A Vanuatu Wedding!

During the big break between school years the locals use this as a time to get married.  It is easier for families to travel because the kids are not in school and Christmas time is a time filled with parties anyways.  This January we celebrated a dual wedding in Tavala village!

Getting ready...the beautiful bride is Losa, one of my cousin sisters.  Her two flower girls are Eta (my sister) and Selena (my cousin).

Heading into the church!

The groomsmen and bridesmaids.

The first wedding was between Bubu Edward and Bubu Kwani.

The second couple were Losa and Harry who are sitting in the middle.  Mama Sara and Papa Hivo are sitting beside them as their witnesses.

The wedding was very westernized and spoken in English.  They exchanged vows, rings, and were blessed by the pastor.  The one change was the kiss!  The man only kisses the woman on the cheek.  I still cried!

Outside the wedding parties came to the reception area and it was time for cake cutting.

The wedding party had to eat their cake and drink their juice first.  The sun was scorching so we were using umbrellas as shade. 

Then two custom mats are laid down in front of each couple and people can come give them gifts or money.  Baby powder is used as a way to show you have been at a "lafet" or party.  They always go easy on us "white misses" and don't powder us too much!

The family of the bride then sings traditional wedding songs in local language to signify they give away the bride happily to the groom.  Bubu Fred (on the right) looks like he is texting!  He says he was calling Papa Chris, who was spending the holiday break in Port Vila, so he could hear the singing.

Losa made a beautiful bride!  Here she is with her younger sister Lulu and I.

The wedding was a beautiful and memorable day!



Creepy Crawlies

Lets meet the roomates and neighbors!

Lizards...

Spiders...

Crabs...

Scorpions...

Snakes...

Snails...

Caterpillars...

and Butterflies...

OH MY!

Puss my Rat Killing Machine!

It is not uncommon to have "visitors" at night in Vanuatu.  There are cockroaches, lizards, crabs, spiders, mosquitoes, and worst of all rats.  They can be not only noisy but destructive.  For my rat problem I got a cat and named her "Puss."  Cats in Vanuatu are not like American cats.  They mostly live outside.  They eat table scraps and coconut flesh but their favorite meal is a nice big and juicy rat.

Puss started out a small bony kitten.  She refused to eat and cried all the time.  She probably was given to me too soon because she wasn't able to find food on her own yet.  I had to spoon feed her milk until she became stronger.  But, when I saw her catch and eat her first lizard I was a proud parent. 

Puss doesn't like to stay in my house all day.   She prefers the bush kitchen where there are lots of children to drop food all over the place.  But whenever she needs a quiet place to relax she comes to my house for a visit.  When Mom and Dad were here she came almost everyday!  Another favorite nap spot is right on top of a pile of rubbish! 

Now that she is all grown up she has become a talented rat killer!  This rodent was snatched right from behind my clothing wardrobe in broad daylight!

After playing with it she finally decided to bring the rat back inside to enjoy.  How sweet!

Miss Jessica's Big Spell School

The 2010 school year ended in December and we are now on break until February 14th.  In Vanuatu their "big spell" between school years is during the holidays.  I stayed on Ambae for an island Christmas but decided I wanted to keep working at the school.  Using a reading assessment I found out what level each student was at.  Then I grouped them together by ability.  Then, three mornings a week, for 6 weeks, I held reading groups with every student that wanted to join! 

The Kindergarten kids were the most dedicated!  This was their first time using the school's library.  We read stories, sang songs, and practiced phonics.  They never missed a week.

For students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade we practiced phonics, sight word recognition, spelling, reading and comprehension.

The older students, grades 4th - 8th, came to practice their English.  We used a program called "Splash" which had great stories and activities to follow.  The program encouraged them to use conversational English and practice their grammar. 

This was the first time that anyone had continued with school activities during the break in my village.  In the two bigger cities in Vanuatu there are some opportunities to pay for tutors but never has it reached West Ambae.  Students, parents, and community leaders were grateful for my willingness to take some of my time during the holiday break to continue teaching, for free.  I was just happy to stay busy!  It was lots of fun.