New Address

Some people have asked and yes I have a new address. Here it is! Miss y'all!

PO Box 4166
Lautoka, Fiji Islands

Big News....

Bula y’all. I know its been a while... sorry. SO. Big things have been happening.

1. I passed my language test… woo hoo! I was worried there for a bit. Fijian= not easy. There are a lot of vowels and a lot of words that just have the word vaka in front of it. Oh and “c”= th, “b”= mb, “d”= nd, “q”= g, “g”=ng.

2. I’m officially a Peace Corps Volunteer. Woo Hoo! I was sworn last week and moved straight to my new home in… da da da da daaaa…

3…. Lautoka! Lautoka is a city (one of two in Fiji) on Vitu Levu. It’s beautiful here… we’re located in between the ocean and foothills of the mountains. Seriously, it’s amazing! Oh also Lautoka is home to the only lap pool in Fiji and one of the two movie theaters… yep I totally saw Eclipse last week. Robert Pattininson is still hot in Fiji. I live in a really nice flat with another awesome volunteer that has a deck that overlooks the mountains. It’s a bit different for us than it is for most Fijian PCVs. I am a Fijian version of city girl. We don’t live in a village so we don’t have a chief or Turange ni Koro (like a mayor) or in general as many cultural rules to follow (don’t get me wrong we still have a bunch living in the city). I will definitely miss living in my village in Rewa but I’m also super excited to be living in the city.

So yeah, life is pretty sweet. I’m missing the rest of the FRE 8s a bunch right now but we have a conference in October where we will all be reunited. Ah leaving friends three times in 3 months is brutal! First college friends, then family/roommates/friends from home/people I have known forever, then new Fiji friends. Ah!!!! Don't get me wrong, I am doing fabulous, but man this can be exhausting.

So I decided to go for a swim last night...

So currently my host village is on a small little island next to one of the big islands…. Right? Right. To get from my village to the bus stop and to civilization in general, I have to get on a little boat and cross the 50ft river. Oh and a big Peace Corps rule is I have to wear a PFD every time I cross water…. Nothing like a big yellow neon sign pointing to the non-Fijian. So the other night I was coming home with a bunch of groceries, my backpack, my purse, my PFD ect…. It was around 7pm so it was super dark here (well maybe not super dark but I think you all know where this story is going and I’m needing all the decent excuses I can get). So. I’m walking down the steps into the boat and go to take the last step… FAIL. Apparently I had already taken the last step and instead I went splashing into the water. It was so amazingly graceful that you all would have been proud. As I was falling I managed to throw the groceries into the boat. And then apparently my purse was waterproof and my backpack had a plastic grocery bag of fabric in the bottom hence keeping everything dry and safe…. Skillz, I know…. I got them.

So now I am surrounded by these giant Fijian men… all attempting to yank me out of the water. I was laughing hysterically, they were trying not to laugh, the other volunteer was still in shock that that had actually happened… all in all… it was awesome. Oh and I’m pretty sure I mooned them as I was trying to get out because my skirt now weighed approximately 10 thousand pounds. Good times in Fiji.

And by popular demand... here is the meke dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwIhiw2mrw8

So my 4 years of Dance Marathon has paid off...

Last week we were invited to dance a meke at Rewa Day. Time for some definitions/explanations. So a meke is like a Fijian line dance. Currently I live in the province of Rewa. A province is kinda sorta loosely like a state but we are run by a Chief. The Chief of Rewa is a woman… that’s a BIG DEAL here in Fiji. Rewa Day (days actually, it lasted over a Friday and a Saturday) was a whole celebration of Fijian Tradition within the Rewa Province.

Got all that? Gooood… back to the meke. Twelve of the us learned this traditional dance in 5 days. Truth be told, after 4 years of DM line dances… this seemed like the Macarena. So we get there on Friday after the open ceremony dressed in our traditional Fijian attire ready to make our debut. There were a few things we did not realize. 1. We would be performing this in front of a few hundred people directly in front of the Chief and 2. apparently we were the highlight of the entire day. And by highlight I mean we made the paper, the national paper, the next day! I figured out what my true calling in life is… A meke dancer! I’ll be signing autographs all day…

But in all seriousness it was an awesome experience. Actually few unexpected reactions resulted from our dance.

