OK so what I've done now to make this easier to read is to section off what I write about. It's not really in chronologicle order but it's easier to read.
Special shoutout to my cousin Carol who I've gotten two incredible packages from! Thank you SO MUCH! It the best feeling to get mail! I feel American again when I do. :0) ALso to my Mom, Your package was SERIOUSLY awesome....just so everyone knows, American junk food IS appreciated. :0) Oh but just so you guys know- oreos are the one american food they do have here. And also any type of book would be greatly appreciated, maybe if you have an old one or something that you thought would be worth the read and is relatively light. Also, I've moved into my new house (which I'm running out of time to I'll tell more about that later) but it's extremely empty. So anything small to decorate my house with (like a picture of you) would be so cool! I'm putting my new address on facebook so if you aren't on facebook then email me for it!
ok, Im definitely out of time and I hope you enjoy the ridiculous things I wrote!
xoxo...man I really miss so many of you!! like really.
-CHandni
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
I swear I'm Bollywood bound.
OK so in light of all the wonderful things our host families have done for us, Peace Corps put on a host family appreciation day with dancing, delicious foods, and awards. Every village/settlement was asked to perform an item/act of some dance. 2 were going to be chosen and then were going to be performed at the official swearing in at the ambassador's house. At the celebration our dance was a hit....of course it was extremely embarrassing because it was only Krissy and I (and all the other villages had at least 5 people) but we did a cool dance with candles and scarves. Despite the fact we both forgot half of it, it all turned out ok when a Fijian boy jumped right in the middle of our performance and started dancing with us. They do that a lot here...but I was grateful because we weren't that good. Mid dance one of the chief's of another village came up a gave us shell necklaces because apparently we were that good. (???)
Anyways, the celebration was really fun with speeches, awards, lots of food (OMG actually I don't think I've ever had anything so delicious as this crab meat with tomatoes and onion that was cooked in lolo..coconut milk, in an underground oven), and skits.
But of course naturally ours was one of the dances selected to perform at the swearing in. cool.
So, because this was a formal occasion we all dawned our best sari's and sulu chamba's and headed out at a ridiculous hour in the morning. There were lots of Fiji TV news people and reporters who were there to document the day. The Ambassador is a really great speaker and has an awesome family. SO we performed our dance in front of the few cameras (hoping we wouldn't be on TV) and then the crowd gave us a standing ovation......yeah that didn't happen. Then of course the Hindu reporters wanted to know how I knewHindu and all about the dance. My favorite part was when the reporter walked right up to me and said 'Are you from Bollywood!?' Yes, I am. Can't you tell from the not-tan color of my skin, my horrible Hindi accent, and bad dancing moves? But I did appreciate the compliment. And after all that hype was over, we all ate lots of delicious chocolate cake, chicken salad sandwiches, and this awesome artichoke dip that we had been deprived of!!!
After that we headed back to the hotel for a solid nap. That night was really fun because it was the last night before everyone left. Such a blasty. Actually, that night I had the closest thing to a hot dog I think I'm going to get in suva and some REAL potato salad!
So I remember being told that Hindi people love dances but I didn't really believe it until the day after our swearing-in- when both papers had a picture of me dancing (good god) and also when the Fiji TV 1 did a segment on the Peace COrps. They showed both of our Fijian and Hindi volunteer speakers but then also played a clip of me dancing (why only me???? there was SO another girl there!) for at least 20 seconds. cool. And of course all of Nukomoto/Nausori/Suva saw this and now I'm 'that girl'. Now all these people think I can dance or something and so just recently was asked to perform again in the Girtin Festival that's in Nausori this Saturday. My first response was 'HECK NO' but then changed my mind when the same man who asked me said he would also be providing funds to help me buy a refrigerator. Not wanting to get on his bad side, I agreed. Food is worth it. :0) and I feel like I'm that girl already so why the heck not. PLus Prime Minister Bainarama is coming so maybe I'll get to sit next to him. (or not).
So clearly my career of going to Bollywood is already in the works. cool.
Anyways, the celebration was really fun with speeches, awards, lots of food (OMG actually I don't think I've ever had anything so delicious as this crab meat with tomatoes and onion that was cooked in lolo..coconut milk, in an underground oven), and skits.
