Walking Home

Tropical Depression

Just another Fijian Sunset

Gas Station

This one's for Kata....

Fishing

My first Visitor!

Some Highlights of Jayson’s trip…

1.) Spear Fishing in Nananu I Ra

2.) Suki and grog session with Jaile and gang

3.) Samoan warrior dancing at ‘the zone’

4.) Mango Bay African Safari Tent #3

5.) Broke-down mini bus ride to Sigatoka

6.) 16 seater Pac. Sun Airplane during a tropical storm

7.) Kokonda and plenty wine at Bula Re

8.) Fijian Night club experience & “taki na bia”

9.) Piggy back rides across the flooded streets

10.) Rain baths

Jaysoni my friend… Thank you. For hauling that giant suitcase from home, for taking it all in stride, for spoiling me on your vacation, for all the incredible meals that I could never afford and the many bottles of wine to accompany them. Thank you for bringing me breakfast when I was hung-over, for letting me kick your ass at cards, for simply sitting, -here or there-, for your company, for all the laughs, and memories built… for all the love and friendship in your heart.

Vinaka Vaka Levu!

Some photos from Savusavu

spear fishing

view from a yacthie's boat at dusk

Exterior of church

Church at St. Bedes. Built in 1800's

Boys going for a swim

I know these are long overdue, but I've finally found an internet connection fast enough to allow me to upload photos. Like I said, the past three months have been a trip... so here are a few images to document a bit of where I've been roaming in Fiji, including some of Savusavu, my new home.... enjoy.

Sunset, Nananu-i-ra

On a boat with ropate in the South Pacific

Nananu-i-ra

Kelly decorating our x-mas tree. Nananu-i-ra

dusk, Nananu-i-ra

Nananu-i-ra

Somewhere in the sky...

On the road, Naiserelagi

Molly's house, Naiserelagi Village

captain's cafe with carrie, Savusavu

Bus stand, Savusavu

view of the bay, Savusavu

Nabala Village

The last 3 months have been quite an adventure. Ever since the burglary incident in Suva, I've been on the move, looking for a site to live in, where there is work to be done. I finally moved to Savusavu, a sleepy bay town, where a bunch of yachties stop in to dock their boats. But the move here hasn't been easy. There's been a lot of persistence on my part, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of searching around and failing and moving around the main island to the north... needless to say, Its been a trip!

It feels good to have a place to call home for the next 19 months, even though my new indian neighbors are SO bloody loud! i constantly hear now , the playing of the loudest bollywood music, crying babies, mothers yelling and the father' gagging himself with his toothbrush at night. But all of these I can handle. It's the damn chickens/ roosters that drive me insane! They start cock-a doodle-doing at 2 AM. What the hell!!!??? I thought they only crowed in the morning! But last night, they woke me up at two am. And they sit right outside my window, They went off like perfectly synchronized alarms... first at 2 am, then at 3:00 , then at 4:00 am... (How the hell am I ever going to get any sleep? ) Finally, at 4:00 am I got up and i was SO pissed off I actually yelled at the roosters. SHUT THE HELL UP!!!! then I lay back in bed and thought to myself.. Did I really just yell at the roosters? I did. And they didn't care, they kept on cock a doodle doing all they wanted. I had a dream in the little fragments of sleep i got between each alarm went off... I actually had a dream that I was trying to kill the chickens. First I threw the tops of tuna cans at them, slinging them at the chickens like ninja stars... then I had a shotgun, but it had no bullets, still I was aiming for the chickens and kept pulling the trigger... Then I woke up again to their annoying sound. Finally, at around 6 am... i got up, pissed off as hell and threw a coconut at them. I actually hit one! and they scattered. I was all proud of myself, i went back to bed feeling like... ok, now i can finally get some sleep... but as soon as i closed my eyes.. they were back at my window... claiming their revenge and squealing at he top of their lungs... yes, I've arrived, I'm finally home.