The people of Fiji were shocked that we learned the dance in a week… I guess they spend weeks and months working on them. So they now think we are all actual pretty smart.

The Fijians people have an amazing culture riddled with tradition. Unfortunately we were told that in some places the tradition of Meke is dying out with the younger generations. So the fact that these Americans could come in and perform for them further gave them a reason to rejuvenate this tradition.

So yeah it was a ton of funnnn. The video may or may not be on YouTube… still debating over whether I should put that gem on here for your viewing pleasure…..

Lets Talk about Sex Baby….

In church? Okay so here’s the story… last week we were invited to a youth group meeting at the local Methodist church. So cool…. go meet the youth, chat for a bit, call it a night. Simple right? Well there were a few things not mentioned to us.

1. The youth in Fiji are comprised of people from the ages 17ish-40ish or until you get married… whatever comes first. In church youth groups, the age range is 15ish-25ish … so yes I am very much a youth here… oh super. Nothing like being clumped in the same category as hormone infested teens.

2. Youth groups here are apparently not like youth groups in the states. Back there we used to just hang out, talk about life, maybe a Bible verse or two, and call it day… Always very casual. But here… not the case. It was a formal church service…. All two hours of one.

3. Here’s where the sex part comes in. So we get there. The priest greets us outside and then informs us that she really wants us to focus on sex and other related issues. Okay… well…. Okay? Since I have the only health education background I was nominated to talk (I eventually convinced another person to stand up with me since I am a “youth”). An hour and half into the service I got up introduced us and said we were welcome to questions. So they did… about everything from sex to drugs. So we all just answered the best we could. I’m pretty sure some of the males were trying to embarrass me sometimes or they thought I was too shy to answer some questions… pshhht proved them wrong. Everyone who knew me through college knew us HEB kiddies had to take Sex Ed and Drug Ed… not many things phase me these days….

As much as I joke about the situation… it was actually really cool that: 1 they trusted us and 2 they were interested so much in that topic.

So life here is still going well. Fiji is a great… still beautiful and full of culture. Speaking of culture… Americana is evvveerrrywhere. Currently “Down” Jay Sean is playing in the background. The Glee version “Like a Prayer” is always on the radio… totally NOT upset about that at all. However I think some people think that is the original version of that song. Don’t worry Madonna, I am trying to set them straight.

Well I hope all is well in Merika… Last I heard Evan and Erin were in the DWTS finally… and is Lost over? I’m assuming they were found. And how are my fave shows Greys and Top Chef? I was sick over the weekend and I started watching the second season of Greys (thank you Nicole!!!)… Izzie just met Denny, George is still alive, Meridith just met McVet, Burke hasn’t been shot (yet)… madnessss!

Miss you all!!!

What’s the word in Fijian for love? PIZZA!!!

Bula! So this past week has been a bit crazy. I moved in with my host family. I have a mom, sister (18), two brothers (24 and 26), a cat named Laisa, and a dog named Boy. They have all been absolutely wonderful to me! I have my own room andddd my own bathroom (that’s a really big deal in Fiji). I live in a nice little house in the center of the village. We have treated water in our village (also a big deal) and electricity. Most recent exciting news… my village has free wireless Internet in our provincial office area! Quite ironic since most people do not have laptops here, nonetheless I am excited about it as well is my host sister who looks forward to checking her facebook more often. Prior to this revelation I had to go pay for Internet at an Internet café… its pretty cheap to do but a little more a of a hassle.

