https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.donatenow
www.peacecorps.gov, go to "Donate," "Donate to Volunteer Projects." Search for Fiji, then click on a project to donate to. There are three people from my group who have projects where you can donate money. Help them out!!! Any amount helps! (I'm offering this as an alternative for people who want to help us out but without sending lots of things!)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
On another note... (I promise, no politics)
Some snippets of thought:
Etiquette: Always carry dishes, either with food or empty, with two hands.
Tabua: Give to father of bride-to-be, the more the tabua, the more she's worth(I would be worth 5 or 6)
Frogs are nuts here! They are everywhere at night, especially when it rains! And it's like they want you to step on them because they're always underfoot when you're walking. It's insane and ridiculous and I have stepped on a ridiculous number of frogs- with and without shoes!
There's been a little revival in my garden because of so much rain. The English cabbage is growing well, even some that I planted that I thought weren't going to make it have hung in there. So has some Chinese cabbage that I transplanted and the beans are still coming. I also think my tomato plants are not all dead yet. There are a few that are still healthy and I think they're just a little slow... the carrots are slow, too, and not dead but not ready to eat yet, either. The eggplant are doing extremely well! If only I could plant some pumpkin and basil and other herbs...And I'm still bummed about my peppers.
One of the most annoying things ever: having a mosquito stuck inside your mosquito net! Oh wait, having two mosquitoes stuck inside your mosquito net!
That said,I know some people are crazy about saying “That can give you cancer!” about things like mosquito coils, but I don't care. It's worth a decent night sleep every night to burn one for a few hours so I can doze off and notscratch myself to death the next day. And really, if you let it anything can give you cancer for cripes sake. Avoid the obvious things like cigarettes and keep healthy, and I think my odds are no greater or worse from using/not using a mosquito coil.
Never guess what I did yesterday. I was supposed to go fishing with one of the women in the village but because the wind was too strong she decided we would go get the “vivili.” I had no idea what that was; they explained that you get the vivili from under the rocks. So we go to the river/ ponds and I discover that we are going diving for snails. There were three of us. One wore the goggles/snorkel, one looked for snails without the goggles, and then there was me. I swam around, sloshed around, really, on the slippery rocks, and held the bag which held all our finds. I did collect a bunch of snails- a lot, really. Some were really hard to get off the sides of rocks. Those little suckers can really stick. Some were just on the bottom of the river. Some were long and narrow, others round little bumps. A lot of them really had perfected the art of mimicry. It's incredible! You really have to run your hand (or feet) over the rocks to find them, because just looking won't always work. And then they were cooked in lolo, coconut cream. Speaking of snails (I could really say a lot about them), there are some really cool ones. I saw one yesterday morning that looked just like a leaf. It was long and narrow and black, with a little gold strip along its back. The only thing identifying it as a snail, other than its snail-like pace, was the two little antennae. I've seen some cool snails. Of all colors and sizes and styles. And every time, I think of Pat and Snailish Records (shameless plug!).
Saturday my sister and I went to tend to our yaqona plantation. We only have about100,but they were really healthy! We planted them in early July I think it was. We hadn't checked on them since and what we did Saturday was to weed a little and unbury the seedlings. When you plant yaqona, you cut up one of the trunks of the plant that has little nubbins of buds on it and then bury those pieces. The new plant grows up from the old pieces, usually 3-5 pieces in each overturned plot of soil. How it works is you have to weed your area, then turn a little soil, then put the pieces in the soil, but not too deep. Then you cover it with the weeded area, grasses and sticks and stuff. After a couple months, you go back and uncover the plots and they should have sprouted again. Ours did! Only a couple had died- which is good. We had to replant the village yaqona because they all died. But anyway, it's exciting. This was part of a youth project. The youth group planted 1000 plants, paid work. Then we planted mine and Leti's, and we planted another young woman's. After another 3-5 years, Leti can harvest her plants and sell it. You have the literal roots, called waka, which is stronger than the cut pieces (lewena) which is the root going further up. The waka is what is used as your sevusevu and for more formal occasions when drinking grog or going someplace. The waka goes for about $20 or so a kilo and the cut pieces for about $16-18 at our village store. If you buy the waka for yourself, it's $26/kilo or $3/100 grams. The selling price depends on how mature your plant is. The longer you let it grow, the more mature it is, the stronger it is, and the more money you get for it.
