Off to the world of work

Two weeks ago, it finally officially started. When I arrived, I received my business visa and was therefore authorized to work. Before our trip to Sydney, I already made my Facebook page, 'Anni Marie Physiotherapy', public and advertised in the locally well-known Facebook group, 'Living in Vanuatu'. Everything here happens on Facebook. Everyone, regardless of age and background, has Facebook and is connected through it. That's why I decided not to have my own website for now, which would have been more work and may have exceeded my knowledge and skills regarding computers/multi-media. Facebook allows me to reach many potential patients and is easy to use.

So on my first day of work, I already had two patients :). We used the rest of the day to distribute my business cards, which were printed in Sydney, and put up some posters. I also prepared articles for my page, and throughout the week I received more emails and phone calls. Things were going well, the majority of patients booked further appointments right away, and the word quickly spread in Port Vila through the new contacts. Besides Facebook, we mainly rely on word-of-mouth, because personal recommendations are still the best advertising in today's world.

So we receive calls and contacts from many different people, which led to a cool and funny meeting, among other things. Barbara, originally from Berlin, sent me a message and I was delighted to meet someone from Germany here. We arranged to meet for a juice in the evening, and Michel and I drove to their house at the end of the lagoon. Barbara and Sven have 2 little girls (Lupina 1 and Karlotta 4) and have come to Port Vila for 2 years. Sven works as a development aid worker and has a pretty good job through the German Development Cooperation. It was very exciting to chat with both of them, exchange experiences, and listen to what it's like to travel so far with 2 children and also live here. We stayed the whole evening, visited a small music festival, and only fell into bed completely exhausted around 10pm. We haven't had such a long night out in a long time, and the 'hard' work weeks, during which I had 11 sessions in the first week and already 17 in the second week, left their marks. So we can keep going like this...

Michel's first week back in Port Vila started a bit slow. The girls had to stay at home first and take care of family obligations. Miller and Tini only showed up for one training session each. Based on previous experience, Michel wasn't discouraged and wrote more training plans, defined short- and long-term goals, and added more running and quick strength training sessions. In the second week, more was already implemented. While Miller, who still can't count on any support from her husband, stayed at home with her two children, Tini was regularly there, and we were able to specifically work on her role as a defender. The next trips are not far away anymore.

Besides our jobs, we still have plenty of free time for sports, lying by the pool, and drinking iced chocolate (besides juicy pineapples, my clear favorite!). Especially I enjoy the avocado season. Right now, the market offers the most delicious and largest avocados you can imagine. We are currently eating a lot of salad, fresh bread, and also a lot of fried noodles or fried rice.

On weekends and during the week, we try to make the most of the very affordable sports offerings compared to other daily expenses, and try out new things. Our new passion, diving, has to take a break for now, but a dive for Michel is definitely planned.

On Sunday, we went to the 'Open Day' of the sailing club, where we were shown how to sail a dinghy. Michel has a bit of experience and wanted to refresh his skills, while I, despite my Kiel background, had no active sailing experience to show. Oh dear, it was about time!

So each of us started with a young local sailing boy in the boat and sailed off. There wasn't strong wind, but already a decent breeze, and the dinghy took off if you really threw yourself into it. My sailing boy showed me everything, I was very interested and found it super exciting. Unaware that I would soon make 4 turns myself and with my long legs, felt more like a stork in a salad in this small boat. Well, he didn't give up and I really wanted to try. With the first turn, everything quickly fell apart. I lost the tiller, the dinghy turned quickly by 180 degrees, and the boom swung around. My head stopped it and somehow the boat came to a stop. Phew... that was all a bit quick. I bravely collected myself, and even my sailing teacher saw no reason to give up now. So the journey continued, and I actually managed 3 much more controlled turns and was an 'unicorn' in the end, but very satisfied. Michel saw everything and was already ready to jump out of his dinghy to rescue me, but in the end, everything worked out. He came back pretty quickly and was really eager to sail out with me again.

But first, we treated ourselves to a Vanuatu hot dog with fries at the local bar. Later, more and more people came and the boats were fully booked. So the next sailing tour will take place another time. That's okay too :)

During the week, I continue to teach yoga classes and also plan private yoga classes upon request. Two ladies have already signed up, which is also a nice change from physiotherapy.

When I teach yoga, Michel goes to the gym for strength training. This weekend, we wanted to play tennis or go kayaking again. Now Michel is lying next to me feeling a bit sick, so we'll probably postpone it until next week.