Sometimes....it's not all gravy, baby.

So I had a cultural misunderstanding this past weekend....I was at my host-bro's(he's more like an uncle) house because there was a party for his sons 21st birthday. My host bro invited me to come swimming with everyone, which of course 'everyone' was only the men because the women are always so shy. But they know that I'm not shy to swim and so it's always been fine that I play in the pool with them. That night though, all the men had been drinking a bit as it was a party, but no one was hammered so I figured it would be ok. My host bro was fully dressed too...so when I went to the pool all the men were at one side...some of them were in their underwear (but that's just how some of the ppl swim here). I went ahead and got in; however, the whole time I felt awkward. So I stayed on the side that was farthest from the men and closest to the house but there were still a bunch of people around. So my host sister called me out of the water and when I got out my host mom called me naughty for swimming with the boys, and slapped me on the shoulder. I wanted to cry. I showered and then went to bed. I felt super embarrassed too. It was really frustrating and its times like that when I get really frustrated that I can't read the situation fully. Ultimately,  I knew I shouldn't have gotten in the water, but at the time I just wasn't sure and just kind of went with it. That's how I get by here: by just adapting and 'going with it'. But I don't think I could explain that here. Anyways, I was able to explain myself the next day and it was ok. Plus there was tons of leftover birthday cake so it was all good and I still enjoyed visiting with all the women regardless!

Chandani's gone global....

One fine morning while at the office, a man comes by to drop off the 2011 phone books. I died of laughter/embarrassment when I found a little something at the top of column 2 on pg.122 from that phone book. Take a peek my friends.

 Random success in the office: A while back I had heard of  National Toothbrushing Day that was being supported by the Ministry of Health. I got a hold of the forms and faxed them, along with a letter explaining what it was,  to all the schools that were affiliated with my organisation. I never heard anything back from it and assumed that nothing had come of it. A few months later we received the yearbook from one of our schools...in the events section, I saw this and practically jumped for joy!

Hooray Boobies!

Breast Cancer Workshops!

Go Boobies!

 I don't think I've had a more successful yet LONGER two weeks in Fiji. After a quick weekend visit with two great gals (where although it was pouring the whole time, we still enjoyed eating sweet treats and coffee with homemade, 14 year aged Kahlua...thank you Audrey's Sweets), I headed to the village for a week visiting other vol's- I got a chance to help out Sally with her 2 workout sessions a day with the Fijian women, and also with her literacy testing program. I don't think I've laughed harder than when the kids joined us for the afternoon exercise sessions and were enjoying making farting noises while doing the squats....not to mention the fact it was totally mayhem with 20 kids bouncing everywhere and then also 15 women trying to get a workout. SUCH a good time.

Sally and her exercise classes with her village

Making bookmarks for her literacy program

 After that I began my week of Hindi-ness where each day I stayed in a different location and did breast cancer workshops with each womens group in that area. Although I informed my contacts over a month ago that I would be coming on these dates, things couldn't have been more on Fiji time! It worked out though (just like it always does) and I had at least 12 women at every workshop. They went SO WELL though; Indian women are suppose to be/act more shy by nature and so it was great to show them that these things are natural and need  to be talked about. I cracked a few jokes to get things feeling easy, and made them practice rubbing their boobs just for fun..which is always hilarious.

Teaching the women about exercising

I ended up having this RANDOM, last minute exercise classes with the women. It took a lot of encouraging to get them to do it, but all of a sudden (totally fiji time) it happened and the women were ready. I started with some basic steps, which turned into them just bouncing around...which hey, they're moving so I'll take it.  At first I thought the ladies would never do this again but then felt super accomplished when one lady, who didn't really get into it until the end, said 'After Diwali, we are so doing this every week!' I felt like screaming 'YESS!' ....mission accomplished....capacity built (a peace corps term)...done and done.

Teaching about how to open an email account and also about websites!

And although Hindi food is delicious, it got pretty difficult talking in Hindi 24/7 for a week straight. Plus there's the extra factor of being a single, american female...it gets exhausting when women repetitively try to get me to marry their sons. These people are relentless. And at first I would get angry because in America we don't care about color of the persons skin...we're interested on what's inside. So it's not only a giant insult that they want me to marry their sons based on my looks, but also the fact that I don't even know/or like their sons. But then you realize marriages are different here, love is seen as something that comes over time, and is shown in how hard you work for you family. So I can't judge it...but it still really annoys me when people say they want to marry me so they can go to America. But then you feel kinda bad because some of them are really poor and just want to escape their lives....and I get that. I feel fortunate to come from awesome family & friends and to have been raised having so many amenities. These people don't have a lot.

