1-27-07

Back in Thailand but now I'm traveling in the Southern islands. I arrived in Vientienne, Laso after a very long (and unenjoyable bus ride) from Laos and after some thought, decided to bite the bullet and take a plane from Vientienne to Bangkok and then Ko Samui. Marije met me at the airport with her friend Jacco and I was soon taking a blissful shower in a very Western guesthouse. As I got out of the shower we realized that Marije had left her mobile phone in a taxi. We called about 3 or 4 times but nothing. She used Jacco's phone to call home and cancel her SIM card so that no one would be able to make calls with it. Luckily, the next time we tried to call her phone someone picked up and it was the owner at a store right down the street, apparently it had fallen out of the cab! We rushed over and got the phone, trying to give the store owner a reward but she wouldn't take it. We bought some beers to celebrate instead.

Right, I'm feeling a bit schizophrenic so I'm just going to post photos and then storian smol long hem.

I love big dogs and big dogs love me. We found this Rotweiller on the beach on Ko Tao and he was just the friendliest thing ever. There are so many dogs on Ko Tao but they're all healthy and for the most part friendly, I haven't had to "Kuse!" one yet! There's one I'm always looking for, a beautiful white and brown Huskie who just looks miserable all the time. Sometimes he sprawls out like a bear rug and won't move for what seems like the whole day.




We crossed the island of Ko Tao yesterday, taking time to take a break on the foundation of a house that overlooks the ocean. After we walked down we found a small resort and I got the owner to open up a sprouting coconut, it was the first time I got to eat navara in months, it was so soft and sweet, just like on Tongoa. Later this guy in the photo ate a hibiscus flower. I don't know what his problem is, eating foliage like he owns it.




Marije, caught off guard taking a photo of the coast.

Hemi olsem meri blong mi. Mi mi harem glad taem mi stap wetem hem from mi neva faenem wan woman olsem. Ating spos hemi stap long aelan ol man bae i ded long hem. Hem tu i gat wan blog: http://www.marijejelly.waarbenjij.nu/

Traem luk samting ia from ples ia tu i gat sam foto blong mi wetem hem. Spos hemi bin stap long Vanuatu taem mi bin stap ating mi no wantem drink kava nating.


We tried to watch the sunset on the beach but there were too many clouds to try to see the green flash. Our guesthouse is very close to the beach which is great except that there are three bars VERY close and they all want to play the "Who has the loudest music?" game. The Red Hot Chili Peppers start to sound very annoying around 2:45 AM, especially when you know all the clientèle at the bars are old while men talking with young Thai women, yech!





The aforementioned sunset off the coast of Ko Tao.













Here I am back in Luang Prabang, at a guesthouse except they have an eagle!

Look!

Sure it just sits there all day and poops everywhere but it's a fucking eagle! I wanted to get closer but I'm a bit leary about wild pirds of prey. Later on the same guesthouse got a monkey (maybe to play with the eagle, who knows) but I wasn't there.




This is Doug, my travel buddy and fellow RPCV on some random land mass in Laos. We took a boat ride up to Muang Noi but had to get out and walk because we were too heavy. Of course Doug is happy because he's Doug. Everyone else was not so happy.

1-19-07

I've spent the last few days in a small village in Northern Laos called Muang Noi. It took a 4 hour bus ride and over an hour slow boat ride but it was worth it, even when we had to get out of the boat and walk because the river was too low. Muang Noi is amazing, there are guest houses everywhere and there are "restaurants" but the village still feels like a village, not some tourist trap with some old temples thrown in. In fact there was only one temple and it didn't look like a temple at all, I would have completely missed it if I hadn't been woken up in the mornings by their bell and the sound of monks chanting, that clued me in.The villagers go about daily life, drying out swamp grass to eat, reforging old knives and doing what villagers generally do.

Just outside the Muang Noi are roads that lead to other villages, rice paddies and water buffalo that don't really care about anything other than eating dried out rice stalks. However, one road led us to a cave ($.50 admission) which was about the coolest thing ever. The first day we hiked in a ways until we realized we needed our torches (flashlights) to go any further. I just happened to have mine and so the five of us waded through shoulder-high water as far back as we could go. But we didn't get to the end and knew that there was still a lot to go. So the next day we all came back (each of us carrying at least one torch) and we spent a few hours exploring every bit of that damned cave, from the stalactites and stalagmites to the bats and all the way back till we found the source of the river and some graffiti that said "HELP! 10-7-2006" The whole time we were a little worried about cave-ins and getting lost since none of us had ever been that far inside a cave. We were always asking ourselves "Farther? Do we go farther?" luckily we did keep going and though my camera lens clouded up from the condensation I was still able to get a few pictures. It was the first time I'd ever gone back that far in a cave, let alone without a guide or anyone else who knew what they hell they were doing. And why did I do this? Risk being trapped if there was an earthquake? Cause I walk up volcanoes barefoot! That's why! Am I right? Only for the men!

