Thursday, February 26, 2009
Our new puppy..Dont worry Petey we still want you to come over!!
We got a new little village puppy for the kids the other day. Actually Pierce came home with one and it was too cute to just say no so we went and picked this one out as a family! We don't have a name yet, He will be a good guard dog too! Kids love him! Currently his little fat brother keeps making a home at our house so we need to find him a home, but we can't just not feed him and send him back to the slums..A puppy anyone.. All you have to do is come get it:) You'll get to see us while you are here!
A few natural wonders Efate has to offer..
Hideaway Island ….A free ferry will take you over from Port Vila for a day of snorkeling and beach fun!
These are the Mele cascade water falls and gardens. For a mere $10 a family can go and play in them all day. There are several clear cool lagoons located at different stages of the waterfall to swim and play in. Other stages of the waterfall are obviously at a much steeper grade. These are just the bottom portions in the chineese gardens.
Havana Harbor.. swim with dolphins & turtles or go Marlin fishing.. or cross to the other caves for famous historical sights.
Havana Harbor is a beautiful place just 25 min from Port Vila via the ring road (the road that goes around the island). You can see the famous hat Island in the photo above and the other photos have views of lelepa and Moso Island. In these waters you can swim with turtles and dolphins, sail, fish for marlin and other species as well as dive! There are also several remnants to see from the americans time here during WWll.
WE FOUND OUR LAND!!
We found our land!! We are going to put it under contract on Monday!! It has almost 200 feet of beach! You are in the perfect place to see the sun set between the two islands right in front of our land. Our piece is currently completely overgrown but as part of the contract they cut out any shrub or undergrowth or tree that is smaller in diameter than a mans arm. Then after that we pay to have it cleared to our specifications and pay to have all the rocks in the sand raked out. The labor rate here is $10 a day per guy!! It is the opposite of the US where things are cheap and labor is expensive. Here things are EXPENISVE like you would not believe and labor is cheap.
This piece is about 1/2 acre but is laid out perfectly along the water. We could put several little bungalows for rent to international tourists and locals who want to get away for the weekend. or for friends and missionaries to visit. We have been working on this little plan for a while so we are excited! It would take a while to get it all built and we would stay in our current rental for another 6 months at least probably a year as we get all the financing to build and start building.
The price is just over the amount we have saved up from the sale of our house in Alaska so we need to get a little more before closing. Closing generally takes a few months. You give them a big chunk of it now with all the contingency clauses in place like contingent on financing etc.. and then in 3 month you settle with the rest of it. Meanwhile they would be busy clearing all the undergrowth and small trees.
There are coconut trees, banana trees, breadfruit and more. It is zoned commercial which is amazing as usually it is a big headache and $25,000 to get it done. It is also located in an area the has a road JUST being finished. (thank you America and your 40 million dollar grant for a road around the island!!) The road is currently not that great but they are working on it now (a Very professional New Zealand group) and it should be done by the time we close. There is no electricity or water. All these things are a plus for us because they are all coming but we are buying at the price before they come! We wanted to do solar power and wind etc..anyway.
It is also the FIRST lot as you come in to Havana Harbor. Havana Harbor is a famous area for swimming with dolphins and turtles, marlin and other sport fishing, snorkeling, and other eco beach recreation. You look over Lelepa Island, Hat Island and Moso island. Hat Island and Lelepa Island are famous tourist spots with caves, famous chief graves, and early cave drawings. That will be great for business. The price (although high for us) is excellent for here not to mention the fact that it is commercially zoned and has all that beach front. The only reason we know about it is that Josh went in to this realtor on Monday and the previous Fri this exclusive listing (no one else could sell it) had fallen out of contract. The people backed out cause they changed their mind on wanting beachfront and wanted to build in town instead.
Every realtor we have talked to said they would keep an eye out but they said we needed a reality check for what we want for the price we have to pay. Well we found it!! THANK YOU JESUS!! We feel such a peace about this and everyone we talk to confirms what a great deal it is. So we are excited! Please pray for all the proceedings. We still have to gather a little more capital before closing so please pray for that, and please pray that Josh gets a job soon!
Josh handed in 3 resumes to good prospects yesterday and is calling one other good prospect today. PLEASE PRAY we need a job soon! A good job. Thanks for all your prayers! Plan on coming out in a year to visit our little mini resort!!
This piece is about 1/2 acre but is laid out perfectly along the water. We could put several little bungalows for rent to international tourists and locals who want to get away for the weekend. or for friends and missionaries to visit. We have been working on this little plan for a while so we are excited! It would take a while to get it all built and we would stay in our current rental for another 6 months at least probably a year as we get all the financing to build and start building.
