No signs of Christmas, just lots of people asking me if I am staying in the village for it. Really, I do not think it is going to be much different than any other day.
I woke up this morning to the water running! So I quickly took a shower and soon after the water ran dry again like the intermittent showers in a desolate desert. Oh man. I wanted to do laundry, so, again, I searched the village over for running water. I got almost all of my laundry done before my new source started the loud war cry of air emitting out the nozzle. Whew. I just want clean running water and electricity. Is that too much to ask?
This morning while I was doing laundry I overheard my little brother talking about a ‘koki’. My parrot has disappeared, so I looked up to make sure it wasn’t my injured baby. I saw a magnificent green bird attempting to take flight, but continuously getting dragged down by a string tied to its leg. It took me a deep breath to contemplate how to handle the abuse. I stopped what I was doing, went over to the boy, gave him a good knock on the head, and picked up the bird. Untying the poignant sole, I could tell the boy was ashamed for getting in trouble. Good, hopefully he is learning that it is not ok to torture animals. I took the bird over to a tree and allowed him to set sail into the clear blue skies. Turning to the boy, I told him “abu”, not allowed. He sat there for a complete ten minutes thinking about what had just happened. I feel like tying a string to his leg and telling him to run, watching him fall down, and asking him how he likes it. I do not want to blame him. In all honesty it is wholly the parent’s fault, but somehow I have to get through to these grommets.
Next it was lunch, start my dictionary, so brightly named “The Next Fijian Dictionary” because the only dictionary in Fiji is titled “The Fijian Dictionary”. I read a little of the Iliad, took a four hour nap, collected my clothes from the line, took some naproxen sodium, and now resting my tummy from the monthly pain. Urg!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Today was quite uneventful. I spent most of the day in my house writing letters, telling stories with visitors, finishing up the Odyssey, and cooking. Resting from yesterday’s escapade.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Woke up, made French toast, and started to work on collages of all of the people in my village. While I was cutting and resizing pictures, Sio stopped by and asked me to go with him and a few other people on a boat ride to a nearby village with a hospital. So, I packed up a few things, grabbed my machete, and headed off to the boat. We boarded, road to a nearby settlement, picked up a few people and headed to the other village. It turns out we were taking two boys around age 10 to get circumcised. Ouch. I was speaking with one of their mothers and she told me that they do not do it when the children are born only because they are behind other countries in health care. This was a surprising reason to me. I would think it would be just as easy to do it when they are a few weeks old as it would be at age 10. Anyways, the boys received a shot, then the cuts, and it was all over. They have pain killers to last a few days and I think they aren’t feeling much pain. Thank goodness, sounds dreadful.
After the hospital I walked around the district police post, visited a few policemen, and then walked up the road to overlook another village. They truly have a piece of property in paradise. I was told that there used to be a Japanese man that lived in the bay and was the first person in Fiji to start cultivating pearls. He was very successful and eventually was shooed away. I then stopped over at a Bubu’s house and spoke to him about virgin coconut oil. He used to be a primary school teacher and he knows English very well, so of course I really liked him!
