Gaelle came to my bungalow at eight o’clock and continued her teachings. I think I’m an alright student, but it’s a pretty intense (Bislama: “ful on”) course that I’m on this week, with four hours a day of tuition. My concentration starts to wane after the first couple of hours, but Gaelle is patient and we slogged through it.
Gaelle with her teaching materials in my bungalow.
During our lunch break, we went into town and chatted away in Bislama as she showed me round the market. At some point, she asked me whether I liked “germinated coconuts” (Bislama: “navara”, as pretty much the only Bislama words which don’t have English roots are the words for local foods and plants). My blank stares prompted her to buy a bunch (half a dozen for 100 vatu, about a dollar US). Borrowing a bush knife from a market lady, she cracked one open and showed me the insides. I was expecting coconut water to spray everywhere, but it turns out the coconut water gets used up by the germinating plant, and the nut is filled with a soft, sweet flesh, which I’d describe as a less sweet cross between a marshmallow and an apple. More information on this weird, but tasty, fruit can be found on Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprouted_coconut
Inside a “Navara”
After that, the rest of the day has been uneventful (yet another unsuccessful trip to the bank followed – they want more paperwork and won’t accept any digital copies), so I think I’ll populate the rest of the blog post with pictures of the local drinks I’ve been consuming in order to start refreshed and rehydrated:
This is a cup of soursop juice, actually made in Indonesia. Costs 50 vt (about 50 US cents), and tastes like sugar water.This is the local soft drink, Splashe, produced in Port-Vila. Is available in dozens of flavours. Costs 80 vatu (80 US cents). It’s a sweeter version of Fanta, which is also sold everywhere at a slightly higher price. Splashe is definitely not made with any real fruit.After searching for tropical smoothies pretty much since arriving here with no joy, I today found a great little roadside café which serves them for a bargain 150 vatu (approx 1.50 USD). So much fresh fruit around, and almost everywhere sells imported soft drinks instead. I’ve bought a cheap blender so that I can make my own when I get to Malekula.Onto the stronger stuff, this is the same brew I had on the plane, although this is their “bitter” variation. Tastes pretty similar to their regular one, which is to say just like any generic lager. Costs 260vt from a shop, 400vt from a café or restaurant.The Seven Seas brewery is literally adjacent to the Tusker Brewery in Port-Vila. The focus is on craft beer, with this, Red Bat, being their most popular. It is much more interesting to taste, far better than Tusker. About 50 vatu more expensive.Another one from Seven Seas, this time a Porter. Would buy again, was quite delicious. Interestingly, I think this is the first non-Islamic country I’ve been to where Guinness just isn’t sold.Now I haven’t actually tried this, only saw it in the shop. The bottle is plastic. Costs 1,300 vatu (approx $13 USD). Can’t be good, but I’m not going to judge till I’ve tried it.