The price is just over the amount we have saved up from the sale of our house in Alaska so we need to get a little more before closing. Closing generally takes a few months. You give them a big chunk of it now with all the contingency clauses in place like contingent on financing etc.. and then in 3 month you settle with the rest of it. Meanwhile they would be busy clearing all the undergrowth and small trees.
There are coconut trees, banana trees, breadfruit and more. It is zoned commercial which is amazing as usually it is a big headache and $25,000 to get it done. It is also located in an area the has a road JUST being finished. (thank you America and your 40 million dollar grant for a road around the island!!) The road is currently not that great but they are working on it now (a Very professional New Zealand group) and it should be done by the time we close. There is no electricity or water. All these things are a plus for us because they are all coming but we are buying at the price before they come! We wanted to do solar power and wind etc..anyway.
It is also the FIRST lot as you come in to Havana Harbor. Havana Harbor is a famous area for swimming with dolphins and turtles, marlin and other sport fishing, snorkeling, and other eco beach recreation. You look over Lelepa Island, Hat Island and Moso island. Hat Island and Lelepa Island are famous tourist spots with caves, famous chief graves, and early cave drawings. That will be great for business. The price (although high for us) is excellent for here not to mention the fact that it is commercially zoned and has all that beach front. The only reason we know about it is that Josh went in to this realtor on Monday and the previous Fri this exclusive listing (no one else could sell it) had fallen out of contract. The people backed out cause they changed their mind on wanting beachfront and wanted to build in town instead.
Every realtor we have talked to said they would keep an eye out but they said we needed a reality check for what we want for the price we have to pay. Well we found it!! THANK YOU JESUS!! We feel such a peace about this and everyone we talk to confirms what a great deal it is. So we are excited! Please pray for all the proceedings. We still have to gather a little more capital before closing so please pray for that, and please pray that Josh gets a job soon!
Josh handed in 3 resumes to good prospects yesterday and is calling one other good prospect today. PLEASE PRAY we need a job soon! A good job. Thanks for all your prayers! Plan on coming out in a year to visit our little mini resort!!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Keep praying but getting better!!
Thank you all for your prayers we are slowly on the mend. Still not there yet but it will happen! We are looking at some land and turning in some resumes on Thursday at 3 good options so please keep that in prayer and we go to finally look at some land on Thursday as well!! Yeah!! We really need to find the right thing and it is SOO expensive for beach front property. Which I suppose is to be expected since so many Australians vacation here and own second homes here. We will let you all know how it goes!! Blessings!
Local boys hanging out in the Guava tree !
I saw these boys (about 6 of them) hanging out overhead in the guava tree on my way to the YWAM (youth with a mission) base.
I took there photo visited for a short while and was on my way. 10 minutes later 3 boys came running after me with a few freshly picked guava for me. They were smiling ear to ear very proud of themselves. What sweet hearts!
A journey through Vanuatu
Vanu what? Where? Vanuatu is a group of islands in the south pacific with a population of only 206,000 spread over 83 islands, know most recently in the US for its debut in “Survivor Fire Island”.
Famous for its wildly intriguing tales of cannibalisms, missionary martyrs, live volcanoes, primitive tribes inside the thick jungle and azure beaches second to none, it is a fascinating mix of romance and mystery. I am at the moment in the busy island of Efate near the capital city of Port Vila. We live (my husband Josh and two small kids Dahlia 2yrs and Pierce 4 yrs) in the village of Pango a 10 minute drive to the city.
Please feel free to interact and post questions, quotes or comments.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Quote of the week "When I grow up I am gonnna be a black man. My hair will stay the same but not my skin cause of the water." Pierces take on his future. Hm... Interesting... We found it pretty funny. Actually we started laughing so much I am not sure we corrected him. Oops. I guess he will figure it out when it doesn't happen! What a little character he is.