Finally everyone was done at the “hospital” (a third world country hospital consists of a three room building with four hospital beds and a cabinet of supplies). I asked the boat captain if he would drop me off at the beautiful beach in the bay between the two villages. As I got out of the boat on pristine white sand I trekked up to the woods and found two papayas and a coconut. I immediately ate one papaya and stashed the other away in my bag along with the husked coconut. Walking along the beach, in search of the tall, rocky mountain, I was dodging mud hornets and scurrying crabs. I was in search of a rocky mountain that I had visited once before. As I got closer I could see the colossal cliff which loomed over the surrounding land like a black dagger thrust out from the bowels of the Earth (Brisingr). Very soon the plantations at the bottom of the mountain were in view and I was determined to find the trail leading up to the plantation. Soon I was on the right path and back-tracked a little to reach the starting point of my new trail. I was not very prepared in the fact that I did not sharpen my machete before I left so I was dependent on hacking the grass and ferns as hard as I could and then stepping on the reeds that were breakable with force. Finally the trail had begun and I was fighting off thorns, tall grasses, tangled ferns, and sharp volcanic rock. About 45 minutes later I was successfully out of the grasses with beads of sweat dripping off my face. I could see the rocky crag up ahead, but still far in the distance. I heaved my way up the rocks until I could spot the tree that was to be my destination. Slowly but surely I stepped from one stone to the next, with my sights set on one wall of rocks that used to serve as a barricade in tribal wars. The tree was set just in front of the fighting arena. As I tiredly brought myself up to the wall, I took a heavy seat on a flat rock, in search of shade. Whew. It was time to replenish myself. Reaching into my bag I found the husked coconut I had stowed away earlier at the beach. I cracked it open with my machete and drank as much of the coconut water as possible, pouring the rest into my water bottle. I enjoyed a small snack of fresh coconut meat while I rested my aching body and enjoyed the breathtaking view.
(Can you tell I am reading The Odyssey?)
The most important task of my trip was carving my name in the tree, next to a few other boys’ names. I would be the first girl to reach that trialing destination. Finally I was rested and began to set my sights on a trail around the craggy cliff. As I began to travel down, I was soon sliding on my butt more than walking upright. The trail was covered in leaves and branches that had fallen from the cyclone last week, so it was impassible on foot. I was grasping every tree and vine in sight to make sure I did not break a bone out in the middle of nowhere. As I safely arrived at the bottom of the mountain there was a house in view. I found small goat trails that led to the house along the beach. Walking down through the mangrove infested shores I finally reached the settlement of choice, a good friend of mine, Espli. He was nowhere in sight, off collecting coconuts to sell in the market. I dropped off the papaya that I had collected at the beach earlier in the day and began the coastal walk towards my village. My legs burned in the salt water from the cuts I received while walking through the bushes. About an hour later I arrived at another settlement where they graciously gave me 14 large, ripe bananas. I accepted with a big smile and then was off to the village to cook some lunch/dinner. It felt so good to reach the village knowing that I could have food and a good shower. Although the water was not running when I reached home, I was smart enough to keep a bucket of water for emergencies and I ended up taking a sponge bath just to hold me over until the water was running.
I cooked my favorite dish, except I was out of carrots. I improvised by using potatoes, cucumbers, and onions in soy sauce. I had tortillas and refried beans left over from yesterday so my meal was complete. Mmmmm. After dinner I rested, told stories with some of the boys, and then went to a house nearby to speak with the district officer who was in the village evaluating the damage from the cyclone. Fiji really does not appear to be too third world. They are very adamant about keeping to their old traditions and culture, thus keeping them behind in some ways. At the same time, they have all of the necessities, including health care and governmental assistance, at their fingertips. I feel that my service here is to guide them in such a way that they become dependent on themselves instead of handouts. Peace Corps Fiji is awesome!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Oh Sigatabu. The day of everything prohibited. We hopped on bus around 7:00 AM and headed back to the boat dock. Bus ride was uneventful accept for one of the older men smoking right next to me and me having to tell him it was not allowed and that he was being very disrespectful. Then a few of the boys were hung over from drinking grog all night and I had to put a few of them in their places. Oh man, that grog/yaqona has got to go - very bad for their health, mentally and physically. Their hangovers are more obnoxious than a drunks’.
We finally arrived back at my village. Thank goodness. The trip was only one night, but honestly seemed like eternity. When I want to sleep or eat I get sooo cranky. I took a much needed shower, then chopped all of my hair off. For one, I have way too much dandruff from my hair staying wet all of the time. Shorter hair should dry faster. Two, I wear it the same way every day, up, and I am ready for a change. Three, too many people have mentioned it lately. It must need to be done.
