Peace Corps Vanuatu...Living La Vida Ni-Van: All My Purple Ladies

WELKAM LONG BLOG BLONG MI!....translation....Welcome to my Blog!

I have a Bucket List...even before "Bucket List" the movie was created I had a Bucket List. One of my Bucket List items has been joining the Peace Corps before I kick the bucket. So, 10 years ago I applied, was accepted and was moments away from departing before realizing that it wasn't meant to be because I had too many teeth in my mouth. Long story short, to join the Peace Corps you're obligated to extract your wisdom teeth if they're a hot mess, which mine were. I couldn't afford to extract them so after 3 months of crashing at my sister's apartment boo-wooing with disappointment I came to terms with the Universe and moved on.
I always knew I'd reapply, but wasn't sure when. So, one day in late 2008 when I realized I wasn't as happy with life as I once was I went online and reapplied. A year later on September 11, 2009 I boarded a plan in LAX with 41 strangers in route to Vanuatu-- a gorgeous South Pacific country consisting of 83 islands (that I never heard of before Peace Corps). Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a believer in the power of manifestation not to mention I'm a persistent little Boriqua and now here I am sitting in the Vanuatu Peace Corps Office fulfilling one of my dreams and living la vida "Ni-Van" on the other side of the globe. I hope you enjoy my stories and thanks for visiting. Please note the contents of this website are mine alone and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

All My Purple Ladies

Top: Some of my Purple Ladies in front of their dorm. They are too cute!

Gwenneth Wotas, the Purple Ladies' Prefect, holding the Purple Banner during Onesua Week on campus.

What can i say about my girls....they are a fantastic group of young ladies with a great sense of humor ...once they come out of their shells. Although they are extremely shy when it comes to speaking up in class or to strangers after we warmed up to each other I found them to be just like American teenagers. When we are together during our monthly movie night, our Thursday night dinners or at a sporting event they are absolute sweethearts. Like American teenagers they love to listen to music, watch movies and if you really want to hang out with them I simply play mymusic videos on my laptop-- they are glued to the monitor after that and we talk about fashion who's better Rihanna or Beyonce. The love the music videos "Telephone" and "Video Phone". Although the outfits worn by most female artists are scandalous in comparison to the long skirts and t-shirts we wear. They love the latest fashion, but can't believe we can walk in such high heels!

I didn't ask to be a House Mistress (which is basically another word for Resident Assistant) nor was I thrilled when I was told I was assigned to be one. That's one of the things I dislike the most about living on campus of a boarding school..folks just assume I have time to be a teacher, yearbook editor, facilitator of workshops, academic committee member, and lets not forget sports coach (which I respectfully declined). Ni-Van women like all women of color work their butts off on campus and these girls are no joke. Since I've accepted the position I've learned that being a House Mistress was an opportunity to do great things with a great group of girls. I wish I had the resources and money to do more activities with them, but they are appreciative of all the little and big things I can do with them.

One of our many nights at the Purple House. I taught the girls how to play "the Human Knot" and "Pin the Clothes on the Naked White Man" a version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey...without the donkey... and after we watched Dreamgirls in the middle of their "hallway". The few perks of being the Computer Science teacher is that I have control of the projector and projector screen.