Thursday, July 31, 2008
Things are lookin good....
I have been at my site for one week so far and I am really starting to like it. I have washed all my clothes in the river at least three times now and I love it. It's so beautiful down there. I swim everyday and jump off cliffs into the water with Kelera when we get bored and there is nothing to do. I am still working out the whole eating situation because I am not used of not have a frig. But I will get the hang of it. I met with alot of people in the village so people are starting to talk to me now and I am learnin the new dialect. I also am playing soccer with some primary school kids and by the way Jason the kids love Twizlers here. WOW! The met the youth in the village which just so happen to be all boys which is a bit intimidating. The rugby coach is also the Asembly of God pastor and for some reason he just thinks I'm it and wants me to play touch rugby everyday with the boys but I play for like 5 minutes cause they are too fast and scary for me then I just move to the side and play soccer. But since I have been in Fiji I have not been allowed to play rugby with the boys the village I live in seem to respect women cause even in the village meeting about me and my safety the women did most of the talking. They have built the fence around my bathroom and shower so I feel really safe now and people come over at night and play cards and so on. We went literally in the bush freakin jungle the other day to clean the village dam and that was pretty interesting. I have pictures of all the swearing in but they are taking forever and I am not sure I will be able to ever get them up in these internet cafes in Tavua. I went to a church service last night that was pretty traumatizing for me. They said that I was the answer to their prayers and so they proceeded to put their palms on me and pray out loud individually for my safety for the next two years and that I don't get home sick. It was scary! Well, I don't have alot of time to write cause I need to get some food for the next week. But I would love to hear from people and what is going on in our lives cause you all know what is going on here in Fiji but I always wonder what is going on in the U.S.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
It's Official!!!
That's right! I am officially a Peace Corps volunteer! It's kind of crazy. I have so much time on my hands I don't even know what to do. Since I have sworn in I have been washing my own clothes in the river in my backyard. Yeah, so life's not so sweet. I am trying to download the pictures from swearing in right now but I am not at my usual internet place and I am in a little remote town so I'm not sure I will be able to put up pics for a while. Things have been rough lately because the excitement of swearing in and finally becoming a Peace Corps volunteer has died down now and I am left sitting in the dark (literally)! It was really hard to say bye to the Pre-Service staff and the other volunteers. Oh yeah, a couple of anouncements I forgot to mention, one, I did pass the language LPI final test with an intermediate low I have moved up for novice high. Quite impressive for this little girl from WV. Thank you! By the way bot everyone passed the test which is crazy. And as a group of volunteers in Fiji we were the first to swear in everyone in our group all 32 of us made it through pre-service trainging. First time ever for Fiji Peace Corps! No one has early terminated YET!
At this point the only thing that is keeping me alive is the fact that Chris is coming at the end of October. I can't explain how exciting that is! I could start crying right now if I really think about how exciting that is for me. As far as my house in the village they fixed the windows and put cage mesh on all the windows and put locks on all the doors. They fixed the shower door too but I just put some extra tin to cover some spots so I feel more comfortable. All they have to do now is to put the bamboo cage to my bathroom. So, basically everything is good i just don't use the bathroom at night. I have the whole place to myself so that's nice. It was hell getting all my stuff to my village. The Peace Corps hired a bus for all the viti levu islanders but by the time the bus would have reached Tavua it would have been 9 at night and there is no transport to my village at that time. So, I had to spend the night with Kiva in Lautoka (The second largest city in Fiji, probably my favorite city so far). Then take a taxi to Ba and then get all my stuff out and get into another taxi from Ba to tavua then get all my stuff out and hire a truck to take my things to my village which wasn't cheap that is for sure. But my counterpart was not there for the first two days which sucked alot and I was very happy to see her yesterday. I went to church yesterday but it was weird because every last Sunday of the month they go to church in family clans which makes no sense to me but whatever. I sat there in a wooden shack sweating and not understanding a word they were saying.
So the people in the village are pretty much banking on the fact that I will be the one to get electricity in their village. Like I am there last hope after all these years of trying. Which is enormous amount of pressure on my side.
I really am starting to miss alot of people from home and things and consequences are getting harder and harder to deal with. I just hope I can deal and stay here in Fiji and help these people get electricity. I have no idea how to do it but at least I have determination. Keep me updated on news from home and remember to write letters to my new address. And don't forget my cellphone works in the village so feel free to text me or/and call please!