Loved this lady.....she was making Goorama aka sweet mango chutney

From the night I was Chief Guest...sitting with  My 'Grog Uncle'

  Next day though I was OVER visiting with people/was exhausted because didn't good sleep past 2 nights, but I think God was teaching me a lesson in patience when I went to a lady's house and was visiting some more (really annoyed in the beginning) but our conversation ended so amazingly. We just started talking about God, and how it doesn't really matter what the name of your god is: Phaguan, Jesus, Raam, etc but as long as you just believe. Because all the holy books pretty much say the same thing: be good people, give to one another. I even got a little teary-eyed when I realized it was a Sunday and how I haven't been to church in so long and just felt like this was even better than being in a sermon. so thanks Chisu.  It was nice to have someone to have that kind of conversation with, I really liked that lady. They were poor as can be (in a sense they don't make a lot of money...but then again  if you're a farmer you don't really need much money), and yet she still sent me away with 3 tubs of food.

whilst making papaya curry: don't cut chilies and then put your contacts in. Lesson Learned

With Moss in her village near the sea...on our way to Church.

Random: While on the northern island, we had a party that combined one girl's birthday, one girl's going away, and also halloweenie. I was a bula cleopatra, it was a TON of fun. However, it got a little crazy when we started playing flip cup. scratch that...the craziness started whenever all chugged beers to see who would win the last three pieces of AMERICAN chocolate cake (like the BOXED Duncan Hines kind and the TUB of icing...that stuff is gold). I've never chugged faster in my entire life...and I totally won that cake.

Anyways....had a blast. hope you guys enjoy and weren't too bored! :0)

Laminating Machines and Caesar Salads

So I know I don't usually post things about what I'm actually doing here all that often, so this is dedicated to my family back home who say that I 'vacation way too much' ;0)

What I've been working on lately has been: the Sanatan Scrapbook, photo shown to the left, where we put all of our newspaper clippings, invitations, etc; Compost bin- still a work in progress, suppose to be painting it this week...but knowing Fiji, it'll be another week or two; Our Diwali Edition Newsletter, Diwali is their really big celebration: 'Festival of Lights' and similar to our Christmas; Facebook profile and group page for my organization in an effort to reach out to youth; Maintaining our website using googlesites... These are some of my main projects I've been working on among many other small, 'day-to-day' ones.


Laminating Machine Story
So we found this old, small laminating machine when
we shifted to our new office. Roshni was too scared to use it so I said
we'd bust it out and have a go at it, especially since we were in
desperate need of one to make our membership certificates (and were worried because we knew there was no money for one). Turns out
it's embarrassingly easy to laminate things. After our first laminated membership certificate came out...Roshni and I seriously did a happy dance in the office...it's the little things.

Random but goodie. This one I came across on my visit to Sigatoka town....
What the Typical Caesar Salad in Fiji consists of:
a salad mixed with an Italian + Mayonnaise dressing (barf), boiled chicken, and topped with a fried egg. wtf.

And the following are just typical realizations from life in Fiji. :0) Despite everything, I really do love this place. 

You know you've been in Fiji too long when:
-As you go to use the restroom, you go to pull your shorts up (instead of down) seeing as you wear skirts that often.
-You have conversations with yourself in the mirror, especially in a British accent (shoutout to my besties). 100% pathetic. 
-you don't get shocked when you see piles of ants carrying away your toenail clippings to feast on later.  That happened. [As a side note I think I really just have an ant problem...In fact, the other day I killed a giant spider and thought I'd keep it to send home to my little bro in an envelope. Next morning I woke up, and thought 'hey, where'd that dead spider go...I could have sworn I put it right here last night.' I then looked around for it on the floor thinking I had knocked it off the table or something. Nope. It was being carried away by a bunch of ravenous ants.]

Less is S'more

Tuli/Jewels showing them how it's done!

kids enjoying the s'mores

Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli, super proud of my guns!

Dancing to Footloose at Levuka's finest (only) Bar

Is this real? At the Bishop's Temple where the first Bishop is buried

After a 6 hour trip to get to Jewels island, Ovalaou, we started off the night right with Pizza and Fiji Bitter at the one (and only) club in Levuka town (the oldest town and previous capitol of Fiji). We definitely got the party started early (which I've noticed it's something that Volunteers just do- it's a mix btw having lost ALL shame and also going to bed early out of boredom/no sunlight). We managed to dance to footloose TWICE and didn't mind that we were the only ones on the dance floor (and also barefoot at that).

