Sam Samting I’ve learned.

Typed on November 10, 2011

A lot of volunteers do a sort of yearly reflection blog after their first 12 months of service. I have now passed my year mark of swearing in (and today is the year mark of coming to my village) but every time I have tried to sit down and reflect on the past year I get a little overwhelmed.

However, I did write a letter to one Dug Rader just recently, and answered several of his questions to me, one of which was “What have you learned?” I thought to myself “golly, how the hell do I answer such a question? I learn things everyday!” So in my rambly,  stream of consciousness Jennifer style this is what I wrote back to him (with some omissions which I am not willing to share with whoever might be reading in internet land):

I’ve been out of powdered milk for several months. But I’ve found substituting coconut milk in my tea or coffee every morning is far superior. It’s magical, and then I can feed the coconut shavings to Nikolas Fowl and her 9 babies.

A week or more of straight rain (sometimes up to a month on Meawo) and overcast weather does not affect my mood. I think I will do well in Oregon or Washington.

Bushknife skills- using and sharpening my machete

I have the ability to live without so many of the material possessions most Americans ‘require’. Sure, I will no doubt return to wanting a mint-green Cuisinarte stand up mixer. But I now know I can get by with just a spoon and my hands.

Making/Cooking/Baking with fire and hot stones

I Like to hike. I still don’t like hills, but I get a thrill out of finishing a 5 or 6 hour grueling walkabout.

I like gardening a whole lot too

My hair is doing beautifully here. I’ve learned ‘less is more’ in terms of hair gel, and only wash it once or twice a week.

No surprise here, I love sending and receiving snail mail.

I love reading. I hate technology and Facebook. It gives me anxiety now when I am in Vila. (I do like to blog though)

I know how to make moonshine beer. Yeast, water, and sugar nomo. Throw in some papaya or other fruit for added flavor.

I kick ass.

I am ready to have children. I’ve learned so much about what NOT to do, what to do, and have seen a lot of girls go through pregnancy and raise youngn’s, here and at home. I want curly haired lil’ tots to finger paint and toe paint with. I’ll need a man first, I suppose.

When having said children, I will use cloth diapers and swaddle them with calico. No fancy shoulder harness strappy crap needed.

This is probably obvious as well, but America is lovely. American’s complain way too much.

I want a semi-country, semi-small town home yet nearby a big city style life. J Must have dogs, chickens, and eventually goats and a pot bellied pig. I feel like I could be happy in a singlewide trailer sitting on a piece of land. So long as I have a good shade tree, a hammock, and lots of books.  (And can then drive to a live music show or to sit in a café with quality cappuccinos and shop at quality food stores. Yup.)

Simple pleasures make me very, very fulfilled. I put everything I physically and emotionally had in to village activities and living alone day-by-day this past year. Going to markets, church, hanging out with the mamas and apus. I made it through a  pretty darn crappy time, what with being treated like poo by the man I loved and having what I believed was a future plan go kaputz. But now I’m on this super high, like I shot out from that phase and kept on flying up and up.  Sure, I have days where it’s hard not to think of things from the past or remember things that make me sad. But then I look at the beauty around me,  like the villagers and their lives. They don’t have much but they live off the land and make the most of family, feasting, and togetherness. Their interactions and way of life are so touching and lift my spirits daily. I already get emotional when thinking about leaving these people.

When you don’t got much, you appreciate the little stuff a lot more. A little repetitive, but for example my mom sent me Reese’s Pumpkins in a Halloween themed box. They literally made my day/weekend. They probably should have lasted more like a week or two if I had more self-control.

I am learning and experimenting with fruit tree budding and grafting. Stay Tuned.

I have learned more about chickens, roosters, and chicken reproduction than I ever thought possible. I recognize mating dances, coos, and crows.

I am by no means fluent but I pick up on local language a lot more and can speak some. I recently learned a whole kustom song from Maewo. It’s called “Marae” and is about an eel fish.

I am continuously learning about kustom culture, bliefs and magic here. Maewo is known for having some of the strongest kustom and most black magic of all the islands. It’s interesting to observe westernization or urbanization versus kustom beliefs.  A beautiful baby boy named Titon died in our village because of diarrhea. Hs dad Salatiel had died of Hepatitis B less than 6 months earlier.  It’s these things that remind me that yes, I am in a third world country. Instead of these folks going to the house medicine they treated with local leaves or other local medicine (dreaming/magic). A lot of deaths are also blamed on black magic. Bad weather is blamed on various leafs or because the men are fishing too much with poison leaf in the ocean. It’s awesome to hear the stories from before and see kustom dancing and kustom fishing or cooking practices still being used. But when it starts to affect the health of the village it is really hard to watch.

(This is the end of my letter)

I’ve learned that a year is NOT a long time. The next and final year of my service will fly by. I have a lot of things planned and projects to do. I’m looking forward to spending Christmas and my birthday with my village. I look forward to Australia in January. In-service Training in February. A Kamp G.L.O.W./B.I.L.D. in my village in May and then my mom hopefully coming to visit me, just to name a few things. Even though it will only be my second time to celebrate some of these things with my village, it will also be the beginning of all of my “lasts”. My last Christmas here, last mango season, last cyclone season, last year to experience having younger sisters and brothers, etc. It wont be hard to live up each day, and I feel happy knowing that I have been able to make the most out of every aspect of my Peace Corps experience thus far. I’m a very lucky gal. J