Thursday, September 10, 2009

Pidgin, pikininis and patisseries

Port Vila, Vanuatu's main city has an interesting personality. Vanuatu has been independent since the 19080s but before independence, the English and French both reigned in this far away part of the world. The country is rustic, but the city is cosmopolitan. Filled with duty free shops and patisseries it seems incongruous with the rest of Vanuatu with their Kastom villages, grass skirts and penis sheaths. The language spoken here is Bislama a combination of French, English and Pidgin. "Wanem nem blong yu?," means what is your name, babies are called pikininis. Everywhere I go I am not sure what language to try and speak. Some schools are French and some schools are English but Bislama is everywhere. Read the sign aloud for best results.


Since we arrived we have been eating our way through the city. Vanuatu has some of the best beef in the world. During the days of French and English rule, they competed for the best meat by bringing their best cows to Vanuatu. The result was cows with a royal bloodline and the best beef for thousands of miles.
Sean and Mark enjoy all the goodies at our favorite haunt, Peche Mignon
We try out some Vanuatuan beef at The Flaming Bull, delicious
We met these little cuties while Sean shopped for gifts

In Vila, you can dinghy anywhere, even to the Tapas bar

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Prima great pics! We miss you both!

Love

Vianey