I cooked up some cucumbers, carrots, and onions in soy sauce, some tortillas, and refried beans from America! Oh my goodness, it was just like being at Amigo’s in Hoover. Yum! Then it was nap time – like a 3½ hour nap. It was glorious. When I woke up several boys came over wanting to see the pictures from the wedding. As soon as they were done the electricity shot on and I put on Point Break. A little action, a little love, surfing, stealing, and they use the word grommet. Doesn’t get any better than that! After the movie a Bubu stopped by for tea. She is from another Peace Corps Volunteer’s village, but spends a lot of time here. She was hilarious. Everytime a boy passed by she would holler at them not to pass by my house. That my footpath was private and they needed to go around. She is pretty upset that things have been taken from me. Go Bubu! Around 11:00 PM she left and another friend came over to tell stories. Most nights in the village are late nights because everyone takes naps and then they are not tired at the end of the day. Good night!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Six days to Christmas and in Fiji you would never know it.
The Choir
Today I hopped on the boat around 6:30 AM to head to Suva for my Turaga Ni Koro’s brother’s wedding. He is in the military and has been serving in London, so for him to be back in Fiji was a big deal! As soon as we arrived at the boat dock there was a chartered bus waiting on us. We boarded, rode, and arrived in Suva. Tea was served, we changed clothes, and then headed to the church for the wedding service. I was quite surprised to see that it was a very traditional wedding. The bride and groom were dressed in a masi/tapa fabric that has been made in Fiji since forever ago. It is a paper material pounded from plants and then painted with a tribal design. They were decked out from head to toe in paper! I sat in the choir section for a little while and sang with the choir, then focused on taking pictures and staying awake.
After the wedding we headed to the reception where yaqona was served, a few whale’s teeth were exchanged, and then we ate. The cake was to die for, go figure. By 8:00 I wanted to go to bed, but there was absolutely no where to sleep without lots of commotion and light. During dinner I was visiting with some friends/family that live in Nausori and they were kind enough to invite me to stay at their house. Of course I took the invite and we were back at their house and in bed by 11:00. Thank goodness, otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten any sleep. Thank you family!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Lots of small things today. The visitors for the funeral are all still in the village so I stayed around to say bye to a lot of them. Around the time the tide was going out a few boys and I dragged my bamboo raft out into the water and I retied it with rope instead of just vines. It’s like a new toy! My little sister and I played cards for a while, she helped me attempt to build a house for my parrot (Did I ever say anything about my koki that had a broken wing? I was keeping a bird in my house for a few days trying to see if she would heal, turns out she jumped down out of the rafters and left the house while I was napping the other day. Hopefully she is ok.). Hopefully the house will become a chicken coop and I will have lots of free eggs soon. Then we went up to the community hall and she ate with everyone while I got more nails for the house. When we went back down I decided it was time to head out on the bamboo raft to collect sand from a nearby beach for the floor of my kitchen.
My little sister and I headed out on the bilibili.
Wow, the wind was quite strong today, and I forget my water shoes, so I ended up dragging my sister on the bamboo raft through coral, rocks, sand, and strong currents. Thank goodness I could reach the whole time and I never got any cuts. We arrived at the beach and as we were collecting sand a young strapping lad came up offering to help load the sand onto our raft. Fijians are so sweet. After the bags were full and loaded, my little sis and I played in the sand and built a sand turtle! It was so much fun to feel like a kid and not worry about Fijian rules. As soon as I leave the village I am always rebellious, just because I am not under strict rules of a dress code and actions. I would have been one of those kids that acts out against my parents if they were strict on me. Thank you Mom for raising me right, with some slack!
Ways you know you have adjusted to the Fijian lifestyle:
When you are leaving the house, you look down to see if you are wearing a skirt/sulu.
When you are drinking your tea you do not remove the floaties, particularly the ants.
When a huge cow is slaughtered and people leave the village with a thigh over their shoulder does not phase you.
