In my last blog I mentioned that I had gotten Creeped. But I forgot that most of you are not familiar with the Ni-Van culture and therefore may not understand what ‘creeping’ exactly is. Well, just think back to the story of Romeo and Juliet a long time ago. In the middle of the night, Romeo came secretly to Juliet’s window and affectingly called to her, hoping that they might have a secret rendezvous. In Shakespeare’s story, this type of action is seen as romantic since the two parties were involved with each other, but ‘creeping’ in the Ni-Van sense is thought to be romantic but in reality is not. Especially for me. Now I might be biased, but personally I think ‘Creeping’ is the rudest and most unaffectionate form of flattery EVER. The concept is simple, in the middle of the night, while you are sleeping so peacefully, a person comes to your house/window and wakes you up in hopes that you will want to come outside with him/her and “storian”.
Why, do you ask, would ‘creeping’ be something that one would want to partake in? I guess you could say there is a small danger aspect, in the event that you are caught or spotted by someone in your community, which makes it a little thrilling but I doubt very much that that is the true reason. You see, Personal Display of Affection, or most commonly known as PDA, is pretty much nonexistent here in Vanuatu. The concept of ‘dating’ and having boyfriends/girlfriends is only something that is just being introduced now. The only way that two individuals can meet together privately, seeing that a village is just basically extended, extended relatives, is to sneak away into the bush under the protection of the moon.
Now, I guess I can be a little open minded and understand that ‘creeping’ is something that is a part of the culture here, but until it happens to you I will take leave for you to make your own judgments. For the most part ‘creeping’ is a way for youngfalas to rebel and not always be under the eyes of the community, but creeping is one of the main reasons for teen pregnancies. Since birth control is practically nonexistent here, every time a ‘creeping’ occurs that’s usually one more teen mom or baby being born. As I said before, dating is only a very new concept. The idea is that if you start dating someone or if you get pregnant and others know about it then you are ‘blocked together’ and you will eventually marry. Seeing how this is really final, the concept of ‘creeping’ is still alive and well since it is something that can be casual or serious in a secret fashion, so that there is no knowledge by anyone else and no commitment…until of course a baby appears.
