I had a school awareness and a couple meetings and was relieved when the Oceanswatch group came to do their scuba training on Nguna and Pele. Otherwise it probably would have been a week of pure nothingness. They came out and trained a guy from Nguna and a couple guys from Efate and another nearby island, Lelepa, to scuba dive. It was good to talk to this group too to find out how our MPA and their org. can help each other in the future. Basically, they are a non-profit org. that consists of yachties interested in marine conservation. They are a relatively new organization and their trip to Vanuatu and following trip to Papua New Guinea serves as their first run in on-the-ground work in developing nations.
They sailed here from Australia, and visited multiple islands in the North while Katie Thomson, the Vanuatu National Reef Check Coordinator and Peace Corps Vol, joined them. There they did some conservation work and trained some villages on how to do Reef Check. Once they finished their work in Malakula they switched crews (first crew flying out of the country and new ones flying in) and headed to Vila. A week later they came ashore on Pele to start the training. We were supposed to train two more guys from Nguna and Pele respectively, but both backed out last minute. This, the MPA and I were not too happy about as this was a great chance for them to get trained in a skill that could benefit the community and the training, free for them, is usually fairly expensive and thus prohibitive for most Ni-Vanuatu. Furthermore, them flaking last minute denied someone else from their islands from this chance.
The training went well and Ronneth, the guy from Nguna was certified and even started working on the Advanced Diver certificate. I was running around a bit getting logistics worked out, and was a little bummed as I could not dive due to an ear condition I’ve had for the last couple of months. Basically, I have what is called barotrauma which sounds worse than it is, but just means pressure messing up my ears a bit. On a dive a couple months ago I thought I cleared the pressure in my ears, but upon surfacing found out this what not the case. Day to day there is nothing wrong with me it just means I can’t dive for a couple months. A good old waiting game that hopefully should be finished this month or next. But, it meant I couldn’t dive on the reefs in my backyard, something I’ve wanted to do for a while. Oh well…
At least I had running as a means to distract me from not being able to even skin dive.
I got back into training mode and was running every morning again for the last couple of weeks before the upcoming Independence Round Island Relay race. We had formed a Peace Corps team of 5 men and 5 women (a person for each of the ten legs of the race). I had been running regularly for the few weeks before Ambae, but didn’t run for about 2 and a half weeks while on Ambae. I was getting exercise with the 42 km hikes and such but that probably was negated with the drinking, and breaking my kava stop I had going on for a few weeks prior. So after Ambae I stopped the kava again. About a week before the race I went for a 15km run on hilly terrain and was doing sub-7 minute mile splits. I was glad I did it as before that my confidence was low in completing my 11.6km leg in good fashion.
Following the Oceanswatch visit/ training I came into Vila for the Relay set on the 26th. We had a meeting the day before and were all set to go with Peace Corps truck support and all. James Bong, a Peace Corps staff, member was to drive the truck and said he’d pick me up at about 4:30 in the morning at Dom’s house. The next morning I woke up to my phone going off at about 4. It was James saying he was waiting out front. I told him to wait a sec as I had to at least brush my teeth and throw in my contacts before I rushed out the door. I was greeted by a lively James who had woken up at about 3 and had the coolers and mattress already in the truck (for comfort he said) and had affixed a large Peace Corps flag to the rear of the truck cab. Wow! I told him, Man, yu taf tumas. Yu yes! Basically, “You’re Awesome!”
We went and grabbed the rest of the racers at the Peace Corps office and set out for the start at the Post Office. Jasmine, our first team member to run, started at about 5 in the morning for her 13km leg. The faster teams started at 6. Basically they didn’t want too many teams finishing after dark so some started at 5. It was still dark as Jasmine was starting the race and we even saw one of the other racers wearing a headlamp as she ran. In order to support our runners we would drive ahead in the truck and cheer our runners on at about every km or so, and also doled out water to our teammates. Our team support during Jasmine’s leg was a little slack as we were all half-awake. Jasmine’s section ended with a grueling uphill that lasted for about a mile.
A few km before the end of each leg we would drive to the exchange area so the next runner, me in this case, could warm up. As I was stretching a huge downpour started soaking me head to toe so that I decided to ditch my t-shirt, and run “naked” as Ni-Vans later called it. About a minute before I was to start I realized my soccer shorts were on backwards (back facing front). I guess that happens when you dress yourself unexpectedly at 4 in the morning. Anyway, I dipped out of the crowd a bit to change my shorts around and gave a couple mamas a good hoot as I put my shorts right.
I started my race in the pouring rain and it continued to rain for about a quarter of my race. I don’t mind running or playing sports in the rain, in fact, in some cases I like it more. Makes you feel tougher. Although, I was a little concerned as far as footing went as now the dirt road was wet, muddy in some areas, and I was running the “hill section” of the relay. I’d have to say I felt pretty good about my race. I averaged about 6:40 mile splits on some pretty damn tough hills, the likes of which I had never raced on before. One hill, about a 3km killer, damn near had me hyperventilating as I peaked it, and almost choked on the water I took from a teammate soon after.
