Tautu: A Photo Tour

Welcome to the Life in the Ring of Fire Tautu Photo Tour!

I know I've been pretty bad with pictures as far as this blog goes. This is a result of two things. First of all, my internet connection at site is far too slow to allow me to upload pictures to the internet. Second, I'm just really bad at taking pictures. I am. I can admit it. I can carry my camera around in my pocket for days at a time and not take a single picture, or, conversely, see about fifty things I want to take a picture of in the space of ten minutes, but not have my camera with me. Also, when it gets right down to it, it's kind of hard to remember to take pictures of everyday life. I mean, it's not like you all have photos of going to the office, ordering pizza from Dominoes, or whatever and, similarly, I don't often feel compelled to take pictures of drinking kava, going to the gardens, or opening coconuts with a machete. Actually, for the most part, what we volunteers have pictures of is us partying. Unfortunately, when we party, we dress up in western clothes, eat western food, and drink western booze, which, I feel isn't exactly suitable material for a blog that's supposed to be about all the crazy non-western stuff I'm doing in Vanuatu. I've done my best to make it up to you readers with my vivid descriptions and subtle wit (although I also haven't published a written entry in a while, either, as I'm in Vila and am thus busy soaking up the western lifestyle for a bit. But don't worry, I'll get back to blogging soon and, trust me, it'll be worth it. There's some good stuff coming up: dislocated shoulders, night diving, sharp, spiny, poisonous fish, and, of course, All-Vol, so stay tuned), but I know no amount of words can make up for a good photo, so I've done my best to capture my village, Tautu, in a series of photographs, which I am now sharing with you guys, along with accompanying witty comments. I hope you enjoy. Also, I'd like to announce that I will be returning to the States for a visit over Christmas between the 9th of December and the 21rst of January. I will be staying in Austin and if anyone would like to stop by for a visit during that time, it would be great to see you (and no, I'm not flying to Chicago/New York/New Jersey/wherever to see you. I'm gonna be flying halfway around the world for Christ's sake, the least you can do is get yourself a ticket to somewhere in Texas. Honestly you can probably get one for less than $200, give it a shot). Just throwing that out there. If you're interested in making plans, shoot me an email.

Your first view of Tautu coming from the south (ie. the airport or Lakatoro). Commonly referred to as "the roundabout," for obvious reasons.
The right fork leads into the village proper (aka. downtown), down this road, whereas the left fork takes you to Small Tautu (aka. the suburbs). The family lives in Small Tautu, but I've got some prime downtown real estate going for myself.
As you can see, even in such a bustling metropolis like Tautu, they do a good job landscaping the roads with plenty of greenery.
When you pass the cow, you know you're almost there.
Home, sweet home. Notice, I've done up the front yard with a sort of "dark and foreboding jungle" theme. Keeps the Jehovah's Witnesses away.
It's just a show, however, it's actually quite welcoming from closer up. I've even got a lemon tree to keep the place smelling nice.
The facilities are located a little ways off, amongst the yams and guava trees.
Shoes and machetes must be left at the door. Sorry, house rules.

Here's the living room. It's a little messy, but what do you expect? I live here.

The kitchen and brewery are adjoining.
Conveniently, my main source of food, the papaya tree, is present in abundance in my yard.
My school's about four feet outside my front door. Keeps the commute times down, usually thirty seconds to a minute, depending on traffic.
My classroom sports all the modern amenities, including a blackboard, a roof that only leaks in a few places, and even a nice red plastic chair!
Here's the school office. Believe it or not, it's got a photocopier inside, and the school committee finally got around to replacing the toner last month after a 6 month delay. Works pretty well, as long as you don't mind the occasional cockroach limb adorning your photocopied pages.
The main school building is across the yard. Note the chickens. Everywhere in Vanuatu has chickens. Literally. And no, the little chicks aren't cute. You've obviously never been attacked by an insane, squawking hen for walking too close to her chicks. Excuse me man, I'm just trying to get to class.
Heading down to the village will take you by the community water supply: a big concrete tank fed from the rain gutters of the church roof.
Here's the church, possibly the hottest place on the planet to be on a Sunday afternoon. Don't know why they don't have services at night.
The road leading down to the main village. Interestingly enough, some guy just sold most of it to an Australian over the internet. I think he's in for something of a surprise when he comes to survey his new property.
The village square. It's no Piazza Navona, but no one's going to run you down with tiny, speeding, mopeds either.
The village store. Open 24 hours, as long as you're willing to go wake up the storekeeper at his house at three in the morning.
They pack them in pretty densely in the city.
But with that prime beach-front location, no one is likely to complain.
Sitting/standing around doing nothing: a favorite pastime for both young and old.
There's no denying it, Vanuatu is bloody gorgeous.
Tautu's formidable fishing fleet.
The family lives up in the suburbs, the left fork of the roundabout.
They've got a lot of acreage for their front yard. But I guess that's how things are in the 'burbs: long commutes, but plenty of space for the kids.
And in Vanuatu, there's never a shortage of kids.
Here's the nakamal. We've got both indoor and outdoor seating.
Although the outdoor does need a little work.
The inside looks friendly with plenty of light coming in from the afternoon sun.
But no one drinks kava in the afternoon (where do you think we are? Tanna?), so this is the view you'll see more often.
Here's the house. Remember what I said about the chickens? They're freaking everywhere.

My uncle owns the village bakery.
The family. Like in the States, it's difficult to catch them when they're not on the phone.
There we go. Linda, Duncan, Frank and Tracey.