My Pride and Joy:

Here's my little guy. He so made the best curry (mainly because he was the first pumpkin I was able to pick from my patch and not because I'm a good cook.) Here are some pics of my house below and I'll post the rest on my photos on the webpage.

To the right:

This is the outside view of my Pepto Bismal House

This is the chalkboard wall I painted in my kitchen...totally cool.

This is my kitchen..

Notice the concrete floors

and the broken panel

above the window

(That DOES happen

to be literally hanging

on by a thread)

This is my backyard where I dry my clothes(sorry about the unmentionables) :0)

I don't know what I'm doing. Coolio.

So the situation with work at the moment is as follows:

The main guy who practically ran the office decided he needed a month off. I understand that, they over worked him and paid him to little, and he's really cool. But his situation called for an immdeiate vacation and so he left the very next day. Since no one else can run the office like he can, we had to cancel the Diwali Festival Event we were planning which cancelled my plans for the cooking competition. Thats Fijitime for ya. But honestly, it wa probably for the best, right now is a really busy time for the women and I wasn't getting much of a response from them at the moment. So now atthe moment I'm just helping to return emails that come to teh sanatan email. coolio. What am I doing here? I have not a clue. but I like it. I mean, there are 3 parts to my job as a PC volunteer: 1. Share information and skills with people who want to help themselves 2. Learn and experience another culture 3. Share your own culture. At the moment. I think I've maxed out on 2 and I think am doing good on 3. Don't ask me about #1. :0)

cuz you had a bad day.....

...takin' one down just to turn it around.

So, I definitely had a pretty rough day on Thursday...not so much that I was stressed out or anything, just the fact I was sick ALL day long. Here's how the story goes. At the moment I'm really not eating a whole lot of meat. For one, it's expensive, and two, it involves some kind of plucking/peeling/shaving/de-boning. so no thanks. I mean, it's not bad, because it's all fresh, but it just involves work. Anyways, the point is I don't eat a lot of meat unless someone cooks it for me...and in that case, I make it a personal goal to get a meat high. So the other night I went to a co-workers going away party and surprise surprise there was like 4 different kinds of meat. Did I eat them all? Yes. Did I eat too much of every kind? Yes.

Did I get sick later that night and all the next day? YES.

I actually think it wa a combination of the fact I rarely eat meat AND the fact that I think some of it was bad. All I can say is that I had an episode. I REFUSE to go into details about the next day. so use your imagination (I recommend not though). All I can say is THANK YOU SWEET JESUS, JISU, and BHAGUAN that the toilet in my workplace was working (for once) that day. Afterwards I went by the peace corps office to get meds and check mail. And my day really took a turn upward from there!(ish) I checked my mail to find a lovely package from my awesome gal, Lorraine, alias LoCo. I didn't want to open it in the office and decided to save it for later. As I was walking down this giant, steep hill that the peace corps office is on...I kept thinking to myself 'Courtney, you're probably going to slip down this business (yes it HAD been raining all week) so you should slow down'....did I slow down? No. Did I take a giant tumble and cut my hand in 2 places? Yes. After a long ride from Suva to Nausori with a wet butt, things did start turning up. I opened my package from Lorraie to find it filled with all things Peruvian, which was super awesome and really made my day! Then I met my friend Krissy, whose hindi name is sosheila so we call her sushi for short, who gave me a dark chocolate candy bar. Thank you sweet Jisu.

Moral of the story- I think the big guy upstairs IS looking out for me. :0) And shoutout to lorraine for the awesome package!

OK, now I'll post another blog about the crazyness of my job.

-booyah...

p.s. As for me and my pumpkin Theif...he got to me again. Running tally:

Tom Foolery- 5
Chandni- 2 (I made pumpkin curyr which was pretty good! but my roti sucks though)

Netball!