I realized something yesterday. I've been way too cautious throughout my life. I'm not very brave. I mean, to a point I am- I'm in Fiji for two years. But I don't take chances. Never have. I was a fairly active child, I think, but I wasn't brave or daring. I played it safe, always. Sure, I jumped off a really high cliff into the jellyfish filled Mediterranean Sea once, drive a car (driving is still like the most unsafe thing to do ever), fly, swim in the ocean, travel by myself to completely foreign countries, and sometimes put myself in situations where maybe I shouldn't, but things like walking on rocks freak me out. Make me all cautious. That's just me, and I wish I would have done more when I was younger to get over that. I see these kids here, and they're fearless. They jump off these big rocks into the same pool where I'm looking for snails, afraid to put my feet down. They run and jump and slide and twirl and flip over and into and off of so many different substances. Then they grow up to be just as fearless!
(Note: I’m trying to fix them all, but you might notice words run together. This is because the spacebar on my laptop sticks and doesn’t really work and I wrote this on my laptop.)
Some snippets of thought:
Etiquette: Always carry dishes, either with food or empty, with two hands.
Tabua: Give to father of bride-to-be, the more the tabua, the more she's worth(I would be worth 5 or 6)
Frogs are nuts here! They are everywhere at night, especially when it rains! And it's like they want you to step on them because they're always underfoot when you're walking. It's insane and ridiculous and I have stepped on a ridiculous number of frogs- with and without shoes!
There's been a little revival in my garden because of so much rain. The English cabbage is growing well, even some that I planted that I thought weren't going to make it have hung in there. So has some Chinese cabbage that I transplanted and the beans are still coming. I also think my tomato plants are not all dead yet. There are a few that are still healthy and I think they're just a little slow... the carrots are slow, too, and not dead but not ready to eat yet, either. The eggplant are doing extremely well! If only I could plant some pumpkin and basil and other herbs...And I'm still bummed about my peppers.
One of the most annoying things ever: having a mosquito stuck inside your mosquito net! Oh wait, having two mosquitoes stuck inside your mosquito net!
That said,I know some people are crazy about saying “That can give you cancer!” about things like mosquito coils, but I don't care. It's worth a decent night sleep every night to burn one for a few hours so I can doze off and notscratch myself to death the next day. And really, if you let it anything can give you cancer for cripes sake. Avoid the obvious things like cigarettes and keep healthy, and I think my odds are no greater or worse from using/not using a mosquito coil.
Never guess what I did yesterday. I was supposed to go fishing with one of the women in the village but because the wind was too strong she decided we would go get the “vivili.” I had no idea what that was; they explained that you get the vivili from under the rocks. So we go to the river/ ponds and I discover that we are going diving for snails. There were three of us. One wore the goggles/snorkel, one looked for snails without the goggles, and then there was me. I swam around, sloshed around, really, on the slippery rocks, and held the bag which held all our finds. I did collect a bunch of snails- a lot, really. Some were really hard to get off the sides of rocks. Those little suckers can really stick. Some were just on the bottom of the river. Some were long and narrow, others round little bumps. A lot of them really had perfected the art of mimicry. It's incredible! You really have to run your hand (or feet) over the rocks to find them, because just looking won't always work. And then they were cooked in lolo, coconut cream. Speaking of snails (I could really say a lot about them), there are some really cool ones. I saw one yesterday morning that looked just like a leaf. It was long and narrow and black, with a little gold strip along its back. The only thing identifying it as a snail, other than its snail-like pace, was the two little antennae. I've seen some cool snails. Of all colors and sizes and styles. And every time, I think of Pat and Snailish Records (shameless plug!).
Saturday my sister and I went to tend to our yaqona plantation. We only have about100,but they were really healthy! We planted them in early July I think it was. We hadn't checked on them since and what we did Saturday was to weed a little and unbury the seedlings. When you plant yaqona, you cut up one of the trunks of the plant that has little nubbins of buds on it and then bury those pieces. The new plant grows up from the old pieces, usually 3-5 pieces in each overturned plot of soil. How it works is you have to weed your area, then turn a little soil, then put the pieces in the soil, but not too deep. Then you cover it with the weeded area, grasses and sticks and stuff. After a couple months, you go back and uncover the plots and they should have sprouted again. Ours did! Only a couple had died- which is good. We had to replant the village yaqona because they all died. But anyway, it's exciting. This was part of a youth project. The youth group planted 1000 plants, paid work. Then we planted mine and Leti's, and we planted another young woman's. After another 3-5 years, Leti can harvest her plants and sell it. You have the literal roots, called waka, which is stronger than the cut pieces (lewena) which is the root going further up. The waka is what is used as your sevusevu and for more formal occasions when drinking grog or going someplace. The waka goes for about $20 or so a kilo and the cut pieces for about $16-18 at our village store. If you buy the waka for yourself, it's $26/kilo or $3/100 grams. The selling price depends on how mature your plant is. The longer you let it grow, the more mature it is, the stronger it is, and the more money you get for it.