Friday, February 20, 2009
A typical day for the Neeleys in Vanuatu
I realized many of you have no idea what is like over here as we didn't either till we got here. So here is a typical day for us. It starts early as the sun and heat are in full force filling the house by around 6:30 am. By then you are just too hot to stay in bed any longer. After a quick cold shower (there is no hot water) with a handheld shower head to get rid of the stickyness it is time for breakfast. At up to $20 a box for cereal that is out and yogurt although less expensive at $12 a container is also not an option. Fortunatly we have a great variety of fresh fruit so we usually start our day with papaya or passion fruit or if it is available mango. Avocado and coconut are other options. We also have acces to some 1/2 whole wheat bread we usually buy. I haven't found any whole grain flour or whole grain bread yet. Oats are also out at $7 a small bag. We are learning to adapt to new foods. Protien is harder to get cause of the cost and for whatever reason Chicken and fish seem completely ellusive outside of the restaurants. SO we have found peanuts and peanut butter. Laundry is usually next on the list. We don't have a washer or dryer so we use our little laundry sink outside and hand wash and hang. This part is a bit time consuming as our clothes get so dirty so fast here. Josh is great at it and a big help. In the kitchen we work with out appliances as well except the luxury of a very small fridge. We also have a rice steamer, wok and hot plate. Electricity is made here from a diesel fuel plant so it is VERY expensive. We try to really cut down on our usage, but we do run fans at night cause with out them you couldn't sleep. We are gratefull for a friends advice to bring a bug net as that has been a life saver. WE are covered in mosquitio bites from during the day but it is alot less than with out the bug nets over each of our beds. n the mornings we usually scrub off our tile veranda as well to keep the ants at bay. The black ones aren't so bad but the fire ants we could DEFINETLY do without. They seem to be making a beeline across the inside of our house so I find the cleanser spray very helpfull. they aren't big fans. Most weekday mornings we head to the base (15 minute treck in the HEAT!!) to the base for morning worship with everyone here. We absolutly love that part. We meet under a new shade building they just filnished with a grass or palm frond roof called natting goring. It is cool under there the breeze comes throught the open sides and the worship is really wonderfull. When it is really hot and we are free for the day we pack up our stuff (guitar, books, toys lunch) and head to the beach to lay in the shade. The kids take naps there and play and we all stay cool and out of the way of the bugs. During this time I usually make the 15 minute jungle walk to the base and get on the internet. And then leave the computer here and head into the market. I take a "bus" which is really a small mini van with the letter b on the liscence plate. You flag it down when they come by and pay $1.50 each leg of your trip. To save money you want to consolidate your trips otherwise it can get pretty expensive by the end of the week since not all the shops are in walking distance. The market is an open air affair that is open 24 hours and all the villagers come to town with their produce to sell. By Sat (today) you are buying the leftovers that have sat out all week and on Sun it is closed so the villagers (from all the islands) acn go home and get more. It reopens on Monday. It is really pretty cheap. We love it as a great source for the delicious fresh prganic produce you can get. But the other part of shopping for any protien, stapeles like bread, pasta, rice sauces etc all that is available anyway is in a few "super markets". These are HIGHLY expensive so we pick and choose carefully. Bandaids can be $11 and cheese can get over $50 a kilo. But you can find some things like bread and noodles. This is where we would also try to find any plastic wares like a trash can etc.. But for any electronic things you go to the other end of town to the Chineese shops. bear in mind whatever you buy in one place needs to be carried across town while you get your other things on the list and then all needs to be carried back to the bus stop and once you get off the bus we have a 5-10 minute (depending on how much stuff you have and who you have with you) walk through some pretty big mud puddles to the house. The vehichles won't go there cause it is too full of giant holes/puddles. By evening we are at home with the fans blaring making a dinner of rice and veggies in the steamer or pasta or bits of whater we have which may be peanut butter and jelly if I couldn'g get what I needed at the store. Peanut butter is very important to us for protien as we have yet to find how to get fish and chicken. Josh bought a spear gun but got an infection and crazy sun burn last time he went out so he has to stay out of the water for a while. the coral spores get in any open wounds and they really get bad. The fllies as well really get into any open wounds so mosquito bites that have been scratched or any other little cut need to be seriously doctored and covered immediately! All of our feet are pretty tore up and I think I need to find some better band aids as the ones we have don't stick so they don't do much good and the flies are still infecting them. Josh and I got a few cuts from barbwire on our legs and those are taking FOREVER To heal. SO in the evenigs after dish and porch clean up to keep the ants away we read stories to the kids or watch a dvd on the computer. Some days we have been out for quite a while though and by dinner it is close to the kids bed time. We LOVE the beach and the breeze there is so nice that we try to get there as often as we can. We can't wait to own our own piece of beach. It is really expensive to do so as the Australian tourist buy up alot as do resorts that cater to the Australians. Please pray for this. We would really enjoy the cooler bug free beach atmosphere. For the meantime though we are blessed that the beach isn't too far. Life as you can see if really quite differant than the US. It is a 3rd world country so it isn't exactly like being in Hawaii. We do love it though and look forward to what God has for us. I am posting a few mini videos and photos on facebook so check there to see them. Thanks for all your Prayers!! Love Kristy Josh Pierce and Dahlia
