My last post....

I'm sorry it's been a long time since I have posted anything. But I am home now safe and sound. I was officially medically separated on Feb. 2, 2009. I was in Washington, DC for 45 days for a medical evaluation. I may possibly have rheumatic fever which eventually turns into rheumatic heart disease. I am feeling fine now and I am happy to be home with my family. I am not able to return to Fiji to finish my service. Peace Corps thought that it was too high of a rick for me to return due to my susceptibility to get strep throat especially with my living conditions in Fiji and my job. I am always around sick people being a Health Promotion volunteer and I am in and out of the Sub-division hospital in Tavua at least 3 or 4 times a month. The chances of me getting worse while being in Fiji are twice as likely to happen due to my immune system and how often I was sick over there.

I am currently applying for Americorps to use what I have learned from the Peace Corps and help people locally. I am very excited about this adventure I hope to finish this time. I have finally posted up the last of my pictures from Fiji. They are from Chris's visit to saying goodbye. I really hope you have enjoyed reading my blog and my experience in Fiji. I truly miss everyone I have encountered in Fiji and hope one day to return to Waikubukubu and be able to switch on a light bulb! Thank you for all your support.

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.