It's been a while- so here a couple of posts -from my journal:

July 28, 2006
This was our fisrt day in Lawaki. i think I'm still going through cuiture shock. Fijian Village life is drastically different that living in an Indian Settlement. I didn't meet my "nene" (host mom) until later in the day. I presented my sevusevu to her and her husband. (a sevusevu is a formal way of asking permission to enter a village or family. It is the actual root of yangona, which is used to make grog, or kava, it is wrapped in newspaper and looks all twined up and spiraled. it looks kind of like a gnome head) anyway, my sevusevu went something like this: " Oqo en dua na noqo i sevusevu lailai" Fijian language is a trip! it's so wierd.. but it sounds beautiful when they speak it, especially the women, with their soft voices.... the "q" is pronounced as an "ng" sound the "c" is pronounced "th" as in "that". Very confusing.
There was a fundraiser tonight in the village. All the villagers invited us to drink grog with them. I drank so much grog, more than i've had in one sitting since i've been here. It made me so tired and i was in slooooooooww- motion. I slept like a rock though. The grog hangover is crazy, all you want to do is sleep, and eat, and sleep some more. Went to church on sunday. They attend a methodist church in the village. There is a wooden "lolly" (a drum) that they beat as a bell to come to church. Its really cool... everyone gets dressed in their best clothes, with their bibles and hymn books in hand. I went to church for two hours in the morning and then 2 hours again at night. Dad would be very proud. All in Fijian... it was interesting, the preacher was definately preaching, but the choir was beautiful.


August 3, 2006
Oath of service:
I, Danica Conneely solemnly swear pledge my commitment and support to the people of Fiji, and in the spirit of peace, friendship, and international cooperation that I will do my best to represent my counrty while respecting the traditions, culture and values of Fiji, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully carry out my duties as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

August 8, 2006
Last night was the first time I cooked in our kitchen. We had a bunch of people over (mostly from FRE2 and FRE3). I made pasta with mussels and salad and garlic bread. It was a nice break from all the dalo and boiled fish we've been eating. One of the volunteers even brought some wine! It was comforting to cook and entertain some friends. The first of many dinners to come. The house I live in is big, It's in government quarters so it looks sketchy and institutional from the outside. But we have a yard and apparently an avocado tree (havent seen any avocados yet) and a mango tree that just flowers but doesn't fruit. We are pretty close to the police post and only a 5 minute walk from the University of the South Pacific. Also close to the water, although there is only a sea wall, no beach, The skies are gorgeous here, especially when it's not cloudy out. Can't wait to know my way around the city and not look or feel lost.

August 11, 2006
Suva is good, it rains almost every day which makes it impossible for laundry to dry... i did laundry 3 days ago and they still have not dried. Its all the humidity, I guess. The Public Works Department has been working on our house for the past week and they still have many repairs to do to the house. Most importatly- mosquito screens. It's funny how Fijians break for tea, then an hour to 2 hours lunch and then tea agian... It reminds me of Bolivia and how everything shuts down for two-3 hours at lunch.. siesta!
Night time is the loudest time at the house. The bats here are HUGE. They look like flying dogs without tails. and they squeal really loud too. There are rats living on our roof top, and since it is made of tin, you can hear their claws as they scurry across the rooftop. The most annoying sound of all, however, is waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of mosquitoes buzzing in your ear. Last night I put up a mosquito net around my bed and have had the best night's sleep in a long, long time. I didn't wake up once! and the mosquito net looks really cool too, kind of like a canopy bed, only not as romantic, definatley not romantic.