Sunday, August 31, 2008
put up some more pics!
Just a quick post letting you guys know that I put up 35 more pictures of my village. I will be trying to take more pictures of more people in the village that way you can see some faces that I see everyday!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Keepin it current...
Though I have been able to get to a computer often lately. I always have so much to say cause I experience stuff so fast on a daily basis that is blog worthy. So, I write it down in my lil notebook to talk about it when I get to town. I know that I have mentioned our rugby team before, but I am not sure that I talked about how good they are. We didn't win the tournament but they are a very good team. They aren't has big as the other teams, but they can hit hard and they are very fast. So they just fly past people. But the same team that won last year won this year too.
Also when I was in Nadala (the village past mine) I met a woman named Flora. She was very nice and the weird thing was she was white, but Fijian at the same time. Her father is a Frenchman and her mother is Fijian and she was raised in a Fijian village her whole life. She looks just like a white woman but speaks Fijian. She was to go to France a couple of years ago to meet her father who is a very rich man (an engineer in France). She had the plane ticket and everything and the day before she was to leave she got randomly married to a Fijian man. Which means she can't leave and she was stuck in that man's village for the rest of her life. But she seems so happy, but after meeting her I couldn't help but to think how much her life could have changed. She could have had a completely different life for herself and I wonder if she would have been as happy. It is just so remarkable how by one decision a person makes can change their life forever. She has a little son named Kali who I absolutely love and he was drawn to me (most kids are not) because me and his mother looked so much the same with our light skin. it was so cute he would run up to me and say you look like my mommy and that made him so happy to see another person look like his mom whom he adored. It was just a great relief to meet someone that puts up with the harassments of looking different in a Fijian village. Cause it is hard people don't have a buffer they will say whatever they want. Hurtful or not. So it was good to see another surviving "European" in a village.
Oh yeah I have a very serious rat problem in my house now and I have purchased rat poison and placed it fabulously throughout the house but I don't think it's working. So i will need to come up with other tactics to kill! They are so loud at night I wake up from them running around the house at night. And have to clean up their poo every morning.
So last week there was a Kindergarden meeting that actually happened. The kindergarden hasn't been happening because the current teacher had a baby and now school is about to start up again and they want the kindergarden back in place in the village. But people have a problem with the current teacher saying that she is not turning in the reports to the committee to turn into the Ministry of Education to fund the Kinder. But she is and she is complaining that the committee are the ones that are not turning in the reports. It's like sometimes I feel like I was dropped right in the middle of a Jerry Springer show. The village drama and politics will blow your mind. So the parents that didn't like the current teacher didn't attend the meeting. Which doesn't make sense so we were going on the fact that they hard people didn't like her. But she is the only one that has experience and qualifications to teach the kinder. But Kelera my counterpart is also qualified but doesn't want to do it because she is already apart of another organization and dealing with me and the Peace Corps so she has too much on her plate. So the only other person is the President on the Kinder's wife. She went and received 6 weeks of training to be the new teacher but it is against the Kinder rules because she is the President's wife and that could be a way of them getting extra money cause the President is bias because his wife is the new teacher. So basically we have no teacher and can't decide . I say have the old teacher but she got tired of people accusing her of things and resigned right there in the meeting which was funny to me because they people there was for her and not against her. So i said screw the parents who don't like the teacher don't send your kid to Kinder then. That's the end no more to talk about. But now they are going to have a village meeting Tuesday to decide what teacher , but there isn't any options because Kelera doesn't want to do it and the other teacher isn't allowed. So that meeting should be very interesting. I can't wait for them to be like why don't the Peace Corps volunteer do it and I am going to laugh in their face because one I hate kids and two I am NOT qualified by any means and just because I am from American doesn't make me qualified to teach a Kindergarden. So we will see, I will keep you updated on the Fijian village drama.
So the preacher's wife (asembly of God) keeps inviting me to dinner and breakfast and I love it! They food is so good! One someone invites you to dinner or over to their house you are to bring something so for lunch I brought apples and for dinner I brought cooked sausages. Which just so happen to be what we were eating for dinner so we had alot of sausages. Sausages here are like my pizza in the U.S. I look forward to the sausages which is sad. She goes back this week to being a teacher up in Nadala and I am sad cause she is so cool and talks to me in really good English and makes me feel welcomed and treats me the same as everyone else. And gives me cooking tips and very important information about people in the village.
Also since the kids have been out of school for 2 weeks the worst 2 weeks in the village and I can't wait for the kids to go back. They have been coming over to my house asking for help on their English homework. Which I am all about helping them. This one little girl comes over who is in grade 6 I spent like 2 hours on her homework and then it went into Math. Which I felt really bad cause I was not much help at all. But she has got her English down. (A+)
So since the kids are home all day I don't get anytime by myself. When I go to bed at night I am telling people to leave my house so I can sleep. Then as soon as I open my doors in the morning kids are just sitting there to come in and hang out. I hate it because I want to eat and it is so rude to eat in from of someone without offering food and trust me these kids will eat my food they don't care but I don't have alot of food for these Fijian kids to eat me out of the house cause I just have enough for little ol me. So i have to wait to get to a point where I am so hungry I dont care anymore I just sit there and ask permission to eat and go. I don't offer or nothing it is getting to the point where I am to break those culture norms and be myself be reasonable because I have to eat I don't care anymore leave my freakin house for 5 secs to i can have a life. Like one morning I woke up and turned on my radio to try to get some descent news and make breakfast and I get the Methodist Preacher at my door asking to look at his daughter's foot that was cut last night and needs help. and i was like oh my god it's going to be so bad with blood everywhere and I won't be able to eat my breakfast. I know that is bad to think but I don't have a strong stomach for this stuff especially where I have people at my door before i wake up at 6:30 in the morning. Before I pick the crust out of my eyes I have already having my name called. So I go over their with my little medical kid and pretty much her last two toes on her foot are almost completely cut off cause she stepped on a knife. She probably needed stitches but of course I can't do that. So i just clean up the dry blood wash out with soap and water and then warm salt water and rumbing alcohol and then put ointment on use butterfly band aids to keep her toes on and wrap it up so it will heal not deformed. That is the best I could do. And I should them how they need to clean it out like 2 times a day and do this stuff and don't walk around with flip flops on and don't put smashed green leaves thinking the Fijian magic medicine will work it will get worse. That is the best I can do.
So Nat and mark guys on the rugby team and good friends of mine came over one night to hang out. They brought over lemon juice which would be their beer or grog but they are 7th day so they keep it clean which it fine with me. I feel safer. But they were talking about how they want to come to America so bad and meet some American girls to marry. It was so funny the stuff they were saying. Like they were going to bring their loli's (blow pops) and cream buns (they greatest things on earth that I want to make popular in America) and ask a girl to marry them. I was explaining to them that is not how that works back in the states. But it was a very funny night to hear them talk about getting a wife in America and what they want to do in life. But in the back on my mind I was thinking they are never going to get out of the life they are in right now. I that makes me so sad cause they have so much potential to become a successful person in life. But they can't wait to meet Chris at the end of October because they are "Brothers in color" Yes those are the same words he used which cracks me up cause they concept of African-Americans is hard for them to wrap their minds around that everyone is not white. They are really excited to play rugby with him because they saw the pictures of him ans notice that he his big and athletic and played American football for college. So they wanted to see if he was going to be around to be in one of their rugby tournaments. It's very funny I can't wait for Chris to experience this too!
