Small things bring joy

In the past few weeks we have been drawn to Mele again and have spent time there with the locals, who live less in Port Vila but rather in the surrounding villages. The largest and most famous village in Vanuatu, Mele, has captured our hearts. Some volleyball players live there, almost all the guys from the diving school, the stars of the fire show, and Charlotte has been living there with Aaron and his family for 2 months now.

From Mele Beach you can reach Hideaway Island by a small boat, the Cascade Waterfalls are located in Mele-Maat (a part of the village), and the fire show takes place every Friday at the famous beach bar at Mele Beach, which is also known to every tourist.
So for many reasons it has brought us back there again and again.

What makes Mele special:

Mele Community: Mele actually consists of only 12 families, who have grown over many generations (so somehow everyone is related to everyone else, related and whatnot).

Mele Chief: A chief holds the village together and ensures law and order. Everyone trusts him and as a result there are hardly any conflicts or disputes.

Mele-Maat: This part of the village was built when the volcano erupted on Ambrym Island and the population had to be evacuated. The residents of Mele decided in the village council that they would give up a large part of their land. This made the village famous.

Cuisine: It is said that Mele has the best Tuluck in Vanuatu, as well as lots of delicious island food made by the Melemamas.

Mele Beach: The villagers share the beach with the tourists, but also make sure that the tourists do not take over. The mamas use tourism for their business and sell souvenirs on the beach, in the evening the youth meet there and chill out and consume kava :)

Through our local friends we have come to love Mele and Aaron in particular has told us a lot. One evening he showed us the village and his mom served us a local dinner for the whole gang. Everything is shared and everyone was greeted, hugged and taken care of warmly. We were immediately offered to move in for the last few days and also if we come back, we can stay there anytime. This hospitality is truly overwhelming and it's hard to accept. Due to the simple way of life, one feels that one must give something back (since one has much more money) but that's just not the point. That's where the cultures differ. So we enjoyed the evening very much and stopped by the village again before leaving Vanuatu...

Also not far from Mele is the Wansmalbag center, where I really wanted to help with cooking again besides the yoga classes. Every day a fixed group of Nivanmamas and 2 Expads cook healthy and organic dishes with ingredients from their own garden or the market. They provide youth groups or anyone who comes by and is hungry with cheap food. Charlotte and I agreed to meet in the morning and help out. Our main task was actually just to crack peanuts for about 3 hours, but that was a nice job to chat on the side. Besides curry, salad and fruit dessert, we also made traditional laplap, which we also helped to prepare. Quite exciting, because the wrapping technique of the banana leaves around the banana cabbage porridge is different on every island or even in every village. That day we learned the technique from the island of Malekula;)

Completely satisfied, we got the delicious lunch for free after hard work and it was excellent. Especially the peanuts were very special :)

This is how small things bring joy and cooking connects, inspires and satisfies many.