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.