Wednesday, April 22, 2009

r.e. packages

Hi all-

Just an FYI: if you're going to send me any packages, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tape them up really really super duper well!!! the last two packages I've received have been opened during transit and I've lost stuff from them!!!! So, please make sure they're sealed up really well if you're going to send anything! I know it's expensive and I don't want you to be wasting your money into a black hole of Fiji post.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Not too much is new since I was last on here but I had a good week in terms of getting work done. We finally- FINALLY!!- got the Health Inspector out to our area to survey for septic tanks. I have two big projects going on in my village and another village in my tikina to put in septic tanks for all the houses in each village. I've been trying since early March to get the Health Inspector out here and each time he was supposed to come there was a problem. But we got a lot done Friday and now we just need to figure out measurements and quotations and complete the proposal, which is due the end of June so I like the timeline. It seems, from my experience, that a lot of the government jobs only have one person who can do the job. For example, the Health Inspector. He's the only one that could do what we needed to get done. There is only one guy who does prawn farming up here. He's also been busy for two months now so of course that means there is no one else to help us (seriously, I've tried/ been trying). There is only one person who does beekeeping. He was also out of the office the day I was in Labasa (I had to go to Labasa to see him!) so that meant no one could help me. And now the government has decided to force retirement on civil service positions at age 55. I'd like to think there are a lot of other things I could be doing without relying on any sort of government assistance, but that's not what the village wants and we need to be setting a good, legal example of following the rules.

Popcorn- it's my addiction here. You can buy seeds pretty commonly and inexpensively. Just a few make a lot of popcorn. I cook it on my gas stove in the frying pan with a little oil. It took me a few tries to get the heating right but when I get a good batch, it's good! Last night I tried it for the first time over the fire. Last week I discovered my cylinder was empty so I've been either eating out of my house or cooking with the fire, which I enjoy. I was doing really well starting my fires at first, and then the flood happened and I lost momentum. After that, it took me a really long time to get my fire going. But now I think I have it again and I don't use kerosene! That, for me, is the best part. So I made the popcorn and basically it tasted like it was barbecued. It was fine but I think the smoke added a taste that didn't quite go. Needless to say, popcorn has been a great discovery for me! I miss those salty snacky foods!

Sunday I spent the morning making samosas- over the fire!

There is one thing I absolutely hate here, more than I've ever hated anything: mongooses. There is one particular mongoose (perhaps it's more) that is always eating my food! The thing about the mongoose that I hate worse than the rats is that mongooses aren't scared of anything. They come during the day, during the night. They can open containers, chew through packaging. No shame! And they eat birds; they've helped kill off native birds.

I've been facing some difficulties with my village. Nothing major, and most of our projects are still underway. But for me, I've been looking at my role here as a “job.” Of course I know that being a PCV is a job, but the distinction between being a villager and this being my work has been easily blurred. Thus far I've demurred my opinions on village topics and decisions but lately I find myself having a hard time doing that. I've been speaking up when I notice a problem. For instance, two cows were grazing inside the village limits over the lovo- where food is cooked during gatherings- next to the river. It was gross and is against the laws of the village to have animals inside the village. So I spoke up about it drinking grog that night. At the last village meeting, I gave a little talk on the dangers of burning plastic. The secondary school is a disaster; this is something I've been hearing for a few months now but it wasn't until Friday when I actually saw just how bad the facilities are. And it's bad. The thing is, the fees are really high and I don't see where the money goes. So I've been speaking up. I don't feel bad about not selling cigarettes to kids anymore at the store, either. It says on the package that it is unlawful to sell tobacco to anyone under 18. Cigarettes are bad. I'm sure it sounds like I'm being really negative but the thing is, the village wanted me to come here for a reason. I can't go along with things if I notice something is wrong just because I don't want to challenge the status quo; we as PCVs are about changing the status quo. I finally feel like I'm at a place in the village where I can speak up and be honest and start telling it like it is (so to say). I've wrestled with how much I should say and when and to whom, but the thing is people don't question much here. It is how it is, and if the elders don't have a problem with it, no one says differently. The hierarchies are very difficult to navigate here. People are very afraid to challenge or ask questions if the decision comes down from above. And while I respect that and need to work within that, I'm also given more leeway to do things like ask why or what the alternatives could be or to say that I see a problem if I see one. I guess for me, I'm looking at it that I only have so much time here and if I don't say something, no one will and then nothing will change.

