First job, shucking clams for bait...

See the village in the background?

Waiting for the bite...

Plenty of fish. Now time to gut them all...

There it is!

World Map Project is finally finished.

But, it's not over yet. The map continues to serve as an invaluable resource that I use every week in my lessons. And, it's the new cool place to hang out at recess, impressing your friends with your knowledge of world geography!

The girls club was very fortunate to have a generous donation from Tina's mom of lots of jewelry making supplies. At first the girls just played around, making things for themselves, but then some of the women in the village started getting a little jealous of the beautiful jewelry the girls were making. The women suggested that we start selling our stuff. So, during the school break, the girls got serious and turned my house into an earring, necklace, and bracelet factory. They made some really nice things. We sold the stuff for really reasonable prices so everyone could afford something. The girls learned some simple bookkeeping to keep track of the money, and then decided they wanted to use it to go for a picnic on one of the neighboring little islands. Well, we made so much money that we were able to go for our picnic, cook some great food (menu made and food prepared by the girls), and stop at an additional spot after eating. And we've still got some left for other activities in the year.

Akosita and our creations

Volleyball on the island of Telau, after our picnic

Boat trip to the sand bar

Swimming and burying each other in the sand

Me and Luke, relieved that everyone is having fun and no one drowned! I was pretty nervous, when the girls decided they wanted to swim in open water on the way to the sand bar!

The end of the day, before heading back to the village. I think we all slept very well after a long day in the sun!

This is my namesake (the baby that was named after me). The poor child was prepared for a snowstorm in the sweltering heat and humidity of the Fiji summer. At the same time, my clothes were drenched in sweat and it hadn't even reached ten in the morning. I don't think many of the other bus passengers were very sweaty. Maybe if I was dressed like this from birth I'd be better prepared!

New Year's lasts about 2 weeks in Fiji. Lots of kava, water fights, being thrown into the ocean, and lots and lots of noise. Kids pretty much go around banging on whatever will make loud noises and setting off bamboo cannons at all hours of the day. The cannons make my house shake. It really sounds like you're in a war zone. It's kind of amazing that parents don't think it's enough after a while.

You just have to accept the fact that you pretty much won't sleep for 2 weeks. Except for Sundays. I've never loved being in church more than this time of year. It's forbidden to make unnecessary noise on Sunday. But, once the clock turns 12 AM, it's unfortunately not Sunday anymore, and that's when it starts again!

The day I was an expert toothbrusher and brushed my teeth with every single class at the primary school. Colgate donated a bunch of toothbrushes and toothpaste. Most of the kids ate the remainder of their toothpaste on the boat ride home...

Last weekend was the Hindu festival of lights, or Diwali. It's a pretty big deal here in Fiji, considering about 40% of the country is of Indian descent. It was fun to celebrate this year and get a glimpse of this part of the culture that I don't get exposed to much, living in the village.

The night before, Ashley and I met some women with beautiful mehendi tattoos. After admiring theirs, we were invited home with them so they could do ours. They were amazing! So intricate and beautiful and they did them so quickly! I was a little worried about how they would be seen by the village, but they were not really an issue and disappeared after a few days anyway.

For Diwali, people decorate their houses with lights and candles and do lots of fireworks at night. It's kind of like trick or treating, in that you go around to visit as many people as you can and eat delicious Indian sweets at each house. I guess the big difference is that you consume everything on the spot! Can you imagine having to eat all your Halloween candy in one night? Let 's just say that my body was not very happy with me by the end of Diwali!

Indian sweets are delicious, though rich in sugar, ghee, and condensed milk! And, lots of them are fried! Yummy!!! Every house had an impressive spread and you were very much expected to try them all. I think we visited about 7 houses, in addition to having lunch and dinner at other houses!

We spent the night with a priestly family and got to take part in the puja, or prayer ceremony. It was really cool to see.

This is the baby that often stops by to look at her reflection in my glass door and dance for me!

Slowly but surely I've been working on a big world map with the 7th graders at school. It's been really fun, because they pretty much have had zero exposure thus far to geography, but they are so eager to learn, so everything they learn, they are super psyched about. It's also been cool for the other teachers to see the power of non-traditional teaching (i.e. not lecturing and memorization).

Every week, I try to have a lesson about a different country, continent or some social studies activity that ties everything together. For Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, we ate apples and honey and learned about different ways different countries observe the new year.

One, two, three, SAPOI! Last month's craze on the way to school was rock, paper, scissors. They get really into it and there's a much more complicated first guard, second guard scheme that I haven't figured out. I think it's kind of like 3 strikes and you're out!

Now imagine 20 other people besides the ones you see in the video on a small outboard engine fiberglass boat with waves crashing into the boat. Good thing the ride doesn't usually last more that an hour and it's pretty shallow most of the way. And, good thing, I've got a life jacket! I think everyone in the village has taken a turn with it!

Click on the article for an enlarged view you can read.

I started a girls club in the village. We meet when we can and do lots of random things. This was our nutrition and heart rate day. First, we judged how healthy our lunches were...

A walk in the forest to see if our heart rate changes from its resting rate...

And then a run up the stairs...

Now let's check all our numbers and see how long it takes to return back to normal...

The next week, I tried to do some basic first aid, which included the Heimlich maneuver. They all thought it was hilarious! Not sure how much was learned though...

Our water project is almost done!!! Here are some photos summarizing what we've been doing for the last few months:

Me and Momo Jone at the Fiji Water Foundation accepting our funds for the project

Transporting the water catchment tanks to the island

Painting all the roofs in the village (all the same color, which was not my idea). Clean, non-rusted roofs equals clean water!

Cleaning gutters and installing more gutters to maximize our rainwater catchment (especially important for the upcoming dry season).

Rolling the big tanks up the hill to catch water from the church roof.

Building the foundation for the big tanks.

Building tap stands around the village.

The big system up by the church (5- 10,000L tanks). These tanks feed the taps around the village. Other houses got individual house tanks so now all the houses have at least one of their own tanks.

We're almost done! The final big celebration to end the project and open the taps will be in a few weeks when my parents are visiting. It should be a pretty big deal! Hope everyone is doing well. My camera is broken again, so not sure there will be any new photos anytime soon :( At this point, I would not encourage anyone to purchase Olympus brand "waterproof" cameras. They aren't proving to be very waterproof afterall!

My taste in clothing has had to change a bit since coming to Fiji. Sometimes I feel like the motto for Fiji fashion should be "the brighter, the better." These clothes are inside out- they get even brighter when worn the right side up!

And, as I have mentioned several times before, there is no privacy. While I was hanging these undergarments, I was having a conversation with the men painting the roofs. Still a little awkward, I think!

No time for an update or explanation, but just thought this was a cool photo. Click the photo to see an enlarged view, so you can check out the cutie in the middle. Yes, he's wearing goggles. Why? Why not? Those are some of our new water tanks.

