Two months of Celebrations

The past two months have been busy with travel and celebrations. Returning from the states was harder than I expected, but I was super excited to see my fur animals, baby Shannon, and my family. I was only at site for about a week and half before I left for a mini trip with some volunteers. 

They put signs up around the school. 

Maxi enjoying American Cat food!

Love my view!

Someone missed me when I was in the states.

I went to Santo to visit Caroline, Cole, Hannah, and Jeffrey. At Caroline and Cole’s site, I helped them paint their sound wall at their school. At Hannah’s site, I helped her in her library. I love visiting their sites and seeing their passions come out in their work. Since I was there with Gabby, she was able to rent a car and we drove the coast on Santo to visit Jeffrey. His big project was this huge sports court. It was really cool to see in person. The best part of this trip was that I was able to spend my 33^rd birthday with some of my favorite people here. It was a great couple days and I am so thankful for the family and friends that I have made within Peace Corps.

Celebrating at Port Orly! 33

After a few days in Santo, a group of us traveled to the island of Pentecost. This island is home to a very rare custom. This island is known for Land Diving. That is right Land Diving. Many people ask me oh, so they jump off of a cliff into water. I say no it is Land Diving. They dive into the land. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen. Here is a little information we were able to gather while there.

Land Diving season is from April-June, which is Yam season. They do it during this season because they use the vine from the yams for Land Diving. Land Diving has been going on for many years. No one could give us a date. The story behind Land Diving is that a woman was cross with her husband and she wanted him dead. So she suggested that they both dive into the land. He agreed not knowing her plan. Her plan was to make is rope too long so that he would be killed on impact. However, her plan did not work because he survived. After this, women were the ones that would land dive. After a few times or a few years, men decided that it was not good for them because everyone could see their taboo area and that was not appropriate. So now it is a men’s sport. Today, women are not allowed to go anywhere near the structure or touch the vines. The night before then men jump, they are not allowed to sleep with their wives.

When we first got there, I thought it was going to be only men jumping but nope kids jump too. The youngest on the day we went was five. There are different levels and you have to jump from each level until you reach the top. Any man or boy can do it. They do the ceremonies every Saturday from April-June. The structure is rebuilt every year. They wear a custom nambe for this custom. The men and women who are there for support also wear custom clothing. It was one of the best experiences that I have had here in Vanuatu.

All six of us slept in this bungalow.

The structure for land diving.

Preparing the platform.

This five year old getting ready.

The supporters. 

The next day, we went and visited a beautiful waterfall and got to swim in it. It was freezing but so cool. I highly recommend anyone who visits Vanuatu to visit Pentecost. Plus their Kava was really strong!

After Pentecost, I returned to site and started to get back into the swing of things. We had an Australian couple with their kids come and visit and they brought a ton of things for the school. They were very sweet and really wanted to help the school and villages. They were great company as well. I also was able to buy their kids Kava and watch them drink it for the first time. I love sharing Kava with foreigners. It is such an important custom here in Vanuatu.

They Played sports with every class. 

Brought tons of books and read with the students. 

Had an art project for the kids. 

The staff with our new friends. 

On July 3^rd Baby Shannon was dedicated at church. They did the dedication at 5 o’clock in the morning, so I was not there. My principal said he didn’t want to wake because he knows I love to sleep. However, we did celebrate with a big lunch and Kava. This time, I got to experience chewed kava. So my principal was chewing kava and then spits it out to make the kava. I tried chewing it and it was disgusting. I couldn’t do it. So I drank kava that he chewed. It was the strongest kava I have ever had. After kava, I ate a very small lunch then had to go sleep for about 3 hours.

It was an experience. 

Next, we celebrated the USA Independence Day. I passed out the last pen pal letters to classes 3-7. They were very sad that this was their last letter. Then, class 4 made American Flags and learned about the stars, stripes, and colors of the flag. For lunch, I made Kraft Mac and Cheese and shared it with my counterpart. It was delicious. Thank you Gabby. Finally, I ended the night with watching Independence Day with my family in the village.

My counterpart with his awesome t-shirt of Fourth of July!

Eating and watching Independence Day!

Class 4 with their masterpieces. 

American lunch is served. 

She gave it a thumbs us!

Cole and Caroline’s parents came and visited my island. It was great to meet them and hang out. Plus I got a job for next summer.

I spent a week in Vila for mid service medical and had a table at the G28 reconnect resource fair. It was really fun to spend some time with the new group and got to share a room with Nicole. We went to the movies twice and ate a lot of pizza. I also saw Finding Dory with my two nieces.

Back at site, July 19^th is a special day because it was the day the missionaries came to Nguna in 1869. So we had a three-day celebration. Last year, all celebration was cancelled due to the aftermath of Cyclone Pam, so it was great to see the celebrations this year. There were food stalls, skits, singing, dancing, a reenactment of the missionaries coming, speeches, a march, and a ton of food. It was a great time and felt very lucky to be apart of this celebration.

Our march to the place where the Missionaries came. 

My counterpart is dressed for the re enactment. 

Juju is festive! 

The last celebration was the independence day of Vanuatu, which is the 30^th of July. This celebration was held in the last village Utanlang on Nguna, which is about a four-hour hike from my village. So luckily, I have this awesome island mate named Natalie who loves to hike and walk and convinced me to hike with her. So we set out on Thursday to her site, which is an hour hike from mine. Then on Friday, we walked the three hours. It was a beautiful hike. I got to see the other part of my island. The hike was not too bad and I hate to say it but I kind of enjoyed it. There is a Peace Corps Volunteer in this village. I have not had the chance to hang out with her, so this was a great opportunity. We were there for three days and had a blast. There was a ton of food, dancing, skits, singing, a fashion show, and a string band. We drank lots of Kava and tusker. It was really neat to see the whole island in one place. On the day of the celebration, we ate bullock that was the best meat I have ever had. It was great to be able to celebrate their 36^th independence.

The sunset on my Island. I don't get to see the sunset on my side. It was amazing.

This was for the big feast. Yep thats right two cows laying on the beach. 

This is what we got for lunch. It was amazing.

So now I am back at site and term 2 is ending next week. So kids are taking exams, teachers are marking exams, and I am helping out where I can. We are learning what is working and not working for the computer lab. The teachers are realizing that I only have one more term here, so we are planning on trainings and workshops that they want before I head out. I also have to start preparing for the new volunteer that will replace me. It is all surreal how fast this time is going. I am trying not to get overwhelmed with how fast it is all going but it is hard.

Here are a couple of random photos. 

Love the view!

She finally let me hold her. She has been scared of me for months. 

A workshop about food. 

As much as this experience has been so hard, it really has changed me and I can’t wait to see what happens these last 8 months.

Well that is all I have for now!

19 months in, 8 months left