So I was sitting in my class room the other day when I got a phone call from Elin. Elin is from the island of Malekula, but had been in Vila for a week or so. She had called to let me know that she had received an email from my dad that my grandmother Flyr had passed away. She had already informed the Peace Corps medical staff who she transferred me to after talk with me for a few minutes. The Peace Corps staff was very helpful in calling my dad from their satellite phone so that he could call me back on my cell phone.
My dad called me a few minutes later and we got a chance to storian for a bit. Apparently my grandmother was watching Saturday morning cartoons and just dozed off to sleep. Not a bad way to go. Not to long ago I received a Christmas card from her. The only thing she had written on the inside was a J smiley face with an arrow pointing to it that said “That’s me.” It still makes me laugh when I look at it.
Well I decided that I did not just want to sit in Lounuotuan, so I told Pis Kops I wanted to come in so I can use some real communication devices to call home. The Pis kops nurse said she would have the country director call me. Well if I waited around for a call I would not get on a plane that day. I packed a small bag and said good bye to my village and then started hiking to the airport. I called Elin back and she was a big help by calling the airline and saving me a seat. About 2 hours into hiking a truck finally came by and I caught a ride into town to get money out of the bank and then headed straight to the airport.
Before the flight I met a guy who stopped me as I was walking by and said “So you are one of the famous Peace Corps Volunteers I keep hearing about.” I said I do not know so much as being famous but yes I am. Actually Peace Corps had an incredible name here. We are very well known for coming and living olsem (how) the Nivans live. Also, with our 3 months of training, we all speak really good Bislama. Although, I am realizing the better my Bislama gets the worse my English grammar becomes.
I had a good talk with him and actually ended up grabbing a shell of kava with him when we got to Vila. He has been here one month and has been just walking around. He said people kept confusing him for a Peace Corps Volunteer. I told him it was because he carried an aelan basket, had a beard, and smelled a little funny. He was a pretty interesting character and an amazing artist. He showed me his sketches of Tanna. They were pretty impressive. He did a great job of capturing the essence of Tanna.
Well our plane ride was exciting as always. We were on an 18 seat plane. One of the planes where the pilot literally turns around to tell you there is an emergency card in the seat pocket and how long the flight will be. There is no locked door protecting these guys from terrorist. There happens to be a Nivan girl in front of us who apparently really does not like flying. She kicked and screamed and balled the entire flight. That in its self is annoying, but I am used to pikinini crying when they wee the white man coming. So it was not big of a deal to me.
Now then because of her fit she also stunk up the place. As the Nivans would say, trousers hemi fulap, (She crapped her self.) It was so bad I could see it coming out the bottom of her diaper. I felt bad for the mama who was trying to control her. She had her hands full. Literally. It was a very welcome relief for that door to open and get some fresh air.
Once back to the peace corps office I hooked up with a bunch of 20B people. For various reasons there was 1/3 of our group here in Vila. We all went out for dinner and had a great time sharing stories and crazy tales of our sites. They are such amazing people. Group 20 B is the best group ever in Vanuatu. We get along so well. We all write letters to each other often and stay in touch more then any other volunteers do.
I was sitting on the beach in Lenakel the other day and opened up a package from Evelyn who was in Vila for a workshop. Inside the package was 4 tuskers and a note saying hey thought it was time for me to settle up on that bet. She may have once bet me a 6 pack of tusker that the next card I was about to turn over was NOT going to be her card. 6 Tuskers later, she does not bet on card tricks with me anymore. J
Well it was Elins last night and her flight back to Malekula was for 0645 in the morning so we decided we just all needed to stay up all night. Elin finally made her flight back and the rest of the day has been spent working with peace corps staff. I will be making some random calls home so if you get a cal from an unknown number it may be me!
Dawet lanaeyu
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Best day in Tanna
Best day in Tanna!
So at one point this afternoon I thought to myself, wow this has been a great day. It started off with me waking up to either Mt. Yasur’s stomach growling or an earthquake. Hemi semak. It shook my house and my bed. It must have been a big one as it lasted a long time. I went back to bed and did not wake up again until nature started calling my name around 0730. I got up and started cleaning my house.
I do not think the person before me ever cleaned this place, so I went through and rearranged my bed and got rid of some stuff that I feel I do not need. I turned my bed around and moved my radio/desk. At one point some Mamas came over to see why half of my house was sitting out front. They then notice the condition of my floor and became distressed over the condition and lack of response to my earlier requests to the men to get me Bamboo to fix it. So apparently we are having a work day on Saturday to rebuild my home. I will move into the office of the school while we finish the repairs. Not only are we rebuilding the floor, but we are putting a new roof on as well.
Next thing I knew it was time for kakae. I had one brother walk over with a box and ask if I had some oil. He said he would cook something special for me if I had some. Well special is right. Now before I tell you what I ate I will just warn a few of you to turn away and skip these next few lines; I know I am going to get some flack from a few of you. So we fried up some meat and ate some small rice. It is probably one of the best meats I have ever had. It is too bad it is not on any menus back home, (Maybe McDonald’s, but who knows.) So what was it? Well first off it was the heart, which even before from eating cow heart, I know it is one of the best roasts you will ever have. The heart is the most active muscles in the body. Now then I must clarify that when I said that this was the best meat I have ever eaten before, that I was so hungry I could eat a horse, literally. It was so good I ended up have it at the Nakamal for navanu (wash out) and then again for dinner. Everyone here agrees hos hemi stap auntop. Hemia namba wan from se taem we wan man emi kakae wan samting mit blong hem no stap long tut blong yu. (Horse is the top. It is Number 1, because when you eat it the meat does not get stuck on your teeth.)
After lunch I went with Lucas to go find some green coconuts. He climbed up a coconut tree pretty close up to my house. Then he tossed down about 8 coconuts. We cracked some open with our bush knifes and chugged them down. These guys are so amazing with their bush knives. It is like an extension of their arm. Mothers in the states would flip out at how young the babies are that hold small bush knives. Everyone must have bush knife save (Know how) in order to function around here. I practiced cutting out a green coconuts with out breaking the actual coconut. I was not very successful so we had to eat a few more. I have a long way to go to be as save as these guys.
As we were walking back, Lucas said he needed to exercise because he was so full. So I pulled out the Frisbee and taught a few people how to throw. They are picking it up pretty quick. I am hoping that I will be able to teach them Ultimate Frisbee. After some Frisbee we kicked around a soccer ball for a while. Then it was time for them to teach me a game. We played Ponget which is like lawn bowling. I say that with out really knowing what lawn bowling is.
