So, me and Matt are still in town and I feel like posting again. This post is a bit early but it is primarily for new volunteers to be. It will be about items that I am glad I brought with me and/or would suggest to bring. This will apply to about 5 people (more precisely girls) whom I haven't even met yet and don't even know they will be in Fiji next year, but here goes...
1. Clothes that you feel comfortable and like yourself! As long as the shirts aren't super tight, way low cut or completely sleeveless and the skirts are below the knee, you are fine.
2. Skirts that you can comfortably sit on the ground and cover your knees/entire legs. Try it at home first!
3. Good tennis shoes and sandals/flip flops that can get wet.
4. Computer and plenty of shows/movies that can keep you entertained, as it gets dark between 6-8pm here (and many places don't have electricity).
5. A sturdy mid-sized purse.
6. A head lamp and/or solar flashlight. As mentioned, many sites (rural) don't have electricity.
7. A good cooking pot/frying pan. It should be one that you can use and abuse while in Fiji and then leave behind when you go home.
8. Knifes (2-3) and cutting board(s). I have a set of flexible plastic cutting boards from home that I am so glad I brought!
9. Spices! You can make pretty much anything as long as you bring with spices. Bring Italian, vegetable seasonings, meat seasonings (which you probably won't have much meat but can use for other things), black peppper, taco seasoning, chicken or beef boullion, grill seasons, etc... Don't worry about Indian or curry- there is plenty of that here.
10. Dish washing sponges. Sounds stupid but the sponges here suck and I would bring about 6 with you.
11. An umbrella. I use mine almost everyday for rain or sun protection.
12. A digital camera.
13. A hard drive for your computer. Again, you will use that computer a lot for entertainment but will also need it for work purposes. Save your work and your entertainment!
14. A small amount of 'office supplies,' such as pens, notebooks, two pocket folders, markers, scissors, tape (duct and scotch), stapler/staples, paperclips, rubberbands, etc. These things can be tough to find here and you may need them for your projects but find yourself living in the middle of nowhere.
15. Some (just a couple) clothes/jewelry/make-up that you can where to 'go out.' You will be in Suva, resorts and other places where you may want to look like you normally would back home.
16. A sweatshirt. You will likely get chilly at night here occassionally.
17. Plastic bags (small and gallon sized). Maybe too much information, but in the village some things, such as underware, need to be kept in plastic bags, so that the ants don't eat them.
18. Sports bras. These are much more comfortable than regular bras in a crazy hot environment.
19. Pictures of family and friends (maybe even some in frames, cuz pictures do mold here).
20. Certain bathroom items, such as contact solution, eye drops, toothbrushes, dental floss, deodarant, razors, shaving cream, tampons/mini pads (if you don't want to use cardboard applicators and maxi pads supplied by Peace Corps), facewash, lotions, and shampoo/conditioner for fine hair. Most of these items you could buy here but they would be expensive and hard to come by. If you have room and extra weight, I would bring them if you are at all particular about this type of thing.
21. A set of sheets. Only if you are willing to pay about $80 for a set of sheets can you get any of decent quality here.
22. Misc: a sturdy water bottle, water proof watch, travel size sewing kit, sunglasses and/or hat (whichever you would normally wear in America)
Things not to bring...
1. Peanut butter- there's plenty here!
2. A lot of sunscreen or bug spray. Peace Corps can give you that.
3. Tons of books. Bring a few but then swap with other Volunteers and the library at the Peace Corps office in Suva.
4. Excessive amounts of nice clothes. If you end up in a village most of your stuff will be ruined anyways.
5. Tons of kitchen stuff. You can buy most of it here (but bring the couple things I suggested above).
6. Food stuff- there's plenty here that you will figure out stuff you like!!!
7. Your cellphone. Unless you are really attached and want to try to have yours unlocked when you get here, just buy one in country.
8. Cleaning or gardening supplies or tools. We bought all of ours in country and it wasn't too hard to find them or afford them with our Peace Corps money. This includes laudry soap- buy it here!
9. Medications- over the counter or prescription- or first aid kit. Peace Corps will supply these things, so just bring what you need for the first few weeks. Also, Peace Corps DOES SUPPLY BIRTH CONTROL PILLS TO ANY FEMALE VOLUNTEER. Sorry to put that so bluntly but some future volunteers may be curious.
Stuff you may consider bringing...
1. A tent and sleeping bag/sleeping pad. There are suprisingly quite a few Peace Corps gatherings where you may want it.
2. Some cards, small games, crossword puzzles/brain games or craft items. There is plenty of spare time in the village and villagers will also get a kick of it!
3. A world map... and maybe a USA map, too.
4. A little chocolate- it's expensive here!
5. Exercise bands (I brought a mat, too, but it wasn't that necessary for me...)
6. Coffee and tea, if you are particular about the type you drink.
7. MP3 player. Matt listens to his all the time, though I could care less...
8. A decoration or two that will remind you of home/those you love.
Okay, I hope this list is helpful to anyone coming to live in this beautiful country. That was kind of fun! :)
Alyssa
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Savusavu Kind of Day...
Hello all,
Matt and I have (nearly) survived December in the village. Other Peace Corps Volunteers warned us that it would be a long month in which not much work gets accomplished. The reason for this is the same as in America- everybody is celebrating the holidays (native Fijians are mostly Christian), traveling, visiting family and relaxing. Of course, the Fiji version of relaxing and enjoying the holidays is different. The adults like to drink yagona (aka grog), the young adults and teens play volleyball and the kids just run around outside. Also, Fiji is different in that it is summer here. Lately, the temperature has been about 90 degrees, high humidity, very hot sun and little breeze (I am guessing about the temperature because there is no thermometer or weather man). Usually, though, it rains pretty heavy for a little while in the afternoon and that cools things down a bit.