So the other morning I awoke to the sound of splashing coming from my bathroom. I knew right away what it was, but I really still hoped it wasn't. A rat in my toilet. I hoped that if I left it for a while it would drown, but it didn't. Not enough water. My next thought was to get someone to take care of it for me. But, I hate being the American princess who can't do anything for herself, so I decided to suck it up and try to take care of it myself. I thought I could try and drown it if I held it under water with a stick. It squeeled. I couldn't do it. I really didn't want to be pathetic, so I took a deep breath and tried again. It swam down the pipe into my septic tank! I guess an easy solution, but I still feel bad for the poor thing and still get a little nervous every time I sit on the toilet. What if it comes back out?!

So, apparently April Fools is observed in Fiji!

I had gone to town that day and on my journey home, I told a villager that I had received an email with a job offer I just couldn't refuse. I'd be going back to the states the following weekend. He didn't believe me, but he thought it would be a good lie to bring back to the village...

So, he told the members of his house. But, another member of his house had started another lie; he had seen me in town with a boyfriend from another village- he was really black, tall and skinny, and his skin was all peeling because he drank too much kava. By the end of the day, I had heard that the two lies had been combined; I would be returning back to the states the following weekend with my boyfriend! People were getting really upset, so I decided to step in for some damage control. I went to the house and set things straight. However, that night the people from that house decided to keep the lie going, and the next day, people came to me crying and threatening to beat up this "boyfriend" of mine! I was getting calls and texts from members of the family living out of the village! It had gone way too far! But, in the end people ended up laughing.

Fijians don't play little jokes like many of us do in the states. They lie about marriage, people in grave danger, and people dying or on their death bed. I went for a run with a villager that day and he pretended to collapse and asked me to call for help because he thought he was having a heart attack. Not funny!

The next morning, I woke up to find that I had no water. My 5,000L water tank, which is enough for a small family, which I have never seen close to empty, went dry. I thought this was a continuation of a joke from the day before. Also not funny. We couldn't figure out what had happened, so someone dug up my pipes, looking for a leak. No luck. Then, when the kids came home from school, one told us that she had seen the outlet pipe fall and all the water must have leaked out over night, but she put the pipe back in this morning, so there was no evidence of that happening!

And of course as I found the tank empty, the clouds that had brought us rain for about a week all cleared to reveal a beautiful blue cloudless sky with no chance of rain in sight! So, I've just been borrowing buckets of water from people around the village for the last few weeks, which isn't very fun. But, I guess it's made me realize even more how important our upcoming water project will be!

Congratulations, you're coming to Fiji! No matter what you read and think you are prepared for, I really don't think you can truly know what you're getting yourselves into until you're here! But, I think you will do just fine here if you:

-Don't mind a slow paced life.

-Daydream!

-Can stand the heat and don't mind being drenched in sweat all day during the hot season.

-Like kids (and will even let the ones with scabies and runny noses hold your hand and climb all over you).

-Don't mind giving up privacy for two years. You don't mind having conversations with people while you're on the toilet or showering, don't mind people falling asleep on your floor, people constantly asking you where you're coming from, where you're going, what you're doing, and what you've eaten (even though you may think it's obvious or none of their business), don't mind the whole village knowing your medical conditions, or hanging your undergarments for all to see.

-Like to read.

-Can appreciate the amazing beauty around you without getting too used to it.

-Can learn to be flexible and patient.

-Can find the humor in awkward and uncomfortable situations.

-Like to laugh and don't mind being laughed at.

-Like to eat and don't mind being eaten (just kidding, bad cannibal joke!)- the part about liking to eat is very important though!

-And finally, you can realize that you're not here to change the world and can recognize that many things that just don't seem right aren't up to you to change.

Looking forward to meeting you all! Feel free to email with any last minute questions (rachel_dacks@yahoo.com).

I think I might have mentioned a few months ago that I had written a very large grant proposal to Fiji Water for a water project in the village. With the devastating floods in January, I thought all funds would be diverted to disaster relief. Well, I just heard that we've been granted the funds!!! Very exciting. The project will allow us to acquire additional plastic rainwater catchment tanks, replace and install additional gutters, paint roofs, and implement an education and cleaning regimen to keep the water plentiful and clean. It's quite a large sum of money, which makes me a little nervous, but I think it will all work out.

Other things that are happening:

Catch per unit effort surveys of the clams and sea cucumbers. We've finally got started on these, though we are moving very slowly with them. So far, it is quite obvious that there are more of these animals inside the marine protected area as compared to the fishing grounds, even though the MPA was mandated less than a year ago. This could have to do with other things though... I am going to propose a change in the area that is being protected, once they open the current area. We'll see how that goes...

I have also started a very small Girl Guides company (girl scouts) in the village. The girls are really excited about this and our company might be the first in the country that's associated with the village and not a school (the company at my local school is no longer active). The girls and teachers are also kind of surprised by the things we have been doing. So far we have done some traditional stuff and then some arts and crafts, learning about different countries, and some environmental lessons. I think, in the past, the girls have learned things like how to properly make a bed and cook and clean... I'll leave those things for their mothers to teach them. I'm not sure if I even know the "proper" way to make a bed!

It's a little late, but here's a link to a detailed blog of the marine park survey I participated in back in February.

http://waitabumarinepark.blogspot.com/2009/02/waitabu-2009-annual-biological-socio.html

So, for anyone planning to come out and visit, I would advise to contact Kari first. She was my first non Peace Corps visitor, and while I really tried to prepare her for village life, apparently I have forgotten everything that is foreign to westerners. Thanks for being a great sport, Kari!

I told her not to panic if she heard really loud drums being beaten at 4:00AM. Those were just sounding for the morning church service. Then, before 6:00AM, the village headman might stand outside my door and shout to the entire village the morning announcements. Amazingly, she slept through both. I did, unfortunately forget to warn her of the very loud blowing of the conch that is also sounded outside my door for the entire village to be informed of the start of the village work day!

The lali, or drums that are sounded for church service

Just to give you an idea of how loud those drums are... I can often hear the ones that are beaten in the next village on the mainland (about a 5-10 minute boat ride away)!

I also tried to warn of the types of food, but it's kind of hard to teach someone how to eat a whole fish in coconut milk without a visual aid! And, for the untrained stomach, it's not very easy to stomach pounds and pounds of taro!

Our Sunday meal

Me, tasting the miti, or coconut milk sauce, I was instructed to make

My host parents have recently become empty nesters. Thier youngest daughter just moved off the island to start secondary school. I think I have picked up many of her Sunday chores, like scraping and grating coconuts. In fact, the other day, the church sermon began with a story about how good I was at scraping coconuts! I was not that surprised, as the sermon often begins with a story about me when my host mother is preaching!

I also had forgotten that Kari's stay coincided with a communion day, which means that the church service was extra long. Kari took communion. Though I have explained to several people why I don't take communion, many people still think it's because I don't drink wine!

Kari taking communion with the women

I also did not realize that this day, when each of the clans went up to tithe, they would also be singing. Kari and I went up with my clan, and then of course had to stay up and join in on the song!

One of the clans singing with their tithing

Then, on the morning of our departure from the village, Kari dragged her large suitcase across the island, then down the 102 steps. I think someone in the village, on the other side of the island, heard each of the clunks down the steps and called the boat captain to come get her bag and bring it to the boat!

