In a Fijian village.....

Holy crap! I didn't think I was going to ever get to a computer again! Okay, so I currently am now living in a Fijian village. It's very different than what I am used to. My family is really cool. The group of trainees that are in my village are perfect. Their names are Kiva and Kendall from upstate New York, Dave from Pittsburgh, PA and Sylvia from L.A. They are really cool and they are a great support group. My host mom used to be a 8th grade school teacher but isn't anymore because the wages suck. My host Dad is my favorite he is a soldier in the Fiji Army. He as been all over the world. He is injured now so he is always home. I am struggling with the gender roles right now, but it's cool at my home because my host Dad likes to help out and doesn't make my host Mom do everything like everyone else. They don't have any kids but they have raised a few kids here and there. Right now they are raising a 3 year old boy named Rusi (Roosee). He is crazy and very violent little boy. I have bruises on my legs from him kicking me and one day I will kick back and he won't know what to do! He doesn't speak any english hnd hardly any Fijian. He just screams! Actually no one rally speaks English at all. Which is hard to understand anything that is going on. I am constantly getting laughed at. Rusi also enjoys watching me get dress and during my bucket baths he likes to peek through the wooden door. He always has snot running down his entire face and likes to go through my hair clamps. The other day I fell asleep on my bed while he was playing with all hair ties and I woke up with him running around crying because he got his finger stuck in my hair clamp. SO FUNNY! but anyways i don't have running water and the water is very limited I love waking up and seeing my grandma panties swinging in the wind to dry. Really builds up the confidence and I have managed to use only one bucket of water for my body and hair for a bath. Sometimes we have electricity and on my side on the room but not always. We have no phone and one channel on the TV if we have electricity. I am not crazy about the food but I eat. I haven't really been sick too much. I run everyday to get some time of exercise. I have lost some wait cause I feel like I am eating more fruit and not so much fat foods like pizza which I would die for right now! Or even just a slice of CHEESE! At first i was really struggling with the language but I am putting in some extra work and catching on. The last couple of days have been pretty rough and it's been hard being away from the people I love, but I can see the people of Fiji really need assistance from us some days that is the only thing that keeps me here cause me heart is in two states WV and NC. I am mailing some letters this week so keep an eye open people. Mail is my best way of communicating right now during training. When I move out on my own it will be easier to contact home. Two dates that are good to keep in mind are July 4th and July 24th. July 4th is our site announcements which will tell me where I will be living and working in Fiji for the next 2 years and July 24 is swearing-in ceremony where I actually become a volunteer. I can see why they say the Peace Corps isn't for everyone because this is hard. No joke about it. This is really one of the hardest things I have ever done. I can't believe some of the things I am dealing with. I really had a hard day on Sunday and Monday. WIth some church services and gender issues. Everywhere you go in the village there is rank, at church, home, community hall meeting, kitchen table (if you have one and my family sure doesn't). But you can't go any where with equality! there is no one place where everyone can be equal and I can't handle that too well. Even giving offering at church you have to give in order to your relationship to the Chief and by the way out chief is so chill. He look just like Ray Charles. He has something wrong with his eyes and has to wear sunglasses which is so taboo in a village but he is the chief so he can do whatever he wants I guess. But he makes me laugh because I just see him shooting up in the bathroom or something I don't know. Anyways, my family is last in rank so we have to wait to do everything last just because of birth right. That is so annoying to me. Why can't we all just give our offering at the same time. And then there is a man up at the head of the church sitting at a table counting all the money in front of everyone. He writes down how much each family gives. That was hard for me to grasp. Then the women do everything. They have to sit in the back of the room. Wash clothes, cook food, take care of the kids, and so on. But that is why I like my host Dad because he washes the dishes and helps cooking and I love him for that. If it wasn't for him I don't know what I would do. So, i am trying to get over these roles because right now since i am still new at the village i get special treatment but i know soon that will fade and I will be expected to take a woman's role in the village. And ya know I won't be able to keep my mouth shut. Anyways, I am also worried about the health stuff and I hope that they place me at a site that will be fitting for me as far as my background. and I would love to see the ocean soon. I have only seen it once and I am losing my tan here which who the heck loses a tan in Fiji? I guess only Peace Corps volunteers. But this Friday we have water safety at the beach and I can't wait even just to get out of a freakin' skirt for God's sake. Well, I am trying to think of more to say. I hope all is well. It's been hard and I know that it is only going to get harder soon. So, i have been thinking alot about home and feeling guilty for not being apart of people lives. I want to know what is going on. I hate this no contact to the outside world. But hopefully i can concentrate on my work here and not be so homesick for people and FOOD! My typical day though here is that I wake up at 7 am that's right folks 7AM and get ready and eat a huge breakfast. then walk 2 minutes to my community hall and have language from 8am to about 10am then morning tea which means more food. then talk about cross culture matters from 10:30 to noon then lunch. From one to sometimes five but usually earlier health tech and lectures and meeting different health people around fiji and learn about what they do in the health promotion in Fiji. Then come home usually run in the rain and take a buck bath and fight Rusi off my back and study my language and then dinner. Watch some TV with the fam then off to bed to write letters. Man the first night at my host families house I was so scared I fell asleep with my flashlight on in one hand and a whistle in the other. I didn't know the language the people and I knew I was in the middle of nowhere in Fiji. The rain here is crazy it rains so hard and fast and doe not STOP! It is hard sometimes because we are going to places where people have don't see Americans and I can feel the safety issues and the looks. But we are never alone we always have a native with us. But it is really hard. Most people I have met are very nice and usually try to get me to marry a Indian boy they might know. They are all about marrying one of us off. Not me though I'm taken. Going to town is quite the task and is very intemidating to me. It is chaos people are everywhere there is no such thing as personal space. I could feel sometimes the tension between the native Fijians and indo-Fijians (indians). I can't wait to go to Suva soon the capital and see the sights and the rest of Fiji. I will hopefully get some pics up of my fellow trainees and host family. You all are going to love Rusi! Well, I love you all and think about you all the time. Miss you!