The days before the cave exploration a few of us decided to visit another village in the hopes that it would be even more rural than Muang Noi. Well, we found two other villages and they were both more rural. The first one overlooked a dried up rice paddy and a couple signs that pointed to guest houses and restaurants. We met a few French people at the village while drinking tea, they'd been there for 10 days and so knew a lot about the area but hadn't really explored any of it. They told us about the white arrows in the cave that showed the way back out if you got lost. After we had our Laos Tea we walked to another village where we had some food, I was trying to find betel nut but the closest thing I could find was raw dried meat from these little dear that they hunt. So I had that instead, delicious! On the way back we ran into a couple of locals who were carrying matchlock rifles. I didn't know working matchlocks still existed, let alone were being used. They locals were very shy about letting us see them though, so I wasn't able to get a picture. Maybe wikipedia can help. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matchlock



The second to last night in Muang Noi I was talking to the girl who runs the guest house I was staying at. I was asking how much it would be to buy a duck because Muang Noi has so many ducks and you can never buy them in the restaurants because there is no dependable refrigeration. So Huan started telling me how Laos people do this wonderful thing with Duck's blood, making a soup out of it or something. Of course the only way to get blood out of a duck is to kill it so we eventually found a duck that wasn't too expensive. Anyway, the spare you gory details we get all the blood out of the duck and then her family barbecues it and makes soup of of some of the meat and organs. Luckily I was able to snag some of the liver and roast it for Doug and myself, island style. It's the closest to foie groe I've gotten yet. It turns out the duck meat was very tough, Huan kept laughing at how hard it was, she said the duck must have been 10 years old, but then again she's crazy. The soup was a little better but I was so dis-heartened with the tough duck meat that I just drank the blood, it's good with bear Lao. Just kidding, this picture was Doug's idea. We just added some of the blood to our soup the same way I'd had it in Chiang Mai. This set off Huan again, laughing and pointing at us. It turns out Laos people don't actually add the blood to the soup, they make something else out of it entirely. Of course they never told us any of this but it didn't matter because my soup tasted much better.

1-12-07

The connection here in Laos isn't so good so no photos for now but soon.

After spending a bit too long in Chiang Mai and realizing that I only had another week on my Thai Visa, Doug and I decided to catch the 2-day boat ride up the Mekong to Laos. I'd heard all kinds of stories about the slow boat: it's uncomfortable, it's too long, there's no food, so I was eager to see what it was all about. The truth is that it's just a very slow, over packed boat ride up the Mekong river, a place that until 10 years ago still had pirates on it. The boats are long, sit about 4 people in a row but have small cushions to sit on and plenty of Beer Lao to buy, or weed if that's your thing (that last part probably isn't mentioned in the tour guides). The first day was uneventful, bought our tickets and Visas in Chiang Mai, got to the Thai Laos border, sleep in a guest house with mattresses harder than the wood floors. Second day, take a small boat across the Mekong, wait around, finally get on the boat drive down admiring the views, meet some interesting people, pull up to a village where people tried to sell us more Beer Lao and Pringles, end up at some tourist town, crash. The third day was the longest, we left the shore around 10am and got into Luang Prabang around 5:30pm a bit tired and seeking shelter. But the scenery that third day was amazing. We caught a glimpse of the Buddha caves that are carved into the side of a mountain, some high water markers (the Mekong is really really low right now), all kinds of kastam houses on the shores and a beautiful sunset.

Luang Prabang is small, easily navigable in a few days and full of tourists. The lodging prices seem to range from $4 to $40 and yet we were able to buy a bottle of Lao Whiskey for $2. We're staying in a Guest House run by a Laotian guy who lived most of his life in Wisconsin, during our sign in he was giving up the update on the latest in the Ohio State game. I shouldn't be surprised at this point about the people I meet while traveling but it still catches me off guard every now and then.

The cost of living here is ridiculously low except when you take into account all the bloody tourists. Luckily the local population is laid back and there aren't the kind of obnoxious tourists I've found in Vanuatu or Thailand, making special meal orders and then getting upset when they get it wrong. The restaurants are all relatively expensive but water is cheap and there really isn't a need to take a tuk tuk or songthew anywhere. Today Doug and I walked around town, went up a hill to the Wat on top and had a great view of Laos, even watched a plane land on the runway, it felt a little like the island watching a plane land for entertainment. Later I went back to the guest house and had a nap, I still can't seem to shake this cold I've been harboring for what seems like weeks now. It comes and goes, always turning up at the most inopportune times. Oh well.

1-6-07

How quickly plans can change

After three days in Ayutthaya seeing more Wats, Buddhas and Chedis than I knew what to do with I'm back in Chiang Mai. The original plan was to get down to Ko Phangan for the half moon party but then I met some people going back up to Chiang Mai and I noticed I only had about a week left on my tourist Visa. So the new plan is to go up north into Laos with Doug, get an extension on my tourist Visa, head down to Ko Phangan for the party then back up to Laos where I'll hang out until Christina arrives. Then I'll start making my way east towards Cambodia and Vietnam where it's cheaper and more rural.

