Transportation

Getting around Vanuatu can be a hassle and expensive. Consisting of 60 odd inhabited islands with a land mass the size of  but spread out over the length of California, it's pretty safe to say that many ni-Vans don't get a chance to see most of their own country. So far I've been to 5 islands- Efate (where Port Vila is and one training village), Moso (an offshore island of Efate where we had training), Ambae (where I'm living), Santo (where I went during a school break for a week), and Aore (an offshore island of Santo with a resort)- which is more than many ni-Vans from Ambae who I've spoken with. I'm hoping to go to a few more while I'm in Vanuatu, as every island is different. Even villages within the same island are very different! Anyways, back to transportation. These are the methods that I've used to get around the country since arriving in Vanuatu.

-Plane
Obviously this is how I first arrived in Vanuatu, but since then I've boarded a plane 12 times (often when going to or from Vila, there is a transfer in Santo). From Vila to Santo there is a big plane, but the planes to the outer islands seat only 18 or 20. One time I flew on a chartered flight, which only sat 5! There are flights to Ambae four days every week.

-Boat
At the second training village on Moso, we often took small boats to get around. It's the only way to get off the small island (other than swimming across). On Ambae, small boats are used to go to the Western part of the island, as the roads on either side don't connect. Small boats are also used to go across to Maewo, a nearby island that only gets flights once a week.

-Truck
The most common form of transportation around Ambae! A lot of people and things can pile into the back of truck. There are a few trucks that run at regular times into Saratamata,  the provencial capital,  but most of the time a truck has to be chartered. It can get expensive to charter a truck and I've only done it a few times.

 -Bus
The buses here are more like big vans, the same as the marshutkas in Georgia and daladalas in Tanzania. I've only taken them in Port Vila, where they are a convenient way to get around. There aren't any set schedules- you just tell the driver where you want to go and he'll tell you if he can take you or not. There are buses that go to the villages around Efate,  but I don't know anything about those as I haven't taken them.

-Taxi
I've only taken taxis in Luganville, where they are plentiful and cheap!

-Ships
I haven't yet taken a ship, but there are cargo and passenger ships that go around the islands.

-Walking
It's a tie between this and taking trucks for how I get around the most on Ambae. Often when walking on the road, if a truck passes it will pick me up. At home I would balk at walking over 2 hours to get home, but here it seems normal. Trucks don't often run on the weekends, so if I go to another volunteer's site on a weekend walking is the only way to get back on Sunday without paying a lot of money to charter a truck.

5 Months in the USA

The last 5 years continued...

As sad as I was to leave my great life in Korea, I was excited to have time to spend with family and friends in Buffalo and to see more of the USA. Turns out the time was a bit longer than I was expecting it to be, but I got to visit many people and places. Having people scattered around is a definite con when I am in Buffalo and want to hang out, but luckily I always love visiting people and am well acquainted with the Buffalo airport and bus terminal.

Places visited August - December 2015

Before these trips I had never been west of Kansas, so being able to see a bit of the west was VERY exciting. The majority of the places I've been to in the US are in the Northeast, so it was interesting to be able to expand that just a little bit. What a beautiful country this is!

I felt like I had so much time at home, but now I only have 1.5 weeks left! Lots of things to do, people to see, and food to eat before then! 

2 Years in Korea

The past 5 years continued...

While in Georgia I met many people who had taught in Korea previously and I also had a cousin there, so I applied to the EPIK program. After a month in Buffalo, I was ready to head to Korea in August of 2013. I lived in Gwangju, a city of 1.5 million people about a 3.5 hour bus ride south of Seoul. There is a national park (Mudeung) on the east edge of Gwangju- near where I lived- which was a great escape when the city felt too crowded. I taught at 2 elementary schools, both which were walking distance from my apartment. It was a great life! I was able to save money even while often travelling around the country on weekends and abroad on vacations.

Teaching in Korea was interesting, and my situations were quite different at both schools. Altogether, I had over 300 students a year so it was difficult to get to know everyone. Luckily I had a group of 30 students at 1 school for the entire 2 years multiple times a week, so I grew close and was able to do a lot of fun things with them. I also did 7 weeks total of camps (2 weeks of overnight camp, 5 weeks of day camp) which were some of the best teaching times there!

I tried to see as much as I could of Korea while I was there. Some of my favorite trips were to Seoul (often, to visit my cousin), some islands, and the mountains. Actually it's hard to say "my favorite" trips around Korea because really every trip I took-either with people or alone-was great. There's a lot to see around Korea and it is really easy to get around with their public transportation. I was very sad to take Greyhound when I got back to the US after riding on Korean buses for 2 years. 

Around Korea 

During school vacations I took trips to Cambodia, Taiwan, Japan, and China. Prior to coming to Korea, I had very little interest in East or South Asia. (And, well, before I went to Georgia I had little interest in Eastern Europe). I think a lot of that was ignorance- I had no idea of the diversity of cultures and food between and within the countries. I also thought of it as so foreign until I internalized that people are people and cities are cities and schools are schools no matter where you are. In college I never would have imagined that I'd spend time living in Asia. I don't know if I'll ever make it back to Korea, but more of Asia is definitely on my list. 

A Summer in Tanzania and a School Year in Georgia

A continued update on the past 5 years...

Through kind of a weird situation I found myself in Tanzania for 8 weeks during the summer of 2012. I spent most of my time in Arusha, which is the mid point between Cairo and Cape Town and is at the base of Mount Meru.

