My first days in Paama

Trying to catch up on my blog entries...sorry if any are repeats.

Day 1 of 730

The day is finally here and my official service begins. Got a little sleep and said good byes in the AM. Got on another 8 seater plane and while a bit scary, the views are panoramic over the Pacific islands…flying above paradise. We are so lucky to have this post.

My counterpart, who is also my host grandpa, and grandma came to pick me up at the airport and we got on a small boat for a short 20 minute ride to Tahi. The water is clear and there are black sand beaches dotted with patches of coconut trees, deep green leafy bushes with cascading vines…every shade of green imaginable. Paama is quite hilly and my house sits on the side of a cliff basically. In the distance I can see a corner of the Pacific Ocean and at night I can hear the small waves crashing on the black sand beach.

My place is coming together nicely…except for the giant spiders, nothing else has been bothering me. Mosquitoes always but the rats may not know that there is a new resident in my house yet. The last volunteer here left a year and a half ago. My house is half modern (although modern here only means cement) and half custom…bamboo slat walls and coconut (or banana) leaf roof…sounds unstable but it’s pretty amazing how sturdy it is.

I had dinner with my host mama (papa was in Liro a nearby village) who has 3 daughters, age 3 (Lisa, who is such a sweetie with gorgeous, big eyes and dimpled smile), two are here for the holidays/summer vacation, ages 20 and 17 (LeiSal who is adopted and Mar, both are great to chat with) and 2 sons, ages 12 and 10 (Thomas and John). My tawi (Leiwia) has 2 sons (age 3 and 11).

Day 2 Nesting with a trip to Liro

It was another hot day but with intermittent rain. John (host brother, age 10) spent the day with me as I unpacked and set things up and we went with my host papa to Liro to pick up a tank of gas for my stove. We took a canoe which is definitely going to be one of my favorite activities. It’s a great work out and the water is so clear, you can so easily see the reef and colorful coral. Most of the shore are cliffs with rainforest like foliage and a scattering of large, black boulders where tiny crabs play. It is picturesque and quiet since there are few motor boats and no cars.

December 8 Day 3 in Paama

It was pleasant day organizing and helping out with mared (wedding) preparations…learned how to weave a mat…sort of. Had kava with my papa and got to storian with some of the elders of the village about politics, the US and life in general. It’s raining now which is great to sleep to except there is a little leak in my custom roof.

The worst storm I have ever heard…the rain and especially the lightening and thunder was right on top of Paama. I have never heard thunder this loud before…huge booms like fireworks going off on the ground just outside my house or what I would imagine bombs to sound like. I have to say I was a bit freaked out and had to cover my ears. Needless to say I did not sleep well.