I'm pretty happy after week 3. It has been the fastest week so far. We had so many activities the day flies by. Well sometimes. So an average day here has started at 5am. It's crazy I used to go to sleep at 5am. Now I can't help but wake up at 5. Mainly because of the roosters and my 3 year old sista cryin bout everything. She's crazy. she locked me in my room the other day and I had to convince another 2 yeear old to open it for me. She could barely reach the lock hah. So after I get up at 5 I go running. It makes sense here to do as much as possible in the morning cause after 11 you just want to sleep from the heat. Then I eat breakfast with the fam. I eat banana and pb sandwiches for at least one meal a day, two on saturday and sunday. Luckily I really like pb and banana sanwiches. After I go shower which is a loose term I use for pouring water from a drywall bucket on my head with a contianer that used to hold icecream, then off the bislama class. Bislama's ok but the class is boring. It's basically really broken english but I still find it hard to express myself (miwan) to people and comprehend what their saying. I get really distracted in class sometimes because we're sitting on the beach surrounded by coconut trees and all the kids are playing in the water and I want to swim too and I'm watching some men fishin with nets and then I'm like oh right I'm in class this is weird. At noon I go back and my mama's cooked me something nice, usually with rice and spam and potatos and noodles. After I go rest till class starts again in the after noon. At night I spend most of my time hangin with the fam and helping mama cook. Then I storian with my mama and papa a little bit and then go to bed and read. I get a lot of reading done. (send books!) I almost always get to sleep by 9 or 10. I just get so tired plus after the sun goes away and there is no electricity there's not much you can do. I read by kerosene lamp but the lights are dim and the bed is soft so I end up asleep in not time.
The highlights of weeks 2 and 3 start with our hike to the top of the mountain close to our small town of about 300 people, Emua, on North Efate. All the kids from the village showed us the way. They hike barefoot which looks painful on all the lava rock and they are crazy good with their machetes. My 3 year old sista is always running around with one but I don't see any missing fingers. I can't wait to be that good. It's a really important tool here. People carry them around everywhere and use them for everything. You're even allowed to take your bush knife in your carry on on the plane. It took us 2 hours to get to the top and some people from the village were signaling us with mirrors. It was fun. I want to go again before we leave. On the way back down I got practice using my bush knife aka machete and the kids climbed the coconut trees and threw us down some green coconuts. The green ones are the best for drinking. I got to open one with my bush knife.
Another highlight was cooking in a stone oven. I made a quiche for a community lunch using just fire and stones to cook with. First you put some stones down flat, build a fire on top, then throw a bunch more stones on top. After the fire has heated up the stones nice and hot you brush the fire away and burry your pot in the stones using your bamboo tongs. Then cover it all up with lots of banana leaves to keep all the heat in. It works just like an oven. But it's hard to be precise with the temperature and you can't check the progress of the dish very easily without losing some heat. I've got a lot more experimenting to do but I'm excited. I also learned how to make banana pie. Selfraising flour plus egg plus butter, add sliced babana and coconutmillk on top and cook on a fire for 20 minutes. mmm mm.
On fridays we've been having Kava Fraedei. Lovin the kava. Its a nice relaxing way to end the week. Though kava tastes like bitter dirt and it was a little awkward to come home and talk to my mama drunk on kava. haha but she's used to it from her husband. Kava drunk is interesting because you feel social and relaxed but people don't get rowdy. It's not really a party drink. It's also really cheap, only $1 a drink. I usually only drink 1 or 2. So it definitely beats beer. not that I have access to any beer.
Oh and of course a bunch of the girls shaved their heads so I thought what the hell it's hot and it's only getting hotter from nov. until feb. and now I don't have to shampoo and condition in my bucket shower. what will I do with all the extra time? maybe I'll take up shaving my legs haha. Well gotta go I'm gunna learn to weave a mat out of Pandana leaves. Yeah!
P.S. I decided when I go to site I'm getting two hens, a cat and a dog. Hens cause you need protein from eggs, cat to kill the rats and a dog to scare away the creepers. Can't wait! Oct. 30th I find out my permanent site.
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dude, PB and banana sandwiches are the best. Elvis's favorite food.
ReplyDeletethe food is reminding me a lot of hawaiian food. rice and spam. also, traditionally hawaiians do that stone oven that they bury undergound as well. that's how they make Kalua Pork.
that's really awesome that you're learning how to do all these things though. I love learning to do things the old way.