Gift of the Sugarbee

Two weeks ago, I was introduced to a man who harvests local sugarbee (honey). I asked him if he had any honey for sale, but he told me he was out. But last week, I was walking to a feast and a truck with two volunteers from the Japan International Cooperation (JICA), who had come to my village to work with the fishermen. I didn't realize at first that the driver was the same man who harvests sugarbee, but he remembered me. After discussing my imminent trip to Japan to see an old, intimate friend in Tokyo with the volunteers, the man reminded me who he was. He produced a large glass jar filled with the sugarbee. I asked if I could pay him later since I had no cash on me. He told me it was a gift. I was quite honored that this man would remember me. In Vanuatu, people remember faces.

Puppies and Kittens

This month, a new litter of puppies and a new litter of kittens were born. Both litters are living outside my house.

The ManBush Walk

Last week, my friend Abby, a returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served as an environmental educator in Paraguay, came to visit me on Malekula on her way to a bird-watching expedition in Malaysia. Together, we embarked on the ManBush Walk, a gorgeous, but grueling five-day trek. Abby spotted several different variegated bird species. We also crawled our way through a cave and disturbed a coven of bats that flew around in our faces. The last day in particular was arduous: A ten-hour hike almost all uphill and downhill. At times, people volunteered to carry my backpack and even carry me in order to remain on schedule. By the end of the trek, I was saturated in bruises and cuts, aches and pains. I am still recovering from it all. But it was incredible to see Abby again and I am quite proud of both of us for completing the hike.

The Yaws Epidemic

As part of my Peace Corps training in Port Vila, I attended a lecture on yaws—something none of us had previously heard of, and for good reason. Vanuatu is one of only thirteen countries still affected by yaws, a bacterial infection that causes bone structure to decay and the immune system to deteriorate. Yaws is spread through blood-to-blood contact, and while it was previously thought that the epicenter was the southern island of Tanna, it has spread all throughout the archipelago. Yaws is easily remedied by a dose of intravenous antibiotics and Azithromycin, a medication that would by prescription at any pharmacy in the developed world. The fact that Vanuatu is still affected by yaws is a sign of how abysmal and defective the health care system is here. Cultural taboos and financial constraints prevent people from seeking treatment. The main sign that someone is affected by yaws is a large open wound that often attracts insects. When we saw pictures of this symptom, we all agreed that yaws is ubiquitous—we saw it all the time in our respective sites. A new campaign is being launched in Vanuatu to eradicate yaws from the country. This will not be easily achieved. However, Peace Corps Volunteers here (including volunteers who have not been assigned to work on health issues) will be included in this campaign next year. More updates to come.

Wine, Cheese, and Kastom Dancing

Two weeks ago, while in Port Vila for a training, I received a last-minute invitation to an event commemorating the 20^th anniversary of Alliance Française, the French embassy in Port Vila. The event featured a gallery show of twenty modern ni-Vanuatu painters. I was quite impressed by the sublime quality of the painting. Some of them looked like photographs since they were so realistic. Others combined elements of indigenous art forms with more modern designs. It also featured a kastom dance, something I had been wanting to experience since I came to Vanuatu and thought I may not be able to since they do not happen in my village. (Seventh-Day Adventists are often adverse to nearly naked dancing.) There were various speeches, but they were all in French. I was one of the few people there who did not speak French fluently. Even the ni-Vanuatu attendees  The contrast  of wine, cheese, and mini quiches and nearly nude dancers shaking rattles, beating drums, and wearing body paint was quite striking. There were five male dancers and each of them chanted in vernacular languages. Afterward, they demonstrated their sand-drawings in a tray that had been filled with sand. Children tried to emulate the drawings after the dancers had finished. In other news, I recently booked my flights to Beijing and Tokyo. Beginning in December, I will be taking my vacation to travel around China and Japan. So look forward to entirely different stories and pictures on this blog.

Climbing Mount Marum

After teaching a workshop on art history, Allegra, Mi Lee, and I planned to climb Mount Marum, an active volcano on Ambrym. It was an intense daylong climb. We braved it with another volunteer's host father and a porter. The entire time I felt like I was on another planet, but particularly on the ash plain and at the top of the volcano. Because we were volunteers, he cut us a great bargain and carried our tents. When we arrived at the top of the volcano, we met an American filmmaker from New York and a New Zealander documentary film crew. The American was filming an online film called “The Deep Field.” Their crew had brought a generator and Internet and reserved helicopters to bring them food. Teetering at the edge to take pictures was a challenge. The lava pit was hypnotic. We pitched a tent at the base camp. We returned to it at night. The lava turned the sky red and gave our figures a ghostly effect which reminded me of the paintings of David Hockney and Marc Chagall,both painters I discussed with the children at my school and the school at Allegra's site. It was my first volcano, and hopefully not my last.

The Ambrym Reunion That Almost Wasn't

Life in Vanuatu is rarely consistent. Sometimes it drives you. Other times, it works ideally. Late last month, as I prepared for my trip to the neighboring island of Ambrym to visit Allegra, another volunteer, with my friend Mi Lee, I learned that Mi Lee's plans for walking to the other side of the island to join us had been usurped by her host family's fears of black magic, as she had planned to walk with her host brother. I also learned that there would be no trucks to the airport on the day of my flight since it was a public holiday. People warned me several times about black magic, but only warned me about the problems with the trucks after it was too late to make a contingency plan. I ended up having to charter a truck part of the way to the airport and pay a substantially higher fee. I also got a text from Mi Lee that she'd gotten a flight to the other side of the island to meet us at the last minute and planned to surprise Allegra. We both met on the same flight, which experienced fog and never landed at our destination. Instead, we landed in Port Vila, the economic and political capital. Of course, since it was the airline's mishap, the airline had to cover our accommodations. Two French tourists and one boy student were also meant to land in Ambrym and were held up. I used the time to purchase supplies, conduct research, and meet other volunteers. Mi Lee learned that a research paper she co-authered on fish societies and the influence of DNA is about to be published in a scientific journal. We ended up going to Ambrym two days later on a special plane that had been arranged just for us. It was also the smallest plane I have ever seen. I bought a baguette, Emmantelle cheese, and red wine to take back to Allegra's house, and we all celebrated together.