On my way back.....

I will be leaving here late Thursday night. I will be having a direct flight from Fiji to L.A. then to D.C. I will probably have a review with the doctor on Friday and hopefully get the surgery soon after that. I would like to get this all over with so I can be home in Parkersburg for Christmas. We will see. I am feeling better my throat is still remarkably sore and hurting even after all those antibotics thru the IV. But I don't think the pain is goin away til I get the surgery. Well, this is my last post for now while in Fiji. Hopefully, I will have an update back in American before or after my surgery. I hope all is well and are wrapping their gifts for Christmas! See ya soon....

My 5 days in the hospital.....

I am okay! I am feeling much better now and Washington D.C. has approved for me to have surgery in the States. I just needed to go to the hospital to get antibotics ran thru an IV for me to get better because the antibotics weren't working otherwise. So, i just got discharged and I will be staying in a hotel tonight thank god. Early in the morning my doctor here in the Peace Corps will call D.C. to confirm my traveling plans and details. It looks as though I will be having the surgery to remove the rest of my tonsils in Washington D.C. because they have all my records anf understand my situation. So, it should move much faster this way and I can get to feeling completely healthy again. I am hoping that I can get the surgery done and re-cooperate and be back in Parkersburg, WV for Christmas! I might be really out of it with I don't know a 16 hour flight and surgery Christmas might be a little rough. Especially when I am home and all the food I have been dreaming about will be around me I probably won't feel well to eat it because of my throat. But who knows. Well, that is the update that I have now. I will try to get to a computer before I get on the plane, but if not I will catch you on the flip side in America.

In Suva for 2 weeks....

Sorry I haven't written a post in a while, but things have been just a little crazy. I have been in the big city now for about 2 weeks now on medical hold. I am having some throat trouble and some sort of chronic virus in my blood stream that doesn't seem to want to go away after being on medicine for a month. So, I saw the doctor yesterday and they are talking about medically evacuating me to Australia for surgery to remove the rest of my tonsils. Though I had my tonsils removes when I was a little girl there are some portions still in the back of my throat that are getting easily infected because of the climate and pollution here in Fiji. So, right now I am on even more antibotics, which I am not happy about, and waiting for a reply from Washington D.C. to see what the next move is. But it's not looking promising. Either way I am going to have to get surgery and I am 24 yrs. old it's not going to be easy no matter what country we do it in. So, I have just been hanging around in the big city catching up on my Christmas shopping, resting, and eating really good food. I will keep everyone posted.

Okay and here I am.....

Alright Chris left a week ago and things are rough. I am in Tavua right now about to go back to my village tonight. I hope things go well and i am still not alone all the time. I really need things to change for me at this point because i am getting quite discouraged. I am extremely homesick more than I have ever been. I am just trying to get thru this but I am not sure I can. I had a great time with Chris and I think he really enjoyed his visit to his first foreign country. I have tons of great stories and I would like to tell them to you thru my pictures but of course as usual I can't seem to get them on the computer. I trying to be really hopeful throughout the next few months but I just know Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be the last straw for me. I did however go snorkeling in Rakiraki this past weekend with the married couple John and Leslie and another village volunteer Natalie. Chris and I were supposed to go snorkeling but never got the chance to because I had to go to Suva on medical hold. I had some sort of red marks under the skin on the palms of my hands and the soles of my feet. They were so painful and burning constantly. I would scream and cry I just couldn't handle it anymore so I called the Peace Corps doctor. It was so bad Chris and I had to pretty much end our vacation and go to Suva for the last five days he was here. There was quick talk about me being medically evacuated to Australia because none of the doctors really knew what it was. But they gave me two shots and some antibiotics and in a few days it started to stop spreading and eventually stopped. But now my hands and feet are peeling. Like the skin is really just coming off completely is quite disgusting and hard to look at. I am fine now but I am a little worried about the fact that we still didn't really find out what it was. They think is was something viral which could just about be anything. I personally think its the water in the river I swim in alot and wash my clothes in. I don't know I just hope it doesn't came back again.

