After eleven weeks of training, nine moves, eight flights, six hotels, four languages, three new families, and one cyclone, I’m happy to announce that I’ve officially been sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer!
(Sorry for not having pictures for y’all, after taking plenty of pics throughout pre-service training and our swearing in, I left my phone on a bus, realistically a 12 passenger van, in the capital just a couple days before shipping out to Pentecost!)
What that means is now I’m off to go live and serve my community, and to help them pursue the goals related to health as established by Vanuatu’s own Ministry of Health. It means I’m also here to listen to my community and see if there are any other ways I can help them (got a couple potential avenues that I’m particularly excited about and will definitely share when, and if, the time comes!).
Truth is, this post is a *few* weeks late- our swear-in date was June 30th, but the last few weeks have been hectic with buying supplies, figuring out how ship things to site, and eventually settling into site, this last Sunday I finally got to move into my new kastom house! Here’s a quick sneak peak, as there’ll be more about it later when it’s truly finished (I still don’t have a toilet, shower, or kitchen to call my own)!
Eventually I’m (maybe, let’s be honest) gonna get back to writing a bit about the second half of my training, but for now I’m gonna give updates that are a little more relevant.
Right now, as I mentioned above, I’m in the community I’m going to serve and I’ll be here for two years. I’m meeting my family, which is a more complicated task than you would imagine, getting to know my counterparts, and starting to learn about my community. In order to accomplish that last task, I’m now taking a community survey about some basic health topics. After this is done, I’ll sit with my counterparts and try to start game planning what service might look like for me.
Another update- I’ve got a house (which is a much bigger deal that it sounds)! It’s a kastom, or local, house and made of pretty much nothing but local materials, outside of some lumber for doors and windows and metal nails and hinges. No pictures for now, as I’ve got a post planned for when it’s officially ready (still don’t have a bathroom or kitchen to call my own yet, but fear not, I’ve access to more than adequate stopgaps). It’s also weird because it’s the first time in my life I’ve lived alone. Jury is still out on how I feel about that.
That’s about it for now because, another truth bomb, I don’t really know what to say in this specific post. It’s pretty much a “I’m here and excited” kind of a thing right now. On that topic though, I am taking requests for future blog topics about life and aspects of it in Vanuatu that people want to hear about. Examples include cuisine, housing, and attitudes towards money, so let me know if anything appeals!
Ale tata!
Heads Carolina, Tails Vanuatu! 