I was talking to a friend yesterday and realized that it's about time to get out of the real touristy areas. I know Chiang Mai isn't nearly as touristy as Bangkok or some other places but there is still a pretty large ex-pat and tourist population. Not that I don't like ex-pats and tourists, they're cool but I think it's about time I got back to a rural place: no lights, running water or white people. Of course this time around I can't speak the language and have only a very basic understanding of the culture, although I have learned that the kids are very shy in class and try to hide from answering questions.

One of the the things I realized about myself in the Peace Corps is that I take things for granted very easily when they become availible. I know it's an easy concept to grasp and I never really understood it until I become overwhelmed with emotion when I got a care package on Tongoa that contained Reeses Pieces. I appreciate things so much more when I don't have them all the time. I've tried to limit myself to things like Western food, drink and posessions for this very reason. If I don't have them now I'll appreciate them so much more when I allow myself to have them. Of course this will be problematic when I eventually move back to the States because everything I want will be right there, in front of me, in the same isle as 15 different kinds of bread and 20 kinds of peanut butter (smooth, crunchy, extra crunchy, low sodium, no sodium, no sodium and no sugar, mixed with jelly etc.

It will be so easy to slide back into a routine, eating the same foods as before and acting the same way. I know if I want to maintain the island mentality in America it will take a lot of effort on my part, but I'm ready for that. The question is how easy will it be for me to adapt back to my own culture while keeping the lessons I learned in Vanuatu. I don't think there will be much chance to make my own rawhide or chew kava around a fire.

1-2-07
Ayutthaya

New Year's Eve in Chiang Mai

New Year's eve started a little rough for me. I managed to roll my ankle early in the day and was fighting off some kind of cough that had plagued me for the last week or so. Staying out till 4am in smoke filled clubs is definitely not good for the old respiratory tract but it's still a good time. Anyway, after a day of visiting the post office (closed), the books shops (also closed) and the tourism office for a train schedule (open, yes!), I managed to run into a friend who informed me that he and some other folks would be ringing in the new year at the rooftop bar since the drinks are cheap and it would be a great place to watch the new year celebrations. Now I love the Rooftop Bar so I told him I would definitely be there. But first I had to hang out with some friends at the internet cafe where I get (almost) free internet since I fixed some of there computers. Partying at the cafe is always fun, most times we sit outside and drink whisky, soda water and coke and I try to learn Thai. However this time we went all out and roasted lemon-grass-stuffed-fish, kebabs and prawns outside as we drank the ridiculously strong Chang Beer (6.4% by volume), Red Label and Mekong Whisky.

Around 10pm I decide it's time to move over to the Rooftop so I pick myself up and start meandering over there. Well, there must have too much hitch in my giddyup because halfway over there I managed to roll my ankle again! Now I'm feeling a bit like my friend Michere but manage to get up to the Rooftop where it is packed! I mean, there is hardly standing room let alone room to sit. Luckily I find my friends and sit down with them but then get distracted by all the floating lanterns that are going up into the air every few seconds. Normally a few will go up every night but now it's like they're trying to light up the sky with these things. There's a band of them across the sky like the Milky Way. We all "oooh" and "aaaah" for about 45 minutes when all of a sudden we hear a loud POP and look over to see a lantern has caught fire and is now burning on the lower roof. We also notice the power has gone out and there is no music, curious. Turns out the power for our side of the street was knocked out by this renegade lantern. At the same time some of us were a little worried because we'd heard about the bombs in Bangkok. We look out over the roof to see if there is any police or military activity but all the armed guards are just hanging out, no rescue vehicles are racing about and some guy in a uniform is frantically making the international "OK" symbol up at us from the street. We wait for a little while longer, wave "OK" back to the guy and then go about our business. Some people are still concerned but whatever, it's New Year's and some of us had been drinking (I had not been drinking). I notice my friends had left but everyone was my friend that night.

After the power went out or before (I'm not too sure), I'd been talking with some other people and they were wondering if the roof could hold up all the people on top. Now the roof is just bamboo slats with cheap mats covering them. I kind of dismiss the idea, but then realize it could actually happen. I make some kind of remark like "Well, even if the roof does collapse, it makes for a great story doesn't it? I mean, who else can say they were at a New Year's party where the roof collapsed beneath them?" This kind of "Hey at least it's a good story" has pretty much been my attitude about things going wrong ever since my first year in Vanuatu where things often do go very wrong and yet in the end come out ok. So there I am drinking my water, calculating the best rooftop exit to make in case there's a fire, when someone says something and points behind me where a crowd has now gathered.

"What's with the crowd?" I ask.
"I think the roof just caved in," she replies.
"What? No!" I wheel around and sure enough, a large section of the roof in the corner has indeed collapsed and people are gathering around as if looking at it will somehow make it fixed, "Gee, maybe if we all stare at it it'll fix itself!" Of course with the decrease in real estate this means that there's even less space on top so a few people decide to slide down and hang out in the collapsed section. Now we have bombs in the country, cut power and a collapsed roof, I am not troubled by this at all. No really, I was laughing at the whole thing. So far it was the best new year I'd had in a very long time.

