Miscellaneous Vanuatu Part 1

Photos that didn't fit anywhere else

Morning assembly at Tassiriki Primary School.  Even in the morning, the sun is strong and everyone stays in the shade.

A man fixing a fishing net

Andrew's cat keeps a watchful eye on his store every night.  Lights -> Insects -> Chameleons -> Cat.

An eight year old holding a wasps nest.  There are live wasps crawling around on it.  He said they don't sting.  Also notice his Ray-Ban knock-offs.  I have the same ones, which can be had for 400vt ($4) in Vila.  Most of us take the sticker off the lens, but you do you, brother.

Panadol (ibufrofen), a flashlight ("torch") and toilet paper.  And that spider.  They're common, fast and harmless.  Anyway, this is what it looked like when I got up to go to the toilet and reached for my flashlight.

When you buy local food (island kakae), like the papaya and taro shown here, it is served on a banana leaf.  I bought this at a nakamal (kava bar).  Nakamal food is sold to wash out the horrible kava taste from your mouth.  Some nakamals serve a wide variety of foods, enough for a dinner.

But they managed to get "Sportswear Fashion" right?

Close up of a lobster's eyes and the two large and sharp spikes above them.

There are dozens and dozens of cheap Chinese restaurants like this in Vila.  Many, like this one, also have seating.

Meten Wharf is where I catch a boat to Moso island.

Bus drivers in Vila put all kinds of different names and quotes on the buses.  Qaddafi can be seen on more than one.  I am certain they don't know who he is and are just using an iconic picture.

Another photo of Meten Wharf

Sima with a plate of steaming bat from the flying fox laplap she just made.  (The flying fox is a fruit bat of Vanuatu.)  She is laughing because she knows that I don't like laplap and that she is feeding me a bat, which is something we do not eat in the U.S.  She's also probably laughing because she knows I'll eat some, which I did.  I did not like it.

Close up of the flying fox's death grimace, while it is still in thje laplap.  They just put the entire bat in the laplap.  The flying fox is the largest mammal native to Vanuatu.

This was taken during a naming ceremony.  The small boy in front was given the name Aaron, after his uncle (not pictured).  This meant that until he turned three years old, his uncle could not touch him.  After the ceremony, which included a gift exchange (see all the stuff the boy is holding), they can touch each other.

Heading to Meten wharf with Joel and family.  There, we load a truck with all of the firewood, coconuts, bananas, etc. for market and take it to Vila.

Vila civil planning: Many bus benches in Vila face away from the street.  This is a terrible way to place a bus bench.

Vila civil planning: Many electrical posts are placed right in the middle of the sidewaslk.

Not Vila civil planning, but close.  This building looks like a wholesale paper distributor.  There is actually a full retail store behind it with many goods targeted at expats you can't find elsewhere.

One of the ever-present cats (puskats) of the Pacific Paradise Hotel

The drive back to Moso from Vila takes about an hour, and at the end of the day and in the back of a truck, kids (and adults!) doze off sometimes.  This pack of toilet paper made a good pillow. 

This picture is pretty universal.  One guy is under the truck, replacing a starter motor, and the rest of us have nothing better to do than watch.

Frangipani flowers are popular hair decoration. 

Jenny is maybe a bit aggressive combing Susianna's hair.

A black palm tree 

New Age squared.  This dolphin has a crystal ball, inside of which is another dolphin with another crystal ball.

Two napoleon fish caught around Moso island

Some of the girls in last year's class 6.  We really did practice division before all this happened.

When mangoes are in season at the market

Several varieties of banana are grown here.  The taste and texture varies widely.  The large bananas on the left are less sweet and are not good to eat raw.  But boil them and they're very good.

Flowers at the market

Flowers at the market

Flowers at the market

Carrots at the market are displayed standing up.

Saky holding a (very small) coconut crab.

Another black palm tree

Tourism from cruise ships is an important source of  revenua for Vanuatu.  A new and larger port built on the larger island of Santo has been plagued with political problems.

I should make a photo caption contest for this one.  It looks like the satellite dishes have been incarcerated.

I walked into a shoe store and this mannequin head was seated behind the counter at the register.  No one else was in the store.  This is a good metaphor for the nonexistent customer service here.  Nonexistent customer service is different from bad customer service.  Follow the metaphor.

The thickest part of these coconut leaves, the inner stem, cast no shadow

Yup.  This place is a combination French restaurant and Pizza Hut knock-off.

Old meets new.  The dock is high-tech plastic and stainless steel.  The custom canoe is as they've been made for generations.