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.