The daily emails from Lance in Vanuatu.

Yesterday as I was driving in Port Vila I was reminded of something that has become "unremarkable" to me, but which was a culture shock when we arrived in Vanuatu 5 years ago. It was around the time shool gets out, and there were hundreds of children walking on the footpaths, some of them...

I guess you'd call it the the "National Footwear of Vanuatu" What the Aussies call "thongs" and the Americans call "flip-flops" are known as "savat" or "slipper" here. Bislama doesn't really have plurals. So there's no "Savats" or "Slippers" - the singular word designates one or a bunch of them....

Yesterday was "Constitution Day" in Vanuatu. I was not ready for it, as I work from my home office most of the time. Unless I look at a calendar of public holidays I only find out when I try to ring someone. But this holiday is a Big Deal here. It has a lot of meaning for the people, having been...

My wife Adeline and I have long taken Mondays off for ourselves... we spend the day together doing whatever pleases us on the day.Yesterday was one of those "just perfect" days when the sun was out, the sky and water blue, the wind and waves gentle, and the pull of the ocean irresistible.So after...

This week when I went to the main market in downtown Port Vila, there were no pineapples.Not one!Yes, everything is seasonal here. You can buy out-of-season imported fruit and veg at the big supermarkets, but (1) they cost a lot more and (2) they are not as fresh.But the local markets are...

At dusk one rainy day I picked up our car from my Indian mechanic here in Vanuatu, and drove it home.He had said to keep an eye on the temperature after some major engine work, and so I was peering at the gauges when suddenly I realised the bus in front had stopped. Slamming on the brakes, the car...

On a weekly marketing training I attended this morning, I learned how to briefly introduce yourself so that people know who you are, what you do, who you serve, and how you help those people.I found it's unexpectedly difficult to do this!Here's what I came up with after a lot of...

Let's not kid ourselves: Vanuatu is a developing nation, what used to be called a "Third World country"So whereas digital infrastructure like internet is almost as advanced as most first world countries, physical infrastructure like roads is less so, at least for the present,I have seen a lot...

One of the perks of being on my email list is that I sometimes get advance notice of true opportunities and I pass them on.This morning in my incoming email I was surprised to see the prices that a developer in Australia has set for a new residential estate in Vanuatu. I mean REALLY surprised!Now...

After a swim in the ocean in front of us, we had gone back indoors when there was a call of "Oo-oo" outside our door.Not sure how to write that down. It's a 2-part call, higher pitch followed by lower pitch.This call is a polite way to get someone's attention in Vanuatu when you visit...