I'm Dreaming of a White (Sand Beach) Christmas

Being the hottest part of the year here, Christmas didn’t really feel like Christmas. Where was the hot chocolate? The ugly Christmas sweaters? The evergreen trees next to the roaring fire? Where was the constant Christmas music blaring out of every store and on every radio station? How could it be Christmas when I lie in bed every night trying very hard not to let any part of my body touch any other part of my body because it’s just so darn hot?

Bonus post: meet my Vanuatu family, Christmas Style!

Kathleen gave me a Santa hat, so of course I had to get pictures of everyone on my family wearing it. My other post was getting to be too long, so enjoy the bonus post!

 

My mom, Suzanne, and dad, Kevin 

PAD Part 20 (Sort of...)

In preparation for a different blog post, I gave my host brother my camera for a little over a week. This obviously made taking a photo each day more difficult, so I came up with an alternate plan. I followed my normal morning route to work, taking photos along the way. I thought it might be a fun way to show a little bit more concrete snapshot of my daily life. Enjoy!

One Saturday Afternoon

I stood in the back of my host dads truck with my eyes shut, reveling in the sharp pricks of rain as they hit my face.

PAD Part 19

Goats!

One Digicel Day

In Vanuatu, there are two cell phone service providers: TVL and Digicel. Peace Corps graciously provided us with sim cards for each, and put us on a calling circle so we can reach other PCVs for free.
Sometimes Digicel doesn't work, sometimes TVLs out, so it's good to have both options.
Overall, the service is good, the connection is decent, and it's not too expensive...
Then, there are the texts. Every day. Many times. SO MANY. I keep thinking I have friends, and then...Digicel again!
To give you all a small taste of the daily life of a Digicel customer, I compiled all of the texts I received yesterday, November 30.