When a Fijian asks you to eat with them you already know the course, fish and cassava, the answer is almost always “No thank you”.
When people pass by you call out to them “Somi Ti” (Tea at breakfast)? Another volunteer and I believe this saying is derived from when the Europeans arrived and asked them if they would like “some tea”.
Kids are walking around with a huge pig skull in their mouth, and all you can say is “kana vinaka” (tastes good)?
On Sundays nothing is allowed, no playing, no singing, no music (except gospel), no cooking, no cleaning, no loud noises, no cutting grass, no planting, no anything, but you get used to this and all you want to do on Sunday is sleep anyway – I still have not mastered this one, and never will.
Your excuse for being sick is “the wind was blowing in my face yesterday on the boat”.
When you are talking to your friends back home you accidentally speak Fijian to them. Oops, sorry Katers!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Cooking for the funeral.
Funeral Day. I stayed out of the spotlight by watching a movie in the morning and sleeping all afternoon. We will just have to call this a day off. When there are a lot of visitors in the village I am required to meet every single one of them and hold a conversation in Fijian. I sometimes lose my mind in situations like this so I just removed myself for the day. Honestly it turned out quite lovely as I had a nice time on my own. A few people stopped by to tell stories, but overall relaxing. Tonight I went up to the community hall and hung out with the boys drinking grog. Good times.
There are a few things that have occurred that I try not to blog about, but because something minute has happened so many times I feel like blogging it. About three weeks ago while I was in town buying things to make banana pudding for the first time someone stole my three bananas waiting to go into my deliciousness. Well, the village was alerted… lol. No big deal. Well, it wouldn’t be a big deal if things weren’t stolen four more times after this incident. Two weeks ago I had one banana and three plantains stolen… then, a few days later, two bars of soap. Now, this past Wednesday, I put a new bar of soap out and took a shower. I headed up to the Turaga Ni Koro’s house and drank a bilo of yaqona, then went up to the community hall to visit with the boys. When I returned to my house, about an hour later, my new bar of soap was stolen. Now, there is no reason for a little kid to want my soap, they don’t care about being clean, so I am almost positive it was a youth (16-35 unmarried). The only problem, I am not allowed to go snooping around in their bathroom, even though I know who it was. Now, I will be putting locks on my bathroom and my kitchen. Not fair.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
I thought I was going to get to rest today until I was woken up by a friend who informed me that no one would be going to town tomorrow so if I needed to go that I should hop on the boat with Ta. Well, Ta was already in the bay starting the engine. I grabbed my bag and letters to mail and ran out the door to catch him. I walked out into the water and my little sister brought over a boat for me to get in. They pulled me all the way to Ta’s boat so that I would not get wet! So sweet! The ride to town was glorious; only Ta and I in the boat, plus plenty of sun, and smooth water. I laid out to catch some sun and took a little nap. Oh, speaking of the word NAP, Fijians know a lot of English but for some reason they do not know the word nap. It is very interesting to me considering they take 1-3 naps a day. I am on a mission to teach the village the word Nap!
The entire day in town, with not too many things on my list to do. It was so relaxing. I was able to talk to my mom and Kate on Skype, plus do all of my shopping at a leisurely pace and walk around the town five times. We did not leave town until 5:30 because we hadn’t sold all of the coconuts yet, so I had plenty of time. Then, we headed back to the boat house and waited another five hours for the boat to leave. We are having a funeral tomorrow for one of my Grandparents (in Fiji) and so we were waiting on relatives coming from Nausori and Suva to meet us at the dock. Around seven o’clock the owners of the store invited me to have dinner with them! They are Kai India (so they were born and raised in Fiji, but are of Indian decent) and my dinner was authentic dhal soup with tea. Oh so yummy. They said anytime I am hungry just to ask for food and they will give it to me. I think that might be a little awkward, we will have to see, but I really want to try more authentic Indian food so that I can learn to like it!
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