Volcanos and Visiting

May 29
We went with Tom to kastom village to see kastom dancing and singing. From here to there he kept up a steady flow of information about life on Tanna. Again we picked up and dropped off local people as we went along. Two of the passengers he said were going to nakamal, a kind of town meeting. The nakamal was to solve a problem. What problem? A man and his wife and the neighbor are having a problem and the chief and certain other people (I don't know how they are chosen) get together with the parties and work it out. If the offender doesn't do as decided then off he goes to the police and if he still doesn't comply, it's off to prison. I've never seen or heard of a prison here so the system must work before it gets to that point. Nakamals are an essential part of life here. As I said, it is pitch black after 6 pm. At that time everyone gathers at a clearing with log benches and some plank shelves and that site is also called nakamal. So at nakamal local news is spread, problems solved, kava drunk (men only), produce traded and toktok, all around a fire ring of glowing embers.

Two more men we picked up are football (soccer) players, as is Tom. No kava drinking for them during the season. They are champions in Vanuatu.

The niVans are very industrious and their villages are very clean and tidy. When we pass through a village everyone is raking leaves, putting away, building, repairing, cooking, washing or gardening. We pass many groups of 2 or 3 people harvesting yams, manioc/cassava/tapioca, pawpaw (papaya), banana, island cabbage (kind of like spinach) and fruits and nuts I never saw before. Tom asked them for a sample and gave to us to try - all good. He said on Tanna (no other island) if you pass through a person's garden you can eat whatever you find. At the end, if you see the owner of the garden you tell him what you ate and he says OK no problem. If you don't see the owner then don't tell him. On other islands anywhere this is tabu. There are many huge banyan trees which seem to be a source of pride. He pointed out sandalwood saplings planted in groves which he said are owned by people from India he thinks. He thinks maybe they make sandals from the wood; he's not sure. The sandalwood trees strip the soil of nutrients and then their local crops do not give much fruit he says.

We pass Larry's bungalow. Larry was a Peace Corps person and he did good projects for the niVans. After Larry came Sandra. They stay for 3 years, then leave. Does he like the Peace Corps? Very good; he loves them. Very good. Whenever we ask a question, the niVans spend a few seconds thinking before they answer. Can you imagine - thinking before you speak? And speaking quietly? What lovely people.

We took lots of pictures and videos and when we get to internet we will send. Maybe. If it's fast enough. Or we may make a flash drive and give to Sheryl and she can post when she gets home.

We told Tom we would like some island cabbage. He said come to his house and he would cook some and his wife, Annie, would crack a coconut, he would grate and she would squeeze to make milk. Then we would have milked island cabbage to eat. So at six o'clock we went ashore in the dinghy, found his house in the total darkness, had a delicious dinner of all local foods - pawpaw, manioc, bananas, milked cabbage/spinach, and unmilked cabbage/spinach. They kept apologizing for no meat. They were happy when we said we didn't eat meat. They eat meat sometimes but not once a day and not once a week - just sometimes. Tom explained how his grandfather lived to be more than 100 years old and only ate uncooked local produce. They woke up and brought to us to show off their 5 month old son, Chris. He was very unhappy about the flash camera but mama nursed him and he went peacefully back to sleep. After dinner we all went to the John Frum Wednesday night service which was very pleasant singing, guitar playing and hand clapping. As we walked back to Rubber Ducky (the dinghy) we had to be careful to not stumble over someone sitting there in the night, unseen in the darkness. We could not have spent a more heavenly night out.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com