But of course naturally ours was one of the dances selected to perform at the swearing in. cool.
So, because this was a formal occasion we all dawned our best sari's and sulu chamba's and headed out at a ridiculous hour in the morning. There were lots of Fiji TV news people and reporters who were there to document the day. The Ambassador is a really great speaker and has an awesome family. SO we performed our dance in front of the few cameras (hoping we wouldn't be on TV) and then the crowd gave us a standing ovation......yeah that didn't happen. Then of course the Hindu reporters wanted to know how I knewHindu and all about the dance. My favorite part was when the reporter walked right up to me and said 'Are you from Bollywood!?' Yes, I am. Can't you tell from the not-tan color of my skin, my horrible Hindi accent, and bad dancing moves? But I did appreciate the compliment. And after all that hype was over, we all ate lots of delicious chocolate cake, chicken salad sandwiches, and this awesome artichoke dip that we had been deprived of!!!
After that we headed back to the hotel for a solid nap. That night was really fun because it was the last night before everyone left. Such a blasty. Actually, that night I had the closest thing to a hot dog I think I'm going to get in suva and some REAL potato salad!
So I remember being told that Hindi people love dances but I didn't really believe it until the day after our swearing-in- when both papers had a picture of me dancing (good god) and also when the Fiji TV 1 did a segment on the Peace COrps. They showed both of our Fijian and Hindi volunteer speakers but then also played a clip of me dancing (why only me???? there was SO another girl there!) for at least 20 seconds. cool. And of course all of Nukomoto/Nausori/Suva saw this and now I'm 'that girl'. Now all these people think I can dance or something and so just recently was asked to perform again in the Girtin Festival that's in Nausori this Saturday. My first response was 'HECK NO' but then changed my mind when the same man who asked me said he would also be providing funds to help me buy a refrigerator. Not wanting to get on his bad side, I agreed. Food is worth it. :0) and I feel like I'm that girl already so why the heck not. PLus Prime Minister Bainarama is coming so maybe I'll get to sit next to him. (or not).
So clearly my career of going to Bollywood is already in the works. cool.
Nariyal ke samja.....aka our coconut afternoon
So we planned with our AWESOME language instructor Mahend (seriously, he's a totally funny and cooky guy who was always down for a laugh and loves people) to have this 'Nariyal ke Samja' aka coconut afternoon where we learned what all we could do with coconut trees. For one, you can make jharuu's (brooms) but taking off the leaves and picking out the hard part/stem of the leaf (the part that's in the middle). Then you shave around it with a knife to get the leaf bits off. Then you combine them all together, tie them off and taa-daa you;ve got a broom. And that's actually what the brooms are made out of here.
Second, we took a coconut, cracked it, scraped out the inside with a coconut shaver. Then we learned how you can make coconutmilk from the shavings and also how you can make coconut oil (that goes into many lotions) from the milk you make. And to top off our afternoon of course we had to learn how to make the famous Indian coconut sweets aka barfi. (the name is weird but it tastes delicious...it won't make you barf).
Now because Fijian people can use every part of the coconut tree for something, they are kind of seen as sacred trees. TO preface this, a random cultural belief is that there are ghosts in some trees. For example, your whole life has been written out by Paguan. If you end your life before it was written to end (you commit suicide) then you will remain as a ghost who either haunts your old house or lives in the trees. You live in the trees until your life was written to end by Paguan akaif you were suppose to die at 60, you kill yourself at 50, you live as a ghost for 10 years. However, because coconut trees are sacred, they are safe.
They also believe that eclipse's are bad. At first I wondered why but then realized because it covers/shadows the moon. And as we all know the moon (Chand....make name being Chandni = moonlight) is extremely important in their culture. So on the day of the eclipse you really shouldn't go outside too much. Andduring the main hours the eclipse is going on you are suppose to stay inside, close the doors, close the curtains, and you can't make or eat any food. You also can't look directly at the eclipse. If you do you might get sick, and if a pregnant lady does this then her baby might come out handicapped. BUT if you do choose to eat or cook during the eclipse you CAN spread cow patties (let's remember that cows are sacred) all around your house and then you also have to put a little on the bottom/underneath the pan you're cooking with. That's right. (Not IN the pan but on the bottom).
