Welcome to another beautiful morning in Vanuatu, this is my seventh day in port vila and we are set to leave tomorrow morning for Penetcost when the adventure really being I suppose. After a relatively smooth start to the week there have been some ups and downs in the last few days that have caused a few differences of opinions in the group. On Thursday we got our letters from the ministry to take to the visa office. This all went really well and before we knew it we have residency permits stamped in our passports; apparently we are government officers.
On Thursday afternoon Katie and I went to the airport to pick up a box she had had delivered from the UK containing teaching supplies and stationary for the school. This venture turned into a bit of a calamity, we ended up running from one government building to another in an attempt to get tax exemption on the box on the basis that it was for educational purposes. This caused no end of problem and worries as it looked as if we would not be able to retrieve the box before we departed for Pentecost. Fortunately we were able to use one of our contacts in Vila to help us out on Friday. In the end we decided just to pay the tax on the box and try and claim it back later. When asked what the cost of the items in the 26kg box was apparently AUS$3 was an acceptable answer so tax plus handling charges came to about AUS$2 which was a good results.
I have been a little under the weather the last day or so. It is a reaction to the anti-malaria pills I am taking. It happened in the first week when I took them as a trial in the September and then wore off in the next few weeks even though I continued to take them. It is just my body getting used to the drugs and I anticipated it and am not worried by it. I feel fine now just wasn’t nice for a day or so. For this reason Friday was spend in front of the TV and playing poker on James blackberry.
On Saturday morning we ran around town trying to pick up the last few bit we needed in town before our flight. Shops close here at twelve midday on Saturday and all of Sunday. In the afternoon we went Barry’s for lunch. Barry is an old retired ex-pat (with an MBE) who lives here in the most amazing location. His house is quite basic but his balcony over looks the whole of Vila and the bay it is possibly the best view in the whole of Vila. We had a nice lunch and he had many guests who were good to talk to as most had spend a good amount of time in vila and had good stories about what Vila used to be like. We also met a lady called Sarah who is deputy head of the peace corps in Vanuatu and used to be based in Melsisi on Pentecost. She was able to give us lots of advice and some first hand accounts of melsisi who those teaching there. In the evening we went to the Nakamal with the deputy head of melsisi and the minister of education for Vanuatu. After having been ill I decided to opt out of kava on this occasion while the other with some hesitance dived in. The girls had a shell each while James had three! He had two of these with the Minister of education who decided not to sit with the group, I assume because we are mostly girls and I was not drinking. The VP of melsisi only speaks French so as does three of group and two other understand a fair amount. I was the only one there who understood absolutely nothing!
The differences of opinion we have been having surround the decision of the government to delay the start of the school year until the 15th Feb because of exam problems. Discussion has been about delaying our arrival on Pentecost and the option going somewhere else before term starts ranging from another island to another country. As it stands we are going to Pentecost on Monday for a few days and then possibly off to Santo in the west of maybe even the Banks Islands further north. Another option, which I am more for, is to spend the time exploring Pentecost. We will at some point get island fever and want to get off Pentecost at these time a trip to Santo, the Banks Island or Tanna would be a great holiday. However exploring Pentecost will probably be the last think we want to do and so now I feel is the best time to do it. We are all packing at the moment and will discuss it later I assume.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Day 2
Last night we went back to the market to get more food from the lady who made us lunch yesterday because it was so nice and cheap. When we got there the market was still open but the restaurants appeared to be closed. However when we confirmed this with the lady and her husband they insisted that they cook us something even if it required them going to the local supermarket to get what we wanted and then cooking it. We couldn’t dissuade her from this and started to feel even worse when they got out their kitchen equipment, which had already been washed up, to cook our food. The food was again fantastic and we had a nice chat with the husband. Amazingly he told us that he had spent 15 years living in Alaska. How somebody from Vanuatu ever got to Alaska escapes me. The wife has a daughter at ranwadi, we offered to look out for her and report back if she was naughty: ).