For our Christmas, Matt and I had some of our American traditions. I made bruschetta, roti w/chicken (well, not totally American!) and brownies. We also hung up some Christmas lights from my mom and listened to an audio version of 'The Night Before Christmas', as read by the Wolf gang. We had a few presents to open, played cards and watched a movie. I enjoyed it and I think Matt did, too.
New Years is coming up in the few days and Fiji also has their own traditions for this holiday. I'm not sure how it all got started but on January 1, Fijians throw water on each other all day in good fun. When you get the water thrown on you it's called 'veisui', which means something along the lines of to be wet.
So, that's what the holiday season looks like here. There have also been two funerals in our village this month, so that has also slowed everything down. For the funerals, large sheds were put up for cooking, preparing food, eating and sitting. When people grow old in Fiji, they prepare for their funeral by owning cows and pigs which will be used at the meal(s) surrounding the funeral. The funeral is much like one from America but different in that a group of older women will sit awake with the body the night before the funeral, guests don't give money- they give dalo, mats and pigs, and the body is buried in the casket immediately after the funeral by some young men from the village.
I am enjoying my time here in Fiji and I find that one of the most enjoyable, yet most challenging things is always being caught between two cultures. When I stay in the village, I need to modify the way I act, dress and express myself in order to connect with the people who live there. I also need to try my best to speak in Fijian (both with the spoken language and with non-verbal communication, as well) and look at my work success from the perspective of a rural site in a developing nation. I get a kick out of doing these things but sometimes I miss the comforts and familiarity of home and of the ways in which Americans act. Strangely, though, when I talk with my family from the states, I find that I need to go back to acting American and use expressions and have conversations that make sense in an American context. It's odd because I do truly feel like I am somewhere in the middle of the two cultures and just want to find acceptance and a niche in both.
Today Matt and I are in town for a little time away and to ourselves. Matt already headed back for the hotel but I wanted to put up a post. I best be going because I am supposed to meet him in five minutes in front of the grocery store called MH.
All my love,
Alyssa
Matt and I have (nearly) survived December in the village. Other Peace Corps Volunteers warned us that it would be a long month in which not much work gets accomplished. The reason for this is the same as in America- everybody is celebrating the holidays (native Fijians are mostly Christian), traveling, visiting family and relaxing. Of course, the Fiji version of relaxing and enjoying the holidays is different. The adults like to drink yagona (aka grog), the young adults and teens play volleyball and the kids just run around outside. Also, Fiji is different in that it is summer here. Lately, the temperature has been about 90 degrees, high humidity, very hot sun and little breeze (I am guessing about the temperature because there is no thermometer or weather man). Usually, though, it rains pretty heavy for a little while in the afternoon and that cools things down a bit.
For our Christmas, Matt and I had some of our American traditions. I made bruschetta, roti w/chicken (well, not totally American!) and brownies. We also hung up some Christmas lights from my mom and listened to an audio version of 'The Night Before Christmas', as read by the Wolf gang. We had a few presents to open, played cards and watched a movie. I enjoyed it and I think Matt did, too.
New Years is coming up in the few days and Fiji also has their own traditions for this holiday. I'm not sure how it all got started but on January 1, Fijians throw water on each other all day in good fun. When you get the water thrown on you it's called 'veisui', which means something along the lines of to be wet.
So, that's what the holiday season looks like here. There have also been two funerals in our village this month, so that has also slowed everything down. For the funerals, large sheds were put up for cooking, preparing food, eating and sitting. When people grow old in Fiji, they prepare for their funeral by owning cows and pigs which will be used at the meal(s) surrounding the funeral. The funeral is much like one from America but different in that a group of older women will sit awake with the body the night before the funeral, guests don't give money- they give dalo, mats and pigs, and the body is buried in the casket immediately after the funeral by some young men from the village.
I am enjoying my time here in Fiji and I find that one of the most enjoyable, yet most challenging things is always being caught between two cultures. When I stay in the village, I need to modify the way I act, dress and express myself in order to connect with the people who live there. I also need to try my best to speak in Fijian (both with the spoken language and with non-verbal communication, as well) and look at my work success from the perspective of a rural site in a developing nation. I get a kick out of doing these things but sometimes I miss the comforts and familiarity of home and of the ways in which Americans act. Strangely, though, when I talk with my family from the states, I find that I need to go back to acting American and use expressions and have conversations that make sense in an American context. It's odd because I do truly feel like I am somewhere in the middle of the two cultures and just want to find acceptance and a niche in both.
Today Matt and I are in town for a little time away and to ourselves. Matt already headed back for the hotel but I wanted to put up a post. I best be going because I am supposed to meet him in five minutes in front of the grocery store called MH.
All my love,
Alyssa
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Pictures Part Deux!
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| Our house at night, with kerosene lamp in the center of the floor |
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| Our new defender against rats, thanks to Jason and Angel. He magical puts the rats to sleep and then hangs them from his leg, its quite effective. |
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| Thanksgiving with all of the Northern volunteers right before we are about to eat. |
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| Alyssa talitali tiko or weaving a Fijian mat, which now is finished in our bedroom. |
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| Me burying the kids with some help from Jo, as we transported sand for the Community hall construction site. |
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| The very beginning of the construction phase. We were bending rebar for the columns in the community hall. |
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| The women playing volleyball at "Fruit and Water Fun Day". I got to be a refree and offical score keeper. The event was Alyssa's idea and was planned by the local health staff. |
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| The Fruit! A key part of fruit and water fun day. |
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| Alyssa leading the ladies in a prewalk warm-up |
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| Alyssa with the Doctor and the two Nurses from the Health Center displaying the food. |
Monday, December 6, 2010
No Pics Again...
