Likes/Dislikes

What do I like and dislike about living in a bush village setting?

LIKE:
1. My neighbors know and care about me. If I don't show up to something, they come to check up on me. I feel like they treat me like family.

2. I never feel lonely because I always have people to talk to or go hang out with. If I want to go swimming, I just walk around until I find some kids who look like they're up to nothing. 

3. I've never had the sentence 'I thought Peace Corps would be more of a challenge' come out of my mouth. No water, electricity, internet, airport, bread -- it's been real.

4. Because the community is so small and interacts so much with each other, I've really gotten to know this culture. I've never had a cross-cultural interaction that's been this intense before and it's been really meaningful to me. I like that I understand how Ni-Vanuatu on my island live their lives. I like feeling included.

5. $$$. I am always island rich, never town poor. It's petty, but I like the fact that I always have money to enjoy myself when I want to. Admittedly, a lot of that is due to my bare bones shopping lists, but I like that every time people go out for kava, or drinks, or dinner (when we're in town, of course), I can always afford to go. I can go on vacation. I can buy new things without thinking about them.

6. Man Shepherds is like a weird club. When I'm off the island and I tell people I'm from Tongariki, their first question is, "Be yu save toktok langwij smol?"


DISLIKE:
1. Traveling to the Shepherds is an almighty pain in the ass. People who live on big islands with regular flights have no idea about how frustrating it can be to get stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

2. The ships don't come regularly leads to a lack of things like credit ... or peanut butter ... all the time.

3. I am out in the middle of nowhere, so I don't work with other people, NGOs, governmental organizations, et cetera. Some volunteers have gotten some really exciting opportunities with other groups working in their region, but I have not.

4. When things of mine break, they are broken forever! This is the same as complaint #1,2, and 3 -- I live in the middle of nowhere and I can't go buy new things because they're not there!

5. Uh ... I guess I don't like the fact that there are like roosters and loud children in the morning. But that's something you can really only avoid by living in a fancy expat apartment or something where you don't live near other people.

6. Man, I'm really  struggling here ... I guess I don't like that now that I'm going to leave here, it's going to be extra hard to come back. I mean, maybe Man Tongariki will get it together and finally build that airport they've been talking about forever? That's not really a complaint though.

Compliment Sandwich Part of the Deal:

On great days: I love this place!

On terrible days: I hate this stupid place!

Reality (averaged): I love this stupid place, and it just feels wrenching to leave it. It's been great and boring and exciting and really, really weird. I feel like it's stretched me so much and offered me so much more than I ever offered it. Laff yu, Atong.