The night was late and we had just crawled into bed when I heard a man yelling- well screaming really, outside.
I was afraid to look out the window and see who was being murdered, but when I finally mustered up the courage all that came into view was a fire burning in my neighbors yard- nothing unusual.
I guess Eric and I must have been feeling adverterous because just in case we both grabbed a machetes and ventured outside to see what all the commotion was about.
Happily we discovered that there were no drunk crazy men running around, it was just my brother. He is sometimes crazy but rarely drunk 😉 He and some locals were now just standing around the fire laughing.
When I inquired after the loud yells he told me a wandering dog had taken hold of the pig he was preparing to roast and he had to scream loudly -very loudly, to chase it away.
I had forgotten that Dustin was doing a pig roast to celebrate his son’s baptism the next day. He had two Nevans there helping him prepare the whole thing.
Even though my bed was calling the process was too fascinating not to stay and watch. So I took A whole bunch of pictures so I can share them with you guys.
The men had started the fire at 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon. They were then back around 10:00pm to prepare the pig and put it in the pit for toasting overnight. After brining and cutting, chopping and stuffing, digging and covering, They finally got finished at nearly 1:00 am. We were all so tired that when they told us that they would need to comeback at 4:00am to check on it we insisted that it would be fine if they waited until morning.
Sure enough they were back first thing in the morning. After digging up the pit, removing the tarp and hot stones they uncovered the pig which was roasted to perfection!
Ezra cut it up for everyone as the mouth watering aroma spread throughout the neighbourhood.
There certainly were no disappointed taste buds after that meal, and there was so much food left over that Dustin had to send everyone home with some. Everyone was impressed that he’d be willing to share such a fantastic beast, and were all so grateful for his gift. It was like the pig that just kept giving 🙂
The house girls makes it look so easy. When I was living at my brothers house his house girl Matilda did all the laundry, but now that we’ve moved into our own house (right next door) I get to do it 🙂 No problem, this mom of 7 has done laundry aplenty- well at least I thought I had. I realized today that laundry day in the tropics is quite different than laundry day at home. Are you interested in finding out how we do it?
I’ll give you little tutorial…
1. Remove the cockroach protection cloth from the washing machine.
2. Open the lid and fill it with clothes and soap.
3. Hook up the outdoor cable to electricity.
4. Hook up water to the machine.
5. Press start and wait for the water to fill up the laundry machine.
6. Wait 15 minutes while it agitates and then turn it to the next stage- drain.
7. Wait 15 minutes and then turn it to its next stage- spin.
8. Wait 15 minutes and turn it to rinse.
9. Wait 15 minutes and turn it to drain and final spin.
10. Remove clothes from washing machine and hang on outdoor laundry line.
11. Leave until Dry. This can take several days as tropical rain storms come quickly and with a vengeance. (My load from 5 days ago is still on the line).
There you have it. 11 easy steps and a few hours of sunshine and one load of your laundry is clean! I’m sure there is some sort of lesson I could learn from doing laundry the hard/long way but I haven’t figured out what it could be yet. Maybe next laundry day something will come to me!
Maybe living in Samoa as a young girl prepared me for this, but for sure the rest of the family wasn’t quite expecting some of the changes in every day living they would find here in Vanuatu.
Take for instance … shopping.
As a little girl I always saw the signs on the front of stores that said “No shirt, No shoes, No service.” but here on the island it’s more like “No shirt, No shoes, No problem!”As long as you have Vatu (Vanuatu money) you can shop for whatever you need….not that you’ll find whatever you need, but for sure you’re welcome to try. You never know what you might find instead.
Groceries range from local things at the market that are super cheap, to things that are imported from New Zealand and Australia that are often super expensive.
Besides the local grocery store chain “Au Bon Marche” and some smaller locally owned grocery stores, the island is teeming with cheap Chinese stores. I don’t say chinese grocery stores because they are more like Chinese “everything stores”. They carry the oddest assortment of things and you never know which store will have that amazing gem.
Sometimes the things they sell are used or broken but that doesn’t seem to faze them. Like this basket of shoes for $1 a pair.
The brands range from Chinese knock-offs, to authentic brands that we would recognize, to Island brands that we have never seen before.
Of course sometimes the product names or advertisements are made more interesting by the crossover from english to Bislama or when the sign is attempted with Bislama spellings of the English words. (FYI: as I’ve been told there is no standardization of spelling in Bislama. You just spell the words for however you think they are said phonetically.)
