Last full day in Vila--WOW

9.30.07

Sitting here on Sunday morning on the lanai of Room with a View. It’s fairly quiet. A few cars and trucks passing by, the birds are singing but otherwise there is stillness. Justine (the proprietor) has come out and is drinking her coffee and sitting. She is a lovely hostess. I would recommend this place for anyone visiting.
Yesterday was very full. Also like a vacation yet it was training. We started the morning by walking around the block (although a very irregular shaped one) to the home of Jane Laycock and her family. Jane is the PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer). She hosted training on nutrition. As everyone came straggling in we started a bit late. “No problem”. First her husband Jacko, a big strapping Englishman who sounds totally Aussie, gave us a tour of their gardens. This was both instructional and entertaining. Trees of many varieties, planted vegetables (although many were late or just starting). We were accompanied by the two children of James Bond (PC worker) who lives in a house on the perhaps acre of property. The Laycock house seemed large enough for them and their four children (aged 13-18) but not palatial. There have just completed a guesthouse. More construction work is in process. That apparently is Jacko’s business. He and Jane came to Vanuatu twenty years ago to stay a year and here they still are.
After the garden tour which was an introduction to the incredible natural growth of foods here, we had a Ni-Vanuatu woman who is a nutritionist give us a talk on the current state of Ni-Van diet. Apparently they have moved away from a sustaining diet to one that is higher and carbs, sugars and fats. Of course diabetes and heart disease have followed in abundance. They actually see these foods as status symbols. What a shame.
We moved on to three work stations. Cutting and peeling two large pumpkin/squashes for a soup, husking green coconuts and cracking and scraping dried coconuts for both the juice and the meat which would be squeezed for its juice for cooking. Then the nutritionist gave a cooking demonstration worthy of the cooking channel. She prepared a dish from the pumpkin tops (greens) and a green beans dish. Both simple and as they turned out delicious too. Soon the pumpkin soup came simple but tasty. I would have preferred a bit of spice (as I was told they don’t use much). Then a beautiful feast was put on the table. We had to eat fairly quickly for we had to be to the harbor for the afternoon. The food was very good and I tasted a bit of everything. I was quiet taken by a salad dressing of coconut milk, lemon and garlic over fresh lettuce and watercress.
Having eaten and applied sunscreen we all piled on to the back of Jacko’s dump truck for the short ride to the harbor. At the harbor Relvie (PC security director0 and Shelly (PC assistant country director) awaited. They distributed our life jackets (ours for the duration of our service) and whistles. Mike the owner of a scuba diving company a former Kiwi air force officer and cruise line employee gave us a demonstration talk on outboard motor repair, as this may be a common means of travel between nearby islands. I could just see traveling for a day to get from island to another. Sparkplugs fouling, petrol separation from the water and pull rope repair. Oh Boy. We then all boarded his large catamaran for a sail out of the harbor and to a small reef off a near by island. During the trip Mike gave another talk, this one the sharks and other sea creatures to be wary of. Good stuff. He also talked about mirror flashing and the multi-uses of a large green plastic bag. Floatation device, parka, shelter, rain collector, insulator and carry all. We then anchored and were required to jump off the boat with our life jackets on and swim back to the ladder and reboard. Easy stuff. Then we free to go snorkeling for a while. It was a nice shallow reef. Some colorful coral, a few fish, large blue starfish, sea slugs and cucumbers. One of the crew handed me a slug and it emitted a white stringy discharge. The strings stuck to my hand much like the mucilage glue from elementary school. It took the rest of the swim to remove it from my hands. Something to write home about. Ha Ha! I returned to the boat, had some grapefruit and a cookie and then nice conversation with Shelly regarding affirmations. The motoring back to port was slow. Against the wind and tide. Back on land I was ready for a shower and a nice dinner.
After cleaning up while sitting on the lanai Alyssa and Dan arrived to join Chris and Ryan in some kava then music at the festival. After two evenings alone I decided to join them. Glad I did. We took a brisk walk across town. Finally found a nakamal. I had already decided not to partake. Had a Tusker (the local beer) and sat in a smokey lean-to. Conversation good. Then we were joined by the proprietor, Daniel. Very talkative. We talk a bit of Bislama, about kastom, Very informative. We then took that first night trek through the jungle to the Festival. There must have been at least five thousand people there. Maybe more. There many small booths selling many local foods. I had a skewer of meat and peppers. Cold but tasty. Then some fried sweet potatoes and tried a lemon pie. The pie was very bland. Total cost. 180 vat ($1.80.) We made our way to the front of the stage. A troupe of island children was singing. Cute. Then a reggae band started. I had to get up to move with the music. Suddenly we saw the PCVs down front get up and we joined them to dance away to a fairly good rendition of Bob Marley music. Ending with I Shot the Sheriff. It got part of the crowd up. Mostly whites though. Then a troupe of Tahitian dancers came on. Incredibly beautiful. The young Ni-Van men didn’t want to sit down but they made to do so by a man from on stage with a flashlight. Afterwards Evan and I walked leisurely back home. I was warm and a bit tired. I sat down in the lounge chair on the lanai to cool down. Evan came out with some African music and I fell asleep.
Quite a final day here in Vila. I awoke a bit before 6 AM. Today we depart to Mangaliulu. Feel like LA staging was kindergarten. This first week in Vila was the first grade. Lots of introduction to the culture, health, safety, and language. Now we are on to adding columns.