Bula!
I always have great intentions of putting up photos, but alas I have failed again! I have a hard time remembering to bring the camera to town and then I hate waiting for them to download...
Anyways, news from home has reached us that a certain Mr. and Mrs. Goldade will be having a baby in June! Grand-baby number one on that side of the family. That timing will work out quite nicely with our other handsome little nephew's first birthday! (Well, Matthew and Maggie may have a girl, then we'd have a niece and nephew.) The plan right now is to come home early June for about 2-3 weeks. Maybe plans will shift a bit if any other big events come up but it shouldn't change too much.
The holiday season is kicking off over here in Fiji, too. A group of about 20 Peace Corps volunteers gathered for Thanksgiving and stayed together in two rented houses at a resort. Me and Matt brought brownies (made in a stove top oven), homemade carmel and BBQ sauce, glazed carrots and ice cream. It rained most of the time, so the ice cream wasn't as needed as I thought it would be!
Matt has been busy helping to build the new community hall/evacuation center in the village. Maybe when it's finished the women and I can have aerobics classes in there?!
We're both still having a lot of fun with the kids. Matt buried a few of them in the sand yesterday while he was working on the hall and I get a kick out of the little girls sharing their one pair of (way too big) high heels. We gave them cookies last week for helping to pick up trash in the village and taught them the song "Hole in the Bottom of the Lake" for their school concert. Coming up we are planning a little Christmas party.
As for friends, Matt has a good friend named Manasa who he hangs out with and does a lot of work with, too. Manasa has three kids and laughs like a crazy person all the time! I have a friend named Vika who taught me how to weave a Fijian mat and I shared my American word find puzzles with her.
We're still doing a lot of vegetarian cooking. Matt finally is starting to like my pumpkin curry- heck yes!
Enough rambling from me. Hope you enjoyed this little snap shot of Fiji life. Keep us informed on yours- our lives are far less exciting than would be imagined! :)
Much love,
Alyssa
I always have great intentions of putting up photos, but alas I have failed again! I have a hard time remembering to bring the camera to town and then I hate waiting for them to download...
Anyways, news from home has reached us that a certain Mr. and Mrs. Goldade will be having a baby in June! Grand-baby number one on that side of the family. That timing will work out quite nicely with our other handsome little nephew's first birthday! (Well, Matthew and Maggie may have a girl, then we'd have a niece and nephew.) The plan right now is to come home early June for about 2-3 weeks. Maybe plans will shift a bit if any other big events come up but it shouldn't change too much.
The holiday season is kicking off over here in Fiji, too. A group of about 20 Peace Corps volunteers gathered for Thanksgiving and stayed together in two rented houses at a resort. Me and Matt brought brownies (made in a stove top oven), homemade carmel and BBQ sauce, glazed carrots and ice cream. It rained most of the time, so the ice cream wasn't as needed as I thought it would be!
Matt has been busy helping to build the new community hall/evacuation center in the village. Maybe when it's finished the women and I can have aerobics classes in there?!
We're both still having a lot of fun with the kids. Matt buried a few of them in the sand yesterday while he was working on the hall and I get a kick out of the little girls sharing their one pair of (way too big) high heels. We gave them cookies last week for helping to pick up trash in the village and taught them the song "Hole in the Bottom of the Lake" for their school concert. Coming up we are planning a little Christmas party.
As for friends, Matt has a good friend named Manasa who he hangs out with and does a lot of work with, too. Manasa has three kids and laughs like a crazy person all the time! I have a friend named Vika who taught me how to weave a Fijian mat and I shared my American word find puzzles with her.
We're still doing a lot of vegetarian cooking. Matt finally is starting to like my pumpkin curry- heck yes!
Enough rambling from me. Hope you enjoyed this little snap shot of Fiji life. Keep us informed on yours- our lives are far less exciting than would be imagined! :)
Much love,
Alyssa
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Last post continued...
Hey hey all,
Matt wrote last time and now it's my turn. Since he never got around to what we've been up to, let me summarize:
Matt- working with a youth (30 years old guy) from our village to put together a proposal for a fish/prawn farm to generate income (which is harder said than done), Natuvu Kids Club founder/leader, helping to harvest sea cucumber, working in our garden, waste management stuff and Fiji 'guy' stuff- drinking grog, spear fishing, playing rugby.
Me- working with the local health center on a healthy lunch competition and a strategic health and wellness plan for next year, Natuvu Kids Club leader, letter exchange between the school and Becky's school and Fiji 'girl' stuff- weaving a mat, cooking, hand washing clothes, visiting with the ladies.
Other stuff going on: Thanksgiving with the entire Vanua Levu crew (about 17 volunteers) is this week and my friend, Kara (another volunteer) is visiting from Viti Levu and is staying over at our house tonight.
Lately, me and Matt have gotten a bunch of care packages- THANK YOU!!!! It is so nice having stuff from home: candy, shampoo/condition, movies, pictures, books, decorations, etc... There are just some things that you can't buy over here or they are not nearly as good of quality.
That's enough from me. Hopefully next time we can put up a few pictures. Write us/call us- we miss everyone! Also, we'll try our best not to be punks and do the same for you!
