school & family

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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 to reassign them to a different school. the principal who was assigned to come to gambule decided he didn't want to. there is quite a bit of politicing and "favorites" games played when it comes to assigning teachers. for whatever reason, the would-be principal decided not to come, now the start of school will be delayed until that role can be filled and the one filling it can get here and get things organized and rolling. the primary school did start monday (only one week off), but it wasn't your typical first-day-of-school-send-your-kids-with-their-new-backpacks-and-crayons-to-find-their-name-tag-pasted-to-a-desk that you would find in the u.s. this first day was the first day classrooms had been opened since the last day of school in mid-november of last year. the teachers, students, headmaster (as the primary school principal is called), and even parents and younger siblings show up during that first week to clean and weed the school grounds, clean out the classrooms, and pay school fees and uniforms. it is rather wholesome to find such a community effort put into prepping the school for the year. also during the week, are meetings of the teachers.

thus far, justin and i are trying to find a balance of being present while not wanting to take over. our roles will be most helpful if school gets started and then we slowly integrate our presence. although there have been volunteers here before us, they have all been teachers of a particular subject. the whole "teacher trainer" concept is one we have had to explain to many a community member. once the teachers get back into the groove and routine of school, i'll get more active in pursuing the kinds of information they are interested in having workshops on. there is also a phonemic awareness assessment that i will use one on one with students year 1 through year 3 each term to (hopefully) track the progress of students' growth over the year.

when the principal for the secondary school gets here, justin will get started on pursuing the completion of the resource center: further home to the computers which should be arriving in the next few months. he has also befriended a man who used to work for the vanuatu cultural center. he no longer works there, but still has a passion for the mission of preserving maewo culture. he and justin have discussed documenting traditions for marriages, deaths, and custom ceremonies as well as things like the correct seasons for planting/harvesting the local foods. some of the information, for one reason or another, is not being passed down to new generations. when we go back for our early service training conference in port vila at the end of march, justin plans to connect with the cultural center and see how he may be able to help continue their work on maewo.

as we spend more time with our host families, we are introduced to new faucets of life that help us understand how facts of life can be perceived very differently by people of different cultures. recently, justin was sick with a sore throat and stayed home drinking hot tea and instant soups for a few days. when people saw me out and about without him, and asked where he was, i would tell them he wasn't feeling good. many assumed he had been "spoiled" by kava. we're still growing into the concept of "spoiled" but the basis could be that someone ground him kava tha was too strong or that the kava itself did something to his body. because of his symptoms, we assume that something contagious was passed, probably through the communal nature of sharing kava shells (language name - lasas). sickness is still treated here as a rather mysterious something that can be willed upon you by another or by a devil. although there is a health center on the island with some modern medicines, many turn to custom cures that come from leaves or other local flora. there probably is some truth to their cures, but as volunteers peace corps warns against them. when we get sick, we call in to the medical officer at the office and from there she can recommend treatment from the supplies we have with us in our medical kits. still, it is interesting to learn of the methods that are depended upon by others. some seem reasonable and even familiar; like lemon water for sore throats. others are possibly similar but foreign to our eyes that are accumstomed wrapped in plastic. somewhere at the root of all that packaging is probably a rather biological base. where in the u.s. we may rub vicks gel on our chest to breath deeper, here there is a leaf that emits a similar odor. living close to the land does have its benefits, medicinal included.

on our last visit to justin's host family, we noticed a few drying branches of leaves and blooms poked into the woven bamboo on either side of the door frame. justin asked his papa what they were for, and he answered that they kept the devils away from the house when someone was sick. a weakened body being an easier target for an ornery spirit. someone in his house had recently been sick and the leaves hung there to protect them. his papa told us this with a sense of proud confidence jaded by the awareness that we may be skeptical. his eyes said, "this is my culture and this is my tradition that, right or wrong, has reared and shaped me. i hope you understand." i am growing to love that sense of custom here. there is enough consciousness that people are aware alternative beliefs views exist, yet there is still a strong sense of loyalty to the custom. shameless like a solid triangle of pumpkin pie on the palm of your hand.

the flip side of all these new and unique experiences are moments of down right normalness. we are addicted to the card game canasta (thanks to aunt judy) and don't seem to mind the rains so much when we have justification to give in to that little addiction. why walk about all soggy when you can stay dry inside playing canasta? there are some moments, seated at our kitchen table, cards in hand, mixed cd that my sister sent to keep us in the know about the hottest singles singing out through our rigged up computer speakers that now run on battery (mad props to uncle mark for that one) that life seems so normal, so predictable and the same. that bubble is easily burst; usually by one of my host brothers tearing into the house, a banana leaf bundle of laplap in one sweaty fist, eyes a glow in anticipation of candy or a cookie or some other sweet something. a teeter totter to say the least.

it has dawned on me that we haven't told you much, beyond generalities, about our host families. so the brother i was describing above is my youngest host sibling, i think he's around 5, named aldai. he is crazy. he likes to climb the cherry tree in our yard and eat it's fruit and he loves coming around to see what justin is up to. since justin and he are "in laws" of the same sex, there are some taboos put on their relationship; namely that they can't touch each other's head. the language name for brother and sister in law is tawi (rhymes with maui). aldai always announces his presence at our house by calling out to justin, "taawiiiii!" he is crazy for anything sweet and once justin had him split open about a dozen thick shelled nafela nuts, a job that takes about half an hour, with the promise of a "sweet way sweet something" for him to eat and a swim in the ocean. half an hour later, aldai is clad in a pair of justin's boxers, safety pinned on one side, and my blue goggles, licking the wrapper of a squished little debbie's christmas tree cake and ready to run down to the beach.