OK so, here in Fiji- Boys play Rugby and girls play Netball. Netball is a combination of basketball and ultimate frisbee. It's pretty much more like ultimate frisbee but you throw a basketball and also the goal that you shoot the basketball into doesn't have a backboard. After coming back form a pooja mid-day and after meeting with the principal on official business, I marched right outside (wearing my fancy Indian clothes...the long shirt with baggy pants) and joined the PE girls. I'm pretty sure they were all laughing at me because not only do I look ridiculous when I run (I'm bowl-legged and stick my butt out when I run...not by choice) and also happened to be wearing hilarious bright yellow indian clothes, so I don't blame them. I think my favorite part of this game was how no one was wearing shoes! I'm pretty sure the only game people wear shoes with is soccer because you have to kick the ball. My feet are definitely a lot rougher now since I've been here but I was shocked at how I didn't notice I wasn't wearing shoes while playing. Totally reminded me of my 'off shoes' day(s) back in college with all my best friends- special shoutout to all my afc-ers. Yes, I DID walk into restrooms (in the USA..NOT in Fiji) wearing no shoes. I'm going to see that as God's way of getting me ready for Fiji. haha But all in all it was a fun game and I am planning on playing with them again for sure. And another special shoutout to someone who would personally enjoy the fact they have something similar to ultimate frisbee here in Fiji. Kudos to the guy with the alias 'Jazz Hands', someone whom I think would definitely rock netball. haha

Ok, miss you guys! :0)

J to the O to the B

Ok so I know a lot of people have been asking what exactly it is that I've been doing so here is the response:



There happen to be 2 answers to this question-



1. I think I've been to a million pooja's (which of course take the whole evening) and therefore have to stay where I'm at. Oooh the joys of not having a car. :0) And I've also been invited to about half of the Hindustani population's houses for dinner here in Nausori...so thats cool. On one side it's great to visit with people, they're always very excited to have me over and to talk with me in Hindi. Yet on the other side I feel like I am never at home sometimes! I feel like I'm always carrying my overnight bag with me. Days will go by and I'll realie I havent seen my neighbors in quite some time. I'm thinking it's just for now...just because I'm new and everyone wants to be entertained by this white girl speaking terrible Hindi.



2. I honestly don't have a clue as to what I've been doing. I know I've been commuting, so thats on thing during the day....like seriously, it sucks that my house is so far away from my job...it's about a 1hr and 15 min door-to-door commute. I get on bus to go to Nausori town, then I catch anotherbus/minivan to Nabua town, then I walk up a hill and sit with the lady who runs a snacks stand right outside the school that my office is in. We shoot the bull for about 15 minutes, she sometimes gives me treats, and then I hop into work. SO total it's about a 3 hour time period taken out of my day. This is where books come in handy. But my initial job description said I would only be in Nabua for 2 days a week but now it's looking like it's going to be more like 3-5.

Here's the low down- initially my organization said they would soon be building a vocational school (a school for drop-out-ish type kids who learn hands on things they might need for the real world, like agriculture, sewing, etc.) out here on the compound of this school that I'm living at. And I'm suppose to help with managing that vocational school- and thats why they put me all teh way out here in Wainibokasi. BUT BUT BUT seeing as everything is on Fiji time and this is a religious organzation with only retired teachers as workers (aka they're not very motivated) I honestly don't see this school getting built until the day I leave. Sooooo thats cool I guess. And my job has all of these GIANT goals that I wouldn't be able to finish in 10 years...That's one thing about Hindi people, they are very driven (which is great), but I feel like the people at my work are wanting to move their organization from a small religious one (it's about the equivalent to working at as a church volunteer in theUS of A's. But keep in mind they have no resources and no manpower) to a giant American sized, well oiled machine, type of organization.

So some things that I'm working on at the moment: 1. My org is putting on this Diwali Festival, The Festival of Lights aka similiar to our Christmas, on October 10th. Their goal is to spread awareness of Diwali (even though many ppl know about it and already celebrate it...Fijians and Indo-Fijians) and of course..to celebrate it with food! SO in light of that I'm starting a (hopefully, soon to be annual if it goes well) cooking competition for the ladies to help raise some money! I think it's going ot be good, it's just goingto be an Indian Sweets contest with 3 categories: Barfi, Gulab Jamun, and Govinda. I'm actually really excited about this and am excited ot go around to the different womens groups and announce it to them. 2. My org always puts out a Diwali 'Magazine' to sell at this event (they're more like programs...but they kind of stink aka a bunch of members just buy half pages and write speeches in them. That being the kind of stuff that NO ONE READS. we all know it's true.) But this year I'm helping them improve it by making it more useful to people with recipes, coloring pages for kids, funny pages, helpful household tips, and NO personal messages. So hopefully that will work out. 3. I may start doing yoga classes and healthy eating sessions out of my house. I feel like there is an interest for it and I'm pretty sure these women have never heard of a calorie. They also just might have a heart attack if they knew how bad tons of fried foods are for you. (And just to defend Indian food....it's really not bad in moderation, I definitely eat all kinds of vegetables and such. It's just more foods are cooked in oil than not. And when I say fried I mean either battered and deep fried or just cooked in oil). 4. I actually spoke with the principal yesterday about teaching a class once a week about how to run your own business out of your home! I'm excited abotu that because that sounds right up my alley! AND just after meeting with the principal I marched right outside to play netball with the PE girls.

