LoNg TiMe No HeAr

Mogli doing something she is not supposed to.

Week of April 23rd – May 1st

Been cleaning up the house for mom and sis. Wow is having a bure a chore and a half. Removing the mats, raking out all of the sodden, dank coconut leaves, burning them, collecting pine needles in the forest, removing newspaper from the posts, taking down dust covered cloth from the ceiling, washing laundry, sunning mats, beating mats, patching mats, buying liner, laying out the pine needles, allowing them to sun, laying down the liner, laying down the mats, and finally, spraying a little air freshner. I promise I clean my house a lot, but there happens to be a drainage ditch that runs next to my house and likes to divert into a corner of my house, soaking the dirt floor, therefore soaking my coconut leaves, and then my mats. Impossible to deal with!


Wati

They will be here soon though! I also went to the health center with the ladies and their babies this week. Upon returning to the village my namesake and I got out onto a reef surrounding a nearby island. I walked around the beach towards a Grandmother’s farmhouse who is from my village. She served me up some fresh squeezed lemonaid and gave me two oranges for the road. Fijians are so caring.


Learning karate... Fijian style.

My namesake and I ended up walking all the way back to the village after she fished and I scavenged the forest for papaya. Just before we reached the village we found a “pear” tree, which, much to my delight, turned out to be avocados. Thank you Lue Ann for the great idea of sending Fritoes’ scoops! Perfect for my Mexican guacamole dip!


My brothers and sisters having tea.

The rest of the week I pulled together the Peace Corps Partnership Program Grant Proposal. We had to finish taking measurements, then I got the job of running around town in circles going from one hardware store to the next getting quotations. I felt like I was bargaining with a Mexican at a Flea Market or maybe just buying a car at a used car lot. We would discuss prices, different options for tools, and what the least amount quoted was so far so that they could under quote the last guy. Hey, it is saving Americans money one dollar at a time.


My favorite fish - a Semicircle Angelfish

Finally, Thursday through Saturday I am staying with John and Judy. Judy and I went on two dives with Ra Divers on Saturday morning and they were the best dives I have EVER been on. Absolutely beautiful. I will try and get pictures up as soon as possible.


Clownfish - Fiji is full of 'em

Week of April 15th – 22nd


Mogli playing with her new mouse toy, another amazing gift from Lue Ann.

I don’t have much to say this week. Thank you to all of you who were so spirited and caring enough to send me care packages recently! I have been in hog-heaven lately, but I am trying to remember it was all for Easter and my birthday and that I cannot expect the special treats very often. Thank you very, very much for thinking of me!

I didn’t do much other than lots of snorkeling

An eel just off my village's beach.


Upside-Down Jellyfish


The cliffs and the reefs along my beach.


and movie night for the kids and the women. With the women I watched Pretty Woman and I cannot believe I had never seen it before. Other than that, reading, writing lots of letters, watching movies, and crocheting a baby blanket, I have nothing of importance to report.

Oh, and of course, my Mom and Sis are coming in 2 ½ weeks from today! It’s countdown-the-days time! Ahhhh! So excited!

On my walk to Lisa's village - Wednesday, April 14th