Its not all bad!

I just read through all of my previous posts and I feel that i’m making maewo out to be a terrible place to live. It definitely is not the easiest of islands in Vanuatu, but it is better than most. At my place I never have to worry about tsunami’s, I’m in an area that is safe from landslides and flooding, also, there are no volcanoes on Maewo, and there is never an issue of water shortages on Maewo. All of the rivers on Maewo are fed by freshwater springs that well up out of the rock, so if you know you’re near the source all the rivers are good to drink from on Maewo. Also, I’ve been loving my time here so far. My family is a very funny and nice group of Ni-Vans, unlike most people here they rarely go to church which suits me fine as services in this country can take upwards of 4 hours. I’ve been building a multitude of things with my host dad since coming and he and I still have a large number of projects lined up to do in the coming months. So far we’ve fitted my front room with a desk and a number of shelves, we constructed a back over hang area so I have a place to hang clothes that wont get rained on, we made a shelf with no nails, its wood and bamboo, lashed together with vines! We’ve built a bunch of chairs and 2 tables, as well as a shelter for all of them outside the kitchen. We made a little cement oven and a sink with running water outside the kitchen. Our next project is to get a bunch of cement and make a new bathroom that should have a shower and a flush toilet. The school has been out of session since I showed up pretty much, and most people are just hanging out relaxing as december tends to be a month of very low activity. So far though I’ve been really happy with my site, and I think it is a great fit for me, it has really begun to feel like home for me. Also, i think that if i just wrote a blog of my everyday life post after post you'd probably stop reading by the second post because the thrills come and go and i figure its best to fill my blog up with exciting stories about the rigors of living in a 3rd world country rather than tell you all about the cookies i baked last night... haha, More stories to come in the next few months!