2009 is almost over, and Fiji will be one of the first countries to see the year end and the new year begin! That is pretty neat. Although, I have a feeling the celebration will not be near as interesting as it would be in Times Square or Australia. We do what we can over here.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
I had plans to go stay in a nearby resort today, but the boat captain went to a nearby village for a fundraising event and got drunk on grog and decided not to go to town today. No problem, besides I told Megan I would talk to her on Skype. So sorry Megan. Hopefully you will still be in town when I go tomorrow.
Today I ended up going to a nearby settlement to go fishing with my namesake, her hubby, and their baby.
Ulamila
I was supposed to help fish, but before the fishing began I stepped on a rock covered in small oysters and gashed my big toe to pieces. Well, it isn’t quite that gruesome, but it is bad enough to stay off it for a few days. Mother’s always know best. My namesake told me to wear my water shoes and I went in flip flops, then I took them off before I reached the kids I was going to play with. Man, never take your shoes off in Fiji!
The entire day I rested, ate dhal soup with breadfruit grilled on the hot stones, made with tender loving care by the boys.
Yes I ate this. It is breadfruit grilled on coconut leaves and coconut husks. Mmmm.
Then we took naps off and on and I visited with everyone. I even taught one of the boys about the universe and other galaxies, planets, stars, moons, and suns. He was stunned that there are more suns and moons than Earth’s. Although, he did understand evolution and explained to me how things do evolve and when God created the animals he planned for them to evolve naturally. It was all set in motion and plays as God directs. Well, I appreciate his view. At least he recognizes that some science is true.
Do you see me taking the picture? Look closely!
Eventually the sun began to set, I went on a short bamboo raft ride to pick up a couple of dozen coconuts and then we hopped in the boat and came back to the village. Overall the day was extremely relaxing with good conversations!
My most recent bilibili ride at sunset!
Monday, December 28, 2009
That same Bubu that asked me not to hike on Sunday and is always preaching the word of God to me hinted at me to give her money for the fundraiser tomorrow. I would not be offended if she hadn’t just scolded me for not respecting the Sabbath Day. Needless to say, I do not give villagers money for any reason. I do not believe in the kerekere system (borrowing, more like “can I have”) when it comes to cash. There has to be a limit on what all you give away. Bananas from your plantation or limes from my tree is one thing, hard earned cash on a volunteers budget is another. She said she was praying to God that someone would give her that $10 for the fundraiser. I told her that if she did not have the money, do not give it.
After that, I went up to my namesake’s house and played with the baby. Then I took the baby down to a nearby settlement and gave them a rake and some plastic bags I had been saving. We told stories for a while and then my baby and I headed back to the village.
Upon reaching my house I asked my Ta for the measurements for the footpath. He handed them over and I started to analyze where the footpaths are to be built and how much it will cost. There are a few places I think I will cut out of the measurements to save on money. Because I am writing a Peace Corps Partnership Proposal for the purchase of the supplies, I do not want to ask for more than absolutely necessary.
The rest of the evening I read Brisingr and walked around the village visiting each kava kava (grog/yaqona) circle. Most of the yaqona drinkers were in a nearby village for their fundraising event. Apparently it was a big party and most people got drunk on yaqona. It was probably fun up until the point when people were slurring their words, closing their eyes, and spilling coconut shells of yaqona. I was told Lydia was there so I can get a run-down of the events from her on Thursday!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Oh Siga’abu. I really am not a fan of Sundays around here. We are not supposed to do anything as I said before, and today I got in trouble for hiking up the river.
The water is not running again, so the whole village went to the pool of water in the river to shower. There were way too many kids in the watering hole and I felt like exploring so I went up river. While I was taking in the breathtaking view of a waterfall a few of the boys passed by and told me to come with them. We went up a little further to another waterfall and I lathered my body and washed my hair. For some reason, I was still not content. The weather was absolutely beautiful and I had my senses alert and felt adventurous. So, I continued up the river, finding green moss laden volcanic rock, swinging Tarzan vines, boulders not even Indiana Jones could budge, and glowing spiders inside a cavernous waterfall. Time passed quickly and before I knew it I was to the big waterfall; one of my favorite places to be near the village. Here and my rock on the beach facing the wide open crystal blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. So this waterfall cascades off rocks about five different times, ending in a pool of water that flows through a cave. It is quite easy to rummage around on the falls. I found a good sitting spot about halfway up and almost within the same moment a torrential downpour came heaving down from the Heavens. I was lucky in that I was sitting under a cliff of stone and was able to just enjoy the scenery and sporadic rain.