Thanks
At this point the only thing that is keeping me alive is the fact that Chris is coming at the end of October. I can't explain how exciting that is! I could start crying right now if I really think about how exciting that is for me. As far as my house in the village they fixed the windows and put cage mesh on all the windows and put locks on all the doors. They fixed the shower door too but I just put some extra tin to cover some spots so I feel more comfortable. All they have to do now is to put the bamboo cage to my bathroom. So, basically everything is good i just don't use the bathroom at night. I have the whole place to myself so that's nice. It was hell getting all my stuff to my village. The Peace Corps hired a bus for all the viti levu islanders but by the time the bus would have reached Tavua it would have been 9 at night and there is no transport to my village at that time. So, I had to spend the night with Kiva in Lautoka (The second largest city in Fiji, probably my favorite city so far). Then take a taxi to Ba and then get all my stuff out and get into another taxi from Ba to tavua then get all my stuff out and hire a truck to take my things to my village which wasn't cheap that is for sure. But my counterpart was not there for the first two days which sucked alot and I was very happy to see her yesterday. I went to church yesterday but it was weird because every last Sunday of the month they go to church in family clans which makes no sense to me but whatever. I sat there in a wooden shack sweating and not understanding a word they were saying.
So the people in the village are pretty much banking on the fact that I will be the one to get electricity in their village. Like I am there last hope after all these years of trying. Which is enormous amount of pressure on my side.
I really am starting to miss alot of people from home and things and consequences are getting harder and harder to deal with. I just hope I can deal and stay here in Fiji and help these people get electricity. I have no idea how to do it but at least I have determination. Keep me updated on news from home and remember to write letters to my new address. And don't forget my cellphone works in the village so feel free to text me or/and call please!
Thanks
Friday, July 18, 2008
My last days in Draubuta!
Okay, I have mixed feelings. I am excited pre-service training is about to be over, but I don't want to leave my host village. I love it here. The people are great and so nice and now I feel like I have to start all over again. I have to learn a whole new dialect and new people. I am excited to start my service though. I talked to the programing staff and they made some changes at my site yesterday! So, there are mesh wiring on all the windows and bolt locks on all the doors and they are fixing my shower door and building a bamboo cage around the walk way to the outhouse. So that makes me feel better. I have contacted the police post in the area and have explained my situation and got contact numbers. I am feeling much better about the safety of my site. So please don't worry I am okay and I will be fine! First impressions were very bad and it will take a while to get used to of this big change. Just when I thought I was starting to feel comfortable my life gets all messed up again and I will be happy to finally get comfortable in my own space. I am excited though for the first night I get to stay the night with Kendall and Kiva in Lautoka the second largest city in Fiji. At least I get one hot shower in the light before I go into the bush. I will be able to get all the stuff I will need there too like laterns and a keorisine stove. And they have some great second hand stores there too and pizza! So i will have a good time before I have to stay at my site in the middle of no where. There have been some changes so I am not sure if Sophia will be able to come with me or not to my village but I sure hope so she will make me happy and occupied.
Culture not was really fun last night and I finally got a henna tattoo on my left hand. It's very interesting and it's really funny when Fijians see it in the village because they think its really funny. Anyways, I really don't have mush to say about this week. I am just excited to spend my last couple of days with my friends before I go off to my village. From there I don't know what I will do but I will figure it out I hope. Oh, yeah I forgot to mention last night i tried a little thing called bat hunting. that's right mom and dad bat hunting! I am all about killing bats. Last night was the most beautiful night ever. The moon was so bright that we didn't even need a flashlight (torch) to find your way. The moon was so bright that there was a shadow when we walked. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen. I felt like I was walking in a movie. But anyways, back to the bats. So you go with a torch and gather a bunch of thick sticks and you have to go to a certain fruit tree that bats eat at night. You stand underneath the tree and shine the torch up into the tree and look for the bats eyes to shine and then when you find one you throw the stick very hard at the bat and knock it down and it falls to te ground and you then kill it. This is very hard and I'm not completely convinced it works, but I love watching others try. I usually just wait for a bat to fly by at night and throw a bunch a rocks into the sky and hope one hits the bat. It is kind of like snype hunting in West Virginia. Those of you who know what that is knows what i am talking about.
