Let's Eat......(Australia!?!?)...OK!

Australia.was.EPIC.

We ate a lot, did a lot, saw a lot, and took it at our own pace!

Highlights from Sydney:
*Our first dinner (of course it's about food) at The Rocks was this awesome rocket, date, pecans, and pear salad that had GIANT chunks of blue cheese (which we should probably have not eaten all of as it was pretty rich and we paid for it later)  * Best night of the trip: going out dancing at Selena Club which was at the Coogee Beach Hotel, dancing till 3am and then running directly across the street and riding the waves (in our clothes...no worries) in the Pacific Ocean- SO FUN! * 2nd best day of trip: Riding on motorcycles with our friend Michael and his bud all throughout the northern beaches of Sydney and over the Sydney Harbour Bridge! We had famous meat and veggie pies and Magnum bars: honeycomb and this new Brownie one in case you were interested... *

Highlights from Tassie (Tasmania):
*Some of the best food!: first meal there was at Machine Cafe (well-known bc has good food AND you can wash your unmentionables!) where I had grilled haloumi cheese for the first time- my gosh it was heavenly. there was also free salmon samples at this Salmon shop as Tassie is famous for their salmon (among SO MANY other things- they have just the right temperature so they can grow a variety of things that other places can't....ex. poppy seeds!)  * Best day of trip: We did a tour out to Wineglass Bay, Freycinet Penisula and National Park, The Friendly Beaches, and more! It was so fun to be in the park and listen to the sound of the wind, we went into this cave our tour guide had found which was SUPER cool * Cascade Brewery- Oldest Brewery in AU...really fun, found some extra tokens so that made it more fun! * Tasmanian Devil Park where we saw some ravenous tassie devils get fed...in general they're pretty stupid but sure love their raw meat * Got some awesome Jumpy photos! * all in all just had a really fun time enjoying ACTUAL winter weather!*

Highlights of Melbourne (prouncounced Melbin that is!)
* I think the St. Kilda Music Festival was by far our favorite- they have this festival all along the St. Kilda Pier and have ALL different kinds of bands/entertainment come and perform at random bars/shops in the area- SO COOL! One corner was legit Jazz, one corner acoustic Michael Buble, another 90's rock music, and then our favorite was this hippy style band called ** freaking awesome! We were dancing mid-day with a bunch of other awesome people! PLUS that was the day we had dark chocolate fondu for two which included churros, the spanish donut- MY GOSH* Outdoor Cinema in the Royal Botanical Gardens- it was a bit chilly but it was still cool, just had to drink wine to stay warm * Ate Kangaroo here too with the family we stayed with! surprisingly good!* A cooking class- which we thought we'd be at our own stations but it ended up being just us watching this guy while we all sat and drank wine...which we actually ended up preferring!*

First Blog Post Peace Corps...

When I first returned to America after serving two years and three months as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I found there were two common questions people typically asked:
 'How was it?'  & 'Do you feel changed?'

Excuse me while I check out reality for about 3 minutes trying to figure out how in God's name I would answer these. 3 minutes later....'Umm soo, yeah man..' How do I share 2 years and 3 months worth of outrageous experiences with someone who probably can't relate in too many ways and also will probably be checking out of this conversation if I talk more than 2 hours? After much pondering, I came to my soundbite: 'It was the most challenging yet rewarding two years & three months of my life thus far.  I went on a lot of adventures, met a lof of truly wonderful people who I someday hope to help. But for the time being, I am enjoying just being in America.'

It's been almost a year now since returning and it's definitely been a whirlwind, like everyone says it is.  I think each person is different, though, and experiences different challenges at different times in different ways. I think my challenges have been with this slump of an economy & employment. At first it was not knowing what I wanted to do and just needing a job. Then it turned into having too many great ideas of what I could do but not knowing how to achieve them as they are WAY out there and not on your typical path. I've now arrived at the path of just needing to fix my 'right now' situation and that's what I've been working on at present.

And after being back for almost a year, I've more often gotten the question, 'Are there things that bother you about our society?'  The answer is most definitely YES, but it's a weird, mixed feeling. I love America and it's amenities; I truly value things like fresh running water, AC, cars, etc. but what I don't love are people who DON'T appreciate them. People just don't even know...

There's also something random that has REALLy stuck out in my mind & I often find myself thinking about it:  Makes me sick...