Kids making their way to the school boat

The boat captain effortlessly carrying the 60 pound case to the boat, while talking on his cell phone, without breaking a sweat!

After the village visit, we had a bit of a change of scenery when we travelled across the country to another set of isolated, gourgeous islands (the Yasawas). It was a very relaxing, enjoyable few days filled with great snorkeling, tasty food, beautiful sunsets, and getting to meet some really nice tourists.

Octopus Resort, on Waya Island. Notice the reef offshore- it was great. One highlight- a beautiful leopard shark, that looked just like the one I had eaten in the village a few months prior!

The beach in front of one of the villages on the island

But, my new, "waterproof" camera was not as waterproof as it claimed to be, and unfortunately leaked the second time I took it in the water :( So, you will have to again stay tuned to more photos!

I am very much looking forward to the coming of April, when it's supposed to start cooling down a bit. It's bloody hot here at the moment! But, on a brighter note, it's also orange and avocado season, and they are both delicious and plentiful on my island, and people often stop by to make sure I'm well stocked on both!

Hope all is well with everyone.

Love,

Rachel

As some of you may have heard, there was a 7.7 magnitude earthquake off of Tonga last week, which put Fiji under tsunami warning.

I heard about the warning from Peace Corps Office here in Fiji, just as I had boarded a boat to travel to the next island over to teach at the school. Luckily I had just enough time to hop off the boat and walk back up the 102 steps to reach my house, which is at a safe elevation above sea level. I let everyone on the boat (mostly young kids going to school) know why I was getting off, but left left it to the adults' judgement whether they should do the same. I didn't want to force my opinion on them, as sometimes Peace Corps advisories are very overprotective, and I wasn't sure if this was one of those.

However, when I reached my house, I turned on the radio to find tsunami warnings on all stations (we even made BBC world news!) , advising all coastal dwellers to go to higher ground. They didn't even bother saying don't travel by boat, because you'd think that was common sense... Then, I felt a little bad about letting a boat full of children travel. The projected arrival of the tsunami (if it was to come at all) wasn't for another few minutes, so I was hoping the boat would reach its destination by then. Then, they made the announcement that all government buildings and schools would be closed. And then, only a few minutes later, the tsunami warning was lifted.

A few minutes later, the school kids came running down the hill, singing and playing, to the village. I like to think that the warning was lifted before their journey back... but, I like to think a lot of things in this country!

I must admit that in a very twisted way, I was a little disappointed that the tsunami didn't come. I think it would have been an amazing thing to see, though I'm very thankful that all my kids (as well of the rest of Fiji) are safe!

For those of you who are worried about the chance of me getting caught in a tsunami, I'd just like to inform you of the following:

My house (and most of the island I live on) is at a high enough elevation to be safe from tsunamis (and most flooding). In addition, I believe that there are only two recorded tsunamis in Fiji's history. The most recent one was in 1953, which had 5 reported deaths associated with it, and the one before it was in 1898 or so, with no reported deaths. So, please don't worry.

You should be much more concerned about my boat/bus travel, the political situation of this country, and the possibility of heart attack from the amount of fattening, fried, coconut milk soaked foods in this country! No, just kidding, please don't worry!

I hand wrote this blog a few months ago and just came across it as I was tidying up the other day...

I was pretty good at learning everyone's names in the village, which wasn't too difficult of a task because of the small size of the village (only about 100 people permanently live in the village). However, during the holidays, when all family members flocked back to the village and all the secondary school students returned home, I was a little overwhelmed with all the new faces all expecting me to know who they were!

Here, names aren't that easy to learn, because people usually have many of them! A single person may be referred to by their first name, last name, or nickname (and many people have several nicknames, often not at all related to any of their real names). In addition, parents are called the mother/father of the name of their eldest child (my mom would be "Rachel's mother" or "Tinai Raijeli"). So you've got to know who everyone's kids are too. If a son is named after his father, he can be called Jr. and if after is grandfather he is Tukai (old man), and girls have the equivalents.

There aren't that many names here either, so many people have the same name (if things weren't complicated enough)! If someone (whether they were purposely named after you or whether you met them yesterday) shares the same name as you, they are your namesake, and you call them "my namesake" when talking to them and about them.

There's one old lady in the village who's name is Ana. Even though my sister in America is Hannah, she considers that close enough and often asks me how her namesake in the states is! It took me a while to figure it out the first time she asked!

Once you've got the names down, you've got to figure out how they're related to you. It is disrespectful to refer to elders by their name alone, so all of my elders are a grandmother/grandfather, aunt/uncle, or mother/father, which doesn't sound too complicated. However, in Fiji, sisters of your mother and brothers of your father are also considered your parents, and their children are your brothers and sisters. Likewise, same sex siblings of your grandparents or aunts and uncles are also referred to as those relations. Different sexed siblings of your mother/father are your aunts/uncles and their children your cousins, just like we do in the western world.

And, even if you are not related to someone, you still refer to them as aunt/uncle grandma/grandpa if they are older than you. During training, it was funny that our language instructor was calling one of the older volunteers, who was one of her students, "Uncle Larry!"

So, where do I come in in the family? I know for sure who my parents are, as they pretty much adopted me from day one. As for the rest, I'm still not really sure. I usually just refer to people as aunt/uncle if they have kids in my generation and grandma/grandpa if they have enough gray hair! And then there are all the special people who also claim to have adopted me and want me to call them mom/dad! This actually is so important to people that it was an item in a village meeting- who are my real parents and who are my aunties and uncles!

Several official titles also exist in the village (chief, village headman, their messengers or spokespeople, reverend, preacher, teacher, etc.). They all have their Fijian titles that they can be referred to and their wives are recognized as wives of their position. And, they are often mixed and matched with their names or relations. For example, the wife of the preacher, is referred to as "Bu Randini Vakatawa," or "Grandma wife of the preacher!"

All the houses in the village also have names. Mine is Miami, to add to the worldliness of the village, along with Niyoka (New York), Kweensilandi (Queensland), Malivani (Melbourne), and Veranise (France)!

So, if you are confused by someone referring to someone by one name, another name will be given, and then they can also be identified by the house they live in.

I, for example, may be referred to by any of these names:

-Raijeli, Jeli, Rai, Ray, and most recently Rayji (which sounds like Reggie)!

-Gase ni vuli (teacher)

-Peace Corps (and here, corps is pronounced like corpse, which I've tried correcting to no avail)!

-Kai Valagi (the European)

-Luve Turaga ni koro (child of the village headman)

-Vale Miami (lives in Miami house)

-Yalewa ni Viwa (the girl who lives in Viwa)

-Kai Merica (the American)

-and then, depending on my village's historic relationship with other villages, I can be called many names by other villagers like kalavo (rat), gata (snake), naita (knight), etc.

Many people in my area of Fiji and beyond would be able to identify me (and know a lot about me, or tell you they do) if you mention one of these names. So, if you are planning a surprise visit, just show up, and I guarantee you could locate me within one day without notifying me. It's a very small country with lots of very friendly (and nosy) people!