Anyways, I got to go snorkeling at the most amazing place ever. I first went off the shore at this beach in Rakiraki you know baby steps. And I got to see tons a fish and some coral. The water wasn't has clear though to see alot of things. But the next day we went on the boat to the outer reef where you can see some real stuff. The first jump I went with Leslie (we always snorkel in pairs you never know what could happen out there in the deep blue ocean in the middle of no where) and we saw a shark it was so cool. Of course I started swimming slowly the other way. I mean it was cool to see one but from a distance I like them. He wasn't a huge shark but a descent size. But I literally saw hundreds of different kinds of fish. It was one of the beautiful things i have ever seen. It is really like another world down there. The coral is so colorful and the water is crystal clear. I swallowed about 2 gallons of salt water but it was all worth it. I also found nemo for real this time and these huge fish that were bigger than me. The second jump I did was with John who likes to dive down and touch things which is fun to watch. i don't really like to touch things cause i don't know what they are going to do. But he is adventurous and knowledgeable about marine life. This jump saw more cool looking fish and stuff but what is most important was when we were on our way back to the shore. We ran into a group of DOLPHINS! There was at least 20 of them. It was the coolest things I have ever seen. They are really freakin fast. You could see them swimming right beside the boat then all the sudden you lost them and they are like one kilometer away in a completely different area. So we followed them for a while and watched them. They were so pretty and they were jumping and making noises. I wanted to jump in and swim with them but John jumped in and tried first but jumping in scared them away and I didn't want them to go away so i just watched. So that was my excitement this week.

I have been working on the grant proposal for the electricity this past week at the workshop and got alot of work done on it. Tomorrow I have this meeting with a FEA person in town to talk about more details and quotations. I hope all this works out cause this is the only chance of getting electricity for Waikubukubu. If this doesn't work then there is nothing I can really do for these people but to try to re-open their dispensary. Well, I am going to walk around and town and meet with people I haven't seen in a while and eat some food. i can't wait to see Sophia soon I think she is missing me for sure. I know that my phone hasn't been working for alot of people and I don't know what else to do about that. But there is another option that could work much better and much cheaper than phone cards. I don't know how many people have heard of skype but I heard it works well. You have to go to www.skype.com and create a account with a username and password and then it gies you directions on how it works. You basically put money on your account like 10 dollars from you bank account thru a visa or debit card or something like that and you can call me on my cellphone for about 13 cents a minute. You have to headphones and stuff cause you will be talking thru the computer to make the call. Just go to www.skype.com and check it out and go from there just another option from phone cards that don't seem to be constantly working. Let me know if anyone gets anywhere with this program and put up a comment to this post to help others to contact me. Thank you!

Chris is here!

WE are both sitting in an internet cafe checking the news for the election. We just met up with some volunteers in Rakiraki and are going to the Rakiraki hotel to watch the elections on TV. We are so excited basically the U.S. is going to have a new president very soon. WE will be going to a resort for the rest of the time on a island just north off the main island. I am excited I think Chris was a bit bored in the village. He had a little trouble with the heat and the bugs. But we had a good time and he got to experience the real Fijian life in the village! Well, I am pretty much dreading his departure and I will write more after he leaves next week. Thank you everyone for their birthday wishes. Sorry my phone has been out and not working and there is nothing I can do about it because I live in a third world country.

One more week!