We each have three steel balls about 1 pound each. One person then throws a little ball about 15 feet away. In our case the little ball was a nut from a tree. You then take turns tossing your steel balls as close to the little ball as possible, you take turns like you would in shuffle board. It was pretty fun. These guys are intense. They have great aim, too.
While we were playing, I had an uncle come over and ask if I would go karem wan samting long makem wan plei plei blong mi. Other words he wanted me to go grab my juggling clubs and give them a show. I have been doing this a lot lately, but that’s okay. It is a good excuse to practice some. When I came back I also brought some sunflower seeds (Thank you so much for sending them.) I then had to teach them how to eat them. They were all amazed that I could fill my cheek up with them and eat one at a time. I told them they had to learn to eat one at a time first.
After our sunflower-seed-eating-lesson Lucas and I walked to his garden and pulled some Kava. Once back in the Nakamal we I ended up drinking two shells back to back. I have never been so drunk on Kava in my life. I had to lay down. This is not a bad ting. After laying down I try and meditate for a while. When I walked to the bathroom ( a hole hiding behind some bushes,) I could hardly walk. Even right now I can feel the effects of the kava and it is now 0100. I had some horse again for dinner. Man that was good stuff. I want to make a sandwich out of it tomorrow. Some fresh aelen bred and then some mustard. Mmmmm… That sounds great.
So this was the first day that through out the entire day I kept thinking, “wow this has been a really good day. I have a few more since then and I hope their frequency increases. I am sure that they will. Everyone says that the first six months are the hardest part. Most people go home with in their first six months. Now that skul (school) is going I am staying pretty busy. Now I have lesson plans to prepare and then classes to teach. This helps take up a lot of time. It is all about filling up time.
Before I had said that I was not going to buy a bicycle because I felt it was flas we flas (flashy.) Well I think I have changed my mind on this. I live in this absolutely incredible paradise and I might as well enjoy it as much as possible. Also, with a mt. bike I can cover some serious ground and see more of the island. This would make me more effective in reaching some of the coffee farmers. And most importantly, this place seems made for mt. bikes. I saw a Man Tanna riding one the other day so at least I am not the first person with one. I will look into this when I am in Vila.
So at one point this afternoon I thought to myself, wow this has been a great day. It started off with me waking up to either Mt. Yasur’s stomach growling or an earthquake. Hemi semak. It shook my house and my bed. It must have been a big one as it lasted a long time. I went back to bed and did not wake up again until nature started calling my name around 0730. I got up and started cleaning my house.
I do not think the person before me ever cleaned this place, so I went through and rearranged my bed and got rid of some stuff that I feel I do not need. I turned my bed around and moved my radio/desk. At one point some Mamas came over to see why half of my house was sitting out front. They then notice the condition of my floor and became distressed over the condition and lack of response to my earlier requests to the men to get me Bamboo to fix it. So apparently we are having a work day on Saturday to rebuild my home. I will move into the office of the school while we finish the repairs. Not only are we rebuilding the floor, but we are putting a new roof on as well.
Next thing I knew it was time for kakae. I had one brother walk over with a box and ask if I had some oil. He said he would cook something special for me if I had some. Well special is right. Now before I tell you what I ate I will just warn a few of you to turn away and skip these next few lines; I know I am going to get some flack from a few of you. So we fried up some meat and ate some small rice. It is probably one of the best meats I have ever had. It is too bad it is not on any menus back home, (Maybe McDonald’s, but who knows.) So what was it? Well first off it was the heart, which even before from eating cow heart, I know it is one of the best roasts you will ever have. The heart is the most active muscles in the body. Now then I must clarify that when I said that this was the best meat I have ever eaten before, that I was so hungry I could eat a horse, literally. It was so good I ended up have it at the Nakamal for navanu (wash out) and then again for dinner. Everyone here agrees hos hemi stap auntop. Hemia namba wan from se taem we wan man emi kakae wan samting mit blong hem no stap long tut blong yu. (Horse is the top. It is Number 1, because when you eat it the meat does not get stuck on your teeth.)
After lunch I went with Lucas to go find some green coconuts. He climbed up a coconut tree pretty close up to my house. Then he tossed down about 8 coconuts. We cracked some open with our bush knifes and chugged them down. These guys are so amazing with their bush knives. It is like an extension of their arm. Mothers in the states would flip out at how young the babies are that hold small bush knives. Everyone must have bush knife save (Know how) in order to function around here. I practiced cutting out a green coconuts with out breaking the actual coconut. I was not very successful so we had to eat a few more. I have a long way to go to be as save as these guys.
As we were walking back, Lucas said he needed to exercise because he was so full. So I pulled out the Frisbee and taught a few people how to throw. They are picking it up pretty quick. I am hoping that I will be able to teach them Ultimate Frisbee. After some Frisbee we kicked around a soccer ball for a while. Then it was time for them to teach me a game. We played Ponget which is like lawn bowling. I say that with out really knowing what lawn bowling is.
We each have three steel balls about 1 pound each. One person then throws a little ball about 15 feet away. In our case the little ball was a nut from a tree. You then take turns tossing your steel balls as close to the little ball as possible, you take turns like you would in shuffle board. It was pretty fun. These guys are intense. They have great aim, too.
While we were playing, I had an uncle come over and ask if I would go karem wan samting long makem wan plei plei blong mi. Other words he wanted me to go grab my juggling clubs and give them a show. I have been doing this a lot lately, but that’s okay. It is a good excuse to practice some. When I came back I also brought some sunflower seeds (Thank you so much for sending them.) I then had to teach them how to eat them. They were all amazed that I could fill my cheek up with them and eat one at a time. I told them they had to learn to eat one at a time first.
After our sunflower-seed-eating-lesson Lucas and I walked to his garden and pulled some Kava. Once back in the Nakamal we I ended up drinking two shells back to back. I have never been so drunk on Kava in my life. I had to lay down. This is not a bad ting. After laying down I try and meditate for a while. When I walked to the bathroom ( a hole hiding behind some bushes,) I could hardly walk. Even right now I can feel the effects of the kava and it is now 0100. I had some horse again for dinner. Man that was good stuff. I want to make a sandwich out of it tomorrow. Some fresh aelen bred and then some mustard. Mmmmm… That sounds great.
So this was the first day that through out the entire day I kept thinking, “wow this has been a really good day. I have a few more since then and I hope their frequency increases. I am sure that they will. Everyone says that the first six months are the hardest part. Most people go home with in their first six months. Now that skul (school) is going I am staying pretty busy. Now I have lesson plans to prepare and then classes to teach. This helps take up a lot of time. It is all about filling up time.
