First week in Vanuatu

Well I can't believe that my first week in Vanuatu is already over! It has been pretty awesome, and I'll do my best to share it with you all! I haven't been taking as many pictures as I wanted, but its hard to cart the camera around everywhere.

I'm getting to know the local guys, Bradley and Floyd, a little better, and they are such awesome guys. They were teasing me earlier because its common for men to hold hands here, but I said that it wasn't gonna happen! Bradley leads a Bible study on Thursdays, and it is really cool to listen to them speak in Bislama and pick up whatever I can, since a lot of the language uses English words. Floyd is the quieter one, but he is a really cool guy. There are these big fruit bats here (probably two or three foot wingspans) and it is crazy to see them flying across the night sky and making noise and stuff! But Floyd said he's gonna catch (or kill really, sorry animal lovers) one for me! They either string up a line to catch them, or sometimes they can seriously just knock them out of the sky with a rock... we need him on our flag football team. I'll try to get a photo if it happens.

The Slaughter family are so awesome, and some of the best times I've had here are just laughing with them listening to some of their family stories! I've been in tears a couple of times with laughter, and it has been a lot of fun getting to know them better. Tad loves bread almost as much as I do (which says a lot if you know me), and there was a story where he tried to go on the Atkins diet that had me rolling on the floor. I think he lasted about five hours, which is longer than I would have lasted. Tad, Marna, Amy, and John have all been great, and they are the best hosts I could have ever imagined! They set me up in an unused building with a little bunk bed and mosquito net, and its pretty great to crash onto after a day in the sun. I'll try to get a pic of my little fortress later!

Some of the other things I've done so far: going to the Blue Hole, which was amazing and so refreshingly cold, although I only jumped off the smaller tree. I'll do the bigger one next time, and try to get a pic or video! Church on Sunday was a ton of fun, it is really cool that everybody just hangs out for the whole day, and it was a lot of fun playing with the kids. It's easy to terrorize kids and make them laugh, even if you don't speak the same language. Also the diving has been awesome! I got hooked up with unlimited dives, so I've been about three times out to the largest wreck I ever imagined. The Coolidge is a huge transport ship that sunk, and so far I went down to about 120 feet, inside the ship where it is pitch black and you have to squiggle to get through holes in the hull. I've seen eels and fire clams and barracuda and a bunch of other cool marine life, but some of the rusted jeeps and toilets and creepy stuff out there are really cool!

I might get another post in sometime this week, but next Monday through Friday we will be traveling on one of the most remote islands in the country! There won't be any internet, and we won't have any phones or anything! Pray no one gets too sick! Speaking of, I got an infection in my foot, and it was weird to actually see redness spreading up my toes and foot. But it took my strong immune system just one night to get rid of it! (also prayer.... also my antibiotics) Anyways, one week down, only two left! I heard someone say that there was snow in Portland... is that a crazy rumor or is that true?!