The down hills are what really killed me as some were so steep it was hard to control my speed going down them, and they were wet. I made it down all of them without eating it or sliding, but there were some parts I was a little scared of. I rounded one corner towards the end and saw my exchange point which I though was at least a km or two away and put the kick on, but thinking to myself that I wished I would have known I could do it earlier as I saved enough energy for a little more, damn. I handed off to Liz and she started her leg, a fairly flat 14km section. Although, there was a good hill or two and one killer known as Sweat Hill, for obvious reasons. There is no shade on this hill and it’s pretty steep.
(Me running "naked")
As I got back in the truck Jasmine was very happy to have another finished runner in the truck because when she got in she was energized (runner’s high) and was disappointed with her perceived lack of enthusiasm she saw in the rest of the team (who had not run yet). I’d have to say I felt a lot better and relaxed after I ran and was glad that I did one of the first sections.
Liz was going about a pretty good clip during her race and tackled the Sweat Hill. Near the end of her leg the 6AM starting speedsters caught her, and I felt for her. I would have been pretty demoralized if a group of runners sped past me out of nowhere. There were about 5 teams in the hunt for the win with one team well out in front. These guys were pretty impressive. They had professional race jerseys and everything yet preferred to run barefoot. I asked the coach of the lead team why they ran barefoot if obviously they’re not hurting for sponsorship cash. His answer, “They don’t want to get blisters on the tops of their feet from their shoes rubbing.” Ni-Vanuatu have some of the best foot calluses known to man, built up over a lifetime of wearing no shoes or worn out flip-flops, just not on the tops of their feet.
Liz’s mom was in the truck with us all well as she was visiting from the US, and did a great job of cheering us on and taking pictures. It was also not a short time to be riding in the back of a pick-up, about 9 hours. The slow groups had a staggered start so that no matter what the 6th leg runner started his leg at 10:00 in the morning. Our second half of the group had another Peace Corps truck and got to sleep in a little more, but also were running in the hottest part of the day. I didn’t realize it until Jasmine pointed it out in the morning too that our first 6 runners were all couples. Jasmine & Troy, Javi & Krissy, and Liz and myself. Altogether there were 10 racers: 5 men and 5 women for our mixed team and the last four runners in order were: Jeremiah, Gwen, Nealy, and Ben.
(Liz getting some water during her leg)
(Me, Jasmine, and race official looking on as Liz whips off soggy shoes after race)
(Troy finishing and Krissy starting)
Krissy, living near the start of her race so as not needing to be in truck, was there too meet us at Troy’s finish. She ran a good leg too as her dog, Oreo, trailed behind. For both Krissy and Troy’s sections the sun was pretty intense and Troy looked a little overheated after he finished. After our group finished our legs we watched Jeremiah and Gwen run for a bit, and decided to call it a day as we were all very tired and the second-half runners had their own cheering section. After cleaning up a bit, we retired to a Vila bar for some cold beers, and ran out of the bar at one point to cheer on Ben running towards the finish.
(Meeting of the minds after Krissy's leg)
All in all the race was a lot of fun and I’d like to do it again next year, but my contract ends in late May. Although, I have been thinking about extending for a couple months if I could get a job doing bird tech work in NZ during their spring (Sept.-Nov.). Our team finished 4th out of 8 in the Mixed Team division. A couple days before the race a guy in my village said he saw that we were in the White Man Division. No, this was not a joke, he actually believed there to be such a division and that we were in it. And, having lived here long enough and seen some of the things that go on I half believed him. Outside of our actual division we placed around 18th out of the total 30 teams. Not bad, and most of us did better than we, as individuals, thought we would do.
[Peace Corps Truck with Runners, Linda (PC staff), and Liz's mom (cheering behind truck)]
Written late August:
One thing I forgot to talk about in the last blog entry was the 30th of July Celebration in my village. Every year the location of the celebration changes venue on Pele. Last year it was in the village of Launamoa, and I didn’t attend as I joined friends for the Nguna celebration in Utanlangi Village. So this year seeing as the celebration was in my village and I missed Pele’s last year, I decided to attend. I was shooting back and forth from Vila at this time as I had some work to do and was visiting Liz and her mom. I came back the day before the actual 30th celebration and hung out with a bunch of Man Pele and Man Nguna from villages close to Pele.
The celebration had already been going on for a couple days prior, but not a whole lot was missed. Basically during the day there’s loud music (repeated or beaten to death Pacific R&B songs) and some sports matches in soccer and volleyball. Set up throughout the area are multiple stalls that sell food, baked goods, and kava at night. At night there’s kava and music and more storion. Many 30th of July celebrations include alcohol as well, but I found out when arrived on the 29th that the chief, my papa, had put a block on alcohol for the celebration in order to maintain order. Understandable, but I was looking to drink a bit. This is a celebration after all, and kava you can have everyday in the village. Not to mention that kava isn’t really a catalyst for fun and dancing and such.
