To make the squished photos look normal, click on them to enlarge them.

Emily @ 07:22 | comments(132) | Permanent link

To all those very special people who couldn't be with us to celebrate our special day, I have decided to revisit my blog after a long break from writing anything!

We had an amazing day, Canberra really turned on the weather for us, this drought has to be good for something. It was great to have so many special people who have been a part of our lives so far, but those of you who couldn't be there were greatly missed. If only there weren't those big oceans in the way...

We had a great week leading up to the wedding, although there was lots to do having organised the wedding from Melbourne. Thankfully, Mum was an enormous help at the Canberra end, as was Dad.

The ceremony was held in the Botanic Gardens of Canberra which are all native. It really sparkled on the day. We then heading to a lovely restaurant called Delissio which we had to ourselves for the reception. It was a perfect venue and the staff were great. I think i've used too many glowing adjectives already, I might have to think of a few others.

Thanks to all of you who sent messages, they wre really appreciated on the day. And for those of you who couldn't be there, we'll just have to celebrate next time we see you!

Lots of love

Mr & Mrs Hugo and Emily

Emily @ 05:46 | comments(2) | Permanent link

Writing from a different island, Cabbage Tree Island . After finishing up in Vanuatu on the 5^th December, Hugo and I headed to Brisbane for a short stint and a wedding before coming to Cabbage Tree to spend Christmas with his family. It all seems a little unreal that we were ever in Vanuatu now, except for the excessive amounts of luggage we are carrying around the country with us.

It is nice to be back in Australia but we are certainly going to miss our friends nd experiences in Vanuatu , amongst other things.

We had a very busy but amazing last month or so in Vanuatu , with work ending positively. Together, Hugo and I managed to turn an old storeroom full of boxes of books into a lovely small library with a borrowing system, labels on all the 3000+ books, order and systems to keep track of the books. There is also a small area for students to study/research using the reference books etc. Pooling our combined knowledge of libraries and schools, we created a pretty simple system for teachers and students to be able to use. We are hoping there will be an allowance for a teacher to be a part-time librarian next year but there is no guarantee of this. We also held training sessions with teachers although there is no guarantee any of them will be there next year as at the drop of a hat, they could be posted to another school. By the time we left, teachers still didn’t have their postings for 2006. As frustrating as the process of creating the library was at times, it turned out to be incredibly rewarding in many ways. The gratitude from the teachers was lovely and they really thought they would use it. Hugo and I learnt a lot about each other working together and being together all day every day, and we’re still not sick of each other! It was fascinating to think about the differences in knowledge acquisition, Hugo and I could make a library because we had been in them many times. The teachers of Fres Wota School struggled when they helped us alphabetise small sections of books as it simply isn’t something they have come across. In Vanuatu , they also don’t tend to use such order, it is small enough that they get away with it for the most part, although sometimes is drove us nuts!

We had an official opening for the library on the 28 November with the Australian High Commissioner and members of AusAID as they gave us a monetary contribution to upgrade the library. Up until talk of this opening, we had been wondering whether some teachers had even noticed what we’d been doing in the library but with the lead up to the opening we had many more visitors. We got some students to create some posters, which created even more interest and by the day of the big opening, the whole school stopped to help us pull everything together, it was phenomenal. One of the designated ‘library’ teachers who had done NOTHING all year ( by the looks of library previously, for a lot longer too) was suddenly in top gear, cutting up fruit, putting up balloons, organising other teachers, it was amazing!! Hugo and I couldn’t wipe the smiles off our faces as we watched everyone in action. The opening went well but we got such as buzz from the whole day, we were very proud of our library and the input from the teachers, ‘twas a top day…

As our time to leave drew closer, we had a few more laplaps and snuck in another trip to our favourite place of Nguna with our good friends, Philippa, Janelle, Barb and Fabrice. Hugo also performed at the Music Academy with Barb who is a music teacher and Clarinetist. He accompanied one saxophone student and to make the performance a bit more of an occasion, Hugo and Barb played a Schubert piece, which was lovely.

Our farewell from Fres Wota School was beautiful and incredibly special. I think I was supposed to be crying but I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face, my cheeks hurt from smiling. I have just enjoyed the company of these teachers so much and shared many laughs and our final day with them was no exception. The school put on a big end of term lunch with all 19 teachers, extra staff and us. Everything was VERY Vanuatu , lots of prayers, devotion songs, speeches and generosity. We were presented with a wooden canoe from the school which signifies that we should return, and use the canoe to do it, although it could take a while! Then Hugo and I were led out of the room to be presented with matching purple island dress and shirt which we then had to change into. Then they put talcum powder down our necks. This is the custom for marriages so they thought they’d simulate it for us but a little early! They had been made especially for us, even borrowing a shirt of Hugo’s to get the fit right.

The staff then had a secret friend thing, like secret santa, where everyone drew a name and had to buy that person a gift. The difference is that you not only buy a gift for the person you drew, completing the circle of gift-giving, you have to buy a smaller thankyou gift to give back to the person who gives you a present!! As you can imagine, this took a while. During this time, Hugo and I were continually given extra gifts which was a little embarrassing but so lovely. I was draped with two sarongs, a basket or two and already wearing an island dress when we were presented with another matching dress and shirt which we had to put over our current attire. This new set was green and the dress is SO extravagant, with longer sleeves and a rose on the front. It is the wedding style of the village of Mele , where it came from, and the bride would change into something like it for the feast after the ceremony. We then ate and danced and had a great time. Everyone was so generous, it really wrapped up our time in Vanuatu well. They are such a wonderful bunch of people and I will really miss working with them, particularly Presila. We had a farewell barbie with some teachers and some volunteer friends on the 3^rd, and our last laplap on the 4^th.