For one, America has WAY too much advertising with a focus on clothes. But what I really hate is when they exploit locals from developing countries in magazines for these clothes. When I look at these ads, I immediately start thinking 'Where did the locals come from? Were they near a local village and these Americans just popped in for the day with their nice white teeth, expensive clothing, and nice cameras? Did people have to put off their daily lives (of probably very hard work) so that they could stand with these random, beautiful people smiling as if they know them??' AND I think what bothers me most of all is that most people in other countries don't SMILE like Americans do...so did the camera people have to tell them to show their teeth like Americans do!? It's so weird to think about how the elements of this photo came together. AND more than likely, that women's clothing was probably not culturally appropriate. Every other girl in that photo has her shoulders covered-- so get it together. Lastly, I think my favorite part of these photos is how in some/maybe all of them...the models seem to be leaning away from the people...It's like I can see them thinking, 'ewww these children probably have diseases.'


And honestly...it's probably true...sadly.


Cheers,
Courtney

'Staying strong until the end!'

Without Sunlight, there is no Moonlight

 This last blog goes out to Roshni, someone who I believe I was sent here to meet, work with, and share so much with. Without her, God only knows where or what I'd be doing. It's so crazy, her name means 'Sunlight' in Hindi and mine just so happens to mean 'Moonlight'. Roshni and Chandani. The day I realized this I was on the verge of tears; I just realized how much she means to me, how her ability to give is an unyielding force much like the sun, and how I don't think I would have been successful in my community here without her. It was truly meant to be. It's amazing, and it's Chisu (Jesus). As much as I'm SO ready to be HOME, everytime I think of leaving her, I blubber like a baby. However, if someone were to ask me what I'm most proud of or my greatest accomplishment, this would be my answer: Among all the things I've shared with Roshni, computers, working as a businesswoman, etc, I feel privileged that I had the opportunity to be able to teach her her worth as a woman and as a hard worker. Above all things, I believe this to matter most...and it's definitely taken two years for her and myself to come to this realization.  I look at her and see how she's now able to stand up for herself and is such a bright, professional, and caring businesswoman. She is the epitome of compassionate, and I will never forget it. 

My last breast cancer workshop and first HIV/AIDS one as well!

Lately it's been SUPER BUSY with closing up things in the office, continuing to do breast cancer workshops  (still so fun!), introducing new HIV/AIDS workshops into my community, and then also visiting with my community on evenings & weekends! As much as I've been stressed out I've still enjoyed it (although shout-out to my friends and family who I've called whilst mid-breakdown, it's helped more than you know).

These last few weeks have been really great because I feel like I've actually seen and heard ways that my presence has actually changed the office for the better. Listening in on conversations where men are talking about the importance of women and have realized just how hard they work, especially here in Fiji. I truly feel like I was constantly challenging my organization to better themselves...and turns out, I succeeded! I'm not trying to toot my own horn, believe you me, I just feel better about leaving Roshni here in a more positive working environment.

I donated these flowers to the office, that way when I come back they'll all be abloom!

Now I march on to eat my last few meals of curry (last night I had some of THE best fish curry I think I've ever had) and tonight will be my last grog sitting at my host family's house. I'm pumped!


Once again, thank you to all my friends and family who have supported me the past two years, it's really meant a lot to me. I hope I've kept you slightly entertained while reading this ridiculous blog and that I'll get to see you upon returning home! Fijian grog, Indian snacks, and maybe even some Fijian Bounty Rum will be at the house on Sunday the 26th for lunch!

My Bhabi cleaning some mussels for curry!

Cheers,
Vinaka Vaka Levu (Thank you very much in Fijian),
Bahut DHaanywaad (Thank you very much in Hindi)
and MOCE (see you later in Fijian)!

Random Compilation of Stories...

...that I'm sure you're all just DYING to hear about. ;0)

Lessons Learned:
-People who have less give more
-Kindness knows no culture
-How wasteful Americans can be
-I like to cook and I'm pretty good at it
-I like to cook even more with groups
-Everything tastes better when you share
-I get comfortable with people much faster than they get comfortable with me
-I process things differently than other people
-I second guess myself far too much

 -the grass is always greener in the other village: as much as I enjoy visiting my friend's villages (and wish that I were in one), I've realized that every site has it's pro's and con's and that I should be content in the community I'm in...because it's a wonderful one.

My host mom sewing on her Singer peddle sewing machine!