Time goes on and eventually the power gets restored, people are starting to leave the bar in search of clubs. I leave with some people and head to Bubbles, a club that doesn't have good music but a good crowd. I get bored so I leave and go to Spicy, a club that has great music but a somewhat questionable crowd. But it's cool, the place is packed and I end up dancing there till 6am when they finally close. I leave with some friends and get some rice soup as the sun is starting to rise, exchange emails and then check out of my guest house and head over to the train station where I've already missed the 4am train to Ayutthaya but don't really care because it's New Year's and I've left Chiang Mai the way I wanted to: with a bang and no sleep for the last day or so.

After a 5 hour wait I jump on the train to Ayutthaya and sleep for most of the 10 hour journey, waking up for juice and to play with the little kid sitting on her Dad's lap next to me. So here I am in Ayutthaya which is more hot and definitely more laid back than Chiang Mai. I'll be here for a few days recuperating and visiting temples before heading further South. I plan on taking it easy before going to Ko Phangan where there are supposed to be some really fun places to go.

The Chiang Mai weekend night market is probably one of the best I have ever seen. Every Saturday and Sunday Tae Pae road is shut down to traffic and vendors from all over set up stalls and sell everything from rattan lanterns to fried quail eggs. Just walking around and staring at all the wares was enough for me, but having access to all kinds of different food was also a plus.







Alas, I was too full to try to fried bugs when I got to them. I talked to a guy who ate some but he didn't remember how they tasted. Apparently he ate them as quickly as he could and followed it up with a beer. Shame, in Vanuatu my friends told me the steamed ones tasted like lobster.


I still don't know what washing the Buddha is all about. I went to Waht Umong last Sunday and talked with an English speaking monk who told us that rituals have no place in Buddhism. So all the big temples, gold leaf statues and relics are all for people who don't really understand Buddhism. The monk also said that there shouldn't even be images of the Buddha because he didn't want to be worshiped after his death. So much for last wishes.

Buddhism is such an interesting way to live your life, focusing on how you interpret life's events instead of going out and changing them and just letting go. I feel like I can relate to it more after Peace Corps. By the way, the real Jade Buddha looks almost like this one, not very impressive.


These girls were just adorable. I don't know where they came from or what the name of the instrument is they're playing but I've seen it around before. One of the coolest things about the night market is that right in the middle of the street there are people playing instruments, doing traditional dances or asking for money to support schools. I don't know how to describe it, Bislama has robbed me of most of my English skills.







As I was about the leave the market I noticed a large crowd had gathered. Being the curious person I am I checked it out and found this little girls dressed up like some kind of ostrich? Flamingo? See, I can't even remember the name of the bird this little girl resembles. They have them at the San Diego Zoo, they live in some places in Encondido and are really annoying.

So if I had a checklist of things to do in the night market it would read like this:

- Walk down the market until I find finger food
- Eat finger food, find noodles
- Eat noodles, wander around and look at carvings
- Play with the pug dressed in a bee outfit
- Give money to the blind singers
- Buy freshly squeezed orange juice
- Watch people pour water over the Buddha
- Find the end of the market, people watch for a while
- Stare at white tourists
- Start to make my way back, avoid people calling out to me
- Eat sticky rice cooked in bamboo, watch random dancers
- Watch the old guitar player rip it up with his distortion effects
- Get back to the guesthouse, sleep

The End

Here's my DOS (or Description of Service), the only "official" document that says I was in Peace Corps. Enjoy.

DESCRIPTION OF PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER SERVICE

Class 6 Primary School Teacher

Appropriate Technology Specialist

Name: Taylor J. Okamura

Country: Republic of Vanuatu (South West Pacific)

Dates of Service: December 12, 2003 – December 8, 2006

Assignment and Professional Training

After completing the Peace Corps application process which stressed both mental and physical health, a diversified background and a cross cultural understanding, Taylor Okamura was accepted into the U.S. Peace Corps as a trainee in 2003. He arrived to Vanuatu in October with group 16B and soon began an intense three-month training in the village of Epau on Efate island. During this time he lived with a host family and participated in all aspects of rural life including the planting and harvesting of root crops, listening to the traditional stories, learning to cook the local dishes and adapting to a foreign culture.

Practical training consisted of the following components:

Language Training: 120 hours of practical training designed to gain proficiency in speaking, reading and understanding Vanuatu's official language, Bislama.

Technical Training: 120 hours of practical training designed to develop requisite skills forfounding, developing, managing and teaching at a rural, community-based, school.

Cross Cultural Training: 180 hours of practical training designed to develop assimilation strategies for integration into rural Island village life.

Medical Training: 20 hours of practical training in medical self-sufficiency and emergency self-treatment in remote and medically isolated locations.

Taylor succesfully completed the comprehensive practical immersion training program on December 12, 2003 and ultimately achieved an 'Advanced High' score in language proficiency.

Life as a Teacher

In the two years that Taylor was at Naworaone Primary School, he taught math to fifteen year six students and often assisted the headmaster and other teachers with their classes. He taught Health and a science class called "Trees & Water" several days a week. Taylor developed strong relationships with the teachers, helping them to write future lesson plans, build the school garden and organize school fund raisers which raised over $600 USD.