It's been a while... mostly because my camera broke and I don't like posts without photos!

But, my friend Kari has arrived in Fiji and delivered a new one- yay! I'm very excited to be spending the next week with her. We're going back to the village this evening, spending a few days there, then heading for some travel elsewhere.

A few weeks ago, I got to visit another volunteer's site on the island of Taveuni. The village has had a marine protected area set up there for 11 years now. I got to participate in the annual reef survey which was really fun. The village was really nice and the whole island is just beautiful. I hope to go back some day and see a bit more of it.

Upon return to my village, I learn that they are trying to implement an annual village budget, which is quite an amazing thing here in Fiji because it involves thinking ahead and planning! However, I learned that the plan for the initial funding of the budget is to open the marine protected area that we have and basically fish it to death and remove anything from it that will sell in the market. Ahhhhhh!!!

Well, I guess that's where I come along... The village has agreed not to open the area until I, along with some villagers have completed some basic surveys (mostly of the sea cucumbers and clams). So I'm rather excited about being able to use my skills here! It's things like this that I thought I'd be doing here in Fiji.

But, I think the village has finally realized that I'm capable of these things from hearing of what work I've done in other volunteers' villages. Until recently, I'm pretty sure they thought I couldn't even swim (probably due to the peace corps rule that I have to wear my life jacket at all times on boats)...

Hopefully my next update will include some stellar photos!

Hope all is well with everyone.

After the Australians left, I headed up north to the second largest island of of the Fiji group- Vanua Levu. The official purpose of my visit was to visit another volunteer's village in a work exchange. I checked out the reef offshore the village and got to talking about Marine Protected Areas with some of the villagers. I thought it was a good experience, and hope that things continue to move forward.

Garrett, the volunteer I fist visited has not sent any photos home to his poor family, so hopefully they can get a taste of what his life is like from these few pics!

Garrett's house (with toilet and shower on the side)

On a little hike up to see the village's freshwater source.

The copra industry is really big up north. Copra is the dried coconut meat that results from the "cooking" of the coconut flesh in a specially made "oven." Coconut oil can then be extracted from the copra.

Pile of coconut husks. A common site up north.

A beautiful sunset. I took this photo from Garrett's doorstep.

I also got to visit another volunteer's site. She lives in a health compound with a doctor in a beautiful house on a hill with a stunning 360 degree view of Savusavu Bay. I took a few photos of the view, but can't bring myself to post them because they do not come close to doing justice to the amazing view!

Also spent a few days in the nice little town of Savusavu with a group of volunteers and had a lot of fun! Savusavu is also referred to as the "hidden paradise" and "little America." There is a large expat community in the area, which also means that there are some great little restaurants and real coffee!

I took a gorgeous 3 hour bus ride from Savusavu to Labasa on my last day in the north. Unfortunately, I've heard that the road suffered a lot of damage in the recent storms and will not be reopened for a long while. Got to catch up with a few more volunteers up in Labasa before flying back home. The flight back was pretty cool as I got to see a birds eye view of my island!

It's was a very enjoyable trip and was very interesting to see how each of us are having very different experiences in the same country. Even Garrett, who lives in a coastal village (like me) is having a much different experience. His village is quite spread out, he has a spacious living area and privacy, the village has a much different attitude and motivation level, and they barely use the sea for resources.

I'll be visiting another volunteer on another island next week, helping out with their annual coral reef survey. I'm very excited and will update upon my return!

Let's fast forward back to November... I can't believe that was 2 months ago!

Ok, so I just return back to the village after spending a few days out for Thanksgiving to a village hosting a group of 26 Australian college students! I step off the boat and everyone is calling me in to their houses to meet their "visitors." I step into the first house (oh, and I'm soaked from a rainy boat ride, but not allowed to change yet), and find that the Australians in the first house already know me. They say their host family already told them all about me, but then I see a copy of my blog lying on the floor!!!

I'm very embarrassed, not just because the students literally know my daily schedule (from the stories of their host families), but also that my blog was presented to the class as background reading material (without my knowledge)!

I guess it was just a reminder of how public the internet is. I thought about making the blog private, but then remembered how helpful it was to read other Peace Corps Volunteers' blogs before I came. So, it will remain public. Maybe a little censored, but still public!

I think 12 days of homestays was very much a learning experience for the students, the village, and myself. We (the village) didn't really know very much about the group before they arrived and nothing was planned for their stay. They luckily got to experience a wedding during their stay, which was fun, but I felt that we could be doing a little more for them. So, I proposed we arrange a sort of "Fijian field day," with some contests and traditional dances. It was a hit!

The spectators

Introducing the competitors in the coconut scraping contest

Coconut leaf basket weaving

Husking coconuts

I don't remember if I've mentioned it in the past, but Fijians are very competitive people. So, they all wanted their host student to win (you may be able to spot the "helping hands" in the photos)!

Overall, the experience was a good one, but we definitely learned ways that we can improve our services in the future.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and I wish everyone the best in 2009. I missed many of you as the clock struck midnight and the sermon in church was still going on. I explained that we celebrate the new year a little differently in the U.S. and while we also do drink a lot, it's not kava that we drink!

After the marathon long church service, the festivities began. The water fights started as did the banging on pots and pans and setting off of homemade bamboo cannons. The kava bowl also has yet to run dry. The festivities continue through the week around the clock, though we took a day off for the Sunday. However, as soon as Sunday ended at 12, the noise and water started right back up again. No matter how good I've gotten at sleeping through noise, there's some basic human instinct that makes it hard to sleep when it sounds like a war is going on and your house is shaking with the cannons being set off!

One of the main playing spots is right in front of my door...

And, no matter where you are in the village, it sounds like you are in a war zone. The cannons are fueled with kerosene and I've seen kids as young as 5 and 6 setting them off! They are really, really loud!

There's much more to update on, but my time is up. I think I'll be in town for a bit longer next week, so hopefully I'll update then.

Once again, a happy and healthy 2009 to everyone!

A few weeks ago, I returned from a week long conference. Before I left, I tried my best to rat-proof my house (as it was during my last absence that the rat decided to house sit- and never moved out)! Before opening my door upon my return, I paused, imagining what mess might await me and was rather confushed to find my kitchen intact, but with a few piles of sticks around the place (on my bed, stove, etc.). It took me a few seconds to realize that because I do not have a ceiling, not only the rats, but the birds too have free access to the house, and the piles of sticks were in fact bird nests! As this was all being pieced together in my head, one of the mynahs made its way in, twig in beak, quite surprised to see that the house was no longer uninhabited! As I was removing the nests and inspecting the latest entry point, I realized that the space between the tin sheeting that makes up my outer walls and the thin wood boards that make up my inner walls had also been completely filled with nesting material! While this would be excellent insulation and it is a bit cruel to undue many hours of bird labor, I did try and unstuff as much of my walls as possible- after all, the mynahs are also an invasive specie and they're rather loud, too!

