The WET season has begun!!

Here in Tuvalu it’s sometimes easy to forget that there are any seasons at all! It’s hot almost all the time – last weekend a thermometer reached 44°C – and since I got here, there’ve been some days when it rains and some days when it doesn’t! But November, technically, is the beginning of the wet season and boy o boy can it rain! There have been a couple of days when I’ve stayed in the office until gone 6.30pm just because I’m waiting for it to stop raining or at least for me to be able to see the other side of the runway!!

 

 

And before you all think I’ve forgotten how to cope with British-esque weather, fear not, the rain here is insane and even with an incredible red rain coat – that starred in the Royal Visit coverage – it still is possible to get soaked through to the skin in a matter of seconds! This is especially true when I have to wear my amazing coat over my backpack to keep my laptop safe and then I can’t do up the coat so my front and my bottom half get soaked J

Heavy rains combined with seasonal high tides lead to the area outside my office being totally flooded! I wish I’d had a tiny canoe to paddle home but sadly I didn’t have one so had to wade through the shin high water almost all the way home!

Luckily the rain waited to start until my brother had gone home J so clouds and silver linings come to mind!

Other things have been happening in Tuvalu other than rain! My friends Caitlyn and Tony who had been away for ages returned on the plane that John left on, which is great and quickly got even better when Tony’s sister and her new husband came to visit and they bought 14kg of tomatoes with them!!!! There aren’t many places in the world where I think people get quite so excited about fresh tomatoes, but I was thrilled! I even made a salad to celebrate!! And then to top it off we even have a harvest of bananas in the last few weeks! It’s been great!

Last week was Kate, Dan and the kids’ final week in Tuvalu, so a crowd of us went to one of the islets still in Funafuti lagoon but on the other side of the lagoon for the weekend.  It had a guesthouse on it, which was really lucky because, you guessed it, it rained all night – so Camp Coconut would have been a little washed out!!

 

This weekend my work threw my leaving party which was a little premature I thought since I’ve got 3 weeks left here in Tuvalu – but it was timed for a number of reasons, the closing ceremony of a workshop the organisation I work for has organised and my boss and a number of other Executive committee members will be leaving this week or next for a church conference that is happening on the northern most island of Tuvalu, Nanumea.  It all worked out quite well! My wonderful Tuvaluan mother, Vaovai, rustled me up a traditional outfit, known as a puletasi. Modelled here with my colleague Melaka

Masi and I went a got Frangipani flowers for my head garland, or fou, which involved Masi having to climb a tree and hit the flowers from up high with a large stick!!

 

So my last few weeks are upon me and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to going – mainly because I miss my fiancé and salads – although not in equal measure!! And hopefully just two days after leaving Tuvalu I will see both!  At the same time I will be devastated to be leaving all the amazing people I’ve met here, and I really will miss this fantastic place!

But I’ve got another 3 weeks to go and I intend to enjoy every last minute!

McSherry population of Tuvalu temporarily doubles!!!

This shall also be known as Brother’s blog! J

This two weeks have been two of the best weeks in Tuvalu - and that says a lot!! My amazing brother John arrived here on Wednesday 31 October after flying straight through (pretty much) from London where he left the Sunday before!!!

As I told him there is not a huge amount to do in Tuvalu on a day-to-day basis, sure there may be opportunities to go boating, snorkelling and fishing some days but mostly it’s a slow pace of life with virtually no ‘distractions’.  There is hardly any TV, inconsistent internet and only a couple of bars and restaurants.  As I had forewarned him he came fully prepared with a kindle (other electronic reading devices are available!) full of books and a desire to do very little for 2 weeks!!

I went to work as little as possible, a few hours in the mornings each day and one full day, due to the staff meeting that would never end! And after work I normal trundle up to Caitlyn and Tony’s house where John was staying - thanks to those guys for letting him use their amazing house - and joined him doing very little! Those of you that have been reading my blog may have already seen a view from the house but just in case and to be clear this is the view from the outside deck.  During the day the view of the lagoon is stunning and in the evenings awesome sunsets!!