Village Life

Taylor lived in the village of Purau on the island of Tongoa. While in the village, he was adopted into a host family, earned a kastam name and was given a local style house made of wild cane and thatch roof. Taylor discovered that life in the training village gave him a very basic understanding for life on Tongoa, but realized he still had to undergo a large amount of adjustment. Life on the island was very rural, much more so than Epau, even more rugged than the backpacking trips Taylor had been accustomed to in the States. Without plumbing, electricity, gas or refrigeration, Taylor had to rely on seasonal rain for water, candles for light, a wood fire for cooking, and trips to the market or garden every few days for food. Despite these radical changes in lifestyle, Taylor adapted to "island life" and grew to appreciate his new existence. He read over 100 books and wrote countless letters home to friends and family during service. One of Taylor's fondest memories was preparing kava, the local drink, in the traditional manner with his friends.

Cyclone Ivy

In Taylor's first year of service, Vanuatu was struck by Cyclone Ivy, a category four hurricane. Ivy devastated gardens, contaminated water supplies and uprooted local structures. Using the skills he learned in training, Taylor was able to secure his house and assist other villagers in preparation for the coming storm. After Ivy, Taylor made site visits to the other two volunteers serving on Tongoa and submitted a damage report to Peace Corps Vanuatu.

Volunteer Advisory Committee

Taylor began to serve on the Volunteer Advisory Committee (VAC) shortly after arriving on Tongoa. VAC is a group of elected Peace Corps volunteers who, for two years, present volunteer issues to the Country Director. Taylor was elected as the VAC Chairman in his second year and remained active as Chairman until the end of that year. While on VAC, Taylor helped to draft a new policies on alcohol use, safety and security procedures, per diem, cohabitation, mail, vacation leave, and living allowances.

Secondary Projects

In his second year on Tongoa, Taylor completed several secondary projects:

- Compiled and wrote the new Peace Corps Vanuatu cookbook to be used by all current and future volunteers

- Presented five cooking workshops on Tongoa Island for thirty villagers

- Taught several workshops on salt preservation of meat

- Taught a workshop on the production of brain-tanned rawhide

- Assisted in a local tourism project on Tongoa with marketing, publicity, security and meeting Western expectations

- Facilitated a five day business workshop on Santo Island with two fellow Peace Corps volunteers for over thirty villagers stressing the importance of market share, budgets, and book keeping

- Visited the island of Futuna to develop a local primary school for the island's first Peace Corps Volunteer.

Extension of Service

While serving his two years on Tongoa, Taylor became more and more aware that one of Vanuatu's largest problems is the lack of power on the outer islands. Reliable electricity is very important in sustatinable development and is cruicial in sectors such as sports, education, and health. It was for this reason that Taylor extended his service for a third year, moving to the capital city of Port Vila on Efate Island where he began to work with Vanuatu Renewable Energy Power Association (VANREPA), a local non-government organization working with sustainable energy projects. Living in the capital gave Taylor a unique opportunity to use his knowledge of the outer islands to develop energy solutions on a national level, installing several wind and solar power systems with VANREPA throughout Vanuatu and helping to write several successful grant proposals. In his third year he worked on a Solar Water Pasteurization project in the Black Sands community, a large wind turbine project on Futuna and Aneityum islands, and several solar and wind power schools in Vanuatu. Taylor also wrote and translated into Bislama several technical manuals for solar and wind systems and VANREPA policies. He also helped author VANREPA's website (www.vanrepa.org).

As part of an initiative to strengthen the relationship between VANREPA and Peace Corps Vanuatu, Taylor worked closely with Peace Corps in designing and teaching over 60 hours of appropriate technology courses to selected staff members and 48 new Peace Corps trainees on the island of Lelepa over the course of one year. These courses included:

- Soap making and personal hygene

- Water sanitation and ways to eliminate communicable water-based diseases

- Water catchment systems and acceptable water treatment options

- Desalination of salt water

- Construction of local toilets (Pit, Ventilation Improved, and Compost)

- Food preservation (smoked/salted, meat, jams, dried fruit)

- Rawhide production and basic leather working skills

- Alternative energy systems (Wind, Solar, and micro-hydroelectric systems)

- Designing improved cookstoves

- Community skepticism towards technology

- Solar cooking techniques

- Correct disposal of batteries

During this time Taylor also wrote the accompanying appropriate technology manual which has now been incorporated in volunteer training, benefitting the 76 volunteers currenty in the field.

Pursuant to Section 5 (f) of the Peace Corps Act, 22 U.S.C. No. 2504 (f) as amended, any former Volunteer employed by the United States Government following her Peace Corps service is entitled to have any period of satisfactory Peace Corps Volunteer service credited for purposes of retirement, seniority, reduction in force, leave or other privileges based on length of government service. Peace Corps service shall not be credited toward completion of a probationary or trial period or completion of any service requirement for career appointment.

