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.