Life on Nguna- i stret nomo

So why Nguna? Nguna is a small island off the much larger Efate Island, where the capital of Vanuatu is. This is where Frankie (Sandie's good friend she met volunteering here last year) is from. He very kindly arranged our whole stay for us to camp near the beach, on his grandpa Fred's property in Taloa Village, and we never could have imagined what an amazing time it would be. The 3 of us arrived on Tuesday after catching a truck from downtown Vila to the northern side of Efate, passing on our way lots of bush, coconut plantations, and the island where Survivor was filmed. After an hour drive we arrived at the dock, where we watched a family of dolphins pass by as we waited for our boat. Frankie's cousin Kalmelu was there to greet us, horsing around with some little kids on the beach as the boat pulled up. He and the kids helped us get our tents set up under a mango tree, a stones throw from the coast.

From Wednesday on, the family really made us feel at home. We enjoyed wonderful meals with them all week, with plenty of fresh fruits and delicious island eats- including laplap- a mashed banana (or taro, or sweet potato...) dish, made with coconut milk and a bit of spice. It's poured together in giant pandanus leaves and wrapped up into a rectangular bundle, about the size of a big flat cake, and then covered with the hot lava rocks and a pile of other dampened leaves over the fire. It's got a chewy texture- filling and tasty!

Life on the island is pretty basic, and everyone there lives very much off the land. Kalmelu and his wife Rose for instance, have a very modest house, with a small 2 burner gas cooking stove, and another shelter outside to make a fire and cook things with heated lava rocks. Washing dishes/clothes/yourself is all done in buckets, and the few electric lights are powered by a recently-installed solar system. There are chickens running around everywhere with cute baby chicks in tow, as well as the odd pig.

On Wednesday we got to go for a walk into the bush to Fred's garden, where he very proudly showed off his money-making crop of vanilla beans, as well as his banana trees, grapefruit, mandarins, and lots of root veggies like taro, manioc, and sweet potato. We watched as Kalmelu climbed up into the thorny mandarin tree and dropped down some fresh fruits for us snack on, and also tried some sugar cane. mmm so good! Every family has a garden like this- there are only 2 very very small stores in the village where you can buy the most basic dry goods, and maybe some beer and cigarettes. Went for a walk down the beach were we met some very friendly teenage girls, Alice, Rota, and Relina, who we chatted and played a bit of volleyball with. For dinner that night we joined in with some of the extended family at Freds with some singing and worship before dinner, and were off to bed early. Not much going on after the sun sets at 6:00!

Thursday was a very full day. After an early morning walk into the village, a long swim and lunch, we joined in with the women- grandmothers, aunts, cousins- in making dinner. More laplap! We got to scrape out coconuts into a pile of shavings, ring out the milk from it, prepare the leaves and wrap up the whole thing together. We sat around for while after that, and watched and learned a bit of weaving. Rose makes some beautiful baskets and purses, and goes to the market in Vila for a 4 day stay every 2 weeks to sell them. It's quite a bit of work, but of course she makes it look easy. Rolling the long pandanas leaves of the tree to flatten them out, dyeing them, weaving, stitching- it's a process! Enjoyed dinner and lovely sunset and coconuts :)


Friday we enjoyed a long walk into the bush part way up the (extinct) volcano to get a beautiful view over the water and surrounding islands. Stopped off at an amazing Banyan tree- a massive tangle of roots and vines, for a quick climb into the tree tops. Enjoyed quite a long swim, snorkeling and checking out the colourful fish and coral nearby, and then felt an earthquake!! Nothing bad luckily, but quite the rumble. It's a pretty bizarre feeling when the beach shakes so much! ha!



Saturday-we had a morning walk-about down to volcano rocks on the beach. A girl (Chrissy) was cleaning coral on the beach which will later be used to build her house- she wanted to show us something. Chrissy led us to a nearby bird filled cave. Sandie stuck it out for a few minutes before fleeing. Later in the afternoon Amanda decided she would like to go for a small swim- where she would meet jelly fish jerkface! ouch! frankie came on the evening boat and set up camp with us. We helped prepare another meal- which we all enjoyed together. The three of us purchased Tusker earlier in the day and brought it out for the campfire, and Franky had brought 2 bottles of red wine from Vila. Great night of laughing, dancing, and getting to know more of the wonderful people from Taloa.

Sunday- We all enjoyed a bit of a sleep in. Everyone enjoyed a good breakfast at Rose and Kalmelu's before getting ready for church. Rose happend to have 3 extra island dresses- we were all over the chance to get to wear them! The service was in Nguna's native language so not even Sandie and Jess could decifer anything- but on we sang. They can really belt out a tune. The afternoon was spent with more singing and lying about in the sand. Franky told us many stories of kastom on the island. It is such a vastly different culture from ours- he sure loved his captive audience. Since it was our last night Rose wanted to make something special for supper- banana cake! Wonderful feast, great conversation, loving Taloa.


Monday- Edna gave us a wake up call at 4:30am which we all slept through until Franky said at 5 it was time to go. Lot's of people came out to help us load up our tents and luggage. Rose gave each of us beautiful purses that she had woven sometime that week- so sweet! We all said our good-byes and loaded into the boat- back to Efate. Great ride back into Vila filled with more laughs and yes, you guessed it, more singing!