Yasur

As i sit on the rim of Yasur overlooking a seemingly prehistoric panorama of black palm, coconut, Banyan, and ash plain, with my legs dangling vulnerably into the smokey nether-region of the active crater before me, I find myself thinking how incredibly fitting it would be if I suddenly heard a loud roar and then saw T-rex rounding the bend of the next mountain over with his little midget arms fidgeting and his mouth watering as he eyeballed me sitting next to the oven. And then I find myself thinking, as I dodge a red hot pyroclastic fireball the size of a VW bug, "damn! This is really cool! I'm sitting ontop of an active volcanoe right now!" And then, "ow! where'd my arm go?!"
Yasur volcanoe is located on Tanna island. Tanna island is the place that i just came back from a 4 day in-service training. Tanna island, aka, the place where you drink only chewed kava, and the nakamals (where they prepare said kava) are inside Nabanga trees (Ewok style!); the place where during custom dances the dancers stomp so hard that it literally feels like an earthquake if you're within viewing distance of the dance; the place where shoes don't exist because the ground everywhere is nothing more than soft volcanic ash from years and years of constant fallout. It's a pretty special place as you can tell.
The workshop was on slope stability, and we had a full day of practical hands-on trail maintenance work, which was cool because I finally got to get my hands dirty(in the working sense), and I was deemed trail guru after the other participants learned of my prior experience and then saw my biotechnical engineering wizardry...that's water bar for short. Whether or not this title was deserved is up for debate, but I can safely say that my knowledge was at least at the top of the barrel...i was definately above grasshopper. I don't know, a nice feeling when you find yourself habitually second guessing yourself every other day due to unfamiliar territory and poor communication.
Anyway, it was a great workshop. I learned some good stuff, I got a free trip to a sweet island, all of us volunteers had our host country counterparts (who will be are site "work buddies" and will assist each of us with future workshops) there with us to learn too, I was taught how to make a sand drawing of a pigeon (here, a pigeon is any bird), and I got to snowboard down a volcanoe! Shaun, Clay, Muth, Dan'l...you got some catchin' up to do. Snow and Sand are one thing, but ash is somethin' else. It tastes much more bitter.
Now I'm sitting in Vila waiting to go to site. I got off the plane thursday afternoon with my feet running, ready to run around like a chicken with its head cut off to finish up all the shopping/networking that I failed to accomplish the week after swearing in. But, instead I came to find out that my house still isn't finished in Bwatnapni, so I've got to wait smol. Now, I'm either leaving next thursday or wednesday, or tuesday...or maybe monday? I really have no idea. I actually think that now (saturday) my house should be done, but the Peace Corps staff who I negotiate with in regards to traveling likes to forget everything that I tell him or request of him, so I am in the dark. It's okay though, today I bought a sweet shovel.
I hope you are all well. I'll have computer access until I leave next week, so if you want immediate response write me now!
lukim yu,
Ian