 After getting to Jewels village (super late...like 10pm) we still did our savusavu (customary when you enter a village as a visitor, you present them with the local grog as a gift for having you, some words are said, then you all partake in a few bowls of grog around the grog bowl). And despite being so tired and somehow slightly buzzed, we both still pounded about -6 bowls of grog, which I SERIOUSLY enjoyed. I forgot how much I really enjoy Fijian villages and their tight sense of communtiy, and Tuli's (Jewels') village was easy going and light hearted....which makes for all the better grog drinking. :0) 

Jewels and I slept HARD that night as we had both beer and Grog in the same night, but still woke up early the next morning to some chocolate chip pancakes and AMAZING snorkeling RIGHT OFF THE COAST aka her BACKYARD.  I see how she's practically living my dream (small hut, right off the shore, small village, random island, minimal electricity). *sigh* but then it's times like these where I have to tell myself 'hey, everywhere you go has its pros and cons'. And it really is true, and ultimately I know I'm meant to be where I am. And maybe it's good that I'm not there so when I visit other villages I can really appreciate it. SO, after yummy pancakes, great snorkeling (lots of soft coral, clown fish, swordfish, possible barracuda [at which point we turned around], etc) we just relaxed and made some deliciouso vegetarian sushi. Naptime was THE best as you could hear waves crashing against the shore and the coconut trees rustling in the wind...yes, paradise in a sense that it's beautiful. However not so much when you don't have that cabana boy to bring you your beer ;0)

So the next day was filled with LOTS of cooking, which we really enjoyed! It's been on Tuli and I's list to make homemade bagels in her makeshift oven when I came. And by gosh, we succeeded. We made perfect little bagel babies that we were so proud of. And later on that day we somehow churned out some french apple cake AND pumpkin ravioli. (see pictures above..I must admit, all that clothes washing has thoroughly paid off). It's times like these where you realize how much processed food Americans eat and how much more fun it is to try and make it yourself!

Later on that evening we made a campfire and made s'mores with a lot of the village kids. It was so funny to see how EXCITED they would get to make their own. Super cute. My favorite was Julie's friend, Laviti, who was a teenager from her vil that not only shared our American style enthusiasm for s'mores but also had on a shirt that said 'Less is S'more'. 100% Baller. And another little thing that gave me a chuckle was how the locals pronounced it...more of a sAh-more. cute.

And as a 'Goodbye Chandani! We'll miss you!' gift, what else could Ovalaou offer but over 113 mosquito and bed bug bites? Priceless. Turns out the sponge we borrowed from the neighbors for me to sleep on was infested with some extra critters who like to cuddle.  And I also have a new found respect for Tuli as I realized how rough the trip is back to the capital is for her. You have to wake up at 3am, be out by the road by 3:30am (in hopes the carrier doesn't come too early, which has happened in the past) and wait until your ride comes by at 4:30am-ish and takes you into town. Then the bus leaves at 5am which you stay on for an hour. Then the bus drives onto a ferry- which you can get up and walk around on but it's still only 6am and you're not really in the mood. After an hour on the ferry then it's back on the bus for another 1 1/2 hrs into town. Therefore a salute is in order to my good friend. :0) But it was worth it though because I had a really great time visiting Tuli's Village!

Can't really see them, but the bed bug bites are THERE

the good AND the bad

so a long time ago I threw out the idea that we should have a weekly team meeting to go over our projects, updates, etc. aka how it is in America. It happened about once in the beginning after the idea was thrown out,  but then kind of fizzled. However, we just started it back up again as my co-worker mentioned he wanted to make this a very professional office. I was thrilled and thought it was a great idea...every Wednesday at 3pm. We had our first one this week, and although it started out great (and finished well I would say)...somewhere in the middle I got called racist by a different co-worker. In his defense I think he mistakenly interpreted me saying 'don't insult my intelligence' for 'I'm more intelligent than you'...so who knows. Luckily I controlled myself and followed up how it's common for teams to have problems but that it's important to handle them in a professional, constructive, and polite manner. However I did get back at him just a little when I turned to him and said 'For example, calling me racist was out of line.'  I don't want to get into the details as it's not important, but basically it got pulled out as one of those 'I've got nothing else so this is a last resort' kind of line.  anyways, still felt it was a successful meeting as it opened the door for the team to meet once a week to talk and get these problems out! I know this isn't the happiest of blogs but I just want to be real about stuff! Oh and to end on a good note- went to a dance show for elementary school kids and I will say that I had a great time as Fiji NEVER lets me down on providing bumpin' songs...plus sneaking some grog in added to the fun!

It happens to the best of us...

me and my pills

Well everyone, this definitely isn't my proudest moment. I was really hoping that I would be able to say I went a full two years without getting one; sadly, Fiji has gotten the best of me. Late Friday night, my armpit started feeling a little funny and just a bit sore. Thought it would go away, but when I arose the next morning panic shot through my body. 'Sweet Jisu (Jesus)! It can't be...it just can't be! I swear I have good hygiene and shower multiple times a day, I just don't understand, how did this happen to me?But wait, I did shave my underarms yesterday morning..could it have? No..but then how?'.  That's right people, just half a day after shaving my underarms in the morning, a boil the size of a marble had formed in my armpit. They're very common here and almost impossible to avoid. I personally think it has a lot to do with cold showers, but you'll hear all kinds of reasons. Tell you what though, I was at the Peace Corps Medical Office so fast like a hook worm on your toe. awesome.