Though I was feeling quite defeated as I cleaned up after the birds, I felt a little victorious when I found that the rat poison, which had gone untouched for several weeks, had been nicely nibbled at! Haven't had rat problems since!

Just had a wonderful swim in the middle of the Pacific in the pouring rain. The rain stopped, the sun came out along with a full rainbow, and then I watched Obama's acceptance speech with a Fiji Gold and some good friends. What a beautiful day!

Off to a week long conference today on "Project Design and Management." Actually going with someone from the village, so it should be interesting.

Made my way onto the mainland on Friday to visit a few friends and spend Halloween with them, which was fun. One of my good friends just got her post changed, so she'll be moving out to another far away island. I'm very dissapointed about it, but happy for her because it's a great spot! Hopefully I'll be able to visit!

Spending Sunday in Suva was great, not only because there was no church involved! Last week was the "Methodist Youth Fellowship" week in Fiji, so there were lots of activities planned by the youth. The week ended with a Sunday filled with church activities. I was assigned a bible reading (in Fijian) to read in one of the services and a part in the play in the afternoon service! It was actually pretty fun, and the village sure got a kick out of it!

Drama (Part 1)

Drama (Part 2)- The angels looking on from heaven, as an irresponsible man drinks too much kava and alcohol and ends up in "hell" (which was complete with small fires).

The audience

A more flattering photo of my house. Don't be fooled by the look that some privacy may exist! The plumeria tree on the right provides delicious sweet smelling breezes...

I've only just started being officially productive in the village in the last few weeks, but here's a summary of what my days consist of...

I am usually awakened around 5:30 or so by roosters crowing, wood chopping, children wishing me a good morning or bringing me breakfast, or other conversations (it's a very small, compact village, so you can pretty much hear everything). I usually roll around in bed until I feel like I'm being too antisocial with my door closed. I then quickly try to make myself and my house look somewhat presentable, as I know it is only a matter of minutes before my first visitor!

I prepare my breakfast and have my tea. It's getting really hot, but if I don't drink tea, people think there is something wrong or I don't have any tea, so they'll begin to worry or bring me some!

I started teaching a kindergarten class a few weeks ago, so usually beginning an hour or so before class, I'll have the kids stopping by, asking me if I'm ready yet! Here they are:

The class and Lily, who helps me keep things running

Wane throwing a mini tantrum about being crowded out of seeing the last photo...

...everyone happy again!

After class, I may do a number of things:

Laundry- all handwashing, board and brush style. I actually kind of enjoy it and find it to be quite relaxing. One of my clothes lines that the village set up for me is on a somewhat steep hill. I really do think they did this on purpose, so they would be entertained as they watch me try to balance and hang at the same time! All my laundry then becomes displayed publicly for the village to see, and they get very confused when they see an article that they have not seen me wear (like my pajamas or an outfit I may have worn out of the village)! And yes, Tina and Allison, I'm sure everyone noticed my new birthday undies!

I tidy and clean the house (which luckily doesn't take very long due to its size). However, due to its size, things to tend to clutter quite quickly, and anything left out in the open is fair game for curious hands and eyes (not only the kids').

If there is not house work to be done, I sometimes walk around the village and make house visits, drink more tea, and "talk story" to figure out what's going on in the village. I don't have to ask to be given the report on who went fishing, who went to town, and what the rest of the villagers are doing!

Cooking takes a little longer in my situation, with no running water and a limited amount of counter space, pots and pans, and burners, but I find it to be quite fun finding new ways to be efficient (like how many ways I can use the same water before tossing it, or making the most out of the "multi-purposeness" of kitchen supplies)! I usually only cook once a day and eat my leftovers later or give them away and eat a meal in another house.

After lunch, pretty much everyone in the village naps. I sometimes join the effort, but if not, find this time great for reading. With not too many visitors or observers about, I don't have to worry about being questioned what I'm doing (my villagers can't really understand that I read for pleasure).

I usually join the post-nap chats in the shady, breezy spots of the village before heading out for "training." There are no roads (or vehicles) on the island, but there is a short, shady footpath through the forest to the other side of the island which I usually run back and forth upon. The path ends at a flight of 104 steps which I sometimes alternatively train on! I didn't really understand that here, exercising is referred to as training (even though you may not be training for anything in particular)! At first, both the villagers and myself were confused when, upon returning from the forest all sweaty, clearly returning from a run, I denied returning from "training" and instead said that I was running! If the village knows that I have gone for a run that day, they all compliment me on being fit. If I haven't exercised, they all compliment me on being fat!

In the evenings, when/if the generator comes on, I hold a homework help session for the primary school kids. This is quite challenging, as all 15 or so of them represent grades 1-8, so they all have different assignments and challenges to overcome. I've recruited a helper and am working on getting a few more of the youth members to help.

After dinner, I sometimes will watch TV in another house, drink kava, or manage to get away with keeping to myself at home!

Sometimes there are committee or village meetings held, which I attend and usually try to bring up some sort of environmental issue or project idea. So far, the village has been very responsive to these ideas. Just a few days after suggesting that plastics and other dangerous fume causing materials not be burned in the village or dumped in the ocean, the men dug two very large pits for these items to be buried. Here they are putting the final touches on one of them...

We are also working on the logistics of getting a recycling program worked out. Last week, after having spent months in the village learning (and experiencing) some of the problems with the current rainwater catchment system, I decided (along with some villagers) to write a grant proposal to upgrade/replace some of the degraded infrastructure. After announcing this in the village meeting, the village promptly gave out responsibilities to help with gathering some of the necessary info and I received much of it the next day! Not quite the Fiji time I had expected!

On Fridays, I go to the primary school on Bau Island and basically act as the substitute teacher for whichever teacher didn't show up that day. This has its ups and downs- it's good because I can use the day and class to pretty much cover whatever I want, though bad for the same reason (I am given no guidelines of what to cover). More on the school system here in another blog to come...

School Boat

Bau District Primary School

School kids

Playing rugby during recess

Class 5 and 6 (combined due to lack of teachers)

And then there's church... It's a big deal here on the island, where Methodist missionaries first arrived and the New Testament was first translated into Fijian. Though there are morning and evening devotions daily and usually three services on Sunday, I usually just attend the afternoon service on Sunday. More on church and religion later...

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, there is a lot of non-verbal and indirect communication that goes on in Fiji. Here are some examples, that took me a while to figure out, and that may not be quite as well received back at home!

- Raising off the eyebrows to signal yes (the equivalent of nodding)

- Making the sound "mmm mmm," which English speakers use to say no, to actually mean yes (this is sometimes combined with the eyebrow raising).

- Tilting of the head to one side to mean no thank you

- Making a loud kissing noise to get someone's attention (this is not at all considered rude here). Fijians are really good at this and can signal someone from quite a significant distance!

- Holding up both hands and rotating them at the wrists to signal that something is finished or has already happened.

...and perhaps one of my favorites,

- Moving the thumb across the neck (in a slitting motion) to signal that you like someone in a romantic way!

There are many more that are regional or specific to a certain village, so I'll try and remember the interesting ones for another post!

