Peace Corps Vanuatu...Living La Vida Ni-Van: Visiting the Island of Pentacost

The Nangol Tower in Pangi.
Hand-made by the vilage men/boys. Women are not allow to touch it. If touched by a female they will not use the Tower for jumping as its considered cursed.

Every year between April and June several villages practice the traditional custom event called Nangol or Land Diving on the island of Pentacost. Back in the day Nangol was practiced during Yam Season to ensure a good harvest. Nowadays, its focused on bringing in the tourists. Either way the villages reap the benefits of exposing "white folks" to their culture and making money by entertaining us. The basic concept is boys and men build a giant tower about 100 feet or higher and take turns jumping off of different tiers or planks. The youngest (age 7 is when boys may begin jumping) will jump from the first plank and every boy/man thereafter jump from a higher plank. The last and highest plank is left for the eldest and most experienced jumper. When they land they actually hit the soft dirt. It looks hella painful and some of the guys grabbed their crotch in pain after jumping. That's can't be good for their little soldiers, but that's custom for you. Honestly half naked men singing tribal songs and jumping from a 100 foot tower is hot in any country... I don't care who/where you are! I was blessed to hang out with my friends/Peace Corps Volunteers and their families for 5 days in Southern Pentacost. We watched a group of 7 men/boys dance and land dive...it was wicked cool.

Before watching Nangol we helped Erica De Los Santos' primary school in Pangi to celebrate the end of Term 1 with games, painting little girls nails, playing football and eating alot of island kaekae (food). We also visited the village of Ranwas where Katie Gobel resides, which I must note is absolutely gorgeous....think Lord of the Rings meets the Pacific. We walked for 4 hours of what I can only describe as hell because the previous day I had some sickness perhaps from the water and was so dehydrated the next day. I don't ever want to die from dehydration in the middle of the desert is like being hungover, but worse. blah! We also visited Lauren Bower's village in Point Cross, which is situated on top of a steep/slippery/muddy hilltop thanks to endless rain during the week. Of course I fell on my bum going downhill and I had a 60-year old woman help me. She could walk down a slippery hill barefoot like nobodies business...now that's talent!We also participated in Lauren's school's Term 1 festivities with a make-shift Slip n' Slide that the kids loved, but one Abu (Grandma) seemed to dislike because her grand kids were a muddy mess after a few turns down the slide. She was smacking them with a tree branch everytime they ran back up to slide back down. I was rolling of laughter at her face. It reminded me of the days my mom would smack us with a "switch" from our neighbors tree....Guess getting a smack down with a tree branch is Universal.

Enjoy the pics!

Zoe and David (PCV from Fiji who was visiting Vanuatu) hanging in front of Erica's house. In the background is the Pangi Primary school, which is under construction.

In route to Point Cross, Pentacost. The waters look calm, but as we reached "the point" of the island it was rough. Another 15 minutes on this tiny boat and I would been sick to my stomach!