Officially a volunteer

As the title plainly points out, I am now an official Peace Corps Volunteer. No longer will I be subject to the diminutive form of being a trainee. We had our swearing-in ceremony Thursday June 26th, on a not so sunny day. But it still turned out to be a great time, even though it did seem to drag on at times. It was apparently longer than usual swearing-in ceremonies, in large part due to the presence of some special guests, the president of Vanuatu His Excellency Kalkot Mataskelekele and the First Lady, as well as the U.S. Ambassador of PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It was the first time that the President had come to a PCV swearing-in ceremony, so it feels like quite an honor. As an official introduction, and a common custom here in Vanuatu, the President, his wife, other government officials, all the PC staff and current PCVs, and the U.S. Ambassador were welcomed down the walkway that the villagers had been preparing all morning long. They went down the line shaking the hands of all the host families and other villagers, eventually reaching the end where the President, our CD, the U.S. Ambassador and I briefly talked with him but more with his wife, the First Lady, who was a really down to earth person, very friendly. And talking with the President, if even for a short time was pretty cool too, even though his initial presence was somewhat intimidating because his austere look diction throughout the ceremony. It was also a very important and rather unique ceremony because it was the last swearing-in ceremony for our current but soon-to-be former PC country director after 7 good years in Vanuatu, a very gnarly guy. Bittersweet to be the group sending him off because it's definitely an honor for us to be his last group of new volunteers, but sorry that we only had a few months under his guidance and leadership rather than two years. Oh well. I'm sure the next CD will be interesting, so now looking forward to meeting him one of these days, or months.
Anyway, the ceremony was interesting too because there were many other recognitions besides us volunteers, like people of the community of Epau and some of the chiefs and presentation of gifts from the community to the president and ambassador and of course recognition and gifts for our CD. We had all planned a bunch of things to do for the ceremony like skits and songs and speeches, some of which worked while others were just plain left out due to lack of time and attention span in the audience, us included. I had written a speech which I was supposed to give after swearing in which I was quite excited/nervous about, but that didn't end up make the list with a couple other skits and songs we wanted to do. Even with the skits we did do, it was like pulling teeth sometimes...humor here among the locals is not easy sometimes because the culture of humor here doesn't revolve around a lot of pun or punchlines or witty jest, its usually pretty straight forward and to the point, the simple obvious little things. But that also makes it really easy to relate to people and simply interact and be-friend anyone and vis versa. So it has its pleasures and simplicities when you just want to get an easy laugh out of people during conversation, as well as its frustrations at times when you think you're being funny and clever. But after hours of sitting and looking good in our matching island attire we were done and went and had a big "las kakae" and some kava and then did some dancing and singing. A "las kakae" is just like a last dinner or meal shared between an individual and a larger group of people, like a family or community. Volunteers usually have a lot of them around their COS, or close of service, usually with their villages and various families of close relationship.



Okay, this has been a sort of ongoing post because I started it when I got into Vila and now I am finishing today as I am about to leave for Tanna this afternoon. The past few days here in Vila have been fun, crazy, busy (seemingly but not really), lazy wan wan taem (occasionally). Been shopping for things that will be useful for the next two years like tools and hardware, pots and pans, utensils, spices and all that good stuff. Also bought a variety of seeds from the Agriculture Supply...got plenty of vegetables like tomatoes, pumpkin, carrots, sweet corn, capsicum and a few other vegetables. Then I got some herbs to try and make tea and use for food preparation...big aspirations, I know. But apparently anything can grow on Tanna, I've seen a little and heard a lot, we shall see!



Now I am definitely ready to get to my village down in Tanna and get immersed in what will be my way of life for the next two years...root crops (yams, taro, manioc), kava, custom ceremonies, storian, drop toilets, volcano, gigantic nambanga trees, plenty of walking and exploring the island, meeting new people and seeing new villages, pick-up trucks and bumpy dirt roads, trying to cook for myself and for other people, with the crops that I hope to be growing eventually, and of course working with my community and neighboring ones to target needs and wants, particularly water supply needs as well as sanitation and agri-business, other smale scale business enterprises and I definitely look forward to working with youth to address certain issues and capitalize on opportunities for healthy growth and development. I know it sounds a little vague but detail is something that I can't afford for the time being one reason being that I am leaving VERY soon and need some time to tie up loose ends with my luggage and transport. The other reason being that there are some things that I don't have specific details on that will sort of present themselves along the way over the next few months in order to gain a clearer understanding on what works and what doesn't work and what's available and what's not and other things of that nature when you're talking about development and change, especially from a different cultural lense. So all in due time.



But, before getting straight into the my village life I will be hanging out down by the coast in Lenekal and Isangel to do get some small living supplies and attend a 4th of July party for all of us Tanna volunteers. Tanna volunteers are well known for being a fun and close knit bunch, which we will continue to do so over the next two years and however long after. So if any of you ever need a vacation to the South Pacific and don't know where to go I can tell you that there's a place here for you out on Tanna in the small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu...I'll put you up. Or you can stay down on the coast at a bungalow resort which is owned by my one of my brothers up in the village, your choice! But if you wanna go to Africa and experience that exotic safari and expansive desert and grasslands, get in touch with Jaclyn...she's got an open door policy going on over there at her site too, and hopefully I'll be able to take advantage of that as well, mbae yumi luk (we'll see).

Well it's been nice and I hope all is well with everyone. I hope you all are enjoying the summer months, it's hot as hell in Baltimore right now. Not so much here because we are getting into the cooler months and there is more of a regular breeze throughout the day coming off the ocean. But it won't be long until those mangoes start fruiting, because now they're flowering everywhere, and the humidity that my training group only caught the tail end of creeps back into the air, and the cyclones start brewing once again. So until then I will enjoy the cooler months and the chilly nights down on Tanna under the blankets under my mosquito net, and hopefully the mosquitoes won't be as prevelant during these next few months too.

Love you all and stay healthy
Tim