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 :)