the next oldest is another brother, ronald. he is about twelve. both ronald and aldai have these amazing blue eyes that they inherited from their dad's genes. a few generations before their dad, their great grandpa was married to a woman from australia and somehow the trait of blue yes has survived since. ronald is very independent and definitely heading into adolescence. he is interesting to watch at the custom dances, as one of the younger ones participating. he and i have the same lime green crocs, thought he was baffled when i told him i had had mine for about four years. "yu luk outem good ol sus blong yu," (you look out good all shoes that belong to you) he said. i had to remind him that in kansas, i could only wear sandals like these "wan wan taem" (every once in awhile) since there are months of cold winter that require heavy socks and boots.

my oldest host sibling is a sister: sophie. she is in the 9th grade and quirky as they come. for those of you who know my cousin mallory, you already have a good idea on sophie's character; sophie is a lot like her in personality. she has already experimented on "turning" my hair, laughing the whole time that my hair is too soft to hold the braids and will unravel unless she fastens it with an elastic. she may seem quiet at first, but she is a riot to be around once she opens up.

my host papa works on a ship that is based on maewo and is only here every once in awhile. as justin's father in law, or gualiga, he is even more taboo than my brothers. they are not supposed to touch at all. justin puts a flashlight or small stick or something in his hand and my papa will grab the opposite end of it for them to shake hands. when he is around, i love storying with him. because of his job, he had a very broadened perspective on vanuatu as well as the world. his questions to us are always insightful.

while he works on the ship, my host mami holds down the home fort. she is a native of ambae, the island we can see on clear days from the beach by our house. she seems young at heart and very determined in whatever she does. the other volunteers have commented she seems intimidating, but i think it is because she is rather forward. i like that. she has an interesting balance of keeping up the house, gardens, food, and kids while also balancing her job as secretary at the school. not many women, besides teachers, have jobs in addition to their domestic responsibilities. last year she had a house girl, who was actually a niece, live with her to help take care of the work at home during the school year. if she gets her job as secretary back again this year (we won't know until the principal gets here), she may have the house girl come back.

now for justin's host family. he has two host sisters and two host brothers. for me, the female in-laws are the most taboo. the only bummer so far is that his older sister edwina is exceptionally good at turning hair, but she can't touch my head and so she can't braid my hair. she just finished 11th grade last year and is strikingly sharp. like most females, she is shy at first, but has some spunk once you get to know her. at a recent wedding, she cracked me up when i kept prodding her to join the cluster of women dancing and she kept saying no. then it got dark and she let her inner dancing fiend shine through. she was also incredibly patient and helpful with me when i first started to weave.

the second born is jenison, a brother of justin's who is about fifteen years old. as my brother in law, i am expected to "talk play" with him, and we have quite the conversations. mostly he mocks my naivety at the culture and i crack jokes about his nonexistant girlfriend and how she'll never be able to bake like me (he and his brother just light up when i bring down something to snack on that i have baked). he's not in school any more and spends time in the gardens with his parents and other similar chores around the house. he loves bob marley.

next is kenny. he's in 9th grade this year. another perk of brother-in-laws is that you can "spoil" them during custom ceremonies. kenny was in a custom dance and his mom had me dump water on him in the middle of it all. i was rather embarrassed. imagine: the white girl in a huge, floral print island dress trying to predict the next move of a testosterone charged group of dancing me and not get trampled yet successfully dump water on one. you can only "spoil" certain people and i was a little hesitant about messing up. anyway, kenny is a goober like most boys his age.

the baby of the family is lolo. she is about twelve and like jenison, stays home doing chores during the day. she is the one who got hooked on"jingle bells" and landed us a spot in the christmas eve church program. she picks up on new songs that we absentmindedly hum a one liner to; lately it has been "candy girl," the oldies song that popped into justin's head as his mama was spooning sugar into a saucepan to make coconut jam. aww sugar...she still has a baby face and is a very content spirit to be around.

justin's papa is probably in his forties and has a six pack. i'm willing to bet he doesn't know what a sit-up is either. he is very wise in both his culture and ways of life here as well as the importance of education. he takes good care of us and was just here the other day helping jsutin reposition the hf radio antennae. he keeps close tabs on things like justin's kava drinking and makes sure we check out all the people and places that interest here.

justin's mama is a multi-tasking diva. she can bake bread, run as mall store, keep her boys in check, and help me with my weaving all at the same time. she likes toting me around and having me repeat phrases in language. i had to watch out for ones like "i want to drink kava." talk about natural consequences when you say what you don't mean. she, too, is good about keeping us involved and informed about all that we should be a part of.

enough character details for now - stay tuned for extended family (of which there is no end!). the pros and cons of having family around are pretty universal: sometimes we're annoyed by there constant presence but more often we're grateful for their willingness to share their hearts and homes with us. that and i've always wanted younger brothers, so to have two brothers "from another mother" is sublime.

another news flash - maewo did get a replacement volunteer to take the position of the one who left early. she had been in service for about half a year already but decided to change project sites. her name is justine, but because bislama vowels make her name and justin's name identical, she is telling everyone to call her justina to avoid confusion. so our happy maewo bunch is up to four again.

in closing, my new favorite bislama phrase,"mi runway lo yufala naoia, tata!" translation: i'm running away from you all now, bye!

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