Language is going well I guess. We have our final test this Monday, so I'm sure it will be fine. Oh, yeah we had our last HUB day in Draubuta last Monday. it went really well and our meke (Fijian dance) was a big hit. I guess this was the first time in 5 years that anyone in Draubuta has performed a meke in public because a lay preacher from another village came in and said that meke was not allowed. So that was interesting to break that tabu (taboo). I have video of it but I am not sure how to get it on my blog. I also have video of the trainees in the Indian Settlement doing a dance. Take notice of my new address on the left of this page. My address has changed to my site village. When packages come in I will get a slip at my home and I will go to town and pick it up. Please don't send anymore mail to the old address because I probably won't get it for a very long time cause the Peace Corps will hold it forever in their office. And it will take me a while to get to Suva again from my village. And don't forget I have my cellphone I have been trying to send text messages to some people so let me know if they are going through. I think for someone to call me that they have to buy an international phone card and my cell phone # is 927-8982 but you have to dial the Fiji country code 679 and sometimes you might have to dial 011 before that so just play with it and see what works. I do love it when I get text messages and calls on my cell though its not very reliable. I will try to answer your call! thank you! I hope everyone is doing fine and I hope I hear from everyone. Thank you for all the packages everyone!
Culture not was really fun last night and I finally got a henna tattoo on my left hand. It's very interesting and it's really funny when Fijians see it in the village because they think its really funny. Anyways, I really don't have mush to say about this week. I am just excited to spend my last couple of days with my friends before I go off to my village. From there I don't know what I will do but I will figure it out I hope. Oh, yeah I forgot to mention last night i tried a little thing called bat hunting. that's right mom and dad bat hunting! I am all about killing bats. Last night was the most beautiful night ever. The moon was so bright that we didn't even need a flashlight (torch) to find your way. The moon was so bright that there was a shadow when we walked. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen. I felt like I was walking in a movie. But anyways, back to the bats. So you go with a torch and gather a bunch of thick sticks and you have to go to a certain fruit tree that bats eat at night. You stand underneath the tree and shine the torch up into the tree and look for the bats eyes to shine and then when you find one you throw the stick very hard at the bat and knock it down and it falls to te ground and you then kill it. This is very hard and I'm not completely convinced it works, but I love watching others try. I usually just wait for a bat to fly by at night and throw a bunch a rocks into the sky and hope one hits the bat. It is kind of like snype hunting in West Virginia. Those of you who know what that is knows what i am talking about.
Language is going well I guess. We have our final test this Monday, so I'm sure it will be fine. Oh, yeah we had our last HUB day in Draubuta last Monday. it went really well and our meke (Fijian dance) was a big hit. I guess this was the first time in 5 years that anyone in Draubuta has performed a meke in public because a lay preacher from another village came in and said that meke was not allowed. So that was interesting to break that tabu (taboo). I have video of it but I am not sure how to get it on my blog. I also have video of the trainees in the Indian Settlement doing a dance. Take notice of my new address on the left of this page. My address has changed to my site village. When packages come in I will get a slip at my home and I will go to town and pick it up. Please don't send anymore mail to the old address because I probably won't get it for a very long time cause the Peace Corps will hold it forever in their office. And it will take me a while to get to Suva again from my village. And don't forget I have my cellphone I have been trying to send text messages to some people so let me know if they are going through. I think for someone to call me that they have to buy an international phone card and my cell phone # is 927-8982 but you have to dial the Fiji country code 679 and sometimes you might have to dial 011 before that so just play with it and see what works. I do love it when I get text messages and calls on my cell though its not very reliable. I will try to answer your call! thank you! I hope everyone is doing fine and I hope I hear from everyone. Thank you for all the packages everyone!
