God, I Love This Country...

Have I mentioned that before?

I don't think I have.

Not here, anyway.

Still rained out...fortunately a ship going my way has sailed its way into town and is allegedly departing at 11 p.m., so I intend to be on it. (It'd be really unfortunate if it doesn't go, because all my stuff is already on it.)

I know what you're thinking..."But, Amanda! You're going on a SHIP? But that one time you tried last year you threw up for approximately eight hours straight propped up on a pig cage holding onto the railing for dear life while the provincial Health Promotion Officer awkwardly held your ankles amidst shouts and jeers of 'Hold on tight! Rub her back!'"

And you would be right to raise an eyebrow. But those of you that know me well also know that, for better or for worse, I'll try anything twice.

And besides, it seems I can stomach a lot more in general these days, so I'm hopeful.
(Famous last words?)

So last night on my new cell phone I got a text from the good people at Digicel informing me a brata had requested a transfer of 100 vatu (approx $1 USD) credit. I laughed, rolled my eyes, sent him the credit, considered sending a snarky text like "Don't spend it all in one place-who do you need to call at this time of night?" and then thought better of it and decided to mind my own business.

It occurred to me that not so long ago it was precisely this aspect of this culture that would drive me up the wall - offend me, infuriate me, confuse me and frequently lead me to tears. But last night I just felt...flattered? A complete shift in perspective...it was almost gratitude...that someone knew me well enough to ask for help and knew that it wouldn't offend, infuriate, confuse me, etc...It was like a rite of passage, if you will. And besides, it's just a friggin dollar, you know? Can't ya just give a brata a break?

Maybe I have been here too long...

Incidentally, one of my friends got a DVD copy of Survivor Vanuatu: Islands of Fire which was filmed just outside of Mangaliliu, a village about a half hour north of here in Vila.

It was hilarious, enlightening, and deeply gratifying watching it...especially when they first arrive and the "tribesmen" canoe out to their cruiseship to welcome them and then do some weird battle-calls surrounding them with spears before the kava ceremony.

To give the show credit, there was a lot of authenticity in terms of kastom dress, dance, ritual, etc...and a lot of the lore they talked about on the show is true...of a lot of other islands in Vanuatu really far away from the 'suburb' of the capital they were filming in.

So as four of us gathered around my new mini-DVD player (thanks, Andrea!) in the early hours of the morning, we shared what definitely wasn't the average American viewer's experience, I assure you...

Me: Hey Dom, do we know any of these people?

Dom: Oh yeah, tons of man Mangaliliu, just wait for it...where do you think they got all those kastom canoes from?

Me: *Shrug*...maybe rented them from some tour operator or something? Oh, hey look! There's Chief Mormor! Look at him flailing around and pointing as if he doesn't speak English...he's such a ham!"

Dom: Yeah, now he's giving the FBI agent a hug for climbing the coconut tree...man, that guy gives the best hugs!

Me: I know, he's like the best-hugging chief in this country!

Then we had lots of fun being cocky and self-righteous as we watched the Survivors fumble with green coconuts and cooking bananas the wrong way (no wonder the women's tribe were all crying and strung-out by Day 3 - you cannot FRY those kind of bananas when they are that green - you have to boil them for at least fifteen minutes - I'm sure they were constipated as hell from that, too, but they didn't touch on that on the show.)

We also had loads of megalomanic fun shouting out disdain at the screen, "Oh, cry me a river Miss-Day-Six-and-I'm-sick-of-being-wet-all-the-time! Try TWO F***ING YEARS!!!"

Every now and then you just kinda...need that, you know?

I love it here tonight. I've had some great workshops and an awesome vacation. I love Vila, I love my friends & family in Peace Corps, and I cannot wait to go back home to the island and find out who's been knocked up since I left. It's been two whole months!

So, if I blog again tomorrow, strung out and stressed in yesterday's clothes because the ship did not leave after all...don't take it seriously.

This place really is paradise in the right light.