November 9th
The next adventure came about when we were getting to our sites. So the peace corps in all of their kindness said they would pay the excess baggage charges for up to 36 kilos (80lbs) so we could bring a lot of stuff with us when we flew to site and then just send the rest of it by ship to come in the next weeks. Unfortunately, peace corps in all of their short sitedness decided to book 8 volunteers on a 12 passenger plane. We all lined, up, checked in and paid all the charges and were all set to go, when one of the pilots comes out and tells us that everyone has to unload 15 kilos of luggage so that the plane will be light enough to make its trip. So all of us go into the back of the airport and start picking an choosing what we think might end up lost and what we cant live without. Finally we load onto the plane 15 kilos lighter per person and the pilot informs us that our stuff will show up in the airport with the next flight coming in a week. Unfortunately for me, I’m flying to Ambae and then taking a boat to maewo, so coming back to the airport to retrieve my luggage as it comes a week later isnt much of an option! So the plane takes off and lands in Ambae and then I hop on a little speed boat to make an hour long trip Maewo, while on the boat I find out that the boat driver is my Grandpa, and one of the other men who was just coming back from santo is my dad (brothers of your dad are your dad too in their culture). Feeling more comfortable that I’m now surrounded by my family and on my way home, to a place I’ve never seen, I start enjoying the boat ride. The driver of the boat is a man named Basil, and he tells me that he’s going to take me to a place that tourist pay lots of money to go see, but because I’m family he will be taking me there for free. So I got to see the cave of the moon, which is a huge cave which the ocean fills up and boats can drive inside of. The place if beautiful and Basil tells me I am lucky because even some of the locals on maewo havent seen this place. I’m pretty sure the way their culture works is that you’re as nice as you can be to everyone so that everyone always feels indebted to you. Haha
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