ALso something I wanted to add to my random thoughts list is how the music here in Fiji is awesome. I can't tell you how much they love Akon and Chris Brown. But they also have very randonm songs- like Dolly Parton. SPecial shoutout to my homegirl Abbey who is a giant Dolly fan. GOtta love 9-5. As I sat on the bus on the way ot Nausori all I think of is how none of these people know who Dolly is, how giant her boobs are, and how when I was a little girl I used to squat down, tuck my knees into my 80's style giant t-shirt, and bounce around like I was Dolly Parton. No, I was definitely not the only girl who did this.
Second, we took a coconut, cracked it, scraped out the inside with a coconut shaver. Then we learned how you can make coconutmilk from the shavings and also how you can make coconut oil (that goes into many lotions) from the milk you make. And to top off our afternoon of course we had to learn how to make the famous Indian coconut sweets aka barfi. (the name is weird but it tastes delicious...it won't make you barf).
Now because Fijian people can use every part of the coconut tree for something, they are kind of seen as sacred trees. TO preface this, a random cultural belief is that there are ghosts in some trees. For example, your whole life has been written out by Paguan. If you end your life before it was written to end (you commit suicide) then you will remain as a ghost who either haunts your old house or lives in the trees. You live in the trees until your life was written to end by Paguan akaif you were suppose to die at 60, you kill yourself at 50, you live as a ghost for 10 years. However, because coconut trees are sacred, they are safe.
They also believe that eclipse's are bad. At first I wondered why but then realized because it covers/shadows the moon. And as we all know the moon (Chand....make name being Chandni = moonlight) is extremely important in their culture. So on the day of the eclipse you really shouldn't go outside too much. Andduring the main hours the eclipse is going on you are suppose to stay inside, close the doors, close the curtains, and you can't make or eat any food. You also can't look directly at the eclipse. If you do you might get sick, and if a pregnant lady does this then her baby might come out handicapped. BUT if you do choose to eat or cook during the eclipse you CAN spread cow patties (let's remember that cows are sacred) all around your house and then you also have to put a little on the bottom/underneath the pan you're cooking with. That's right. (Not IN the pan but on the bottom).
ALso something I wanted to add to my random thoughts list is how the music here in Fiji is awesome. I can't tell you how much they love Akon and Chris Brown. But they also have very randonm songs- like Dolly Parton. SPecial shoutout to my homegirl Abbey who is a giant Dolly fan. GOtta love 9-5. As I sat on the bus on the way ot Nausori all I think of is how none of these people know who Dolly is, how giant her boobs are, and how when I was a little girl I used to squat down, tuck my knees into my 80's style giant t-shirt, and bounce around like I was Dolly Parton. No, I was definitely not the only girl who did this.
one of the most awesome experiences yet..
We got to go to Bau and visit a volunteer who is tucked away on the side of Fiji right on the coast. She is currently working on coral reef monitoring! It was so cool. We got to go out on boats and go snorkeling to see the coral! It was awesome! now I know you guys are thinking like comkpletely tropical with completely clear waters---but remember we're peace corps and we're put in areas that need help. Anyways, the water wasn't 100% visibility but was still so great to see all of the colorful fish and awesome marine life. My favorite corals were the Christmas-tree worms which are small colorful coral that when you wave your hand near them they jump back in their holes (like on The Little Mermaid....oh man I just realized something- I was so Ariel for a day, whoop!). But there were bright blue starfish and tons of soft coral. My friend Julie who has worked in Hawaii on coral reefs said that was the most soft coral she's ever seen in one area. Actually that's who is on my facebook pic with me now! Then at the end some Fijians went fishing and caught some cool fish, a stingray, and an eel. They let me hold the eel too....then they gutted it and divied up the parts. My favorite part though was when we boated out to the coral this Fijian man was laying with his head and chest on the bow of the boat and put his feet on the benches. I'll post a picture of this soon because it was ridiculously awesome.