A few weeks ago, I attended an Early Service Training Conference in Nadi (a city on the opposite coast of the main island). It was nice to reunite with all the group again and hear all their stories, and also very cool to meet all the volunteers that I had not met, from some previous groups. Got some good ideas and had a lot of laughs. Also had some hot water showers and some good nights sleep in really comfortable beds!

After the conference, I got to do a training on coral farming, at the largest resort in Fiji. We didn't stay the night there, but it was a side of Fiji that I had not yet seen- completely different than the village!

The Fijian Resort's coast (actually on its own small island)

Coral farming with some kids

After the training, I joined a few volunteers to be tourists! We had a great time a a beautiful little backpackers place, right on the beach, where we did quite a bit of swimming, snorkeling, and lounging- a very nice break. It's such a small country though, that I actually met one of the guys that worked at the hostel that had family in my village, so sure enough, when I returned to the village, I didn't have to tell them all my doings, because they had already heard!

The BeachouseA friend and I also visited the Sigatoka Sand Dunes during our mini-break. Don't exactly know the story behind them (the visitors center was closed, so we had to sneak in via a neighboring village), but they were vast and beautiful.

The very steep, sand hill we had to climb to get to the dunes

Sigatoka Sand Dunes

Upon returning to the village, after being away for a little over a week, I found my house full of rat waste. I had never had a problem with a kalavo in the house before, but I guess I left some food out, and the rat found my house. In the last week, I have found that this rat is not picky at all- it'll eat eggplant, flour, crackers, corn, apples, and even chew its way through canvas bags, but won't touch the rat poison! One night it even knocked over a bottle of soy sauce which made its way onto every surface of my kitchen!

In attemts to protect my food, I tried to make it unreachable, by putting it in bags and tying them to a mock clothesline I set up in my small house. I thought it worked the first night, but then found that it had somehow made it to the canvas bag and hopped right in for an all you can eat buffet. The other night, I finally saw the thing, as it tight rope walked across the clothesline and made its way to the bags. Afterward, I literally played hide and seek with it for a while, trying to figure out other inaccessible safe havens (under overturned buckets, in bed with me, etc.). I was pretty amazed at how smart it was, and I can't believe I'm going to say this about a rat, but actually found it to be a little cute. However cute it is though, I don't want it getting any more food, don't want to clean up any more of its crap, and want to help rid the island of an invasive species! I'll keep you all updated!

I'm spending the entire day in town today, so here's for post #2...

Last week, a German university intern visited the island to follow up on a paper that was written, investigating the water situation on the island. When I asked him what he thought of Fiji, one of the first things he said was "I thought the people would be smaller!" My counterpart got a kick out of this, but definitely took it as a compliment!

People here often eat breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. Each of those has a food component, and lunch and dinner often end with tea and a snack.

I usually cook my own meals during the week and eat in other houses during the weekend. People still bring me food throughout the week though, because they think I am not eating enough if I don't have any root crops with my meal! Here's a photo of a Sunday lunch. This meal consists of fish prepared in a variety of ways (fried, boiled, cooked in coconut milk), clams prepared in coconut milk, boiled chicken, seaweed, taro leaves, ramen noodles with sausages, and a variety of root crops (cassava, taro, yams). Pretty much everything except for the ramen and sausage are found locally on the island.

These are the women that prepared this meal. This is before they have eaten!

The women will sit there and watch the men eat and tend to their requests before eating. Both parties will eat until they can not eat another thing, then have their tea, lie around, chit-chat and gossip, and probably fall asleep. I am not very good at public napping just yet, but am working on it.

That is about all the computer I can handle for the day, so I must be off.

I hope you are all doing well. Please send me updates from your parts of the world!

Love,

Rachel aka Raicheli aka Cheli aka Rai aka Kaivalangi (European or white person)!

I've had limited time in town lately, so haven't updated in quite a while. Where to start...

Despite not really doing anything, it always seems like there is so much to write about! Today marks the end of the second month of living in my current village, and fourth month in Fiji. The time has flown by!

About a month ago, there was a big chiefly funeral on my island, so the population of people in the village increased by about four-fold for the week. Everyday, we (the women) spent all day chopping vegetables and butchering cows and pigs to feed hundreds of people three meals a day! It was quite exhausting, (especially because you were also expected to drink kava all night afterwards), but also quite amazing to prepare so much food in some of the largest pots I have ever seen. The villagers were also quite amazed to see that I am in fact able to use a knife and even set and clear a table! I guess the glamorous lives that Americans lead in the movies don't show that we do also partake in everyday chores! I must say though that I am not even close to (and can't see myself ever being) as skilled as Fijians are with knives. Though I did try my hand at butchering, it was quite pathetic!

I am slowly getting the message across that American isn't all what Fijians see in the movies. The other day, some of the kids asked me if the black case that I keep under my bed (which is my first aid kit), was my gun case! They were then very surprised to learn that my family in American does not even keep a gun in the house! (Guns are illegal in Fiji).

The kids had their two week school holiday a few weeks ago, so the village was very lively and I got to meet some of the children who stay in boarding schools off the island. This is the usual scene in my house when the children are in the village... You can see that one of the girls has my photo album in her hands (even though she has flipped through it hundreds of times and knows everyone by name in it)!

During the kids' school break, they also made sure to point out or bring me any critter they came across! Here is a beautiful iguana which they found in the mango tree in front of my house. The poor thing was very docile, which meant that it got to be held by everyone in the village!

They also found a small snake, which everyone had a turn holding!

View up the hill from the sea wall Around the village

My small house

Inside my small house!View from my doorstep (at low tide)

Some of the kids down by the sea

Life continues to go well in Fiji, but is so different on my small island that it's hard to even know where to start with the updates! I even wrote out a nice outline to go by, but left it in the village! I'll try and remember some of it...

Here are some island highlights:

-Fishing- is a fun all day affair, that starts with getting bait (digging for worms or clams). My eye is not quite trained to identify the shape of the dips in the sand that the clams are located under. Next, you need to reach your fishing ground (either from shore, walking out into the water, rowing out on a wooden boat or bamboo raft, or if you're lucky, hopping on a motor boat). So far, I have just done hook and line fishing, which consists of a fishing line wrapped around a glass bottle with a hook and small piece of metal for weight at the end. I have yet to use the gill nets or go spear fishing, though everyone is eager to teach me! After spending a few hours fishing, all your fish have to be gutted and scaled upon your return (which can take a few hours if you're catching smaller fish)! The first time I went fishing, I only caught 5 fish, so when I returned with half a bucket of fish on my second trip, it was definitely the talk of the village for the next few days. This isn't really surprising, b/c everything I do is the talk of the village! Everyone always knows what I eat at every meal, who I eat with, when I go jogging, how many times I jog up and down the stairs, what I buy in town, when I get phone calls and who the calls are from, etc! It's kind of funny, and I am slowly learning that 'white lies,' or just being vague about things are a big part of Fijian culture, so it's not really a bad thing to just give general or slightly untrue answers to protect your privacy or sanity! This also makes it pretty hard to communicate with people when you are trying to get the real answers in everyday conversation!

