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)