As for a business environment day we had was when we went to some local bakeries in some tiny villages and got to see how they make things. They used to only have brick ovens but have now switched to electric.
Another business environment trip was when we got to go to a village who have built a huge Bure (the really big grass houses) and have made an area to do lots of Meke's (the local fijian dances). They are anting to make this a small tourist attraction to raise money. It's awesome though to learn about the history of Fiji- especially the savage side. For example, this giant Bure's they built were places that only a chief or a holy man could enter. There was a giant piece of this cotton paper that ran from the end of the grog bowl up to the top of the bure- and this was how they spoke to the gods. When they built these bure's human sacrifices were required. Usually there were 4 men who wrapped themselves around each pole in all four corners. They were they buried alive. People were also killed when rolling the giant poles to where they were going to build the bure's. When someone died they threw them in/on the bure and covered. how crazy is that? There are only a few of these kinds of bure's in Fiji left with actual skeletons in them. And no worries, the one this village built required no sacrifices.
As for a business environment day we had was when we went to some local bakeries in some tiny villages and got to see how they make things. They used to only have brick ovens but have now switched to electric.
Another business environment trip was when we got to go to a village who have built a huge Bure (the really big grass houses) and have made an area to do lots of Meke's (the local fijian dances). They are anting to make this a small tourist attraction to raise money. It's awesome though to learn about the history of Fiji- especially the savage side. For example, this giant Bure's they built were places that only a chief or a holy man could enter. There was a giant piece of this cotton paper that ran from the end of the grog bowl up to the top of the bure- and this was how they spoke to the gods. When they built these bure's human sacrifices were required. Usually there were 4 men who wrapped themselves around each pole in all four corners. They were they buried alive. People were also killed when rolling the giant poles to where they were going to build the bure's. When someone died they threw them in/on the bure and covered. how crazy is that? There are only a few of these kinds of bure's in Fiji left with actual skeletons in them. And no worries, the one this village built required no sacrifices.
Tea Time is now the epitome of my existence...
OK so this blog is just my thoughts on some random things---
Ok so a short a really choppy history of Fiji is this: The Brits came in olden times, messed stuff up a little bit, brought over people from India as indentured servants (not quite as bad a slavery but you can still see a lot of the effects from it aka a lot of Hindustani people are still working in the sugar cane fields), then the queen got her face stamped on all the money, they implemented tea time- thank god- and peaced out.
And now, I am happy to say, I can go through the day without my morning and afternoon tea. Seriously. This is true for both Fijian villages and Hindustani settlements, the only difference being that the snacks and tea's vary. Regardless though, you say you want white tea or white coffee you are going to get 75% full cream milk- hands down. Oh and of course expect 15 gallons of sugar.
As for the money...seriously Queen Elizabeth? I would personally rather see an extremely muscley Rubgy player on my 1$ coins. Better yet, put a different player on each kind of coin and those things would be a round 2 version of Pogs. :0) ooohhh Pogs. And of course if you put Serevi on a 1$ coin he would be the slammer.
I also do love some of the slang that the Brits left..for example- cheeky. Man of love saying that word. It's also funny how some things don't translate, for example in the US we would say someone was 'very good at something'. Here they say someone is 'very smart in that'...it's just funny.
Something extremely random- now I don't know why this is, but my best guess is that it's because of all the nutrients in the foods here, but my nails have been growing at a super fast speed AND they are virtually indestructible. (I'll be joining the X-Men team soon btw)
SO the fact that I'm a young single girl and because I am excited to learn about the Hindi culture, has apparently compelled someone to put an ad in the Fiji yellow pages with an article that says "Young saucy minx looking to date your son." Because for some reason EVERY older hindustani woman is extremely interested in introducing me to their sons. I mean, I expected this, being a young girl in general, so I end up just laughing off their 'half-serious but serious if I was serious' proposal. But when a woman goes and calls her son to drive to where I'm at just so he can meet me is ridiculous. Are Paguan (good god).
But on a lighter note, I seriously love how all the men hold hands here. Fijian and Indo-Fijian. It's awesome. I love this culture. For example, right when we were given our site placements and were able to meet with our contact people from our sites, I caught a picture of my friend Monte holding hands with a giant Fijian man whilst waling merrily to lunch. That's it- merry, this culture is so merry.
