I’m in Vila for a week break. Island life is good as usual, simple and not too much has happened. Last month a couple people from my group came to visit me. I think they enjoyed it, but they decided that Gaua is ideal if you enjoy hiking through the bush all day in the rain, sleeping in a puddle, then hiking the whole next day to the waterfall which was so strong because of the recent rain that Blake’s dog (the other volunteer) got swept away and was found days later dead. So yea, unfortunately, the weather wasn’t cooperating so I’m not sure how great of a time they had. Afterwards we traveled to Mota Lava for a relaxing week. Mota Lava is a small island north of me and has one other volunteer from my group. Mota Lava is probably what you might picture when you think of me living on an island in the South Pacific. It has long white sand beaches, beautiful palm trees and reefs, and I ate lots of delicious seafood all week. We were also fortunate to visit the Reef Islands. They are I think about 5 or 6 small islands which are uninhabited. It was the most beautiful beach I’ve ever been to in my entire life. No exaggeration in the least. The sand was so soft, we caught enough fish to eat for 2 days in 10 minutes, and the water that divine blue, green color that you might see on the web shots desk top photos. So I don’t live in a tropical paradise all the time, but I’m not too far from it if I need a small break.

School is going well. We are in our third and last term. I’ve given several workshops for the teachers and am still teaching class 5/6 English. The most rewarding part is the significant progress I’ve seen in my students. They have become such proficient readers and writers compared to the beginning of the year. They are no longer afraid to participate, although they still hide under their desks if they say a wrong answer.

My community projects are not really moving at the moment which has been a bit frustrating. I helped to starts a Women’s Club in my community, but they haven’t found the time to meet lately. I also have been trying to assist my community in starting a Kindy and that is also not really going anyplace. We have a committee now and have had several meetings and created a work plan which is a great start. But no progress has been made since. Little effort has been made as far as acting out the work plan. This has been a bit frustrating, but at the same time I know that I can only do so much and the rest is in their hands. So hopefully it will be a success and if not, I know that I did as much as I could to assist them, so either way it’s ok.

The Gaua Annual Art Festival was in mid September and was awesome. It was three days of custom dancing, singing, dressing and water music (which is a native custom to Gaua). I have several videos of each and can’t wait to show them to everyone at Christmas time.

After a year of working at it, I finally have a decent garden. Lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, spring onion, basil, island cabbage, corn and snake beans. It’s a start and I’ve been able to finally give my host family some food instead of them always giving me food. It also feels nice to know I don’t have to depend on them so much for everything, making me feel a tad more independent in that sense.

I just wanted to update my wish list…

Instant pudding mix(the kind where you just add milk and stir)
Marshmallows
Chocolate as always
Anything instant that just needs milk or water
CD’s (I’m not picky, just whatever you can burn off your computer)
Card Stock (different colors)
Construction paper
Pencils/pens
Granola
Dried fruit
Almonds
A sturdy garlic press
Index cards

Notice that most of the stuff is food, I think grocery shopping in Wegmans will be one of the most exciting things about going home.

I’ll be coming home in mid December around the 15th and staying a little over two weeks. Then I’ll be traveling around New Zealand with another Peace Corps friend for a couple weeks then back to Vanuatu.