A bumpy one hour bus ride from Labasa... I arrived in Nabala on Friday afternoon. My friend Carrie is teaching computers at a boarding school in the Macuata province called Nabala Junior Secondary School. It is Summer break here, so the kids are all gone and the village is very quiet. It's very peaceful and HOT. Yesterday we went out for a swim in the ocean with some of Care's good friends.. Uncle Dan and his wife Lucia were kind enough to take us out on their boat. It was beautiful, we snorkeled around the boat, and i saw a blue starfish for the first time in my life! The way back was a little tricky, as we had to walk back through the mangroves and mud. There was no way to do it with flips either because they would surely get lost in the mud.. so we walked barefoot and hoped not to get any cuts and therefore be prone to getting hook worm. that would suck.... but so far, so good...

I will be here until the end of the week, if things calm down, I'll go back to Suva on Viti Levu, and go up north to the Ra province, Nokonoko, my second option for a potential site. I'm excited about village life. Just three days here in Care's village, and i'm adapting quite well, drinking grog and playing cards and walking around with muddy feet.. I could get used to this, walking around in sulu's and not shaving.. I havent even looked at myself in a mirror since I arrived. It's actually quite a freeing experience. ( And no, don't worry I havent become a hairy hippie... at least not just yet. haha!:)

Ok so here's the latest news on the military situation...
I don't get any cell phone reception in Nabala, but they have a computer lab at the school here and WIRELESS internet!!! It's crazy! So we have been able to follow up on the news, which is great.
The US said that they were suspending aid from Fiji... and right now it looks like PCVs are the last volunteers still at their sites. Jica, Koica, Aussie Youth Embassadors and NZ volunteers have all been consolidated. But for now, we are on standfast (which means we are on alert and cannot leave our sites). Hopefully they will lift this alert by the end of the week so that I can travel and find myself a site...

The news below is from fijilive.com

Soldiers hunt down coup opposition
Sunday December 10, 2006
Fiji's military continued a crackdown on opposition to its coup on Saturday, as deposed Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase said he would return to the capital next week to seek a peaceful restoration of democracy. Fijians were warned on Saturday that if they spoke out against the military they would be summonsed to Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Suva and, if they refused, forcibly taken there. "The military wants this transition to be smooth," said military spokesman Major Neumi Leweni in issuing the warning. Commander Bainimarama staged a bloodless coup on Tuesday, toppling Qarase's government, which he claimed was corrupt and soft on those behind the last coup, in 2000. Fiji has had four coups since 1987. Opposition to the coup is growing, with the Great Council of Chiefs and churches calling it illegal. Several prominent Fijians have already been taken to the capital's barracks and been ordered not to make further comments, while Fiji's human rights commission said it was investigating reports of "inhumane treatment" of one person detained. Fiji-born millionaire Ballu Khan had his office ransacked by the military and his bodyguards taken in for questioning. Former government minister and unionist Kenneth Zinck was allegedly taken to Queen Elizabeth Barracks after publicly calling Commodore Bainimarama names while drinking with friends at a club. At least two correspondents to a local newspaper and several government chief executives were also taken for questioning the military.

I have been in Labasa since Sunday. It is one of my options for a potential site, after having left NCHP in Suva. Labasa is a "city" on Vanua Levu, the other big island...
It smells very strange here. The smell is a pungent one, but i havent been able to put put my finger on what the smells resembles... kind of like baby diarrhea and chow mein. It's so strong I woke up in the middle of the night from it. They say the smell comes from the Sugar Mill, which makes me question why sugar tastes so good but smells so bad while in its process.

Ok, so now for the news... I know a lot of you have been watching the news and have asked me, what's going on in Fiji? Well, I don't really know how to answer that, as I had stated in my previous blog, I'm not used to this sort of reaction from the people in the midst of political turmoil. In Bolivia, things would be so different. There would be demonstrations and road blocks and banners and fists up the air. Not here. People are going on about their businesses, occasionally stopping on the street to listen to the news updates on the radio that blasts outside the many second hand clothing shops that cover the main (the only) street in Labasa.

I am staying with a volunteer here in Labasa, Like most of the pcvs that work for the ministries in Fiji, she too, lives in government quarters. I was shocked to see Military checkpoints right outside of her house. But the soldiers were really nice, waving and saying goodmorning, I even asked if I could take a picture of them and they were happy and eager to pose for the camera, but my camera battery had died. damn. I made sure I charged it last night.