That brings up something else- I've never been invited ot more people's houses to dinner in my entire life. If I didn't want to cook for 3 months- I'm 100% positive I could make it happen. My favorite part about it is that most of the shop keepers are Hindustani- so I really make a lot of friends and get good prices for things. But something awesome happened the other day. I told my friend I was going to Colo e Suva ( cool rainforest looking place with trails and rivers you can jump into) and she marched right out from behind the counter, grabbed my hand, and almost begged me to come to her house to dinner because it was right there. I sadly couldn't that day but will definitely go back for sure. That's how nice people are here. Now I'm sure she has a secret motive and a son who is single, but I don't care.
I was even on the bus one day and was really hungry. A fijian lady sat down next to me with a big bag of twisties (cheetos). I'm pretty positive she didn't see me eyeing them. But just as soon as she opened them she turned ot me and offered me some. And heck yes I took some. I love Fiji. Where else in the world would you get offered some chips on a bus by a total stranger. (But let's not talk about the health problems in Fiji...oh my). No worries, I'm healthy. I do have a small sinus infection right now but I've already got the meds for it and am feeling better.
Ok so a short a really choppy history of Fiji is this: The Brits came in olden times, messed stuff up a little bit, brought over people from India as indentured servants (not quite as bad a slavery but you can still see a lot of the effects from it aka a lot of Hindustani people are still working in the sugar cane fields), then the queen got her face stamped on all the money, they implemented tea time- thank god- and peaced out.
And now, I am happy to say, I can go through the day without my morning and afternoon tea. Seriously. This is true for both Fijian villages and Hindustani settlements, the only difference being that the snacks and tea's vary. Regardless though, you say you want white tea or white coffee you are going to get 75% full cream milk- hands down. Oh and of course expect 15 gallons of sugar.
As for the money...seriously Queen Elizabeth? I would personally rather see an extremely muscley Rubgy player on my 1$ coins. Better yet, put a different player on each kind of coin and those things would be a round 2 version of Pogs. :0) ooohhh Pogs. And of course if you put Serevi on a 1$ coin he would be the slammer.
I also do love some of the slang that the Brits left..for example- cheeky. Man of love saying that word. It's also funny how some things don't translate, for example in the US we would say someone was 'very good at something'. Here they say someone is 'very smart in that'...it's just funny.
Something extremely random- now I don't know why this is, but my best guess is that it's because of all the nutrients in the foods here, but my nails have been growing at a super fast speed AND they are virtually indestructible. (I'll be joining the X-Men team soon btw)
SO the fact that I'm a young single girl and because I am excited to learn about the Hindi culture, has apparently compelled someone to put an ad in the Fiji yellow pages with an article that says "Young saucy minx looking to date your son." Because for some reason EVERY older hindustani woman is extremely interested in introducing me to their sons. I mean, I expected this, being a young girl in general, so I end up just laughing off their 'half-serious but serious if I was serious' proposal. But when a woman goes and calls her son to drive to where I'm at just so he can meet me is ridiculous. Are Paguan (good god).
But on a lighter note, I seriously love how all the men hold hands here. Fijian and Indo-Fijian. It's awesome. I love this culture. For example, right when we were given our site placements and were able to meet with our contact people from our sites, I caught a picture of my friend Monte holding hands with a giant Fijian man whilst waling merrily to lunch. That's it- merry, this culture is so merry.
That brings up something else- I've never been invited ot more people's houses to dinner in my entire life. If I didn't want to cook for 3 months- I'm 100% positive I could make it happen. My favorite part about it is that most of the shop keepers are Hindustani- so I really make a lot of friends and get good prices for things. But something awesome happened the other day. I told my friend I was going to Colo e Suva ( cool rainforest looking place with trails and rivers you can jump into) and she marched right out from behind the counter, grabbed my hand, and almost begged me to come to her house to dinner because it was right there. I sadly couldn't that day but will definitely go back for sure. That's how nice people are here. Now I'm sure she has a secret motive and a son who is single, but I don't care.
