Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Kindergarten did start today! There were even several children who already had their uniforms! Adorable!
Most of today I read through the “Choices” information and pulled together a few ideas for conducting the workshop. Also packed for Volivoli this weekend!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Town! It was quite a relaxed town day as I did not have a lot of things to get done. I talked to my sister, her boyfriend, my Bestie, my mom, and sent a few texts to my adopted mom, Teresa. Good times on the internet. At lunch two volunteers were missing, but overall good conversations about how to improve Peace Corps’ Site Development program. Lots of good advice, but in the end, we decided that every site and every volunteer are different, so none of our advice would be adequate for every village. They do a pretty good job as it is, but could try a few of our ideas to match communities with volunteers.
Anyways, upon arriving at John and Judy’s estate we rested a bit and got started on the final groundwork for “Choices”. A short overview:
This program is designed to teach the students the importance of staying in school. It consists of two 1.5 hour sessions to classes 7 and 8 in Fiji.
The program teaches students the following:
• Factors influencing who we are
• School decisions and career consequences
• How their decisions today affect future opportunities
The seminar is designed to stress the importance of education, allowing students to make a prudent choice to continue their education while still in their youth. Similar programs overseas have proven to reduce student dropout rates.
We are really hoping for a high success rate and eventually put together kits for other Peace Corps volunteers and the Ministry of Education to use in the future. There is probably a lot of tweaking to be done, but in the end we will have a solid workshop with laminated posters and prizes for the kids! I am pretty excited about changing Fiji’s educational future! Just helping one child to open his/her eyes to the importance of education will make it all worth it.
Before dinner we fit in time to fix the bridge on my guitar. I finally received my Christmas present from Mom which included lots of yarn because I want to make the pregnant ladies in the village a baby blanket and a How to Play the Guitar starter book. Two new hobbies! John is so helpful and knowledgeable in woodwork that he knew exactly what to do and had all of the tools to do it! There is no one else in Fiji that does the kind of woodwork that he does, so I know the best person around for helping with this kind of problem! Thank you John! After sanding and re-gluing we set it aside for 24 hours to dry. Time to eat pasta!
Dinner, mmmmm, desert, dark chocolate covered cranberries from America! Mmmm mmmm! They went to bed since Judy had just gotten back from America and John had worked all day with beekeepers and the government! I laid in bed and watched “The Proposal”, laughing my head off. I also got to use their Bose headphones. Oh my goodness, Bose really knows what they are doing. It was like I was in a personal theatre. Anyhow, if you have not seen “The Proposal” I highly recommend it!
Friday, January 29, 2010
I got to go diving for the first time in Fiji!!! Although, I am nervous that I got to see the best of the best and from now on I am going to be spoiled. I went out to Vatu-I-Ra with Ra Divers out of Volivoli Beach Resort and the views were spectacular. Vatu-I-Ra is a bird sanctuary owned by the village next to mine. Ra Divers has to ask my family for permission to dive at their island. I have been wanting to snorkel out there since arriving at site. The only time Ra Divers ever goes out there is if they have a big group wanting to go on three dives. So it worked out for me that I got to go and just do two dives! I saw one baby sea turtle, one nudibranch, and one lionfish. So, it wasn’t really eventful, but absolutely beautiful!
It took me a while to get back into the swing of diving. My first dive was quite scary because I did not have enough weight on, my borrowed mask didn’t fit my face well enough so it was leaking, and then the current was extremely strong at the surface. The second dive was a drift dive towards a huge coral head. It was so neat! I didn’t have to move my fins or even turn direction, the current just pushed us right along like the turtles in the East Australian Current in Finding Nemo.
Anyways, I was on the boat from 8:15 AM until 4:00 PM and had a wonderful time, besides the nice, red sunburn line along my upper thighs, where the ‘sun don’t shine’. I bought a 10 tank dive package so I will be going again soon. Only problem this trip, I did not have any of my gear, including my camera, so next time there will be pictures.
After reaching John and Judy’s house we rested a bit, worked on “Choices”, had corn fritters and leftovers, then watched Pixar’s “Up”. Can’t say it was my favorite cartoon or computer enhanced children’s movie ever. I still need to watch the last 18 minutes. Lol.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Built a bookshelf! John built the kindergarten a bookshelf about two months ago and ever since then I have been using it in my bure. I refuse to give it up to the kindergarten until I have one of my own! (Lol, no really, I have been waiting on the kindergarten to start up again.)
First, we took 12 feet of dakua (maybe, not sure what kind of wood) and cut them into the shelves and sides. Then we moved the circular saw to cut just halfway into the wood to make rivets for the shelves. Next, we sanded all of the pieces and rounded the edges with a “belt-sander wanna-a-be” and put holes into the ends with a “hole-maker”. Eventually it was time for assembly and glue. We spread the glue, pieced it together and hammered in the nails. Finally, we attached the ply board backing and painted a lacquer finish. He is going to do the second layer for me and bring it to me on Thursday! Isn’t he so helpful and sweet?