Before I had said that I was not going to buy a bicycle because I felt it was flas we flas (flashy.) Well I think I have changed my mind on this. I live in this absolutely incredible paradise and I might as well enjoy it as much as possible. Also, with a mt. bike I can cover some serious ground and see more of the island. This would make me more effective in reaching some of the coffee farmers. And most importantly, this place seems made for mt. bikes. I saw a Man Tanna riding one the other day so at least I am not the first person with one. I will look into this when I am in Vila.
All-You-Can-Eat-Pizza
I am sitting down here by the white beach bungalows where the Tanna Coffee Factory and Brett’s house is located. It is about a 30 minute walk from Lenakel. I came down here on Friday where I have been hanging out with the other volunteers. We came down to have a big all you can eat pizza night at the Leniae Palms resort. (It is just some bungalows not a club med.) Apparently a few of the volunteers did this last night and crawled away in pain because there was so much food.
Well we have all been very excited for this. We talked about it all day and planned out our other meals accordingly. We all wanted to make sure we were hungry enough to devour some pizza. Well they are a little slow bring out the pizza, but when they finally bring out the first two trays of pizza we all become very quiet and just begin devouring the pizza. There was chicken pizza, beef pizza, vegetarian, and my personal favorite the lobster pizza. With 7 people and only two trays of pizza they were gone with in 5 minutes. As we sat there waiting for more to come Ann the owner of the bungalows says hey Peace Corps I think we should give a hand to the guy that make this possible, the cooks, who are sitting at a table next to us.
I turn to Sultan and say, shouldn’t they be in the back making more pizza? Well finally after sitting for a while we ask one of the Nivans when more pizza was coming out. He said that that was all of it. Instantly we all got very irritated. We all felt deceived. The bungalow there is hit or miss. We had actually already been making plans for next month’s pizza night there, but after our disappointing experience last night we are going to move our business down the road.
It isn’t like we did not get enough to eat. After eating three scoops of ice cream I was pretty stuffed. It is just the fact that they should have told us up front that they were not doing all you can eat anymore. The owner is kind of sketchy at times. One theory is that they lost money last time so they put a limit on it. We all would of paid more if it meant being able to eat till we wanted to puke.
Well we have all been very excited for this. We talked about it all day and planned out our other meals accordingly. We all wanted to make sure we were hungry enough to devour some pizza. Well they are a little slow bring out the pizza, but when they finally bring out the first two trays of pizza we all become very quiet and just begin devouring the pizza. There was chicken pizza, beef pizza, vegetarian, and my personal favorite the lobster pizza. With 7 people and only two trays of pizza they were gone with in 5 minutes. As we sat there waiting for more to come Ann the owner of the bungalows says hey Peace Corps I think we should give a hand to the guy that make this possible, the cooks, who are sitting at a table next to us.
I turn to Sultan and say, shouldn’t they be in the back making more pizza? Well finally after sitting for a while we ask one of the Nivans when more pizza was coming out. He said that that was all of it. Instantly we all got very irritated. We all felt deceived. The bungalow there is hit or miss. We had actually already been making plans for next month’s pizza night there, but after our disappointing experience last night we are going to move our business down the road.
It isn’t like we did not get enough to eat. After eating three scoops of ice cream I was pretty stuffed. It is just the fact that they should have told us up front that they were not doing all you can eat anymore. The owner is kind of sketchy at times. One theory is that they lost money last time so they put a limit on it. We all would of paid more if it meant being able to eat till we wanted to puke.
Oh what a night!
Wow what a night this has been. It is 0333 on Wednesday morning. I have been awake for a while. I actually went to bed fairly early last night. I had gone to the Nakamal at about 1800 had one shell and then took a spel. Well for my Navanu I ate cooked banana with avoka, man it was tasty.
For some reason I felt a little bit off. I only drank one shell and went home before 1930. I walked straight back to my hut and shut my door. Usually after the Nakamal I go eat with Namke and his family, but tonight I just did not feel like it. That should have been my first sign something was not right. I just wanted to climb in bed and go to sleep. I started reading Catch-22 and read about 25 pages before I gave up and just gave into sleep. I looked at my watch and it was only a little past 2000.
All night long my mouth seemed to be super dry. I did not want to get up and walk across the house (ten feet away) to get some water. Well finally at one point and I am not sure what time it was, I could not take it anymore. I got up and poured me a glass of water from my water jug. I drank the whole glass in two gulps, but then I started to feel really funny. I had the strong and quickly approaching sensation that I was going to puke.
I opened my door so I could get outside to the bushes to troat, puke. This is when everything went dark very quickly. I am not sure if I completely blacked out or what, because I feel like I felt the whole thing happen. The old bamboo close to my door snapped scratching up my leg pretty good. Meanwhile, I fall forward and slam into the ground in front of my house. I just lay there, thinking wow I do not feel like I have to puke anymore.
This was not one of those; oh I fell so get up. I am pretty sure I blacked out, because when I was on the ground I did not want to move. I still felt funny. I had my headlamp on, so I reached up and turned that off, so that I could just lay there in the dark on the cool wet ground. Luckily I had missed a log with my head about 5 inches. I had a log there because I am going to finish my deck tomorrow, depending on how I feel that is. I pulled the log a little closer to use it as a pillow. I then just laid there thinking, wow this is not good.
I finally pulled myself up, after about ten minutes and tried wiping the dirt off of me. This was pointless. Luckily I had fallen asleep with a t-shirt on so I pulled that off and climbed back in bed. When I got into bed I was shivering. I am in the middle of the hot season in the south pacific, there is only one reason you get the shivers and that is when you are sick. I then started thinking man when is the last time I took my malaria prophylaxis. I am still in the window of coverage so I do not think it is malaria. I also feel a lot better now.
I think I will be replacing my entire floor soon. Well, I am going to try and go back to sleep for another four hours. Dowit Lanaeyu (good night in local language.)
For some reason I felt a little bit off. I only drank one shell and went home before 1930. I walked straight back to my hut and shut my door. Usually after the Nakamal I go eat with Namke and his family, but tonight I just did not feel like it. That should have been my first sign something was not right. I just wanted to climb in bed and go to sleep. I started reading Catch-22 and read about 25 pages before I gave up and just gave into sleep. I looked at my watch and it was only a little past 2000.
All night long my mouth seemed to be super dry. I did not want to get up and walk across the house (ten feet away) to get some water. Well finally at one point and I am not sure what time it was, I could not take it anymore. I got up and poured me a glass of water from my water jug. I drank the whole glass in two gulps, but then I started to feel really funny. I had the strong and quickly approaching sensation that I was going to puke.
