Trainings vs Tsunamis

So, it’s March already!! Who knew? I’ll try to do a quick recap of this month’s events before doing a special report on Tsunamis – not the delicious sushi restaurant in Charleston. After getting so much love and worry after the recent warnings from the earthquake in Chile, I thought I would just make a special mention of them here.

1^st – trainings. February was home to 2 different trainings I attended. The first was a coral identification training which was really informative and pretty cool. There were 2 top notch coral identification specialists on hand to help us learn how to distinguish different coral genera. AND we got a cool underwater coral ID book to use … free! Peace Corps is like college – we get REALLY excited about free food and free stuff. Actually, I wonder if that ever stops being exciting. The second training was run by Peace Corps on Alternative Livelihoods – basically, small business training. Twelve volunteers brought their counterparts to learn about business and financial planning. I hope my counterpart learned a lot and is ready to whip our small bakery into a viable village business. I enjoyed the time with fellow PCVs at both of these trainings and, as always happens when spending time in Suva, I ate way too much food and spent way too much money. What can you do?

2^nd – Jason’s visit. As many of you may know, one of my bestest of best friends came to visit me this past month as well – we had an excellent time, but I will write no details as we should be expecting a guest blog post from him about his trip in the near future. Pictures and videos have been posted on facebook – will try to put a few on here later.

Now – TSUNAMIS. Most of you know that tsunamis are the result of earthquakes displacing a large body of water and creating a wave. These waves can travel as fast as 500 mph and are not technically tidal waves as everyone calls them. You could be on a boat in deep water at sea and one would travel right underneath you without you even registering it. Once the wave starts to hit shallow water, the trough of the wave hits the ground and that is when it gets super-sized. In terms of ME and tsunamis – as soon as Peace Corps receives warning about a possible threat, they call all volunteers in the countries at risk. I received a phone call at 130am on the day of the Chilean earthquake. I was told to evacuate to high ground starting at 8am the following morning as the tsunami was predicted to hit Fiji at 930-10am. That is big buffer. Oh – and I have to stay at high ground until noon just to be safe. When I woke up the morning of the supposed tsunami arrival, I packed everything in the house that was important to me – all the snacks and goodies Jason brought. Just kidding. I brought my hard drives, journals, laptop, and passports/cash. And a couple changes of underwear just in case. And of course a book, because come on – 4 hours!!! I did have a beautiful view from my high ground location – the top of a nearby hill where many others congregated as well. Everyone was fine and the tsunami never showed its scary face. No harm done! Of course that doesn’t mean I don’t love when people worry and fret over me, so the next warning all are still welcome to write notes and call to check in on me – makes me feel loved. I was most worried that if a tsunami did hit that Simba would get hurt. I have no cage for him to bring him to high ground and if I tried to carry him and hold him, he would squirm and run off, getting lost in the bush and potentially eaten by wild pigs or hit by a car on the nearby road. So I had to leave him behind and trust that his animal instincts would take him to high ground should a tsunami come our way.

That’s all for now on the Fiji front. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, when we hear from Jason!

List Part 3 and Spearing Videos

Video of my friend Uraia spearing a helpless parrotfish - the fish is caught in a coral head, so you can't really see it - but thought it would be fun to watch anyway.


Here is spearfishing video number 2! Uraia is taking the fish out of the coral head and you can see it above water at the end. As a spearfishing update: I went out yesterday and still did not catch anything BUT i managed to hit 3 fish!! Just need to work on my spearing arm's strength - but my aim seems to be improving. For you naysayers - I could tell I hit the fish because there were scales floating in the water around the spot from which the fishy fled.

Also, I think it’s about time for another list, don’t you?

134. I’ve decided one of the hardest things ever is to try to hang a fitted sheet on a line to dry.

135. Even though I KNOW a raising of the eyebrows indicates a yes to most Fijians, I still need to hear them say “Yes.”

136. When spear fishing for the first time, I got tunnel vision for the fish I wanted to catch. I forgot to see what was around me. I made sure to remember the next time.

137. A conversation you must hear (names have been changed to protect the innocent):
K: Tuli, when I sat down just now do I look fat?
Me: Of course not! (and this is true, she is a healthy person)
K: Oh. But I want to be fat.
Me: OH! I meant to say that you DID look fat! VERY VERY FAT.
K: Stop bluffing!
Me: Ok, you’re not fat – but you can have mine if you want.
K: Yeah, we should trade.

138. Cats look funny when they lick themselves.

139. Sweating in your sleep is one of the most unpleasant feelings ever. Don’t believe me? Try it.

140. We are never getting those giant clams I was promised in September.

141. I love snacks.

142. I miss sushi.

143. Sa rauta mada is fast becoming one of my most used Fijian phrases – it means “That’s enough” (as in,” I’ve-had-enough-of-your-smart-mouth-stop-talking”)

144. There are 2 conversations I’m tired of having: a) The “You must marry one Fijian boy – Why won’t you marry one Fijian boy” conversation, and b) The Oiko sa levulevu (“You are fat”) conversation, which is less of a conversation and more of a “They-say-this-while-I-smile-and-nod-but-cry-on-the-inside” one way conversation.