-Grating coconuts (I am pretty slow, but getting better everyday) for squeezing the coconut cream. The sound of grating coconuts is one of the regular sounds in the village, along with the pounding of kava root, and crowing chickens! There is such an abundance of coconuts in Fiji, that every part of the coconut tree is used for something, and many foods are made with raw coconut milk or cooked in coconut milk. I also made myself a broom a few weeks ago from the strong fibers in the coconut leaves.

Talanoa/Tea time

The first three months in the village are for "cultural integration," in which we are not allowed to start any work or projects. I think I almost know everyone's name and am working on the relationships between people in the village. I usually spend several hours a day just talking to people in the village over tea or in the shady, breezy spots in the village. This is great for practicing language.

Playing cards

After dinner the children always stop by to see what I have eaten for dinner (and if I have any leftovers), for help with their homework, and to play cards. The second school term has just finished, so the kids will be on break for the next two weeks and I anticipate many many hours of cards to come!

My door (as are all the doors in a Fijian village) is always open for visitors. The only difference is that my small house is one room, so everything I have is pretty much always on display for the village. Most people (especially the children) have seen my small photo album several times and know many of you by face and name, how old you are, where you live, and your relation to me! They have seen the postcards you have sent and can now locate the places you have sent them from on the world map that I have in my house! I'd love for you to send more photos of everyday life. Many Fijians think that our "Western" lives are just like the movies. In fact, one of the kids thought my black first aid case that I keep under my bed was my gun case and was very surprised to learn that neither I nor anyone in my family owns a gun (guns are illegal in Fiji, but I guess Hollywood makes it seem like we've all got them).

Here's my new address:

P.O. Box 3521

Nausori, Fiji Islands

SOUTH PACIFIC

Please send photos/postcards!

There's so much more to write about, but I'll keep those for the following weeks!

Oh, one more thing- I got to see one of my professors and teaching assistants from Boston give a lecture at the University of the South Pacific in Suva. It sure is a small world!

I hope you are all doing well.

Love,

Rachel

I'm only in town for a few hours and have loads to do, so here's just a few pics from the last few days...

It's official...as of last Thursday, I am no longer a Peace Corps Trainee, but a full on Peace Corps Volunteer! We are the first group ever in Fiji to have all 32 of us make it through training to swear in as volunteers.

The swearing in ceremony was really nice (see photo above) with all the PC staff, some embassy people, and all the host families. Notice all of our colorful Fijian sulu/jambas! Afterwards, a few of us did a traditional Fijian dance, or meke, all dressed up in Fijian costume...

My host mom is the woman next to me in blue.

I was whisked away right after the ceremony, so I could take the boat out to my island while the tide was high. That next Saturday, there was a wedding on the next island over (Bau), which I attended. Here are some photos, but I'll be sure to include much more info on the wedding and my life on the island later (maybe next week)...

I hope everyone is doing well! Please keep me updated on your lives in the Western World!~Raijeli!

These are a few pics my camera decided not to delete from the memory card! Hopefully I can get this sorted out...

My house

The village church

Bringing a beach ball was a good idea...within minutes of its introduction, I think we had then almost all the kids of the village in the front yard!

My host sister, Losena and some freshly made roti

One of the walkways in the village

Some of the village troublemakers. They had to have a talking to about not taking handfuls of my behind!I'm really upset that I lost some other great photos. Hopefully I'll be about to get some more of my host family and village soon.

Just returned from visiting my future home for the next two years.

The island is quite beautiful. The only village is tiny and clustered on a hill on the side of the island facing the open ocean. The village consists of about 30 houses, a small church, and a community hall. That's it! Most of the island is undeveloped native rainforest and mangrove forest along the coast. When the tide is out, the mud flats are exposed and you can pretty much walk around the entire island.

There's no running water, but several rainwater catchment tanks, and the generator runs from 6-10 at night. Both of these things seemed to work fine during the visit, but I've been told that that isn't always the case.

The island has a marine protected area circling the majority of the island, where fishing is prohibited. The villagers seem to think that it's done well for them- they say that the are catching larger, and more abundant fish now. No monitoring has been done thus far, so I'm definitely looking forward to starting that up. The women of the village do quite a bit of sea cucumber collecting, which I'm not sure is sustainable. The dried sea cucumbers fetch quite high prices in the Asian export market, so it would be a hard thing to stop doing unless there was a form of alternative income generation.

While there will be many challenges, I think the largest one will be the demographics of the village. There is no school on the village, so the children must travel to the neighboring island for primary school. Those going to secondary school and beyond must move off the island. Many of them never come back if they find work in the cities.

Everyone seems super nice (though this is not surprising for Fiji)! Even though English is technically the official language of Fiji, the islanders mostly speak Fijian, so I'll get to use and improve my language skills.

My house is not yet complete, but hopefully it will be before I move out there in 2 weeks. It's super small, but does have a great view. Visitors are always welcome!

My counterpart is the Turaga ni Koro (village headmen)'s wife- she seems great! The Turaga ni Koro also seems like the type who likes to get things done (which is somewhat of a rarity in Fiji)! We'll have to see if that's really the case.

My camera doesn't seem to be working properly, otherwise I would be sending some photos along.

Only about a week and a half left of training!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Love,

Rachel

A record 3 posts in one week...here we go!

Found out yesterday where I'll be living for the next two years!!!

It's a pretty small island (60 hectares), with a single village of 30 houses, and 123 people. It's pretty close to where I'm at now actually- about a 15 minute boat ride from a landing a few miles away, which is very close to a town. My host family is really excited about this and told me that I have to come home every weekend! Not so sure about that...

There's no wired electricity, but there is a generator. No running water- rainwater is collected. I'll be visiting in a few days, but apparently it's quite beautiful and my house is on a hill with an ocean view!

The job description seems pretty general, with eco-tourism development and monitoring of the marine protected area being top priorities. Seems like there are lots of other environmental concerns and project ideas (waste managment, mangrove reforestation, working with the school and youth groups, recycling, etc.).

The counterpart that I will be working most directly with seems like a pretty active woman in the community- she's also the village nurse.

The island is in the Bau Province, which is where all the chiefs come from, so it's kind of a big deal in Fiji. The island itself also seems to be quite historic. It's the first place in Fiji that was missionized and the location where the first Bible translation into Fijian occurred.

I'll be sure to update when I can after m visit.

Hope everyone is doing well. Keep me updated!

Love,

Rachel

For reasons such a cultural taboos, I think the long training in the villages is amazingly valuable! Here's a list of a few I can think of:

-Touching anyone on the head. The head area is a sacred storage of knowledge- it's even taboo to wear hats and sunglasses in the villages. Carrying bags is even considered taboo because of shoulder straps which approach the head area.

-Eating while walking in the village

-Standing while others are seated in a room. If you must stand to get up, or must move through one's personal space, you must crouch over and repeatedly say "tulo."

-In the village, women must wear skirts and have their shoulders covered. Mostly, women (and men) wear wrap around pieces of cloth (sulus). Men must also wear skirts when visiting another village.

