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.