Hello Again

  Well after a long hiatus and a trip to America and back I finally decided I should post on this blog again.  My last time I think was in January so I am a little over due.  Since coming back from America, which was a great trip getting to see everyone and be back for three weeks, we are starting to fall back into our old schedules.  Once I got use to taking cold showers again it was like I never left, which by the way are not at all enjoyable in the winter season here in Fiji.
  There is actually quite a bit coming up for both us both personally and professionally.  At the end of August we meet up with our fellow 2010 volunteers that we came into the country with and have our mid-service training or MST, Alyssa is working with the Health Committee on doing a Village Clean Up/Waste Management Education Day, and I am working with the school to do an Environment Club sleepover.  All those hopefully will go well and should be fun.
  This past week though I got the chance to work with the Ministry of Fisheries and some members from my village to help setup an Marine Protected Area booth for the Savusavu carnival/show (they just called it a show but it is more equivalent to a county fair back home).  This consisted of us going out the day before and collecting samples of marine invertebrates and then the fisheries bringing them in to town.  They put them in tanks and the next day I came into town and got to hang out, talk to the kids and let them touch some of the creatures we brought.  I will put a bunch of pictures below sorry for cheap underwater case I use(that's what causes the ring in the pictures) but I figured why spend $200 when I can spend $25.  Overall it was a great chance to promote Marine Protected Areas there benefit but  also just to let all the kids get a chance to see all the cool Marine life.

Us departing off for our search from Natuvu

One of the divers trying to pull out a moray eel.  It actually ended up biting him and they killed it in the end but they ate it so it did not go to waste.

A triton, which is a large sea snail.  These are actually very hard to find and they eat Crown-of-Thorns starfish which are responsible for killing coral reef.

Manasa diving down trying to catch a fish

Giant Sea Clam

Baby Sea Turtle

The Fisheries Display at the "Show"

Me describing to the kids what a sea snail is and having them identify it on the poster behind me.

Well that is it from here, I hopefully won't take as long to post again.

Back to Our Fiji Home

Matt and I made it back to Fiji one week ago today.  Our trip home was really nice- the best part was meeting our nephew, Reece (1 year old), and our niece, Elsie (2 weeks old)!  Other lovely parts:  eating America food (particularly grilled meat, pasta and baked goods), not having to hand wash cloths (that's mine), watching baseball, driving (which was scary the first time) and of course just visiting our family and some friends!!!!

Since we got back, we've just been getting the garden back in order, cleaning the house (the sand from the beach blew inside a whole bunch) and trying to get back into the swing of old projects.  Also, Matt and I are working hard to eat healthier and we've been running together, too.  Most of you know that I'm now a flake about this kind of stuff, so it's nice to be back into a routine.

Today, Matt and I took the bus up to Labasa.  The new group of volunteers are here now, so my group is throwing them a 'Welcome to the North' BBQ.  Should be a good time!

That's all I know for now.  I am really looking forward to this year- my parents are coming, there are two Peace Corps conferences where I'll get to see old friends and I have established friends and work partners from last year.  Moce!