 

 

 

We went snorkelling on John's first Sunday and he struck Tuvalu gold and saw a turtle!! I’ve been here almost 4 months and I’ve only seen one from the boat.  At the next reef we stopped at he also spotted a stingray and luckily I was close enough that he called out to me and I got to see it too!

 

I’ve been wowing him with my new culinary talents such as Paw-Paw curry, and my famous banana cake/slice – which I made into a birthday cake with chocolate spread for Elisala (the father of the family I’m staying with), who celebrated his 61^st birthday on Sunday.   

 

Please note the cake featured above is not my one (we didn't photograph it, it got eaten to fast!), it was the much more impressive one that the family had arranged! Also note, Darling – the dog – looking longingly at the cake and sneaking into John’s picture – such an attention seeker J  

I was really nervous about John visiting, about having to entertain him here and the fear that he’d be disappointed he’d come all this way and essentially flown for 3 days (twice - including his return journey) to come to this tiny island in the South Pacific, but doing very little interspersed with occasional activities of swimming, going to the beach, and nice dinners with friends (and family) was enough to keep him happy and relaxed J

On his last weekend we headed out on the town, went out for dinner, hit the karaoke bar, went for a picnic on a desert island, did more snorkelling, but sadly we didn't get round to teaching him how to make sandballs (like snowballs but with sand!) or renting mopeds or joining a gang ;) - which he was looking forward to! We had an amazing time and I feel so lucky to be able to share this crazy place with someone from home, especially my little bro! It was/is really hard when he left this morning, but now I only have 5 weeks left here and I’m sure the time will fly! Better get busy!!!

Work, work, work!!

 My beloved Mum has advised me that I should start sharing some professional stories on this blog, of some of the work experience I am gathering whilst I’m here in Tuvalu, in case any potential future employers might be reading it!! I think the chances are thin but as I almost always like to heed my wonderful, loving mother’s advice I would like to share with my interested readers some of the work I’ve been doing over the last couple of months.  I will intersperse this work related information with nice photos that might not be relevant but will be pretty!

As most of you know upon arriving in Tuvalu I was tasked with writing a multi-million dollar project proposal which was submitted to AusAID.  The project will last 4 years and consists of a variety of activities and works costing $7.3 MILLION!!! The focus of the project is what is termed WASH – Water, Sanitation and Hygiene – and therefore there are numerous initiatives within the proposal.  These include improved water catchment infrastructure, compost toilets on outer islands that suffered especially badly during the drought, and a substantial portion of the bid will be to transform the borrow pits (which have featured on this blog previously) into large communal water storage facilities with community-use areas incorporated such as sports courts or areas for traditional community events, such as fatele – the traditional feast/dances! We were supposed to hear whether the bid has been successful by now but they have had so many projects to review we won’t now hear until December so please everyone keep everything crossed for a successful response!

 

These are water tanks that AusAID previously distributed to the outer islands, in this case at the school on Vaitupu - you will all note the different labelling, when AusAID went through some re-branding... 

Since then I have been working on a number of smaller tasks the first of which was a Gap Analysis and Needs Assessment of the member organisations that make up TANGO (Tuvalu Association of Non-Governmental Organisations – who I work for!)  This has involved contacting and meeting with as many member organisations as possible and interviewing them about the services that TANGO currently provides and what their future needs are and how TANGO can serve them better!  Although this might sound pretty straight forward there have been challenges – the first of which was a lack of a contact list of members… a problem that is still not entirely resolved! Aside from that there have been some other fundamental hurdles; for a long time organisations in Tuvalu have been used to responding to funding streams as they become available rather than proactively assessing need and seeking funding, and therefore they are not well practiced in outlining their future requirements when asked! This has led to further work with a number of organisations including the Tuvalu National Council of Women (TNCW).  The TNCW has been trying to write a Strategic Plan for more than a year with limited success, I am now in the process of assisting them with this and developing an Action Plan to accompany this document. 