This is to certify in accordance with Executive Order No. 11103 of 10 April 1963, that Mr. Taylor James Okamura served satisfactorily as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He service ended on 8 December 2006. He is therefore eligible to be appointed as a career-conditional employee in the competitive civil service on a non-competitive basis. This benefit under the Executive Order entitlement extends for a period of one-year, except that the employing agency may extend for up to three years for a former Volunteer who enters military service, pursues studies at a recognized institution of higher learning, or engages in other activities which, the view of the appointing authority, warrants extension of the period.

It's only been a week out of Vanuatu but so much has already happened, so much so that living in a house made of wild cane seems almost like a dream. Straight out of Vanuatu, Mike and I headed for the hot and humid city of Darwin, Australia. We had decided a while ago to move slowly back to Western civilization and Darwin seemed like a good start and it was also cheaper flying through there than from Sydney. While in Darwin we saw the jumping crocodiles which are just that: crocodiles that jump. We took a river boat in croc infested waters while one of the guides held pieces of meat over the side of the like she was fishing for them. The crocodiles then jump up and try to snatch the meat as everyone watches. Not only is it amazing to see in person but these animals are less than 2 meters away when they leap out of the water for the meat. It was definately worth it, especially seeing the 5 meter long croc named Michael Jackson with the missing back right leg, he was huge. The rest of Darwin wasn't as exciting as that but we still managed to see Lichfield park where we swam in some waterfalls, did some hiking and saw huge magnetic termite hills. Our hostel was very good for the money and I swear to God a toddler started asking me questions in Bislama "Yu go wea?" I started to storian with the baby but realized it was an infant and could not storian.

After Darwin we jumped on a plane and zipped over to Singapore, which seemed like an Asian Disneyland compared to Vanuatu. It is impeccably clean, the subways are spotless and everyone seemed to have a working knowledge of the English language, something that can't even be said for the average American. It's a gorgeous city and Mike and I walked everywhere, from China Town to the Colonial District, from the Colonial District to Little India and then back to China Town. Along the way we stumbled into the oldest brewery in Singapore where I got to drink beer brewed with tamarind, orange peel and ginger. Not only was it great but due to a waiter's error we got a free serving of fish, chips, and chicken wings, not to shabby for being stuck in a bar during a rain storm. We ate at the food stalls every day in Little China and I managed to get down to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo. Now I love zoo's since I was just about raised at the one in San Diego as well as Sea World so I had a blast, playing games with the otters, watching jaguar cats play and spending a lot of time watching the Binturongs which have to be one of the coolest animals ever. I mean, when was the last time you saw a freaking Bear Cat running through the trees? Unfortunately since we couldn't use the flash most of my photos came out blurry. Afterwards we went to the Museum of Asian Civilizations and while it covered south, southeast and west Asia there was no exhibit on Japan. It's cool though, Japan is so cool it doesn't need to be labelled as an "Asian Civilization." I mentioned this on the suggestion computer as we left the exhibits. We spent just the right amount of time in Singapore, I wanted to leave but hadn't gotten sick of it yet.

We arrived in Bangkok yesterday and got a cheap ticket up to Chiang Mai the same day, finally getting to a hostel last night around 9pm and immediately headed over to the Sunday night market where I ate way too much at all the food stalls. It was incredible how many people were in such a small space. I'm sure it wasn't too much but for me it was a little overwhelming. We spent a while walking around, admiring some bamboo lanterns and painting when Mike decided to get a foot massage. Not thinking much of it, I got one as well and had a very intense hour long session of calf and foot work done while trying to speak to the masseuse who knew about 20 words in English. Chiang Mai seems just busy enough for me without giving me vertigo, I'm very happy we decided to skip Bangkok as I have heard crazy stories about how busy and crowded Bangkok is. Today we started the first of 5 days at the Chiand Mai Thai Cookery School which was an absolute blast. I haven't eaten so much in a long time and it was all so so good, my favorite being the fish in red curry sauce. Mmmmmm, curry. We also met up with Jenneric and should be going to a Muy Thai boxing match with them and Joe and Karen.

So we went to the Muy Thai match and it is freaking brutal! We saw kids from like, 6 and up. The title bout was between two boxers who weighed 140 lbs of pure muscle. I was hoping that the guy in blue shorts would win and he made a great comeback but was ultimately knocked out, sori. Mike and I were betting on matches (just between the two of us) and ended up coming out even at the end of the night. We'll be in Chiang Mai for a while, I'll probably change hostels in a few days and take a trip or two up to the Hill Tribes and see the long neck women.

It's been an awesome trip to Tanna so far. Me, Melissa and Joe went to go see Mike Hoffman in Middle Bush Tanna, check out the volcano and as a last something before leaving Vanuatu. We've been drinking kava at Mike's nakamal and walking around almost the entire island. The first day we met Mike at the airport, walked to Lenekal and happened to come across Matt, the 19A volunteer. We drank kava in Lenekal and slept on the beach near the bungalow where Brett has been staying since he doesn't have a real house yet. The second day we walked for a few hours until we came to Matt's house which can only be described as niiiiiiice. After a prolonged rest at the house in which we roasted, ground and percolated our own Tanna coffee we spent the rest of the day hiking to Mike's village in middle bush Tanna. Mike's site is interesting in that everyone walks about 30 minutes to either a waterfall or river just to bathe. After bathing in the river we went back to his site and he, myself and Joe went to drink kava at the nakamal and while Melissa made Tanna soup back at the house. On Tanna it's forbidden for a women to look at kava, which means she can not enter the nakamal at night since that's where the kava is made. Melissa was a good sport about it as she understands the importance of traditions here in Vanuatu, especially on Tanna.