This morning’s main activity was watching Katie cut Rhiannon’s hair. This was the source of many jokes at both of them and resulted in many worrying looks and wry laughter from Rhiannon. One successful hair cut later and we where ready to go to town. We where supposed to pick up a few things but we have been getting into the swing of things here and decided to put it off for another day. We got some snorkel gear and browsed some shops and an indoor market that sells island dresses, shirts and sarongs. We didn’t buy anything because there was a cruise ship in town so prices were slightly inflated for the tourists. We had arranged to go back to the outdoor market for lunch again, having made our order the night before, which again was very nice; hopefully we will be able to reproduce food of this quality when we are on Pentecost.
After lunch we caught a bus to Mele, otherwise known as Hideaway Island the home of the worlds only under water post office. Buses here don’t work as they do back home. Lots of the larger cars such as minibuses, people carriers and 4x4 trucks have a B on their number plate indicating they are a bus. You flag them down and simply tell the driver where you want to go and he will take you there. They differ from the taxis, which have a T on their plate, because the bus can stop half way through your route and pick up more passengers. For a single person it is quite cheap but they charge per person so if there are a number of you it adds up to about the cost of a taxi back home.
Mele Island was very small it took maybe 10 mins to walk around it and only because it was difficult due to most of the coast line consisting of large coral rocks which we had to traverse in flip-flops. The island is the result of the coral reef that surrounds it. The beach is not great and consists mainly of broken pieces of dead coral and shells that are painful to walk on without shoes. Shoes are a must as it is very easy to cut your feet on the coral reef and the cuts get infected very easily in the humidity here. Despite the snorkel we bought being rubbish and my inability to breath out of my mouth the coral reef was amazing. I have never been in such clear water and with so many beautiful fish swimming around me. There were warning that blue bottle jellyfish had been seen recently but no one in our group was stung but an Australian man we met got a nasty sing on his arm. He rushed off to the bar and after an application of vinegar he was fine with a nice war wound for a few days. We all took the opportunity to post some letters in the world’s only underwater post office. Which was a very nice and novel experience and capped a wonderful day exploring the coral in the warm sea, a nice change from the Irish Sea.
We had told the bus driver an approximate time that we thought we might be finished by, by no conscious effort we actually were only 15 minutes late. We were unsure that he would actually be there and if he did turn up he might just pick up the first tourists he came across but when we got there 15 mins after we had said he was there waiting and drove us back to our hostel.
Last night we went to a tourist bar for a meal, to get a bit of steak and chips. We thought that although it is good to eat local food we should get our fill of meat while we can.
Although not everything I have been told to expect is true the friendliness and openness of the Ni-Vans certainly was. Everyone one you meet is so friendly and smiley. People are so genuine, which is such a nice change to living in the west. I thin I’m really going to enjoy living with these people.
At the moment we are using the wireless at the hostel so that is why updates are so regular. Next week on pentecost I suspect they will decrease in regularity and probably just as Detailed. Once I get into a routine I suspect daily life will be less to write home about but lots more time in which to write. I suspect my posts will start to be more about my thought on life here rather than actual events.
Tom
This morning’s main activity was watching Katie cut Rhiannon’s hair. This was the source of many jokes at both of them and resulted in many worrying looks and wry laughter from Rhiannon. One successful hair cut later and we where ready to go to town. We where supposed to pick up a few things but we have been getting into the swing of things here and decided to put it off for another day. We got some snorkel gear and browsed some shops and an indoor market that sells island dresses, shirts and sarongs. We didn’t buy anything because there was a cruise ship in town so prices were slightly inflated for the tourists. We had arranged to go back to the outdoor market for lunch again, having made our order the night before, which again was very nice; hopefully we will be able to reproduce food of this quality when we are on Pentecost.
After lunch we caught a bus to Mele, otherwise known as Hideaway Island the home of the worlds only under water post office. Buses here don’t work as they do back home. Lots of the larger cars such as minibuses, people carriers and 4x4 trucks have a B on their number plate indicating they are a bus. You flag them down and simply tell the driver where you want to go and he will take you there. They differ from the taxis, which have a T on their plate, because the bus can stop half way through your route and pick up more passengers. For a single person it is quite cheap but they charge per person so if there are a number of you it adds up to about the cost of a taxi back home.