Love,
Alyssa aka Liss
Matt wrote last time and now it's my turn. Since he never got around to what we've been up to, let me summarize:
Matt- working with a youth (30 years old guy) from our village to put together a proposal for a fish/prawn farm to generate income (which is harder said than done), Natuvu Kids Club founder/leader, helping to harvest sea cucumber, working in our garden, waste management stuff and Fiji 'guy' stuff- drinking grog, spear fishing, playing rugby.
Me- working with the local health center on a healthy lunch competition and a strategic health and wellness plan for next year, Natuvu Kids Club leader, letter exchange between the school and Becky's school and Fiji 'girl' stuff- weaving a mat, cooking, hand washing clothes, visiting with the ladies.
Other stuff going on: Thanksgiving with the entire Vanua Levu crew (about 17 volunteers) is this week and my friend, Kara (another volunteer) is visiting from Viti Levu and is staying over at our house tonight.
Lately, me and Matt have gotten a bunch of care packages- THANK YOU!!!! It is so nice having stuff from home: candy, shampoo/condition, movies, pictures, books, decorations, etc... There are just some things that you can't buy over here or they are not nearly as good of quality.
That's enough from me. Hopefully next time we can put up a few pictures. Write us/call us- we miss everyone! Also, we'll try our best not to be punks and do the same for you!
Love,
Alyssa aka Liss
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
The HOT HOT SUN!
Bula Re noqu itau,
I hope that everyone is well. Alyssa and I are in the city of Labasa from the Nov 1st - 5th and it is incredibly hot here. I can't really tell how hot because I am to use to reading everything in Fahrenheit and this Celsius stuff still throws me for a loop. If I had to guess it is between 90 and 95 on most days and if you ask around people will still say the hot season has still not officially arrived. I tend to disagree with them but it is usually as I am drenched in sweat so I don't really count.
People are probably wondering and asking what exactly we are doing here, well let me tell you! First though as am sitting here in this computer cafe in Labasa it is funny to me that they are playing the same English pop/rap songs over and over again, which is common procedure here in Fiji, but here the songs contain a clip played every 30 seconds that say over the song "DJ STOLEN!". That is also common procedure in fact making a living off stealing English movie, tv shows, and music and then selling them in stores is common place. Whole entire stores are dedicated to it, in fact the movie "The Town" is already out "on dvd", I met have to check it out.
Back to the orginal point what exactly are in doing in our village in Natuvu. Well secondly let me just take a minute to let out some of my frustrations about living in Fiji, more so then just crappy stolen dvds. As I have mentioned before trash management is a large issue here in Fiji and on top of that water management. I have grown to realize how lucky I was and how in the dark I lived when it came these topics. I mean I told myself how environmentally friendly I was and I always tried to do things to help. Now living here however I actually realize what happens to my trash or I should say what doesn't happen to my trash. It is common place to walk around in a city like Labasa see large piles of garbage on the side of the street, bottles floating in the river, and see people throwing large bags of trash out the bus window. As far as water well in America I have no idea where my water source or let me correct that it was my tap in the house. Now I have actually have literally walked in the water source that goes directly to the water tank that then goes to our pipes that then comes out our tap and when it does it has a light shade of green to it. That is because there is a small amount of algae growing in it or at least I am pretty sure. If it doesn't rain well our water source runs out and we have no water, which luckily only happens in droughts. Anyways we filter our water so we are safe, in fact it actually tastes quite good out of the filter.
Ok finally what are we doing here, wait I am almost out of time on the computer. I will save that for next time. Bon Voyage!
I hope that everyone is well. Alyssa and I are in the city of Labasa from the Nov 1st - 5th and it is incredibly hot here. I can't really tell how hot because I am to use to reading everything in Fahrenheit and this Celsius stuff still throws me for a loop. If I had to guess it is between 90 and 95 on most days and if you ask around people will still say the hot season has still not officially arrived. I tend to disagree with them but it is usually as I am drenched in sweat so I don't really count.
People are probably wondering and asking what exactly we are doing here, well let me tell you! First though as am sitting here in this computer cafe in Labasa it is funny to me that they are playing the same English pop/rap songs over and over again, which is common procedure here in Fiji, but here the songs contain a clip played every 30 seconds that say over the song "DJ STOLEN!". That is also common procedure in fact making a living off stealing English movie, tv shows, and music and then selling them in stores is common place. Whole entire stores are dedicated to it, in fact the movie "The Town" is already out "on dvd", I met have to check it out.
Back to the orginal point what exactly are in doing in our village in Natuvu. Well secondly let me just take a minute to let out some of my frustrations about living in Fiji, more so then just crappy stolen dvds. As I have mentioned before trash management is a large issue here in Fiji and on top of that water management. I have grown to realize how lucky I was and how in the dark I lived when it came these topics. I mean I told myself how environmentally friendly I was and I always tried to do things to help. Now living here however I actually realize what happens to my trash or I should say what doesn't happen to my trash. It is common place to walk around in a city like Labasa see large piles of garbage on the side of the street, bottles floating in the river, and see people throwing large bags of trash out the bus window. As far as water well in America I have no idea where my water source or let me correct that it was my tap in the house. Now I have actually have literally walked in the water source that goes directly to the water tank that then goes to our pipes that then comes out our tap and when it does it has a light shade of green to it. That is because there is a small amount of algae growing in it or at least I am pretty sure. If it doesn't rain well our water source runs out and we have no water, which luckily only happens in droughts. Anyways we filter our water so we are safe, in fact it actually tastes quite good out of the filter.
Ok finally what are we doing here, wait I am almost out of time on the computer. I will save that for next time. Bon Voyage!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Suva City
Greetings from the big hopin' city of Suva!