So remember Tomasi (little boy with infected toe) his parents now are so grateful and nice to me that I have taken him the hospital for two days in the a row for his injections. Tomasi's dad is the chairman of the village so he pretty much runs they place and always comes over to my house before I go to sleep and walks around to check if everything is okay. Cause lately I have been by myself living without kelera cause she has had some family stuff to take care of at the farm on the outskirts of the village. So one night people didn't leave my house til 12:30 at night and he came over checking and asking if I am okay and so on. I said yes I am fine all the doors are locked and I am alone. So then 5 minutes later i hear someone outside my door and I am who the crap is that. And it's him again but this time with his wife whom I really like cause she really does care about her son and his toe. So she came and asked too if I was okay and needed anything. I was thinking you guys care more about me than you do your own son. I don't understand. Though it can get really annoying to be treated like 4 year old as if I have never lived on my own before I know they are asking to be nice and they really do care about my safety in the village. SO that is nice to know.
So we had our first death in the village. It was Kelera's father's cousin (don't ask about the relation they don't even know everyone is related in Fiji) died riding a sugar cane tractor and fell through and one of the tires ran over him slicing his body in half. He was only in his 40's which is sad and had a wife and 3 kids (1 daughter and 2 sons). So people are very upset about it obviously and the funeral will be sometime this week. They were telling me that every school vacation the kids have someone always dies in the village. That it is a curse or something. And they were telling me who died everytime vacation happened. So that is kind a scary.
Finally, I have thought of another thing on th wish list. French vanilla cappuccino mix. That would be so good in the morning than coffee all the time and it's instant coffee so it sucks. So i would appreciate that very much thank you! That's all I have for now I hope everyone is still enjoying this blog and I am trying to keep it updated the best I can. Let me know if there is anything else I can do. I was to put up more pictures this time around but left my camera at the village so I will have to try next week. But I only have about 30 or so it shouldn't take long. I need to take more pictures of people that I am talking about in my blog so you guys can put faces to names and people I talk to and play with everyday! Sorry I have been slacking in my picture taking but if you know me well that is to be expected. Miss everyone so please keep updating me on your life too!
Also when I was in Nadala (the village past mine) I met a woman named Flora. She was very nice and the weird thing was she was white, but Fijian at the same time. Her father is a Frenchman and her mother is Fijian and she was raised in a Fijian village her whole life. She looks just like a white woman but speaks Fijian. She was to go to France a couple of years ago to meet her father who is a very rich man (an engineer in France). She had the plane ticket and everything and the day before she was to leave she got randomly married to a Fijian man. Which means she can't leave and she was stuck in that man's village for the rest of her life. But she seems so happy, but after meeting her I couldn't help but to think how much her life could have changed. She could have had a completely different life for herself and I wonder if she would have been as happy. It is just so remarkable how by one decision a person makes can change their life forever. She has a little son named Kali who I absolutely love and he was drawn to me (most kids are not) because me and his mother looked so much the same with our light skin. it was so cute he would run up to me and say you look like my mommy and that made him so happy to see another person look like his mom whom he adored. It was just a great relief to meet someone that puts up with the harassments of looking different in a Fijian village. Cause it is hard people don't have a buffer they will say whatever they want. Hurtful or not. So it was good to see another surviving "European" in a village.
Oh yeah I have a very serious rat problem in my house now and I have purchased rat poison and placed it fabulously throughout the house but I don't think it's working. So i will need to come up with other tactics to kill! They are so loud at night I wake up from them running around the house at night. And have to clean up their poo every morning.
So last week there was a Kindergarden meeting that actually happened. The kindergarden hasn't been happening because the current teacher had a baby and now school is about to start up again and they want the kindergarden back in place in the village. But people have a problem with the current teacher saying that she is not turning in the reports to the committee to turn into the Ministry of Education to fund the Kinder. But she is and she is complaining that the committee are the ones that are not turning in the reports. It's like sometimes I feel like I was dropped right in the middle of a Jerry Springer show. The village drama and politics will blow your mind. So the parents that didn't like the current teacher didn't attend the meeting. Which doesn't make sense so we were going on the fact that they hard people didn't like her. But she is the only one that has experience and qualifications to teach the kinder. But Kelera my counterpart is also qualified but doesn't want to do it because she is already apart of another organization and dealing with me and the Peace Corps so she has too much on her plate. So the only other person is the President on the Kinder's wife. She went and received 6 weeks of training to be the new teacher but it is against the Kinder rules because she is the President's wife and that could be a way of them getting extra money cause the President is bias because his wife is the new teacher. So basically we have no teacher and can't decide . I say have the old teacher but she got tired of people accusing her of things and resigned right there in the meeting which was funny to me because they people there was for her and not against her. So i said screw the parents who don't like the teacher don't send your kid to Kinder then. That's the end no more to talk about. But now they are going to have a village meeting Tuesday to decide what teacher , but there isn't any options because Kelera doesn't want to do it and the other teacher isn't allowed. So that meeting should be very interesting. I can't wait for them to be like why don't the Peace Corps volunteer do it and I am going to laugh in their face because one I hate kids and two I am NOT qualified by any means and just because I am from American doesn't make me qualified to teach a Kindergarden. So we will see, I will keep you updated on the Fijian village drama.
So the preacher's wife (asembly of God) keeps inviting me to dinner and breakfast and I love it! They food is so good! One someone invites you to dinner or over to their house you are to bring something so for lunch I brought apples and for dinner I brought cooked sausages. Which just so happen to be what we were eating for dinner so we had alot of sausages. Sausages here are like my pizza in the U.S. I look forward to the sausages which is sad. She goes back this week to being a teacher up in Nadala and I am sad cause she is so cool and talks to me in really good English and makes me feel welcomed and treats me the same as everyone else. And gives me cooking tips and very important information about people in the village.
Also since the kids have been out of school for 2 weeks the worst 2 weeks in the village and I can't wait for the kids to go back. They have been coming over to my house asking for help on their English homework. Which I am all about helping them. This one little girl comes over who is in grade 6 I spent like 2 hours on her homework and then it went into Math. Which I felt really bad cause I was not much help at all. But she has got her English down. (A+)
So since the kids are home all day I don't get anytime by myself. When I go to bed at night I am telling people to leave my house so I can sleep. Then as soon as I open my doors in the morning kids are just sitting there to come in and hang out. I hate it because I want to eat and it is so rude to eat in from of someone without offering food and trust me these kids will eat my food they don't care but I don't have alot of food for these Fijian kids to eat me out of the house cause I just have enough for little ol me. So i have to wait to get to a point where I am so hungry I dont care anymore I just sit there and ask permission to eat and go. I don't offer or nothing it is getting to the point where I am to break those culture norms and be myself be reasonable because I have to eat I don't care anymore leave my freakin house for 5 secs to i can have a life. Like one morning I woke up and turned on my radio to try to get some descent news and make breakfast and I get the Methodist Preacher at my door asking to look at his daughter's foot that was cut last night and needs help. and i was like oh my god it's going to be so bad with blood everywhere and I won't be able to eat my breakfast. I know that is bad to think but I don't have a strong stomach for this stuff especially where I have people at my door before i wake up at 6:30 in the morning. Before I pick the crust out of my eyes I have already having my name called. So I go over their with my little medical kid and pretty much her last two toes on her foot are almost completely cut off cause she stepped on a knife. She probably needed stitches but of course I can't do that. So i just clean up the dry blood wash out with soap and water and then warm salt water and rumbing alcohol and then put ointment on use butterfly band aids to keep her toes on and wrap it up so it will heal not deformed. That is the best I could do. And I should them how they need to clean it out like 2 times a day and do this stuff and don't walk around with flip flops on and don't put smashed green leaves thinking the Fijian magic medicine will work it will get worse. That is the best I can do.