Friday, July 11, 2008
my site visit to Waikubukubu village
First and formost I need to send out some thank you's. Jason Duffield thank you so much for the huge box of toys. I recieved the box yesterday and the kids especially Rusi went CRAZY!!! Rusi went through the box and kept grabbing anything he could and was saying nogu which means mine, mine, mine all mine! My host parents were laughing. We were playing basketball last night with the toy and I gave the stuff animals to the girls and they love the light up flying disks those things are awesome. So thank you so much Jason that meant alot to me and the kids. My host parents asked me this morning to send you regards and their love to you for the gifts! And for my other thank you Rebecca I just got done looking at your pics of the wedding. And i'm not going to lie i am trying to get myself together here in this internet cafe. I was bawling for sure. It was beautiful and I wish so much I was there. My god, you are beautiful. Talk about being jealous! I love the wedding cake with the butterflies, so you! i love the pics and Josh you look good to but just because my smelly cousin makes you look good! hehehe sorry your part of the family now!!!
So about my site visit, I put my pics up so check them out the mountains are wonderful, but it is a hard place to live. I am not going to say much about my visit cause quite honestly it was hell. The first 24 hours I was there I probably cried about 6 hours of it. they have no electricity and no generator and sometimes running water. I first got there and it took about 2 hours from a small remote town (Tavua) to get to my village in the interior of the island. I met everyone in the dark and it was scary I presented my sevusevu to the chief to welcome me into the village in the dark and my shower was questionable. the village is small with about 50-70 people which is very small and i probably only met about 5 kids since I was there which is depressing. there are 10 villages past mine that are even more remote but they all have electricity and running water which doesn't make since. I think my main project for the next two years is to get electricity for this village and how one American girl to do that I have no freakin clue. What makes me think Fiji Electic Co. is going to listen to me. Anyways, the next morning I was so excited to get some sunlight to walk around but even during the day people stay inside in dark rooms and I can't stand that. They don't play outside or do anything. They have a completely different dialect than what I have been learning so no one could understand me so no one really talked to me. It was awful, I drank their water to see if it was good enough never again will I do that because I got really sick and passed out. So i learned my lesson on that one. But food is an issue because there is not refrig and they eat dalo and ro ro leaves which I cannot live off of for 2 years. The shower is an issue because it's either in the river which i am not comfortable with becuase there are guys walking arund everywhere. My house is okay but they gave me a tiny little room and use the rest for their storage and I feel like I don'thave my own space and the family that used to live there still kind of do which sucks becuase there are people walking in and out there are way too many doors and windows in the house that don't lock and are completely unsafe for my to live in. I am not worried about the village people bothering me or harrassing me but the men that come from all over Fiji to cut sugarcane around my village that bothers me because they don't know who I am and if I am showering in the river or my makeshift shower where the door doesn't shut and swings open and i am way too tall for it i am to get on my knees to shower they will jump me and I am not comfortable with that at all. So have to have a serious talk with the safty and security office abuot my housing and I hate it because I feel like I don't have my own space for 2 years. I will not live with a family for two years because they won't let me do anything or go outside. i don't know how I am going to run because it's all mountains and it unsafe for me to walk on the road because of the sugarcane cutters. I am going to stop complaining right now cause I could go on for days right now. I have to keep positive. But the other people in my group all have mansions in cities and when i say mansions I mean mansions. I will take pics and show everyone and we can just have a comparison. I am not mad I am in the bush but I am upset about not having my own space and my safety and security. I am not sure how to deal with all of this and it's been really hard to come back to my host village and hear everyone else's great stories about their sites. I know there is alot of work in my village to get done so that's a plus and I can bring Sophia there and that makes me happy for can be light in the day or in my case during the night because I just sit in the dark and stare at the walls at night. But I am really ahppy to be back to my host village and hang out and see everyone for a few more weeks before I have to go back to Waikubukubu. I just have to get some strenth from somewhere.
So, things that I may need when I move from home are a headlight, that's right Kelsey I do need a headlight for mu large forehead cause I can't see shit. More socks because it is FREEZING there no kidding I feel like I literally went back to WV. and finally long lasting batteries for my flashlights. So, monday we have hub day at my village and my group is doing 5 mekes which are Fijian dances and I will have someone take video of that and you all can see them next time I get to a computer. I think that is all I have to say right now and i will try to have more positive comments next time I hope. Just in a hard time right now and I have no idea how to deal or cope with it. Love and miss everyone a whole hell of alot right now! oh yeah my cell is working dial 011 679 927 8982 but you have to use a international phone card or have international on you ground phone. Thank you!