Some of the activities that the local women are involved in include making local handicrafts, like this gorgeous mat that Sandra was given before she left us last week :(

 

 

 

The communication issues that are experienced across Tuvalu – due to inconsistent shipping schedules, unreliable internet, lack of mobile phone coverage, and a postal service which is reliant on the shipping schedule – are all barriers for NGO development and project delivery, especially on the outer islands.  This is something else I have been getting involved with by liaising with international partners to develop a Terms of Reference to increase the Communication resources at TANGO to work as best as possible around these difficulties.  As a result of the new-age methods of communication being ‘tricksy,’ the best form of communication in Tuvalu is the radio!

Last week I was invited to consult on Island Profiles that have been formulated by the Government Department of Rural Development.  This was an opportunity for me to get my number/data geek on!!! And it was awesome! These documents are the result of 18 months of work in partnership with the UN.  They carried out a very thorough survey of households across all the islands of Tuvalu and asked questions covering a wide range of issues from enrolment of children in pre-school to the level of water storage individual households have!  The point of these 80 page documents is to inform the local government branches (Kaupule – Town Council, delivery body; and Falekaupule – island chiefs and elders, decision-making body) on each island, and assist them in strategic planning and prioritising areas for actions into the future… And yes I’m a giant nerd for getting excited about it but I truly believe knowledge is power and baseline data like this is crucial in order to both measure improvements and successes, but also to assist in showing the areas where quick wins can be made and where longer-term planning is required.

 

Just a pretty picture on Nukufetau (one of the outer islands) - so its kind of relevant ;) !

 

I’ve also begun discussions with my supervisor about Institutional Resilience and as she referred to her job as her “retirement work,” the sustainability of the work of TANGO needs to be ensured, protected and able to progress! I will be presenting a report to the Executive Committee in the mid-end of November with my suggestions for best routes forward.

I hope that you are all satisfied that I’m not just on holiday out here in Pacific paradise, I’ve got work to do too ;)!!!

Ironic Independence Day and Camp Coconut!

The start of October saw more Public Holidays – two this time! Tuvalu was celebrating the 34^th anniversary of independence from Britain! And what better way to do that than with marching, standing to attention, and parading…in the rain!!! It felt like just about the most British thing they could have done, and a spectacularly ironic way to celebrate their independence!!

 

 

Sadly it did rain a lot!! Much harder than I’ve seen it since I got here!

Whilst school students, scouts, sailors and police on parade were all standing to attention! It was tragic to be honest and the fact that none of them ran screaming from the runway was massively impressive!  They were freezing and soaked through to the skin by the time they eventually took cover. 

All the marching and the majority of the celebrations were scheduled on the Saturday of the very long weekend, so we made sure we were up and about at the central Vaiaku maneape before 8am so that we didn’t miss a minute of it!

The next day two boat loads of us and our masses of gear headed across the lagoon for a 2 night camping adventure at the highly prestigious Camp Coconut! Camp Coconut, as it is called by those of us that are fortunate to have stayed there, is a small clearing just off the beach on the uninhabited island of Tepuka, just on the other side of the lagoon from Funafuti. 

 

We took everything we would need with us, traditional mats, mosquito nets (which I was exceptionally grateful for and if I could have used one all day as well as at night I might have not come back quite so nibbled!), eskies with beers and water, sausages (sort of), beans and of course our trusty peanut butter and bread, and fruit!

 

Day one on Tepuka was more eventful than expected. Andy and Dan decided to go spear fishing just after lunch to try and catch us some fish for dinner and Sandra went with them to snorkel.  They took the boat and went to an area in the lagoon where they’d been lucky previously.  Kate and I and the kids remained at base camp, swimming, reading and then building the fire!  When the others returned they had some tales to tell!!!  It seems that their successful spear fishing meant that they attracted some unwanted attention from sharks!  Dan was charged at by a 2m+ grey shark (rubbish name but that’s what we think it was from his description) that got about 2metres away from him and then changed its mind and swerved away!!!  Andy after shooting a large grouper-looking fish, which he proceeded to hold out of the water above his head (an image I wish I’d got a photo of), wasn’t enough to deter the shark that bit his flipper/fin as he was scrambling to get back into the boat – quicker than he ever has before!! Considering their close encounters they returned fairly calm about the whole thing! Tough boys!!