Mele Island was very small it took maybe 10 mins to walk around it and only because it was difficult due to most of the coast line consisting of large coral rocks which we had to traverse in flip-flops. The island is the result of the coral reef that surrounds it. The beach is not great and consists mainly of broken pieces of dead coral and shells that are painful to walk on without shoes. Shoes are a must as it is very easy to cut your feet on the coral reef and the cuts get infected very easily in the humidity here. Despite the snorkel we bought being rubbish and my inability to breath out of my mouth the coral reef was amazing. I have never been in such clear water and with so many beautiful fish swimming around me. There were warning that blue bottle jellyfish had been seen recently but no one in our group was stung but an Australian man we met got a nasty sing on his arm. He rushed off to the bar and after an application of vinegar he was fine with a nice war wound for a few days. We all took the opportunity to post some letters in the world’s only underwater post office. Which was a very nice and novel experience and capped a wonderful day exploring the coral in the warm sea, a nice change from the Irish Sea.
We had told the bus driver an approximate time that we thought we might be finished by, by no conscious effort we actually were only 15 minutes late. We were unsure that he would actually be there and if he did turn up he might just pick up the first tourists he came across but when we got there 15 mins after we had said he was there waiting and drove us back to our hostel.
Last night we went to a tourist bar for a meal, to get a bit of steak and chips. We thought that although it is good to eat local food we should get our fill of meat while we can.
Although not everything I have been told to expect is true the friendliness and openness of the Ni-Vans certainly was. Everyone one you meet is so friendly and smiley. People are so genuine, which is such a nice change to living in the west. I thin I’m really going to enjoy living with these people.
At the moment we are using the wireless at the hostel so that is why updates are so regular. Next week on pentecost I suspect they will decrease in regularity and probably just as Detailed. Once I get into a routine I suspect daily life will be less to write home about but lots more time in which to write. I suspect my posts will start to be more about my thought on life here rather than actual events.
Tom
Monday, January 11, 2010
Arrival in Port Vila
Hello from Port Vila. I arrived yesterday after a short flight from Brisbane. Despite Brisbane's subtropical climate the heat but mostly the humidity are quite different here. It is difficult to do anything without ending up a sweaty mess. Everyone is the same and we have decided just not to worry about it as we are all in the same boat and there is no way to avoid it. I flew out with a girl called Susie who was also staying in Brisbane where we were met by an ex-pat lady called Pat and a guy called Barry (who has invited us round for tea on Saturday) Magali, who will teaching English at Melsisi, arrived the day before and was also there to meet us. We waited around the airport waiting for the James, Rhianon and Katie who were all arriving on a later flight from Sydney. We all get on really well so far with a good mix of personalities and I am confident that we will continue to get on through out the year.
Our motel is basic but has everything that we need. It has 6 beds in 3 rooms, kitchen, shower, toilet and large communal room with large dinning table. We have a balcony that looks out onto a football pitch. Today we saw a man mow it using the kind of mower you use for a family home; it took a while! Aside from a smattering of homes and some bad roads the rest of the view is made up of trees and grass including a coconut tree just outside the window.
The roads here are interesting to say the least. The quality of the roads is bad by western standards. At the most they two lanes wide and occasionally there is a pavement on one side of the road; only in the town centre is their one on each side. I have yet to see a traffic light and there is an attempt at a one-way system in the centre of town. To call it the centre of town is a misnomer; it really consists of two parallel streets near the coast with shops. I think they drive on the right given the position of the steering wheel but I have seen people drive all over the place so I think anything goes.
We waited until the evening, when the heat had died down and we had put up our mosquito nets, to venture out into town and have a little look around. We had dinner at a nice air-conditioned place with a Canadian girl that the other guys met on their flight from Sydney. Her luggage was lost by the airline and I think she was glad for the company.
