Lamkail School First Ever Spelling Bee Competition

Things I don’t want to forget

•Washing volcano ash off my vegetables (locals call it shitshit blong volcano : )
•The titi pawpaw next door
•Asked my Class 6 girls what time church started and they pointed to the sun and said “When the sun is just over that mango tree church will start”
•The sound of my neighbor walking on the coral back from kava and relieving himself just outside my window
•The roosters at 4 o’clock in the morning
•Nights with a full moon when you don’t need a torch
•The stars and the Milkyway
•My tippy tap to wash hands
•Fresh, organic, homegrown veggies
•Going on a walkabout and not taking snacks because there will be a mango or mandarin tree somewhere
•Besides my fat Uncle Jeffrey, every single Ni Van man, boy, toddler has a 6 pack and huge arm muscles
•The smell of laplap as it comes off the hot stones
•The sound of everyone scratching coconuts as the sun goes down
•Parakeets
•People taking plants and flowers from school, church, or a neighbor’s yard as a “memory” to go and plant in their own yard
•Ni-Vans shower before bed and before going to school/work in the morning
•Male-domination!
•Women, girls, men, and boys picking out each other’s lice constantly kind of like animals grooming each other all day

August 23, 2011

I woke up in the middle of the night last night because my eyes were on fire. Turns out I forgot to take my contacts out. I woke up and my eyes were basically sealed shut and red as the devil. The next morning I was talking to my neighbor and she told me she had a quick Kastom medicine that would clear my eyes right up. Then she grabbed her boob and said she just needed to squeeze some of her breast milk into my eyes and the red would go away instantly. All I could do was burst out laughing. She said people do it all the time to get rid of pink eye. I didn’t take her up on the offer.

July 27, 2011

After stuffing myself with yam chips for lunch I decided to start my running back up. Now that the sore on my foot is healed I have no excuse. I set off with Gertrude, my 6 year old neighbor who has been begging me to go “tren” with her (she got some fancy running shoes from some kid who outgrew them). We were quite the spectacle as you can imagine. She made it 2.5 miles with only one small break! When we got to the beach in front of our school, she stopped and started pointing out to the reef. At first all I could make out were the waves crashing on the reef. But as soon as the waves calmed a bit I saw a fin sticking out of the water. A shark was looking for something to eat just off the reef at high tide. We both got so excited we ran home really fast to tell everyone. Personally I was more terrified than excited because the shark was in one of the pools of water that the kids and I frequently swim in. It was pretty awesome though. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a shark that wasn’t in a zoo or aquarium. And if I hadn’t been running with Gertrude I would have never noticed it.
After our exciting news was shared we played a round of kickball with the other teachers’ kids and then washed off in the shallowest (and shark free) part of the ocean. I think I finally understand why the locals swim in the sea even when it’s cold…because after having swam in the ocean the ground water to rinse with is extremely warm. No need to boil water. And just as I was settling down to read my neighbors brought me a plate of taro and chicken. Then my little friend Lina brought me three custard apples. What a great day.