Matt and I are preparing for my parents to arrive this Saturday- yeah! We are going to take a ferry boat down to the main island (it leaves at 7 pm and arrives at 5 am) and then take a bus to meet them from there (a 4 hour ride). It will take a lot longer to arrive but will cost us about 1/6 the price! Plus, we'll get a couple of days just to hang out in the city (there's only one ferry boat this week, so we have to go early).
Last week, I was gone from Monday to Saturday at a woman's skill building workshop in a nearby village. I wasn't expecting to teach anything but at the last minute I ended up teaching knitting and how to make virgin coconut oil (or as everyone here calls it- virgin oil). Also, I ended up giving a lesson on healthy eating and led a fitness walk. In Fiji, 82% of deaths are caused by non-communicable diseases and there is a huge problem with obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc (just like in America). Maybe it was a bit morbid, but I had all the participants close there eyes and picture 10 loved ones. Then I had them choose 8 of those people. Next, I informed them that they all had died. Kind of mean, huh?!
Matt is still the gardening champion. He goes up to the school 1 or 2 days per week and teaches the kids about vegetable gardening and taking care of the environment. Also, his garden in the village is producing TONS of vegetables right now. There's two types of cabbage, beans, peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers. On top of that, people from the village have been giving us bananas (which Matt often goes with to pick), papayas, dalo, fish and vivili (the inside of sea shells!), so we've had lots of local foods lately.
In other news, Matt and I have been trying to start teaching people around here how to use computers. Matt will start teaching the older children (middle school age) at our house after my parents leave. I have started to teach two of my friends how to use the computers in town. I showed them how to use the internet one day and one of them how to type another day. Obviously, they will need more than two lessons but its a start!
Matt and I are really looking forward to my parents visit. We will spend a week on the main island and I intend to pretend that I am a tourist (wearing shorts, not talking about Peace Corps, using hot showers)- LOL! We will then fly back up to Vanua Levu and spend about a week in the village/Savusavu. We have a special kids club planned with my parents where the kids will make American snacks and then we'll have a little party at the end where they get to eat what they've made. Also, my good friends will be making my parents meals on Sunday, so they'll get to have Fijian pie, fish, coconut milk, dalo, Fijian greens (bele, roro) and 'village' chicken (ie one of the chickens from Natuvu).
There are other things going on but those are the interesting ones. So long for now and many happy wishes to our friends and family back in America- especially those just getting married and having babies! Bye bye!!!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Matt's Birthday
Matt just had his birthday last weekend and a gang of volunteers from 'the north' got together to celebrate. We stayed at a campground outside of Savusavu and it was a great time! The owner of the campground only charged around $15 per person per night and she cooked us a really nice steak dinner our first night there! We also walked over to a nearby resort and used their pool (for free- we just bought some snacks at the restaurant to make up for it). Enjoy the few pictures that I put up! Bye for now!
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Tuesday, September 6, 2011
It's been a while...
Greetings! (Alyssa writing here)
I just realized that our last post was 1.5 months ago. Oops! Well, a brief overview of what we've been up to:
-We went to Nadi for our Mid Service Training (MST) in August. That means we're over half done! In Nadi, we ate really good pizza at "Mama's Pizza" and I had good Indian food at "Sitar."
-After Nadi, I went over to Suva for a few days. I marched in the Hibiscus Festival Parade (for the Peace Corps float) and then headed to a workshop on health promotion in the schools. The assistant head teacher from our local school attended with me.
-Matt spent a few days in Suva prior to MST, because he hadn't yet done his mandatory mid-year doctors visit. So, he got lucky and was able to hang around the city for a few days.
-Matt's garden is growing again and we have a bunch of green beans.
-Our village is SUPER QUIET (and extra boring) because a lot of young men are gone cutting sugar cane.
-Last month, I help organize a village clean up day and it was a success. I put up a few pictures below.
-Our anniversary and b-days are all coming up in the next couple of months and my parents are visiting at the end of October- yeah!
Sending my love to America (loloma),
Alyssa
I just realized that our last post was 1.5 months ago. Oops! Well, a brief overview of what we've been up to:
-We went to Nadi for our Mid Service Training (MST) in August. That means we're over half done! In Nadi, we ate really good pizza at "Mama's Pizza" and I had good Indian food at "Sitar."
-After Nadi, I went over to Suva for a few days. I marched in the Hibiscus Festival Parade (for the Peace Corps float) and then headed to a workshop on health promotion in the schools. The assistant head teacher from our local school attended with me.
-Matt spent a few days in Suva prior to MST, because he hadn't yet done his mandatory mid-year doctors visit. So, he got lucky and was able to hang around the city for a few days.
-Matt's garden is growing again and we have a bunch of green beans.
-Our village is SUPER QUIET (and extra boring) because a lot of young men are gone cutting sugar cane.
-Last month, I help organize a village clean up day and it was a success. I put up a few pictures below.