So about my site visit, I put my pics up so check them out the mountains are wonderful, but it is a hard place to live. I am not going to say much about my visit cause quite honestly it was hell. The first 24 hours I was there I probably cried about 6 hours of it. they have no electricity and no generator and sometimes running water. I first got there and it took about 2 hours from a small remote town (Tavua) to get to my village in the interior of the island. I met everyone in the dark and it was scary I presented my sevusevu to the chief to welcome me into the village in the dark and my shower was questionable. the village is small with about 50-70 people which is very small and i probably only met about 5 kids since I was there which is depressing. there are 10 villages past mine that are even more remote but they all have electricity and running water which doesn't make since. I think my main project for the next two years is to get electricity for this village and how one American girl to do that I have no freakin clue. What makes me think Fiji Electic Co. is going to listen to me. Anyways, the next morning I was so excited to get some sunlight to walk around but even during the day people stay inside in dark rooms and I can't stand that. They don't play outside or do anything. They have a completely different dialect than what I have been learning so no one could understand me so no one really talked to me. It was awful, I drank their water to see if it was good enough never again will I do that because I got really sick and passed out. So i learned my lesson on that one. But food is an issue because there is not refrig and they eat dalo and ro ro leaves which I cannot live off of for 2 years. The shower is an issue because it's either in the river which i am not comfortable with becuase there are guys walking arund everywhere. My house is okay but they gave me a tiny little room and use the rest for their storage and I feel like I don'thave my own space and the family that used to live there still kind of do which sucks becuase there are people walking in and out there are way too many doors and windows in the house that don't lock and are completely unsafe for my to live in. I am not worried about the village people bothering me or harrassing me but the men that come from all over Fiji to cut sugarcane around my village that bothers me because they don't know who I am and if I am showering in the river or my makeshift shower where the door doesn't shut and swings open and i am way too tall for it i am to get on my knees to shower they will jump me and I am not comfortable with that at all. So have to have a serious talk with the safty and security office abuot my housing and I hate it because I feel like I don't have my own space for 2 years. I will not live with a family for two years because they won't let me do anything or go outside. i don't know how I am going to run because it's all mountains and it unsafe for me to walk on the road because of the sugarcane cutters. I am going to stop complaining right now cause I could go on for days right now. I have to keep positive. But the other people in my group all have mansions in cities and when i say mansions I mean mansions. I will take pics and show everyone and we can just have a comparison. I am not mad I am in the bush but I am upset about not having my own space and my safety and security. I am not sure how to deal with all of this and it's been really hard to come back to my host village and hear everyone else's great stories about their sites. I know there is alot of work in my village to get done so that's a plus and I can bring Sophia there and that makes me happy for can be light in the day or in my case during the night because I just sit in the dark and stare at the walls at night. But I am really ahppy to be back to my host village and hang out and see everyone for a few more weeks before I have to go back to Waikubukubu. I just have to get some strenth from somewhere.
So, things that I may need when I move from home are a headlight, that's right Kelsey I do need a headlight for mu large forehead cause I can't see shit. More socks because it is FREEZING there no kidding I feel like I literally went back to WV. and finally long lasting batteries for my flashlights. So, monday we have hub day at my village and my group is doing 5 mekes which are Fijian dances and I will have someone take video of that and you all can see them next time I get to a computer. I think that is all I have to say right now and i will try to have more positive comments next time I hope. Just in a hard time right now and I have no idea how to deal or cope with it. Love and miss everyone a whole hell of alot right now! oh yeah my cell is working dial 011 679 927 8982 but you have to use a international phone card or have international on you ground phone. Thank you!
Friday, July 4, 2008
More pics
click on the link to the left then click on My Photos and then the album Meet Sophia and look at the other one's with captions this time!
So much to say......