145. I run on the beach for 20 minutes in the mornings (around 7am) when the tide is low. I will get back and literally drip sweat everywhere. I’m not usually a sweater and that really wasn’t a very long run, I mean who am I kidding (especially since 20 minutes is really 17 minutes, but I round up).

146. We got the giant clams I was promised!! They are currently 20ft below sea level and hopefully happy. It was an adventure getting them down there, but I would do it again every day.

147. I don’t remember where I got most of the scratches I seem to find on myself.

148. I’m in love with bu (young coconut). I used to really not like it but I find nothing tastes better after snorkeling. If only I could climb that stupid tree myself.

149. I miss my brothers.

150. I taught a few 20-something year old Fijian guys how to play UNO; and to make it more interesting, they decided to loser had to drink a full glass of water. Oh the torture – I do that on my own regularly. I still didn’t want to lose. Neither did they – so they cheated.

151. I just watched “Julie and Julia” and loved it – I may take cooking classes when I get home.

152. I’ve started wearing my hair in a scarf like a babushka because it keeps the hair off my neck. It’s either that or buzz cut. Opinions?

Happy New Year!

First, forgive me for not having updated in a while. I swear it’s not that I’m too busy, I’m simply lazy and it’s hot so I don’t want to do anything except lay on my back in the middle of the floor where the cross-breeze between my two doors goes through the house.

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s holiday. I rang in the New Year on a small island south of Ovalau called Caqalai (pronounced, Thangaleye - just to make things interesting) with 15 or so other Americans (mostly Peace Corps Volunteers with a few visitors thrown in to spice things up). The island was 40-45 min away from Levuka (my closest town) on a small fiberglass boat. We spent 3-4 days snorkeling on some of the most beautiful reef I have ever seen and sitting around bonfires every night. Totally granola. I made sure to not shave my armpits just so I’d feel even more like a true Peace Corps Volunteer. A few of us even swam 45 min out to a sandbar that looked much closer than it actually was. Don’t worry, a PFD was brought along for safety. All in all, I’d have to say it was a pretty darn cool way to welcome 2010 - before all of you guys did.

So far, January has been more interesting than I would have though. I had a friend come back with me from Caqalai and we spent a few days “baking”, snorkeling, walking around, and watching Ugly Betty and Glee on my laptop. I collected some more crown of thorns starfish from the reef as well as lots of scrap fabric that was smothering some poor, defenseless coral. Saving the world, one coral head at a time. Our community hall project hit an unfortunate snag when my counterpart for that project’s brother-in-law passed away; he also happened to be our carpenter. So we are still sitting on the budget for a while because I feel guilty trying to push the project forward at this time. The vasua (giant clams) that were supposed to arrive in November, then Dec 23^rd, then Dec 24^th, and never came are now supposed to arrive this week. Maybe if everyone who reads this crosses their fingers it will actually happen.

In other news, I was invited to go spear fishing. I have logged a total of 4 hours with a spear (two 2hr stints) and have caught nothing. I have one very important rule – I don’t shoot the pretty and colorful fish. Not for any health reasons, simply because it would be too sad. Any of you who have seen Finding Nemo should understand. Not that it matters – I could aim that spear at a blue whale and I’d miss because I’m about as good at spearfishing as men are at getting pregnant. Not counting that woman that became a man, kept her uterus, and then got pregnant. I also made a coconut tree climbing attempt. Another masterful Fijian fail. I have decided that, in summary, though I may be living like and with Fijians, I am still a total Jewish Princess. How did that happen?

And finally – the weather. It is so hot here. I mean, REDICULOUSLY HOT. In response to all those, “it may be hot but I’d rather be there than in whatever cold weather anomaly I am experiencing right now in DC/Charleston/Raleigh/NYC/Jackson Hole/Blounts Creek/Tarboro/Phili/Chicago/etc” – please, hear me out. Imagine Charleston in July/August time – those who have never lived there or visited, think hot and humid. Next, multiply that times 10. Add to that no air conditioning or fridge in which to keep refreshing chilly beverages and ice cream treats of all shapes and sizes. I take a cold water shower, dry off, and am dripping copious amounts of sweat within minutes. It is deeeeesgusting. After I leave Fiji, I’m moving to Iceland. I want to live on a block of ice when my services here are no longer required.

February is going to be a busy month and I have a lot to look forward to. I have a coral identification training through Fiji Locally Managed Marine Areas that I am going to attend early in the month. Then mid-Feb I am going to an Alternative Livelihoods training run by the Peace Corps to teach me and one village counterpart that I am bringing about small businesses. Immediately after that Jason is arriving for 10 days!!! Unfortunately there will be no room in his suitcases for any of you because they will be filled with American treats for me: candy (I mean, err, healthy snacks), batteries, sheets, cds, and sushi (not really, but I can dream).

