The Floating Bamboo

Picture from our trip to the reef on Monday, October 5, 2009.




Tuesday, September 29, 2009

All FRE-07’s Training. I also went back to my host village with all 5 of the volunteers that also trained there and had dinner and visited. I got to see my sister, Delana, who is moving to Vanuatu soon. Crazy!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Training - I got a lot out of today! We had small group sessions where we could pick the topic for each 30 minute interval. I learned about youth camps, youth groups in rural villages, waste management, footpaths, savings and credit clubs, etc. Good topics. I am also now planning on getting my village footpaths because Peace Corps made it sound so simple! Yay! I know the village needs them because of all of the rocks and mud, plus the eroding issue. We will probably raise the money over the wet season and begin installing around April.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Last night we were all invited to the country director’s house for a bbq. Oh my goodness, best food in Fiji and her house is beautiful! We had hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, salsa and chips, cake, Cadberry ice cream, fruit, and salads. Mmmm! After leaving, of course because we were all together in Suva, we went out to the bar. I danced and danced. For some reason I am not embarrassed to dance or sing in Fiji. I feel so free, only because I know nobody in Fiji cares and they enjoy it more just to see people being crazy. More gossip! Anyways, most favorite night in Fiji so far! About 35 or so of us went out together and we all had a great time. Can’t forget Monte’s competition with the flaming boy plus Graham deciding he could do the Cotton-Eye-Joe on the bar! Lol!

Today is all volunteer day and so everyone is in town for training. We were at the hotel all day at a conference with organizations from all over Fiji came to speak with us. There were about 20 tables set up with people ranging from Ministry of Fisheries to Colgate. It was very helpful and entertaining to go to each table, ask what they can do for me, and take all kinds of free stuff. Now getting it back to the village is going to be a pain in the butt. Oh well, tis Fiji.

Tonight I think we will hit up a few bars! Go figure!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Last night was fun, but the night before was soo much better. I ended up going home early because I was tired and sick of the smoky bar. Although, I ended up going to one bar until 6:00 for happy hour, then hit up a Chinese restaurant where we played a little Russian roulette with shots of beer, then ate an amazing Indian dinner next door to the Chinese restaurant, then headed to back to the club from the night before. Good times. I also learned that I love Indian food, at least at this restaurant. I went with three of the boys. We each ordered something and shared. Out of all four things I really loved them all! I have never liked Indian food before, but I guess that is because I had never really tried different dishes, just Curry. I still do not like Curry, blah!

Today I do not have to do anything, but shop! Hell yeah! Since I only have a boat going back to the village on Thursdays and Saturdays, so I get to hang out in Suva an extra day!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Yesterday I went all over town looking for the things I needed for work in the village. The main thing was vials to test the water in the village and in the settlements. I went to Live and Learn because they told me the day before that they would have some for me. I get there and they say that they are running low and to try Sopac or the World Health Organization. So I go in search of WHO and finally find someone with the vials. She hooked me up with like 15! I only need 7, so I am excited that she was so generous. I was able to give some out to a few volunteers too. They are H2S testers that will tell me if the drinking water is contaminated with poop (simply put). In town, I also spoke to the highest person in Suva about getting a Digicel tower near the village. I now have a phone number of the Chief Technician that can help me further. I now have a TFL land line so that I can be reached anytime! Number: +11-679-358-5581. Anyone is welcome to call me… but expect it to cost the same as any other long distance call to Fiji (just a little note for anyone sketch that may find my number). Also, for those volunteers that have already gotten an invite for May of next year, you are more than welcome to email me or call! The packing lists say not to bring fleece or jeans/pants… I personally recommend both.

Ok, sorry, got off subject.

Last night the volunteer couple living in Suva invited everyone that was staying the night to come over for a pot luck. We had so much fun cooking together, enjoying each other’s company, and playing dress up. It was hilarious! Julie and I cooked Pizza, we had a couple different veggie salads, potato salad, a Greek salad, and Root Beer floats for dessert (thanks to Brian and Sally)! A really good time!

Today, just hopped on a bus this morning, road to Namuaimada Village, and took a nap on the beach waiting for the rest of my village to come back from town so that we could hop on the boat back home. This was an all day affair!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Cleaned my house, gardened, unpacked, and relaxed. It is taboo to do anything on Sundays, so usually I just read and walk around.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Laundry. Lots of laundry. I went snorkeling with four other women in the village on the bilibili (a handmade raft out of bamboo). The raft was sooo scary! Lol. I could have sworn we would not all float on it, but amazingly we survived. One of the women, Mili, had never snorkeled before, again, a person living so close to these beautiful reefs who has never seen one underwater. She is from the interior and moved here about 4 years ago, and, as a side note, is married to our TuraganiKoro (voted chief). The first time she snorkeled she found oysters. She popped the first one open and began eating it raw. Blah! Although, the second one she opened contained two Pearls! Crazy!
The Pearls