I opened my door so I could get outside to the bushes to troat, puke. This is when everything went dark very quickly. I am not sure if I completely blacked out or what, because I feel like I felt the whole thing happen. The old bamboo close to my door snapped scratching up my leg pretty good. Meanwhile, I fall forward and slam into the ground in front of my house. I just lay there, thinking wow I do not feel like I have to puke anymore.
This was not one of those; oh I fell so get up. I am pretty sure I blacked out, because when I was on the ground I did not want to move. I still felt funny. I had my headlamp on, so I reached up and turned that off, so that I could just lay there in the dark on the cool wet ground. Luckily I had missed a log with my head about 5 inches. I had a log there because I am going to finish my deck tomorrow, depending on how I feel that is. I pulled the log a little closer to use it as a pillow. I then just laid there thinking, wow this is not good.
I finally pulled myself up, after about ten minutes and tried wiping the dirt off of me. This was pointless. Luckily I had fallen asleep with a t-shirt on so I pulled that off and climbed back in bed. When I got into bed I was shivering. I am in the middle of the hot season in the south pacific, there is only one reason you get the shivers and that is when you are sick. I then started thinking man when is the last time I took my malaria prophylaxis. I am still in the window of coverage so I do not think it is malaria. I also feel a lot better now.
I think I will be replacing my entire floor soon. Well, I am going to try and go back to sleep for another four hours. Dowit Lanaeyu (good night in local language.)
Lonosunen
The day after we hiked Yasur we were both pretty beat. We decided that we would head down to the hot springs, but when we found out we would have to pay a thousand vatu each we decided against it. We had lunch at the bungalow and paid them what little money we had. I actually had another 1,000 VT but thought we should have at least something for an emergency fund, so I held on to that.
We then headed down the beach in search of the next village of Lonosunen. It was better then an hour walk across a rocky shear cliff. There was more then one moment when I was a little worried about out path. We finally made it to the beach in front of there village and drained of energy. We jumped in the water after talking to a few locals. They said we could either sleep on the beach or better yet come on top to their village and sleep up there.
We stayed in this village for two nights with out any money. It turns out that the family we ended up staying with there abu is the papa of my host brothers wife. Abu is grandpa. The first night they actually put us in a bungalow, but the next day said it was no good that we had to eat up top and then walk down back to the bungalow so they put us up in an extra house. They fed us at every meal and were really nice to storian with.
On Monday morning I woke up to some one crying at about 0300. When I say woke up I mean I was awake because I was tossing and turning all night, due to a sun burn I had acquired earlier in the day. It turns out the crying was not going to stop before we left. This is due to having a ded in the village. At some point in the night an elderly man passed away. They call this having a ded (dead.) When they have a ded they all wail for hours on end. Usually at least one person is wailing at all times.
Well Noa and I took off at about 0600 heading back to middle bush. We said are good byes and thank you to our hosts and then headed on our way. They said the road was pretty flat on the way to the main road. I am not sure what they meant by flat. I guess they mean there were not a lot of pot holes, because by no means would Noa or I consider that road flat. We were both exhausted from the four previous days of hiking and this road just seemed to keep going up. After every corner you could here us mumble g-r-e-a-t, more hill.
When we finally made it to the main road we could hear trucks coming. The very first truck to pull over was the guy who took us out to south Tanna to begin with. Well he said he would give us a deal and only charge us 1,000VT for the both of us. I told him that because he charged us tourist prices on the way out here we had no money left and would just walk. This is not entirely true. I had the 1,000VT but I wanted to shame him a little bit. So the next truck that came by we waved down and jumped in the back.
So someone asked me in a letter, “what do I you miss most from home.” They had guessed driving. I was thinking about this when I was standing in the back of the pick up flying down the road with the air cooling my sweaty face. I am not sure what I miss most from home, but I know when I go home the thing I am going to miss most, is riding in the back of pick ups every where I go. It was always one of my favorite things as a kid before the laws were changed. Every time I am in the back of one here I feel like a kid again. Of course it is a little more dangerous riding in the back of a pick up here. I have gone full airborne and landed two feet back on some ones lap. I would not be surprised if one day I write home saying, so I feel out the back of a pick up. One thing for sure I am building some strong hand and arm muscles from holding to the railing for my life.
As we came up to Middle Bush Noa was ready to get back to his village. I had the truck drop him off on the shortest half road to our area. I gave him some small directions even though he had been down the road once before. I continued on down to Lenakel to hang out get a decent meal and check my mail. Well when I got back to my village I asked if they saw Noa. They told me he came through around half past ten. I thought what? How could that be? They told me he got lost and ended up down in some village about 45 minutes south of me. Crazy kid.
I mean while went down and wrote some letters in front of the post office. Check my mail and headed down to the mama’s market. I ran into Matt who lives about an hour forty five away from me. We sat and I told him of our adventures over the weekend. We then headed down to Leniae Palms for lunch. I had a hamburger with grilled onions, a fruit plate with pineapple, po-po, and passion fruit, and of course followed it all up with a big scoop of mint chip ice cream on a cone.
As I walked up the road back to my village I had passed the man in the truck who I had shamed earlier and I gave him a wave and I continued up the road. As I walked up behind the truck I was going to ask for a ride. But when I saw it was him I thought no, I am not giving him another 100Vt to take me to my half road. So I just started walking. The rule is if you wave a truck down it is 100VT, but if they stop and pick you up it is free. Well just before the big hill that I was dreading walking up because I was exhausted and it was 1330, the hottest part of the day. The same man pulled up and softly said find a place in the back. I am pretty sure he is trying to make up for me shaming him. Shame here is a big thing. When ever some one does something that is rubbish fashion you usually respond with something like you have no shame? Well anyways I jumped in the back and felt a sigh of relief as the truck drudged up the big hill.
I had them drop me off at the market that has a half road to my place. There was another truck there and a guy from a neighboring village was in the back so he told me to jump in. I can tell that the longer I am here and the more people get to know me, the less I will have to walk with out someone picking me up. I have made my own rule that I am not going to wave trucks down. If they stop then right on, I will take the ride. But I am not going to wave them down. It is not the 100VT that keeps me from doing this. I just like walking and I certainly can use the exercise.
Well it is 0921 on Tuesday morning February 12, 2008 and I get to teach my first business class in 40 minutes. Last night they told me they changed it so that I am teaching two hours before lunch and two hours after. I told them that this is no good. For one they just can not make decisions regarding me with out my consent. And secondly I do not have a second class planned out yet. So we will see what happens today. I am very nervous about this as I still do not feel my Bislama is that great. Any one that you asked will argue with that. I am very functional and can talk with anyone about just about anything, but I guess it is just my nature that I want it to be perfect. I was explaining my worries to Matt and he reassured me that no matter how bad it is it will be great on Vanuatu standards. Back home if I was doing a presentation or leading a training workshop it would always be a great session. But here talking in a second language I am worried about how things will go. I guess we will see in 30 minutes.