Things I thought were extinct but aren't:
-Peddle sewing machines (see photo)
-plowing via cattle

Things that frustrate me about the Fijian Culture:
-When you ask questions that end in this or that? The answer from a local is always Yes.

Will appreciate in America:
--CUSTOMER SERVICE: whilst having breakfast in my favorite town, savusavu, I spent approximately 2 1/2 hours walking back and forth through town searching for some panackes. Apparently when a sign says 'Open 8am' it really means 10am. I finally found a place that had some normal pancakes (aka not deep friend half uncooked dough)  I received them alongside some vegemite syrup and had to ask for plain syrup about 4 times. And who doesn't love lukewarm coffee? oh wait, no one does.
--The Little things: Having your feet clean (not sandy) & having air conditioning on vacation
--Just feeling clean and staying that way: My House is an Easy Bake Oven...no really (temperature-wise, color-wise, and 'cool-as' wise) Thus I will HIGHLY appreciate Air Conditioning! This past year at the heat of summer I recall myself taking 7 showers a day and just wasting away in my 'full body sweats'.
-I think because of the heat, however; you do learn to enjoy the art of doing nothing. I remember many times of just laying on my host families floor staring at my hands and the ceiling, talking about nothing, and drinking lots of grog.
-Amazing friends and family of course

Things I've Struggled With Lately....
-Despite the job as a capacity builder, how do you politely tell a grown adult that they should be washing their hands after they use the restroom? I don't want to seem like that 'pompous American' who thinks they're better...and I also don't want to hurt their feelings
- In the same sense, it's hard to tell women that they need to go specifically to a gynecologist for a check up once a year when it's obvious they have no money to do so, it kind of hurts a little bit....

Feel accomplished when:
-I take clothes off line
-I wear out clothing, a sensation of 'YES, I've used this to it's max capacity'...I can't remember the last time I said that in America

New things that have seen molding:
-cooking apron
-spicket from my wine box
-nose pads on my glasses
-spices...SO annoying!

Story time:
Once upon a time, when I visited my friend Sally in her village...they said 'Yandra Bhaini' to me! so Yandra in Fijian means good morning but Bhaini is Hindi for Sister. This seems random but I remember feeling so appreciative at that moment. Why? Because her village friends recognized that I wasn't working with Fijians but with Indian people, and they made a point to represent that in the language they spoke. I just felt so grateful because I know many people don't think that anything with Indo-Fijians isn't the 'Real Fiji'. I get frustrated at this because not only is it a bit racist but it also disregards all that Indo-Fijians have brought to the country of Fiji...which is a LOT.

Awesome food days- where I found myself giggling to myself like a 12 year old school girl:
-Egg plant parmesan (when I discovered...hey I can cook)
-omelette with Dill

Beignets- compliments of Sandra!

-PB & J fluff sandwich
-Taco salad
-sushi on my b-day (mostly bc of the real cream cheese)
-Eggplant curry at office
-When I discovered Beets!
-cobbler with Kara
-coconut chutney at Christmas
-beignets

 Mystery Taki Song  **Taki means Chug in Fijian**
It's time for the Mystery Taki
Who gonna get the Mystery Taki
Time for the Mystery Taki
Who's it gonna be!?
It's ME!

Wonderful Weekend- Thanks, Fiji!

 For the first time in my life I feel like I've BEEN somewhere for 2 years...I don't have any of the typical feelings of 'oh time went by so fast' or 'where has the time gone'. I'm not saying it's a bad feeling...it's actually quite nice to just just nod my head and say 'YES, I DID that. And it was good.'

We had a pretty big training this week (new volunteers are HERE- ahh! I'm helping train them on a bit of the Indian stuff and how to deal with Safety & Security issues), and after that a small group of us headed to an 'eco lodge' here on Viti Levu that was of course run by the local village. (sidenote: I'm realizing that people back home think we go to resort's all the time or feel like we 'hit the jackpot'. But I would just like to say although the places we go to are naturally beautiful [which we DO appreciate]..we're still not in paradise. The local 'lodge's' are rustic to say the least and often times we still feel like we're in the village/settlement. As Americans we have all these expectations of what a resort/vacation should be like and 95% of the time those expectations are unmet. For example: having your feet be dirty/sandy the entire time you're on vacation, being hot/sticky the entire time because of lack of air conditioning, our reservations/rooming situations never being what we asked for/planned on, and having a margarita or a Corona in your hand is just not existent. And I don't want to complain by any means, I just want to give people an understanding. EVERYWHERE in the world has positives and negatives to where you live.)