-Our anniversary and b-days are all coming up in the next couple of months and my parents are visiting at the end of October- yeah!
Sending my love to America (loloma),
Alyssa
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| Putting rubbish in the pit. |
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| Cutting the grass the usual way (no really!). |
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| Sweet gloves! |
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| Prizes for the winners. |
Friday, July 22, 2011
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.
Well that is it from here, I hopefully won't take as long to post again.
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.
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| Us departing off for our search from Natuvu |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| Manasa diving down trying to catch a fish |
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| Giant Sea Clam |
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| Baby Sea Turtle |
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| The Fisheries Display at the "Show" |
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| Me describing to the kids what a sea snail is and having them identify it on the poster behind me. |
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
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!
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!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Good Day
Today, is May 4. It was four years ago today that Matt and I had our first date (I remember because its the day before my dad's birthday) and in exactly one month we will be arriving back home for a visit. Also, in two weeks from today we have been gone for a year. Oh my how the time goes quick!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
It's Been Awhile
Matt and I are still alive and kickin' here in the South Pacific. A little update on what we've been doing...
Last month our Peace Corps friend, Stephanie, spent two nights in Natuvu and taught the women's group how to make virgin coconut oil. While Stephanie was visiting I got a nasty cut on my finger from the back of our very sharp kitchen sink. The worse part is I was trying to smash a cockroach with my hand when I did it! Searching out and killing them is a new hobby of mine, as I came across three big ones last month. Got to kill them when they're small and under control!
I've starting working a lot more with the women's group. They have a Tuesday exercise class with me, I've been helping with their commercial planting and hopefully the group will be starting a couple of projects to make money (like virgin coconut oil).
For Easter, Matt and I stuck around home because we were helping with a youth (ages 18-35 yrs) retreat. I gave a session on communication skills and Matt on money management. We also sat through a 3 hour church service in which we were seated on a wooden floor, in a crowded room and with no fan or A.C. Woot woot!
Exciting news- I am going down to Suva in a couple of weeks! I have been up here since the beginning of October and want away for a bit! I am going down for a training because I will be helping with the new group of Peace Corps Volunteers when they arrive in a few weeks. I am planning to meet my friend Marie and stay an extra night- fun times!
Matt was down in Suva last month for an agro-business training and he went with a counterpart from the village. The counterpart is his friend, Luke, and it was Lukes first time to go to Suva. In Suva, they went to see a movie and that was also a first for Luke. It made me smile to think of those two hanging out in 'the big city.' LOL!
In just five short weeks, we will be bound for America! We have all of our flight tickets (three flights each way) and will be bringing our big suitcases to stuff full of things. I am going to buy a bunch of 'bathroom' items, shoes, a few office supplies, spices, a little food/candy and maybe a new piece of workout gear. Matt wants books and candy.
I am in town today and Matt was here yesterday. Maybe people think it's strange that we do stuff separately but still have just one cellphone but that's life! :) Happy mother's day to mom, Becky, grandma(s), Kaity and Maggie (soon!)!!!
Alyssa aka Liss
Last month our Peace Corps friend, Stephanie, spent two nights in Natuvu and taught the women's group how to make virgin coconut oil. While Stephanie was visiting I got a nasty cut on my finger from the back of our very sharp kitchen sink. The worse part is I was trying to smash a cockroach with my hand when I did it! Searching out and killing them is a new hobby of mine, as I came across three big ones last month. Got to kill them when they're small and under control!
I've starting working a lot more with the women's group. They have a Tuesday exercise class with me, I've been helping with their commercial planting and hopefully the group will be starting a couple of projects to make money (like virgin coconut oil).
For Easter, Matt and I stuck around home because we were helping with a youth (ages 18-35 yrs) retreat. I gave a session on communication skills and Matt on money management. We also sat through a 3 hour church service in which we were seated on a wooden floor, in a crowded room and with no fan or A.C. Woot woot!
Exciting news- I am going down to Suva in a couple of weeks! I have been up here since the beginning of October and want away for a bit! I am going down for a training because I will be helping with the new group of Peace Corps Volunteers when they arrive in a few weeks. I am planning to meet my friend Marie and stay an extra night- fun times!
Matt was down in Suva last month for an agro-business training and he went with a counterpart from the village. The counterpart is his friend, Luke, and it was Lukes first time to go to Suva. In Suva, they went to see a movie and that was also a first for Luke. It made me smile to think of those two hanging out in 'the big city.' LOL!
In just five short weeks, we will be bound for America! We have all of our flight tickets (three flights each way) and will be bringing our big suitcases to stuff full of things. I am going to buy a bunch of 'bathroom' items, shoes, a few office supplies, spices, a little food/candy and maybe a new piece of workout gear. Matt wants books and candy.
I am in town today and Matt was here yesterday. Maybe people think it's strange that we do stuff separately but still have just one cellphone but that's life! :) Happy mother's day to mom, Becky, grandma(s), Kaity and Maggie (soon!)!!!
Alyssa aka Liss
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