We then headed down the beach in search of the next village of Lonosunen. It was better then an hour walk across a rocky shear cliff. There was more then one moment when I was a little worried about out path. We finally made it to the beach in front of there village and drained of energy. We jumped in the water after talking to a few locals. They said we could either sleep on the beach or better yet come on top to their village and sleep up there.
We stayed in this village for two nights with out any money. It turns out that the family we ended up staying with there abu is the papa of my host brothers wife. Abu is grandpa. The first night they actually put us in a bungalow, but the next day said it was no good that we had to eat up top and then walk down back to the bungalow so they put us up in an extra house. They fed us at every meal and were really nice to storian with.
On Monday morning I woke up to some one crying at about 0300. When I say woke up I mean I was awake because I was tossing and turning all night, due to a sun burn I had acquired earlier in the day. It turns out the crying was not going to stop before we left. This is due to having a ded in the village. At some point in the night an elderly man passed away. They call this having a ded (dead.) When they have a ded they all wail for hours on end. Usually at least one person is wailing at all times.
Well Noa and I took off at about 0600 heading back to middle bush. We said are good byes and thank you to our hosts and then headed on our way. They said the road was pretty flat on the way to the main road. I am not sure what they meant by flat. I guess they mean there were not a lot of pot holes, because by no means would Noa or I consider that road flat. We were both exhausted from the four previous days of hiking and this road just seemed to keep going up. After every corner you could here us mumble g-r-e-a-t, more hill.
When we finally made it to the main road we could hear trucks coming. The very first truck to pull over was the guy who took us out to south Tanna to begin with. Well he said he would give us a deal and only charge us 1,000VT for the both of us. I told him that because he charged us tourist prices on the way out here we had no money left and would just walk. This is not entirely true. I had the 1,000VT but I wanted to shame him a little bit. So the next truck that came by we waved down and jumped in the back.
So someone asked me in a letter, “what do I you miss most from home.” They had guessed driving. I was thinking about this when I was standing in the back of the pick up flying down the road with the air cooling my sweaty face. I am not sure what I miss most from home, but I know when I go home the thing I am going to miss most, is riding in the back of pick ups every where I go. It was always one of my favorite things as a kid before the laws were changed. Every time I am in the back of one here I feel like a kid again. Of course it is a little more dangerous riding in the back of a pick up here. I have gone full airborne and landed two feet back on some ones lap. I would not be surprised if one day I write home saying, so I feel out the back of a pick up. One thing for sure I am building some strong hand and arm muscles from holding to the railing for my life.
As we came up to Middle Bush Noa was ready to get back to his village. I had the truck drop him off on the shortest half road to our area. I gave him some small directions even though he had been down the road once before. I continued on down to Lenakel to hang out get a decent meal and check my mail. Well when I got back to my village I asked if they saw Noa. They told me he came through around half past ten. I thought what? How could that be? They told me he got lost and ended up down in some village about 45 minutes south of me. Crazy kid.
I mean while went down and wrote some letters in front of the post office. Check my mail and headed down to the mama’s market. I ran into Matt who lives about an hour forty five away from me. We sat and I told him of our adventures over the weekend. We then headed down to Leniae Palms for lunch. I had a hamburger with grilled onions, a fruit plate with pineapple, po-po, and passion fruit, and of course followed it all up with a big scoop of mint chip ice cream on a cone.
As I walked up the road back to my village I had passed the man in the truck who I had shamed earlier and I gave him a wave and I continued up the road. As I walked up behind the truck I was going to ask for a ride. But when I saw it was him I thought no, I am not giving him another 100Vt to take me to my half road. So I just started walking. The rule is if you wave a truck down it is 100VT, but if they stop and pick you up it is free. Well just before the big hill that I was dreading walking up because I was exhausted and it was 1330, the hottest part of the day. The same man pulled up and softly said find a place in the back. I am pretty sure he is trying to make up for me shaming him. Shame here is a big thing. When ever some one does something that is rubbish fashion you usually respond with something like you have no shame? Well anyways I jumped in the back and felt a sigh of relief as the truck drudged up the big hill.
I had them drop me off at the market that has a half road to my place. There was another truck there and a guy from a neighboring village was in the back so he told me to jump in. I can tell that the longer I am here and the more people get to know me, the less I will have to walk with out someone picking me up. I have made my own rule that I am not going to wave trucks down. If they stop then right on, I will take the ride. But I am not going to wave them down. It is not the 100VT that keeps me from doing this. I just like walking and I certainly can use the exercise.
Well it is 0921 on Tuesday morning February 12, 2008 and I get to teach my first business class in 40 minutes. Last night they told me they changed it so that I am teaching two hours before lunch and two hours after. I told them that this is no good. For one they just can not make decisions regarding me with out my consent. And secondly I do not have a second class planned out yet. So we will see what happens today. I am very nervous about this as I still do not feel my Bislama is that great. Any one that you asked will argue with that. I am very functional and can talk with anyone about just about anything, but I guess it is just my nature that I want it to be perfect. I was explaining my worries to Matt and he reassured me that no matter how bad it is it will be great on Vanuatu standards. Back home if I was doing a presentation or leading a training workshop it would always be a great session. But here talking in a second language I am worried about how things will go. I guess we will see in 30 minutes.
Mt Yasur!
I had walked down to Noa’s house sometime last week and we talked about heading down south. We kept saying yeah when are we going to go to the volcano? When? Finally we said okay next weekend. The plans were made. Well as well as one can make plans to go some where that he has never been, nor does he have internet to look up places to stay. But if I learned anything with Jeff in Europe (other then his A/M issue J ) is that things will just somehow work out.
So Noa walked down to my house at about 0800 and we headed off on our journey to Mt Yasur. In the wrong direction, now this was actually on purpose. To walk to Mt Yasur is about a 6 hour walk. But Lenakel is only an hour and a forty five minute walk down hill and we can catch a truck from Lenakel. We spent the day getting mail, (thanks again everyone who is writing. The post man is getting to know me vary well thanks to you guys) and buying supplies for our trip. It was so hot in Lenakel I think we each bought an ice cream bar or two in each store we went into. Some of those stores we went into just to buy another ice cream bar. Noa almost bought a one litter jug of mint ice cream, but the store did not sell spoons.
