Other Peace Corps Vanuatu Blogs

Words, words, words


I haven't been in a writing mood lately.  Did you know about these other G29 Peace Corps Volunteer blogs?  Everyone's writing about something different.


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Cabana Boy Matriculation

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After 10 days of intensive cabana boy training at the Holiday Inn, tomorrow we return to our training villages where we will officially be Cabana Boys. A note about the language here: "ol man" refers to everyone, not just men. Interestingly the Ni-Vanuatu have also come up with a gender neutral pronoun that isn't just "it". Anyway, both men and women are Cabana Boys, which is not only the official Peace Corps title, but also approved by the GAD committee because reasons. For the first time in their lives, four newly minted Cabana Boys contemplate a life outside the Holiday Inn. Cabana boys must keep up with popular culture in order to be conversant with guests. The Holiday Inn values us as cabana boys and isn't making leaving any easier. Tonight they served dinner on the beach. It looked like a wedding dinner, with all of the chairs covered in those special form fitting tablecloths made for chairs. And not only did they bring out the mango and coconut...
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Back at the Port Vila Holiday Inn

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I havent posted since my last post because the Holiday Inn Wi Fi stopped working, and there was no connectivity at our training village of Epau. We abruptly learned early this afternoon that a tropical storm heading our way was starting to look like a cyclone. The PC evacuated all trainees back to the Port Vila Holiday Inn, and we'll probably be here until Sunday. Maybe the Wi Fi will even keep working. What PCTs fleeing a hurricane look like. So while it may look like we just hang out at this resort, we've all been living with our own host families and having adventures. I've been writing notes on my Ipad about the adventures. I didnt write every night. Most night I didnt write. Many times i am just done with the day, or we have some evening session or function. Anyway, here are the notes I did write. Tip: PST=pre service training, PCV=peace corps volunteer, PCT=peace corps trainee, which is what We are until we're sworn in. Friday, April 21 Today my group, the ...
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Malaria prophylaxis

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If all mosquitoes were idiots, would malaria be a problem? We had a briefing today on Malaria and the chemical preventative options available (medicines).  We watched a short video on the seriousness of malaria and the importance of taking the meds.  It was convincing.  Non-chemical options revolve around not getting bitten in the first place.  Makes you understand why some humans are seriously considering attempting to completely eradicate the mosquito . The life cycle of the malaria parasite is much more complex than I'd imagined.  There are probably some good Youtube videos on the subject (the bandwidth here isn't good enough for me to watch). Mefloquine may be taken weekly, which is convenient.  Some users report strange psychological effects, such as vivid dreams.  That may not sound like much, but they're troubling enough that they stop taking mefloquine. Malarone and doxycycline are the other two,and both are taken daily.  Ma...
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