Alls well that ends well and thanks to their ‘bravery’ we had fish for dinner!!

That night we had an expertly built fire and watched the most beautiful full moon rise…

 

Followed by the most amazing sunset…

 

Later we also saw some strange lingering shooting stars, very graciously giving us time to turn around and still see it!  One also had an odd green hue that we think might have been some space junk re-entering!

Great day!!!!

The next morning Kate and I swam around the island, and although not a particularly big distance (took about 45 minutes) the changing currents and inconvenient waves made it a little tricky! But it was amazing to do it and see all the different underwater environments, reefs and rocks and white sand flats and lots of fish but no sharks, thankfully!

Doing something so strenuous early in the day meant I felt totally ok about doing exceptionally little for the rest of the day.  Read my book under a palm tree, had a little nap, took some photos, splashed around in the sea! It was one of the most relaxing days I’ve had since I got to Tuvalu. As evening began to draw in, Kate and I made another fire – which the boys were very complimentary of!!

 

We’d thought the first night had been a good moon but the second nights’ was even better!! I’ve never seen the moon come out of the sea that way – and it was enormous! I took almost 100 pictures of it although none of them really do it justice but this one came out pretty good...

 

The next day accidently started with story time – I was being a little anti-social, sitting in the shade on my Breakfast Cracker bucket, reading my kindle when Rex and Maggie (aged 4 and 2 for those of you that don’t know them!) thought that I was reading a story worth sharing and wanted me to read it to them! Sadly I’m currently reading A Short History of Nearly Everything – which is thoroughly interesting for me, but probably not so for them! So I improvised and they were very happy with my magic tree story!  Towards the end of my fairly average story Andy joined the fun, which meant that I could pass the story-telling baton to him! And we all got to learn a little something about rocks in a fun way!! I didn’t know that Geography teachers were such show-offs ;)

The day went similar as the others at Camp Coconut – reading, snorkelling, swimming, lazing! Started to pack the camp up and got ready for our return to the hubbub of Funafuti in the afternoon, and we all were pretty sad to be leaving our island paradise that we’d had all to ourselves all weekend! It’s a mere 45 boat ride but it might as well have been a world away, it had magic rejuvenating powers on me!

Farewell Camp Coconut…until next time!!

 

 

Part Three = This is Nui!

We arrived at Nui early in the morning which meant that we had all morning to explore and wander around, before needing to be back on the boat for a 1pm departure – apparently!

Nui was also very beautiful and quiet.  They seemed to have more care for their gardens and there was a lot of pulaka pits where they grow the traditional root crops. All of the islands that we visited had large churches and Nui’s was a exceptionally large one

 

The lagoon and beach areas were virtually untouched except by coconuts

 

We were treated to local ‘brunch/lunch’ my Sandra’s translator’s cousin’s family!  They welcomed all three of us to a huge meal! Tuvaluans are so genuinely friendly and welcoming it seemed perfectly normal to invite total strangers to your house and to feed them!  We ate grilled and raw flying fish (which was super tasty) lots of paw-paw, rice, feke which is a local speciality and drank fresh coconut juice – from the coconuts! It was so special! And we sat on their traditional platform like this one.

 

After we’d be fed we headed back toward the wharf.  I should have said that this was the scariest of small boat rides! As you can see from the picture below the route in has been blasted through the coral and rocks.

 

 

As you will also see there are a number of fuel drums sitting in the very shallow wharf side waiting to be picked up for the island. The visits of the Nivaga and the other inter-island boat the Monafalau are supply provision for the outer islands communities and even petrol for mopeds and fishing boats is bought ashore this way! It was scary to watch them trying to move the heavy drums filled with fuel!