Well Noa secured us a ride from a guy who told him it was a 1,000 VT (each) for us to get to the other side. Being that neither of us had been there we thought this sounded about right. Well it turns out that the usual price for tourist is 2,500 VT and that he was giving us a special deal. Well turns out the black man price is only 500VT so I get a littler perturbed because, well this is crap. He then takes us to his brother’s bungalow which is fine because we do not have any idea where to go. We think well we will stay there one night and then find out if we can sleep on the beach. He tells us 2,000 a night. Well the guys kid tells us its only 1,500 each so we say okay.
We head down to there Nakamal to meet the owner of the Bungalow. There is about 45 men at there Nakamal because the chief is making a big tok tok about the rubbish fashion of the yungfala. The chief comes over and shakes my hand I storian with him for ten minutes while he asks me where I am from, what do I do, what did I before Pis Kops etc. He ends the conversation by saying okay now go stand in front of these 45 men who you do not know and tell them everything you just told me. Huh?
Well disrespecting the chief would get us no where, so I got up and gave a short tok tok about myself. I even introduced Noa but then thought Noooo hemi mas makem wan tok tok bakagen. So I said Noa your turn get up there. I went back and storian with the chief. When he found out we were staying at the bungalow he said no way. You just come and to the Nakamal and we will find a home for you. Well we thought we will just stay there one night and then come down and find a place for free.
We found out the gate fee for the Volcano was 2,250 VT a person and after doing some calculating, taking in to account Noa only had 2,500VT I realized we were short on funds. So then after spending the night at the Big Bang Bungalows we had to tell the couple we could not afford another night and see the volcano. She says it would be no good for us not to stay there so we ended up staying two nights with food for 3,600 VT (about $36-,) for the both of us.
That second day we played in the salt water and then came back and played in a small fresh water river. The water was too warm to really be refreshing but it was nice to get clean. At about 1730 we started to make our trek up Mt Yasur. They had told us we had to pay a gate fee of 2,250 a person. So they took that and said one small boy would run it around the mountain to the gate, but we would take a short cut. Well The bungalows owners brother takes us up on top. Once up there he tells us how great it is that we are Peace Corps and that the tourists over yonder all have to pay a gate fee but because we took the short cut we do not. Oh really? Hmmm… So as it turns out they just told us that and then pocketed the money. Not that it was a lot of money but I felt burned. The next day we packed up and moved down the road.
But before we go there I guess I should describe Mt Yasur to you. First off lets talk about this “short cut.” It was a grueling and scary hour walk up a steep and dune of ash filled with super sharp lava rock here and there. How did these rocks end up out here? It is common for lava to fly out of the rim and land on the side of the Mountain. At a few points on the hike I think what are we doing. I am beat. I want to just go sit in some AC and drink a gallon of cold water. But then I got to the top. I should mention the name of the bungalow we stayed at was the Big Bang bungalow. I mention this because from our Bungalow we could feel the vibrations shake our beds from Yasur.
Well once on top and that first rumble roared through my body, it was all worth it. So they say that Yasur is the most active and the most accessible volcano in the world. Now the only other volcano I have been on is Nguna, which is dead, and Lassen which is dormant. But Noa lives in Hawaii and told me about the volcano there. That you are behind a fence and if you look way over there you can see some activity. Well let me tell you, Yasur gets up close and personal.
Several people have died at Yasur, from slipping down the mountain or more likely getting hit by flying molten lava. You are so close that you looking almost straight into the lava. Every few minutes it erupts with a big rumble that vibrates threw your organs and then spews flaming molten lava high into the air. I am guessing at least one hundred feet about my head. You have to be careful because if it hits you then you will probably die. Luckily for us the wind was good and I felt safe most of the time. A couple of the big ones gave us a little fright.
When the lava blasts into the air you would think that it would shoot up like a bottle rocket or something, but in fact it looks like a floating ember just floating high in the sky. Then it turns back and hits the sand with a loud thump; reminding you that it is bigger then a bowling ball chunk of molten lava flying through the air. I got some great photos of the action. I felt alive up there next to the volcano. We stayed for about 45 minutes before heading back. Oh did I mention the sun was setting when we began this journey.
On our walk back down we ended up losing the path several times. I kept telling the guide I think we are to far right. Oh no we are all right. Then a few minutes later Hmm I think we missed the road. Oh do you? Let me guess over to the left? Yup, so several times we had to hike back up and find a new route. This is not so bad but I am walking bare foot and end up puncturing my foot on a sharp lava rock coming down. No shoes while hiking a volcano? Hey that’s how we roll here in Tanna.
When we finally made it to the bottom we decided to finish off this great trip with a swim in the river. What a refreshing way to end a trip. The cheap bottle of also helped in our celebrations. We sat there and shared the bottle with the guide while swimming in the river and looking up at Yasur turn the sky a beautiful orange color while throwing lava high into the sky.
So Noa walked down to my house at about 0800 and we headed off on our journey to Mt Yasur. In the wrong direction, now this was actually on purpose. To walk to Mt Yasur is about a 6 hour walk. But Lenakel is only an hour and a forty five minute walk down hill and we can catch a truck from Lenakel. We spent the day getting mail, (thanks again everyone who is writing. The post man is getting to know me vary well thanks to you guys) and buying supplies for our trip. It was so hot in Lenakel I think we each bought an ice cream bar or two in each store we went into. Some of those stores we went into just to buy another ice cream bar. Noa almost bought a one litter jug of mint ice cream, but the store did not sell spoons.
Well Noa secured us a ride from a guy who told him it was a 1,000 VT (each) for us to get to the other side. Being that neither of us had been there we thought this sounded about right. Well it turns out that the usual price for tourist is 2,500 VT and that he was giving us a special deal. Well turns out the black man price is only 500VT so I get a littler perturbed because, well this is crap. He then takes us to his brother’s bungalow which is fine because we do not have any idea where to go. We think well we will stay there one night and then find out if we can sleep on the beach. He tells us 2,000 a night. Well the guys kid tells us its only 1,500 each so we say okay.
We head down to there Nakamal to meet the owner of the Bungalow. There is about 45 men at there Nakamal because the chief is making a big tok tok about the rubbish fashion of the yungfala. The chief comes over and shakes my hand I storian with him for ten minutes while he asks me where I am from, what do I do, what did I before Pis Kops etc. He ends the conversation by saying okay now go stand in front of these 45 men who you do not know and tell them everything you just told me. Huh?