AS of 6 o'clock yesterday evening, the military has taken over the government. Bainimarama, the head of the Military has stated that this will be a "peaceful" transition. Last night, the Prime Minister, Mr Qarase called on Fijians to fight for democracy after the military finally ousted him. Government ministers have also been given a month to vacate government quarters and to return all government property. Their cars were seized yesterday.

The last I heard today was that armed soldiers ordered everyone out of the Parliament premises, and also, they entered the Prime Ministers headquarters, ordered everyone out, and removed some unknown documents.

Last night, the alert for volunteers got changed to standfast, which means we can't leave our sites. Sucks for me, because I have no site. But still, I have to stay here, in Labasa, living in a house with a girl that is so negative she sucks out all of my energy, She doesn't know how to say good morning or good night. Her basic social skills are, to say the least, lacking.

I have also been assigned on an "attachment", or internhip to work with the Ministry of youth. Today I offered to help a guy with a reproductive health workshop for youth. I was excited because, i felt like yeah, there's work to be done! But no. This guy was awesome. He didnt need my help, He was so on top of his shit that I actually ended up learning a thing or two from him. And the kids listened to him and he was excited and passionate about what he was teaching them. I felt like a wallflower, just sitting, useless, in the corner, occasionally taking pictures of him and the kids (because he asked me to). I ended up leaving early because he was making me feel uncomfortable, like he wasn't taking me serioulsy, just commenting on my looks, and when I asked him if he was feeling any better (because he has the flu) he said.. "I feel better if you stayed," ugggghhhh. so i tried again, I asked him if he had taken any medicine, "you the only medicine i need." I left.

As I was walking back into town, with my freshly charged camera battery in hand, i walked by some military dudes, -who by the way, are in full combat gear- and i said my usual, Bula! they didnt seem as friendly today as they did yesterday, and when I took out my camera and pointed it at the smiling camoflauged men, this guy -I'm assuming, in higher rank- comes flying out and yells.. "NO PICTURES!" Woah! ok, ok no pictures. What do you say to a man that comes charging at you with a gun hanging on his shoulder and a little green beret looking hat? ok, ok, no pictures... so I went on my merry way.

This morning Suva and Nausori Volunteers got called into the PC office as a precaution. Below is the latest news from the Fiji Times. Things have been quiet so far, unlike the civil unrest I'm used to in Bolivia, where, when there is unrest, you feel it, you see it thick in the air. That is what is scary about this situation, nobody really knows what's going on, some people think there will be a coup, others don't think so.. I was just downtown, getting mony from the atm. The lines are long and there are people everywhere. Photographers and camera crews running around shooting footage. Police are also around and I've seen a couple of military trucks driving around.
If anything does happen, if the Military in fact does go ahead with their "clean-up campaign" we will be put in a car and taken to a "safe" place. Right now there is about an hour and a half left until deadline, we'll see what happens.
I'll keep you upadated.
read below from Fiji Times...

Calm but tense ahead of deadline
1030 FJTFriday, December 01, 2006
Update: 10.30AM

Fiji's capital, Suva, is calm but tense this morning, with a little under two hours to go until the deadline for government reforms set yesterday by army commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama arrives.
There have been long queues at banks and cash machines around the city and supermarkets are doing brisk business as people stock up on essentials.
There is no increased military or police presence in the city at this time.
Many businesses will be close at 11.30am, sending staff home ahead of the noon deadline for an army takeover.
The University of the South Pacific will close at 11.30am and many schools are thought to be doing the same. Today is the last day of school for the year.
President Ratu Josefa Iloilo and Commodore Bainimarama are now meeting at Government House.
It is expected that Commodore Bainimarama will ask the President to declare a state of emergency allowing the military to move in an maintain control.
Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase was scheduled to open the Attorney-General's conference at the Warwick Resort on the Coral Coast, this morning but did not attend. He is engaged in crisis meetings in his office in Suva.

Peace Corps, along with all the International Aids have sent out a warning to standby if this escalates. But don't worry, or as we say in fiji Sega na lega, all is fine for now, and it looks like this too might blow over.

