Me laekem Vanuatu tumas!

In the past month, I have: climbed a coconut tree and opened a coconut for myself; drank kava with the chief of Tanoliu village; swam among octopi and eel in some of the most breathtaking sand beaches the world has to offer; held an endangered sea turtle; caught, killed, and roasted a wild chicken; planted a community garden; encountered spiders bigger than my hand; seen fruits and plants I can't even begin to describe; and eaten (almost) nothing but fresh foods since the day I got here.   Suffice it to say (in Bislama), mi laekem Vanuatu tumas! Translation: I love Vanuatu!

Now, here's a picture of me with my host brother's horse! 

The Sendoff

This is it.  I'm leaving.  I won't be near a Mcdonald's or an Ihop for another two years.  That's 2013!

For the next 27 months, I'll be residing on the island nation Vanuatu, where I'll serve as a English literacy trainer/teacher for the Peace Corps.  Many of you may be wondering where Vanuatu is, so I have provided a map.  Vanuatu is an archipelago roughly the size of Connecticut located in the South Pacific.  I'll be flying from CLE Hopkins to LAX, and then on to Auckland, New Zealand, where I'll board a small charter flight to my destination, Port Vila, Vanuatu.

This will be the my last post in the United States, but the first of many as I embark on my journey to the South Pacific.   I want to thank all of the people who've helped to get me where I am in life.  Big shout out to my Felice family, my Wesleyan and Andover family, and last but not least, my friends and family stuck toughing it out in Cleveland, Ohio.  See you in two years!