paradise crusader, vanuatu : adventures in vila taon

27 June 2014

I’ve been in Port Vila for the last two weeks now eating, dancing and playing with friends as much as is possible and healthy. We went through four days of training with our teacher counterparts and then had more training focused on where to go/what to do next with our service. We learned about what kinds of grants exist for us to apply to and what sorts of tools we will need to utilize in order to complete meaningful, sustainable projects in our communities. I have started working on applying for funding to build a water system of pipes and taps throughout my community. This project will most likely take up a large portion of my attention over the next two years but it is really important for my community. Go time!

assorted creations

A few lazy weekend days were spent acting like westerners as ritzy resorts where they let volunteers hang out for free (or as long as you buy something at the bar…) and plenty of nights were enjoyed out on my hotel room balcony taking in the sites and story swapping with friends I haven’t seen in months. As part of our training we had a cooking competition using local ingredients and local cooking methods! We each got a secret ingredient–we got tinned meat–and had to choose a cooking method put of a hat. We got gas stove, wahoo! We ended up making tin meat patties made with mashed sweet potato, cilantro, salt and green onion that we topped with a coconut milk and lime sauce and shaved some cucumber into a salad! We didn’t win buuuut it was delicious!

world cup crew

Michelle and Sydney down for the count

Last night I took a “nap” from 11:30pm-2am in order to prepare to go watch the USA vs. Germany game that started at 3am over here. There is a park in town where Digicel (the local mobile phone company) set up a large screen and is showing every World Cup game. We found a bus to pick us up at the hotel at 2:30am and drove over to the park to find that the USA game was not playing, they were only showing Portugal vs. Ghana. We piled back into the bus and went to two other places the driver knew of that were showing the game. Unfortunately we didn’t put it together that it was the Australian broadcasting company that chose to show Portugal/Ghana at 3am and save the USA game until more people were awake at 5:15am. SO, we drove BACK to the first park and watched the second half of the Portugal/Ghana game and eventually, as the sun was beginning to rise, watched the Americans take the field. Of course, about 30 minutes later the feed cut out and the game was over for us. We got back to the hotel at 6:30am, showered and continued with one of the busiest days—the last day before leaving Vila. Now I’m going crazy trying to answer emails, write blog posts and buy cheaper/delicious things like chocolate that I can’t get on Malekula. It’s time to have one more hoorah with friends tonight and head back to Malekula tomorrow morning. Vila, internet, its been nice, I’ll see you in December when I come in to meet the best boyfriend ever at the airport!