-Shoes are not worn in any house, church, or community hall

-Women cannot shower after dark

-Legs should be crossed when sitting around the tanoa bowl. You must ask permission to stretch you legs and should never have your feet pointing at anyone.

-No pointing at anyone

-No running through the village

-No loitering in the doorway

Those are just a few I could think of...will update when I think of more!

I realized that I haven't posted on one of the central happenings in Fijian culture: kava drinking!

For those that do not know, kava is a plant with roots that have sedative effects. The roots are made into a drink in much of the Pacific that is drunk socially and/or ceremonially.

In Fiji, the roots are dried and then pounded into a powder. It is customary for any visitor to present their host with a "bouqet" of kava roots in a sevusevu ceremony in order to be accepted as a guest in the village or house (I had to present one to my village and my host father when I moved to the village). We also present sevusevus to village chiefs or elders whenever we visit another village.

In Fiji, kava, (yangona in Fijian) is also drunk at any type of festival or ceremony and also in the house in a social setting. Even if it is drunk in a social setting, the traditional procedure is still followed. Traditions inculde many prayer like things said before, after, and while drinking, sitting in semicircle around the bowl, a series of different claps done throughout the drinking, and places where you are not supposed to be seated. A series of taboos exists around the tanoa bowl that I won't even try to explain fully...

The poudned kava is poured into a cloth bag which is then hand mixed and squeezed in water (keep in mind that hand washing is not very popular here). The kava is mixed to the right strength and then served one by one in coconut shells, starting with the guest, chief, and higher ranking males (everyone drinks out of the same shell). You can specify whether you want a high or low tide (how full the shell is filled) and once everyone has had a shell, you stop for a while and chat, gossip, tell stories, play music, sing, etc. When someone is ready for the next round, they call taki and the process starts again. This can last from a few hours to pretty much all day!

In my experience, the kava is Fiji is not terribly strong. A cup will leave you with a temporarily numb tongue and after a few bowls you'll feel nice and relaxed. I've had my best sleep after hours of kava drinking, but haven't yet had kava strong enough to have other relaxant results!

Between the kava drinking and the sickly (but definitely happy and active) kids that are usually piled on top of me, I'm still amazed that I haven't gotten sick yet!

We've just reached our halfway point for our pre-service training. Like many current PCVs have said, "the days go slow, but the weeks fly by."

Went snorkeling a few weeks ago with a team of survey divers from South Pacific University. It was cool to learn about the surveys becuase they are very similar to the ones I did around St. John a few years ago. We snorkeled over a somewhat disturbed reef area, but still saw some amazing things. I saw 2 giant clams, great anemones and clownfish (nemos), a beautiful (but highly venomous) sea snake (they are not aggressive in the least), a crown of thorns starfish, and some other really pretty corals, sponges, and fish. It was great!

Spent last Saturday in the capital city of Suva, which is the largest city in the South Pacific. It was pretty busy and crowded, but had quite a small city center with lots of urban sprawl. We had a scavenger hunt there which my extremely competitive team won!

Life in the village continues to be interesting. One of the highlights of this week has been the installation of a light bulb WITH a switch in my room! Previously, there was a bright flourescent light in my room, which also provided the light to the other rooms in the house. Because everyone in the house is on a different schedule, the light was permanently on and I had no way of switching it off. I'll just say that it is amazing how much better one sleeps in the dark!

With all the heavy root crops and fried breads, I have definitely put on a few pounds. It's good for women to be fat in Fiji though, so my family (and the rest of the village) is pretty happy for me! They often tell me how fat I'm getting and try to figure out whether Lauren (the other American girl in the village) or I am fatter. The conclusion the other night was that Lauren is fatter (because of her fat arms), but I am the fattest! According to them Lauren has gotten fat here, whereas I came to Fiji already fat! My mother also told me the other day that when I was walking down the street with my 16 year old sister (who is quite beautiful and has a nice figure), we looked like twins because we are both short and fat! Luckilly, I have also started running in the mornings with one of my cousins who trains for the rugby team!

My Fijian is coming along slowly and I have actually just received the results from my half-training assesment. I scored an intermediate low, which is actually the level that we must attain before training is over. Although I don't need to stress about the final assessment, I do feel like I have a ways to go in order to be able to carry through with basic communication. Even though most Fijians can understand and speak some English, I have noticed a huge difference in how comfortable a Fijian is when speaking both languages. A volunteer who speaks fluent Fijian seems like they have the potential to get so much more completed during their service.

Hello you all!

So I guess it's about my third or fourth week here now (wow how it's flown by)! Fijians are extremely nice and patient people that love to smile, laugh, and sing. They get really excited when they hear any Fijian words or phrases out of a white person's mouth!

Spent about the first week in a pre-training traning mostly learning how to be culturally sensitive in a country with many many taboos and some language basics.

Then we all moved in with our host families. I am currently living in the village of Vunivaivai, about a hour away from the capital city of Suva. There are four other trainees living in my village. The village is pretty rural and has about 300 people or so living in its boudaries. It's pretty basic and traditional-- has a village chief and is very much communal living. Everyone in the village knows me by name (my Fijian name is Raycheli or Cheli) and I cannot take more than three steps in the village without hearing "Bula Cheli!" It does not matter where anyone is (kitchen, eating, outside, in the shower...) they all still seem to know when I'm passing by! It's also pretty customary to also ask where you're going and where you're coming from, so there really isn't much that anyone doesn't know in the village. Anything that they might not have heard about is spread by way of mouth pretty quickly (known as the coconut wireless here)!

My nuclear family consists of my host parents (Siti and Mereone), my host sisters Ili (22), Losena (16), Ana (13), and Deni (4) and my brother, Seta (11). We also have one of the cousin's family living in our living room (2 parents and 3 children under the age of 3)-- it's a pretty full house and it is pretty much a given that there is always at least one child throwing a tantrum! They are all really nice, but I definitely am having one of the more challenging times out of the trainees...

A typical day usually consists of about 4 hours of Fijian language class in the morning followed by a technical training in the afternoon. The Fijian language is kind of interesting as many of its words can be used for a wide variety of meanings, so you need to know what context the word is used in. For example, the word vinaka can be used to mean: yes, no, thank you, hello, bless you, health and much much more!

Most Fijians are Methodists and spend quite a bit of time in church! They all think I am pretty interesting because I told them that I was Jewish, which is another reason why I have become a sort of celebrity in the village. People are also quite fascinated by my hair and eyes. They call my hair "chow" (which is the brand of ramen noodles here in Fiji) and once they learn that I wear contacts, they think I wear them to make my eyes blue! People have guessed that I am Red Indian (Native American), Tongan, Italian, Spanish, or just generally "European!"

We find out about our permanent sites and projects on July 4th, which we are all eagerly awaiting. Though I am enjoying living with my family, I am also definitely looking forward to moving into my own place then too!

On Monday, we are going snorkeling to learn some fish ID-- yay!

I hope you are all doing well.

I'd really love to hear what you all are up to. Please keep me posted!

Love,

Rachel