Welcome to Cindyville...

Thursday, January 27, 2011
Even though our flight arrived in Tanna at 12noon-ish on Monday we didn’t actually arrive in Lorokau Village until 4pm (Due to grocery and household shopping, lunch with Pbles and Ruth, and really bad roads up the hill – with the locals jumping out of the truck to fill in the holes in the road to make for easier traveling). We arrived hot, tired, and more than ready to finally settle in to our new life.

Our first week here has consisted of getting our house set up and functioning and – dare I say it? – comfortable (even with our meager belongings). Looking at what we brought to equip our two room house, we still are acutely aware that what we have is far more than many of the local people and yet, it is what we need (for our sanity and comfort) to be able to make a home here for this extended period of time. Aaron observed correctly when he said that we do not truly “fit” in either Ni-Vanuatu culture or American culture. We have too much for one and too little for the other.

Here is a list of all we have done this week (at least all that I remember) –

• Aaron nailed a piece of wood in the shower area to make a “shelf” for our shower caddy to sit on
• Aaron rigged a tree “post” outside our shower area to hang our solar shower from (A few degrees of heat to the water makes all the difference – especially to the girls!)
• We put up a shower curtain (using a tree limb for a rod) to help cover up the openings where the “curtain” (rice sack) the local people hung doesn’t quite meet the wall.
• I upacked and arranged our household items, made beds, set up my kitchen area and table for Kaela to do her school work next week (these took two whole days to complete!).
• We hung mosquito nets over the girl’s beds (not because there are a lot of mosquitoes, but to keep out spiders, cockroaches, and other bugs, and to keep the rats off their beds). Not that this is always a problem…but, still, a possibility.
• Aaron hung new clothesline from the coconut trees outside because the old clothesline was rusting and sagging.
• Aaron also set up his “office” (a table and small bookshelf in one corner of the kitchen-school room-sitting room-and now, office)

We are getting into some semblance of a morning routine. We’ve been sleeping in more than we thought – not because we are going to bed late, but because the rats are SO LOUD at night running around, trying to get into things, that Aaron and I haven’t slept well.

Anyway, when we get up, I start the teakettle to boil water for tea (Aaron), coffee (me), and hot cocoa (Kaela and Melia). I slice bread for breakfast to have with Peanut Butter and Jelly – this morning the bread was moldy so we ate breakfast crackers with PB&J instead. We won’t be able to get more bread until Friday, so I’ll try to bake a cake this afternoon to have in the morning. I haven’t yet been able to stomach the idea of eating cold kumala (sweet potato) or laplap for breakfast. The remainder of the hot water I use to wash my breakfast dishes.

After breakfast Aaron goes and fills two large buckets of water for the day for us to use in rinsing our dishes, cooking, extra bath water, and sometimes for washing clothes. I also fill a small bowl each morning for us to use for handwashing (along with my Bath and Body Works soap – Ha!). I know it isn’t as sanitary as “running water”, but it is better than nothing! He also fills our water filter bag to filter our water into our water jug for drinking. After breakfast, I wash the dishes, have the girls help me sweep the house. The girls also carry a bucket of our scrapfood from the day before down to feed a pig that lives nearby our house. The rest of our days have been filled with various other activities, visiting with the locals, preparing food, and trying to get ready for next week – when we hope to start our normal routine of Bible studies and trainging and teaching school. We are looking forward to it!