Pearls are pretty rare in Fiji as far as I am told. She was sooo excited! Hopefully they get made into jewelry. The women were so much fun and we laughed just about the entire time. The reef was also absolutely beautiful. I have been very skeptical of our reefs around here since the first two were quite dead. This reef is directly in front of our village and it was so lively, colorful, and teeming with fish! Yay! I also finished “The Kite Runner”, time to go search for the movie!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Finished up my laundry. Wow, three weeks of clothes, it sucks to wash it all at once. One of the women and I walked around the coast to a nearby settlement looking for shells. The views are breathtaking around here. You should all be jealous!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Today I was invited to hop on the boat that was going out fishing for the feast. Do you remember the funeral we had a month and a half ago. Well, in Fijian culture they have a feast 10 days after the death of someone, and then the 50th day, and then the 100th day after their death. So today is the 50th and we must go fishing to catch food for the feast! There were about 8 women and 8 male youth on the boat. The women hung their lines off the side of the boat while the boys and I went snorkeling (I like to pretend we were just watching the fish, the boys were actually spear fishing – pictures below). The weather was chilly so I snorkeled as long as possible as it is warmer in the boat. You would not believe this though, but as I am snorkeling I spot a White-Tipped Reef Shark and snap a picture. I come up to the top of the water and tell a boy nearby that there was a shark right below him and I showed him the proof. Well, I go back to snorkeling, de de dee. About 15 minutes later I see two sharks circling each other about 10 feet away. Well, I decided I wanted a better picture so I start to swim towards them and I snap 5 pictures. What do you know, I get a little leery, decide to find the boys so that I am not the only target, and they have all gone back to the boat. What? They are in these waters everyday and they decide now to be scared. So, I decided in my best interest to head back too and become a bigger vessel. Boys… lol. Good snorkel all together. The boys caught lots of fish. It is amazing how they spear fish. It just takes a stretchy band and a metal pole. They have precise aiming and excellent skills underwater. I was totally amazed and now I am determined to learn!

At night I sat around with the boys while we smoked some of the fish. Told stories and then had a grog party at Tata Laisa’s house. Everyone was asking me questions about America. I answered things ranging from “Is there reef in America” to “Tell us about the twin towers that fell”. My favorite was “How many lanes are there on the street”. I explained about how cities are very different in size, but that in Atlanta where my sister lives there can be up to 16 lanes. Their eyes got huge and they gossiped about it for a while. I also did something I probably shouldn’t have… I told them that Lisa was related to Obama. Lol. It is just a test to see how long it takes to get back to her. The villages gossip a lot and pretty much everyone is related somehow… so they share information quite rapidly. We will see how long it takes for Lisa to ask me about it!

Anyways, the party was very enjoyable, my favorite night with Fijians so far. There were only 5 women at the grog session, but they were all my age and laughed the entire time (because I was calling the boys things that are usually not allowed, oh well). I went to bed at midnight… after drinking too many bilos of yaqona (coconut shells of kava).

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Went to town and talked to mom on Skype in the internet café. Within one hour there was an 8.3 earthquake in Vanuatu, a nearby country. Of course, Joe, the peace corps volunteer serving a third year, thought it was necessary to go to higher ground. I think he feels responsible for our well-being, which is not going over so well with the rest of us. Anyways, so I sat at this water treatment plant for about 2 hours. By the time the tsunami warning was canceled, all of the stores in town had closed. So, I got nothing accomplished, besides buying some tomatoes, carrots, bread, and cucumbers – the necessities, right?!

I hopped on a carrier at two o’clock, just to arrive at the docking point with the boats beached because of low tide. Wow, sat there for several hours waiting for the tide to come up. It came up within three hours, but then the waves were too big to head back to the village so we sat there another two hours. I called dad and Jessica and found out a lot of startling information!

My dad has quit his job again. No surprise. Although… my sister almost got married in Vegas last week. What?! She said she just knew he was the right one, within three hours? I am skeptical. I really hope that it works out for them. They are going to date for several months and she may be moving to California to live with him here pretty soon. He lives in Los Angeles and she is in Atlanta, so I am hoping they can work something out. Just a little bazaar! His name is Ryan and he is a small time actor and may be in the upcoming Iron Man 2! Pretty cool! He is also going to give the comedian career a try in the coming weeks. I bet he is a good guy. I cannot wait to get the pictures of their trip!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Hopped on the same boat as Wednesday and went to a nearby village, just to visit and meet the people. We docked the boat on a tiny strip of beach and headed into the forest. The village was about a 20 minute walk into the forest. Cute village, I like mine sooo much better (just like my waterfall). They now want a volunteer, but I am not sure if Peace Corps is willing to put another one in this area. Eight is plenty in my opinion. It was a short visit, then we headed to the beautiful beach around the peninsula to collect hermit crabs for fishing, bananas, and papaya. Then we were off to the reef for fishing – I slept. Lol, the fish just don’t like my hook and I am not patient enough, just like in America going fishing with Justin.