From Reuters
Fiji prime minister rejects coup threat
Fiji's prime minister is refusing to resign in the face of threats of a coup from the country's military chief.
"There is absolutely no question of me resigning ... or of my government stepping down," Laisenia Qarase said on Wednesday in an address to the nation on local radio.
"We have the constitutional authority and the support of the people to rule now and for the next five years."
Military chief Frank Bainimarama has threatened to force Qarase to resign unless he drops two contentious bills, including one offering amnesty to some of those involved in a coup in 2000.
Bainimarama has accused the Qarase government of being soft on those involved and said that while the coup leader, failed businessman George Speight, was in prison those who backed him were now in parliament.
He said he regretted appointing Qarase as interim prime minister following the coup. Qarase has since won two free elections.
Military march
The military plans a march by 3,000 reservists through the streets of Suva on Thursday, a day after Fijian soldiers drove through the streets of Suva and took control of tonnes of ammunition from the waterfront.
Fijian political leaders failed to remove Bainimarama from his position on Tuesday, with the military rallying around him.
Indigenous Fijians fear losingpower to ethnic Indian Fijians"Bainimarama is still commander and now the government is in a dilemma and will have to eat their words," commander Colonel Pita Driti told Fiji media on Wednesday.
Bainimarama, currently visiting troops in the Middle East, said he would remove Qarase from office once he returned to Fiji, saying the government was corrupt.
"I'll be back to see that Qarase and his cronies step down," he told the Fiji Sun newspaper on Wednesday. He is expected back in Fiji later this week.
Qarase said police were investigating Bainimarama's threats. "The rule of law must prevail. No one is above the law, no one has the right to interfere with the legal process."
Fiji has suffered three coups and a failed mutiny since 1987.
Racial tension
The coups have been racially fuelled, with indigenous Fijians fearful of losing political control of their island nation to ethnic Indian Fijians, who dominate the economy.
Australia has placed two warships on standby to evacuate its citizens.
"We are very concerned about the possibility of a coup in Fiji," Alexander Downer, Australia's foreign minister, told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.
The US said it could suspend aid if troops do not respect constitutional processes and the rule of law.

For the past 3 weeks, I've been living out of my bag and calling the Capricorn hotel my home. The housing issue has become a major problem, The ministry of health hasn't been able to find Jamie and I a house, so we have stayed put, displaced, but waiting...
There have been times when I've wanted to say, oh, the hell with it, I'm going home... If nothing good happens before the end of the day, I'm outta here. But then something good happens, like the day I forgot my umbrella and I was getting soaked walking from the bus station to the hotel, and a man held up his umbrella for me. Or just this past weekend, when my good aussie friend Tim and I took off for the weekend and camped on the Coral Coast... our toes in the sand, and laying in hammocks watching the sun set deep into the horizon. We walked along the shore and collected shells in my sun hat and then threaded them into Tim's dreads... And swimming... Believe it or not, this was the first time I had been to the beach in Fiji, (besides our water safety day during training). There is something about the ocean, swimming in crystal clear, turquoise water washes everything away... Vitamin D also helped with my spirits, not to mention my brown skin. Although we were only gone for a weekend, we came back to the chaos of Suva refreshed and renewed and tanned.
OK, so things aren't that bad, they could be worse, i guess. It was just being in limbo, for three weeks there was so much uncertainty. It was felt thick. Feeling powerless and not able to grasp control of where i was, where i wanted to be or where i was going was driving me insane!
So PC gave me a choice... I could stay in Suva, and live in the Nurses Quarters (ummmm... for those of you who know me well, KNOW that this is just not an option, I hate feeling caged in) OR I could move to a village, about 4-5 hours away from Suva, way up in the interior Highlands. I don't know anything about this village, except that there are 9 families that live there, there is no main road access, and the closest village is an hour and a half away. It's supposed to be beautiful up there, and cold.
So i was thinking a lot, maybe i was thinking too much... It got to the point where I could remember the reasons why I left San Francisco, i just couldnt remember the reasons why i came to Fiji, or Peace Corps for that matter....
But how does one come to make the right choice? what is right?
I felt like i had to make the decission of joining the Peace Corps all over again. Do I stay in Suva, where all my basic comforts can be met? Do I stay at NCHP, where I am working in my field, and there is room for growth and advancement in terms of my own carreer?
Slowly but surely, I started experiencing the same feelings and inner struggles I was faced with before leaving San Francisco. I remember a huge part of the decission in coming here was because I wanted to live humbly. I wanted to be able to remove myslef from the environment that I know and live with the idea of separating my "needs" from my "wants". I wanted to feel the rawness of a foreign culture, get to know the people, live with them, eat with them, become part of them...
This is my struggle in Suva, while it provides a different culture from what i knew back home, it is still an urban setting, Internet access and telefones and coffee shops and red wine available whenever I want... It is harder to find authenticity in the city because there is so much diversity, and people are on a faster pace. Most of the kids here are westernized, mimicking hip hop styles and mtv starlets.... How is this different from home? How did I end up here?