What's wrong with you people? No comments not even on my pictures. Come on now I know you got something to say. Well, I just have one more week til Chris comes! I can't wait I am going through all kinds of emotions. I do feel like my world will finally be complete after 5 months of it being a mess. My birthday is coming up too but that takes the back burning to Chris's arrival. I don't even care that I am turning 24 years old. Thank god cause if I did care I would probably be freakin out that I am turning that old. I am in town right now and coming from a soccer tournament this weekend. i scored a goal so now I am like a superstar or something. It was of course raining the whole game which you all know how I love playing soccer in the rain. I have some of my best games in the rain. It was the last game of the tournament and we had to win. I scored on the second half. For some reason the coach put me as Captain and so I called for ball and wanted the muddy side cause I thought is was more fun to play in the mud. One of the girls dribbled the ball down the line on the left side and crossed it over I was playing central midfield again which for sure suck at so I don't know why the coach put me there either. But one girl went to kick the crossed ball in the goal and I though for sure she was going to get it in but she missed and slipped in the mud and I was standing right there so I moved to get my head on it but I coudn't get under the ball so I hit it with my neck and it went in but I landed in the biggest mud puttle in Fiji. I was so dirty! The crown cheered and the team just laughed. I had so much fun. I think that the team is really getting used of me and I am starting to play and act like I usually do. So it feels good to be apart of that. Well, I need to get going. Dad I got your package in the mail and Aunt Beckie's but I haven't opened them up just yet. I like to wait til I get to my tin shack in the village it feels more like Christmas and all the kids are watching me and taking all the candy and stuff from America. I love you all and next time I post Chris will for sure be here! Love you Mom and Dad I espesially miss alot of people today! Thinkin of you all.

13 more days til Chris arrives!!!!

Okay, first of all I am sorry I haven't been on top of my blog lately. I have been moving around alot lately and haven't really had a regular steady schedule. But I have two weeks in my village before Chris comes where I can come into town and update my blog. I have put up 137 more pictures in my picture album so please check them out they are pretty good if I don't say so myself. So since the last time I put up a post. We had out beach weekend that I planned with the Viti levu volunteers. it was fun but it freakin rained the whole time. I got to kayack for the first time and I have not good at it. The place we stayed at called the Beach house is a really cool place and we met alot of cool people our age just traveling the world. I stopped in Lautoka before i got to the resort and did some work for my village. I am tryin to get the youth re-registered so they can recieve money for projects. But its easier said then done. I have to type up a constitution and do all this paper work which isn't a big deal if it didnt' take forever to get to town and then once I get to town I have to pay for the time I use the computer. But I will work on that. It has been nice after my site visit I can start doing to some work around here. I don't feel like such a failure. I also picked up some recycling bags to start my village on recycling which should be an interesting task but I think it is going to work. My host village Draubuta is still recycling after we introduced the idea to them and they are loving it.

I also have been to the movie theaters twice since i put up a post. I saw tropical thunder and pinapple express. It was great I felt like I was right there in America. Til I walked outside and realized I sure as hell wasn't. But it was nice to sit down and listen to humor and good english that I understand and genuily laughed at. When I came back from the beach weekend I was so excited to come back to my village. I realy missed alot of people in my village. Especially Sophia! When I got back I saw the AOG preacher's wife one of my favorite people in the village. I think I have talked about her before. But she wasn't looking good. She had these huge black sunglasses on. I asked her what was wrong she said that there was a problem at home and she got injured. She turned a little bit and I could see the outline of this huge black bruise around her eye and she was just coming back from the hospital. I mean I have never seen a black eye like this before. And right there I knew that the paster hit her. I felt so sick to my stomach. Just when I thought I found the perfect couple in Fiji to look up to it was crashed. I had no idea what to do. I wanted to cook her a dish and bring it over to her house but I was scared of her husband. And him and I were good friends. On the bus I kept thinking how embrassed she must feel wearing those glasses and hiding her face and knowing damn well that everyone knows what happen no matter how many times she lies for her husband. I can't stand how everyone just accepted it and didn't seem to care and that this stuff just kind of happens and it's their problem in the marriage and that we should interfear. But I couldn't stand the fact that he hit her I let people know. I told kelera and she was telling me all the stories that happened to her that her ex-husband did. I think the AOG pastor knows how I feel because I am sure people have told him and the fact that I will leave a place if he is around and I never say hi to him. So we will see what will come of that. Aparantly, he has apologized to the church and all that bullshit makes it okay but not for me. I will never accept that!

