Random Things I've learned after 1 Year at Site

April 8th marked a year at site on Ambae. I’ve learned a lot over the past year- about myself, about life, about the South Pacific, about how much I can handle, about random inconsequential things. Here is a sampling of a few things that I can think of that I’ve learned (without getting deep):

1. I can go months without using my laptop.
My site, as most, doesn't have electricity. That makes charging things hard. I have a small solar lamp that can charge things by USB, but no way to charge my laptop. Peace Corps gave many volunteers larger solar chargers, but unfortunately I didn't get one, meaning that the majority of the time my laptop sits in my house in a drybag, unused with a dead battery.

2. Everything can mold!

Books can mold. Powdered cheese can mold. Backpacks can mold. Maple syrup can mold. Nalgenes. Clothes. Crackers. Tables. The list is endless. 

3. I can go weeks without using the internet.
This one is hard! I now have a phone that can regularly access (slow) data at site, but for the first year I didn't. Going from being able to Google things 24/7 to not was a big adjustment. Now I can regularly access social media, but data is usually too slow to Google information, and doing things such as searching for plane tickets impossible.

4. I love cats.

I’ve always liked cats, but not until being here and having my own did I realize how great they are!

5. A smartphone is the most useful thing ever. Except when it's dead. 

Without being able to use my laptop most of the time, and my Kindle also usually dead (my solar is very small and can only charge so much), my smartphone is very useful. Aside from the obvious- using data, taking pictures, playing games- I also use it to (slowly) type documents, watch movies, listen to podcasts, show pictures to students, and unlimited other things. But then there are times when we don’t see the sun for days and then the only thing it is useful for is as a paper weight.

6.  I can relax. 

I’d never been great at relaxing. I always felt that I was wasting precious time and so I should always be moving or doing something. Then I got to Ambae. Now I can sit in my hammock for stretches of time doing absolutely nothing, just relaxing. I’m not sure if it is a good improvement in my life or not- there is a fine line between relaxing and being lazy!

Sweat selfie

7.  I can live my life in another language.

I speak English in class to the students and on the phone with other volunteers, but otherwise I solely speak Bislama at site. Sometimes it is frustrating when I can't express myself how I would like through Bislama, but mostly it has gotten normal. Luckily Bislama is probably one of the easiest languages to possibly learn, coming from English. 

8. I can sweat from every pour in my body. 

On the hottest days, just lying in bed makes me sweat. So sometimes after walking on a hot day it looks like I just dumped water over myself. Salty sweat drips from my forehead into my eyes, my neck sweats, my shoulders sweat, my clothes turn a shade darker, my knees sweat. 

9. Coconut milk is the best! Mosquitoes are the worst. 

Coconut can make pretty much an food taste better! Mosquitoes can pretty much make any situation worse. 

10. I love the ocean!!

Being from Buffalo, I had never spent much time in or around the ocean before. Being here makes me all at the same time terribly in awe and frightened and amazed by this beautiful thing that covers so much of our Earth.