So Fiji is kind of a tricky county when it comes to the whole language thing. To anyone who knew me through high school Spanish… they would be able to vouch that language is not my forte. But here you would think I would have to figure out how to speak for my survival… however there is a catch… most people can speak English and some better than me! If fact, my sister just took a test on Hamlet last week… I barely understand Shakespeare sometimes and English it’s my first language! Nonetheless my language adventure continues. This brings me to my title… I was asking one of my brothers one night at dinner what the word for love was… his response was “pizza!” hahaha good times in the house. My brothers did not let me forget how the family dynamic works. From the moment I arrived, I was immediately treated as another little sister. They watch out watch out for my safety however I am constantly the subject of harmless sibling teasing. Me speaking in Fijian sounds like when a child is learning how to say the Pledge of Allegiance… “I pwedge aweegance to da flag of de United States of ‘merica, and tuuu de repubwic…. “ You get the point. Everything I say is just a little off from what is actually supposed to sound like. I think I am improving a little bit each day(at least I hope I am).

My na (mom in Fijian) is my new social life coordinator. No blackberry or facebook necessary. Every Saturday night we have a huge gathering for the 4 PCTs and their host families at one of our houses. From the looks of the first one we had, it seemed like the whole village stopped by our house at some point. Last Saturday was curry night (the Indian influence is HUGE here). We had a huge dinner followed by lots of singing and dancing. My dancing (its more like a lack of dancing… I have no rhythm or really any moves) is perfectly acceptable here. In fact they told me I am a great dancer. Looking back now they could have been joking but eh, oh well. Speaking of compliments a new one I am getting used to is “uro levu!” To Fijians it’s a great compliment and means you’re hot… in English it translates to “you’re fat!” Oh yeah… talk about motivation to try to stay healthy. In general many Fijians like their women bigger because it simply means to them that you’re eating well and are therefore healthy. Everyday my na yells at me (in a loving way) because I don’t eat enough. I can only eat so many carbs… love me some bread, potatoes, kasava, and rice… but goodness I have a limit. Okay well that is all for now. Moce!!! (it means goodbye and is pronounced “moth-A”)

Wait, what’s for breakfast??? Bacon and Spaghetti!

Yay! I made it to Fiji!!! And it is BEAUTIFUL. We got in around 5:00am. FYI we left on May 18^th and because of time zone craziness we arrived on the 20^th so technically May 19, 2010 never really existed to me… weird huh? So after we got into the Nadi airport. we drove another few hours to like a Christian hostel type place. When we arrived we were greeted by the entire Peace Corps Fiji staff where we partook in a traditional Fijian and Hindu welcoming ceremony complete with kava. Basically I think they said “we know you are going to mess up and we forgive you in advance and offer you unconditional support.” It was really really nice. Kava is a drink that is apparently part of life around here. Its made from the yoqana root and makes your mouth numb when you drink it. Very interesting….

We spent the night at that place and woke up the next morning and drove an area outside of Suva the that houses a learning center for Fijians. We stayed in dorms called bures. But these totally top any dorms I have ever seen (not that that’s to difficult to do compared to UF). These were located on top of a hill overlooking a river. Then in the community center… aka my classroom… overlooks the ocean. Oh another new part of life… tea time! Tea time happens twice a day complete with finger sandwiches and cookies. To everyone who said I’d come back skinny…. That will not be happening. Between tea time and a starchy diet, I may be in trouble. Ahhh. Oh and about that title. Meals here are sometimes… different. We eat everyday at the cafeteria on campus. Usually its rice, dalo, or some kind of starch and fish or beef stir fry or chicken. One morning we woke up to spagettios , barely cooked bacon, and a loaf a bread all on our plate. Oh yeah breakfast… the most important meal of the day.

Alright enough about the scenery and such…. A little about life. My group (we are called PCTs, Peace Corps Trainees) consists of 35 men and women from young college grads to men in their late 60s… haha yes we are quite an eclectic group. I truly love getting to know everyone. I’m already somewhat bummed that I have to leave them so soon when we move in with our host families. Don’t get me wrong I CANT wait to meet my host family… I just cannot believe I am already leaving the people again who are my good friends. Alright that’s all for now.

PS. I promise to put up pictures soon andddd I will do my best to post more often now that I have access to internet.

Also, I wrote this post like a week ago and have since moved to a place where I have even more freeeeeee access to internet!