For those of you who havent heard....
Our house in Suva was burgled! I'll try not to go into full details, as it still makes my stomach turn and I've had to re-tell and re-live this story for everyone and their mothers during the past week or so.
Basically, a burglar came into my house, through the kitchen window, cut through the burglar bars and helped himslef to wander our house while we were sound asleep in our rooms. He even came into my room, where i was sleeping with a fellow volunteer and took my purse, containing my wallet with ids, check cards, my memory card with all my photos (at least he didt take my camera, it was locked up in one of my drawers). In my purse was also the ipod that my sisters sent me for my birthday, my phone, and my p.o.box key. We luckily had other volunteers staying with us that night, but they too, got their stuff stolen. Cameras, ipods, phones, speakers, wallets... We basically got cleaned out! The scary thing is we didnt hear him, and i'm a pretty light sleeper! i even wake myslef up at times if i hear my teeth grinding against each other or the sound of the wind would sometimes wake me up. But not this time. The story gets worse. We called my stolen phone with my roomates phone and the guy answers! Not only that, but he tells us to give him our pin numbers (wich we obviously DIDNT do) & starts making obscene comments and goes as far as calling all the female volunteers in my phone trying to get their addresses and also saying obscenities to them. He even called my sister in Chicago.
So for the past week I've been living in a hotel, out of my bag once again, displaced, uncertain and leaving my fate up to PC programming. They are working on getting us a house - or, god forbid...nurses quarters-, but there are many steps involved in the process. They have to make sure the ministry of health is going to pay for it, that it is a sturdy enough house to withstand a cyclone, that there are burlgar bars in place (i recently learned that burglar bars are not in fact bars to prevent burglars from coming into your house, but rather are there to give you five minutes of deterrence from the burglar). It sucks because we had just settled in, we had finally made the house a home and in a matter of hours, it was nothing but an empty shell, with boxes and plastic bags on the floor... I'm back to basics now, and, oh well.... it's like my dad says, "I ain't got a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of..." At least he didn't take my sense of humor, no?

20 de septiembre (Fiji time)

