Sit Sit Wota, Laplap, and other gross things

Ah well.. looks like video blogging won't work out because it takes 204 minutes to upload a 30 second clip, and being that this is my first time in three weeks using internet/electricity, all ya'll will just have to wait for my awesome videos for another time.

I'm based in a small village called Ekipe with a host family with 9 kids. I make 10. It's a full house. But it's right on the water and my Bislama is pretty awesome. However, it has been very eventful with highs and lows, filled with funny stories and sad ones, but instead of boring you with my emotions, I will tell you the highlights:

- When I got to my village, my mom took me on a tour of the village. As she's rattling off something is Bislama which I couldn't understand at that point, she switches to English fast enough to say "And if you hear the siren, run for your life". To this she was referring to tsunami warnings that we frequently get after earthquakes. We just had a 5.3 earthquake this past Saturday, which I learned does not warrant running for your life. That's only if it's over 6.0

- I was in the water with my little cousin when I told her in Bislama that I wanted to go to shore to sit. I said "Mi wantem go sit". Apparently I told her I wanted to take a shit.

- My family is amazed that I am Japanese. When they found out, they dragged me to the village JICA Volunteer as if maybe I would know her, since ya know... all asians not only look like but know one another! And then for dinner that night while everyone else either ate with their hands or forks, they gave me chopsticks to use.

- While chewing kava one night one man was talking to the four of us volunteers and said, "You all look American. But not you" and pointed to me. Apparently I look like I'm from NZ.

- My friend Megan and I were chatting one day under a mangrove. A girl came up to us and just stared at us for a good 15 to 30 minutes. Finally I asked her what she was playing with in her hand, thinking it was a stuffed animal. She holds it up to our faces and said "Pigeon". We asked her where she got it and she said "Manuel." She was playing with a dead bird.

- I told my papa I really wanted to learn how to climb a coconut tree, but he told me girls in Vanuatu don't do that. I told him suppose I was in the bush and was dehydrated and needed coconut water. I'd need to climb a tree. So he taught me, and I did it.

- I am now the proud owner of a large machete knife which I use to kill rats, chop open a coconut, and to use to scare off creepers. BTW creeping is not so funny after all. After getting creeped on the second night in the village, I casually was talking about it at breakfast with my host mama who immediately went to the chief and he rounded up all the boys and told them to leave us PC girls alone. My brothers also went around the village telling everyone to keep away from their sister. Lol!

- I've given up wearing underwear.

- A hermit lives in my shower and likes to hang out with me when I use my bucket shower.

- I don't pee at night because the spiders and cockroaches come out.

- People really love Celine Dion and Shakira's song Woka WOka? Neither of them are on my ipod.

And now for my favorite story. It's also inappropriate sooo just fyi:

When the 11 of us Ekipe Trainees walked up to the nakamal in Ekipe, the village met us with a whole welcome ceremony and then sat us awkwardly in these chairs facing the rest of the community. One by one they called us up to the front, where they proceeded to rename us with Kastom Names and give us our island dresses (i also got slapped in the face w/ baby powder and to this day still dunno why). Think Lion King where Rafiki holds Simba up to the kingdom to bless him. Right. So they call up my friend Christine, and in Bislama they say "In America they call you Christine, but here, we will call you... Labia!"

YEAA. Right?!?! My friend Max and I could not hold it in and just started crying because we were laughing so hard... and this is with the WHOLE community looking at us. Turns out Christine's kastom name is "Leiwia" but I'm telling you... it does NOT come out that way.


Alright! Well call my skype if you wanna talk, it fwds to my cell phone! Ale, tata!