“Yu nem blong yu huyia?” (“You, your name is who?“) Jenny can’t be more than 8 or 9 years old. Her face is a study in earnest concentration. She’s seen me walking down the road, and has stopped to wait for me.

I tell her my name as she adjusts her pace to mine, and she nods. Whether approvingly or not, I can’t tell. “Where are you from?”

“Canada.”

“Ah… Canada.” I’m not sure what this signifies to her, but her next question takes me by surprise. “So you don’t have a God? You worship Allah?”

I refrain from correcting the first statement and simply tell her I was raised Catholic.

“So your sabbath is on Saturday?”

“Sunday,” I gently correct her.

“But your women, they’re very small, aren’t they?” I stifle a chuckle.

“My mother is very short, but that’s not common for us.”

Noting her white shirt and blue skirt, I ask her why she’s not in school right now.

“I’m not going to school today,” she replies in a matter-of-fact tone. Apparently the explanation suffices for her. I ask her where she’s going. She replies with the name of a village and nods down the road.

We reach the junction with the road uphill to Isangel and I take my leave, respectfully thanking her for the conversation.

Women from all over Tanna come to Lenakel to sell their goods on Market Day.

Tons more Tanna photos here.

Everyone has time to say hello in Lenakel.

Stella and her husband own a resort near Lenakel in Tanna. She’s from the Solomon Islands but hasn’t been back since the violence 6-odd years ago.

I met Chief Ieru one afternoon as he was walking home on the road out of Lenakel. We gave him a lift for a few kilometres.

In return for the ride and some small change, he agreed to pose for me.

Then he sang me a song. In a baritone voice smooth as an old oak cask, he improvised a bantering verse that, among other things, listed every community in Port Vila, from Freswota 1,2,3,4 and 5 to Mele, Mele Maat and the underwater post office at Hideaway Island.

It was one of the more impressive examples of comedic improvisation I’ve seen in years.