Part of my frustrations also lie in the definition of “development.” I hear a lot of key words thrown around here: “development,” “food security,” or “education” to name a few. It sounds good- “Hey, let's do this because it's development and development is good!” But not all development has positive effects. Is education at a school that's falling apart really development, especially if kids aren't encouraged to go to school on a daily basis or study in the evenings? Like a lot of decision making, here the price that's paid for development comes at the expense of short term gains rather than thinking long term. Log the forests now for fast cash (and a lot of it) because there are a lot of trees. I mean, just look around you and all you see is forest. And then, plant mahogany and pine (non-native species) because reforesting is good (another buzz word) and look, in ten, twenty, thirty years they can log again and our grandkids' kids can get a good education! That's the mindset. But the problem is, in ten or thirty years, the village probably won't be here if things stay as they are. I got so mad at our last village meeting when they were talking about planting these trees because what's the point of doing any “development” projects in the village if the village won't be here? And it won't be if they continue to log and degrade the land the way they have been. I've been trying to think of ways to talk about this issue of development and to give examples. I guess what I keep thinking of is Wisconsin. (I know there are millions of examples of adverse effects of development, especially big picture ideas like sprawl and air pollution from factories but that doesn't really resonate if it's not specific.) I think I'm going to talk about the transition from timber as our main industry to family farming to now tourism and service industries. Gone are so many of the small farms that used to dot our beautiful Wisconsin landscape. The fact that so few crops dominate the farming industry, too, is another issue. The recommendation to only eat so little fish from the rivers and lakes is something very relative here. The increased bad air days in Madison. Being a car dependent society is another. Low paying service jobs in a tourism dominated industry will also resonate, I think. Maybe. Maybe not. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

Saturday night I asked a question of a bunch of the men: “Would you be willing to use eco-tourism as a way to bring money to the village if it means you couldn't ever log the forest again?” This started a discussion and I think the conclusion we came to is, No. I talked about the two best assets of the village, the ocean and the forest, and some of the activities that could be done. But in a roundabout way we got back to that, and this I said, the village is destroying these two beautiful things and no one will want to come hike through a logged forest or go snorkeling when all the coral is dead. The idea came up for visitors to see a meke (song and dance), eat, watch the women weave, visit a cave that's up the river in the forest. But is that enough of a draw to bring tourists all the way out here? It's a long and bumpy ride to watch some women who may or may not be weaving a mat. The hike to the cave? Through the clear-cut forest. So I guess we'll see.

This week I'm in Suva for a workshop and then headed to Taveuni to visit a hydropower project. Should be exciting!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

siga ni mate

Here are a few pictures from my Easter weekend out of the village.




Happy Birthday!
this is Lusi. She's so adorable! She was enjoying her ice cream.

Some of the fish caught Monday night. There were lots more- and bigger ones.


Pretty pretty sunset on the wharf

The one catch of the day Friday!

This was not a posed picture...

Monday, April 13, 2009

easter wrap-up

I'm on my way back to the village from my very first weekend away. I spent it in Bua, the province in the West, with some families I've gotten to be close with. I think for me one of the hard things that I can't do is separating myself from my "work." I like being in the village, I like people I spend a lot of time with, and I'm enjoying the experience that I'm experiencing. The emotional ties for me are really strong; ironically, I have a hard time with this in the US but here it seems so much easier. I wonder if it's because of the close proximity in which we all live?

Anyway, this weekend was a nice change of pace. Where I was isn't a village per say but a government station. I left my village at 7:30 am, got there at 7 pm, three buses later. As soon as I stepped off the bus, I rushed to put on my sulu over my shorts, but then I found out, it didn't matter! Since I wasn't in the village, village rules don't really apply. Shorts! Tank tops! It's weird how that makes you feel naked. We went swimming off the wharf with a fishing line and hook. Our bait was flour and tuna, which is not a good bait. You should use bread, I guess. We didn't have much luck. But last night they went out in the boat and caught lots of big fish. I'll post pictures after I get back to the village and such. We ate a ton of fish and bananas. They have lots of banana trees there! I went swimming in the ocean, slept, watched a gazillion movies. I felt like I was in an alternate universe. One of the sons of the family I was staying with is a successful businessman in Suva. He and his girlfriend and his kids came up. They brought a Playstation, a handheld PSP thing, like two dozen cell phones, a portable DVD player, and all these crazy electronic gadgets I haven't seen for a long, long time. The kids all spoke English and could barely speak conversational Fijian. Urban Fijians lead a much different life than us in the bush. The kids were obsessed with TV and their games. I had a really hard time with it because, well, I hate that stuff. And I hate the influence Westernization has had here, for the most part. The good part: I got to eat chocolate cake and ice cream. Yum! That is a good influence.

