Happy Birthday, Pepe!

After we successfully moved, Pepe's birthday was just around the corner. On September 13th he turned 4 years old and we wanted to celebrate according to his wishes.

He wanted to go to volleyball in the morning, grill sausages in the evening and bake a really delicious lemon cake. Actually, no guests were supposed to come, but then the athletic trainer Rob and his friend Vivi, who has lived in Vanuatu for 7 years, with their daughter Tiani (6 months) were invited by Pepe. There is also a German family who is currently traveling around the world. We met the family of 5 from Hamburg the day before in the supermarket when Pepe happily found his chocolate sprinkles. They spoke to us because German is rarely heard in Vanuatu and we spontaneously invited Gesa and Christian with the children Tjark (5), Narja and Jale (3).

The evening before we baked the first cake with Pepe and were happy when the super excited little man finally fell into bed.

The next morning started (like every morning now) at 5:45 for sunrise. Pepe was happy about his birthday table with candles, cake and gifts, but was also upset that there were no guests yet. After some persuasion we had a nice morning and Pepe went to training with Michel. He was super proud to bring home the team's gift, a volleyball shirt, which he pulled directly over his new Holstein Kiel jersey.

The first guests arrived at 3. The world travelers were there first and we went straight to the pool. They pounced on the delicious unicorn cake and the children quickly became very friendly. It was nice for Pepe that he could communicate and so we played, ate and bathed until the evening.

Later Vivi and Rob came over, who we were very happy about, and so Rob stayed until late in the evening, when the children were already in bed. Since Anton is currently working on his front teeth, it was a really nice but also very tiring day and we also fell into bed broken at some point.

Since the birthday, we have continued to spend a lot of time with the family. They invited us to their Airbnb in Pango (cute little village outside Port Vila) at the weekend, where we spent most of Sunday. Their boho-style container is located on a large plot of land in the middle of nowhere. It is super idyllic and a play paradise for children. I found it a great inspiration for a tiny house with an outdoor kitchen, which also works well here in Vanuatu. Of course there were a few problems and when there was heavy rain (which we had for two days) or a Kiel winter, you would want tight windows and insulated walls.

We met a few more times before the family left on Friday and it was very exciting to see what they had already experienced and where they were going next. The five of them travel around Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific countries for over 1 1/2 years and stay in each place for around 4 weeks.

While I was away with the troops during the week, Michel went to training every morning and spent a lot of time with Rob. He was invited to drink kava last Friday and Michel spontaneously decided to come along. The evening ended late and Michel spent Saturday in bed while I visited various pools with the children, collected shells and baked bread and pancakes. While alcohol is quite expensive, everyone here drinks kava. A root juice that makes you slightly tipsy and tired. So far we haven't found anyone to like the root, which tastes and looks super disgusting. Nothing changed for Michel after the evening. 😂

Lukim yu 🙏