I know at first this next photo can trick your brain, but what it is actually advertising is beach slippers for kids.
If you happen to spot a pair of Nike shoes for five dollars you know they probably are not the real deal! In fact Vanuatu has no reverse engineering, or patenting laws that prevent copying other brands and selling them here….like the $120 brand new Iphone 6S that looked on the outside EXACTLY like the real deal…all the way until you turn it on 😉
Well at the end of the day when you empty your bags you’re never quite sure if what you got will work for the job- take these dolls for example. When I showed them to Micah he started screaming instead of laughing. Oh well, shopping certainly is entertaining and a fun way to spend a few hours 🙂
Because the house we rented is not yet available my kind brother and sister-in-law have opened their home to us for the next two weeks. We’d never share something this small in Canada, but compared to standard of the locals (which are just tin shacks), it’s a mansion.
We spent the night all stacked up 3 and 5 to a small bedroom all sharing the same hot sticky air. Eric and I had a little bedroom all to ourselves which was a bonus, although it had no window and the air was so thick I wondered if I’d ever be able to fall asleep. Eventually quiet and sleep did overtake us all and it felt so good to be rested. I was also happy to only have been attacked by a flying cockroach once during the night, which is a huge bonus because I hate those things!
My internal clock was all jumbled around and I was the first to wake up. It actually ended up being a blessing, I realized as I quietly slipped out the front screen door and got to sit down to enjoy the sounds and smells of this new world alone.
I’m going to give you a peak into my head…
Fat Drops of rain are softly spattering on the tin roof and you can hear a rooster crowing amongst an orchestra of tropical birds signing loudly above us.
The ocean is just through the yard and across the corral/dirt road, so the ocean waves join in the chorus as a soft steady instrument.
It’s only 6:00am but who wants to stay in bed when the rest of the world is waking up??
Certainly not these kids! Isaiah, Sariah have woken up and are now exploring the giant Nabunga tree figuring out the best way to get up and down, and swinging from it’s sprawling branches.
Micah wakes up next and is busy squealing as he runs away from the neighbourhood dog.
His little feet squish through the wet grass, no shoes of course.
Maxwell and Mireyah wake up next and then Maxwell who has already been living here for 3 weeks and is now an expert on island living. As he explains the best way to crack a cocunut, Mireyah seems quite satisfied as she digs out her breakfast from the newly picked fruit.
It’s not yet 8:00am and I feel like I’ve lived a full day already!
The older girls were awakened by all the noise of the younger children.
They can’t be kept from that enticing call of the ocean for long and after my brother gathers his arms full of passion fruit for breakfast and cooks us something masterful on the small gas stove everyone plays at the beach.
The water is so warm that nobody wants to leave even though they have been there for hours. I finally coax my little adventurer home to play in the shade of the Guava, Palm, Po Po (another name for Papaya), Pua, & Nabunga trees. Because it’s just our first days here I’m anxious to keep them from getting too much sun all at once.
Today is the day that we leave for Vanuatu!!! I feel like it’s a dream. We were up until 2:00am working to get everything done. You would think that with all the help I had and with working non- stop for the last two months that there wouldn’t be much left to do. Wrong. The passports only came in yesterday, and we had so many last minute things to take care of.
7:00am we just left home and are on our way. We are driving in the Peavoys van with the Tillacks driving us to Calgary. The kids are all happy and quiet. So far so good:)
On our way to Vanuatu
10:30 am- made it to calgary airport.
The car was making some strange noises and I was nervous that we might break down. It seems like I’ve been having that kind of luck lately but thankfully but I was wrong and we made it in plenty of time to check in.
I guess I forget that to most the world my family is pretty big. People couldn’t help staring at us as all 9 of us tumbled out the door and started unpacking bags onto carts. We had 28 bags in total which adds up quickly when you are trying to transport them all! We formed a line with bags and babies and purses. We got lots of fascinated stares and encouraging smiles, it actually helped me to feel better. I’m still pretty nervous about doing this and not totally sure that it will all work out the way I hope. It cost us so much money and the teenagers are so resistant to the whole plan. I guess I’m just glad that at this point people are being nice- those smiles are going a long way in my unsettled heart 🙂
3:00pm- We made it to Seattle safely. I actually can’t believe that our first flight is over and we have just three left to go! #itstoolatetoturnbacknow
Isaiah was so so excited to be flying! He couldn’t believe how fast and noisy it was. How fun to be able to take these boys on a plane. This is a first for both them. I am reminded again just how fun it is to have young children, they make even the most mundane things exciting and get everyone laughing and happy. What a blessing it is to have these two boys after our family of girls. AS for the plane ride, Micah wasn’t sure what to make of the whole thing. He kept saying “whoa” and looking out the window in amazement. It was priceless!