One more note before I go... over the weekend some stuff went down with the government here. Rest assured, all is well with me and the PCVs. It's all happening over our heads, and besides, I'm in the bush! We remain untouched by volatile political situations.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

sorry

I have a big huge post with pictures and lots of info ready to go- but I had a problem posting it so until I ahve more time, that's all I have! And my e-mail is down and I have no phone!!! Technology is failing me!!

rugby, yaqona planting, pictures





The gang in the mountains on Tuesday. L-R, Akei, Uraia, Tucika, Kanu, Tui, Paulo, Lou, Turaga

Tuesday I went "up" with the Youth. I work a lot with our Youth Club, which is 19 men ages 20-40 and two (sometimes more) women, both 31, one of them my counterpart. We have a lot of projects we want to get going, including prawn farming and beekeeping. To raise money, one of the older men is paying the group to plant 1000 yaqona plants. Tuesday we went up to the mountains, to his farm. There were 11 of us, including one of the two young women. We were in charge of the food preparation. This meant that we had to keep the tea boiled. We had tea I think about three times that day. Lunch was 5 tins of mackerel and 8 tins of tuna both with sliced onion, with cassava, followed by tea and biscuits (breakfast crackers). I learned how to plant the yaqona, which was great finally getting my hands dirty. The view was, of course, beautiful. It felt good to get out of the village and do some work. See pictures for more details.


Bavelo and Mereseini preparing the voivoi to weave the mats. First they take off the sharp parts then roll the leaves up, then they boil them. After they're boiled, they need to dry for a few days in the sun. They're then rolled again and again to get smooth. There's more of the process, too, before they even begin to start weaving.


Kanu at the end of the day Tuesday.

The most popular sport in Fiji is rugby, especially Sevens. There are two kinds of rugby, 7's and 15's. Seven's has seven players and two- 7 min halves. Fifteens has fifteen players and each half is 40 mins. Fiji was the two-time world championship team in 7's a few years ago. Rugby is mainly tournaments; teams are in pools and play a dozen times in a span of three days. The thing abour rugby is that it's awesome. It makes American football look like absolutely nothing. They don't wear padding. They don't wear padding. They run up and down the field for the full 14 minutes. It's so intense! The last full weekend in March was the Hong Kong 7's Tournament. There's only one TV in our village with a satellite dish, so everyone crowds around this TV during the rugby games. People from my village and nearby villages come over to watch- laying, sitting, standing, anywhere there's room. It's kind of like having a Super Bowl Party with the Packers playing every week or so. Well, Fiji won! It's the first time in ten years they've won this tournament, beating the South African team (who has the best record right now, but the world champs is Wales). South Africa is really good, so is England (who Fiji beat) and Kenya. The other Pacific Island teams are also really good. At the last tournament last weekend, Fiji lost a heartbreaker to Kenya in the semi-finals, with Kenya going on to lose to South Africa. But, alas, the US team won the Shield tournament! (There were four different pools of championships: Shield, Cup, Plate, and Bowl being the best.)

Fun tidbit: A popular saying, and one you should learn if you come to Fiji, is “Vinaka vakalevu” or “Kana vakalevu.” Vinaka is thank you, kana is eat, and vakalevu is literally, very big. So the literal translations are “Thank you very big” and “Eat very big.” However, that's not what we say in English. But try explaining why you thank “very much” but eat “a lot.” I get a lot of people saying to me, “Eat big!” It's always hard to not laugh a little at that.