Matt and I have been on the main island, Viti Levu, for the past 9 days for 'Early Service Training' (EST). To get here, we took a small plane that could hold about 20 passangers over the Pacific Ocean. After narrowly escaping death, me using the 'sick bag' two times, a last minute layover in Nadi and a few sweltering hot bus/taxi rides, we arrived at a nice hotel to spend the night in Suva. Since it was Matt's b-day (29 candles), we went to a nice bar/restaurant for dinner and watched two movies at the theatre. 'Hot Tub Time Machine' is not as terrible as I thought it would be...
The next day, both of us took the bus to Nadave (a technical training center for young Fijian males) and started the actual trainings. We stayed in Nadave five days and it was splendid hanging out with all the other Volunteers we haven't seen in nearly three months and consuming tasty 'teas.'
After the time in Nadave, the two of us went to hang out with the majority of the other Volunteers at a beach resort/getaway in an area called Pacific Harbor. We all stayed in the dorms and it only cost about $18 per day US and that included a bed, buffet breakfast and a lovely pool/oceanview. Matt ended up going on a "Hash" with a bunch of people from New Zealand. They went on a long hike and then came back and had unlimited pizza, beer and other food/drinks for $12 Fijian. All that's wrapped up and I'm back in Suva and am in the Peace Corps office.
Other than training, Matt and I have been up to the usual in the village... I cook about 2 meals per day on the gas burner stove, walk up to the health center to talk with the nurses about future health workshops to do in the area, scrub laundry, try to run on the terrible gravel road, play with my dope of a cat, try pitifully to speak in Fijian with the women and younger girls... Matt goes out to the garden and tries to keep it going with all the land crabs eating the stuff, he plays rugy with the young guys, goofs off with the kids, meets with the young males about projects that could generate money for the village, chokes down grog a couple nights a week... Together we like to watch movies or shows on the computer after it gets dark at about 6 pm.
Some interesting facts about Fiji:
-To say 'yes' non-verbally, simply raise your eyebrows in a much exaggerated manner.
-In the village, people eat fish, coconut milk, bele (a leafy green) and dalo or cassava (a starchy root crop) three meals a day and that is about 90% of their diet.
-At the nice department store here one can purchase Revlon make-up... It only costs $40 for a tube of mascara or one small eyeshadow. Nail polish is $20 and foundation is $55. I gave myself a nice little makeover with the 'samplers' and left the rest for another customer.
-Justin Bieber is on the radio every other song and blasts through the speakers on the 30 year old buses.
That's all for now. Matt will probably write the next entry and it will be a bit more crazy but this will suffice.
Much love to you all,
Alyssa
PS- Mom and Becky, we didn't really almost die on the plane.
Matt and I have been on the main island, Viti Levu, for the past 9 days for 'Early Service Training' (EST). To get here, we took a small plane that could hold about 20 passangers over the Pacific Ocean. After narrowly escaping death, me using the 'sick bag' two times, a last minute layover in Nadi and a few sweltering hot bus/taxi rides, we arrived at a nice hotel to spend the night in Suva. Since it was Matt's b-day (29 candles), we went to a nice bar/restaurant for dinner and watched two movies at the theatre. 'Hot Tub Time Machine' is not as terrible as I thought it would be...
The next day, both of us took the bus to Nadave (a technical training center for young Fijian males) and started the actual trainings. We stayed in Nadave five days and it was splendid hanging out with all the other Volunteers we haven't seen in nearly three months and consuming tasty 'teas.'
After the time in Nadave, the two of us went to hang out with the majority of the other Volunteers at a beach resort/getaway in an area called Pacific Harbor. We all stayed in the dorms and it only cost about $18 per day US and that included a bed, buffet breakfast and a lovely pool/oceanview. Matt ended up going on a "Hash" with a bunch of people from New Zealand. They went on a long hike and then came back and had unlimited pizza, beer and other food/drinks for $12 Fijian. All that's wrapped up and I'm back in Suva and am in the Peace Corps office.
Other than training, Matt and I have been up to the usual in the village... I cook about 2 meals per day on the gas burner stove, walk up to the health center to talk with the nurses about future health workshops to do in the area, scrub laundry, try to run on the terrible gravel road, play with my dope of a cat, try pitifully to speak in Fijian with the women and younger girls... Matt goes out to the garden and tries to keep it going with all the land crabs eating the stuff, he plays rugy with the young guys, goofs off with the kids, meets with the young males about projects that could generate money for the village, chokes down grog a couple nights a week... Together we like to watch movies or shows on the computer after it gets dark at about 6 pm.
Some interesting facts about Fiji:
-To say 'yes' non-verbally, simply raise your eyebrows in a much exaggerated manner.
-In the village, people eat fish, coconut milk, bele (a leafy green) and dalo or cassava (a starchy root crop) three meals a day and that is about 90% of their diet.
-At the nice department store here one can purchase Revlon make-up... It only costs $40 for a tube of mascara or one small eyeshadow. Nail polish is $20 and foundation is $55. I gave myself a nice little makeover with the 'samplers' and left the rest for another customer.
-Justin Bieber is on the radio every other song and blasts through the speakers on the 30 year old buses.
That's all for now. Matt will probably write the next entry and it will be a bit more crazy but this will suffice.
Much love to you all,
Alyssa
PS- Mom and Becky, we didn't really almost die on the plane.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Quick and Painful
Ok well I know I have not done the best job of keeping this blog update or posting regularly. I am going to keep this post short and just post a bunch of pictures. Alyssa and I have now been in our site for a little over two months. Things are going pretty well the only complaint we have are rats. They chew through everything and they constantly pester us at night by hanging out in our rafters, so we got a cat to try and help with out the problem.