I realized many of you have no idea what is like over here as we didn't either till we got here. So here is a typical day for us. It starts early as the sun and heat are in full force filling the house by around 6:30 am. By then you are just too hot to stay in bed any longer. After a quick cold shower (there is no hot water) with a handheld shower head to get rid of the stickyness it is time for breakfast. At up to $20 a box for cereal that is out and yogurt although less expensive at $12 a container is also not an option. Fortunatly we have a great variety of fresh fruit so we usually start our day with papaya or passion fruit or if it is available mango. Avocado and coconut are other options. We also have acces to some 1/2 whole wheat bread we usually buy. I haven't found any whole grain flour or whole grain bread yet. Oats are also out at $7 a small bag. We are learning to adapt to new foods. Protien is harder to get cause of the cost and for whatever reason Chicken and fish seem completely ellusive outside of the restaurants. SO we have found peanuts and peanut butter. Laundry is usually next on the list. We don't have a washer or dryer so we use our little laundry sink outside and hand wash and hang. This part is a bit time consuming as our clothes get so dirty so fast here. Josh is great at it and a big help. In the kitchen we work with out appliances as well except the luxury of a very small fridge. We also have a rice steamer, wok and hot plate. Electricity is made here from a diesel fuel plant so it is VERY expensive. We try to really cut down on our usage, but we do run fans at night cause with out them you couldn't sleep. We are gratefull for a friends advice to bring a bug net as that has been a life saver. WE are covered in mosquitio bites from during the day but it is alot less than with out the bug nets over each of our beds. n the mornings we usually scrub off our tile veranda as well to keep the ants at bay. The black ones aren't so bad but the fire ants we could DEFINETLY do without. They seem to be making a beeline across the inside of our house so I find the cleanser spray very helpfull. they aren't big fans. Most weekday mornings we head to the base (15 minute treck in the HEAT!!) to the base for morning worship with everyone here. We absolutly love that part. We meet under a new shade building they just filnished with a grass or palm frond roof called natting goring. It is cool under there the breeze comes throught the open sides and the worship is really wonderfull. When it is really hot and we are free for the day we pack up our stuff (guitar, books, toys lunch) and head to the beach to lay in the shade. The kids take naps there and play and we all stay cool and out of the way of the bugs. During this time I usually make the 15 minute jungle walk to the base and get on the internet. And then leave the computer here and head into the market. I take a "bus" which is really a small mini van with the letter b on the liscence plate. You flag it down when they come by and pay $1.50 each leg of your trip. To save money you want to consolidate your trips otherwise it can get pretty expensive by the end of the week since not all the shops are in walking distance. The market is an open air affair that is open 24 hours and all the villagers come to town with their produce to sell. By Sat (today) you are buying the leftovers that have sat out all week and on Sun it is closed so the villagers (from all the islands) acn go home and get more. It reopens on Monday. It is really pretty cheap. We love it as a great source for the delicious fresh prganic produce you can get. But the other part of shopping for any protien, stapeles like bread, pasta, rice sauces etc all that is available anyway is in a few "super markets". These are HIGHLY expensive so we pick and choose carefully. Bandaids can be $11 and cheese can get over $50 a kilo. But you can find some things like bread and noodles. This is where we would also try to find any plastic wares like a trash can etc.. But for any electronic things you go to the other end of town to the Chineese shops. bear in mind whatever you buy in one place needs to be carried across town while you get your other things on the list and then all needs to be carried back to the bus stop and once you get off the bus we have a 5-10 minute (depending on how much stuff you have and who you have with you) walk through some pretty big mud puddles to the house. The vehichles won't go there cause it is too full of giant holes/puddles. By evening we are at home with the fans blaring making a dinner of rice and veggies in the steamer or pasta or bits of whater we have which may be peanut butter and jelly if I couldn'g get what I needed at the store. Peanut butter is very important to us for protien as we have yet to find how to get fish and chicken. Josh bought a spear gun but got an infection and crazy sun burn last time he went out so he has to stay out of the water for a while. the coral spores get in any open wounds and they really get bad. The fllies as well really get into any open wounds so mosquito bites that have been scratched or any other little cut need to be seriously doctored and covered immediately! All of our feet are pretty tore up and I think I need to find some better band aids as the ones we have don't stick so they don't do much good and the flies are still infecting them. Josh and I got a few cuts from barbwire on our legs and those are taking FOREVER To heal. SO in the evenigs after dish and porch clean up to keep the ants away we read stories to the kids or watch a dvd on the computer. Some days we have been out for quite a while though and by dinner it is close to the kids bed time. We LOVE the beach and the breeze there is so nice that we try to get there as often as we can. We can't wait to own our own piece of beach. It is really expensive to do so as the Australian tourist buy up alot as do resorts that cater to the Australians. Please pray for this. We would really enjoy the cooler bug free beach atmosphere. For the meantime though we are blessed that the beach isn't too far. Life as you can see if really quite differant than the US. It is a 3rd world country so it isn't exactly like being in Hawaii. We do love it though and look forward to what God has for us. I am posting a few mini videos and photos on facebook so check there to see them. Thanks for all your Prayers!! Love Kristy Josh Pierce and Dahlia
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