This morning we were taken by Fredric, the technical adviser for the education secretary, to the education department to meet the guy in charge of secondary education and we also met the minister of education for Vanuatu and were given a tour of the buildings. The government has changed the head teachers at the two schools so we needed to get new employment forms to get our visas. Fredric took us to the education services ministry to sort out our visas and it sound like this will be fine we just need to go back on Friday to get our passports stamped. So this sounds like it will all be fine. Also the school term is not going to start until the 15th Feb which is good and bad I am quite sure how I feel about that.
After leaving the ministry we went into town to explore in the daylight for the first time. We went to the big market in town where they sell the most and weird and wonderful fruit and veg. All local produce and cheap when in season. The highlight was the live craps in packs of 10. We picked up some pineapple and melons that we have just had and were fantastic. Also in the market there are little ‘restaurants.’ Women cook food on what is best described as camping/barbeque equipment. The food is fantastic and really cheap. For about £2 I got a plateful of rice and veg and half a fish; it was fantastic. We have decided to return most days and try a different woman’s cooking.
We took a trip to local phone shop to get phones. We bought 3 new phones and two sim cards, I am sure they were pleased to get so much business. Then, like children, we sat around swapping numbers and comparing phones. Also we got messages off our network, Digicell, which are in bislama; so we spent time trying to translate the messages.
When we got back to the motel we all hooked up to the wireless from the nearby owner. Amazingly despite the quality of the rest of the infrastructure there were four wireless networks to choose from. So for an hour or so we have all been antisocial but given the fact it is very easy to feel very far away from home here it is completely understandable. Everyone has been able to make contact back home and feels much better for it.
We have plans to much more tourists stuff for the next few days and try and see the most of vila and maybe go to the north of the island for a look at what proper Vanuatu life is like.
Hope everyone is well and not too cold at home. I hope those of you still off work remain so for a few more days.
Tom
Our motel is basic but has everything that we need. It has 6 beds in 3 rooms, kitchen, shower, toilet and large communal room with large dinning table. We have a balcony that looks out onto a football pitch. Today we saw a man mow it using the kind of mower you use for a family home; it took a while! Aside from a smattering of homes and some bad roads the rest of the view is made up of trees and grass including a coconut tree just outside the window.
The roads here are interesting to say the least. The quality of the roads is bad by western standards. At the most they two lanes wide and occasionally there is a pavement on one side of the road; only in the town centre is their one on each side. I have yet to see a traffic light and there is an attempt at a one-way system in the centre of town. To call it the centre of town is a misnomer; it really consists of two parallel streets near the coast with shops. I think they drive on the right given the position of the steering wheel but I have seen people drive all over the place so I think anything goes.
We waited until the evening, when the heat had died down and we had put up our mosquito nets, to venture out into town and have a little look around. We had dinner at a nice air-conditioned place with a Canadian girl that the other guys met on their flight from Sydney. Her luggage was lost by the airline and I think she was glad for the company.
This morning we were taken by Fredric, the technical adviser for the education secretary, to the education department to meet the guy in charge of secondary education and we also met the minister of education for Vanuatu and were given a tour of the buildings. The government has changed the head teachers at the two schools so we needed to get new employment forms to get our visas. Fredric took us to the education services ministry to sort out our visas and it sound like this will be fine we just need to go back on Friday to get our passports stamped. So this sounds like it will all be fine. Also the school term is not going to start until the 15th Feb which is good and bad I am quite sure how I feel about that.
After leaving the ministry we went into town to explore in the daylight for the first time. We went to the big market in town where they sell the most and weird and wonderful fruit and veg. All local produce and cheap when in season. The highlight was the live craps in packs of 10. We picked up some pineapple and melons that we have just had and were fantastic. Also in the market there are little ‘restaurants.’ Women cook food on what is best described as camping/barbeque equipment. The food is fantastic and really cheap. For about £2 I got a plateful of rice and veg and half a fish; it was fantastic. We have decided to return most days and try a different woman’s cooking.
We took a trip to local phone shop to get phones. We bought 3 new phones and two sim cards, I am sure they were pleased to get so much business. Then, like children, we sat around swapping numbers and comparing phones. Also we got messages off our network, Digicell, which are in bislama; so we spent time trying to translate the messages.