I was even on the bus one day and was really hungry. A fijian lady sat down next to me with a big bag of twisties (cheetos). I'm pretty positive she didn't see me eyeing them. But just as soon as she opened them she turned ot me and offered me some. And heck yes I took some. I love Fiji. Where else in the world would you get offered some chips on a bus by a total stranger. (But let's not talk about the health problems in Fiji...oh my). No worries, I'm healthy. I do have a small sinus infection right now but I've already got the meds for it and am feeling better.
The Ramayan/Cultural afternoon
Ok so it was Nukomoto's turn to host a cultural afternoon and I can't say that we did anything short of rocking it. After viewing this event I really realized how awesome the Hindustani culture is about helping their family and friends...seriously. First all the men came together and constructed this giant tin shed using ropes, poles, and pieces of tin. They also made a small stage with cinder blocks and wood for the ramayaan singers, the Pundit, and the holy book.
The women get together and help the night before and all the next day. Everyone shows up with their roti rolling pin and and rolling pad thing and with their best cutting knives. This actually was my favorite part. It was really fun to just sit around and goof off (yes, I did learn some dirty hindustani words that day...it's all in good fun) with all the women and learn how to make some rockin Hindi food. The people really appreciate it when you are not only learning their language but also learning how to make their foods and such. I had such a wonderful time with my Uma kakii (grandma-ish lady) and all of my Bhabi's (women and friends who are all the wives in the settlement)....And just to get slightly off topic, that's another thing- everyone says 'Hey brother, or hey sister' even to people who you aren't relatives or aren't very good friends with. You don't really use names here...I think asking someone their name is like asking a lady with a refined age, ' just exactly how old are you?'
But anyways, I seriously enjoyed the goofing off part and getting to know the women in my settlement better. BUT after the 100th puri (fried roti) had been rolled I was about ready cut all of my fingers so I wouldn't have to do anything. That's about the time when I started getting a headache because my Matajii likes to not only talk to me very quickly in Hindi, but also loudly. So pretty much any attempt I make to understand her is taken over by my nerves because I'm being hollered at. (oh and another thing- don't remember if I mentioned this, but despite the fact that Fijians have such a soft and natural tone when they speak-Hindustani people clearly chose not to adopt this characteristic. They are awesome at reaching octaves I know I can't scream at in 0.2 seconds....so what I'm really saying is that it's a cultural thing when I say 'holler' it's really just talking quickly in a VERY high pitched tone).
But all in all it was a wonderful day, as soon as everyone arrived we had a roti rolling and bean and potato curry demonstration (don't worry mom, I AM learning how to cook). Then we showed all the spices and seasonings Hindustani people use. The Hardi is that stuff I know everyone is thinking of that DOES stain your fingers yellow temporarily. But the food really doesn't taste like the curry I thought of in the US. The mixture of all of their seasonings is SO good. But then we served all the food- palau, pumpkin curry, salad (sliced carrots, cucumbers, cabbage, salt, and chili juice...SO good), been and potato curry, dahl, and rice.
Then we had a short Ramayaan where my older brother came and helped translate what some of the scripture said. My oldest brother is so nice. He said the sweetest thing about me being in their family; he kept saying 'My sister, Chandni,..' which really meant a lot to me. Then he said, in light of all of the volunteers staying in their villages, that even though things can be taken away, that you can be taken away from someone's sight, the memories still remain in the heart. (It sounded a lot better when he said all of it).
During the Ramayaan Krissy and I got to sit on stage though, right next to my Pitajii. At first he put two chairs right in front of and facing the stage for us to sit in (whattt???). Even though everyone else would have been 10 feet behind us. So if you can picture how awkward that would have been, then you feel my pain. But we did end up talking him into letting us sit beside him on stage, so that ended up well.
Then we had the prasaad and the raffle drawings where- get this- I DREW MY OWN NUMBER!!! I couldn't believe it, I feel very lucky here, I feel like in the US I never won anything but I seem to be very lucky here. Thank you Paguan (God in Hindi.)
