29 June 2007

Good morning, everyone!

This is my last day with internet access for awhile, so I thought I'd mark the occasion with an email containing pictures. The first one is of Sarah and Krissy, two health volunteers and I, at Iririki resort, a nice expensive place for tourists that likes Peace Corps volunteers so much, they let us come and spend the day at their pool for free. The second picture is all of us after our swearing-in ceremony. I didn't have a good one on my camera because the setting was off a little, but I found this one on the harddrive of a computer yesterday. Yes, we are all wearing matching dresses and island shirts, but if you enjoy "Where's Waldo", here's some things to look for: 1) the two people that don't match, but match each other, 2) the 3 dresses that are not the same color as everyone else's but are the same, 3) the 3 shirts that go the wrong direction, 4) me with my mouth wide open because I'm trying to tell the guy with my camera he has it upside down.
back row from left: Matthew, the driver, Adam, Tim, Nathan, Richard (another trainer), Javi (in the white shirt), Dom, Seth, Kristin, Juliana, Noah, Matt (with the red eyes), Sarah (in the different pattern); middle row: David (the oldest volunteer here at 65), Julie, Amanda (bending down), Krissy (in the white dress), me (with my mouth open for some reason), Jennifer (with the weird spot on her forhead); front row: Christina (on of our trainers), Amanda (I've already said her, but I'm not sure which row she fits in), Chris, Solo (in the white pants, also one of our trainers), Judy hiding behind a little (again, a trainer), Jarrod, Sandra, and Erin.

The last picture needs a little explanation: Sarah and I went grocery shopping together. We were shopping for three months and no refrigeration, which is a little difficult. I got lots of dried beans and peas, dried soup mixes, and powdered milk. Not a lot, but I did spend 20,000 vatu (close to $200, when I was in the bank yesterday, the exchange rate was 106 vatu to $1). So, the next problem is how to get it back to our hotel. It's a short distance, but trying to catch a bus with all our boxes did not sound appealing. Nor did walking with them or carrying some and coming back for more. So, we asked the man (well, Sarah did) if we could take the carts with us and bring them back empty. He looked confused, but said we could. Apparently, no one has ever tried to do this before. I checked to make sure he wouldn't get in trouble if he let us walk off. He said he wouldn't. So we took off, crossed the road, lifted our carts on the opposite sidewalk, and started pushing them back to the hotel. And then a security guard started yelling at us from the parking lot. I yelled back, "mifala stap lo hotel Formule, bae mifala karem everi samting, mo kam bak quiktaem! Bae mifala kam bak!" He was satisfied, but then another security guard got the idea to follow us. So, there's Sarah and I, pushing our carts down the road (quite a busy road, actually), and we were honked at by busses, expats looked at us out their car windows, other pedestrians looked at us like we were crazy and laughed openly at us, and we eventually made it to the hotel where the security guard caught up with us. I asked him if he was cross with us, and it seems he was just coming to make sure we returned the carts. Sarah and I wanted to bring them back ourselves, but he helped us empty them on the front steps of the hotel, and then pushed them back for us. I forgot to buy a three-month supply of toilet paper so I have to go back in the store today - maybe I should think about wearing a disguise.

Tomorrow I fly out to Epi, and if everything works out, I will get the stuff I shipped in the middle of the night on Wednesday when the ship comes to Malvasi's harbor. Starting Tuesday, Elaine, who is still working at my site, is running a compost toilet workshop. I will get to Epi in time to see her run a workshop and to be trained on how to make a compost toilet. I'm ready to leave this city and get to my village, but I think I'm going to miss having things around to eat like cheese in a little while.

Again, here's my addresses:

Stephanie Oegema/Volentia blong Pis Kops
Malvasi Village
c/o Rovo Bay Post Office
Epi Island
Vanuatu/SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN

or the office address; mail sent here will be packaged up with my weekly Newsweek and newspaper and sent out to me:
Stephanie Oegema/Peace Corps Volunteer
PMB 9097
Port Vila
Vanuatu/SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN

the other option is to keep sending emails to volunteer@vu.peacecorps.gov, which after printing will be sent out with my Newsweek and newspaper. I have had emails go missing, so make sure you put my name in the subject line and hope for the best! I'm also getting a communication device that can receive incoming text messages, emails, and phone calls, but I don't know the number for it yet. Bambae yufala save.

I'll be able to check email one last time before I go, so if anybody has anything they want to tell me that can't wait four weeks, you still have a chance! If these pictures aren't enough for you, you can also look at www.flickr.com/photos/peacecorps20a for more pictures, some I put up, and some from others. If you have any questions about the culture or what you see in the pictures, please ask, because there are so many things going on in these pictures it's hard to understand everything just by looking at them.

Hope all your wildest dreams come true!

Love,
Steph