This  photo is of my healing dog bite. It wasn't bad at all and it only bled a few drops. My host brother's dog bit me (in it's defense it only wanted to play. Animals are treated horribly here and are not looked upon as pets. In my effort to show them that dogs could be nice and playful, their biggest dog got the best of me. I felt bad because he only wanted to play more and only bit me when I walked away). Anyway, for some reason when you get bites or cuts here....your skin kind of goes brown and then after a few weeks goes back to normal, not sure why.

Thought I'd post this to show my finger fungus (that I first noticed I had on the plane over to America for my sister's wedding). I'm pretty sure I got it while planting seeds in my garden..but it's almost back to normal now. The nail grew off and it's almost back to a normal length. I think it would have been healed much sooner had I actually stuck with taking the pills to get rid of finger fungi. However, seeing as they're hard on your liver, I opted not to as I drink too much grog in the evenings. It's Fiji. :0)


Other than my ailments, I had a really good time in Sigatoka (quaint town on the coral coast) visiting other volunteers in the area and also selling our Sanatan paraphernalia at our soccer tournament. This photo is from an old bridge along the Sigatoka river that was halfway destroyed because of a flood/cyclone a few years ago. Sean lives in a village just off the coast where he's done a lot with marine center at a neighboring resort. I'm totally jealous but every site has it's positives and negatives....but still I'm jealous. :0) We made some super tasty bruschetta and homemade muesli which I WILL be making again. Super fun trip and super glad I went!

Sean in his village!

sitting on the old Sigatoka Bridge

At our table selling Sanatan Logo stuff!

Fresh Fish, Cold Showers, and Cochroaches....Oh My!

My 'Uncle' Cleaning some Sambutu Fish!

Then I had a go...

So I went to the neighbors house last Sunday because they said they wanted to learn how to make American cinnamon apple oatmeal! When they eat something with oats, they add plenty milk and they call the stuff porridge. Plus it's super sweet. So I told them I would come over one morning and show them how to make my kind of oatmeal, withOUT milk (they were slightly astonished). Turns out they didn't like it all that much (of course) because it wasn't super sweet and it had something healthy in it. But my 'Uncle' (they don't call ppl by names here) there said that he had specially brought some Sambutu fish fresh for the market just for me. At first, not going to lie, I was a little annoyed b/c I had plans to just RELAX and not visit with any locals as it can get quite exhausting (mostly because I'm talking in Hindi). But then I said if he showed me  how to clean the fish and make the fish curry, I'd come back for lunch. So we picked up the fish scraper and went at it! I was actually laughing the whole time as fish scales were flying everywhere, one actually got stuck to my forehead. They too were laughing just as much as me as they'd never seen a white girl scrape a fish. I SUPER enjoyed it. :0) Then my 'Auntie' showed me how to make some pretty delicious fish curry with coconut milk (a version I'd never had before). And It totally makes me laugh b/c from the photo below, it reminds me of something you'd see only in movies, like Indian Jones for example when they're eating the eyeballs and monkey brains. I felt totally cool sucking out the juices from the fish head when we were eating, but then reality struck whenever I ate a fish bone. woops. Regardless, it was worth it and tasted freaking amazing....despite it's harsh appearance. :0)

Don't judge it by its looks....trust me.

Tips for taking cold showers:

1. Just commit: You stink, you smell, and you know you need to shower- so don't delay it. Once you've turned on the water and it's going full force, immediately go in. The longer you wait, the more you'll want to cry.

2. Sometimes when it's super cold, a Happy Dance is required. Force a smile on your face, start dancing, and I promise you'll start laughing at the fact the water is so cold (or at the fact you're dancing in the shower). Never mind if that laughing might lead to crying/yells of pain.

3. Get these parts of your body wet first as they're the worst: your hair, your back, and in some cases, the hair on your back.

4.Whilst shampooing & conditioning, leave at least 3/4 of your body in the water. It'll make it easier to rinse your head if most of your body is still under the shower head.

5. Move fast.

6. Be efficient. The better your scrub, the longer you can put off another shower.

7. Don't waste your time shaving. Your leg hairs will re-grow instantly when you go to rinse them. Trust me.

Just a few questions I thought I'd throw out there:

-How do roaches crawl into my fridge to die?

-Why are there roaches in my tubs of dry pasta noodles?

-How are there weavel-like slash scorpion-ish bugs in my buckets of: rice, chickpeas, and lentils?

Workin' 9-5....

These photos were taken at the Akhand Ramayaan (Continuous Praising/Singing) that went on for 2 nights and 3 days!