I realized something yesterday. I've been way too cautious throughout my life. I'm not very brave. I mean, to a point I am- I'm in Fiji for two years. But I don't take chances. Never have. I was a fairly active child, I think, but I wasn't brave or daring. I played it safe, always. Sure, I jumped off a really high cliff into the jellyfish filled Mediterranean Sea once, drive a car (driving is still like the most unsafe thing to do ever), fly, swim in the ocean, travel by myself to completely foreign countries, and sometimes put myself in situations where maybe I shouldn't, but things like walking on rocks freak me out. Make me all cautious. That's just me, and I wish I would have done more when I was younger to get over that. I see these kids here, and they're fearless. They jump off these big rocks into the same pool where I'm looking for snails, afraid to put my feet down. They run and jump and slide and twirl and flip over and into and off of so many different substances. Then they grow up to be just as fearless!
(Note: I’m trying to fix them all, but you might notice words run together. This is because the spacebar on my laptop sticks and doesn’t really work and I wrote this on my laptop.)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
big, long, ranting post.
So, let's see where to start. Not too much has happened/ been happening lately. I've been in a cranky mood, so I have to apologize for some of these posts and Facebook stuff. I haven't been agreeing with the decisions being made in the village, and how they're being made. Most people don't agree with what is happening, but given Fijian hierarchy and structure, you don't question the Chief's decision. Except me, and everyone else just rants to me, and I internalize that. Oilei. Some of the recent decisions: to cut down mangroves and to replant logged areas with non-native species so they can be logged again in another 20-30 years. And what is the purpose of me being here? I want to ask the village. So I'm trying a new approach. Not sure what that is yet, but I'm working on it. I hear comments that give priority to human beings over the environment/nature. And while I want to agree that yes, you are here right now and your way of life is worth keeping, you are not going to be here for that long. These forests and mangrove stands have been here for hundreds of years and will continue to do so as long as humans don't keep murdering them. And the way of life here depends so heavily on the natural environment that you can't destroy it and keep your way of life. But people in the US don't understand that either, and in the US we logged the hell out of our lands and destroy nature in unmendable ways, so who am I to say anything?
I've been reading a lot; I'm up to 70 books finished so far and reading a lot of magazines. And watching a lot of Gilmore Girls. I might need Season 7 to appear in my mailbox... or on a plane from America in December :) I've also been cooking a lot, making different curries and trying to perfect my roti (I think I did it yesterday! The secret: lots of hot water and lots of kneading and oil when they're cooking!) I made my own pasta- if anyone has a better recipe than an egg, salt, and flour, I'd love to know it. I made my own pasta and then made macaroni and cheese (I bought cheese... Kraft blue box... it's so sad... I'm embarrassed to admit it... sorry, Wisconsin!) and another day I made my pasta and then made a white cream sauce with tomatoes. It was delicious and totally fattening. And I've been eating lots of beans- black, kidney, chickpeas.
I'm on kind of a hating mode. I realized that there are two creatures I absolutely hate, detest: ants and cockroaches. I'm not a hater, but this two things are so disgusting and annoying I just can't take it! Sandra Cisneros said it best in Woman Hollering Creek when a character describes her frustration with cockroaches- it's not their antennae, their flying around, their inability to die but their activity at night. It drives me crazy! They're so loud! And they eat anything. Anything! It's like the cockroaches and ants work as a team. The cockroaches chew a hole first and then the ants come in. I mean everything. Spices, vitamins, dry pasta, fresh veggies. I also have to take a few paragraphs to go on a political rant, something I’ve been trying not to do so much but I feel it is my civic duty (and stress relief) to rant about a person I hate. Really, there is no person living or dead I have ever or will ever hate as much as this person. (If you're an identified Conservative, you might want to skip ahead.) I'mtalking about the darling child, Ronnie. A couple of things have sparked this renewed hatred, mostly things I've read. The first was National Geographic's cover story this month about solar power and the second is the Vanity Fair interview with Nancy Reagan (I've also decided I hate Vanity Fair. Really, what's the point of this magazine if you don't care about being a media whore or reading about media whores?) I have nothing against Mrs Reagan, no, really I pity her no one ever helped her with her anorexia and her puppy doggish idolic worship of her husband. I like that she had a sense of style, elegance, and really seemed like a strong, foreceful woman (maybe, if not unopinionated. It makes me wonder how many First Ladies disagree/d with their husbands' politics. Obviously not HRC- of course!- or Rosalynn Carter, whose husband I absolutely love, maybe just the Republican ones? Poor women.)
