Local Vanuatu Radio

While sitting in Peterson Bay, Santo, Michael is busy sewing a cover for our new dinghy...and putting together new strings of words to release his frustration. I think it looks great – he is not very pleased. But as the sewing project progresses, we have been listening to the local Vanuatu radio station FM 107. It is a great way to learn the native language of Bislama and it is entertaining. The play list is probably the weirdest combination of tunes you could imagine. The local music is a string band which has a kind of "bluegrass" sound but the lyrics are in Bislama. They'll play a string band song then go to an American hip hop, then reggae, then to a Calypso and then to a French lounge act song followed by some old R&R. They have a "French hour" in the afternoon which features all French language songs though the commercials and DJ are still in Bislama. There is usually one or two songs followed by three or four commercials – and lots of DJ announcements including the Vanuatu ferry schedule, church service schedule and shipping news. They also do news breaks and lots of Public Service announcements.

We have made a few treks into town and the plan is to take a break from the sewing project (though it may get completed today hopefully) to head to town for a local rodeo tomorrow (Saturday). After the big project is completed we will make a provisioning run into town and stock up for the Banks Islands. We have been asked to buy and bring some supplies for one of the islands. So that will add to our shopping list. Once that is completed we'll look for a weather window to head north. It will be good to see a new area and from everything we hear this is one of the "special" places where fewer boats head and the people are extraordinarily welcoming.

For now, we listen to local radio and Michael's language! We've been in Vanuatu two months.

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