As I read back over my various blog posts, I realize how many things have been left out.
I've traveled for most of my life. Been to all the continental states in the U.S. I was in Mexico as a child. I went to Europe without my parents in junior high school. So things that I take for granted are foreign territory for someone who doesn't travel very often or has never been to a foreign country.
There is the time difference of course. Being across the world, across the international date line means today for me is tomorrow for those in the United States. That takes a bit of getting used to.
There is the money exchange rate.
In Fiji, a U.S. dollar is worth about 2 Fijian dollars. So whenever you purchase anything, you divide it in half and decide if its worth that price or not.
In Vanuatu, $1 U.S. is worth $100 in Vanuatuan (sp?) money. Again, you have to do the math to decide if something is worth it. Purses for $600 seems like alot, until you do the math and realize it's only $6.
It's a great way to do homeschool math with a practical application.
You can use a credit card to get cash in the right currency from your U.S. bank account. So people don't really have to use traveler's checks so much any more. Most bigger stores, restaurants, and hotels take credit cards directly. Some banks and / or credit card companies charge a fee for using an ATM that is not there's or for spitting out a currency that is not the one your bank account is in. Wells Fargo has such fees. My Paypal account, however, does not. You have to spend it all or convert it again before you leave. As we left Fiji, Brian and I both spent all that we had left in Fiji money at the local marina store. We bought extra snacks for the trip and a few other food items.
Current can be different. The prongs that mate up with an electrical plug is different depending on which country you are in. A converter is required. I bought a whole kit of converter plugs off Amazon before I left. It is supposed to have plugs good for most places throughout the world. However, it does not have a plug converter that works in Vanuatu. This is the first place I've needed it. In Fiji we were using a cell service to get internet and didn't have to leave the boat to be connected.
This afternoon Brian moved the boat closer in to the main part of the downtown harbor. We can now get the internet off the boat again. So hopefully we won't need a converter any more.
To get internet service you have to either go to a cybercafe with your laptop. Or purchase a USB cell phone plug that plugs into your computer. You have to purchase so much time and/or Gigs of data transfer and can add more as you need it. Brian purchased a bunch of time in Fiji and the service was supposed to work in Vanuatu and New Caledonia. So far we have had no luck using it here in Vanuatu.
The sun rises and sets at different times than it does at home.
It is spring turning into summer here while back home it is fall going into winter.
The things you find at the local market - fruits and vegetables - are often very different than you find at the farmer's market back home. They have potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, squash, cabbage, etc. Eggplant is easy to come by. There are lots of other things though, many of which I have no idea what they are or what I'd do with them if I bought them.
We haven't been able to find brown rice anywhere. Eggs are plentiful. Papaya, pineapple, and other tropical fruits come in varying sizes depending on where you are. We were given papaya's as big as a small watermelon at the village of Somo Somo in Fiji. They are much smaller at the markets.
The fresh fruit and vegetable market in Port Vila in Vanuatu is the best open market I've ever seen. I thought the one in Lautoka was impressive, but it is nothing compared to this one.
The banana's are huge. Brian got tomatoes for literally 1 cent U.S. They were big plump one's too! Even more impressive than the fresh produce prices is the way they package the stuff. They weave little baskets out of leaves and you get that along with your potatoes or whatever else is in there.
As you enter a country by boat, a customs person often boards the vessel and has you complete their customs forms. Brian has to handle all this. So he has our passports and gets us into customs as well as the boat.
Most places won't let you bring in fresh produce. So you have to cook it all, or pitch it before you get there. When crossing the ocean from one country to another you have to keep in mind what needs to be eaten before you reach the next location.
Leaving each country is also a big process. Again, Brian has to handle all that.
Whenever he has a crew change, he has to notify immigration / customs about the change and show the proper passports, etc.
Because we are heading to Australia, we each had to get special VISA's in order to have permission to go there. The one's I got for Jess and I are good for a year, but we can only stay for 3 months. The one Brian is working on getting is much more involved because he plans to stay for around a year. He spent a great deal of time today trying to get a copy of some bank statements - one of many requirements for the visa he is seeking.
The language barrier. Most people in the places we've visited speak English. There are words that they traditionally use. "Bula" is hello in Fiji. Halo is hello in Vanuatu. Vanuatu has 3 official languages - English, French, and Bislama.
Debbie Takara Shelor
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