The women get together and help the night before and all the next day. Everyone shows up with their roti rolling pin and and rolling pad thing and with their best cutting knives. This actually was my favorite part. It was really fun to just sit around and goof off (yes, I did learn some dirty hindustani words that day...it's all in good fun) with all the women and learn how to make some rockin Hindi food. The people really appreciate it when you are not only learning their language but also learning how to make their foods and such. I had such a wonderful time with my Uma kakii (grandma-ish lady) and all of my Bhabi's (women and friends who are all the wives in the settlement)....And just to get slightly off topic, that's another thing- everyone says 'Hey brother, or hey sister' even to people who you aren't relatives or aren't very good friends with. You don't really use names here...I think asking someone their name is like asking a lady with a refined age, ' just exactly how old are you?'
But anyways, I seriously enjoyed the goofing off part and getting to know the women in my settlement better. BUT after the 100th puri (fried roti) had been rolled I was about ready cut all of my fingers so I wouldn't have to do anything. That's about the time when I started getting a headache because my Matajii likes to not only talk to me very quickly in Hindi, but also loudly. So pretty much any attempt I make to understand her is taken over by my nerves because I'm being hollered at. (oh and another thing- don't remember if I mentioned this, but despite the fact that Fijians have such a soft and natural tone when they speak-Hindustani people clearly chose not to adopt this characteristic. They are awesome at reaching octaves I know I can't scream at in 0.2 seconds....so what I'm really saying is that it's a cultural thing when I say 'holler' it's really just talking quickly in a VERY high pitched tone).
But all in all it was a wonderful day, as soon as everyone arrived we had a roti rolling and bean and potato curry demonstration (don't worry mom, I AM learning how to cook). Then we showed all the spices and seasonings Hindustani people use. The Hardi is that stuff I know everyone is thinking of that DOES stain your fingers yellow temporarily. But the food really doesn't taste like the curry I thought of in the US. The mixture of all of their seasonings is SO good. But then we served all the food- palau, pumpkin curry, salad (sliced carrots, cucumbers, cabbage, salt, and chili juice...SO good), been and potato curry, dahl, and rice.
Then we had a short Ramayaan where my older brother came and helped translate what some of the scripture said. My oldest brother is so nice. He said the sweetest thing about me being in their family; he kept saying 'My sister, Chandni,..' which really meant a lot to me. Then he said, in light of all of the volunteers staying in their villages, that even though things can be taken away, that you can be taken away from someone's sight, the memories still remain in the heart. (It sounded a lot better when he said all of it).
During the Ramayaan Krissy and I got to sit on stage though, right next to my Pitajii. At first he put two chairs right in front of and facing the stage for us to sit in (whattt???). Even though everyone else would have been 10 feet behind us. So if you can picture how awkward that would have been, then you feel my pain. But we did end up talking him into letting us sit beside him on stage, so that ended up well.
Then we had the prasaad and the raffle drawings where- get this- I DREW MY OWN NUMBER!!! I couldn't believe it, I feel very lucky here, I feel like in the US I never won anything but I seem to be very lucky here. Thank you Paguan (God in Hindi.)
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
ok I apologize...
tomorrow I will upload stuff...I thought I could upload photos as the PC office but it turns out we can't. SO I'm going to gloria jeans tomorrow and taking care of business.
Monday, July 20, 2009
sorry I haven't posted in a lONG time!
BUUUTTT he're the (small) scoop: Traning has been CRAZY and it's finally coming to an end. We swear in this Thursday so that's really exciting! With moving out of our homestay families' houses and then moving into our own places I am planning on updating my blog like crazy and uploading a bunch of photos. I'm planning on doing that next Wednesday! Oh and from now on I'll need to get mail sent to my home address (which I can't post) SO if you want my address then email me so I can send it to you!
OK sorry it's so shorty but I feel like I'm always in a hurry and dont have time!...but I will soon!
-CHandni
p.s. I got my nose peirced- now I'm a true hindustani woman. :0) seriously...EVERYONE (as in all the women) has their noses pierced here.
OK sorry it's so shorty but I feel like I'm always in a hurry and dont have time!...but I will soon!
-CHandni
p.s. I got my nose peirced- now I'm a true hindustani woman. :0) seriously...EVERYONE (as in all the women) has their noses pierced here.
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