Yesterday, we had the idea to get a nanni (goat) and then take it up to Yassur to eat with the wine we bought in Vila. So in the morning we walked down the road trying to find a goat to buy. We eventually found one and bought it from a man named Jimmy about 45 minutes away from Mike's house. We tried putting it on a rope but that didn't work so we took turns carrying it back on our shoulders. Joe was carrying it until we came across a group of kids and a momma. The kids said they would be able to lead it on the rope so we thought “Hey, maybe they know something we don't know. After all, they've lived here their entire lives and have probably pulled a lot more nanni's than we have.” So trying to be as culturally appropriate as possible, Joe took the goat off his shoulders and handed the rope to the pikinini. Well, the kids just kicked and beat the nanni with sticks and tried to pull it along but harder than we had been trying. Of course, this didn't work. “Got i no save rop” (The goat doesn't know how to follow a leash) they said. We went back to carrying it on our shoulders. Back at the house we made preparations to kill the goat. Since none of us had actually killed a goat before this took a little bit but we eventually settled on a game plan. Mike held the goat down, Joe knocked it out with a log of wood, I cut its throat with Mike's big-ass black Kabar army knife and Melissa captured the whole event on video. We then proceeded to field dress the nanni, cutting it into four legs, ribs, tenderloins and spine, saving the skin and brain for a brain-tanned rawhide demonstration I did in the nakamal for the men in Mike's village. It was pretty sweet, man Tanna loves blood. We then seasoned the goat with a wet rub, smoked it for a day and a night, roasted it and ate it as we hiked with a dipping sauce I made out of onions, garlic, wine, ketchup and Maggi seasoning. To say that the goat was good is a crime, to say it was exceptional is an understatement; I had never truly tasted goat until I bit into that roasted leg. We snacked on goat until Jungle Oasis where we ate two legs of it, even sharing some with the manager (who we saw for probably five minutes the two days we were at the bungalow). Anyway we told the cook there “Hey, we have a lot of roasted goat here, is it ok if we store it in your kitchen so it's safe?” And the cook replied “Yeah sure, it's cool.” We really wanted the goat to be safe because we put so much work into it and because we were planning to eat it for the next two days. Also, most of the dogs in Vanuatu are starving and love meat. In fact, earlier that day when we first arrived to Jungle Oasis and set all our stuff down, a dog ran over and was trying to eat his way through the plastic bags that the goat was in while we were showering. We put the two legs of goat and the two tenderloins in the kitchen, double bagged in heavy duty Ziploc freezer bags. Of course the next day the nanni was gone but there was an empty Ziploc bag. We asked the cook “What happened? Where's our God damn goat?” and the cook replied, “Oh I think a dog took it. You know, if you'd have told me you wanted to put goat in the kitchen I would have told you to keep it in your room where it would be safe.” I don't think I've ever been so close to murdering another human being in my life. All of us were speechless for about fifteen seconds. For the next hour or so we tried to play detective, searching the kitchen, the surrounding areas looking for clues and asking each other questions like “How could a dog have taken it if there's a clean Ziploc bag there” and “Do you think if we could eat the dog that ate our goat?” We're still not sure if it was a dog or man but we strongly believe that a staff member took it. But we were all very very pissed off, two smoked legs and two tenderloins gone. Just gone. After we realized that bitching and pointing fingers would get us no where, we decided to take jam and bread up to the volcano instead. I started the jam as I normally do and went to go take a shower, telling the cook not to do anything until I came back. Unfortunately when I came back the “cook” told me he had added the coconut milk, which totally spoiled the jam because the sugar didn't caramelize. I told him to wait for me but I guess he knows better than I do. We spent the better part of the day playing Euchre and waiting for the jam to cook down.
After we had our jam and bread ready we packed up and hiked to the base of Yassur volcano. Yassur isn't very tall so we planned to play around the ash plain until we needed to summit. We started to follow a dry river bed that looked like it might lead to the summit. After a while some folks wanted to turn back, stating that no one knew if the trail would even lead to the top. I was persistent, asking for just a little more time, give us a 4pm deadline. We kept walking, climbing over boulders, clearing a bush trail at times and trying to keep folks from turning back. Eventually, the river bed did lead up to the main trail, but only after leading us through sharp red volcanic landscape. Ironically, we were all barefoot since I had climbed to the top of Yassur barefoot the year before and had told everyone we didn't need shoes. At the top of Yassur we mailed some letters from the volcano post office box and went to the left observation ridge for some fireworks, wine and bread with jam. We had heard from several people that Yassur fires up when people drink wine at the summit. Sure enough, minutes after uncorking the wine Yassur really fired up. It was such a large explosion that the ground shook and we saw a visible shock wave go through the smoke and ash that was in the volcano. Being that close to something that powerful really makes one realize how small and meek they are, especially when hot lava starts falling down on you. After the initial reaction to the huge noise, we looked upwards and realized that at least two pieces of molten rock were coming . . . right for us. Very quickly we picked up all our gear and started running, nay, bolting down the side of the mountain lest we be crushed by melting rock.. I managed to look up and see a basketball size rock land maybe 10 feet away from where Joe was standing. Halfway down the volcano we sat down and tried to gather our thoughts and breath for a second. We all agreed that it was the closest we've come to death, closer than looking down the barrel of a gun, deer hunting or eating steak tartar. After we had settled down and stopped our racing hearts we decided to try going to the right observation ridge in hopes that there would be less chance of death over there. We took our backpacks up to the right and just chilled, admiring the power of the volcano when lo an behold, it fired up again but this time sending molten rock over our heads. Luckily we realized that it is better to see where the rock is going to land and then move accordingly instead of blindly running down a volcano bare foot. We spent a long time on the Yassur, only leaving after the sun had gone down and having an impromptu dance party on top. Upon reflection, it may have been a little culturally inappropriate to dance on top of an active volcano but we were so happy to be alive and I brought my speakers with me. Besides, volcanoes love James Brown.

