Ambae Bound

April 8, 2016

Twelve new volunteers waited around at the Port Vila airport,  ready to head to sites on Ambae and Maewo. We were prepared to eat aelen kakae, take bucket baths, and not have electricity. All that got pushed back a few days when our flights got canceled, as we are learning they are apt to do. Instead we got put up in a nice hotel and lived the high life for two nights with food vouchers, a pool, and AC. It was not at all how any of us were expecting to spend our time, but it was a nice little surprise vacation before we all got to finally head off to our sites.

With much doubt, we lugged our things back to the airport two days later, but this time the flights actually ran and off we went. After a plane change we landed on East Ambae, the final destination for some of us. I got met at the airport by my host brother,  and we got on the back of a truck filled with people headed to the village.

There had been a small cyclone/ tropical storm a few days before and some damage was evident. Around my house was a mess, so immediately after arriving my host brother and I started cleaning debris so that there would be a good path to my door. After about 30 minutes in the village,  dirty and sweaty and my shirt torn from a wire on the truck ride, my mama came to get me. Apparently the village had been holding some workshops and I had arrived on the last day of one. She led me to a room full of people, some of whom I had met before but many who were from other places in the province and are in charge of curriculum in the schools. I met many of them, got welcomed back from some people in the community, all embarrassingly still in my torn shirt and with dirty hands.

Later,  when I finally got a moment to myself in my house,  I went to hang my mosquito net. I love sleeping in one because it makes me feel protected from the big spiders, rats, and all other gross things. Anyways, by the time I went to hang it up it was almost dark. Because the ceiling is so high, hanging it involved a table and chair and lots of sweat,  and resulted in a hung net but also a broken bed slat and some bruises added to my body.

Now comes figuring out what the heck I'm actually supposed to be doing here.