world with a deadly grasp on possessions, who can blame us? My flashdrive went missing, was lost, was taken. My flashdrive that holds 600+ photos of my entire peace corps experience. The first photo on there is of me and my mom at the airport, red faced and crying, as I am about to walk through security and board the plan to [View Full Entry]

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The two blogs “Around the Island in 10 days” and “Last update from Aneityum” were written before I actually left the island. This blog is to explain a bit of why im leaving and where im going. As you read or perhaps will read in the School Section of “Last Update” blog, school was… well not really working. After the fire at the headmaster’s house, we haven’t really been able to get back on track. There is also a Presbyterian Assembly happening in November, which was reason enough to cancel school until February. When peace corps loo [View Full Entry]

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hey all-- i received the jump drive with sher's blogs last week, and am just now getting to posting one. could fall break get here any sooner? i talked with sher last night and she and justin is safe and well. i was fortunate to make this acquaintance while we were there, and was sad to learn of the loss. have a good week. - b 18 August 2009 The ZCA is on tour again. Only this time, he’s by himself, or rather, with those who have gone on before him. Unexpectedly, the man we have been sharing an office with [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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it's a rainy day in the jungle here. it's my day off and i'm (again) bumming in my room on a thursday afternoon. i talked to sher on monday evening, and they are doing well. enjoy - b 31 August 2009 Yes, we braved the transport to Ambae once again, this time to join other Peace Corps Volunteers for a camp for the “youngfala” of Vanuatu. One of Peace Corps programs that exists in many countries is called Camp G.L.O.W. (girls leading our world) and focused on gender and development (hence the name “G.A.D.”) education for the young women of host [View Full Entry]

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my sister, she has good timing. this is the last of the blogs that i had, and sure enough, i had an e-mail telling me i had mail in the university post office! (for those of you who know me as well, i too LOVE LOVE LOVE getting mail and would most graciously share my dorm address) anywho, there a beautiful, padded envelope awaited. full of a jump drive, letter, bookmark collaged for me by sher, and picture drawn for me by aldayer. yes, i had to use a tissue. enjoy - b 2 September 2009 After the G.A.D. Camp and [View Full Entry]

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