Okay, let me first start out about where I will be living for the next 2 years of my life. I am very extremely happy about where I will be placed. I will go next week to visit my site and the people i will be workinig with. I will be living on the west side of the main island (Viti Levu). I am kind of living in the interior of the island which is unsual for a volunteer most are on the edge or coast. But i will be living in a village called Waikubukubu (literally meaning water swishing around in your mouth, aka they are known for their waterfalls). I am in a very isolated village with only 33 households. The village is very excited about my arrival and have already built my house and it ready to be moved in. the closet city to me in abuot 45 minutes away. the bus only comes twice a day to my village so if i miss that i only have two other option. one flag down a car to take me to town or horse riding! yeah that's right, by the way did ride myself a cow, very interesting I will try to pics of that one. I don't know yet if I will be living in a tin house or a bure like the old Fijian houses made of straw. I am kind of hoping for a bure. But there is quite a catch to my living situation. I have a tap so i will have water in my village but i don't think acutal running water. The main problem is that I will not have electricity! yeah, you heard me NO ELECTRICITY! hehehe I will keep you updated with that situation. I am mainly working with the women's group in the village and also the youth group. I am very happy with this assignment because this is what i really wanted. i feel pretty nervous though because they will be expecting alot from me and i think of myself of a little girl from ol' West Virginia still and I need to get it in my head that I do have something to offer to these people. So, in a few weeks it's going to be me and lil Sophia and all my stuff riding on the bus to my village. I can't wait. I have never been so nervous. I have heard that they people of my village I will be moving into are very exctied to meet me and they have been preparing for a long time now. the last time a peace corps volunteer has had contact with this village is in 2000. so they are pretty fresh to work with. So, i do have Dave to the north of me in Ba, Kiva and Kendall to the left of me in Lautoka, and sylvia south west of me in Nadi. My village is about 91 kilometers from Nadi, which is good so when people visit me I can get to the airport pretty easily and we won't have a lot of travel time and that means we save money. my supervisor is the turaga ni koro which is crazy cause he is like the right hand man to the chief. I also have alot of Indo-fijians around my village because on the west coast where i will be living they produce alot of sugarcane. It is very hot and sunny not alot of rain so that is great! I am pretty far from a beach, but there is a wharf in my village where there is gold mining and a river flows from the ocean and people swim and take a ride to the ocean. That's exciting can't wait to see that. Hopefully, next saturday i can put up pics of my site and let you guys know how it is. There is also a girls league for soccer in the Tavua the nearest town for me to play. My counterpart is a girl (thank God) and her name is Kelera Vauvau I heard she is great and gets alot of work done. I think I will have alot to do which is good cause i don't want to be bored in the dark with Sophia. Okay i think that is all i have now for my site just a few other topics i like to talk about.
So my host mom likes to buy me little things every once in while. She bought me this huge bright pink towel to use cause I used one of my towels to give Sophia a head and shoulders bath to kill the 800 fleas she has. So, i am pretty sure i told her a hate pink but yet she still keeps buying me pink things, but i wear them with pride. oh yeah she also but for the 4th of july for me huge hoop earrings that are bright red with white pock-a-dots. Yeah i was very patriotic on the 4th.
for the 4th of july kendall, sylvia and I made no bake cookies they were a big hit. this mornging we did our youth workshop for waste disposal in the village. It went really well. I spent three hours picking up trash but i think we opened people's eyes. cause they saw a whitie picking up their trash in their yard on a saturday kind of embarrassing. the village is started to recylcle so that's a good start.
And finally I got a cellphone. you would have to dial 001-679-927-8982.I can also receive text messages. I can call too but it costs alot of money that i don't have so it's free from someone to call me from the states. all incoming calls and texts are free for me. I feel much safer too walking around with a cellphone!Well, I hope all is well and enjoy the more pictures i just posted and with captions!
So my host mom likes to buy me little things every once in while. She bought me this huge bright pink towel to use cause I used one of my towels to give Sophia a head and shoulders bath to kill the 800 fleas she has. So, i am pretty sure i told her a hate pink but yet she still keeps buying me pink things, but i wear them with pride. oh yeah she also but for the 4th of july for me huge hoop earrings that are bright red with white pock-a-dots. Yeah i was very patriotic on the 4th.
for the 4th of july kendall, sylvia and I made no bake cookies they were a big hit. this mornging we did our youth workshop for waste disposal in the village. It went really well. I spent three hours picking up trash but i think we opened people's eyes. cause they saw a whitie picking up their trash in their yard on a saturday kind of embarrassing. the village is started to recylcle so that's a good start.
And finally I got a cellphone. you would have to dial 001-679-927-8982.I can also receive text messages. I can call too but it costs alot of money that i don't have so it's free from someone to call me from the states. all incoming calls and texts are free for me. I feel much safer too walking around with a cellphone!Well, I hope all is well and enjoy the more pictures i just posted and with captions!
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