Como se mide el amor?
No creo que se hayan inventado palabras que describan el sentimiento en mi corazón. Es un sentimiento más allá de la felicidad, mezclado con sentimientos de nostalgia. Un sentimiento de orgullo de pertencer a esta familia. Una cadena indestructible que se alimenta de amor. La que me apoya, me ayuda a levantarme cuando caigo, que me ama sin barreras, incondicionalmente.
Si el amor se pudiera medir, el amor que les tengo rompería cada balanza en el mundo. Si fuera cuestión de distancia, tendrían que navegar todos los oceanos y las estrellas, y aún así, la distancia no igualaría el amor que siento por mi familia. Mi familia, única e irremplazable, mi familia.
Se acuerdan nadar en las montañas de arroz en la cooperativa de papi en mineros? Y luego mami le reñía porque llegabamos llenas de bichos. Se acuerdan coleccionar caracoles? Nuestras caras pintadas con la luz de luciernagas? Se acuerdan comer pito en la tienda de doña rosita? Pescando pirañas en el río, nadando en bombachas y luego sentir el calor de una toalla en los brazos de mami. Me acuerdo de la casa en Santa Cruz, y los juegos que inventabamos para pasar el tiempo, en la camioneta azul del tío miguel, olores que invadían el aire, a lechón, a churrasco con cerveza. Jugabamos “lobo lobito” en una llanta tamaño “SCANIA”. Me acuerdo de “beat the bus!” por las mañanas.
Me acuerdo cambiar el calor y la humedad del trópico por una nueva jungla de cemento, el frío y el viento seco de La Paz. Cambiamos piojos por chapas en las mejillas. Me acuerdo que al llegar a la casa de Achumani dormimos todos juntos en un colchón. Se acuerdan chicas? Que enorme era la casa? Y nosotras, unas cunumis patapilas, princesas en un castillo con rejas rojas marcadas con el #800. Me acuerdo de un teléfono que no paraba de sonar. 796649. Se acuerdan de las fiestas en la casa? Familia, amigos, voluntarios… una casa con las puertas abiertas, como los corazones de los que nos criaron. Una casa abierta, con tucanes y conejos y tortugas, nadando en el agua o comiendo lechuga con el tatú en el jardín. Una casa abierta, una cocina impermeada con olores de café, ajo, miel, ají y quirquiña.
Como se mide el amor?
Se mide por el numero de sonrisas, por los sonidos de carcajadas, se mide con abrazos y besos y desayuno en la cama el día de cumpleaños. Se mide con un helado con chocolate todos los domingos. Se mide con flores frescas en el living. Se mide con hermanas que pelean y se jalan de los pelos, pero que se abuenan con sonrisas compartiendo ropa y secretos y copas de vino.
Como se mide el amor? Se mide con música tocando fuerte en el auto, con telefunken y películas debajo de mil frazadas y almohadas. Se mide con momentos, con historias que nacieron de un pozo seco, o un estuche de guitarra cargado de comida. Se mide con aventuras, nadando con tortugas en Hawaii, se mide con vacaciones, comiendo camarón en Salvador do Bahía, tomando caipiriñas y bailando samba en la arena. Se mide con ojos moreteados por cocos en las Bahamas, con piel que absorbe el sol debajo de las poleras que mami nos hacía lucir en el agua. Se mide con locuras y shows de “las comadres” completos con comerciales de “la mostaza más fina”. Se mide con un hermanito para besar y cargar hasta que los brazos se cansen. Se mide con llantos que se convierten en mariposas y sonrisas, se mide con peleas que terminan en abrazos y un “lo siento”. Se mide con salteñas, con un mate de coca para calmar el sorojchi.
Como se mide el amor?
Se mide con sacrificios. Se mide con las locuras de un padre, visionario, gitano y revolucionario. Se mide con las caricias de una madre de porcelana y de fierro. Se mide con un hermano que cuenta muñecas y hermanas, asegurándose de que no falte ninguna.
Hoy cumplo 25 años. En Fiji, Rua sagavulu ka lima.
25 años de vida, que gracias a todos ustedes, mi familia, mi cadena de amor, mi fortaleza y energía, han sido llenados de 25 años de experiencias que no se pueden comprar. “Todo no se compra, todo no se vende, conozco una lista interminable de cosas que son más importantes que la seguridad…” (-tanguito)
Como se mide el amor?
El amor quizas no se mida, quizás es necesario vivirlo, sentirlo entre las venas, y despertar un día, cuando cumplas rua sagavulu ka lima años y te sientas la persona más afortunada del mundo, por haber vivido y compartido y amado de la manera en la que yo lo hice, y continuo haciendo, día tras día.
Mi familia, como los extraño, y quisiera tenerlos cerca el día de hoy, pero me acuerdo de sus sonrisas y el calor de sus abrazos, y cargo sus corazones bien envueltos -como humintas- en mi corazón.

"TO BE AFRAID AND LEAP REGARDLESS...THERE IS SUCH POWER IN THAT."