All of that sounds so simple, but in 90 degree heat plus humidity it was hard labor that deserves more than 2.50 F$ (1.25 USD) an hour, the most common pay per hour for labor in Fiji. Whew! Crazy huh!? After making the bookshelf, I stringed my guitar, took a shower, and head to town with John. We had lunch, shopped for groceries, then we parted ways and I boarded a carrier and a boat, arriving back in my village around 7 PM. Just before dark.
Oh, another thing that I am really excited about, that no one in America cares about. I found some processed cheddar cheese made by Kraft that might last me a week or so! It tastes a lot like White America, which is my favorite! So for dinner tonight I made a grilled cheese sandwich with fresh basil leaves and sautéed onions. It was absolutely delicious! Sorry, I must brag about the few comfort foods I get here in Fiji! After dinner I watched Kate and Leopold with a few neighbors.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Slept in until 9 AM! It was wonderful! Except for the fact that I was in a deep sleep and Sio came yelling at my door for me to wake up. He and I talked for quite a while about random village stuff and virgin coconut oil. He is going to talk to IHRDP tomorrow in Suva. He also informed me that he is taking my best friend in the village, Marica, to Nausori to help raise a newborn. She never told me! She didn’t even say bye, just disappeared. I was told later that this is because she didn’t want tears or a tough goodbye. I understand. I will see her soon enough in Nausori!
Today, I tried to learn how to crochet. I screwed it up and decided to make an anklet and a bracelet out of the crazy knotted line. I think I will just go to training next week and beg the Peace Corps volunteer that inspired me to start crocheting to teach me. She would be more than delighted I’m sure!
Other than that I started to watch a movie with one of the men in the village and he passed out within the first 5 minutes. So I woke him up, kicked him out, and decided to shut my doors and wear less clothing. It is soooo hot! The rest of the day consisted of napping, reading, and visiting with youth.
Monday, February 1, 2010
A NEW MONTH! I cannot believe January is already gone! I feel like I accomplished a lot in one month, especially for the village to be pretty much shut down. Still waiting on that big community meeting though. I feel like it is hurting our entire village. The committees are nonexistent and no one is really leading any work. Apparently we have to keep waiting on the chief to call the meeting…
Today I tried crocheting again. A little more success, but I must be doing it too tightly because it is quite difficult for me to find the next hole and push the needle through. Practice makes perfect.
A good repeat of yesterday.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Today I went up to the valenisoqo after kindergarten and helped Sisi rearrange the kindergarten things. We carried up the bookshelf that John had made for the kindy and we just talked for a good two hours. Eventually I headed back down, made lunch, wrote a letter, and read a book until John showed up in his “bright blue star spangled banner” kayak. He had caught a HUGE salmon cod (In Fijian a donu). It was beautiful and one of the biggest ones he had ever caught! Fish for dinner!
After frying up the fish filets we doused them in teriyaki sauce, a team effort. We ate, then I made us some Bananas Foster. Good meal with almost no cost! Then it was movie time. I made him watch half of a girlie movie, “The Proposal”, since I like it so much. I think there is something wrong with my transformer. Whenever I have my computer on and charging the screen flashes white. I am a little nervous that the generator has screwed something up. Maybe I should try to charge it in town from now on…
Anyways, we had good conversation, and eventually fell asleep.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
My famous pancakes for breakfast, a search for Mogli, then John was off into the blue. As he was leaving I gave his kayak a little push and immediately he acted like he was rolling over into the water. I freaked out thinking I made him fall over in the kayak. He was just playing games for attention. My heart seriously skipped a beat thinking I might have hurt him by pushing his boat out for him. Whew. Finally he laughed and did a few more tricks. Whatever John.
As John was leaving Naleba came over. Pretty soon we were changing clothes to head up to the waterfall and natural pools. During our hike up he pointed out a spot where when he was young him and all of the kids his age had a dock for their bilibilbi. They would start at the ocean’s edge and at high tide would race up the river to this spot (standing on their bilibili and pushing along with a stick). The last person to reach the dock would be the policeman and all the children up ahead would be the robbers. They would run through the bush to the large pool of water and jump in to get away from the policeman. After playing for a while in the pool, they would all run back, hop on their bilibili, and race towards the sea. Again, the last person to push off on their bilibili would be the policeman and all the children in front of him would be the robbers, with the policeman trying to push the robbers off their raft. Lol. Sounds like a lot of fun!
We continued along the river, climbing boulders, fighting off sticky spider webs, and balancing on slippery, wet rocks. As we neared the big waterfall he picked up six rocks. He gives me three and he keeps three. He said that the first person to reach a watering hole should throw the rocks in as a sign of good luck. Sort of like a prayer or wish, a lot like what we do when we throw money into a fountain. I have never been with a Fijian who has done this and so he explained that it is an old tradition not really practiced anymore. It was fun to do anyways.
After playing in the falls and natural pools we hiked back down on the trail, passing different people from the village doing different work. A few were napping, one going up to the settlement on the mountain, several playing in the big watering hole at the bottom of the river, and some collecting coconuts. It was such a beautiful day with a good breeze and soft rain showers. And guess what, tomorrow is TOWN! Yes, ice cream!
I wrote myself a poem in 2006...
8 years ago
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