So Nat and mark guys on the rugby team and good friends of mine came over one night to hang out. They brought over lemon juice which would be their beer or grog but they are 7th day so they keep it clean which it fine with me. I feel safer. But they were talking about how they want to come to America so bad and meet some American girls to marry. It was so funny the stuff they were saying. Like they were going to bring their loli's (blow pops) and cream buns (they greatest things on earth that I want to make popular in America) and ask a girl to marry them. I was explaining to them that is not how that works back in the states. But it was a very funny night to hear them talk about getting a wife in America and what they want to do in life. But in the back on my mind I was thinking they are never going to get out of the life they are in right now. I that makes me so sad cause they have so much potential to become a successful person in life. But they can't wait to meet Chris at the end of October because they are "Brothers in color" Yes those are the same words he used which cracks me up cause they concept of African-Americans is hard for them to wrap their minds around that everyone is not white. They are really excited to play rugby with him because they saw the pictures of him ans notice that he his big and athletic and played American football for college. So they wanted to see if he was going to be around to be in one of their rugby tournaments. It's very funny I can't wait for Chris to experience this too!
So remember Tomasi (little boy with infected toe) his parents now are so grateful and nice to me that I have taken him the hospital for two days in the a row for his injections. Tomasi's dad is the chairman of the village so he pretty much runs they place and always comes over to my house before I go to sleep and walks around to check if everything is okay. Cause lately I have been by myself living without kelera cause she has had some family stuff to take care of at the farm on the outskirts of the village. So one night people didn't leave my house til 12:30 at night and he came over checking and asking if I am okay and so on. I said yes I am fine all the doors are locked and I am alone. So then 5 minutes later i hear someone outside my door and I am who the crap is that. And it's him again but this time with his wife whom I really like cause she really does care about her son and his toe. So she came and asked too if I was okay and needed anything. I was thinking you guys care more about me than you do your own son. I don't understand. Though it can get really annoying to be treated like 4 year old as if I have never lived on my own before I know they are asking to be nice and they really do care about my safety in the village. SO that is nice to know.
So we had our first death in the village. It was Kelera's father's cousin (don't ask about the relation they don't even know everyone is related in Fiji) died riding a sugar cane tractor and fell through and one of the tires ran over him slicing his body in half. He was only in his 40's which is sad and had a wife and 3 kids (1 daughter and 2 sons). So people are very upset about it obviously and the funeral will be sometime this week. They were telling me that every school vacation the kids have someone always dies in the village. That it is a curse or something. And they were telling me who died everytime vacation happened. So that is kind a scary.
Finally, I have thought of another thing on th wish list. French vanilla cappuccino mix. That would be so good in the morning than coffee all the time and it's instant coffee so it sucks. So i would appreciate that very much thank you! That's all I have for now I hope everyone is still enjoying this blog and I am trying to keep it updated the best I can. Let me know if there is anything else I can do. I was to put up more pictures this time around but left my camera at the village so I will have to try next week. But I only have about 30 or so it shouldn't take long. I need to take more pictures of people that I am talking about in my blog so you guys can put faces to names and people I talk to and play with everyday! Sorry I have been slacking in my picture taking but if you know me well that is to be expected. Miss everyone so please keep updating me on your life too!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Swinging on ropes like monkeys.....
So I am in town again for Tomasi's toe and I realized last night I forgot a few things. First I was talking to my Dad yesterday on the phone and he asked if I needed anything and at the time I couldn't think of anything, but now I have thought of some stuff. Like blow up pool toys like beach balls, tubes, small rafts nothing too nice just pool toys you can buy at the dollar store! I think that would be great for when the kids play in the river behind my house. They usually play with wet t-shirt and toss back and forth so beach balls would be great. Then I was thinking Sophia could use some dog toys cause she is biting the hell out of my hand. She it starting to get her teeth in and all she wants to do it bite and play and she is starting to get quite a bite on her. And she is turning out to be a good little guard dog barking at people when the come up to me. And I know my Mom as sent me a flea collar for Sophia which is badly needed for her but it would be nice to get her a collar to tie her up cause the big dogs and roosters in the village pick on her and I am afraid she is going to get into a fight and get really hard so I like to keep her tied up at night and while I am away from my house. Just a small collar she is still a lil puppy and not pink. Sophia is not a girly girl she is tough like me!
oh yeah, and of course I can always use batteries and hand sanitizer. Two things that are impossible to get reasonably in Fiji. The batteries last about i don't know 5 minutes.
oKay, and now the stuff I forgot to talk about. So behind my house the kids have been swinging off this rope off a cliff into the water. So I tried the other day and I played with is all day and at the end of the day I was doing backflips off of it like the guys. they we so amazed that I could do that. it was so much fun. I got pictures of the kids swinging but not me it's hard to trust someone with my camera near the water ya know what I mean. I also got pictures of the huge waterfall by the road before you reach my village. Tourists take pics of it all the time. So i will be putting that up soon. There is a picture of my climbing the waterfall like spiderwoman! And I am starting to have alot more time and I have been writing a lot of letters lately. So people be checkin your mail and write me back. I especially love cards with letters inside. I like to read them over again on a hard day. I hang them up in my room . cause I understand that sending a package is very expensive and often takes a while to get here. Don't forget my new address P.O. box 1141!
Oh and to add to my list of comparisons from yesterdays post!
#11) still sells RC cola!!!!
I think that is pretty much it. I feel like sometimes I repeat myself cause I can't remember if I have already talked about something or not. But once again Happy Birthday to Chris it is already the 26th here so I get to celebrate your birthday first! yay!
oh yeah, and of course I can always use batteries and hand sanitizer. Two things that are impossible to get reasonably in Fiji. The batteries last about i don't know 5 minutes.
oKay, and now the stuff I forgot to talk about. So behind my house the kids have been swinging off this rope off a cliff into the water. So I tried the other day and I played with is all day and at the end of the day I was doing backflips off of it like the guys. they we so amazed that I could do that. it was so much fun. I got pictures of the kids swinging but not me it's hard to trust someone with my camera near the water ya know what I mean. I also got pictures of the huge waterfall by the road before you reach my village. Tourists take pics of it all the time. So i will be putting that up soon. There is a picture of my climbing the waterfall like spiderwoman! And I am starting to have alot more time and I have been writing a lot of letters lately. So people be checkin your mail and write me back. I especially love cards with letters inside. I like to read them over again on a hard day. I hang them up in my room . cause I understand that sending a package is very expensive and often takes a while to get here. Don't forget my new address P.O. box 1141!