Other then that things are going pretty well here, Alyssa and I just spent the last few days in the wonderful city of Labasa in the north of Vanua Levu (wonderful is an exaggeration, it actually is a very dirty city) with a lot of other Peace Corps Volunteers so it was fun. I found out that there is a bar here in Savusavu that plays ESPN so I get to watch any game on that channel. I am pretty excited for Friday when the Saints and Vikes play I will be glued to the television set.
Other then that things are going pretty well here, Alyssa and I just spent the last few days in the wonderful city of Labasa in the north of Vanua Levu (wonderful is an exaggeration, it actually is a very dirty city) with a lot of other Peace Corps Volunteers so it was fun. I found out that there is a bar here in Savusavu that plays ESPN so I get to watch any game on that channel. I am pretty excited for Friday when the Saints and Vikes play I will be glued to the television set.
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| Our host 'Na' and 'Ta'. |
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| Our host siblings- Joji, Lamiva and Tuiki. |
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| Matt and Ta having a 'Fiji Gold'. |
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| The Peace Corps group from our training village of Nukutubu. Alyssa has 80's hair going on. |
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| Alyssa with our host sister, Tavita. |
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| Alyssa and Marie at the Swearing In Ceremony in July. |
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| Alyssa and Greta at the Swearing In Ceremony. |
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| Matt and Milo the first night we got her. |
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| Matt with some of the men at a soli (fundraiser). The man on his immediate right is the chief of our village, Natuvu. |
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| The ladies preparing lunch. |
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| The guys sitting around drinking yagona (grog). |
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| People sitting under a traditional Fijian 'shed' (open aired but has a roof made of tin). |
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| Matt getting ready for his 'meke' (dance) with Alyssa's initial community partner (the village health worker). |
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| Alyssa and Milo. Alyssa in her 'married lady' sulu jaba outfit. |
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| Matt doing his meke. The fabric being tied around is a sign that he is doing a good job. |
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| Matt and the Turaga ni Koro (basically the village mayor). |
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| Our house and the bathroom/shower on the right. |
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| The view from our house. |
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| The village shed and church, which our directly outside our front door. |
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| Milo after she got spade. |
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| Dalo (the root crop) with octopus in lolo (coconut milk). Surprisingly much better than it looks! |
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
It's been such a long time...
Well we have neglected our blog for so very long and so much has happened since our last post that I don't want to post everything, but I will anyway.
First off let me give a long over due congratulations to my good friends Jason and Angel Skluzacek (Yes spellcheck that is how you spell their last name) on their new baby boy. Well it is not that new anymore I guess he was born July 2nd, I am just that late in posting. His name is Liam Kenneth Skluzacek (Damn you spellcheck). I heard he has his mother's good looks and his mother's brains (just kidding Jason your good looking too!).
O.k. on to the boring stuff I can't really remember where I left off but during training we had something called a Connect Conference which gave us the opportunity to get to meet Government organizations and Non-Government organizations alike as well as get to know the FRE-7 volunteers. The FRE-7's are the group of volunteers that have been in country for a year and will be leaving in the summer of 2011. The highlight of the conference was our lodging which was quite beautiful. It is amazing to see that a country as impoverished as Fiji can have small pockets with so much money. It was at this conference we learned our sites and where we would all be headed. They had a huge map of Fiji and they put our pictures next our village we would be staying at:
Savusavu, Vanua Levu
Fiji
Bye for now!!!
Alyssa
First off let me give a long over due congratulations to my good friends Jason and Angel Skluzacek (Yes spellcheck that is how you spell their last name) on their new baby boy. Well it is not that new anymore I guess he was born July 2nd, I am just that late in posting. His name is Liam Kenneth Skluzacek (Damn you spellcheck). I heard he has his mother's good looks and his mother's brains (just kidding Jason your good looking too!).
O.k. on to the boring stuff I can't really remember where I left off but during training we had something called a Connect Conference which gave us the opportunity to get to meet Government organizations and Non-Government organizations alike as well as get to know the FRE-7 volunteers. The FRE-7's are the group of volunteers that have been in country for a year and will be leaving in the summer of 2011. The highlight of the conference was our lodging which was quite beautiful. It is amazing to see that a country as impoverished as Fiji can have small pockets with so much money. It was at this conference we learned our sites and where we would all be headed. They had a huge map of Fiji and they put our pictures next our village we would be staying at:
A very blurry picture of our hotel for the Connect Conference
Site announcements
From their Alyssa and I ran in a 10k on the last day of the conference to promote health put on by the Peace Corps staff. Why you might ask, well because I didn't my knees have suffered enough from my years of overeating and playing high contact sports. Fortunately I managed to make it through and almost managed to keep up with Alyssa the whole way (unfortunately no pictures to document the accomplishment).
About two weeks after the conference we completed our training and had our swearing in ceremony. All our host families were invited and it was there we officially went from Peace Corps Trainees to Peace Corps Volunteers. This is also where we said goodbye to our host families we had been staying with in our villages and began preparation for our departure to our permanent sites for the next two years.
Setting the floor for our goodbye supper in our host village of Nukutubu
Me with Yoni and Billy at our goodbye gathering
All of the Peace Corps volunteers who were staying at Nukutubu about to leave for the final time
All right well I have a lot more things to talk about but I have run out of time for the day. Everyone will just have to wait eagerly or not so eagerly for me to post again. I promise it will be much sooner than my previous time. One last parting note, a group of volunteers decided to have a mustache contest over the last two weeks or so of training. I decided to go with a handlebar mustache so without any further ado here it is in all its glory
I know its hard to see but you probably didn't want to see it anyway (it was scary....beautiful!)