A little bit more about rugby: the most famous Fijian rugby player is Weseli Serevi. He's retired now, but is a coach sometimes. All the kids know him; it's like Brett Favre was to Wisconsin kids. When tournaments are on, everything else (except church) stops. It's such a big deal! But oh so fun. During Hong Kong, our generator went out at a really intense moment in the game. Everyone just threw up their hands and sighed. It was awful! They won, which redeemed it, as they hooked up a smaller generator.

I've slowed down my reading a bit, partly because I was trudging through Sense and Sensibility (I read Pride and Prejudice in a heartbeat, but I just couldn't get into this one) and partly because I've been spending more time with the friends I've been making. It's good to have people to talk to and I feel close to them. One of the guys I've gotten to be good friends with is also considered my brother; my counterpart's family took me in right away, and I have “Maku” (short for “tamaku,” meaning my father), Nana Mere (mother Mere), the one brother in Iraq, my CP/ sister, and then Tui, my brother. I like it because they, especially Tui, really look out for me and it's like I really have a brother, something I've obviously never really felt before as an adult. We've gotten to be really close and I'm starting to feel less like an outsider. (Mom, I know what you're thinking but please don't read too much into it. He's my brother!) The conversations I've been having with these guys have been great; we're at the point where we feel comfortable asking/ telling about ourselves and having the kind of deeper conversations I miss having with my girl friends. The hard part for me has been bridging the gender gap. In Fijian culture, there are some relationships that can't talk. The woman that I went up to the farm with Tuesday (DiLevu) can't talk to a couple of her uncles/ cousins. She can talk to the younger ones but not the older ones. They can't really even be together; she has to sit away from them. One of her cousins (I think that's the relationship) is the leader of the youth group so if she wants to ask questions in the meetings or when we were serving the food, she has to go through someone else, usually me, in order to achieve whatever it is she was doing. It's so frustrating for me as an outsider because I don't know these relationships and I don't have them. She said that they used to play together when they were younger, but around age 14 or 15, that had to stop. They learn when they're young who they can and cannot talk to. It's the same with a lot of the older women, too. They can't dance in front of or drink grog with a lot of the older men. I'm curious to know, from the younger generation, whether or not they think things like this will ever change. Will these relationships/ hierarchies ever change? Will girls ever be able to wear shorts in the village? How do boys and girls have a relationship if they can't show any affection in the village? Stuff like this.

This is DiLevu (her son is Poso, see picture at bottom)

Here's part of my gang: Tui, Tucika, and Pita. This is a regular night for us. A lot of people in the village right now are taking a break from drinking grog so we usually just talanoa (tell stories).

A bowl of grog.

I think one of the hardest things to reconcile as a PCV is how to transcend those boundaries that we don't have. As a guest, I'm allowed into the men's circles. I'm allowed to talk to anyone and everyone. I can be with the men, the women, the kids, the youth. I can drink grog. I can go to the farm. I can dance in front of anyone. I can eat first before everyone else (trust me, I hate this), or before the women. I don't have to help as much sometimes (again, something I hate but it's almost more of an offense to disobey the nau's (grandmothers). Trust me again, I have a lot of grandmothers! And kukus, grandfathers. When whence I had no grandfathers, now I have a dozen or so.

Nau Tupou and her basket of rubbish.

Here's an update on the widow of the man who just died. I found out she's only 28! (He was, get this, 58!) She was pregnant, but now she isn't. Apparently there's this thing, I was told, that happens in Fijian culture where women will be pregnant, or show signs of pregnancy, but then won't be. So she was pregnant, but then during later ultrasounds there was no fetus, no heartbeat, just water. She is showing signs of being pregnant, like her stomach, but I guess there's nothing in there. I don't get it... I still need to do more research on this but this is what I was told.

It's almost my birthday! I'm getting old. I actually feel like I'm getting old, even though I'm nowhere need old. I'm getting old and I'm in Fiji! What?!? Fijian for Easter is “Day of the Dead.” I kind of hate thinking my birthday is on Easter if that's what it means!

Here I am, this past Tuesday while farming yaqona. (Do those clothes look familiar, mom???)

Palm Sunday is the children's service and the Sunday school kids (both Methodist and Catholic) put on the service. Here are some of them.

This is Aleposo. He's such a doll. He has some issues (emotional/ mental things that put him behind other kids his age, 7) but I love him.