It's just how the game is. If it was a fast game, people would get bored with it more easily, and the game would be finished in a few hours! Virtual Villagers is a slow paced casual game, like taking care of a pet in real life. You can't jump straight into taking your dog to pet shows and training centres in the first day, you need time and patience, and it will reward you.
There are so many things you can do with this game, like breeding certain villagers to make a whole blonde haired tribe (VV2 and VV3), changing the game files to make your game suit you, and completing the collections/puzzles.
I love the fact that Virtual Villagers takes a while. At the moment I am running 5 tribes, 4 of them unfinished.
The game seems to go faster when you are having fun - remember that.