Hmmmm

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Town! Talked to mom, sis and sis’ boyfriend today! Yay! Thank you Rafael for helping her figure out Skype! It was so refreshing to talk to you! So nothing exciting happened in town. I have another package from my Bestie Kate! It is currently in Lautoka, so I am waiting for its arrival this Thursday!

In town I purchased Avatar and I was so excited to watch it. I asked the girl in the store if it was a clear version off of a legitimate dvd and she promised me it was. Nope, definitely filmed in the theatre as the color was off, the screen was out of focus and there were shadows. I could only bare about 5 minutes… this movie will be returned next Thursday! I ended up with Ice Age 3, falling asleep immediately.

Friday, January 8, 2010

I had a plan today to go out on my bilibili to my favorite rock. Well, I get down to the water and it turns out a boat was heading to my favorite beach, so Marica and I hopped on. We went around the peninsula and picked up my namesake at a nearby settlement and headed to the beach! I hiked around for a bit looking for some free food – papaya! I only found one good one and sat on the beautiful coast scraping ripe papaya out of its skin with an oyster shell. Yummy. Then I was off to snorkel a bit and sunbathe. My mistake – I did not put any sunscreen on so of course now I am burnt. Just in a few spots that never see the light of day in Fiji. Finally Ili had caught a few tiny fish and so the boys cooked them up on hot stones. They ate (I have begun to hate fish – too many bones and the fish are just too pretty) and we headed back to the village.

After arriving back in the village I cleaned up a little and headed over to a friend’s house to play vidividi (a table low to the ground with wooden checker pieces that you try to hit into the holes in the corner of the table – somewhat like pool, but with your fingers instead of a stick). Soon enough Ulamila wanted to go to sleep and it was too loud in the house so we headed back to mine and laid down to put the baby to sleep. My namesake and I stayed awake for a while talking… lol – gossiping. Always good times. There is some drama in this village! Finally, sleep.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Absolutely nothing accomplished today. Naps, stories, eating, sleep.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Today I headed on the Methodist boat over to Lydia’s village for church. Each month the churches of our coast get together for a joint sermon. Of course today was communion and so the service was three hours long. It is so hard to sit Indian style through a religious sermon in another language. Three strikes against me at one time. I survived and then went to the community hall to have lunch with everyone. Again, fish in lolo with bele – the typical Fijian meal. So, as soon as we got back to Lydia’s bure we made breakfast crackers with cheese, tomatoes, Italian seasonings, and mustard with tea. Thank goodness for the grocery stores that sell enough variety to invent good American food.

By the time all of this was through it was close to 5 o’clock so Lydia, Luisa, and I just sat and talked until the tide went out and the boat was ready to leave. Back in the village I showered, ate, and headed to bed. Somehow I get plenty of naps, but by 10 o’clock I want to go back to sleep again. It must be this heat.

Monday, January 11, 2010

The BIG day! We have the first bose (meeting) of the new year and I have been told that all of the committees will be re-elected. I am even hoping to switch out a few people in the kindy committee and start a footpath committee. It is also the meeting where we select a Turaga Ni Koro (the gentlemen of the village who is very important in Fijian culture). I am really fond of the temporary Turaga Ni Koro that we have had since I arrived in the village and I am really hoping that they pick him again for the next three years. We will see! So much rides on the outcome of this meeting. Especially when it comes to organization and how much work I will be able to get done. Currently the committees aren’t very organized and the roles are not being upheld. For example, the chairman is never supposed to touch the money, only the treasurer, but the chairman may be getting money from the committee and spending it for the wrong reasons. We must reiterate the purpose of each role and make sure the roles are not being bamboozled or else they will continue to crumble like they have been since I have been here.

Guess what, the meeting did not happen. It is rescheduled for Monday, January 25th. Hopefully that will be the big day!