At night I went to the bachelor pad of the village and played my ipod on their radio. Oh my goodness, it was music to my ears. The two sets of speakers that I brought from America do not work… they get this weird static sound. So I have not been able to listen to my music very often. Listening to it on their radio was a good release!


Old fishing method... fish trap of rocks.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Wow, today was a day full of exercise. I walked to Lisa’s village, with is an 8 km hike up and over a few mountains, one of which is quite large. My village rugby team had taken the lead so I was on my own. I caught up with a few boys from a nearby village about halfway so the second half of the hike was bearable. So, we went to Lisa’s village for a huge sports day. There were 32 scrimages between 16 different rugby teams. My team lost all three games, but I did not care, they still played their best. I was responsible for the juice (lol, watergirl) and the photography. I visited with a lot of people from other villages and watched Lisa play net ball – the lamest combination of basketball and ultimate Frisbee – with no net. Why do they call it net ball? So stupid! Anyways, those are the two most popular sports here in Fiji – rugby and net ball. The games which lasted from 8 AM to 5 PM, but I began my journey back to the village around 4 PM to arrive before nightfall. I hired a car to take me up to the top of the mountain. Why a car I will never know. It ran out of benzene less than half way up so I paid the entire fare and had to walk most of the way. Urg! It was sooo hot that I became delirious. I took several breaks and sat on a cliff overlooking my village, the sea, and the surrounding mountains. Why am I so lucky? Oh, and of course I had a big chunk of Dove dark chocolate in my backpack that I thoroughly enjoyed melted. The sun was going down so I began the treacherous hike back down the mountain to home.

Rugby Team

Upon arrival, the village was having a party for some visitors. I took a shower, put on my party best, and headed to the grog circle. The smoke was engulfing so I did not stay long. Just listening to a few songs is enough anyways, they only know about 8 different ones and so they play the same song over and over.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

I did not sleep well, I woke up with the worst headache, only on the right side, between my eye and my ear. What does this mean? I assume it is because I did not drink enough water yesterday, but I sweated a ton. So, water overload today. Easier said than done. Our water went dry last night before I went to bed and it is still dry this morning. Considering it is a Sunday, I doubt that anyone will go up the mountain to see what is wrong. Oh Fiji.

I visited the Methodist church this morning and really enjoyed it. There were two different stories told: one from Jeremiah and the other from Luke. Three different people spoke and they actually told me the hymns so that I could sing along. Methodist in Fiji is quite similar to Catholic though. Anyways, after church a lot of people came over to view my pictures from America. It was so good for them to see the people that mean so much to me because the villagers feel closer to me now as well. People are just now starting to warm up to me and feel comfortable coming to my house. Thank goodness.


Oh, while people were visiting me there was a 25 year old boy that said “your cat has asthma or something”. I laughed trying to figure out what he meant. Then I realized he meant her purring. He had never heard a cat purr!? So, I told him that it was normal and that all cats purr when they are happy. Lol. Isalei (how sad).

Monday, October 12, 2009


Today is Fiji Day! Not a lot of celebrating though. I guess they only celebrate the holidays in the cities. Rural areas just do not go to school. Of which apparently my families’ kids are skipping school again this entire week. I do not know how to get through to Ta that education is extremely important, especially in a third world country where it will take an education to do anything outside of the village. Oh well, I guess this week instead of a headache, gas costs too much. Excuses…


So, today for Fiji day I decided to clean up the seawall. My village has been throwing trash over the hill onto the beach between the land and the mangroves. So at high tide the trash is swept onto the seawall creating a nasty mess. Marica, one little girl, and I cleaned up the area, separating burn materials from bury. They caught on very quickly so I think teaching the village should come pretty easily. I also found out that since I mentioned us starting up the youth group again that there will be a meeting on Wednesday for the youth group! Yes! Progress with just a few words! I know that through the youth group (aged 16-35) I can teach the village a lot about waste management and community service. My village is amazing!

Last night I went over to the bachelor pad and hung out with the boys. No drinking, just talking, so it was my kind of entertainment! I fed them tuna and crackers, a very common combination here in Fiji. I usually do peanut butter/jelly, they do tuna in oil.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Today I had a women’s club meeting at 10:00 am. We decided to have a fundraising event in November for new pots for the community kitchen. In December we will have another fundraising event for the church. I will also go to the youth group meeting tomorrow to find out when the village will have a waste management seminar (held by me) and pick up the trash around the village and beach.

I accomplished a lot today by just walking around the village and finding all of the trash holes. There are five in all and two of them are perfect spots for new pits. Hopefully sometime in the next two weeks we will dig new holes and learn how to properly dispose of trash. I am pretty excited that the task came easily! I also made examples for my timeline of how long it takes for trash to disintegrate. Can you believe it takes that long! More on this later.


My family at the watering hole. When Buka started the fire and melted the pipe we had no water for a few days, so this is where we went to collect fresh water!