SO ANYWAYS- back to the good stuff: we had a SUPER fun weekend played volleyball, played on the black sand beaches (cool side fact: white sandy beaches come from parrot-fish eating the coral and then small sand particles come out of their booties. However, black sandy beaches means that there is a river/water source that flows from inland (near volcanic rock) and flows down to the beach. The black sand is much more fine because the particles break off in smaller pieces when the river carries it- COOL), had good food (fresh curried prawns, lovo, and coconut mussels- these things are HEAVENLY), and then went on this Dolphin Watch + Snorkel excursion the last day! AWESOME!

Saw around 100 spinner dolphins...they come in to a bit shallower waters, near large mass of crescent moon shaped coral and then head out to feed at night. They broke up into smaller 'clique's' and would swim in unison..so neat to watch. And some of them would do tricks for us, jumping in and out of the water spinning forward and laterally! Then we went to a different area to snorkel in more shallow waters (I mean...we still couldn't see the bottom) but the coral WAS GIANT and the species were so diverse. Just really neat. I didn't see anything new really but we did see a small nudibranch black with lime green design) and some really beautiful and bright colored small fish (orange, magenta's rich purple's).

ON the way home we managed to find transport in a minivan that came by mistake..so we were jammin' out to Fijian Christian music- really beautiful...like you guys have no idea. It was a very surreal moment...looking out the window, reflecting on the past two years. After that we came home and I somehow churned out a full load of laundry (by hand as always), a banana cake AND a cobbler. took me 2.5 seconds to fall straight asleep. Thank you Jesus for a wonderful weekend!

April Fools!

for the entire month? YES.

a low point of my service....

Close Of Service (COS) Conference @ the Pearl!

So this past Saturday afternoon I found myself just lying in a sports bra and underwear doing nothing but sweating. I decided enough was enough and that it was better to sweat with my local friends as opposed to sweating by myself. I went over to my neighbors house (fully clothed) to deliver some Fiji famous peanut brittle that my Uncle Ray sent me! 5 hours later of sitting around, learning swear words in Hindi, and goofy Indian dancing we had a pretty fun time! During this time my friends and I were talking about where I've been for the past month....and this friends is what happened:

APRIL
week 1: mid week, on my way into work, feelin' good and lookin' good, I slip and fall uneventfully in some murky water on the sidewalk. I fracture my right pinky toe and am forced on crutches. This was definitely a low point in my service, mostly because I was having yet another security issue with some half crazy half drunk fijian dude who was harassing me a bit and trying to follow me.
week 2: still on crutches, had some nice raspberries forming underneath my arms.
week3: stayed at my house for just one night then had to head straight to our COS (Close Of Service) Conference which was at a nicer hotel that DID have awesome food. It was kind of a whirlwind of emotions because I kind of just wanted to be home and rest, and I wasn't mentally ready for the Pearl and to be around my whole group. But it turned out to be pretty great and we had a good time in the AIR CONDITIONING! weeeee! but it was a bit of a bummer when I'd go to eat because my stomach bacteria I have was acting up and I couldn't eat as much as I wanted to....maybe that was actually a good thing. ;0)

week 4: went straight from my conference back to my Organization's Annual Convention that happens every year over Easter (over the Public Holiday of course...I was a bit bummed because all my friends were hanging out BUT it turned out it was great I was there). At our table this year I did face painting for the kids for any kind of donation and it was a big hit! At one point I had like 25 kids around me (a bit stressful) and I made enough to buy some plants for the office that I've been wanting to plant here. :0) And to end my week I headed out to the YASAWAS with my friends, Kara and Jewels! The Yasawas are the 'tourist islands' that truly are BEAUTIFUL with some of the bluest water I have ever seen. Hands down. Fiji's treasure trove for sure. As amazing as it was (also with AWESOME food) :0) I wound up getting the flu AGAIN with shivers and the sweats. At my lowest point I had signed up for a massage and by the end I could actually feel blood flowing in my body again and felt MUCH better after that. Kara also wound up getting a bit sick too....she actually fainted during breakfast and we had to carry her to our bure. a bunch of sickies! but luckily we both felt better and were still able to enjoy the amazing island we were on.

NO this is not a swimming pool- OCEAN baby!

Jewels and I on the beach!

Harry Potter anyone!? YES!

