Some of the kids playing. They love the "skip!" (Jump rope)


This is DiLala, one of the kids I've gotten to be good friends with. She's working on a project about mangroves.
This is Kasa, her sister (one of them; this is a family of 7 kids!).



One of the big projects the village has been working on for a year or so now is rebuilding the church. After the flood a few years ago that almost took out the village, it damaged the church. With money from the logging, they have been able to renovate the church. Things were underway when the carpenter died in March. They recently resumed working, and the following pictures are what the guys took this week.

I've been taking some time for myself in the village lately. Really, I've just been doing things that I should've done the first week I was here. Namely, gardening. A few weeks ago one of the couples in the village started cleaning up a vacant piece of land next to the house with our generator. I asked, finally, after months of general asking, very bluntly if I could have a couple plots to plant some veggies. He said sure. A few days later, I continued his weeding. Weeding is, of course, hacking down the grasses, weeds, and overgrowth with a big knife. I started and soon I had a group of people stopping to help me and in no time we had it down. It was another week maybe before he burned away some of the brush and dug the drainage ditch (it's a wet area). Then this week, Wednesday, I borrowed a big fork and started to turn over the earth. No machines in Fiji. I got another older man to help me and a while later one of my friends, who should have been in school since she's only 17, came to ask for my help on a school project and ended up helping us. After lunch the three of us and DiLevu finished it up. With four people the work went pretty quickly. Thursday I dug the drains between plots. We're pretty much done except we need to break up the soil more and put up a fence. And plant the seeds. Throughout this whole time my little pal Poso was there (DiLevu's 7 yr old son). Poso is something special. I've become really attached to this kid, as long as he's not biting me or in my house. Sometimes he's really goofy, like he has been Wednesday and Thursday. He's been our little foreman and always there to “help” me when no one else is there.

Another Volunteer once asked me what the best thing I bought was. My answer: my gumboots. I wear them all the time. When it rains. In the bush. Making my garden. Going to the ocean. Anytime I go anywhere there is mud or sharp weeds or rocks. You see them a lot in pictures of me.

Big news in the village!!! We got a pool table!! Yup, we're big time now. It arrived a couple weeks ago. People are crazy over this pool table. I haven't played yet. It's been over a year now I haven't played and not many women play (I've only seen maybe two or three women play so far on this one) here.

I had some sad news on Saturday. My host dad I stayed with when I first got here to Fiji died. He was really sick the last time I saw him, in April. I'm glad I visited.

Below are some videos. The first is a traditional "meke" dance that was performed last year at our 4th of July celebration. The second is the secondary kids singing at their prize giving ceremony last December. the third is my chief at the construction of the bread oven back in January.

I don't really have much to write today, and I promise no more rants about the state of America.

On the radio right now is Take That's "I Want You Back." Sometimes it's Michael Jackson, last week I heard MJ and Paul McCartney singing some song like "Doggone that girl is mine." How have I never heard that before??? Sometimes you'll hear Mili Vanilli and other forgotten jems.

If anyone wants to send me any books, I'd love some John Steinbeck or Julia Alvarez's How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. But really, any mail, anything at all, would be so greatly appreciated. Even just an envelope. Something! My mailbox partner gets mail all the time. Seriously, all the time. And personal mail, not just Peace Corps mail! Even my Peace Corps e-mails outnumber personal e-mails 5:1. Where are you, everyone?!? Send any lovin to:
PO Box 642, Savusavu, Fiji Islands.

Things have been really busy lately. Sometimes I say that but this time I really mean it. I've been organizing the library at the secondary school. It's been a big job. I unfortunately had to let go of such treasures as a Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints textbook about the "Human Condition." It made the to go pile at the first page I turned to, which described the different "types" of people in the world: Caucasian (with an illustration of a 'typical' white person's face), Negroid (a very stereotypical picture of all black people's faces), and the Mongoloid (an even more stereotypical picture of people from Asian descent). Other than that, they have a surprisingly good collection of books ranging from classics (poetry by Emily Dickinson, Dickens, lots of Steinbeck, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring) to really good nonfiction. And lots of books by Rumer Godden, whose name I'd only heard of, thanks Demi and Bruce, but never actually seen a book by her. And lots and lots of books about American history. An embarrassing amount of books about the US, actually. Plus like Ralph Ellison, David Halberstam, Margaret Mead, and a b unch of other popular titles- oh, and even a Taylor Caldwell.

We had a clean compound day in the village yesterday where we toured everyone's compounds to make sure they're clean and disposing of rubbish properly, etc. I turned in our application for funding for septic tanks for the village. I've been giving a lot more talks about the environment and rubbish and logging. And I think people are actually listening. I was told that when I speak, everyone listens. I guess that's nice.

I've heard other volunteers say, "There's only so much cheese you can eat, you know?" But you know what, nope, I don't know. I miss cheese. I've realized that it's like a staple food for me. I ate cheese literally every single day, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. With eggs, on sandwiches, with crackers, on salads, pizzas, burritos and other Mexican foods, on pasta, as is, with bread, on veggie burgers... Gorgonzola, bleu, Havarti, Cheddar (mild, sharp, medium, white, Vermont, you name it), Munster, Pepperjack, Montereyjack, Ricotta, Asiago, Mozzarella, Parmaggiana, Swiss, provolone, feta, goat... I mean, seriously, there are a lot of cheeses in the world. And I love them. All. Here, the options for fresh cheese are "Pizza" or "Mild." Or the Kraft blue box processed cheddar. Which makes a really mean macaroni and cheese, let me tell you. Of course you spend like half your allowance on imported cheeses, but who can/ wants to do that?? I love cheese.