My main project that I've been working on lately were these Sanatan Logo Pens. They're shown in the photo on the left. I know you can't really see them closely but they look great. All the profits go to Sanatan, which once we've sold all 2000, should give us around 2000$ profit. It's not much but it's a start. At the Ramyaaan we sold around 160 pens.  Roshni and I had a fun (yet exhausting time) selling the pens. I know back home, when I'd reach a point of exhaustion, I become delirious and will start saying and doing random/ridiculous things. In the wee hours of the night, that definitely started and Roshni and I couldn't control ourselves, and being in a different culture of course was just an added bonus point of hilariousness. :0)

Something else I'm SUPER excited about...is moving into our new office! We're packing this week and we're set to move on Monday. This means we'll finally have an office that's set up for a professional atmosphere. I know that seems silly, but I feel like it's really going to change things in a good way. PLUS there I'll be able to make a compost pit so we can start recycling and composting. 100% pumped.

And I'm proud to be an American...

......because at least I know I'm free...(plus we have way better food) :0)

So I ended up going to Raki Raki, the northern part of the main island, to spend a night in 2 of the other volunteers' villages. It was great, I had a lot of fun hanging out with the other vol's. One couple, Chris and Nan, have this awesome traditional Fijian home- aka the roof and walls are made of layers of leaves, grass, and weaving of leaves. They also are near to a cool river which, had I lived there, is definitely floatable w/ an inner tube. (mehhhh the Guadalupe).  On Sunday morning we were scheduled for a dive, BUT seeing as the appointments are scheduled by Fijian hands, they of course lost our reservation and so we were unable to go. So that morning started off a little crumby as we woke up super early (actually in all fairness the roosters woke me up at 4am...not the alarm) to get to the dive shop only to find out we're not going. From there we headed to a retired PCV's, John and Judy, house, where we were having our 4th of July party at. Their place was super nice- WITH a pool! We took a small boat that John had made out that morning to a deserted island. It was BEAUTIFUL, very picturesque. We napped on the beach for a bit, then Lydia and I headed out for some snorkeling. At first, it was a pretty good snorkel, pretty stuff but nothing out of the ordinary....THEN. I hear Lydia scream through her snorkel- 'Look it's an OCTOPUS!' They're unbelievably rare here because they not only can change skin color, but also change skin texture! It was SOOO COOL. We're talking Captain Jack Sparrow cool. Lydia and I (of course) picked up a stick and were gently poking it, trying to get it to come out of it's home. It was a purple, orange, and white-ish octopus (really pretty actually) and when I stuck the stick in, it grabbed on pretty hard with it's suckers! So as we're poking it....I start thinking, and the following is my random/ridiculous thought process:
'I wonder if I stuck my hand in there, will it sucker itself to me? Could I be able to pull it out? Would it ink me? I hope it does actually, then I could say I've been inked on. This thing is easily the size of my head....I wonder, if I were able to get it out and put it on my head, would it cover my whole head. Then I could be like Captain Barbosa.' Yes. I thought about all of that.

Anyways, so that super made my morning. It's legs were easily the size of my ankle and I won't forget how it shot out a 'poop string'. That's right. At first I thought it was ink, but it didn't form a cloud. It shot out what looked like a few strands of brown string about 2 feet up into the water. Then a small parrot fish came up and started eating it....so that happened. And for the rest of the day, if you had to go #2, you had to say you had to go make a poop string. :0) I love PCV's.

This is a photo that I found that is pretty close to the coloring of the octopus that we came across. Except the one we saw had a 'face' that was a dark plum with a baggy-head thing that was spotted with purple, orange, and pink. oh and the photo at the top is of Lydia and myself pointing to the area where we saw the octopus!

And for the rest of the afternoon we had REAL burgers, (although I had a Mexican veggie burger), grilled chicken- which was super yummy, POTATO SALAD, baked beans, RANCH DIP AND CHIPS, ICED TEA, and for dessert...sweet Chisu (Jesus) there was cake and ice cream, cheesecake, pecan pie, and rice krispie treats. I love america. After we chowed down, we just hung out, played some jams, shot some Fireworks!!! Which honestly, when I say fireworks in Fiji...picture the cheapest firework you can find in America...and that would be the equivalent of what are our 'best' fireworks. :0) Regardless a few of us vol's had a roman candle fight which MADE my day. Seriously, I love them.

What have I been doing with my life for the past year?

That title seems to be a common thought amongst volunteers. At first, when someone asks you, what you've done/what you're currently working on...it's hard to come up with something to say as the things we've done/doing seem so basic. But then once you brainstorm and put the things you've done into words- it actually sounds super badass. For example: just doing little things like creating a sign with official office hours, making sure people talk in a polite manner, making sure people make their own tea and do their own dishes, etc. seems so small-scale it's not even funny. But then you put it into professional terms and voila!: Establishing professional work environment in which employees are treated fairly and equally respected. woohoo! I feel so helpful. ;0)

Anyways, we just had our annual mid-service training with all of the volunteers. It was super fun to be in a nice hotel and eat DELICIOUS food, AND hang out with old and new volunteers. At this conference they also had an annual Peace Corps Run where I ran my first 10k!! I actually did really well, I forgot to time myself exactly but I think I did it in about 48 minutes. And I didn't even train- whoop!

