THE ONE(s) I'M BRINGING BACK

Dear Friends and Family - In two years I'll be in need of small clothing, playpen, a stroller and other such necessary entrapments of child rearing - I've found the one I'm bringing home! This little guy, Stewart, was my next door neighbor in Lelepa and while he often woke me up or kept me up with his teething cries, we didn't become friends until my final two weeks. We hit it off pretty quickly since he was already fond of white men having just come back from New Zealand where he spent the first 7 of his 9 months of life (unlike Willie, my host brother, and other Vanuatu infants who usually cry at the site of white people - no joke. Some even scream bloody murder if you get too close). He's got a great disposition, is one of the cutest kids I've seen, and his parents had a generator I could use to charge my camera and iPod - a hot commodity in this part of the world. The first time I played with him I tossed him around like he was an airplane and that made him pretty happy. After that, every time I would see him, even if he was in the middle of a crying fit, he would smile and shake his legs around, and as I walked away he would get frustrated and cry again - somehow I found that amusingly validating. Their house was a stones toss from my home, and was closer to the ocean. One day when I came back from Vila with a vomitous stomachache his momma made me an oceanfront, sea-breezy bed under the shade of pandana's trees for me to rest on for the day. Anyway... we enjoyed each others company for a short while. On the day I packed up and moved out his family came over and presented me with a parting gift - a handmade pandana's bag - plus hugs and kisses all around. I barely knew them but they were adamant that if I'm ever in Vila I absolutely must make a visit to Lelepa and see everyone. Which, of course, I will. There have been many occasions where Ni-vans have offerred children to Americans with the idea of giving thier child better opportunities - but when I told Stewart's poppa that when my two years was up I was gonna take him back to the U.S. with me, he just laughed nervously - not sure if I really would or not, and probably not sure what he would do if I did try and take him. Funny stuff.


And this is Steven, Stewarts 4 year old brother. Also achingly cute and incredibly sweet - but not real responsive to the needs of his younger brother, seen here free-falling off my bed. Don't worry though - no children where harmed in the making of this blog*. Paternal instincts can take you by surprise sometimes. I was so apprehensive about moving into a family with 4 young boys - ages 12, 11, 9, and 2. I knew I was far out-numbered, completely out of touch with young kids, and of course had a huge language and cultural barrier. Turns out those barriers made it easier, I think, although I can't articulate precisely how just at the moment. In the case of my little neighbor here, he's a shy guy to begin with. I won him over with the old iPod trick. He liked Bob Marley because he recognized it (Vanuatu loves Marley, as you could imagine), but he really responded to Madonna's newest stuff. I thought it was pretty great when he started bobbing his head along with the music. We also had a couple sessions of Frisbee lessons. One day I suddenly and accidentaly found myself with both Stewart and Steven in my care (i think momma took the chance to run off and hide for a breather) - but I was cool with this. I was able to lay the baby out on one arm, facing down so he could feel like he was flying around, and then played frisbee with the other hand. After getting tired I had to put Stewart in his stroller and position him so he could watch the game action. He wasn't too happy about it, but if I made funny faces at him every couple minutes he'd be pacified. Problem was that I had to keep an eye on Steven who likes to climb up on the concrete water tank and try to toss and catch the frisbee from up there - but sometimes doesn't remember that he can't run for the frisbee without plummeting off the tank. ahh, children.

*except stewart