The day after we almost died, we started back to Lenekal. After leaving Jungle Oasis we realized that all we had to eat was a few slices of bread and the water we had with us. After a few hours on an empty stomach we all agreed Tanna needed more stores, that is, until we found one and gorged ourselves on breakfast crackers, tin Santo Beef and peanut butter. As we ate the salty yet nourishing meal, I mentioned that the only thing that could make the meal any better is if we had that goat the bastards and Jungle Oasis stole from us. Everyone agreed. Luckily we were able to catch a free truck ride back to Lenekal, we had walked over 30 miles in so many days and were getting a little tired. We spent our last night on the beach we slept on the first night we were in Tanna but not before catching an absolutely breathtaking sunset.



The plan for the next few days is to pack up all my crap, cook tapas and party like I'm leaving the country. My next post will probably be from Singapore or Thailand.

First off let me thank you for taking time out of your busy day to come visit my little web log. For all my friends and family I'd like to say “Hello” and “What's up.” For my Vanuatu and Peace Corps friends, “Olsem Wanem” and “Kusé!” For the next three months five or six months I'll be on the road, taking a long trip after three years of Peace Corps service in the island country of Vanuatu. For those of you who are unaware, Vanuatu used to be called New Hebrides and is located in the South Pacific near Fiji and Australia. It's one of the least developed countries in the world (by Western standards) and is one of the poorest countries in the world (also by Western standards).

But enough about its history, I leave Vanuatu on December 9th after myself and other volunteers finish our Closure of Service (COS) conference on December 8th. From there I leave with Mike, who came with my group and also extended a year, and travel to Australia for a few days, enjoying the food, infrastructure and wildlife. As a former Marine and Lawyer, Mike should be an interesting travel buddy. Then it's off to Singapore for some time as I try to get adjusted to Asian life. Of course Singapore isn't the more rural of Asian countries but it is a gateway to our next destination: Baghdad, I mean Bangkok. While in Bangkok we hope to meet up with Adam Kane, another RPCV who has been traveling the world for almost a year on the money he saved while in Peace Corps Vanuatu. Adam has to be one of the most misery, resourceful people I know. I don't think he plans on going back to the States anytime soon.

However, before I leave Vanuatu I plan on getting in some last minute travel in country. Tomorrow I fly to Tanna with two friends, Joe and Melissa to check out the volcano and visit the other volunteers down there. I've been to Tanna before but the volcano wasn't as active as I was hoping. I had the same problem when I visited the volcano on Ambrym. I seem to have bad luck with volcanoes. After a week in Tanna I may be installing a solar system on Mota Lava in the Banks (Northern Vanuatu). Looking ahead seems difficult when I still have so much left to do in country: paperwork, last kaekaes, medical checkouts, selling all my material possessions, etc.

I'm burning to CD all the music I think I can take traveling with me. This of course begs the question: what kind of music does one take around the world? I suppose one could also ask the question: what music would you take to a deserted island? The answer is: as much as you can take. I have artists ranging from System of a Down to Mozart, Rob Zombie to Bob Marley, Shakira to Tomoyasu Hotei. All the music I can't take will stay on my laptop, to be enjoyed by whoever eventually buys it. Selling off my stuff has been hit or miss. Some things like my travel chair and solar battery charger I've been able to sell very easily to my friends. Other things like my internal frame backpack have been more difficult to sell, I'll probably give a lot to my old host family in Epau Village. I find myself in a strange position in that I will have to fit all my worldly possessions in my backpack as I travel. No suitcases, no rolling monstrosities, just what I can fit in the overhead compartment (which seems to get bigger every time I fly an airplane).