I recieved my placement! :) I am going to The Banks, the island of Gaua. It's an awesome placement in the sense that not many Peace Corps volunteers get sent to the Banks, so it's unique. It is very remote and you rarely get to Port Vila because of the cost. I ave to take two planes to get there. I am not sure how much communication I will have there, it depends if there is a computer at my school. From what I have heard Gaua is absolutely gorgeous. There is a volcano located in the center with a lake and a beautiful waterfall. It is about a 3 hour hike from the village I'll be in, Losalava. There is one other volunteer on the island. He is in a village next to mine. So although it's remote - at least I'll have a friend.

My job title was changed. I am now a literacy trainer, but it's pretty much the same as the primary teacher trainer. I'll still be setting up workshops for teachers, but focusing on literacy. So Kelly - any helpful information yo get from your classes that you think I might be able to use let me know.

I leave for wokabout tommorow (Monday) and I'll be back in Vila by next weekend - so I'll update everyone about my new village then.

Other than that, I have still loving it here. Training is becoming somewhat tiring. It's just a lot of information at once and I am anxious to use it.

I experienced some new "only in Vanuatu" moments...

Only in Vanuatu...

...will pikkinis (children) play dodge ball with Jelly Fish
....gossip will be passed through something we like to call the coconut wireless. Let me tell you this wireless system is far faster than phones and it is all fun and games until you are the topic of the gossip..haha
...will pikkinis be walking around with very large bush knives as if they were lolypops

That's all for now..I'll update you next weekend with how my wokabout experience went. Love you all!

Hi everyone! Thank you for all the birthday messages! I had a really nice birthday. The other volunteers made me cards and gave me chocolate and ice cream :) I got to spend my birthday on a beautiful island, I couldn't imagine a better place! This past week has been good! On Saturday we went to Pele island for snorkeling and hiking. The hike to the top of the island was amazing - the view was awesome!

This week has been a little more emotional for me. My host mama is sick and had to go to the hospital, so I am without a Mama for the week. My Auntie and all of the other Mamas have been taking care of me, but I have a close relationship with my Mama here, so I just feel bad that she is sick.

Today was my second visit to Vila North. The classsroom sizes are much bigger than those in America. They average 40 kids to 1 teacher resulting in a very noisey environment. Students here are much different than those in the U.S. They are more meek when it comes to discussion and are very scared of making mistakes. But they are incredibly cute! The teachers that I've met thus far go out of thier way to make us feel welcome. They are so thankful to have us there and very open to advice. At this point in training I am only here to observe, but it's nice to know that when I eventually start teaching workshops they will be open to what I teach. The one major difference in schools is the lack of access to updated resources they have. Once I'm out on the islands - I pretty much am going to have nothing to work with. If I'm lucky I'll have a chalkboard and maybe some books. So any supplies - construction paper, paper, pens, pencils, crayons, markers, tape, staples...would be extremely helpful. But I am going to have to learn to be creative with what I have. Other voluteers told me to save everything, because it will eventually come in handy in the classroom.

I am really becoming accustomed to the culture and lifestyle. I don't mind bucket baths so much, I am getting used to wearing a skirt everywhere I go. Although it is a pain when exercising in the morning. My friends and I walk and do yoga every morning. So I am finely finding routine.

I love and miss everyone dearly, but know that I am safe and having the time of my life.

Hi everyone! Thank you for all the birthday messages! I had a really nice birthday. The other volunteers made me cards and gave me chocolate and ice cream :) I got to spend my birthday on a beautiful island, I couldn't imagine a better place! This past week has been good! On Saturday we went to Pele island for snorkeling and hiking. The hike to the top of the island was amazing - the view was awesome!

This week has been a little more emotional for me. My host mama is sick and had to go to the hospital, so I am without a Mama for the week. My Auntie and all of the other Mamas have been taking care of me, but I have a close relationship with my Mama here, so I just feel bad that she is sick.

Today was my second visit to Vila North. The classsroom sizes are much bigger than those in America. They average 40 kids to 1 teacher resulting in a very noisey environment. Students here are much different than those in the U.S. They are more meek when it comes to discussion and are very scared of making mistakes. But they are incredibly cute! The teachers that I've met thus far go out of thier way to make us feel welcome. They are so thankful to have us there and very open to advice. At this point in training I am only here to observe, but it's nice to know that when I eventually start teaching workshops they will be open to what I teach. The one major difference in schools is the lack of access to updated resources they have. Once I'm out on the islands - I pretty much am going to have nothing to work with. If I'm lucky I'll have a chalkboard and maybe some books. So any supplies - construction paper, paper, pens, pencils, crayons, markers, tape, staples...would be extremely helpful. But I am going to have to learn to be creative with what I have. Other voluteers told me to save everything, because it will eventually come in handy in the classroom.

I am really becoming accustomed to the culture and lifestyle. I don't mind bucket baths so much, I am getting used to wearing a skirt everywhere I go. Although it is a pain when exercising in the morning. My friends and I walk and do yoga every morning. So I am finely finding routine.

I love and miss everyone dearly, but know that I am safe and having the time of my life.

Halo everyone! I am currently living on the island of Lelapa, which has no running water or electricity. Every Wed. we come into Vila to visit one of the primary schools - so lucklily I was able to get get some computer time while I'm here for the day.

In Lelapa, I am staying with a host family. I live in my own bamboo hut that they built for me next to my families house. It is very cute! I have 4 little brothers and an awesome mama and papa. I am starting to get used to bucket baths, my pit latrine, and all the noises that come with living in a hut with bamboo walls.

I am picking up Bislama failry quickly. We have language classes 3/5 days of training. My mama speaks excellent english, so it's tempting to just speak English with her. My little brothers always laugh at my attempt of a Bislama accent. haha, but nonetheless I'm doing pretty good with it.

I really like the island food. Although I do miss dairy, wheat, salads, and chocolate dearly. I eat a lot of rice, reef fish, grapefruit, papaya, and this stuff called lap lap (a very dense bread type of food) - I'm still getting used to it.

The weather is very fickle. One hour it will be sunny and the next it will rain. Luckily this past weekend was gorgeous and I was able to hike to the otherside of the island with some volunteers and a local who gave us a tour. We hiked to the most gorgeous beach I've ever seen in my entire life. We took a tour of Devil's Cave and saw wreakage of a plance crash from WWII.

I am still adjusting to the style of life here. In Vanuatu, people just relax...everyone is on island time. Everyone just sits and storison (chat) with eachother. It's really funny to me, cause we are alwys going going going in the states. I have had so much time to just relax, get to know my family, and I play lots and lots of cards!

Other than that I am having an amazing time. I am learning so much about myself and about the world. Hope things are going well at home! Love to you all!!

Don't forget you can e-mail me at volunteer@vu.peacecorps.gov with the subject as Valerie Selden. They print out the emails while I am in Lelapa and give them to me.

*Only in Vanuatu....

- Will your Mama send you with a coconut for your juice box for lunch :)