Once back on the boat we tried to find some space to settle down for the return journey, as you can see all available space was fair game for sleeping J

 

 

And after rushing to get back on board before 1pm little did we know we wouldn’t be leaving until after 4pm when they’d loaded the traditional canoe for the Royal Canoe race!

After this we headed off! The following morning after an eventful night of getting rained on whilst we slept on the roof of the boat again, and then getting smoked out by the chimney stack, and then getting soaked as the rain started coming sideways even when we were undercover, we eventually made it back to the wharf at Funafuti!
 

There was quite a welcome committee there as the chiefs from the outer islands were returning so no one was actually there to see us but still it felt good! Back to the hectic capital city and a desperately needed shower!! It was definitely an adventure and one I will never forget – it was incredible!

Part Two... Nui or is it Vaitupu??

As we left Nukufetau we were settling in for the longest leg of our journey approximately 12 hours of boat time to Nui the furthest north and western island of the Central group.  We’d been on route for approximately 5 hours when Sandra went to stretch her legs and spotted land?!  When she asked a helpful man, “Is that Nui?”, “No” he replied “that is Vaitupu”! And so we arrived shortly after that at Vaitupu!

Vaitupu is the outer island where the second of the two Tuvaluan high schools is based and it is a boarding school.  It was significantly bigger than Nukufetau and busier.  We saw Scout Ambassador, Andy as he has been based here for a couple of weeks teaching and setting up and new scout group, and then walked to the school. On our way to the school dawdled to appreciate the house with hanging baskets!

 

 

When we arrived at the school we were amazed to see it was on the most gorgeous stretch of beach, bright white sand and blue sea! Blew our minds, imagine this being where you go to school…

 

We got to see the models that they were making for the Royal couple up close and remarkably unfinished! They also thought that the boat was going to Nui first and that they would have a bit more time to complete them. This is the inside of the mini-maneape they made:

 

 

After crashing a farewell feast for Andy at the school we borrowed a couple of mopeds and I drove one with me and Sandra on – overall she said I did a great job! It was fun and a great way to see lots of the island which is fully joined up so we could drive all the way round the lagoon stopping and wading across to islets within the lagoon to enjoy views like this,

 

Another great day! We headed back to the Nivaga and our beans for tea again and sleeping on the roof of the boat! This was my view in the morning when we woke up almost at Nui, after sailing through the night.

 

 

Tri-island ‘cruise’ Part One = Nukufetau

I am using the word cruise very loosely in this context… Yes we were on a boat for an extended period of time and yes we did sleep on the boat and yes there were stop-offs where we visited outer islands and had a look around, so in some ways I can understand how it may appear it was a cruise but this is what it was actually like…

 

That was the busiest and final day but needless to say there was not a lot of space and everyone sits and sleeps on the floor on their mats! It was amazing… but most of you reading this would have hated it - I'm not even going to tell you about the toilet/shower facilities!

I’ll start at the beginning.  Tuvalu is made up of nine islands, which are divided in logistical terms into three groups: northern, southern and central.  Funafuti is the main island, where I have been living, the capital, for lack of a better term and it is in the southern group.  Sandra, my very good friend, decided that she was going to visit the central group of islands and as the boat before the Royal visit was as close to certain to be coming back as it was carrying the chiefs from the 3 central islands and gifts for the royal couple it was a pretty safe bet that she wouldn’t get stuck out on the islands – which is a bigger concern than you might think.  As Sandra had obviously put more thought into it than I had, I thought she’d be a pretty safe bet to tag along with! And thus Sacy’s Tri-Island cruise began!!! (That really is an in-joke but suffice to say there was a lot of the time on a boat with little to do and I thought that the adventure needed a name – so I smushed our names together!)

First stop Nukufetau…

 

This was one of the first spots of the island which is one of the smallest islands in Tuvalu, but similarly to Funafuti it is an atoll and therefore has a lagoon.  This was a view from our “cabin” which we only slept in one night – it didn’t have a lock on the doors, either to the cabin or the bathroom and on the second day we saw a huge rat in there so we slept on the roof of the boat instead!

