Pentecost!

Every morning for the last year and a half, I've woken up, stepped onto my porch and looked out to see Pentecost and Maewo across the narrow stretch of ocean that separates us. When I first got to Ambae, I decided that I had to go visit both of these places before I left. Maewo was easy, mostly because there are lots of other Peace Corps there who can help with places to stay and easy connections in villages. Pentecost, however, proved to be more of a challenge. With no Peace Corps and fewer boats going to and from, I kept waiting and waiting for my chance. Finally, thanks to work on the tourism website for my Province actually going forward, I got my chance!

A few weeks ago, there was a Tourism meeting in Saratamata. The two representatives from Pentecost stayed at my host family's guest house, and one day we sat down to talk. When they heard that I was helping with the website but needed photos of Pentecost, they buckled down. They found me a free boat ride to Pentecost, paid for my guest houses, my transportation...they really took care of me! I spent (with Stephanie, long story) 9 days on Pentecost travelling, taking pictures, drinking kava, and meeting lovely people.

I'm going to present this trip in the same way as I did to my boss (who wanted proof I was actually doing work), in the form of a Powerpoint. Hope you enjoy!