Well disrespecting the chief would get us no where, so I got up and gave a short tok tok about myself. I even introduced Noa but then thought Noooo hemi mas makem wan tok tok bakagen. So I said Noa your turn get up there. I went back and storian with the chief. When he found out we were staying at the bungalow he said no way. You just come and to the Nakamal and we will find a home for you. Well we thought we will just stay there one night and then come down and find a place for free.
We found out the gate fee for the Volcano was 2,250 VT a person and after doing some calculating, taking in to account Noa only had 2,500VT I realized we were short on funds. So then after spending the night at the Big Bang Bungalows we had to tell the couple we could not afford another night and see the volcano. She says it would be no good for us not to stay there so we ended up staying two nights with food for 3,600 VT (about $36-,) for the both of us.
That second day we played in the salt water and then came back and played in a small fresh water river. The water was too warm to really be refreshing but it was nice to get clean. At about 1730 we started to make our trek up Mt Yasur. They had told us we had to pay a gate fee of 2,250 a person. So they took that and said one small boy would run it around the mountain to the gate, but we would take a short cut. Well The bungalows owners brother takes us up on top. Once up there he tells us how great it is that we are Peace Corps and that the tourists over yonder all have to pay a gate fee but because we took the short cut we do not. Oh really? Hmmm… So as it turns out they just told us that and then pocketed the money. Not that it was a lot of money but I felt burned. The next day we packed up and moved down the road.
But before we go there I guess I should describe Mt Yasur to you. First off lets talk about this “short cut.” It was a grueling and scary hour walk up a steep and dune of ash filled with super sharp lava rock here and there. How did these rocks end up out here? It is common for lava to fly out of the rim and land on the side of the Mountain. At a few points on the hike I think what are we doing. I am beat. I want to just go sit in some AC and drink a gallon of cold water. But then I got to the top. I should mention the name of the bungalow we stayed at was the Big Bang bungalow. I mention this because from our Bungalow we could feel the vibrations shake our beds from Yasur.
Well once on top and that first rumble roared through my body, it was all worth it. So they say that Yasur is the most active and the most accessible volcano in the world. Now the only other volcano I have been on is Nguna, which is dead, and Lassen which is dormant. But Noa lives in Hawaii and told me about the volcano there. That you are behind a fence and if you look way over there you can see some activity. Well let me tell you, Yasur gets up close and personal.
Several people have died at Yasur, from slipping down the mountain or more likely getting hit by flying molten lava. You are so close that you looking almost straight into the lava. Every few minutes it erupts with a big rumble that vibrates threw your organs and then spews flaming molten lava high into the air. I am guessing at least one hundred feet about my head. You have to be careful because if it hits you then you will probably die. Luckily for us the wind was good and I felt safe most of the time. A couple of the big ones gave us a little fright.
When the lava blasts into the air you would think that it would shoot up like a bottle rocket or something, but in fact it looks like a floating ember just floating high in the sky. Then it turns back and hits the sand with a loud thump; reminding you that it is bigger then a bowling ball chunk of molten lava flying through the air. I got some great photos of the action. I felt alive up there next to the volcano. We stayed for about 45 minutes before heading back. Oh did I mention the sun was setting when we began this journey.
On our walk back down we ended up losing the path several times. I kept telling the guide I think we are to far right. Oh no we are all right. Then a few minutes later Hmm I think we missed the road. Oh do you? Let me guess over to the left? Yup, so several times we had to hike back up and find a new route. This is not so bad but I am walking bare foot and end up puncturing my foot on a sharp lava rock coming down. No shoes while hiking a volcano? Hey that’s how we roll here in Tanna.
When we finally made it to the bottom we decided to finish off this great trip with a swim in the river. What a refreshing way to end a trip. The cheap bottle of also helped in our celebrations. We sat there and shared the bottle with the guide while swimming in the river and looking up at Yasur turn the sky a beautiful orange color while throwing lava high into the sky.
Vila To Smol Pigon
Well in my last email I was just about to head to the airport. As it turns out my airline ticket was wrong. It had said that the flight was at 1630, as it turns out the plane left Vila around 1520. So I got to spend one more night in Vila. I almost had to spend an extra week there, due to an impending cyclone heading our way. They told me we were on stand fast which means we can not leave where we are. We must stay put. Then they told me they were having a meeting about the stand fast in an hour. Well my plane was to leave in an hour. I asked well what should I do. They said just go ahead and catch the plane. So I jetted off to the airport. Why I did not take advantage of an extra week in Vila I do not know. At the time I felt bad about being away so long. I had been gone about 17 days. I learned a lesson here. Do not feel bad about anything.
I came back to my village expecting a big hurrah; the white man is back, everyone come gather around and hear his tales of far off places. Wrong! Nothing of the sort happened. Life was like any other day. There is some small storian before the Nakamal, then some Kava and then sleep. It did allow me to be here to experience a passing cyclone. So I guess that’s good.
The cyclone did extensive damage to the island of Fortuna. I can see fortuna from Tanna. The cyclone passed 7 kilometers on the other side of Fortuna. The winds there I hear were around 165 kilos an hour. The wind was strong enough here on Friday night that I did not sleep all night as I thought my hut was going to blow down. Not that I am against this decrepit house falling down. I just do not want it to happen while I am trying to sleep inside of it.
My house needs serious repairs. Other volunteers who had seen the house here from the previous PCV all say he should have torn it down two years ago. I have massive holes in the bamboo floor that I need to replace. Of course instead of doing that I decided to build a bamboo deck out side my front door. I need this deck for my sanity. For one there is never a good place to get out of the rain. So now I will have my deck to stay out of the mud. Once I build the awning for it I will stay dry too.
I think every time you leave Tanna and go to Vila there is a readjustment period you must go through. I thought I was doing pretty good when I left to go to Vila. But when I got back I could feel the bouts of depression setting in. Depression is a major issue in a Peace Corps Volunteers life. Those that can not find a way to deal with it eventually quit the Peace Corps. I hope I am finding the right ways for me to deal with it. Of course Kava is an anti-depressant so at taem blo yumi everything is okay. (That is not entirely true.) I will admit that after drinking a shell, instantly everything seems not so bad. But that does not help me during the day time, which happens to be when a majority of the time when I am awake.
I have started juggling again and that helps a lot. It gives me something to do that is my own thing. I can think clear while I am juggling and it flat out is just something to do. We all laugh because in the states we have all these things we want to do but never have time to do them. Here we have all the time in the world to do things but just do not have enough options of things to do. So you take up juggling, or reading, or twisting plantana’s leaves into rope. Well at least these are the things I have taken up.
If I ever get stranded on a dessert island with any of you, do not worry I can make rope from just about anything now. This has become my hobby. I will sit in the Nakamal while everyone is doing there own thing and I will just twist coconut husk or Pantanas leaf into rope. Once I get enough I am going to make some necklaces with local shells out of it.