Monday was a SUPER fun night, it started out at our Manager's house, where she made us some AWESOME mexican food for dinner and then baked banana chocolate boats w/brownies aka best day of my life. The new volunteers found out what site they'll be at so that was super fun too. then of course we all went out dancing. Melissa and I discovered the coolness of 'seat dancing' it's so much less  pressure than actually dancing. When you're standing, you have to worry about your whole body looking cool while dancing. Whereas, if you're dancing from you chair, it's only your shoulders. And it doesn't take much to look super cool. haha I know that's random and lame. whatev. The night couldn't have ended more badass aka went for a swim WITH my clothes on (which was great b/c they smelt of smoke and would have had to wash them anyway).

There were plenty of funny moments from this conference but some are definitely worth mentioning:
Upon talking about the challenges of capacity building with locals, this was said by Brain:
'So I get it: capacity building is the only way this project can work.
And I also get it: There's no way it's going to happen.....But, I'm doing it.'
It might not make sense, but it really shows how a lot of volunteers feel whilst working on projects in Fiji. :0)

Another funny is how Labasa (the largest city on the northern island) claims that it's 'Now Crime Free'. good gosh. that's what great about living in a developing country...you can make any claim and people just might believe you. awesome.

ok, this one got kind of long. sorry about that. I like to write this stuff as I'm not keeping a diary, I like blogging better. :0) It's just too ridiculous not to share with everyone.

Nukomoco and Firewalking!

This one is a post from 2 weeks ago that I accidentally forgot to publish. oh well- here it is!

TONS of Indian fried treats: 400 calories

7 cups of tea with full cream milk: 500 calories

Catching up with my old host village where everyone feels like family: PRICELESS

I know I put this on my facebook status, but I had to blog it too so that I remember how I felt this past weekend. It was super fun to catch up with everyone AND my old Hindi Master Mahend jii came too, so it really felt like home. :0) I also did a training with the new village that is hosting the new group of vol's that just came. It was SO fun! They were SO happy to have me- I almost felt bad, I think my Hindi Master like super talked me up. It was funny, they of course fed me way too much and sent me away with jewelry. the usual. :0) But that night I had THE FUNNEST time, sitting around drinking grog with some of the local PC staff, my hindi teacher, and some other locals from the settlement.

That Sunday I also got a chance to go an annual Firewalking Pooja that's done within the South Indian custom. It was super cool, these men and women fast all day, do very long cleansing programs, walk about 2 miles barefoot from the sea to the temple, and then have to walk over piping hot coals 3 times each. Crazy.

Fall Cleaning in Fiji:

What would that entail???

• scrubbing off mold from dressers, towels, shoes and bathing suits
• sweeping/wiping cockroach poo from......everywhere
• de-bugging my entire house, not excluding inside my dresser drawers and drawer itself

As for work, I've been busy. Seeing as my religious organisation is NOT a business, and that it's in desperate need of an income, I've been brainstorming some ideas to get some cash flow. Therefore, at this year's annual Sanatan soccer convention my goal is to have sanatan logo pens, sanatan logo silicone yellow bracelets, and also mini-sanatan flags. And actually I just announced it to my org and they are super excited about it- woohoo! So that should keep me occupied for the moment as I have no idea where to import these things from.

Also something random I thought I'd mention as I hope it will give you a chuckle: the ability of most Indo-Fijian women to narrate everything they're doing as they're doing it. It's like they're constantly talking 'gang-plan' and after a while (like 5 min) it gets OLD. I have to talk myself out of going crazy sometimes, but then I realize that I think it might be stemmed from the fact that most Info-Fijian women have 1. not been able to attend school and 2. have not taken a prominent position in the workforce. (They're mostly in non-decision making roles) Therefore what else would they have to talk about besides their daily domestic events? Then again, I feel like men do it to sometimes, they say those things that are just assumed in a conversation. ANd then once they've agreed on everything, then they say it again just to re-iterate. Plus I think the culture just requires that you talk a lot. AND talk in a high-pitched/border-line yelling tone. So that's fun! ;0) It makes me laugh.

Back to Basics

I'm pretty sure most of you know I had a WONDERFUL time back home; it was definitely needed!

I finally got back to my house just last night. The new PC volunteers arrive today actually, and I signed up to help train them on all things Hindu. So this past Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I've been at a TOT (TOT= Training of Trainers) workshop at the PC office. At first I was annoyed I was nervous since I wasn't going to have time to drop my stuff off at my house then come back into Suva, but by the time I arrive in Suva on Sunday, I was quite happy I was getting to stay at the Cap Hotel for those few days- just to sorry of 'detox' from America and ease myself back into the Fijian way slowly. :0) Although, I will say the first meal I had there (well, minus the cream bun I had for breakfast which I had very much missed) was a PB & Marshmallow creme puff sandwich aka all things American. :0)

I spoke with some of the older vol's about by not-so-much-excited-about-retuning attitude and they said they ALL felt that way. They said it takes about a week and then you feel like you HAVE been rejuvenated. Plus I spoke with another vol and she said that if she went home at this point she definitely wouldn't come back; so I HAD to give myself a pat on the back. :0) I'm excited to meet the new volunteers though, I think their excitement will be refreshing!

