kava. with ABBY!

absolutely delicious.

what a champ.

she's here!!

only a day late...and i couldn't be happier.

the BEST surprise.

one of the greatest girls i know is coming to town! 

in fact, by the time you are reading this, my favorite abby will likely already be here. 

in case you don't know this dearest friend of mine, we went to college together and she's served in the peace corps too. in kazakhstan, no less! i feel so, so lucky to get to show her off and let her see a glimpse of what my life looks like here... more to come next week, but for now, i'm off to get a long awaited hug!!

have a woooonderful weekend!

(my gorgeous friend and i from waay back in 2006...when i had much less hair)

this is what happens when volunteers come in from the islands...

glowing plastic swords complete with sound effects. and lots of sword fighting.  

jalapenos

you could call it love.

lindsay did this really awesome thing when she visited america called bringing jalapenos back to vanuatu. she knows how much i love spicy things. what a wonderful friend. 

those guys have been sitting in my food safe, taunting me for the last five months, waiting for lindsay. but now, with her return to vila, we finally cracked 'em open and are putting them on everything. starting with pizza. and eggs. and nachos too, by golly! belly bliss.

this weekend i...

ate pizza for three meals. 

had a dance party with miss lindsay.

washed clothes in the rain.

had a saturday morning visit from some of my neighbor girls.

celebrated the cool weather we're having by wearing socks around my house.

it was glorious. how was your weekend?

(above photo is from big bay in santo this april.)

a school visit: mayline

as i sat on a tiny stool, just over from the “grooming station”, which was fully equipped with a mirror, comb, and coconut oil--to be used as a way to hold hair in place, i felt at home. mayline’s classroom had a special fort with fluffy pillows especially for reading club; bright baskets cleverly hung just within reach at each of the students’ work tables which were filled to the brim with pencils, erasers, colors…everything a child could ever want; and hanging photos with the names of each student on  papers that twirled in the wind. nothing was without purpose. everything was beautiful.

mayline sat in a little chair, just above her students who gathered on a mat in front of her in neat little rows. she was teaching a science lesson on the differences between living and non-living things, constantly questioning and teasing her students, making sure they understood exactly what they were saying…"we know that most living things can move and we know a truck can move…sp does that make it a living thing?”, she inquired. “NOOOO!” screamed her students, giggling and enthralled with her sneaky smile. “why not??”, she asked them, “who can explain it to me?” …i bubbled over with joy listening to students work together to give her an answer.

some people are born teachers. organized, clever, sweet and the tiniest bit mischievous… mayline is a natural. in a country that so often focuses on the negative aspects of their education system, here was a light, shining so brightly that it reflected off of the faces of every student in that room…and maybe that’s all vanuatu really needs…just a little more light like mayline. 

have a wonderful weekend!