Oh and to add to my list of comparisons from yesterdays post!
#11) still sells RC cola!!!!
I think that is pretty much it. I feel like sometimes I repeat myself cause I can't remember if I have already talked about something or not. But once again Happy Birthday to Chris it is already the 26th here so I get to celebrate your birthday first! yay!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
In town again
Okay right now I am in town to take this lil boy named Tomasi who has a very infected toe to the hospital for an injection. I think I have mentioned him before on my blog but recently I have convinced his parents to take him to the hospital on Saturday morning. tomasi had to go because he has been missing school for a month now and they kept putting smashed green leaves on the wound thinking it was going to help but really it was making it worse. So, me, tomasi, and his dad went to the hospital Sat. morning and on the bus tomasi's dad said I was wasting his time and his money by asking him to take his own son to the hospital. Let me tell you I was so damn made by the comment I didn't know what to say. I kept my mouth shut for the time being just because of Tomasi. But I was thinking are you kidding me all he spends time and money on is drinking grog and smoking. and it's only 2 hours of his sat. morning. Are you kidding me? I kept thinking how I took 2 freakin years of my life and left all the people I love and care about in another country to help strangers far away and wasted thousands of dollars to convince this stupid man to take his own son to the doctor cause in a few more weeks tomasi would lose his foot that's how bad the infection was. You would look at it and you would want to throw up. I was so upset but that I wanted to come home and I talked to Kelera about it and she made me feel much better cause I was thinking if this is the kind of attitude I am going to get when I am only trying to help I will not be able to handle that for the next 2 years that's for sure. But Kelera convinced me that the village needs and wants me here. So Tomasi has to come back to the hospital today and tomorrow and the parents don't have enough money to take him for the bus fare so I agreed to take him and pay with is like 5 dollars I can spare for the boy. I just hate it that he can't play with his friends or go to school he has already missed his exams to go to the next grade so he has to repeat the following grade he was to complete but couldn't cause he missed too much school from his toe cause the kids have to walk 6 miles to school everyday!
Going to the hospital is a whole another story. That place is a mess. Today there was blood all over the floor and no running water. The governement doesn't provide anything just injections which I am not sure what they even do for someone really.
So, I have been training for my soccer games and running early in the morning with people from my village at 6 am. Up and down the mountains and I can tell it has really helped. It is hard to practice soccer cause they field is so bad but I get a few kicks in every once in a while.
I can't remember if I told the story about the trip to nadala the village up past mine. But it was hell. I think I called it feeling like a caged animal. I had nothing but crackers and lemon leaf tea from two days straight and I got so sick and I was so cold. All they had for a bathroom was a pit hole and no toilet paper. Not Cool! Oh yeah and before I left I was waiting for the transport to come and I had fallin asleep and woke up to a room of a bunch of Fijian men drinking grog and they wanted me to introduce myslef and shake hands with them all which I hate doing cause I have to crawl around on my knees and pretend to be this stupid American tourist until they hear me speak the language then they think I have been married into the village which I explain I am not that I am a Peace Corps volunteer and so on. They love asking to take my picture on their phones I don't know why but i think it is pretty creepy to want to take a picture of someone just because they are from the U.S.
Okay to start the comparisons of Fijians (the inteiror) and West Virginians.If anyone is offended by my comments get over it because I am bored over here and I think it funny. So get over it.
1) most people don't have most of their teeth
2)still sportin the mullets and rat tails and today I saw the shaved in stairs or steps on the side that was popular in the early 90's. NICE!
3)can't understand them because of their accent or dialect
4) still ride horses on gravel roads
5)still listens to old country songs like Shania Twain (in Lautoka I actually danced to a disco version of Shania Twain's old classic but I was just so excited I knew the song and the words)
6) they both know the "Country Roads" song and sings it often
7)both live in the mountains
8)have cattle running around and farms
9) both have kids running around naked
10) swims in rivers and jumps of cliffs and considers that their bath
That's all I got for now but I am sure I will come up with more later> I hope you enjoyed my incite!
Okay moving on, I met these 3 cute smart little girls that live intown and come to our village every once in a while for church and they speak perfect English probably better than my English. I can't wait to hang out with them again.
It is also been nice the pastor's wife from the AOG church as been inviting me to her house for lunch which is the first time someone as officially invited me to eat with them. I wonder sometimes why people haven't been inviting me because that is usually a Fijian custom but the pastor's wife seems to think that people need to buy food in town for me to eat and that they don't have enough money to do that so they don't invite me over for dinner. But in reality I will still eat their food. I just don't think people think I am really goin to be here for 2 years.
I have been decorating my house a lil bit more chaning up the fabrics making it look nicer. I will be putting up some pictures up soon so don't worry.
Oh, on the secodn soccer game we won 1-0! I played a much better game because it wasn't has hot I get fried during the games.
I am very excited to get this week over with because one the kids will be going back to school. They have had a 2 week vacation and they always come over to my house and want to play but I always feel so crappy and old I can't keep up with them. I don't know if it is because it is so hot or just because I really don't like kids. And I get to see my dear friend Kendall this weekend. She is having a very hard time so I am going to go save her and we are going to spend sometime with each other and catch up with what has been going on in our lives. Well, I think that is it for now I have tried to sum things up so it wouldn't be as long but I didn't leave too much details out. I will keep writing if you guys keep responding and once again HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!
Going to the hospital is a whole another story. That place is a mess. Today there was blood all over the floor and no running water. The governement doesn't provide anything just injections which I am not sure what they even do for someone really.
So, I have been training for my soccer games and running early in the morning with people from my village at 6 am. Up and down the mountains and I can tell it has really helped. It is hard to practice soccer cause they field is so bad but I get a few kicks in every once in a while.
I can't remember if I told the story about the trip to nadala the village up past mine. But it was hell. I think I called it feeling like a caged animal. I had nothing but crackers and lemon leaf tea from two days straight and I got so sick and I was so cold. All they had for a bathroom was a pit hole and no toilet paper. Not Cool! Oh yeah and before I left I was waiting for the transport to come and I had fallin asleep and woke up to a room of a bunch of Fijian men drinking grog and they wanted me to introduce myslef and shake hands with them all which I hate doing cause I have to crawl around on my knees and pretend to be this stupid American tourist until they hear me speak the language then they think I have been married into the village which I explain I am not that I am a Peace Corps volunteer and so on. They love asking to take my picture on their phones I don't know why but i think it is pretty creepy to want to take a picture of someone just because they are from the U.S.
Okay to start the comparisons of Fijians (the inteiror) and West Virginians.If anyone is offended by my comments get over it because I am bored over here and I think it funny. So get over it.
1) most people don't have most of their teeth
2)still sportin the mullets and rat tails and today I saw the shaved in stairs or steps on the side that was popular in the early 90's. NICE!