On the last morning Kara and I went snorkeling in their AMAZING coral reef and saw a bunch of new fish we'd never seen:
-school of squid! they're AWESOME looking and change colors when you get close
-rare rockmover wrasse: they're tiny, Kara spotted it and kind of float like they're a piece of seaweed
-saw my first boxfish: black with orange spots
-counted 10 giant clams
-stingrays
-2 ft long cornetfish
- really interesting trumpet and filefishies as well!

We were out there giggling like little school girls - So that was my April, hope you guys enjoyed it! :0)

Things I thought I'd never be able to say or do until I met Fiji:

-get knocked in the shin by a lady holding a frozen chicken while walking through town.
-be able to eat rice and curry with my HANDS and thus be able to hold up my hand to show that I've eaten (stained yellow from the turmeric powder)
-make peace with [count it]: cockroaches, lizards, spiders, ants, and flies.
-find myself laughing now when a super smelly person sits next to me on the bus
-have a multitude of illnesses: especially having stomach issues and not be anywhere near an accessible toilet (despite being in a city)
-enjoy cooking- makes me appreciate the wonderful selection of cheeses and cooking items in America.
-(On the flip side) being able to go out to my backyard and pick as many fresh and organic eggplants, long beans, papaya's, bananas, pumpkins, spinach, bok choy, dalo leaves, bele leaves, cilantro, mint and lemons as I want to!
-ride in the backseat while the driver was drinking beers with a friend and NOT being able to do anything about it...just because I was a woman.

Bananas Foster from my bro!! :o) miss that kid.

GOTTA LOVE the signs/stickers here in fiji

The latest: First ever International Womens Day Celebration with Sanatan 8 March 2011

 Lately I've been finding myself on an emotional roller coaster though: going from really loving this place and trying to soak it up...but then Fiji happens. Aka I go from SUPER enjoying the dusty yet beautiful walk home, loving hanging out with my community here (sharing stuff and eating, of course) but then back to being ready to go when I wake up in the morning and want to go for a run....only to find my brand new running shoes GONE. Fiji just happens. But it's still good. you just find yourself laughing when stuff goes wrong. :0)

Sights, Sounds, and Smells of Fiji- some are great, others not so much! :0)

Sights of Fiji:
-Indian kids playing with kites
-Fijian children pounding grog
-goats attached to random street poles
-wild mange dogs
-Wheel barrow boys- running inches next to bus, truly enjoying themselves and also trying to grab the first customers (who sell the dalo) who get off the bus
-the view from my host family's house in our training village. They were in the middle of nowhere near the Rewa River...so beautiful at sunrise!
-little kids peeing through the fence at the school I walk past everyday

Sounds of Fiji:
-wild dog fights
-crying babies
-pounding of grog
-Indo-Fijians singing their religious songs
-Church on Sundays...most beautiful of all
-cat calls: shoe repair/shoe shine boys- 'hello baby', 'very nice beautiful', 'I love you'....really? Because I'm pretty sure I don't know you!
-The kissy noise aka how you get someone's attention
 
Smells of Fiji:
-fresh bread from all the Hot Bread Kitchens (creams buns I will dearly miss!)
-fresh roti in the morning, especially at my host family's house
-rank body odo...usually on the bus, so you're stuck by them
-handmade coconut oil
-bug spray
-mouse pooh
-Indian curries -delicious
-However, people with bad curry breath - disgusting

I do enjoy this place....

Week from Hell followed by Week of AWESOMENESS!

Christmas at my house! surprisingly rockin'!

We had a pretty rocky end to the year in the office as there was loads to do in the accounts area which is unfortunately something I can't help with. We had just started selling our 2011 Calendars and a lot of branches still owed us money, which is to be assumed as no one has any money. But someone apparently came down hard on our boss and told him that if there's any money missing then the project is seen as a failure which he'll get blamed for. So in turn, he came down hard on us. And I don't know if you've ever worked for a 'screamer' before ladies and gents...but it is SO NOT pleasant. It was definitely enough to ruin my Christmas spirit.  I also kind of had a big blunder due to some damn Christmas Cards. Our President came in on that Tuesday (like 3 days before Christmas) and says he's got about 200 cards he wanted mailed out that day (let's not forget Indo-fijians will work you to the ground). Roshni and I had discussed in the past that we should do the whole Mail Merge thing on Microsoft Word to print the addresses on the envelopes as it'll save time. Well that took like 2 hours longer than expected due to some software difference on our computers and mostly because of some printer problems. Gooooodnnessss if that day wasn't filled with a bunch of bickering. Yes we were pressed for time (but it's only a Christmas card, eh?) and then my boss tries to blame the problem on Roshni when clearly there's no one to blame (actually it was the printer's fault) and having to deal with him. ugh. So that very much set the tone for the week- not pleasant. Plus there was no Christmas Party and only one person said Merry Christmas to me. I'm pretty sure I had Elvis Presley's 'Blue Christmas' playing the entire week.