A few words from Alyssa...
Matt summed it up pretty well. The other things I want to report:
- We now have a sink in our house (very exciting- there was no indoor running water before) and a garden with a hole bunch of American vegetables planted.
- There's no refrigeration at our site but I like cooking all the vegetarian foods. Matt kind of hates it.
- Our bus trip to town takes two hours each way, so trips to town will only happen about once per week (and internet access, too)
- I'm trying to learn Fijian and the new dialect where we are but it's very tough!
- We now have an address:
Savusavu, Vanua Levu
Fiji
Bye for now!!!
Alyssa
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
A Skirt?
Ok first off I am not wearing a skirt, it is a sulu or a sulu vakataga to be exact and damn do I make that look good. Ok, maybe I don't unfortunately. Secondly that is a picture of our new nephew, Reece Afatika, looks remarkably like his father. I can't answer your questions Kayla because I am not quite sure on the weight and height or really anything else right now.
I broke out the drumsticks that I brought along and had some fun with some of the kids in our house. I have alot more to say but I don't have the time, OH! We got our site announcements we will be going to Natuvu Village in Vanua Levu about an hour and half west of Savusavu city. We will not have electricity and water is going to have to be boiled and filtered in order to drink but we have excellent cell phone coverage in our village. No word on how to charge the cell phone, but this kind of sums up how Fiji works sometimes.
I hope everyone is doing well have a good one, Matt.
We are all drummers at heart
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Pictures! (Hopefully)
Greetings from Nausori, Fiji! I (Alyssa) am finally taking a turn writing in our blog.
First, the most exciting news- Kaity had the baby on June 9! His name is Reese Chemway Afatika (I may have spelled his first or middle name wrong- I haven't seen it written anywhere). We haven't seen any photos yet but have been told he looks just like Ernest. :)
Matt and I are about to head off to see a dance that some of the other Peace Corps volunteers are performing. Below are some photos that we have taken thus far. We'll try to start taking more- it's just been very busy and overwhelming (Matt doesn't stress as easily as me, so he may disagree on this point) thus far.
I am off- much love to our family and friends. :)
Alyssa
First, the most exciting news- Kaity had the baby on June 9! His name is Reese Chemway Afatika (I may have spelled his first or middle name wrong- I haven't seen it written anywhere). We haven't seen any photos yet but have been told he looks just like Ernest. :)
Matt and I are about to head off to see a dance that some of the other Peace Corps volunteers are performing. Below are some photos that we have taken thus far. We'll try to start taking more- it's just been very busy and overwhelming (Matt doesn't stress as easily as me, so he may disagree on this point) thus far.
I am off- much love to our family and friends. :)
Alyssa
The bure we stayed if for the first 4 days we were in Fiji, it was quite nice
The view from behind our bure
Our host Mom(Na) setting up the table for one of many good meals she prepared for us, just so everyone knows in Fiji you usually sit on the floor to eat.
Alyssa and I with our host Brother-in-law (Anania) and Sister (Tavita) before the Town Soli (otherwise know as a festival in the States). As you can see our host mom made us all matching outfits and yes I am wearing a sulu, it is the traditional apparel for Fijian men. When in Rome!
Our "tent" at the town festival. It was one of four, the town in split into four clans and each clan had its own "tent" (they were more so bamboo frames with tin roofs place on top).
Our bedroom for the 7 weeks we are in training. We are one of the very lucky few who get a fan in our bedroom.
Friday, June 4, 2010
If you play with fire you're going to get burned!
Today is June 5th here and I was planning on posting our pictures today.....but we brought the wrong USB cord for our camera, so you will have to wait yet again for pictures to be posted.
We got some exciting news from the home front though, apparently next week we are going to be an aunt and uncle. Thus we are both hoping and praying everything goes well for Kaitlyn this week as she has what I am expecting to be a 12 lb baby boy, I think that was my guess this last christmas : ).
Also as for the title of my post, well I guess I have taught my brother so very little in the 20 years he's been alive. I wish I could be there to call him an idiot but I will just have to hope that Goldade and Paul do it for me.
As for news from here, well their is alot I am sure people want to hear about but I don't know where to start. Alyssa and I are living in the same host family in a small village right on the Rewa river. In fact the first Saturday we were their they just opened up the very first road leading to the village ever. Before that they were using water taxi's to get to a landing to take a bus. Our host family consists of our Ta (dad), Na (mom), 23 year old daughter Tavita, 7 year old son (Tuki), 28 year old brother-in-law Ananeia, and 10 year old nephew Joji. They very graciously have a allowed us to live in their master bedroom while we complete our 7 weeks of training and when I say master bedroom I don't mean what we think of in the states. It is a 10x12 room with a toilet attached. It is though the only house in our village with a master bedroom though. As I am writing this we have been with our host family about 2 weeks and they are very helpful in learning the language.
One huge problem in Fiji is sanitation and as you drive around Fiji you see trash every where. In fact our village tends to throw trash in the river and let the tide bring it out into the ocean. It is something that Peace Corps is asking us to focus our attention on when we get to our host village were we will be staying for two years.
I know there are a lot of questions that people want answered and really can't think of what they were, but Alyssa wants to go so we must go. : ) Talk to you all soon and hopefully next time I post, I will post the few pictures we have taken.
-See Ya Matt
We got some exciting news from the home front though, apparently next week we are going to be an aunt and uncle. Thus we are both hoping and praying everything goes well for Kaitlyn this week as she has what I am expecting to be a 12 lb baby boy, I think that was my guess this last christmas : ).