3)can't understand them because of their accent or dialect
4) still ride horses on gravel roads
5)still listens to old country songs like Shania Twain (in Lautoka I actually danced to a disco version of Shania Twain's old classic but I was just so excited I knew the song and the words)
6) they both know the "Country Roads" song and sings it often
7)both live in the mountains
8)have cattle running around and farms
9) both have kids running around naked
10) swims in rivers and jumps of cliffs and considers that their bath
That's all I got for now but I am sure I will come up with more later> I hope you enjoyed my incite!
Okay moving on, I met these 3 cute smart little girls that live intown and come to our village every once in a while for church and they speak perfect English probably better than my English. I can't wait to hang out with them again.
It is also been nice the pastor's wife from the AOG church as been inviting me to her house for lunch which is the first time someone as officially invited me to eat with them. I wonder sometimes why people haven't been inviting me because that is usually a Fijian custom but the pastor's wife seems to think that people need to buy food in town for me to eat and that they don't have enough money to do that so they don't invite me over for dinner. But in reality I will still eat their food. I just don't think people think I am really goin to be here for 2 years.
I have been decorating my house a lil bit more chaning up the fabrics making it look nicer. I will be putting up some pictures up soon so don't worry.
Oh, on the secodn soccer game we won 1-0! I played a much better game because it wasn't has hot I get fried during the games.
I am very excited to get this week over with because one the kids will be going back to school. They have had a 2 week vacation and they always come over to my house and want to play but I always feel so crappy and old I can't keep up with them. I don't know if it is because it is so hot or just because I really don't like kids. And I get to see my dear friend Kendall this weekend. She is having a very hard time so I am going to go save her and we are going to spend sometime with each other and catch up with what has been going on in our lives. Well, I think that is it for now I have tried to sum things up so it wouldn't be as long but I didn't leave too much details out. I will keep writing if you guys keep responding and once again HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Another short post......
Sorry for the short post again but once again not much time and the computer is moving so slowly. But just to touch on a few things I want to wish my beloved boyfriend of almost 8 years now a HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY on August 26th (Tuesday)! Since I don't know if I will be at a computer before then. Also, I have changed my address again here in the side of this blog. It is now P.O. box 1141 I now have a private mail box instead of sharing one with the village cause it does not get checked often. So now I can check my mail everytime I come in to town. I am now in town for a soccer tournament and we lost our first game 2 to nothing. We have another game at 4. So I am killing some time at the computer. Also, I have some really great news about my life in the village. Sophia has come back into my life!!! David was visiting Draubuta my old host village and was speaking with my host mom and was asking about Sophia and David asked if he could take Sophia to me cause he was going to be passing through my town anyways and she said yes of course anything to make Alisha happy. So David called me and told me and I said YES please save my puppy! Poor Sophia was a mess I have never seen so many fleas on one animal in my life and she was so skinny. David found some flea shampoo so I have been giving Sophia a bath in the river every other day. She is startin to get fat again and she is busting out of her 3rd world country attitude and turning into a very sweet puppy I once remembered back in Draubuta. That's all I have to say for now though I have so much more to talk about. But no time but don't worry I am writing it all down. So when I get time I will really tell some stories about what's going on. But people are really starting to warm up tp me now! and accepting that I will be living with them for 2 years. I hope Chris that you have a fabulous birthday and I wish so badly that I was there to celebrate with you! But look in the mail there is a present coming your way!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Short post.....
I am so sorry this is going to short, but I had so much funny stuff to talk about that is going to take me a while to type up because ya know your girl types so slow, but I am doing well and keeping busy and have lots of interesting experiences a long the way. I went to a rugby tournament the last couple of days and that ended up being one of the most interesting experiences to come for sure I will give details later, trust. So stay tuned to the blog also my mailing address will be changing again soon because the p.o. box that I have right now is the village p.o. box and the headman of the village is supposed to check it on a regular basis and he is not so I am going to open up my own p.o. box so I can check it anytime I want. I am having my mail sent to Suva forwarded to my address in Tavua but for now keep sending stuff to my address to the left under the picture link on my blog. I will also be having a very funny post soon comparing Fijians (the interior Fijians not the coastal Fijians)and West Virginians soon! I was just thinking one day just how much Fijians and West Virginians have in common and it is very funny to me so I will be putting that up soon too! I hope you all enjoy it very much. I just have a few more things I need to add on the list that I think people will appreciate.
Things have been going okay I am getting a bit sick again I think I caught a bug in Nadala (the village where the rugby tourney was) so I get to see sam the spider on my toilet alot! I will get better though just have to let it run it's course. Anyways, big soccer tournament this weekend that I will be playing in so I am looking forward to that. I am sure I will stir up a lot of conversation being the only whitie playing. I sometimes feel like a caged animal being stared at my every move. and being asked if I am okay every freakin second as if I can't handle to tough life of being a fijian, though I get sick every two weeks I think I am doing a pretty damn good job thank you. I just wish people would treat me the same and not like a Queen from another country. I can't stand it and I feel bad cause I am kind of not in a good mood to people cause of how they treat me like they offer everything to me first and make sure I have something to sit on and lord forgive me if I sit in the sun cause of my white skin will burn but they are starting to realize that I am not burning that I turn burn just like them. As soon as I get it through their heads that I am a human being just like them and they treat me the same I will be doing much better mentally. But til then they have to adjust to me first. I am going to be here for a long time two years and I don't think they realize that I will be here for two years. And if there is no way they are going to keep treating me like I am new all the time or a tourist or that I married into the village and that is why I am living in Waikubukubu not a volunteer I might scream at something real soon! I have so much more to say but I have no more time left. I will try to come town again and put up what I have been writing about say please keep checking my blog it's going to good!
Things have been going okay I am getting a bit sick again I think I caught a bug in Nadala (the village where the rugby tourney was) so I get to see sam the spider on my toilet alot! I will get better though just have to let it run it's course. Anyways, big soccer tournament this weekend that I will be playing in so I am looking forward to that. I am sure I will stir up a lot of conversation being the only whitie playing. I sometimes feel like a caged animal being stared at my every move. and being asked if I am okay every freakin second as if I can't handle to tough life of being a fijian, though I get sick every two weeks I think I am doing a pretty damn good job thank you. I just wish people would treat me the same and not like a Queen from another country. I can't stand it and I feel bad cause I am kind of not in a good mood to people cause of how they treat me like they offer everything to me first and make sure I have something to sit on and lord forgive me if I sit in the sun cause of my white skin will burn but they are starting to realize that I am not burning that I turn burn just like them. As soon as I get it through their heads that I am a human being just like them and they treat me the same I will be doing much better mentally. But til then they have to adjust to me first. I am going to be here for a long time two years and I don't think they realize that I will be here for two years. And if there is no way they are going to keep treating me like I am new all the time or a tourist or that I married into the village and that is why I am living in Waikubukubu not a volunteer I might scream at something real soon! I have so much more to say but I have no more time left. I will try to come town again and put up what I have been writing about say please keep checking my blog it's going to good!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Living the life of a Peace Corps volunteer
Okay, so I have decided to make a list of blog worthy topics to talk about each week. So here is my list! SO please are starting to come over to my house more and talk to me and they want to know more about me. They asks to see pictures of my family all the time. I have them all taped up by my bed but so many people ask all the time I just keep them on my table so I don't have to get them down everytime. Well, most people say obviously I look just like my mom and that my brother are clean looking and tall and my dad has beautiful blue eyes. But one comment I thought people might like is that they think jason looks like Prince William!!! Ha Ha Ha! I love it! Hence Prince William might be the only white guy they have seen in pictures, but I thought that was interesting.