-Sabrina Ward Harrison

I'm feeling a bit frustrated with this whole job situation.
On one hand, I feel that the work I will be doing here at NCHP provides an avenue to be able to reach the entire country, and that's huge. On the other hand, I feel like I'm back to the 9-5 job back home. I never expeceted my Peace Corps job to include computers, much less available internet. It's not that I'm complaining, its just sometimes i just want to paint murals or work with women on their handicrafts or build a playground, or find an orphanage and start a workshop. I feel like the work i'm doing is not as hands-on as i expected it to be.
I work in Tamavua, a village located about 15-20 bus ride from Suva. The Fiji School of Medicine and the Fiji School of Nursing are both adjacent to my building, as is the stroke rehabilitation center. My counterpart's name is Komai, he is from an island named Gau. People here call him "Ratu" which means chief. I think he might have been a chief in his village. My friend Katie is serving in Gau. She and Tui (her mangey village dog) were just in Suva re-stocking on food and supplies and stayed with us for a few days. She said the villagers eat dog in Gau.
I wonder what dog tastes like. Hopefully they won't eat Tui.
I also work with a Tongan guy, Vilisoni, we call him Sony. He's on attachment from the Ministry of Health in Tonga. He came to NCHP to learn how to use design software. So far, I've made that my priority. I've been teaching him Photoshop and we'll move on to Illustrator and InDesign before he leaves back for Tonga in November. He's a really cool guy, an incredible artist. He's also a tattoo artist, did some work on another volunteer friend of mine, jenny. I'm contemplating on weather or not i want to get a tattoo from him before he leaves. He says when I travel through Tonga I can stay with him and his family. I would love to visit Tonga.
I also work with Tomasi, he's the lead designer at the center. Although he's had formal training on design software, There is still that aesthetic element missing on a lot of his work. I find that I feel awkard when I build my posters because they are so different from all the work he does. So i've been bringing in a bunch of magazines, different examples of more contemporary design ideas... It seems like Tomasi will be harder to get through to... He seems stuck in his ways. But he's a nice guy, he's always blasting music from his computer. He sings to Fijian Gospel at the top of his lungs, or SIngs along to the Lion King Soundtrack. WTF!? It's actually hilarious.
So far I've designed a Mental Health Brochure, a Diabetes Poster and fact card, a logo for "AGLOW" the organization my friend Rob is working with, and 3 posters for Accident and Injury prevention (Road Accidents, Drowning, and Sports Injuries) All of these things, (except for the aglow logo) are still pending. I think my frustration comes from the slow-ness of the process for getting anything done here. Everyone says they'll get back to me for approval on these things, but they never do. So basically everything I've done is still sitting in a pile, not moving forward. It's just frustrating to want to be done with something, but instead i have a million unfinished things, waiting for approval to go to press. I guess it's not that bad, I still come to work everyday and most of the time I just have tea, hang out and chat it up with the staff. I'm really looking forward to my Secondary Project, I can't wait to get my hands on some paint and go out and paint some murals with some suva kids.... more on that later.

Meet Kata. She loves dancing to greatful dead at 3AM,
speaking fijian, and jumping off cliffs into the water.
She enjoys drinking grog and taki'n na bia, and Seinfeld trivia!
She loves and lives passionately.

Meet Ropate. That's Fijian for Robert. We laugh a lot.
He's a crunchy hippie with gnar feet, but he wears FANCY sunglasses.
He goes commando under his tie-dyed sulu, noodle dances like a pro
and I have no idea how his enourmous heart fits in his yogi body.
(you're my boy blue!)

Meet Carrie. (known in Fiji as the girl from china)

She understands my randomness.

Her laughter is contagious. She enjoys iced coffee,
she can knit a beenie on a bus ride from Sigatoka to Suva!
She loves surfing and all things involving the wai tui.

My friend, Tukai's beautiful daughter

Presenting Whale's tooth to President ( This is the highest form of honor & respect)

Foto: Compliments of Katie Lailai

Ladies coming back from Sunday church service... "masu mada"

This is an old picture of Aji's family I found while at my stay in the village...

The girl in the middle with the long black hair looks EXACTLY like my sister Heather.

(Chiki- que haces en la foto! its crazy how much you look like this lady.. I found your clone!)