So I think that after I came back to site my village though that I was not happy with our day to day meals of aelen kakae, so they decided to step it up a notch. Apparently someone watched an episode of Fear Factor and thought wow this is what the white men eat. So one night we had Brizene, which is a wood grub that they cook several ways. ( Baldo Viages would be so proud!) They were not to terribly bad. They had a definite wood flavor to them and they were kind of chewy. Not the strangest thing I have ever eaten for sure.
I am pretty sure that eating flying fox is a little more strange. The flying fox is a fruit bat. I see them every night fly over the Nakamal. If during a cyclone or just high winds, they fall to the ground then they die. There hands are on the end of there wings and the can not create enough draft to get lift off the ground. Now these guys do not just sit around waiting for high winds. Oh no, they walk around with short sticks waiting for a bat to fly over and then stonem with the stick. They usually cook them with rice or in a soup. They even kakae its sit sit in its intestines. They eat this because the flying fox only eats fruit and nothing else. So for many this is there favorite part. It is a little odd to have a plate of rice with a flying fox head staring back at you.
Strange huh? Well that brings me to my strangest yet. Do not worry I have not eaten horse, dog, or puss cat yet. But while sitting in the Nakamal one night a brother hands me a small, I mean about the size of a half dollar small, and say here pigeon. This thing is so tiny I ask how now mi save kakae hem? He said just everything so I tossed it in bones and all. The bones are so tiny that the just break up with the meat.
Then from behind me my chief say here and hands me what at first looks like a chicken gizzard or a heart or something. Okay then I realize that it is a cooked small bird. The entire bird including head could not of been the size of a large chicken egg. I said I do not know how to eat this. They said oh you have to take the guts out first. Okay no big deal, I pull open his stomach and tear the guts out. What now? Well just eat everything. Everything. The bones? Everything. The head? Everything! The beak? EVERYTHING! So that’s what I did. I ate the body first. I then built up some courage and tossed the head and beak into my mouth. The tiny beak was crunchy as you would expect. The head was crunchy with a soft creamy filling. Don’t be jealous if you ask nicely I may make it for you when I get home. If you’re nice!
I came back to my village expecting a big hurrah; the white man is back, everyone come gather around and hear his tales of far off places. Wrong! Nothing of the sort happened. Life was like any other day. There is some small storian before the Nakamal, then some Kava and then sleep. It did allow me to be here to experience a passing cyclone. So I guess that’s good.
The cyclone did extensive damage to the island of Fortuna. I can see fortuna from Tanna. The cyclone passed 7 kilometers on the other side of Fortuna. The winds there I hear were around 165 kilos an hour. The wind was strong enough here on Friday night that I did not sleep all night as I thought my hut was going to blow down. Not that I am against this decrepit house falling down. I just do not want it to happen while I am trying to sleep inside of it.
My house needs serious repairs. Other volunteers who had seen the house here from the previous PCV all say he should have torn it down two years ago. I have massive holes in the bamboo floor that I need to replace. Of course instead of doing that I decided to build a bamboo deck out side my front door. I need this deck for my sanity. For one there is never a good place to get out of the rain. So now I will have my deck to stay out of the mud. Once I build the awning for it I will stay dry too.
I think every time you leave Tanna and go to Vila there is a readjustment period you must go through. I thought I was doing pretty good when I left to go to Vila. But when I got back I could feel the bouts of depression setting in. Depression is a major issue in a Peace Corps Volunteers life. Those that can not find a way to deal with it eventually quit the Peace Corps. I hope I am finding the right ways for me to deal with it. Of course Kava is an anti-depressant so at taem blo yumi everything is okay. (That is not entirely true.) I will admit that after drinking a shell, instantly everything seems not so bad. But that does not help me during the day time, which happens to be when a majority of the time when I am awake.
I have started juggling again and that helps a lot. It gives me something to do that is my own thing. I can think clear while I am juggling and it flat out is just something to do. We all laugh because in the states we have all these things we want to do but never have time to do them. Here we have all the time in the world to do things but just do not have enough options of things to do. So you take up juggling, or reading, or twisting plantana’s leaves into rope. Well at least these are the things I have taken up.
If I ever get stranded on a dessert island with any of you, do not worry I can make rope from just about anything now. This has become my hobby. I will sit in the Nakamal while everyone is doing there own thing and I will just twist coconut husk or Pantanas leaf into rope. Once I get enough I am going to make some necklaces with local shells out of it.
So I think that after I came back to site my village though that I was not happy with our day to day meals of aelen kakae, so they decided to step it up a notch. Apparently someone watched an episode of Fear Factor and thought wow this is what the white men eat. So one night we had Brizene, which is a wood grub that they cook several ways. ( Baldo Viages would be so proud!) They were not to terribly bad. They had a definite wood flavor to them and they were kind of chewy. Not the strangest thing I have ever eaten for sure.
I am pretty sure that eating flying fox is a little more strange. The flying fox is a fruit bat. I see them every night fly over the Nakamal. If during a cyclone or just high winds, they fall to the ground then they die. There hands are on the end of there wings and the can not create enough draft to get lift off the ground. Now these guys do not just sit around waiting for high winds. Oh no, they walk around with short sticks waiting for a bat to fly over and then stonem with the stick. They usually cook them with rice or in a soup. They even kakae its sit sit in its intestines. They eat this because the flying fox only eats fruit and nothing else. So for many this is there favorite part. It is a little odd to have a plate of rice with a flying fox head staring back at you.
Strange huh? Well that brings me to my strangest yet. Do not worry I have not eaten horse, dog, or puss cat yet. But while sitting in the Nakamal one night a brother hands me a small, I mean about the size of a half dollar small, and say here pigeon. This thing is so tiny I ask how now mi save kakae hem? He said just everything so I tossed it in bones and all. The bones are so tiny that the just break up with the meat.
Then from behind me my chief say here and hands me what at first looks like a chicken gizzard or a heart or something. Okay then I realize that it is a cooked small bird. The entire bird including head could not of been the size of a large chicken egg. I said I do not know how to eat this. They said oh you have to take the guts out first. Okay no big deal, I pull open his stomach and tear the guts out. What now? Well just eat everything. Everything. The bones? Everything. The head? Everything! The beak? EVERYTHING! So that’s what I did. I ate the body first. I then built up some courage and tossed the head and beak into my mouth. The tiny beak was crunchy as you would expect. The head was crunchy with a soft creamy filling. Don’t be jealous if you ask nicely I may make it for you when I get home. If you’re nice!
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