Next topic I was in the market the other day and this guy started talking about a green card to stay in America and was asking me how I can stay here in Fiji for 2 years. SO i told him about the Peace Corps and so on and then he went on telling me about this card a friend from New Jersey gave him called Starbucks. And with his acsent I couldn't understand him but he showed me the card and it was a gift card for Starbuck's coffee and he thought it was a card like a green card. At first I didn't have the heart to explain to him that he could get some really good coffee for free and not a member of the U.S. But i had to tell him the truth cause he kept asking me about the card so i broke it down for him I can just see his heart breaking. But at least now he knows.
Okay so the last week in the village I have attended 6 church services in 7 days. Rough and if anyone knows me well completely out of my normal life. But I wanted to meet more people and wanted people to know that I was there and why I was there. So every service I got up and made a speech in Fijian introducing myself and why and how long I will be living in Waikubukubu village. SO there are three denominations in my tiny village. 7th day advendists, Asembly of God, and Methodist.
Last Monday morning there was a community walk to the village dam to clean it. THe dam is where the village gets their source of running water but they have to clean the dam every three months. So I wanted to go to see how it works. Well as usual no one showed up but two people the village chairman ( extremely funny man), me and my counterpart Kelera who is like my best friend here and I call her my bodyguard) because she doesn't let anyone mess with me at all. She was telling me one night that she didn't care is something ever happened to me in that village she didn't care is she went to jail I would be okay. So that makes me feel safe and she is no joke she would kill someone. Anyways, we hiked through the jungle and I mean the jungle we had knifes to cut the bush away to get to the dam and I went in feet first and on my knees scrubbing the dam. It was so hot and it's very hard. Next time I am going to show them how to make a filter with mesh and wood to help clean it faster just like the strainer one would use to clean out a swimming pool. Being a lifeguard as paid off.
Then this past Sunday I went to Methodist church service like 8,000 miles away. not really but we walked to whole way and it felt like 8,000 miles. We started at 8 in the morning and got there at 10:30am and took us all day to get back from 2pm to 6 because it was so hot. I thought I was going to die because it's up and down and no flat land all in flipflops and a long skirt. but I kept thinking it was good exercise and I got a pretty nice tan.
So before I arrived in my house in the village the village committee (5 old guys) decided certain rules that people could not break regarding me in the village. One rule is that people had to be off my compound at 8 pm. At first that was fine with me but I didn't know that from 7-8pm is prayer time and no one could come over til 8:15 so I asked to move it back til 10pm cause that gives me time to cook dinner and read and go to bed about 11pm everynight. Well the first couple of nights people just come over and I didn't want to be like leave. So kelera and I have to apoligize to the committee for breaking the rule that I had no say in. It was so funny to me that I have been living on my own for 5 years now and I have to say sorry to 5 old guys from Fiji about people being at my house til 10:30 at night. It's not like we are drinking and having a party because the youth that do come over and visit are all 7th day and AOG and don't drink alcohol, no smoking, grog, tea, coke, coffee and aren't allowed to dance. Which is very interesting to me. And I ask them all the time about it. I can't stand that they can't dance. They say it is in the bible, but I keep asking them to point it out where in the Bible does it say that but they never do. So tonight they said they will bring their Fijian bible and I have an English bible and they will show. Not my bible by the way it was forced to me to bring to church everytime because people feel bad for me.
Next there is this dog that walks around and he is awful looking so I feed him my scrapes. I asked Kelera why half of his tail is cut off and she said that because the village people think if a dog is skinny they cut off his tail and he will get fat. NOT TRUE!! So this poor dog walks around with half his tail and always gives me this terrible look and I feel so bad for him. SO every dog I see that is too skinny I feed them food so his tail won't be chopped off cause I do not want to be around when that happens.
Oh yeah, the old men in the village built my fence to my bathroom and shower it looks great and I feel much better now going to the bathroom at night.
When we were walking to the Methodist church on Sunday there are all these Indian women walking through the sugarcane. They see the two Fijian women in front of me and then the see little ol me and they say "who is this child who's girl is this and like pinch my arms and what to dress me up in their fancy Indian clothes, but Kelera everytime is like no she is with us and they leave me alone. It is so funny i feel like people are fighting over me.
So, I have been pretty much really happy with my stomach lately and using the bathroom, but I do have a lil friend in the bathroom everytime. the biggest spider I have ever seen in real life! Is body alone is about the size of my palm. Yeah! So i took my lil toilet scruber and and always hit around the toilet everytime I use it because I am afraid this spider is going to take a huge bite out of my butt. So, now when going to the bathroom I have no fear of people scarring but now a spider. Whom I wish to call Sam the Spider. Please know when I reference the name Sam i am talking about the spider who lives in my toilet.
There is this lil boy in my village his name is Tomasi. He has been out of school now for 3 weeks because he got a cut on his toe and it has been really infected. So he can't pass on to the next grade because he as not been able to take his exams because of no school for 3 weeks and everyone feels bad for him. I asked to go see him and and look at his foot. Well, one it is so infected because they put mashed up green leaves in the wound then wrap it with gauze. So i was trying to suggest that maybe they could clean the wound out with clean water and damp it dry and apply this ointment I gave them and wrap it with clean gauze everyday. So that tells me I need to get a hold of the Red Cross in Fiji and have them do a workshop on first aid.
Next how the 7th day guys are tryin to convert me to be a 7th day Adventists. Not going to happen. They don't drink beer, grog, tea, coffee, coke, the girls don't wear makeup lipstick or earrings. Hell no! But everynight they keep trying and I basically gave it to them straight. I am not here for religion and I have nothing to do with religion here in Fiji I am not a missionary. We have these little arguments all the time about what they believe is in the Bible. And how should lead my life. aw but I think I am starting to get through to them that I have moral and values and that I don't need to follow the Bible on how they think i should be in my life. The whole thing of no separation between church and state here in Fiji. It is a bit hard to deal with on a day to day basis. We pray all the time before eating even a small snack before a soccer game before a meeting a workshop and so on. At least 15 minutes for each prayer.
