Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Family Day


Yesterday my host family celebrated Family Day, a national holiday that falls on the day after Christmas every year in Vanuatu. My host family caught fresh fish and celebrated my arrival in Vanuatu with a prayer and welcoming speech in Bislama. The people here have embraced me and the presence of the Peace Corps and proven themselves to be a culture based on hospitality and community. However, they are also limited and isolated by their geographic position as an archipelago with significant distance from any other nation, as well as their lack of media. People will ask me the same questions repeatedly, as well as questions with obvious answers. I will go to the beach and someone will ask me "Paz, yu go swim?" When I come back from the beach, the same people will ask me if I have just come from the beach. I believe this is because their lack of resources presents them with a scarcity of conversation topics. It is the same reason church sermons are recycled every Sunday. However, I believe the presence of the Peace Corps in the country will allow the locals to witness new information and ideas. Perhaps this is the reason the people of Vanuatu have always welcomed the Peace Corps. They are a culture in search of innovation, new dialogues that will enhance their quality of life.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

The Long Road From Lakatoro


Yesterday I needed to run errands that required a trip to the provincial center and main city on Malekula, Lakatoro. I needed to purchase some supplies for my new house, such as cooking tools and an aircard for Internet access. I also visited the post office and was pleasantly surprised when I offered 100 vatu as a tip for maintaining my mail and was declined. I thought, the Peace Corps must be held in high esteem in Vanuatu if the post office is willing to maintain a mail box for me without any compensation. Since I also have free access to the solar power at my school in order to charge my cell phone and computer while most people are charged a small fee, this to me is the most authentic indication that the Peace Corps is conducting worthy and productive projects here. While I was able to purchase many products I needed, I was not able to locate everything. The main disappointment was the aircard. I walked into an outlet owned by Digicell, the main phone and Internet provider in Vanuatu, and was told they did not have an aircard and sent me to another store. When I went to that store, I was told to try somewhere else. This kept happening until I decided I was too tired carrying many heavy cooking supplies to keep running around Lakatoro in search of an aircard. I walked back to Digicell and asked them to order an aircard for me and call me when it arrived. They said they would, but I do not feel confident this will actually happen soon, if at all. For now, I will be forced to come into Lakatoro and use the Internet at my friend's site. The ride back to my village was both beautiful and wasteful. I saw many variegated birds and trees and even a flying fox. However, the driver made several detours with no apparent purpose behind them. He drove us all around Lakatoro and, after leaving Lakatoro, through a forest outside my village. The ride took about an hour and a half longer as a result. While the scenery was breathtaking and left me wishing I had brought my camera, it was also an enormous waste of gas and time. I was tempted not to pay the driver, thinking a New York cab driver would have been discharged for such a ridiculous lack of professionalism and concern for our planet. Then, I remembered that this sort of thing is much more acceptable in Vanuatu than in the United States, and I did pay him. I came off the truck dizzy and in pain from sitting on the back of a truck for hours. I realized the urgent need for an environmental movement in Vanuatu that educates people about such the dangers of such prevalent practices as burning garbage, wasting fuel, and powering their houses with generators. Perhaps this will be my next project here as an educator.

Zen and the Art of Kava Grinding


I have arrived in my village in the northwest of the island of Malekula. Above are pictures of my new house and the beach nearby. The community here is divided between Seventh Day Adventists and Presbyterians. In terms of religion, this is as diverse as Vanuatu usually becomes. When I tell people about my Buddhist practice, they respond by saying they have never heard of Buddhism. I tried to explain Buddhist concepts such as reincarnation, impermanence, and mindful living in Bislama, and found that people were interested, but did not fully grasp these ideas. However, I do feel more accepted for my beliefs than I expected to be by conservative Christians, such as Seventh Day Adventists. They ask me to say grace before eating and do not object to my chanting the Buddhist prayer Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambudhassa (“Homage to the Blessed One, the Noble One, the Perfectly Enlightened One”) rather than the Christian prayers they are accustomed to. I also made Turkish coffee over an open fire using ground coffee from Tanna, an island in the south of Vanuatu, which they enjoyed. I expressed interest in visiting a nakamal to my family, who told me their religion forbade kava consumption and that, if I wanted kava, I must come to the Presbyterian area, where the religion is less restrictive. Two days ago, I did so. It turned out to be a more involved process that I anticipated. I was told to wait and smoke some strong local tobacco while I waited for the owner of the nakamal. When he arrived, he took me on the back of his truck to a man who sold pieces of the kava plant that resembled potato slices. For one US dollar/100 vatu, I purchased a large bag of kava pieces. After we drove back to the nakamal, I was shown how to grind kava. After grinding the kava into dried gray nuggets, we dissolved them a bowl of water. Using a calico cloth as a strainer, we squeezed the newly concocted kava into another, larger bowl. I was then told to drink all of it. I expressed that I did not want to drink that much kava, but they did not seem to understand the concept of only wanting a small amount of kava. In Vanuatu, kava is all or nothing. Either you do not drink it or you drink it in excess. The culture allows no middle ground. After drinking the entire bowl, I walked home unharmed, and fell asleep almost immediately.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Eclipse Over Vanuatu

Last night a lunar eclipse appeared over Vanuatu. We saw it outside a club in Port Vila called Rumors, which I found out later was one of the few that attracted gay patrons. Vanuatu has very few safe havens for queer people, and virtually all of them are in its capital city. A group of volunteers went dancing there. We spent the night dancing with each other, expatriates, and locals. I wanted to take a photo of the eclipse, but it was obscured. The night was still, however, spectacular. It had been a long time since I had been out dancing, and I thrived on the inclusive atmosphere. The locals happily allowed me to dance with them and were genuinely impressed when I told them I was from New York. Dancing is an art that unites all peoples, and last night was no exception.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Swearing In

I have officially sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I will be staying in Port Vila until I leave for Malekula on Monday. I will be living and working at a school training both students and teachers. This is a forward progression on every level: professional, experiential, mental, familial, and spiritual. Getting to the island requires a great deal of preparation, since I have many supplies to take with me. Only so much can be transported on a plane. The rest will have to be shipped on a boat. I am quite excited to be living on Malekula. Reading about it, I see that there is an abundance of ceremonial dance, body paint, sculpture, and exquisite landscapes. The above pictures are of my swearing in ceremony, some ancestral statues on Malekula, and a kastom dance. I will witness all of it with eyes of integrity and enthusiasm.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Leaving Tanoliu

I have left Tanoliu, my training village and am currently staying in Port Vila, the capital and largest city in Vanuatu, to continue my training. My host family and I honored our final night together by cooking banana pie over an open fire. They are displayed in the above photograph. My site placement is on the island of Malekula at a school in the northwest. I will have a house right near the beach, which feels like a tremendous improvement from a tiny room on the Lower East Side of New York City. I have also been placed with two of closest friends in the Peace Corps. I look forward to this new creative and professional venture. There will certainly be beautiful stories to come.