So I don't know if I have mentioned but Kendall's boyfriend is coming the same time Chris is coming. On the same plane! We are going to have so much fun I can't wait.

Anyways, my village has had two soli's (fundraisers). the first one for education and schooling for the kids and the second on Fiji Day for the Methodist church which I completely disagree on. Because these people give ALL there money to the church and don't save some for themselves and don't have food to feed themselves and are living in tin shacks. because the Methodist church says if you give lots of money that Jesus will take care of the rest but in reality these people are still hungry and still have not electricity and are living in tin shacks. I can't imagine if they gave all that money for the electricity. I mean they give thousands of dollars and I still have no clue where this money come froms. these people of no jobs. I can't understand that just yet.

During the soli the women of course did all the cooking and I even stayed up til 1 in the morning peeling potatoes and then got up at 6 in the morning to present a sevusevu i think that is in my pictures. I asked one of the guys how he felt about all these women twice his age doing all this work and all he does is sit around. He said well that is a woman's job and you all know me I blew up on him. So i think the next soli I am going to strongly suggest them to switch things up and have the men do all the work and the women sit around. kelera said they did that one year and it worked. So I want to see it myself.

People in my village are starting to mistake me as an Indian because I am starting to get quite dark in this hot Fijian sun. Which is a complement in my book but not relaly good to be mistaken as an Indian in a Fijian village.

we had a soccer game a few weekends ago in tavua and it was awesome. i felt like I was in high school again. I am playing my usual position as right full back and it feels real good! We won our first game and tied our second against Nadi. We always lose against them and that game was like playing against PHS. that is how crazy the crowd was and how excited we were to beat them. I saved alot of goals and almost got into a fight. So it felt just like home for me. It was great!

We had our in-service training at a resort and I got to meet and see all the volunteers in Fiji. I was relaly nice and refreshing to see everyone again. But sucked to know that I won't see them all again for another year. But I got to lay out at the pool and get alot of information about projects I can do and went out with all my friends. So it was a good time.

After the trainging I went to my friends Sarah's house is Navua on the other side of the island and went to this resort called the Uprising. you will see pictures of it in my album. this place was amazing. I wanted to stay for weeks. I never wanted to leave. I have never seen a place like this before. I would love to take chris here but the bus ride would not be worth it because of time. But maybe if other people visit i can plan better and get there Oh yeah I know why We can't go there no one I know could ever afford it. I keep forgetting about stuff like that.

So my village has big big plans for Chris's arrival. the women are preparing a huge dinner thursday night when he gets there. And there are a few more surprises but I don't want to say because I want chris to be surprised. let's just say I almost cried when they told me what they are going to do. I told them they didn't have to do all of this but they said that he is coming all the way from America to visit you and the village and you are now apart of the village and the family here. It is a part of their culture to do this. So I can't wait I will talk alot of pictures trust me!

So lately all I have been doing is washing my clothes and cleaning the house. and working on my community map where I draw up the house and surrounding areas of my village which is considably easy since my village is bearly 40 houses.

One tuesday I went to the headman 's village house to cut weeds in their kasava fields. It was one of the hardest jobs ever. My back was killing me. I was trying to be like a fijian woman and lets face I am not but at least I tried right? After a while it started raining and all the women told me to go back to the house and help cook cause they thought I was going to get really sick. So I went back and cooked and ate the best meal ever. It was so good. they prepared a special plate for me which is a big honor even so that they are still doing that after all this time I have been in the village. I think they did it because I did some manual labor for them. Anyways, the headman and his wife are great and right now so far they are the couple I look up to at least until something happens. They take care of me just like I was there real daughter. and their kids treat me just like I am their sister. I really like that family. they are all very helpful and active within the village. So that is nice to see.

Today, is the 14th of October which means it is Jason's birthday today here. He will be really old coming in at the age of 31! OLD MAN! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON! I hope you got your hand made card in the mail.

Keep sending me messages on facebook and e-mails and comments on my blog please! It really helps to hear from. Hopefully the next time I am on here Chris will be here!