So, lately the youth have been coming over to my house to talk about this program from the Ministry of youth and sports that helps youth between the ages of 15- 35 who are unemployed which is pretty common here for the economy doesn't allow descent paying jobs are no jobs at all. They are all so excited about this program. It starts up again next year and all they have to do is register in Lautoka but the problem is most of the boys don't have the bus fair to get to Lautoka which is like 6 dollars. So I am going to have to figure out a way to fundraise to money for these boys to get there and register for this program. The program accepts usually about 2,000 youth a year so it is really important to get them in. They lead a rough life. They all wake up at 4 in the morning for devotion and then run for rugby from 5-6am then cut sugarcane from 6:30 am to 5:00 at night then play rugby from 5-6:30pm go home eat dinner devotion at 7-8 then free time before bed. so they want a new life and this program is free and provides training and a job at the end. They have 2 weeks of life skills training and then 4 weeks of specific job training then they can decide if they what the 3 month work attachment training or go into another program that helps them with micro finance and generate their own money. When I was telling them about it I can just see their facing lighting up cause they saw an opportunity to get out of this hard life that they are living in. And also I am tryin to get a HIV/AIDS workshop cause they don't have any idea what kind of risks are out there is Fiji cause HIV/AIDs is high in Fiji considering their size. But they want to get their "rugby" field fixed which right now it is a cow pasture with tons of holes to twist and turn your ankle. So they can get some money to did that since they are considering a rural village they can apply for money from the government they just need that person (me) to link them up to the ministry. So that has been good for me and makes me feel like I am doing something.
the peace corps is making into quite the cook! I made (from scratch)pancakes and syrup. The syrup was so good the pancakes took me a while but they ended up being delicious! I am taking baby steps with cooking my next step is baking a cake with icing without electricity and a oven. Impressive I think so.
And the latest news and the greatest news I have been recruited to the Tavua women's soccer team. I ran into Christy (Fre-3) and the team Friday night while going to a variety show at tavua college. I guess they had already registered me to play in their tournament this weekend in Nadi and asked me right there to play and I didn't have anything with me. The coach is so cool he had a jersey cleats and shinguards and they hired a bus to take to the game. So they picked me up in Ba at 8am and I was all the sudden on my way to Nadi for a soccer tournament I was so excited to play in a real game. The girls are so cool to. I feel like I am in college again playing but I am actually playin this time. They think that i am so good because I played in colleg e in the states. the coach asked me to play central mid which interesting because I am used of playing defense but i did okay considering. We played two 60 minute games in the hot fijian sun and by the end of the day i was so brown. They were like are you okay. I was getting knocked around everywhere cause I am not used of being a whoppin 110 pounds so when I went into a tackle i was getting rocked. So i learned quickly to back off. but I am the only foriegner in the whole league and people from all over fiji are trying to get on this team because they won the championship the last couple of years. I love playing for them I almost scored 3 goals for me i thought that was good. I just need to get more touches on the ball cause my touch is a bit rusty. It is so funny cause when we walk up and the other team and the crowd sees an American playing on the team they start talking and yelling at me. It is much different in to States. They laugh at you if you mess up and yell at you which is really annoying. So i am going to have to get used of that. But I will be practicing with them next week and getting to know that girls better. IT's nice to meet some girls my age cause in my village there are not many girls. SO that's nice. Everything is in Fijian though like when the coach talks and the girls play on the field they tell me what to do in Fijian which I can understand on the field because I know like directional words like go back, go, left, right, return, stop and stuff like that but when the coach talks during half time I have no clue. I feel like that part in Love an d Basketball where the girl goes and plays basketball over seas and the coach talks in Spanish the whole time and she just asks the players afterwards what he said> I just sit there and pretend like I know what is going on then later ask a teammate what the hell he just said. And i know he is saying something about me cause I hear my name in between all the Fijian. So it is interesting because something that is so familiar to me like soccer is different because of the language and the culture and the freakin hot sun! but I love it because it feels like I am in Charlotte playing my the team at Queens. Makes me feel at home! WE have another tournament in Tavua next week so I am going to start training hard Monday. Yesterday we tied the first game and won the second if we win the tournament next weekend the team wins 2,000 dollars! This thursday i am goin to a rugby tournament in the village up passed mine way in the mountains and since I am the manager of the village's rugby team I get to meet the most famous Fiji 7's rugby player who will be the chief guess for that tournament! I am stoked! Anyways I miss everyone at home and I am always thinking about you all I finally uploaded all my swearing in pictures and final pics of my house with all my stuff in it! so take a look with captions! I hope you enjoy.
Next topic I was in the market the other day and this guy started talking about a green card to stay in America and was asking me how I can stay here in Fiji for 2 years. SO i told him about the Peace Corps and so on and then he went on telling me about this card a friend from New Jersey gave him called Starbucks. And with his acsent I couldn't understand him but he showed me the card and it was a gift card for Starbuck's coffee and he thought it was a card like a green card. At first I didn't have the heart to explain to him that he could get some really good coffee for free and not a member of the U.S. But i had to tell him the truth cause he kept asking me about the card so i broke it down for him I can just see his heart breaking. But at least now he knows.
Okay so the last week in the village I have attended 6 church services in 7 days. Rough and if anyone knows me well completely out of my normal life. But I wanted to meet more people and wanted people to know that I was there and why I was there. So every service I got up and made a speech in Fijian introducing myself and why and how long I will be living in Waikubukubu village. SO there are three denominations in my tiny village. 7th day advendists, Asembly of God, and Methodist.
Last Monday morning there was a community walk to the village dam to clean it. THe dam is where the village gets their source of running water but they have to clean the dam every three months. So I wanted to go to see how it works. Well as usual no one showed up but two people the village chairman ( extremely funny man), me and my counterpart Kelera who is like my best friend here and I call her my bodyguard) because she doesn't let anyone mess with me at all. She was telling me one night that she didn't care is something ever happened to me in that village she didn't care is she went to jail I would be okay. So that makes me feel safe and she is no joke she would kill someone. Anyways, we hiked through the jungle and I mean the jungle we had knifes to cut the bush away to get to the dam and I went in feet first and on my knees scrubbing the dam. It was so hot and it's very hard. Next time I am going to show them how to make a filter with mesh and wood to help clean it faster just like the strainer one would use to clean out a swimming pool. Being a lifeguard as paid off.
Then this past Sunday I went to Methodist church service like 8,000 miles away. not really but we walked to whole way and it felt like 8,000 miles. We started at 8 in the morning and got there at 10:30am and took us all day to get back from 2pm to 6 because it was so hot. I thought I was going to die because it's up and down and no flat land all in flipflops and a long skirt. but I kept thinking it was good exercise and I got a pretty nice tan.
So before I arrived in my house in the village the village committee (5 old guys) decided certain rules that people could not break regarding me in the village. One rule is that people had to be off my compound at 8 pm. At first that was fine with me but I didn't know that from 7-8pm is prayer time and no one could come over til 8:15 so I asked to move it back til 10pm cause that gives me time to cook dinner and read and go to bed about 11pm everynight. Well the first couple of nights people just come over and I didn't want to be like leave. So kelera and I have to apoligize to the committee for breaking the rule that I had no say in. It was so funny to me that I have been living on my own for 5 years now and I have to say sorry to 5 old guys from Fiji about people being at my house til 10:30 at night. It's not like we are drinking and having a party because the youth that do come over and visit are all 7th day and AOG and don't drink alcohol, no smoking, grog, tea, coke, coffee and aren't allowed to dance. Which is very interesting to me. And I ask them all the time about it. I can't stand that they can't dance. They say it is in the bible, but I keep asking them to point it out where in the Bible does it say that but they never do. So tonight they said they will bring their Fijian bible and I have an English bible and they will show. Not my bible by the way it was forced to me to bring to church everytime because people feel bad for me.