AND Best news of all, I came back to the office today (where I met my goodhi aka Roshni, the reason I come to this crazy office) and she told me that since I've been away, the office has been pleasant to work in...which I know that sounds silly, but that's something I've been working on since day one. It's hard being a woman in a developing country and as a worker, they often get used and abused (not physically of course). And over time, I've been trying to get people to make little changes so that the office is not only a good one to work in but also efficient. So that made my day today! I always worry about Roshni and what will happen after I leave and how she'll be treated, but it meant so much to me that things were ok. whew!

Overall, it's good to be back though! It's back to picking fresh veggies and fruits from the backyard and cleaning mold off my things. I DO love this place! :0)

Why is EVERYTHING molding!?!?!?

Here's a list of the following things that have started molding at my place:

• suitcases
• PASSPORT
• cooking chopsticks (yes, I use them...I make tempura sometimes)
• my roti roller
• shoes
• dressers
• small handbag
• almost all of my hand towels
• bathing suit
• leather journal
• PILLS(actually that's incorrect, but they have succumbed to the moisture)
  

What.the.hell.
Don't get me wrong, I love Fiji; but there's just things that set you back sometimes...like mold for example.

Doesn't this kid scare ya' just a bit?

He sure shocked the hell outta me when I turned to see him. No really, I jumped back a bit...I kind of felt bad. At many of the South Indians' functions, it's their custom to dress up their kids like this.


Anyways, the convention this past weekend was actually a giant fart and a half, and that's me being eloquent. I can't go into details because you never know who's reading, but really...we worked so damn hard picking up from other people's slack...and died of sweat doing it. Not to mention the cultural struggles I went through, from being American (and therefore having a different work ethic) and also from being a woman. cool.

But still it was good, and it was good to meet a lot of the memebrs and show support. AND now we OFFICIALLY HAVE A WEBSITE...with it's domain name being as follows:

www.sanatandharm-fiji.com

hells to the yeah. My next projects before I go for vacay include: updating the new Hindi language traninig manual for the new volunteers (I can't believe the next round of vol's will be here after a month!), putting on a business workshop with some women who want to start local businesses, and helping show a friend how to create a website for his own volunteer organization.
Not to mention I have plenty of people/host fam's to visit before I go. I feel like a giant chunk of my life here includes being one giant social butterfly. Most days I'm cool with it, it's the other days when I realize I've gained 5 pounds from all the hindi food that I hate it. Plus...sometimes, my Hindi just doesn't function.

anywho. I need a break...that's where I'm at w/ Fiji and all it's Fiji-ness. :0)

I'm so Excited!!!

with a giant sigh of relief, I present to everyoneSanata Dharm's Official website:
https://sites.google.com/site/sanatandharmfiji/home

(keep in mind I haven't bought a doman name and still need to clean it up more, add more info and such) But I'm just so relieved it's finished in time for our Annual Convention which is this weekend (BOO for the fact that it's over Easter holiday though and all the other volunteers are going to the outer islands for their vaca...whatever. I'm over it though, because I get to COME HOME in 2-3 weeks and so maybe it's for the better that this Convention is keeping me busy until then).

Anyways, so we'll be having our Convention all weekend long on the western side of the island...aka sweat will be pouring from every pore in my body. can't wait. (please tell me you sense my sarcasm.) but after that's done then I'll be doing a business workshop which I am actually REALLY excited about...there are a few women who do sewing, cooking, etc and want to start small businesses from their homes. So I'm going to help them and I am really excited about that fo sho. :0)

ok, that's all for today...just a good day at the office!

Moldy shoes and giant killer centipedes...

+ =

HOORAYYYYY FIJI!

Just 2 more things to add to the list of reasons why I love Fiji!

And that centipede may not look as 'life-size' as he really was...honestly. He was actually hanging daintily on the towel I wipe my face with. That was a nice surprise when I went to dry my face off, grabbed the towel, and a poisonous insect the size of my face flies off. Yes, he was that big. And with giant tarantula stingers at the end of his butt that I'm quite positive were meant for my eyes. regardless, I killed him and it felt good.

So 2 weekends ago I got to celebrate yet another Hindu Holiday called Holi (prophet Mohammed's B-day). It was super cool! I went back to my host village for the weekend where it was fun to celebrate with all my home peeps. So basically, what happens is all the boys go around from house to house playing the drums and singing. At each house they're given a treat to eat (of course) and they continue like this all throughout the settlement. At each house they throw powder and colored water on each other which is AWESOME and like paintball except without the guns.

