New Volunteers!

All of the new volunteers came to Malekula last week to do their first walk about. They’ve only been in the country about three or four weeks, so it’s all very new to them. They all seem very nice --- and it makes me feel so nostalgic. Sometimes I wonder how I can forget things about this place, like how much I disliked the food at first, or how hot I felt all the time, or how sick I felt. (Since I never drank nearly enough water, I was sick to my stomach about 60% of the time). And I had basically forgotten this one episode in Tanna, during my host volunteer visit. I was visiting Rose, with Michelle Wong and Michelle Kenney, and I was really boastful about my Bislama and insisting on trotting it out everywhere, to the extent that Michelle K was just like, “Shut up already, Amanda!” (MK was 100% in the right there, by the way.) There are still times that Vanuatu seems strange to me, but it’s literally been years since it was new and uncomfortable. It's strange remembering that time.