So on the 29th I drank some kava at night and ate at the stalls, disturbed a bit by the loud music and bright lights, neither of which you like on kava. I’d have to say though for such a small island they did a bang-up job for the celebration. They actually cleared the football field entirely. Hooray, sports can happen on Pele! They also got a friend from Vila, an electrician, to rig up high powered lights around the field for night time. It was bright enough for nighttime sports play had not all the available players retired to the nakamal at sundown for a few coconut shells of earthy sedative. They also rigged up some big speakers to bump tunes and make announcements.
On the 30th I woke up thinking that I wasn’t too wild about doing the same thing again that night for Independence Day. If there was someone drinking something other than kava I was going to find them. During the day they had the official flag raising ceremony which is held at all Independence celebrations throughout the country on this day. At every ceremony there’s at least speeches, long prayers, and well, flag raising of course.
At ours the celebration began with members of the Vanuatu equivalent of Boy and Girl Scouts (called Seventh Day Adventist Scouts as the SDA is the only church that has a scout program) marching, drumming, and leading a group of invited guests, including myself, into the celebration area and to our seats.
(Scouts marching into event area and my papa getting his salu salu)We, invited guests, were then invited to come and receive our salu salus (leis), and were given a speech from my papa and a prominent member of the community, former politician, and my neighbor, Mr. Tom Kalorip. My papa’s speech was fairly normal for such an occasion, but Tom’s speech was really good. He started out by highlighting the achievements the community had made over the last year: taking ownership of a day tour project, improvements in the management of the school, etc. He also thanked me personally for the developments I was helping the communities on Nguna and Pele achieve. I was caught off guard as I had never been thanked publicly for the work I’ve done with the exception of the formality of thanking facilitators at the end of workshops and such. This was different: this was out of the blue and in front of my whole island, some of Nguna, and a few prominent figures from Vila. Furthermore this type of thing doesn’t really happen to volunteers here as far as I know. It meant a lot to me.
Tom’s second half of his speech focused on what is going wrong with the community or what needs to be improved: the lack of community cohesiveness, laziness, disrespect for authority figures, disparity between talk of development and action towards it. These are all things people realize, but sometimes people are afraid to call it out especially in detail as Tom did that day. People like him are good to have around to tell it like it is. I’ve actually storied with him a couple times about things that I see as problems because I know if there is anyone to light a fire under people’s asses, it’s him.
As he was concluding his speech he then said he would quote Abraham Lincoln, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Huh? Then I heard the loud voice of a well educated Man Pele (who resides in Vila) say in English, “Oh that’s the biggest lie, That’s JFK that said that!” I turned around to him and said “Shh (smiling), I know. Don’t spoil him. We’ll tell him later.”
Later on in the day I thanked him for the good compliment he gave me, and told him I really liked the speech. “One thing though, JFK, said that quote. Great quote though.” He seemed a little embarrassed but I explained to him that it was a honest mistake and I knew that he knew that. Mainly I told him so that he might not misuse it in another bigger forum with not such a complacent crowd.
After the speeches they raised the flag to the Vanuatu National Anthem and said a long prayer. The scouts then put on a marching display that I was pretty impressed with: things like half steps and they were pretty coordinated throughout the show. The scout leader did do some interesting hand movements as he marched akin to speedwalkers in the Olympics. But, maybe that’s how they do it here. Every country has their own style. Hey, look no further than North Korea: that high kick marching has to take some energy out of you!
(Scouts marching away)Later in the afternoon I ventured to the corner of the village to find the two people breaking the drinking ban were my two brothers who live in Vila (one of whom I was the groomsman for his wedding last year). Figures right, the only breakers of the tabu are the chief’s sons themselves. Some things in this world are universal! I had planned to leave the next day, but got wind that my brothers had hired a taxi to take them back to Vila that night. Well, I was excited at the thought of not drinking kava in no-good conditions again and jumped in the boat and then taxi to Vila with them. Before we departed for Vila, on Efate now, we went the opposite direction a ways to get a couple beers, and they wanted a couple shells. Its legal or accepted to drink as a passenger in a vehicle here. So we grabbed the beers, headed down the road aways, and they wanted to stop in Emua, my training host village, for another shell. I was already into my second and last beer and decided I’d go into the village and see if I could conjure up another beer or two for the long road to Vila. So I went into the village to be greeted by the whole village in their celebration and asked a few people if they had any beer as I was about hit the road. No, they blocked it there too. Well, I had to go to get back to the taxi. I yelled out a “Happy Independence yufala!” to the village and was returned with a “Happy Independence Seth!” loud and in unison from at least 200 people. It was awesome and I was out. I met my brothers outside the taxi to them smiling at me. “What?” I asked. Noel explained, “No, we were just saying that God sent you down to be our brother.” “Why’s that?” I asked in a manner of where is this going? He and Rex (my other brother) laughed and said, “Because you make rubbish fashion just like we do.” Basically, I like to party as they do. We had a good laugh and jumped in the taxi. Later I met up with some Peace Corps friends for a continuation of the festivities.
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