A New Kind of Normal

AKA things that happen frequently in my life, but people back home would probably think are weird
- Walking up to a group of young men with machetes (or sitting next to someone on a plane who is holding one)
- Going to the beach, picking up a shell, seeing something living inside, and roasting it over a fire to eat it
- “Can you put email on my computer?” means “Hey, my internet’s not working, would you fix it?”
- That shirt you’ve worn so much that it has all kinds of holes in it? Wear it 4 days in a row!
- If dogs eat your chickens, throw rocks at them or beat them with sticks (okay, I’m still not super happy about this one, but am learning to accept it as part of life here)
- “Sorry [insert business associate’s name], the generator’s broken so the internet’s out. Can we reschedule our Skype meeting?”
- Diarrhea again? Meh. Okay. I’ll buy water for a day.
- Drinking almost exclusively rainwater
- Carrying a sack with a live chicken in it to the beach so we can kill it, pluck it, roast it over a fire, and eat it
- Walking two hours (each way) to see another volunteer at her site because it’s a Saturday and trucks don’t come very often on Saturdays
- Asking a kid what they did over the weekend and having them say: “I went pig hunting with my dog” or “I killed three birds with my slingshot” or “I went to the garden with my family” or “I went spearfishing”
- Getting my bread from a truck that drives through town every night
- Waking up at 5AM every day to my family’s rooster
- My 4-year-old sister playing with a bush knife (AKA a machete)
- Lying in bed reading, when the cow that lives in the woods by my house starts mooing
- Wearing skirts every day
- The sound of people gathering up their spit and expelling it, loudly and often from the nakamal across the fence from my house
- Dogs (and kids!) running around free wherever they want to
- Hiking up a volcano? Need hiking boots? Nah, just wear flipflops. You’ll be fine!
- Head of Australian High Commission comes for a visit? Kava. Director of Education Department comes for a visit? Kava. Wedding? Kava. Funeral? Kava. Afternoon? Kava.
- Sure, grandma, I can put those live chickens on the plane for you to send to my uncle in Vila.
- [Boards plane one hour early] Well, everyone’s here. Might as well take off!
- The weird, bird-like chirping of lizards
- Having full conversations with nothing but hand gestures and eyebrow raises/facial expressions
- Riding in the bed of pickup trucks
- Being REALLY excited when one of the stores actually has ice cream, or carrots, or apples, or oreos…
- Setting a start time for a meeting and not expecting anyone to show up for at least 30 minutes
- Seeing chickens roost in trees every night
- Driving an hour each way to fill the bed of the pickup truck with coconut husks, rather than going out to chop down a tree for firewood
And to end on my favorite:
- Sleeping 10 hours a night

I’m sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that life here in Vanuatu is pretty different from life back in the States. While there are many things left off of this list, I hope it gives you a little taste of some of my favorites!