Eric and finally got the kids settled in their seats and all the bags stowed away when we realized that we are actually short one bag. After some figuring we discovered it’s Eric’s bag. It has his only clothes, shoes, underwear and worst of all the family medicine. The crazy thing is that at the last airport I took all his medicine out of his computer bag and thought “I’ll lighten his load a bit.” I kindly tucked it into his carryon- which is gone. We to pay oodles of money to have on flight calling and after calling the airport its unlikely that they will be able to help us. I guess we are traveling too far away and a missing bag can’t be sent to us. This could actually be quite bad.
7:58pm we just landed in Los Angeles. Zaby slept the whole flight and Micah screamed. But he seems to be happier now.
4 hour layover…
We got lost in the LA airport and walked for over an hour. It was nearly midnight and we literally were about to drop (some of us did drop) by the time our flight took off at midnight.
11:00am We flew all night. Isaiah and the girls slept, Micah screamed and Eric and I got two hours of sleep each. I can’t even see straight, I think I’m going to pass out…
12:00pm arrived at the Fiji airport. It was too dark to see anything and we missed the sunrise by just a few minutes because we were busy going through security. There was lively live Fijian music as we came through and I was reminded again how lovely it is to see lots of beautiful Polynesian smiles.
Horray only one flight left and we will be there!
8 hour layover in Fiji. everyone is beat but the boys. Why does it always work like that? We are hot and sweaty and frankly quite stinky. I might be the first to strip down and go Vanuatu style. I see now why they go naked. #notjoking
We pretty much spent the entire layover taking turns sleeping and hanging out in the bathroom where it was cooler. Good thing there was a nice airport lounge because we totally took it over and sprawled out to catch up on all that lost rest. Everything seems unbelievable. The palm trees outside, the fact that we are just hours away from our final destination, I really can’t believe it!
The plane got delayed an hour. Sigh…#9hoursinonespotistoolong I can barely keep my sanity and keep track of the boys at the same time.
The food is expensive in the airport! It cost us $100 just to get the girls each a burger and fries. Eek! There are some expenses that I hadn’t quite calculated into our trip. I kinda forgot that kids need to eat on 40 hour trips half away around the world.
8:00pm Thursday We are finally leaving Fiji for our final destination!!!! The times are quite different here. Its 3:00 pm Friday Fijian time. It kinda doesn’t feel real, like the fact that we are only 1 island away from our new home for the next four months is overwhelming and exciting all at the same time.
We are in a small plane and that is always so exciting because you feel sure you will be tipping over and diving towards the ocean before long.
I can’t believe that we are only a few hours away from our FINAL DESTINATION!!
I guess Eric and I must have been feeling adverterous because just in case we both grabbed a machetes and ventured outside to see what all the commotion was about.
When I inquired after the loud yells he told me a wandering dog had taken hold of the pig he was preparing to roast and he had to scream loudly -very loudly, to chase it away.
Even though my bed was calling the process was too fascinating not to stay and watch. So I took A whole bunch of pictures so I can share them with you guys.
The men had started the fire at 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon. They were then back around 10:00pm to prepare the pig and put it in the pit for toasting overnight. After brining and cutting, chopping and stuffing, digging and covering, They finally got finished at nearly 1:00 am. We were all so tired that when they told us that they would need to comeback at 4:00am to check on it we insisted that it would be fine if they waited until morning.
Ezra cut it up for everyone as the mouth watering aroma spread throughout the neighbourhood.
There certainly were no disappointed taste buds after that meal, and there was so much food left over that Dustin had to send everyone home with some. Everyone was impressed that he’d be willing to share such a fantastic beast, and were all so grateful for his gift. It was like the pig that just kept giving 🙂
There you have it. 11 easy steps and a few hours of sunshine and one load of your laundry is clean! I’m sure there is some sort of lesson I could learn from doing laundry the hard/long way but I haven’t figured out what it could be yet. Maybe next laundry day something will come to me!