First challenge on arriving at our first stop was getting off the Nivaga (boat's name!) into smaller boats to be taken to the wharf… it was always a challenge and the sights and near misses we both experienced and witnessed will be with us for some time… the rickety steps down from the Nivaga to the waiting boats were incredibly unstable combined with moving sea and overloading, it was an adventure in itself every time!!

But when we eventually got to the island itself it was STUNNING!! We walked from one end to the other in about 30 minutes, and it was so peaceful!

 

They had immaculately swept, straight smooth ‘roads’ and ‘pathways’, traditional boats,

 

Pig sties with sea views, and one of the best sunsets I’ve seen in a long time!

 

 

 

After sunset we had to get back on the boat for our first and only night sleep in the cabin, which was surprisingly ok!  But before that we had a hilarious dinner of baked beans cold from the can and bread! “We came, we saw, we ate beans”!!!

Boat didn’t move over night as they were still loading cargo but in the morning we started off… Next Stop Nui… or so we thought!

The Royal couple visit Tuvlau!

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge touched down here in Tuvalu’s capital ‘city’ of Funafuti at about 2pm local time and just in time for the rain to stop, temporarily!  The crowd to welcome them had been growing since noon – our little pose were some of the first! It was quite a sight to behold… the local people (and some of us) were dressed in traditional wear including head dresses made from frangipani flowers and skirts made from a local palm fronds. 

 

Everyone was colourful and eager to welcome the Royal Couple. 

As the crowds lined the runway and looked to the skies to be the first to spot the plane.  Once it landed, which was dramatic as they came to a halt impressively quickly, the procession of local muscular men carrying the throne platform that had been specially made for the occasion – there wasn’t one just lying around!!

 

Once the platform was in position we then all held our breaths for the first sight of the infamous pair and the obvious question on a lot of lips was “What will she be wearing?” We weren’t disappointed she looked very lovely in a lemon yellow dress and pretty wedges – one of 2 costume changes through the day! They were carried then to the Vaiaku manepa, which is the community hall next to the airport where the welcome really began with procession and introduction to local dignitaries, the chiefs from the outer islands (some of which I shared a large boat with last week), ministers from the Government, the governor general and the prime minister and the police force were all decked out in dress uniforms.  Both of them were so happy to chat and smiled warmly at everyone that they met. 

 

After entering the falekaupule the speeches began and we were lucky enough to have almost front row view - well of the people that were outside the hall!  

It was nice and not too long which was handed as shortly after it began the rain started again! So we all took shelter and the ‘wet weather schedule’ was put into motion, which meant that instead of riding in the platform that they had put in the back of an flatbed they would be off to the next stop on their whistle-stop tour in the one of the nice government vehicles! The next stop was the primary school at Nauti and then to the University of South Pacific.  We walked down just in time to see them getting ready to leave after meeting with all the students, and saw them getting into the fancy platform that had joined up with them after the rain had finally passed. We totally accidentally but very fortuitously were in a great spot for a very up-close view of them!

 

It was very exciting especially as Sandra and William’s eyes met!

Then they went to watch the traditional canoe race which all nine islands had made local boats for and were represented.  Sadly 3 of the boats sank before finishing but the Nui’s boat which we’d seen last week on our Boat Trip to the outer islands (another blog entry to follow on that!) finished in the top 3! This was it being loaded on the transport boat…

 

After the boat race was the feast which were weren’t able to get access to. But my Tuvaluan sister, Masi was there serving and as it transpired she was fanning the Duke’s food and features in a photo that I found on the telegraph’s website (click to see).

After the feast came the fatele which is a traditional event involving different island’s people trying to out sing and dance each other.  There were some amazing moments  Princess Kate was such a good sport taking part in all elements of the tradition, dancing, allowing herself to be dressed up with the local skirts and head-dress, spraying the dancers with perfume to express her approval and gratitude, at one point she was wondering around the dancers and she was encouraged to sit down on the floor whilst the other ‘island’ had their turn, and she didn’t even hesitate! She was less than 5 metres away from me!