BUT to get this party train rollin, I actually had a nice time by myself this Christmas. Mom, Meghan, and Kyle sent me some AMAZING packages that arrived JUST IN TIME for Christmas! It was glorious. You can see I played try-on with a lot of my stuff in my Picasa web albums. My host family's son and his family happened to be visiting from Canada as well so I hung out with them too. Except Christmas morning I pretty much just wanted to be alone with my trinkets and coffee. it was nice. Plus there was fruitcake falling from the heavens- YES people really DO eat it here.

It was a Pick Your Own type of deal- heck YES to free,  pineapples!

Then my pals: Sean, Jewels, and Kara came and we were off to TAVEUNI! It's so gorgoeus there, you can't beat their sunsets. We stayed at this rustic place that turned out to be perfect for us as it was a Pick Your Own fruits and veggies: GIANT pineapples, passionfruits, papaya (which we later made papay curry with), plantain, bele (a leafy vegetable). Out first dinner there was homemade Spinach and Cheese ravioli (good gosh it was heaven) at a local resort. It was funny though, we had brought some tomatoes with us to cook with and since the island was on shortage it was a BYO tomatoes.

Diving on Somosomo Strait

The next day we went diving on the Somosomo strait with the Nakia resort- they're so great! I'm still amazed at the coral here- so many magenta's and bright pink corals. Saw some pretty good sized trigger-fish, rare clown fish (Nemo!) in a rare anemone, few white tip sharks, sea worms, and a sweet-lips (my favorite). After that we headed to Lavena Lodge, the eastern side of the island where we stayed in a lodge that has been the project of previous volunteers (Gloria we miss you!). It's very picturesque there and is known for it's Coastal Walk where you walk along the coast and hike up to some waterfalls- I felt so Anaconda like swimming up the stream to the waterfalls. I can't tell you how AMAZING it feels to be swimming into a waterfall- it's pushing you back but you keep trying to swim up it, and the water is so cold! MAN it's such a rush. Thursday morning after yet another bathroom episode( I think the water on Taveuni just doesn't like me), I somehow had the strength to go with my pals to the Bouma Heritage Park. There we hiked to another 3 waterfalls, on the last of which was around 20ft tall- and you bet your bottom dollar we jumped off it! A bit scary but it was SO fun!

just beautiful- lavena coastal walk

 From there we took off to a small island called Qamea (pronounced Gomea), one of the closest islands to the International Date Line- aka Experiencing the first seconds of 2011, YES PLEASE! We stayed at this eco resort where despite being the first ones to call and book and ALSO making double sure that we'd have a bed- turns out they pitched a circus tent for us and put some mattresses in the sand. I woke up with way too much sand in my bed the next morning. And Circus performance anyone? IT hAPPENED- check the 2 videos at the end of the New Years 2011 album in Picasa. Here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/courtneygoodson/ChristmasAndNewYears2011

The Circus Tent

After that we spent most of our time snorkeling, drinking wine around the shockingly well made bonfire, and laying out on the beach- it was so nice. I've missed being able to wear my jorts (jean shorts). The bio-luminescence was also SUPER amazing of course as it was such a remote island. I even put one on my fingernail and it stayed glowing! Gosh I love the earth.

The Besties!

As much fun as we had on island it was still time to head back- Peace Corps style of course. This meant after a quick fiber boat ride (in our life jackets) hopping into the back of a carrier and being COVERED in dust and dirt. Hells to the yeah. (but I mean like no really I had to take a sink shower once we got to the ferry). Thank gosh for protex soap! The four of us split the cost for a cabin on the ferry (initially worth it) and it was great until it came time to sleep and our room (I imagine being 2 cm's away from the engines) heated up to like 95 degrees. And if you didn't know, the bed bugs become EXTREMELY active at this temperature. Trust me. Anyone game for a midnight shower? yes please.

Lavena Coastal Walk- Star Wars anyone?...this one's for my bro!

All in all it was a super fun trip and definitely was great to de-stress and be on a BEACH!

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