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.