On the 23rd of December, Jennifer’s Papa-Luke, my Brother-Siro, and I went to the other side to bring the group back to Naviso on the 24th. After being repeatedly asked what road we should take I decided, while it would be the longest, walking to Berterrara and taking the truck road over would be the easiest way. This meant we would walk roughly 2-hours north and then begin the approximately 3-hour hike over to Naviso. We attempted to get a truck to take us up to Berterrara, but that fell through when Jill never showed up. After about 8-hours we finally arrived in Naviso. Yes, that does say 8-hours. I am not quite sure why the trip took so long, even today I don’t know, but once we got to Naviso we were able to relax for a few days before trekking back.
The next few days were filled with celebration, plenty of food, and, of course, kava. On Christmas Day, all the guys in Naviso stone ground kava for us and this resulted in a lot of kava drunk Peace Corps volunteers as the kava is quite strong in Naviso, but everyone made it out alive, so that’s a positive.
On the 26th we made the trek back to Telise. This time we took the road to Norovorovo and it once again took 8-hours to reach our destination and once again I have no inkling why it took so long. And on the 27th we took a boat north to go and see “Big Wota”.
Big Wota: Stop Punching Yourself
The Epic Wotafal of Not Maewo
“Big Wota” is a massive waterfall in North Maewo that you can walk to the top of, if you don’t mind walking up a rock face with rushing water. I minded, I minded a lot, I don’t like messing with forces of nature, especially raging water, but peer pressure of course gave way. In the end we reached the top and Nic Thiltges was able to get some epic photos with his waterproof camera. The trip also resulted in the epic cave crawl.The Stalag-tite or mite (the one hanging from the ceiling) and the Amazing Punch to the Head
As we are about to leave “Big Wota”, Nic Thiltges finds a cave underneath one of the waterfalls and decides to climb in while inviting us to join him. As we reach the spot, I find him holding stalag-tites or mites and positioning his feet on the wall to climb sideways into the cave over a pool of water. I think twice and just about don’t make the attempt, but the other volunteer behind me, unwittingly, pressures me into making the climb. As I grab the first stalag-tite or mite and position my feet, the stone breaks, resulting in all the force I put into holding that stone coming at my head. I punch myself in the head with my fist still holding the stone in my hand and fall backwards into the pool of water. As you can imagine, it looked pretty epic and I did come out alive in the end, so it was a pretty good laugh. After staying one more night in Telise, our group headed over to Ambae to meet some more volunteers for New Years on East Ambae at St. Patrick’s College in Vureas.
The Mysterious Internet of Lolowai
Lolowai, the Provincial Health Center for Penama Province, the location of the Provincial Hospital, and home to wireless internet… WHAT!? Sometime in the past, an Australian installed wireless at Lolowai Hospital, but nobody knows where it comes from or where or why it was installed. This is one of the mysteries of Vanuatu and most likely will not be solved anytime soon. More or less one of those mysteries that people are fine to: leko i stap (live and let be).
The Journey of the Chinese Handbags
Way back in November, Jennifer and I sent 5 total Chinese Handbags to Maewo via the Makila, the one cargo vessel that travels to West Maewo. A Chinese Handbag is a large bag with two handles and a zipper on top. The bag costs 300 – 600 Vatu based on size and they usually break very easily. PCVs use these bags to transport mass amounts of Vila purchases to the outer islands on cargo vessels. Ahead of time, Jennifer and I knew that the Makila very rarely came to Maewo. I know, accurately, now that the Makila tries to come to Maewo once every two weeks (depending on weather). Safe to say, considering the trip you must take to get to Naviso, we were not expecting to see our bags for a long time: while I got one bag earlier, we did not get the other 4 bags to Naviso until somewhere around January 15th, right before Jennifer had to go back to Vila for her Phase II Training.