If you're not outraged...

This is how we cut the copra, cut the copra, cut the copra. This is how we cut the copra all day long.






The sun is back!! It's hot again- yay! I had a really good conversation with a guy about wind/ hydro power- yay! And I'm getting quotations for our market project and the fish pond guy is finally coming out next week! So wow! This week is a much better week, but yesterday was a sucky sucky day. The kind of day I just want to go out for a vodka tonic with Chris and Josie and Beth and the whole gang and rant and listen to indie rock music. Oi lei.

I'm trying to upload more videos, but it takes a hella long time. Wait for it, wait for it...



Early on in my stay in the village it was the end of the term at the school. I was the "Chief Guest" and didn't know anyone (seriously, it was my second week there!). But, I took this video of this kid who's maybe 14 or 15 from my village. His name is Vocea and you can't see him; he's behind the kid to the right in the black shirt. He has an awesome voice and actually plays guitar pretty well. (His dad was a really good, popular singer from my village and they made a CD)





So I started reading a Joan Didion book called "The White Album." It's a memoir about the late 1960's. She's at an interview with Huey Newton, who was the co-leader of the Black Panthers, after he was shot and then arrested. She quotes him who quoted James Baldwin: "To be black and conscious in America is to be in a constant state of rage." And then I thought about it and thought, the same can be said anyway: "To be conscious in America is to be in a constant state of rage." And then I thought, that's not entirely fair given the current leadership. Which led me to thinking about how Obama is our president... and wait, Obama's black. And wow! the country has really come a long, long way. But, Obama is not full of rage. Where's the disconnect? But still, it's like the adage, "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." Because really, if you are paying attention, you'd be pretty pissed off at things in the US, such as social justice issues and climate change in-action. Especially at the policy level. You know, like how car companies have had the potential to get like 80 mpg in EVERY single car but they didn't do it because it would have been too expensive ten years ago? yeah, they're dumb because look who's laughing now, all the way to the back... Toyota and Honda. Sorry, GM. You suck. You made thousands of people lose their jobs because you chose to think in the short term profit gain rather than the long term... for financial and environmental reasons (and oh, I don't know, jobs for all those people you've been laying off). Anyway I'm enjoying Didion immensely.

As a side note, I'm outraged. Still. Because what happens in the US trickles down, to places like Fiji.

Roko

This is my favorite Fiji 7's rugby player! His name is Nasoni Roko. He has great hair. And he makes great tackles!

news

It was really rainy in the mountains in the bush. It's been really cold all week. Yuck.

Altar to Mary.


I realize I haven't really posted anything of substance lately. I always think what to say, but haven't really had time to post. So lets see if I can recap the past few weeks...

A week or two ago I went to Taveuni, finally, for a big meeting for our province. Taveuni is beautiful and wonderful and I had big plans to travel and visit some other PCVs. Alas, something spasmed in my back and it was the most excrutiating pain I've ever had. (Sorry Mom... but really don't worry) It was pretty awful and I could barely move, so I had to cut my trip short, which I was/am really bummed about. Good thing is: it's a lot better now and I had some great massages. So it was pretty depressing to be 25 with the body of an 80 year old.

This is in Tutu, the place I visited to check out hydropower. It's a Catholic mission/ training center. Very cool place run by a very very cool old Australian priest. It's what I'm going to write my thesis about! This is one of the chapels. Has an amazing view!

Soemthing I love about Fiji is all the colors. Everything is so colorful and vivid, from all the different greens of the forest (more than are in a box of Crayola 64!) to the blues of the sky and sea to the flowers (bright fuschias and deep purples, blue and purple and white morning glories, bright hibiscus) to the insects (the butterflies! the grasshoppers! the mantis!) to the birds (so many different birds! and also so many that aren't here anymore, vinaka mongoose). The sulu jabas (the women's dresses, see picture) and bula shirts the men wear. It's nice. See sulu jaba, above. This is in Taveuni, at the International Date Line. Technically, the date line runs right through Taveuni; but to make things simple, they keep it all in one time. Taveuni is the first place in the world where the new day/ new year starts! My back was hurting so badly in this picture.

This week I was really busy. Monday we went to plant and weed yaqona. Below is a video I took from the bush. Hehe. Below are also a few pictures from up there. Maria and I cooked the lunch, rice and dhal soup. It was cold and rainy. Tuesday we went to cut copra, but I forgot to put those pictures on my thumb drive, so next time. Copra is the dried coconut flesh that's the bread and butter of our area up here. It's what they use to make oil with and lotions and soaps and all those fancy shmancy things Americans and Westerners like to buy with coconut. We did it as a village project to help pay off the debt for the diesel for the generator. there was a group of about 20 of us who collected coconuts, piled them up, chopped them with an ax, and then cut out the flesh with a special little knife. Then you have to dry it. It's a three- four day process and we should get maybe $200. Wednesday I worked at the school and Thursday I did a major cleaning of my bure and then weeded a lot for my garden- finally! Friday was a open house outside Savusavu for fish ponds/ agricultural stuff. Needless to say, I'm ready to rest. And I've been helping the high school kids with their homework again and we had a soli (they give money) for the women. So nights have been busy, too. But we're finally making progress with our market at the road at the bus stop and on our septic tanks. Yay!