Next there is this dog that walks around and he is awful looking so I feed him my scrapes. I asked Kelera why half of his tail is cut off and she said that because the village people think if a dog is skinny they cut off his tail and he will get fat. NOT TRUE!! So this poor dog walks around with half his tail and always gives me this terrible look and I feel so bad for him. SO every dog I see that is too skinny I feed them food so his tail won't be chopped off cause I do not want to be around when that happens.
Oh yeah, the old men in the village built my fence to my bathroom and shower it looks great and I feel much better now going to the bathroom at night.
When we were walking to the Methodist church on Sunday there are all these Indian women walking through the sugarcane. They see the two Fijian women in front of me and then the see little ol me and they say "who is this child who's girl is this and like pinch my arms and what to dress me up in their fancy Indian clothes, but Kelera everytime is like no she is with us and they leave me alone. It is so funny i feel like people are fighting over me.
So, I have been pretty much really happy with my stomach lately and using the bathroom, but I do have a lil friend in the bathroom everytime. the biggest spider I have ever seen in real life! Is body alone is about the size of my palm. Yeah! So i took my lil toilet scruber and and always hit around the toilet everytime I use it because I am afraid this spider is going to take a huge bite out of my butt. So, now when going to the bathroom I have no fear of people scarring but now a spider. Whom I wish to call Sam the Spider. Please know when I reference the name Sam i am talking about the spider who lives in my toilet.
There is this lil boy in my village his name is Tomasi. He has been out of school now for 3 weeks because he got a cut on his toe and it has been really infected. So he can't pass on to the next grade because he as not been able to take his exams because of no school for 3 weeks and everyone feels bad for him. I asked to go see him and and look at his foot. Well, one it is so infected because they put mashed up green leaves in the wound then wrap it with gauze. So i was trying to suggest that maybe they could clean the wound out with clean water and damp it dry and apply this ointment I gave them and wrap it with clean gauze everyday. So that tells me I need to get a hold of the Red Cross in Fiji and have them do a workshop on first aid.
Next how the 7th day guys are tryin to convert me to be a 7th day Adventists. Not going to happen. They don't drink beer, grog, tea, coffee, coke, the girls don't wear makeup lipstick or earrings. Hell no! But everynight they keep trying and I basically gave it to them straight. I am not here for religion and I have nothing to do with religion here in Fiji I am not a missionary. We have these little arguments all the time about what they believe is in the Bible. And how should lead my life. aw but I think I am starting to get through to them that I have moral and values and that I don't need to follow the Bible on how they think i should be in my life. The whole thing of no separation between church and state here in Fiji. It is a bit hard to deal with on a day to day basis. We pray all the time before eating even a small snack before a soccer game before a meeting a workshop and so on. At least 15 minutes for each prayer.
So, lately the youth have been coming over to my house to talk about this program from the Ministry of youth and sports that helps youth between the ages of 15- 35 who are unemployed which is pretty common here for the economy doesn't allow descent paying jobs are no jobs at all. They are all so excited about this program. It starts up again next year and all they have to do is register in Lautoka but the problem is most of the boys don't have the bus fair to get to Lautoka which is like 6 dollars. So I am going to have to figure out a way to fundraise to money for these boys to get there and register for this program. The program accepts usually about 2,000 youth a year so it is really important to get them in. They lead a rough life. They all wake up at 4 in the morning for devotion and then run for rugby from 5-6am then cut sugarcane from 6:30 am to 5:00 at night then play rugby from 5-6:30pm go home eat dinner devotion at 7-8 then free time before bed. so they want a new life and this program is free and provides training and a job at the end. They have 2 weeks of life skills training and then 4 weeks of specific job training then they can decide if they what the 3 month work attachment training or go into another program that helps them with micro finance and generate their own money. When I was telling them about it I can just see their facing lighting up cause they saw an opportunity to get out of this hard life that they are living in. And also I am tryin to get a HIV/AIDS workshop cause they don't have any idea what kind of risks are out there is Fiji cause HIV/AIDs is high in Fiji considering their size. But they want to get their "rugby" field fixed which right now it is a cow pasture with tons of holes to twist and turn your ankle. So they can get some money to did that since they are considering a rural village they can apply for money from the government they just need that person (me) to link them up to the ministry. So that has been good for me and makes me feel like I am doing something.
the peace corps is making into quite the cook! I made (from scratch)pancakes and syrup. The syrup was so good the pancakes took me a while but they ended up being delicious! I am taking baby steps with cooking my next step is baking a cake with icing without electricity and a oven. Impressive I think so.
And the latest news and the greatest news I have been recruited to the Tavua women's soccer team. I ran into Christy (Fre-3) and the team Friday night while going to a variety show at tavua college. I guess they had already registered me to play in their tournament this weekend in Nadi and asked me right there to play and I didn't have anything with me. The coach is so cool he had a jersey cleats and shinguards and they hired a bus to take to the game. So they picked me up in Ba at 8am and I was all the sudden on my way to Nadi for a soccer tournament I was so excited to play in a real game. The girls are so cool to. I feel like I am in college again playing but I am actually playin this time. They think that i am so good because I played in colleg e in the states. the coach asked me to play central mid which interesting because I am used of playing defense but i did okay considering. We played two 60 minute games in the hot fijian sun and by the end of the day i was so brown. They were like are you okay. I was getting knocked around everywhere cause I am not used of being a whoppin 110 pounds so when I went into a tackle i was getting rocked. So i learned quickly to back off. but I am the only foriegner in the whole league and people from all over fiji are trying to get on this team because they won the championship the last couple of years. I love playing for them I almost scored 3 goals for me i thought that was good. I just need to get more touches on the ball cause my touch is a bit rusty. It is so funny cause when we walk up and the other team and the crowd sees an American playing on the team they start talking and yelling at me. It is much different in to States. They laugh at you if you mess up and yell at you which is really annoying. So i am going to have to get used of that. But I will be practicing with them next week and getting to know that girls better. IT's nice to meet some girls my age cause in my village there are not many girls. SO that's nice. Everything is in Fijian though like when the coach talks and the girls play on the field they tell me what to do in Fijian which I can understand on the field because I know like directional words like go back, go, left, right, return, stop and stuff like that but when the coach talks during half time I have no clue. I feel like that part in Love an d Basketball where the girl goes and plays basketball over seas and the coach talks in Spanish the whole time and she just asks the players afterwards what he said> I just sit there and pretend like I know what is going on then later ask a teammate what the hell he just said. And i know he is saying something about me cause I hear my name in between all the Fijian. So it is interesting because something that is so familiar to me like soccer is different because of the language and the culture and the freakin hot sun! but I love it because it feels like I am in Charlotte playing my the team at Queens. Makes me feel at home! WE have another tournament in Tavua next week so I am going to start training hard Monday. Yesterday we tied the first game and won the second if we win the tournament next weekend the team wins 2,000 dollars! This thursday i am goin to a rugby tournament in the village up passed mine way in the mountains and since I am the manager of the village's rugby team I get to meet the most famous Fiji 7's rugby player who will be the chief guess for that tournament! I am stoked! Anyways I miss everyone at home and I am always thinking about you all I finally uploaded all my swearing in pictures and final pics of my house with all my stuff in it! so take a look with captions! I hope you enjoy.
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