Vila Time and Reconnect!

So for the past two weeks, we have been in Vila for Reconnect. It has been a blast! It has been great to hear about everyone's site and what they like most and what is hard. It is different for everyone, and I enjoy listening to the stories. Some awesome things happened while here in Vila. So I will try to give you the run down.

First of all, I was blessed enough to celebrate my birthday with my PC family. It truly was an amazing day. I felt so loved and special! I feel like my birthdays just keep getting better. I spent my 32nd birthday in paradise with a group of people that I have only known for 4-5 months. My birthday started with a snuggle fest at midnight with my two roommates. They jumped into my bed right at midnight and told me happy birthday and how much they loved me. Then, in training I got flowers and chocolate croissants. Afta, I had to do a mini presentation of my site and when I got up there they sang Happy Birthday to be. Afta, I had lunch at one of our favorite places here. Then, at night everyone met up in the hotel kitchen and made nachos and started the party. I even got gifts, which was not necessary. But it was amazing! Afta, we all headed out to one of the clubs that Vila has and they opened just for us. So we danced the night away with just our group! It was pretty great. The club also gave out complimentary shots. It was pretty awesome! I got to make a speech behind the bar and hang out with the DJ. Then at midnight, I passed the torch to another volunteer whose birthday was the 17th. It was a great day and night. My PC family truly made my day!!!

One of the reasons we were in Vila for so long is that the director of Peace Corps came to Vanuatu. No director has been to Vanuatu. It was pretty cool to meet her and hear her talk. She was very inspiring and made me more excited to go back to my site. She also gave me confirmation on why I am here. It was pretty awesome. She also got to present the Women of Courage award to one of the women here in Vanuatu. That was a powerful moment. Her speech was amazing and I feel so blessed to have witness the ceremony. The director went to my site before she made the famous hike to Mere. She really enjoyed my village and my Papa was ecstatic to have met her. There are pictures out there so I will try to post some.

The other reason we were in Vila was for Reconnect, which is more training. The cool part was that our counterparts from the islands came in for a few days. So we got to meet everyone’s counterparts. They really enjoyed Vila. Some of them have never stayed in a hotel. Training was normal but I think it is going to get better because me and another girl from my group was asked to help make training better. Based on evaluations training got the worst marks. So we are going to help and I am so excited. It will be A LOT of work but I know it will be worth it in the end.

So Vila is getting pretty high tech, they just opened the first movie theatre here. There is only one screen but it is so nice. There is an arcade and playground. You can get popcorn, candy, soda, and slushies. It is pretty amazing. I saw three movies while I was here. I saw two movies in one day. I was able to see Cinderella, Avengers 3D, and Fast and the Furious 7. It really felt like being back in the states. I think the movies will be like 2 months behind from the states but it is still awesome that there is a theatre here. It was one of the highlights of the two weeks.

When I was not in training, I was hanging out with everyone. We ate a lot and did a lot of dancing. Our group is pretty awesome at dancing. I did a lot of errands and bought things for site. I received some mail. I did not get my birthday packages but I will be back in Vila in a couple of weeks. 

Another big thing is something I may be able to do with the Peace Corps. I am in the process of writing a grant with another PCV to travel to other islands in Vanuatu and train teachers and current PCVs. This will be a great opportunity to see Vanuatu and help more teachers and volunteers. I had a few meetings with my director and he is excited and on board. We just have to get the money. So I can’t wait to see what this will look like and turn into.

My other exciting news is some of us will be going on vacation in December. We are headed to Fiji and Samoa. We will be spending Christmas in Samoa and New Years in Fiji. I am so excited to travel and see more of the world. I have five months to get this body ready!

Well I think that is all for now. I will be back in a few weeks. One of the girls in my group does a Picture of a Day and I think I am going to start. I have been horrible at taking pictures. So I am hoping to get better. I also had a request to blog about my bush kitchen, so that is coming as well.

Well thank you for the love and support. Vila has been awesome but I ready to see my family, my chicks, and my dog. Island life is pretty awesome. I am also taking back all the Harry Potter books, so I have a lot to read. Until next time.