I had a lot of fun playing with my host fam...eventually it turned into playing in the muddy water/throwing mud at each other, which we all know- I super love.

BUT because someone mixed the powder so strong and also because I'm the only blond-headed person they know....the end of the day came to a close with this:

coolio.

Dolphins + 80ft waterfall + Shayface = Priceless

So my good friend, Shalyn, came and of course we had some adventures!

Pics from Left to Right: Shay and I at the beachouse hotel, Shay cooking some bad-a muesli pancakes in Steve's 'kitchen'-that's the village style, the 80 ft waterfall we climbed and jumped from!, last 2: as volunteers/visitors experience the beautiful parts of Fiji...it's usually accompanied with the not so beautiful experiences as well.  That first one is a local cure, chew on some mango leaves, for when you have tummy issues aka sick nasty. And the 2nd pic is Shay showing off her tokens of remembrance from Fiji- aka some cuts that got infected but were showing improvement when she left.

So my good friend Shalyn came to visit me recently, and of course, we had an adventure!

I met her at a small Beachouse on the Coral Coast when she first got there, and what did we do on that first day? Flirted with the locals and got them to let us borrow some free snorkel equipment of course! and for 5 american dollars they took us our to a cool spot to snorkel the next day....but on the way we managed to find ourselves in a school of DOLPHINS! it was awesome....they were jumping in and out of the water, one did like 5 spins in the air, and were swimming only 10 feet from the boat. This is random, but I've personally always felt that dolphins are god's 'right-hand-man' creatures. I mean, they're super cool, kill sharks, and save humans. So it was kind of awesome having them all around.

So we went for a good snorkel, saw lots of sea cucumbers, a GIANT Lion fish, and plenty of coral. visibility wasn't that great, but when the sun came out it was great. We had met up with some other PC volunteers, 2 of which went surfing while we were snorkeling. Steve (one of the vol's and also who's village we stayed at) said there was a giant 6 foot bull shark below him while he was surfing. At first I thought,'oh man, that would have sucked for you if you got bit...good thing I wasn't over there'...but then I realized...I wasn't too far from him at all. So thank you sweet Chisu (Jesus) that it didn't head our way.

So after we headed back to Steve's village where I pounded out some tortillas/roti and we made some AMAZING bean and cheese burritos. They were so good, I think I'm going to make them all this week.

Next day: this was the hike from hell but it was worth it. Actually, the hike up to the first waterfall was really nice. Steve's pal from the vil, Saka, was our tour guide and was showing us all kinds of things you can use off the land, my 2 fav things included:

-There was a leafy plant you could use that if you crushed it up and rubbed it in your hands with water, it would produce a bubbly soapy substance that you could use to bathe yourself! (I love planet earth)

-Second, if you realized someone was lost in the woods and needed find them, there was a tree that you could pound with a rock and it makes such a loud noise you could hear it from miles around. I just LOVE Fiji.

So once we reached the first waterfall....ugghhh AMAZINNNNNNNNNNNG! I had never been to waterfall before, and the water felt soooooooo refreshing. We climbed about 15 feet up it and jumped off. I'm pretty sure I minorly voilated by Saka who had to grab my booty to keep me from falling. oh well, I'm alive.

After playing under that waterfall, Steve talked us into trekking up to the 2nd waterfall (without shoes)near his village. 'It's just a 30-40 min trek to it...no biggy, and you probably don't want your shoes...' WRONG. About an hour and a half later, after climbing up the first waterfall/some mega bush hiking and some steep rocky/river climbing, and as my feet were sore from knife walking, we made it to that damn 2nd waterfall. At many points during that climb I found myself thinking, thank gosh that this is my friend with me that's as ballsy as I am as opposed to my mother, who would have immediately ordered me to 'Get the Hell down from there'. (Sorry mom, but it's true) :0)

So lesson for the day is that paradise isn't easy...unless you wear shoes. :0) jk. But we really did have an awesome time, after the hike Saka made some Roro from some coconut milk and ferns we found out in the bush. It was phenomenal and I was glad Shay was getting to do so many Fijian things!

After that, I sadly had to go back to work on that Monday while Shay stayed in Steve's village and got dive certified. Later that week she got a taste of the Hindi flavor where she graciously and happily went with me to do errands, PC office, went to the market (bought some pumpkin), visited my host fam, came to work with me, and even helped me hang my laundry. And we proved to be some pretty good cooks using my make-shift 'oven' (if you'd even call it that) when we made some caramelized onion and pumpkin pizza, and some pretty tasty home-made cinnamon rolls! I seriously had SOOO much fun hanging out with Shay, it was really good to have a friend from home visit!

Ok, sorry if this was super long! I just had such a cool adventure!