July 31 - Leaving tomorrow...

Yesterday was independence day. A big deal in a country that's only been self-governed for 26 years! Not too much was going on in a day (a soccer field can only be so full in a community of 200 people, the majority of whom were resting from the previous night's festivities in order to make sure they were in shape for the night to come..) After dinner, we joined the crowd at the field, me having made the conscious decision to drink kava one more time, risking making an ass of myself and being caught by Tulsi and Kathy, who think Jess is somewhat of a tart because she frequents the Nakamal more often than the other international female volunteers. Last night was the first night since I've been in Vanuatu that I've been told that there is cause to feel unsafe - Joanna, Rose and Naomi all warned us that it wasn't safe for us girls to walk alone at night anymore, and they were probably right. Jess, Becca and I were all solicited for sex, and I had my ass grabbed about a thousand times. There are people in Amelatin now from all over the island who have come to celebrate with friends and family - to them, us white girls are still a novelty. I think it will be even worse tonight - we are under instruction to operate as a unit, and we're not allowed to walk back and forth from the field unless we're accompanied by Morsen, Samuel, or Iven.



In our community, it was alright for women to drink kava, but by being modest and showing shame we made it all that much more appropriate. To be discreet, we had Iven acquire the goods and transport it to us in our Nalgene bottles (ohhh, mountain equipment co-op, what ever would I do without you?) and we had a bush party, Vanuatu style. Jess and I peed in the bush. We may or may not have had a little too much kava. We went to sit down, because Becs wasn't feeling so hot, at which point Jessica took off, which in the current situation was a bit worrying. I, being the least drunk of them all, freaked out when we couldn't find her after about 10 minutes, and organized a search party, which we executed until she emerged from the forest a good half hour later. She had been sick, fallen into a garbage hole, lost her shoe, ripped her skirt, and cut her leg, all while the village men watched on curiously.

Iven, Jess (pre-disaster), me and Samuel.

We must have had a bad batch, because everyone threw up all night.

Tomorrow we're leaving, so today we're packing and cleaning. I'm thinking about Canadian food and about how I have fallen in love with the people here and don't want to leave. My heart hurts - I know I'll probably never see most of these people again, although I did pinky swear Kathy that I'd come back in 2011 with a husband. Guess I better start working on that one...

I gave Bruno my Canada ball, Christopher my (Kelli's) hat, and Noela my shoes this morning. I hope they'll think of me when I'm gone.

Noela, me, Bruno and Christopher.