I spent a lot of time at Arusha school and ended up organizing their library with some helpers which was messy but a blast.

A few weeks in I went on a safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater which to date is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen or done! It was surreal and I got to see elephants, giraffes, hippos, zebras and many more animals in a beautiful landscape.

I spent a lot of the time in Arusha with a girl Neema who showed me around and we shared many meals together. Arusha wouldn't have been the same without her!

I ended my time in Tanzania with a quick trip to Zanzibar. 

This was just one small glimpse of a huge continent. I hope to see more in the future!

While in Tanzania, I found out that I would be going to Georgia (the country) with Teach and Learn with Georgia, a program through the Georgian government. In September of 2012, I flew to Georgia and spent the school year living and teaching in a village 50 miles east of the Tbilisi, the capital. This was my first time living with a host family which had its ups and downs, but I love the country, village, and family!!

The village

Other than residences the village consisted of a school, a church, a factory, and a couple of shops. I spent my free time wandering around, chatting with random people, hanging out with my host family, reading, and writing letters. I learned enough Georgian to get around. Georgian has its own unique alphabet which made learning to read interesting.

Georgian food was good, and I wish it was more accessible to eat now that I am in the US. Some of my favorite things were lobiani (bean bread), badrijani (eggplant with walnut paste), khachapuri (cheese bread), khinkali (like dumplings), and well basically everything. Georgians eat bread with every meal which was right up my food alley.

Bread

I spent many weekends in Tbilisi. It has a feel of a mix of old and modern. It also had friends, unlimited showers, and shawarma (usually the real draws). 

Tbilisi

I was able to do a good amount of traveling around the country. One of my favorite places was Kazbegi, a village in the Caucus mountains a few miles from the Russian border. It's gorgeous. There is a church to hike to (pretty much all the tourist attractions in Georgia have a church). Some other interesting places in Georgia are Gori (where Stalin was born), Sveneti (mountainous region), Vardzia (cave monasteries), and too many other places to name. 

Kazbegi

While in Georgia I was able to take trips to Armenia and Turkey. To get to Armenia was a quick marshutka (public transport) ride while Turkey was a looong bus ride. In Turkey I went to Istanbul, Selcek, Cappadoccia, and Trabzon. I spent my week and a half there riding overnight buses, seeing historical sites, and eating delicious food. 

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul

I could go on and on about Georgia- It's a country that I had never given any thought to before I went and ended up being intrigued and becoming attached. I can't wait to go back to visit someday!

4th grade at the end of the school year

I just reread many of the letters that I sent to people while I was in Georgia, so I'll end my post about Georgia with a little story in one. 

"Sunday I got to the marshutka station around 5:30 since usually there is a 6 o’clock marshutka to my village. Apparently the last one was changed to 7 instead, so I had to wait an hour and a half to leave. The only other person waiting was Sopo, one of my favorite 5th grade students. She is a hilarious and happy child and we chatted. She had missed the past week at school to stay with her older sisters in Tbilisi, and she had her English book with her so we went over the lessons she had missed. The driver, Bajani, is one that I often have and he is hilarious and every time I see him he greets me with “გამარჯობა ამერიკელი!” (Hello American!). He bought us Fantas and sunflower seeds since we were waiting so long. I told him that I'm leaving soon and he, along with everyone else, told me I can go home for the summer but I need to come back in September and find a Georgian man. There was an old lady riding the marshutka, and she put a bag under my seat. I thought it was moving, but knew that was impossible. Then it started making noises! I had a burlap bag of chickens riding under my seat! Then as we were driving we picked up an older drunk man who rode on the marshutka for about 10 minutes. Before he got off he gave the driver a bag of homemade suckers, which the driver gave to “the children and the American”. When I got off the marshutka to walk to my house, a car of men stopped (one who looked familiar) and gave me a ride to my road. What a trip home"

Starting a blog, a trip to Lebanon, and Europe

Sooo I guess I will try this whole blog thing. I'm not sure how good I'll be at keeping it up, but I'll start it now while I have the time and can figure out how to use it and then hopefully update it while I am in Vanuatu! (the whole reason I'm starting it).

I still have some time before I leave (30 days!), so I thought I'd do some posts about the past 5 years and some countries I've traveled or lived in. I'll start with Lebanon. I went to Lebanon when I was 7 and then again in the summer of 2010 with my dad. The second trip was the catalyst for making me want to see more of the world!

While in Lebanon, I spent the time meeting and hanging out with family,

seeing lots of cool places,

and eating the best food in the world (I'm not biased at all!).

From mountains to sea, historical places to modern, Lebanon packs so much into a tiny area. It's an amazing country!

After I returned to Buffalo from Lebanon, I wanted to go somewhere else so I applied to a study abroad program at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England. I lived on the campus there from January to June 2011. Canterbury is by far the cutest place I have ever lived! In England I was lucky to take trips to London, Dover, Oxford, Bath, and some other places. I became obsessed with scones, pasties, and cider.

 I took classes there although I wasn't very good about studying and trip planning usually took priority. I made some great friends and together we did a lot of travel throughout Europe. Some places we went were:
Ireland

Paris

Italy

Greece

Berlin

Amsterdam

Brussels

Spain

Lisbon

Prague

Zurich

So those were definitely the best 5.5 months of my college career. I'm glad that I got to do the eurotrip thing, and as with every where else I hope that I can make it back there some day- so much more to see!