When we got back to the motel we all hooked up to the wireless from the nearby owner. Amazingly despite the quality of the rest of the infrastructure there were four wireless networks to choose from. So for an hour or so we have all been antisocial but given the fact it is very easy to feel very far away from home here it is completely understandable. Everyone has been able to make contact back home and feels much better for it.
We have plans to much more tourists stuff for the next few days and try and see the most of vila and maybe go to the north of the island for a look at what proper Vanuatu life is like.
Hope everyone is well and not too cold at home. I hope those of you still off work remain so for a few more days.
Tom
Saturday, January 2, 2010
T-minus 1 day
Finally on the morning of the day of departure I have found time to write a pre-departure blog post.
I am just about packed and read to go, as much as is possible. At the moment I am just excited and full of adrenaline but with a large amount of apprehension. I really am going into the unknown, because of which I am struggling to really mentality prepare myself for where I am going. Over the summer cycling through Europe on my own I got a good taste of being alone in a foreign country and away from my friends and family, although I will hopefully become good friends with my fellow ex-pat teachers. So the isolation I have some idea of but the standard of the living, the people and the static isolation are things I have no real knowledge of or idea how to prepare for. I have been told and researched into all of the above but I don't really think you can get a proper idea 2nd hand. So I go into it with an open mind ready to throw myself into village fully and really get the most out this year.
I have a few weeks to wait until I get to see my life for the next year. I fly out this evening to Brisbane, stopping in Dubai. Where I am staying with Aunt Beryl and Uncle Roger. I don't know them at all, the last time we met I was very young, them living in Australia really hasn't helped. I have a week in Oz to explore and have a proper holiday. I then fly to Port Vila the capital of Vanuatu. I am here for a week too but rather than I holiday I have a number of official/important things to do including extending my visa, currency exchange and buying phone card and stamps etc. I am also supposed to go to the north of the Island for a few day to get an idea of the real 'island life' away for the commercialisation for vila. So although I fly out this evening, although don't arrive in Oz till Monday, I still have two weeks before I actually get to Pentecost and my home for the next year.
I am told that the internet at the school on Pentecost is working for the moment. The last time it broke it remained so for 8 months. I should therefore be able to update my blog with so regularity, although if I suddenly go quiet you will understand why.
I hope that I can make this blog interesting to read and that you are interesting in what I am doing. I will try to update regularly when it is possible and I am not running on 'island time'.
Speak to you all soon.
I am just about packed and read to go, as much as is possible. At the moment I am just excited and full of adrenaline but with a large amount of apprehension. I really am going into the unknown, because of which I am struggling to really mentality prepare myself for where I am going. Over the summer cycling through Europe on my own I got a good taste of being alone in a foreign country and away from my friends and family, although I will hopefully become good friends with my fellow ex-pat teachers. So the isolation I have some idea of but the standard of the living, the people and the static isolation are things I have no real knowledge of or idea how to prepare for. I have been told and researched into all of the above but I don't really think you can get a proper idea 2nd hand. So I go into it with an open mind ready to throw myself into village fully and really get the most out this year.
I have a few weeks to wait until I get to see my life for the next year. I fly out this evening to Brisbane, stopping in Dubai. Where I am staying with Aunt Beryl and Uncle Roger. I don't know them at all, the last time we met I was very young, them living in Australia really hasn't helped. I have a week in Oz to explore and have a proper holiday. I then fly to Port Vila the capital of Vanuatu. I am here for a week too but rather than I holiday I have a number of official/important things to do including extending my visa, currency exchange and buying phone card and stamps etc. I am also supposed to go to the north of the Island for a few day to get an idea of the real 'island life' away for the commercialisation for vila. So although I fly out this evening, although don't arrive in Oz till Monday, I still have two weeks before I actually get to Pentecost and my home for the next year.
I am told that the internet at the school on Pentecost is working for the moment. The last time it broke it remained so for 8 months. I should therefore be able to update my blog with so regularity, although if I suddenly go quiet you will understand why.
I hope that I can make this blog interesting to read and that you are interesting in what I am doing. I will try to update regularly when it is possible and I am not running on 'island time'.
Speak to you all soon.
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