Why I ever owned a hamster as a child is beyond me...
I HATE rodents. Yes, indeed, I had another encounter last night. Except this time it was a rat. A big, black, hairy, jungle rat. There is an air-con unit in my room, because the previous volunteer that lived in our house was a Peace Corps Princess... or so they say... It's mounted on my wall, above my bed, all bulky and dusty...Anyhow- it was never my intention to use the air-conditioning in the first place, i don't even know how to turn it on.
Here's the story:
I wake up to the sound of chewing. I know that sound, loud and clear, I could recognize that sound anywhere. I think I've been scarred for life since the incident with the Saweni mice. The sound was the same, only a louder, a bigger sound (if that even makes sense). At first i thought it was the bats that chill out by my window, I've become accostumed to their squeeling at night, it kind of sounds like they are giving birth....
So when I realize the sound is coming from inside the house, inside my room, right above my bed, i freak out. I throw the sheets off me and turn on the light. yeah. Sure enough, a thick, black rat tail is curled up agianst the wall, sticking out of that old, dusty air-con machine. The rat is still, paralyzed and silent. I think it was trying to get me to think it wasn't there. But it was there all right, black and hairy and big...there was no way i could ignore that thick black tail... uggghhh. i'm getting squeemish just thinking about it. So i look around my room for something, i don't know what, just something to get the rat out of my room, to leave the same way it came from without falling to my bed or ME for that matter. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed the cockroach killing spray... I sprayed the air-con vent and still the rat didn't budge. I sprayed it some more. Nothing. It was as if the rat was laughing at me. So then i got pissed off and with my fly swatter i banged on the vent until the rat crawled out, balanced itself on the wires that connect the air-con to a hole leading outside. A hole. (No wonder i was still getting bit my mosquitoes, even after PWD put mosquito screens on our windows.) So i grabbed duct tape and taped up the hole. That didn't work. As soon as i was falling back asleep, i heard the rat come back. Or maybe i was dreaming it? i didn't care. I tucked my matress in the mosquito net above my bed and hoped to god the rat wouldnt fall on it, using it as a safety net. Why it even enjoys chewing on the wires inside the air con vent? I don't know. But I do know, that if the air-con worked before, it sure as hell doesn't anymore.

One of my closest friends from PST (Pre-Service Training) left about two weeks ago. We call him Toad. His name is Todd, and is absolutely one of the kindest people I've ever met. It's just hit me, how much I miss him, How much I miss getting a random text message from him, or a phone call or a a hug.
I remember first meeting him in LA, at orientation at the Renaissance Hotel. We got stuck doing this stpudid ice-breaker excercise together. I remember introducing myself, extending my hand to shake his... And Toad, sweet as he is, said, "I'm a hugger". And that was it, I knew we would be friends.
Toad had it rough from the very beginning. He asked for the chicken meal on Air New Zealand. It was pink, so he didn't eat it, he drank wine instead. And then, when we got to our host families, he got bed bugs. Itchy and swollen and miserable as it was, Toad kept truckin' on through. Giving out hugs and love... It's crazy, but in the short amount of time we had here, we became good friends. We saw each other through good times through not so good times, through really bad no good times at all... We cried and laughed and danced and sat on the beach or at Aji's house drinking grog, me and Toad and Ropate, my boys... and we made a pact that if we ever decided to leave we wouldn't do so without talking to each other first. (that seems like ages ago)
And then he constantly kept getting sick. I could see him losing pounds (or in this case, kilos) every week. I could see him struggling without his girlfriend, who he left back home. I could see him really struggling to keep things together and stay. Even after site visit, even after swearing in.... I remember him calling me in a panic... crying over the phone and not knowing what to do. I knew then, i was losing toad. When it came down to it though, some things are just not worth it, some things just don't feel right, and some things are just too big to give up and risk losing. I even played devils advocate a lot with him and tried to convince him to stay... Toad's heart was just in a different place. So while I lost Toad's presence here in Fiji, I've gained the support of a true friend. It was hard to see him E.T. (Early Terminate) but in the long run I know he's done the right thing for himself.
If you are reading this Toad man: I miss you, we all miss you... Your absence is greatly felt . And i can't believe you didnt leave me your Charlie Brown T-shirt. What's up with that!?

The Following photos were taken by Katie "Kata" Ogden,
one of the members of my bomb-ass PST group: The Saweni Cinco

Saweni Sunset

Fiji Gold

Austin Powers left his car in Fiji!

Drinking Grog at Indian Wedding, Saweni

HIV / AIDS Awareness Sabeto Secondary School