 

As most of you know I’ve never been a strong supporter of the royals (understatement!) but after watching her and then him join in last night it was hard not to admire them.  I don’t think I could sit, smile, look interested and actually BE interested for hours on end, all the while still being good-spirited and looking so comfortable!  They were very nice and all the locals I’ve spoken to that met them have said how down-to-earth and genuine they were.  It was so great to be part of the Tuvaluan people showing off the culture that they are all so proud of and actually is part of their daily lives, 

The final event this morning before they left at about 9.30am was another smaller fatele and the gift giving ceremony.  Amongst the many gifts of traditional mats etc there were two models that the students of the secondary school on Vaitupu at made.  We were lucky enough to get to see these models, during construction when we visited Vaitupu last week.  They were intricate and very beautiful and the royals seemed suitably impressed.

 

And then that was it they were carried back to the plane in the same throne platform they arrived on and we were allowed to get really close for the final ways before they got on the plane. One of the cameramen that is here is doing filming for a documentary for ITV which is due to be aired on Sunday, this week, and he said that in all his years “in the biz” we had just experienced unprecedented access to the royals! It was really, really nice to be part of it!

And there they were gone…

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Day to day in Tuvalu!

Before leaving there was a lot of people that were asking about the sort of place that I would be staying in so in today's post I will show you my house and what normal daily life in Tuvalu is like!

This is my front garden (as it were!) I love this shot because it shows a number of things that are used regularly and contribute to the picture I’m going to paint of “normal” Tuvalu! The trolley is what my family’s Dad, Elisala, uses every day to move the food from the house to go and feed the pigs.  The white buckets are Breakfast Cracker buckets! These buckets are what Breakfast Crackers come in and are also the storage device of every Tuvaluan and ex-pat house I’ve been in! They have lockable lids to keep out bugs and the people here use them for storing and transporting all sorts of things – including juice for feasts! They are the epitome of waste being reused! What are Breakfast Crackers you may be asking... well they are like biscuits we have for cheese at home but not salty and in my house they put them in tea or milk and have them like cereal!!!

 

You can also see the traditional hand-made broom that most households use every day to sweep the leaves away from the front of their houses – just the leaves though they are not too bothered about the litter or scrap cars!

There is also a fresh coconut on the bench… The people of Tuvalu have found uses for virtually all the different parts of the coconut tree. Obviously the coconut fruit, milk and cream is used regularly in food and the palms are weaved into all sorts of useful things from hats to fans to plates!  But they also have a use for the sap of the coconut tree which is called ‘tody’ this sugary, syrup is used for making donuts (which are delicious), a sauce for rice (which I’ve not tried) and some resourceful fellows even make alcohol from it – which I’ve also not tried!

This is the front of my house…

My room is separate and down the side of the house...

That is my house! And this is my ‘sister’ Masi!!

 

Keep an eye out for her in photos or coverage of the royal visit next week as she has been chosen to serve them at the feast that will be happening in their honour!!! So exciting!!

 

Other daily highlights include ‘Mackensies’ this is one of two of the ‘big’ shops for groceries etc. as you can see, it has warehouse qualities and as with all the shops you never know what you will find from day to day!
 

 

 

And this is a petrol station Tuvalu style!! Health and Safety doesn’t really exist here!!!!

 

As always I like to finish off with at least one photo to make you all hate me a little and the show the best side of Tuvalu… this one is from a boating trip that we went on yesterday. It’s still in the lagoon of Funafuti but right down in the South! It was paradise!! 
 

 

Next time on Lucy’s blog land… I’ll include a picture of the giant Coral Trout that I also caught that same “blessed Sunday” and possibly some shots of the 4 day outer island boat trip we are going on tomorrow! It’s going to be like a cruise except without any luxury J