So that may sound like a lot but a lot of these things actually developed within the last week. So I feel a little less lost with my life. PLUS I got a pumpkin from my backyard:

Pumpkin Thief- 4
Chandani -1 (and climbing...I SO have another two and I'm hiding them again)

Pumpkin Thieves

That's right...I've got one.


Damnit.

I can't tell you guys how I was initially SO excited when I arrived at my empty house to find that there is a blossoming pumpkin plant spreading through my backyard. (like in my mind it made up for the fact my house had no chairs or shelves). This hardworking plant of mine has produced 6 PUMPKINS since I have moved in. And would you like to know how many I've actually gotten to eat? ZERO.

Seriously, every day I go out to check on my little pumpkin babies and get to excited to see them grow (knowing that one day I will so enjoy making pumpkin curry), waiting patiently day by day (by day by day) so that they'll get just the right size to pick and then -count it- the past 4 TIMES that I've gone out on the MORNING OF to pick them.....I come to find a little empty space in the grass where my lovely pumpkin was nestled a mere 10 hours before. Are Paguan.

Please Mr. Pimpkin Man, you can have my pumpkins...but I just want one, man!
In honor of my favorite girlies, I have 4 words for him: 'Get Lost Tom Foolery!'

As for the light at the end of the tunnel there just so happens to be 2 more pumpkins growing. And by george I've done my best to hide them in the vines. We shall see who wins this next round Sir Tricks-A-Lot, for it shall be I, the Maiden of the Pumpkin-Patch-Protectors.


ahaha and fyi I just read what I wrote just now and realized that maybe just maybe the lonliness of being a peace corps volunteer may or may not be playing tricks on my mind. Or maybe it's the rooster that crows every morning at 4:30 am.

Pray for my Pumpkins Please.
xoxo-Court

Hibiscus Festival 2009

So my friend Julie is working at the Kidney Foundation and asked for some help with her float. Being the helpful volunteer that I am (slash secretly wanting to fulfill my personal mission to someway be in the parade) of course I said yes. So what did helping the Kidney Foundation mean? Dressing up as a Kidney Bean of course! so...that also happened. My friend Sean posted some pics up on facebook of this wonderful day, so check those out if you want! The float was totally rockin' our pageant girl should have won for sure. Next year I'm making it a personal goal to be a judge of this pageant...and I think I'm on my way. Mom, I know you always said I should be a judge when I grow up but you never said what kind.

Bainimarama is my boyfriend...

Well almost. I don't think I ever wrote about that time when myself and a fellow ghori (white girl) danced (shook our thangs beyonce style) 5 FEET in front of the PRIME MINISTER BAINIMARAMA.....yes, that happened. This all came about because of the PEACE CORPS actually. After we performed our dance at the family appreciation day, our was chosen to be performed at the Ambassadors house for swearing-in. From there, thanks to Fiji TV 1, our dance was shown on TV (which I'm SO GETTING A COPY OF...it will be on my profile soon, hopefully- Fijitime). Form there one of my bosses who was giving me money to buy a fridge 'asked'/told me he wanted me to perform an item. Cool. So Krissy and I sat up on stage next to my Pitajii, who cracks me up, for the Girmit Festival. Actually this festival is only for Indo-Fijians. The term Girmit comes from the word 'Agreement' which was from the Hindu indentured servants that were brought over from India. This festival honors those ancestors. And I personally can't think of a better way to shake it like a salt shaker for Mr. Bainimarama himself. coolio.

2 words: MAGNUM BARS

Special shoutout to anyone and everyone who has heard of these badboys: Mamalo fo sho, DaniG, Sara, and fellow study abroad gals. I can't tell you how ECSTATIC I was when I saw these heavenliest of all heavens ice cream bars here in FIJI....which is crazy. Are Bhaguan. I actually haven't had one yet because they happen to be like $6.50 which is super expensive. So I'm waiting for that special, perfect sunshiney day when I'm in Nausori town and want nothing more than this delectable treat. I just thought I'd share my excitement about these treats, because they SO deserve the kudos. :0) haha