My point is, I hate Ronald Reagan and his legacy. This hatred is so strong. Every time I think of him, my blood just boils. AHH!! What's wrong with people that they think he was so amazing? I mean, do you see the state of the country (America) right now? You think that has anything at all to do with his absolute deregulation and encouragement of a limitlessly free economy? It's not just economics (in no way, shape or form has Reganomics shown to be positive for most people); I think his social policies have been just as detrimental and long lasting. (And, I might add, many of them are directly linked to economics) Let me just say, environmental, economic, AIDS, War on Drugs, are the main areas I think he has ruined for a long, long time.
I digress... I winter seasons anywhere in the world just stink. I'm ready for it to warm up.
I've been reading a lot; I'm up to 70 books finished so far and reading a lot of magazines. And watching a lot of Gilmore Girls. I might need Season 7 to appear in my mailbox... or on a plane from America in December :) I've also been cooking a lot, making different curries and trying to perfect my roti (I think I did it yesterday! The secret: lots of hot water and lots of kneading and oil when they're cooking!) I made my own pasta- if anyone has a better recipe than an egg, salt, and flour, I'd love to know it. I made my own pasta and then made macaroni and cheese (I bought cheese... Kraft blue box... it's so sad... I'm embarrassed to admit it... sorry, Wisconsin!) and another day I made my pasta and then made a white cream sauce with tomatoes. It was delicious and totally fattening. And I've been eating lots of beans- black, kidney, chickpeas.
I'm on kind of a hating mode. I realized that there are two creatures I absolutely hate, detest: ants and cockroaches. I'm not a hater, but this two things are so disgusting and annoying I just can't take it! Sandra Cisneros said it best in Woman Hollering Creek when a character describes her frustration with cockroaches- it's not their antennae, their flying around, their inability to die but their activity at night. It drives me crazy! They're so loud! And they eat anything. Anything! It's like the cockroaches and ants work as a team. The cockroaches chew a hole first and then the ants come in. I mean everything. Spices, vitamins, dry pasta, fresh veggies. I also have to take a few paragraphs to go on a political rant, something I’ve been trying not to do so much but I feel it is my civic duty (and stress relief) to rant about a person I hate. Really, there is no person living or dead I have ever or will ever hate as much as this person. (If you're an identified Conservative, you might want to skip ahead.) I'mtalking about the darling child, Ronnie. A couple of things have sparked this renewed hatred, mostly things I've read. The first was National Geographic's cover story this month about solar power and the second is the Vanity Fair interview with Nancy Reagan (I've also decided I hate Vanity Fair. Really, what's the point of this magazine if you don't care about being a media whore or reading about media whores?) I have nothing against Mrs Reagan, no, really I pity her no one ever helped her with her anorexia and her puppy doggish idolic worship of her husband. I like that she had a sense of style, elegance, and really seemed like a strong, foreceful woman (maybe, if not unopinionated. It makes me wonder how many First Ladies disagree/d with their husbands' politics. Obviously not HRC- of course!- or Rosalynn Carter, whose husband I absolutely love, maybe just the Republican ones? Poor women.)
My point is, I hate Ronald Reagan and his legacy. This hatred is so strong. Every time I think of him, my blood just boils. AHH!! What's wrong with people that they think he was so amazing? I mean, do you see the state of the country (America) right now? You think that has anything at all to do with his absolute deregulation and encouragement of a limitlessly free economy? It's not just economics (in no way, shape or form has Reganomics shown to be positive for most people); I think his social policies have been just as detrimental and long lasting. (And, I might add, many of them are directly linked to economics) Let me just say, environmental, economic, AIDS, War on Drugs, are the main areas I think he has ruined for a long, long time.