I don’t think this last blog entry will do justice to the time we’ve spent in Vanuatu . It is such a special place and as I said at our farewell from the school, it’s in our hearts now. We just hope we can take some of the heart of Vanuatu back to our lives in Melbourne , as life will be quite different back home. What we will miss most is the openness of the people, storians and the relaxed way of life. Relaxed doesn’t mean not busy either, but different priorities, family and friends come before work and money. We will certainly go back.

Ale tata, olgeta. Mitufala missem yufala plente. Bae mitufala kam bakagaen blong luk yufala. Tankyu blong evri samting we yufala bin tijem mitufala mo taem we yumi bin gat tugeta. Mitufala likem Vanuatu tumas.

Emily @ 02:15 | comments(4) | Permanent link

Enjoy!

Emily @ 17:12 | comments(143) | Permanent link

Sorry, photos next week, computer isn't working...

love em

Emily @ 19:58 | comments(2) | Permanent link

Halo olgeta!

Olsem wanem? Sorry it’s been so long, again!!

I will try to keep this one shorter than the last one, besides, I don’t have so much to say.

We have been doing lots of ‘ Vanuatu ’ things in the last couple of months, like gardening and eating laplap (traditional dish). Our pride and joy at the moment is our lovely vegie patch at our house in Anambrou. A few months back, Presila and her family helped us to create a vegie patch which was a nursery of seeds for tomatoes, capsicum, and bok choy. We have since transplanted and added some grown basil, spring onions, coriander etc. I have to admit, I’m loving having the garden. One of my favourite things to do is just hang out with the tomatoes of an afternoon. It has een really excited because their growth is noticable daily!

I’ve included photos of the beginning stages up to today… I feel like a proud mum!

We also had the great opportunity to head out to Presila and her family’s garden out of town. Lots of people in Vila have small plost out of town to grow most of their food. Presila and her husband have about 10 people living in their 2 bedroom house and often have more people staying with them from their islands. They are obliged to look after anyone who comes to Vila from their villages. So, as you can imagine, that’s a lot of mouths to feed. Presila loves her garden and goes out most weekends with the kids to get the food for the week. They have things like manioc (lots of it), taro, beans etc. We also went out for the purpose of planting some yams. It requires quite specific digging, so Hugo, Presila, Jackson (Presila’s husband) and I set to work. Rafoy, their 4-year-old son was never far behind, always helping out with his bushknife! It was a really special day, with a lot of it spent preparing and eating lunch. Lily (Presila’s sister) and I made Simboro which looks awfully like Greek vine leaves but taste nothing like them. Hugo and Jackson had some great storians about the vegitation of Vanuatu and found out lots of the names of bushes we came across during our hike. We are hoping to go out again before we head back to Australia , which is not far away at all!

We have also been making and eating laplaps with Presila’s family, as you can see in the photos. I had my friend Deb come and visit and we went round for our first Malekula laplap. Malekula is the island Presila is from and it has the best laplap in Vanuatu . It ends up being similar to a fondue laplap, with a volcano shape made with coconut milk in middle for dipping your laplap in. It is really lovely, either that or we’ve been here too long!! We’ve since been back to make another one for Sunday lunch. They have really welcomed us into their home which has made our time here in Vanuatu even more special. We will definitely miss the Simo family, they are incredibly good-hearted.

We had all the female Fres Wota teachers round for a cooking lesson last week, which was great fun. Hugo made banana and coconut cake and I made Dhal. I think the teachers think Hugo is a pretty amazing (which he is) and strange guy because he can and does make cake!! While we were waiting for things to cook, we all sat around and had a good singalong of some church songs. We were presented with a lovely Vanuatu mat too! It came at a really good time as Hugo and I have been finding our work at Fres Wota a bit frustrating of late, which we forgot about after this cooking session. We have been trying to put together a small library at the school which has definitely had its challenges. We have been approved for some funding from the Australian High Commission which is great but we still have a huge amount of work ahead of us and unfortunately, time is running out!!

At this stage, we are heading back to Australia on the 5^th December in time to catch my old friend Cathy Hodges’ wedding. We will then make our way down to the Taree region for Christmas spent on another island! We will be spending it with Hugo’s Dad and partner who have just moved over to Cabbage Tree Island after building for the last 2 years or so. It should be a lovely Christmas with Hugo’s brother and sisters being there as well.
I hope all is well wherever you are!

Lots of love

Em xoxo

Emily @ 19:18 | comments(121) | Permanent link

This is a small welcome message for teachers of Fres Wota School who will be logging onto my page during their Computer Workshop on the 30th August.
Naoia yufala save olsem wanem blong usem internet!!
Mi hop se yufala yu klad blong usem internet mo yufala usem ol taem long futa!

Emily @ 20:20 | comments(1) | Permanent link

Hi bak agaen,

If you are trying to have a look at the photos of Mum and Dad's trip, go to Moso and Tanna. The directories strting with 'Mum and Dad' aren't working. Sorry for the confusion!

Lots of love

em

Emily @ 20:57 | comments(1) | Permanent link