Stret Papa In Vila

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The past three days have been filled with all sorts of adventures and thrills. I picked my dad up from the airport on Tuesday at 0930 in the AM. We then jumped into a bus and headed into town. I had booked a room for us at the Room with a View hotel. It is one of my favorite value hotels in Vila. The second floor has a veranda with breakfast tables and lounge chairs and a great view of Vila harbor. After we dropped his bags off, we walked down to the Nambawan café for some coffee. It is a great café that sits right on the harbor water.


We were both getting a little hungry so we decided to get some lunch. I gave him his choice of where he wanted to go. One of the choices being the Mamas market to eat like the locals eat. He thought that sounded great. I think he was a little surprised to see the tables covered with flies and the fish still to have all its bones in it. There was not even that many flies there. He will be in for a real shock when he sees how our kitchen floor looks in Lounotuan.


I figured we would hit the extreme ends of society in a short time so we headed over Irikki resort to grab some beers at the swim up bar. Every time I am there I have a hard time remembering this is Peace Corps. After a few hours at the pool we headed back to the hotel to shower and nap. It was coming up on taem blong yumi, (time for kava.) so we headed down to Shefa Nakamal for some Kava. I was impressed that he had two shells. It is too bad that the kava was weak so he did not feel any of the effects.


The next day we lounged around until we decided to go to the Mele Cascade Waterfalls. These are some of the most magnificent waterfalls I have ever seen. The best part is being able to swim in the different pools of water. I think we both had a great time. Of course when we were walking up the falls I thought it best to take our shoes off because of the mud. So we ditched out shoes, shirts, and sunglasses on the side of the trail. Well apparently in the two days he had been here he had not built up his island feet.


I guess it is a sign that my feet have grown accustomed to walking around dry leg, with out shoes. On the way back down he was tip toeing the entire way. When we got to the half way point where our shoes had been I noticed everything was gone. One of the security guys had picked them up and taken them down the road. This made for a very long walk for my dad as he delicately maneuvered down the rocky trail.


When we got to the enterance of the falls there were no buses to be found. I did not expect there to be one anyways. So we just started walking down the road. We came along a little store where these two French tourists were hanging out. I had actually met these girls a few nights before. We storied with them for a little bit and I storied with the shop owner. After a few minutes we decided to keep heading down road.


As we were walking a truck full of people started yelling Kaltao! Kaltao!, as they passed us. It was some kids from my training village heading back to mongaliliu. I think my dad got a kick out of me being recognized everywhere I went. Being a white guy in the middle of a Melanesian country I do not blend in very well.


When we got to the end of the road we could have grabbed a bus, but instead opted to walk along the beach for a while. We ended up by the ferry for Hideaway Island so we decided to head over and grab a beer. This was the first time I had been over there. It was very nice. We order a beer and then sat in some plastic lounge chairs and watched the sun set. The whole time talking about how “yes this is my life!” Not that my life is like that all the time, or for that matter hardly ever, but every once in a while it is my life and I love it!!