I digress... I winter seasons anywhere in the world just stink. I'm ready for it to warm up.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Just a note... I know I said I wanted mail (and I do!) but I don't need any things (except for maybe a pair of low cut athletic socks, please!) and people in my village don't really need anything, either. Our kindergarten is on hold for awhile-- I'm too busy to be there everyday and thre are no villagers who will take over-- and between all the fees, I'm going broke from my allowance picking up packages. Any values declared over a certain amount (good thing my computer battery and iPod stereo weren't accurately listed!) requires an extra fee. Anything not for personal importation use requires an additional fee, this is all on top of the $2.40 fee for picking up any parcels. So... make it light, make it only necessary things! (Honestly, a couple of CDs or some chocolate and trashy magazines is plenty!) Thank you for wanting to be connected to the village; I really do appreciate it!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
back in the village
I've been back in the village for about three weeks now. Nothing too much happened; in both my American life and Fijian life no major changes happened in three weeks and all was as it was before and after leaving. I guess it's good, to have that consistency in life.
It's starting to warm up again. Weather was a little cool, for Fiji, especially at night. Projects are a little stalled in the village, through no fault of mine (I can't force anyone to come to meetings, make decisions, or talk about things that might be unpleasant), and without the blessing of now two PCVs and the University of the South Pacific. It's been a little stressful in the village, so now I'm in Labasa for a few days promoting PC as an organization in and around Fiji and catching up with other Volunteers. The good thing is, as my village was cutting down mangroves- directly in opposition to every bit of common sense and piece of advice that I and USP have given the village- the next village up came to me asking about replanting mangroves along their coast to protect their shoreline. It was a small but really rewarding gesture. So that'll be a new project I'm excited to take on soon.
I don't really have much of anything to share. Sorry! It's burning season right now and everywhere are patches of burnt hill. It's also sugar cane cutting season up in the north and there is burning because of that, too. And it smells. Really bad.
When I got back, all my Chinese cabbage had been eaten so I turned the soil and planted some English cabbage. My tomato plants are pretty much all dead, which I'm really bummed about because that is the one thing I really wanted to eat. I've been eating the beans- long and French. Eggplant is doing well and so are my carrots, if not taking a long time. I think some peppers are on their way, if I can get some. A lack of water is prohibiting my garden from reaching its full potential :)
It was nice to be back in the US for a short while! Getting to eat my favorites (there was no shortage of cheese and Wisconsin beer), see my friends, catch up on Weeds, see some new movies, and indulge in American amenities was a nice, if not whirlwind and overwhelming, trip. But, I'm glad to be back here where it's warm and laid back and quiet! So thanks, everyone, for the escape, and I hope things in America improve (it was a little depressing hearing about everyone's state of employment) soon so y'all can come on over to this little corner of the world for a visit. I won't be here forever, you know!
It's starting to warm up again. Weather was a little cool, for Fiji, especially at night. Projects are a little stalled in the village, through no fault of mine (I can't force anyone to come to meetings, make decisions, or talk about things that might be unpleasant), and without the blessing of now two PCVs and the University of the South Pacific. It's been a little stressful in the village, so now I'm in Labasa for a few days promoting PC as an organization in and around Fiji and catching up with other Volunteers. The good thing is, as my village was cutting down mangroves- directly in opposition to every bit of common sense and piece of advice that I and USP have given the village- the next village up came to me asking about replanting mangroves along their coast to protect their shoreline. It was a small but really rewarding gesture. So that'll be a new project I'm excited to take on soon.
I don't really have much of anything to share. Sorry! It's burning season right now and everywhere are patches of burnt hill. It's also sugar cane cutting season up in the north and there is burning because of that, too. And it smells. Really bad.
When I got back, all my Chinese cabbage had been eaten so I turned the soil and planted some English cabbage. My tomato plants are pretty much all dead, which I'm really bummed about because that is the one thing I really wanted to eat. I've been eating the beans- long and French. Eggplant is doing well and so are my carrots, if not taking a long time. I think some peppers are on their way, if I can get some. A lack of water is prohibiting my garden from reaching its full potential :)
It was nice to be back in the US for a short while! Getting to eat my favorites (there was no shortage of cheese and Wisconsin beer), see my friends, catch up on Weeds, see some new movies, and indulge in American amenities was a nice, if not whirlwind and overwhelming, trip. But, I'm glad to be back here where it's warm and laid back and quiet! So thanks, everyone, for the escape, and I hope things in America improve (it was a little depressing hearing about everyone's state of employment) soon so y'all can come on over to this little corner of the world for a visit. I won't be here forever, you know!
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