Finally I began my ascent a little further into the forest following the pipe line to the dam. I searched for over an hour for the end of the pipe and an end was nowhere to be found. I should bring someone who knows where exactly that crazy spring is that we get our water from. I was able to do a lot of research on the current pipeline system. I was hearing plenty of water flowing through certain spots and a trickle through others. This led me to believe that the pipes are either clogged or constricted (from melting) in several different locations. Again, hire a professional!
So, I never found the end, but I do have lots of proof of my tribulation. Nice scratches to add to the ones I received climbing up the craggy cliff last Monday. Wara na leqa (No worries). Well, I say no worries, but apparently a very religious Bubu in the village was worried about me and said she was praying for me while I was gone. I think what she was praying for was for me to be more respectful of the Fijian’s Sunday rituals. As in, if I am not going to church service, then sit in my house and do nothing. That is the respectful way. Honestly, I am just being really stubborn, but how is that respectful towards me. What if I do not want to be confined to my house? I am not hurting her any by getting out of the village. I can pray just as easily sitting by a waterfall as I can sitting in my bure, even though I don’t. Whatever. Times are changing and several people are oblivious to it. I will try harder to respect their wishes, but not if it hinders my experience or happiness. Period.
After I got back some boys stopped over at my house and fell asleep on my floor. I do not blame them. When the sun is excruciatingly hot, the floor of my house is the coolest place in the village. While they slept I wrote my application for Alternative Livelihoods training through Peace Corps in February. It is ready to be emailed for review! Next, we watched a little bit of Saving Private Ryan, and then I headed up to my namesake’s house to make a phone call and they just happened to come home while I was trying to catch a signal. I rested with them and played with the baby until they were ready to go down into the village for a grog session. We visited with them and two other houses trying to put in some face time. The grog sessions are really the best time to socialize… it unfortunately also involves inhaling a lot of secondhand smoke. Finally I was ready to go to bed and came home by midnight. Blah, good night.
I thoroughly enjoyed my day out. Thank you Fiji, for being so accommodating to my pleasures.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Today is the day after Christmas in Fiji, but Christmas Day in America! So Merry Christmas! I headed to town today to talk to mom and sis on Skype. I waited on Kate and Teresa hoping they might get on, but I should have just called them. Sorry guys. I love and miss ya’ll and hope you had a very Merry Christmas. Town was empty today so I got a lot accomplished (besides food from the market… the market was empty too). Since the cyclone we have had unripe tomatoes, no cucumbers, plenty of bananas, and discolored cassava. I am starting to wonder how long it will take for the crops to recover. This is supposed to be an active cyclone year, but the harm they do on crops within the village is devastating.
So I finally finished the business plan for our virgin coconut oil business. I am currently contacting several people within the government for economic assistance. Everyone has been extremely interested and supportive so far. I am told that they have been getting business plans for farming, but no other form of alternative income generation, so our project will surely be funded. Yes!
I am also in the process of measuring for footpaths and getting an estimate on supplies, plus environmental education, health awareness, waste management, no smoking campaign, life skills, kindergarten lesson plans, teeth care, and alternative income generation.
The village will also be needing seminars on the importance of education. A RPCV who served in Fiji about 22 years ago has retired and he and his wife have moved between my village and town. He was conducting a program back in the United States called “Choices”. It is a 3 hour workshop held in 9th and 10th grade classrooms revealing the raise in salary and choices of careers if you get a higher education. It will be perfect to integrate into the Fijian school system around class 7 and 8 (last grades in primary school) because most students drop out after primary school and never make it to what we call ‘9th grade’. The main reason they do not attend secondary school is because of the cost to go. The children coming from a village must move closer to the schools and live with other family members or board at the school, which is quite expensive for a Fijian pocketbook. There needs to be more awareness on why to receive at least a high school education and why they should attend university.
In the next year the village wants to replace many pipes in our water system. We get water from a dam in our mountain fed river. Several of the members of the village set their land on fire to replant vegetables and the fires get out of control melting the piping. At the present moment we have water off and on. One person is saying we need larger pipes to supply more water to the water tank. The problem appears more of a wasteful water situation plus melted pipes. Think of a clogged artery or constricted arteries, less blood travels through them, thus, less water will be refilling the tank at any given moment with concaved PVC pipes. With the taps on even when people are not using the water, plus pipes being restricted as to how much water can flow through them equals a water problem. There are people in the village who just want to replace the whole system, but before we fundraise for thousands of dollars I would like to get a professional opinion. So today we got quotations for new pipes, but I hope to find a much cheaper solution.
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