When I heard the Makila was coming to Maewo, after I we had arrived, I assumed that meant our bags had come. After making the walk to Telise, I learned that the Makila dropped off one of my bags and no others. Fortunate for me, but confusing too: where are the other bags? First we are told that the Makila was full and couldn’t carry the bags, so they had been left in Vila until the Makila came back. After a couple more weeks, I walked on top of the mountain to call Nic Thiltges and ask if the bags came. The answer: a clear and resounding no. FROM WANEM!! Soon after, a villager, Hamlinson, comes back from the other side with a note from Boe Malo (that’s Nic Thiltges’ Kastom name at site). The note told me the bags had come the first time, but someone had written Berterrara on all of the addresses, so they were dropped off in Berterrara, North Maewo. Since the last PCVs had just left Gambule Secondary School in November, the people of Gambule decided to just abandon the bags in Justin and Sheridan’s (the past PCVs) old house—and not tell anyone. Luckily, Boe Malo had found them when he walked north one day for a small trip. Unfortunately, the Headmistress had the key; the Headmistress who was currently on East Ambae. Moreover, when my Host Papa and I walked over to the other side and showed up in Berterrara to get these bags, we were unaware that the Headmistress had taken the key with her to Ambae. This led to us walking another 1 ½ hours – 2 hours south to Telise to get the one bag that made it to Boe Malo (where they were supposed to go). After we got to Telise and spent the night, we made the unfortunate journey, following the creek, through the bush back to Naviso (when I had some of my biggest “road falls” to date). After this we didn’t think about the bags until after New Years; I had requested Paul Wren to move the bags to his house as soon as the Headmistress came back.
Once back from Ambae, after New Year, with additional baggage, due to Christmas packages picked up at Lolowai Post Office, we decided that we would grab a truck and get everything up to Quatevol, a little bit closer to Naviso. After that, we have a much better chance of getting the contents brought piecemeal to Naviso. So, the day after we got back I tried calling every truck driver who might go on top: nobody answered. This led Boe Malo and I to walking north to ask truck drivers in person. What we discovered is that the rains destroyed the road and the only driver willing to risk the trip, Jill, is currently fixing his truck. Well, that’s just dandy! In the end, Boe Malo and I walked back to Telise empty-handed.
After this string of failures, I was still committed to getting the bags on top and to Naviso before Jennifer left for Vila in two weeks, so the next day we planned to get the new baggage (Christmas gifts, etc.) to Berterrara and try to find some yungfala to help us carry them on top. The next morning I called Walter, a truck driver in Norovorovo, to pick us up and take us and our baggage north to Berterrara, so Walter came and picked us up that morning and we started the drive north. Unfortunately for us, after about 10 minutes of driving we hit one of the river crossings and the rain had destroyed the road. Clarification: the road is impassable. Well, shucks! After this we turned around and headed back for Norovorovo where we got a boat to take us and our things north. Finally, an hour later, we reached the north with all our things to learn that all the yungfala couldn’t help us because there was a funeral… In the end, all my efforts this time ended in ultimate failure. I did manage to carry my bag of Christmas gifts up to Quatevol, but it practically killed me and made the rest of the walk very tiring. Luckily, that was later carried the rest of the way for me and made it after 3 or 4 days. I had not given up on my commitment to get the bags to Naviso before Jennifer left though.The Sunday after we got back, we announced to the community, at the community meeting after Church, that we needed those bags to get there before Jennifer left. I read off names of yungfala, that Jennifer’s Host Papa—Luke—had provided. The following Tuesday, the group of 12 Man Naviso, my Host Papa, and I headed to the other side to get the bags. After a full day of walking, 3 hours there and 3 hours back, we successfully got all the bags to Naviso: a mere 2 months after we put them on the Makila for delivery to Maewo—All I do is win.
The Doti Waetman of the Not
A Doti Waetman (in English, though it’s already pretty close, Dirty Whiteman) is a North Maewo Ni-Vanuatu, so named by Boe Malo’s Host Papa. This story fits into the middle of the “Journey of the Chinese Bags”, the time when Boe Malo and I traveled to the north looking for a truck. Our final destination was the house of Master Ron (in Bislama, Master is equivalent to Mister, I know, it’s just as racist as dirty white man-once you learn what it means). At Ron’s house we were fed ridiculous amounts of food and introduced to the westernized part of Maewo. Ron owns trucks, boats, and has a white man house with a manicured lawn and pool. This place is ridiculous and the income/wealth disparity between him, alone, and the rest of the island is amazing. He is called a dirty white man because he is half-white, half-black: WAM BAM! TOTALLY POLITICALLY INCORRECT!
Back during World War II, when America stationed their military in Vanuatu to watch the Japanese, many soldiers were stationed throughout Maewo. One German-American soldier decided to “localize” and ended up with kids. After he left, back to the states, he left his Ni-Vanuatu family with enough money to outshine every other Man Vanuatu. Now, his descendants have a large business in copra, transportation, and sales in Maewo. This makes them very wealthy, especially by Ni-Vanuatu’s standards. Unfortunately, as helpful and kind as they were to Boe Malo and me, they could not provide us with a truck on top (as you learned above). I guess Doti Waetman cannot solve every problem.
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