Onesua

Currently I live in Port Vila, which is the capital of Vanuatu.  This city is on the island of Efate.  Last weekend, I was invited to go along with Elder Ann (see earlier post) to a commissioning service (seemed like a "starting the year off and encouraging you to do well" kind of deal) for her daughter's school.  Her daughter goes to a secondary school in a village called Onesua up on the north-eastern side of Efate.  Incidentally, 3 women in charge of the women's groups for their individual islands (the islands of Tanna, Malakula, and Santo) came along with us, along with Elder Ann's older daughter and her friend.  We all piled into her truck and drove on the western route around the island.  Vanuatu was a recipient of the Millennium Fund from the US so a project was started back when we were here last to pave the road that rounds the island.  The road has made it around to just past Onesua so it took us only about an hour to get around.  In 2008, Tania and I went around the east side and stayed in a village called Ekipe so as of now, I'm just about 3 miles short of having gone on every bit of the road around Efate.  It was a considerably different experience this time around going on a paved road as opposed to the hours of whip-lash and jostling last time on the coral/mud road on the other side of the island...  Thanks America for the great road!  :)

It was a beautiful drive, great fellowship, and a great chance to learn more Bislama and culture.  I also ate duck (they call it dakdak) for the first time.  Unfortunately, I was too much of a chicken to ask for pictures of the ladies I was with, but I did get a few of the view from the beach we ate lunch on.  In the distance are a few other tiny islands.  Whew, beautiful, huh?!