2018 - The Vincents are back in Vanuatu!

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Well, we're back in the same flat we had last year, here for another 6 month stint. We've spent the first few days cleaning, unpacking and settling back in. It hasn't taken us long to make it feel like our home away from home this time.

It's hot but we are coping much better than last year. There were times then that I really thought I would just melt right off my chair and end up as a puddle on the floor that someone would have to mop up! We have been for a couple of swims which were lovely, no problem getting into the water - it's not cold! It's more refreshing once you get out and stay in your wet things than when you are in.

Great catching up with other PCANZ volunteers here Neville and Gloria Jones, and Nicola Young. Hoping to meet Dawn Daunauda who is up on Santo soon.

The harbour still looks lovely when the sun is out.

A few things have changed in the neighbourhood: big Chris (Mary's brother) is back from Pentecost and staying with Tony and Mary again, and Tony and Mary are expecting their 3rd child in September .  Storm, who was just a puppy last year is a lot bigger, old Barty is still chugging along. Chris and Mahana have grown a bit more, and Mahana is still very shy with us.

We have new neighbours - Ram, Sonia and their daughter Molly from Philippines are in the flat next door to us, along with their 2 dogs and 8 tiny puppies! Carla, also from Philippines and who manages the large corner store that we frequent, is staying on till September in the studio flat. 

 Here is mama dog (don't know her name yet) and Barty sheltering from the rain on our front terrace.

 Mama dog being hopeful while we prepare dinner.

The back terrace is covered in mud from doggy wanderings so we can't even get to the washing machine without putting on outdoor jandals (we have indoor ones as well). We are going to erect a barricade at each end to keep them from walking through there.

So it's really full house in our little compound. Tony, Mary and the children have moved into the new top floor of their house, and the roof has been removed from the back half where they were living, ready for a new concrete floor for a new storey to be added. The floor was supposed to have been poured by now, but you know how it goes...

Monday was a public holiday, so Tuesday was our first day back in the PCV office. A few minor changes have happened but mostly it is the same as when we left. We were given a very warm welcome back at devotions first thing in the morning. 

I have yet to find out what I will be doing, but Martyn will be working from Charlie's (the previous accounts clerk) desk, and there is work to complete to enter data into the general ledger from when Charlie and Martyn left in  Oct/Nov. He will be sharing the office with Elder Job. Last year there were 4 people working in this office, so it was very crowded. The office was tidied up shortly before we arrived in Vanuatu. The extra room makes it a much better space to work in. :-)

It is definitely still rainy season here, with heavy showers coming frequently, but with sunny spells in between. Even with all the roadworks on this main route through the city there is still a problem with flooding.

Big news - it looks like we are getting fibre installed! Will this fix our poor internet service at the flat?? In the background, you can see the great lakes are back in our road outside the flat . There was just enough dry-ish ground to get around them this morning without having to go the long way or get our feet wet and muddy. This is why I leave my pretty shoes at home!

We decided we needed a clock in the flat, so we found one at the supermarket and made another hole in the concrete wall so we could hang it safely above our pantry shelves (for those who have just joined our blog this year, we built those shelves last year with typical Vincent over-engineering, so the flat could fall down in an earthquake and the shelves would still be standing 😆).