Also as for the title of my post, well I guess I have taught my brother so very little in the 20 years he's been alive. I wish I could be there to call him an idiot but I will just have to hope that Goldade and Paul do it for me.
As for news from here, well their is alot I am sure people want to hear about but I don't know where to start. Alyssa and I are living in the same host family in a small village right on the Rewa river. In fact the first Saturday we were their they just opened up the very first road leading to the village ever. Before that they were using water taxi's to get to a landing to take a bus. Our host family consists of our Ta (dad), Na (mom), 23 year old daughter Tavita, 7 year old son (Tuki), 28 year old brother-in-law Ananeia, and 10 year old nephew Joji. They very graciously have a allowed us to live in their master bedroom while we complete our 7 weeks of training and when I say master bedroom I don't mean what we think of in the states. It is a 10x12 room with a toilet attached. It is though the only house in our village with a master bedroom though. As I am writing this we have been with our host family about 2 weeks and they are very helpful in learning the language.
One huge problem in Fiji is sanitation and as you drive around Fiji you see trash every where. In fact our village tends to throw trash in the river and let the tide bring it out into the ocean. It is something that Peace Corps is asking us to focus our attention on when we get to our host village were we will be staying for two years.
I know there are a lot of questions that people want answered and really can't think of what they were, but Alyssa wants to go so we must go. : ) Talk to you all soon and hopefully next time I post, I will post the few pictures we have taken.
-See Ya Matt
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Paradise City
Bula or Yadra(depending on the time you are reading this)
Ok so I have 30 minutes to try to fit in as much information to everyone as I can, so excuse me if it is scrabbled. I also unfortunately don't have any of the pictures we have taken here as of yet, sorry.
First of all let me take the time to thank, Michael Brady, my former boss at Allianz. We got a great article on joining the peacecorps in the Hannon Security Newsletter thanks to him, so thanks again Michael.
Ok so on to Fiji, it has been great here so far, at least relatively speaking. We landed on Thursday( Wednesday doesn't exsist for us) from there we took a trip down the southern coast of Fiji by boat to a Christian children's center right on the ocean where we did our water safety courses. For all the people that said Fiji weather is beautiful you were right (I never was really doubted you). For the people who thought we should watch out for poisonous snakes, well their are not any to speak of in fact nothing on land here is poisonous. Now in the water that is another kit and kaboddle. From there on Friday we drove to Nadave. We stayed there until Monday as one big group, which I forgot mention consisted of 35 people and only one other married couple besides Alyssa and myself. While we were there we began to learn Fijian and everything about the culture we needed to know. Let me tell you there are alot and most of them having to do with kava or krog or yoqouna (They are all the same thing, thats right three words). Fijians tend to think of krog kind of like we think of alcohol except it has huge cultural signifcance here. All though alcohol I suppose alcohol has a huge cultural significance in America except for completely different reasons. I also can speak some basic Fijian:
Yandra, O iko moce vinaka? (Morning, Did you sleep well?)
Io, vinaka (Yes, thank you)
I know, I know, I am well on my way to being a fluent speaker. Anyway I am running out of time they're are many more things I want to talk about but don't have the time. I suppose I could write these on my computer and just copy and paste, my host family has electricity and running water, not in the capacity though that we as Americans think of though, that is for another time though.
I hope everyone is doing well, I just checked ESPN and its crazy that the Twins are playing the Yankees live yesterday there, while it is almost 2:00 pm here.
Ok so I have 30 minutes to try to fit in as much information to everyone as I can, so excuse me if it is scrabbled. I also unfortunately don't have any of the pictures we have taken here as of yet, sorry.
First of all let me take the time to thank, Michael Brady, my former boss at Allianz. We got a great article on joining the peacecorps in the Hannon Security Newsletter thanks to him, so thanks again Michael.
Ok so on to Fiji, it has been great here so far, at least relatively speaking. We landed on Thursday( Wednesday doesn't exsist for us) from there we took a trip down the southern coast of Fiji by boat to a Christian children's center right on the ocean where we did our water safety courses. For all the people that said Fiji weather is beautiful you were right (I never was really doubted you). For the people who thought we should watch out for poisonous snakes, well their are not any to speak of in fact nothing on land here is poisonous. Now in the water that is another kit and kaboddle. From there on Friday we drove to Nadave. We stayed there until Monday as one big group, which I forgot mention consisted of 35 people and only one other married couple besides Alyssa and myself. While we were there we began to learn Fijian and everything about the culture we needed to know. Let me tell you there are alot and most of them having to do with kava or krog or yoqouna (They are all the same thing, thats right three words). Fijians tend to think of krog kind of like we think of alcohol except it has huge cultural signifcance here. All though alcohol I suppose alcohol has a huge cultural significance in America except for completely different reasons. I also can speak some basic Fijian:
Yandra, O iko moce vinaka? (Morning, Did you sleep well?)
Io, vinaka (Yes, thank you)
I know, I know, I am well on my way to being a fluent speaker. Anyway I am running out of time they're are many more things I want to talk about but don't have the time. I suppose I could write these on my computer and just copy and paste, my host family has electricity and running water, not in the capacity though that we as Americans think of though, that is for another time though.
I hope everyone is doing well, I just checked ESPN and its crazy that the Twins are playing the Yankees live yesterday there, while it is almost 2:00 pm here.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
A few last Hurrahs!
We leave tomorrow at 2:20 for LAX but I did decided to post a few pictures from some of our going away gatherings.
Thanks to everyone who came out for our last show(for at least 26 months), we had a lot of fun. Talk to you all soon.
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