I wanted to upload many videos and things, but the computer I am using today BITES. I’m going to Suva in a couple weeks, so maybe I can do so big image/video uploads then. I successfully got one up.

This is a video of a sea snake - they are quite venemous and a little creepy. I don't usually get freaked out by snakes on land, but snakes at sea can move in all possible directions!! Please observe how slithery he is.

It's been a while so dive right in!!

So it’s been quite a while since I’ve updated here and a lot has happened! Let’s dive right in then – I’ve taken the liberty of categorizing things so that you make pick and choose what you care enough about to read. Although I encourage you to read all – if you don’t you might actually be productive at work today and we wouldn’t want that. I am going to try and include photos and videos for your pleasure as well.

Work (non-marine):

Let us start with the ho-hum side of things. I’m excited about it because SOME progress is slowly being made. First off, I had a Project Design Management (PDM) Workshop in Pacific Harbour (The Adventure Capitol of Fiji!). Volunteers brought a counterpart from their village and we learned about how to start designing projects and budgets and things. My partner and I worked on a design for repairing and renovating our village’s community hall. We just recently had a carpenter visit who helped us generate a full materials list. That list is at a couple hardware stores now and I intend to pick up finished quotes while in town today! The next step will be to work with my community partner to write up a proposal to bring in some money for the project. YAY! I also just applied to go to an alternative livelihood training in February. I’d like to attend because I will be bringing someone that will hopefully be able to get the bakery running properly.

As an aside – there was fun to be had by the volunteers at the workshop as well. Swimming, swinging, ziplining, bonfiring, eating, etc.

Work (marine):

After the PDM workshop I went to a village with a good friend for a work exchange to learn about fish houses. He works with a resort near his village, and I got to make a fish house. I really hope to get some of the youth making them in my village. It is basically an igloo made of rocks and cement that fish can come and live in. You can also attach small coral fragments to the house to build up reef structure. Tres chic! I spoke with some people about coral farming at the resort as well as in Suva after the work exchange. This could be a possibility but I want to start with the fish houses first.

Finished product

The building process

On the reef in my village, I’ve been snorkeling and found some unfortunate reef inhabitants – crown of thorns starfish (aka COTS)!! These are nasty little buggers that can munch through a reef in no time flat! They have spines all over on the outside and toxin inside. I was planning to do a removal before the weather went sour. Now that it has cleared up I will try again once the visibility is good again ( it is bad because of all the kicked up sediments and such from the storm). I am still waiting for the materials I need to make markers for the Marine Protected Area (MPA) as well as instructions for how to operate the GPS to find the boundaries of the MPA.

A crown of thorns starfish - they even look creepy!

HOLIDAYS! (Woot!):

So, several holidays have come to pass lately. First there was Thanksgiving. Many of the volunteers who reside on Viti Levu congregated in Suva for a feast! The food was excellent! People brought potates, veggies, fruit, chips, dip, pies, ice cream, the works! I tried to Jew things up a bit and made matzoh ball soup (hey, it’s easy) and I think people enjoyed it. Thanksgiving holiday also happened to coincide with … MY BIRTHDAY. Yes folks – I am old. I realized recently that I am no longer in my mid-twenties. I am officially in the upper twenties bracket. When did that happen?! This isn’t just bad for me – think of my poor parents!! They are officially old enough to have a daughter in her upper 20s. I’m so sorry you two. Cheer up, you still have so much life in you! J So for my birthday I celebrated in many ways. First, I took advantage of the fact that my work exchange was near a resort (and that Sunday is a hard day to get things done) so I booked and received a wonderful massage and facial courtesy of my mother and stepfather – my body and blackheads thank you both. Then on the actual day of my birth I was in Suva for Thanksgiving, but before dinner I indulged in a movie with my friend and a couple of orders of McDonald’s French fries. Heavenly. Then when I returned home to Ovalau, I had a camping hammock waiting for me in the mail so I celebrated again by swinging between 2 coconut trees – thanks Dad and Natalie. J Lastly, Chanukkah! The first night I celebrated alone with a bag of gelt. Pathetic, but tasty. The second night I held a small vakamarautaka (celebration) in the community hall. I spent the day making doughnuts and latkes for the village (doughnuts were a bit of a fail, but edible when smothered in honey and cinnamon). I also had a menorah to light with them, dreidles to play, and prayers to sing. Thank you Saftah for all the Chanukkah accoutrements. The kids really had fun playing dreidle (or they enjoyed the free gum I gave out) and the food seemed to be a success as well (it was all gone anyway). If you would like a copy of the speech about Chanukkah that I gave the kids, just let me know – I’m proud of my Fijian translation. The last couple of nights I haven’t been able to light the menorah because the wind was so strong the candles kept blowing out … in the house. Yes. True. Pictures are below, and scroll all the way down to see video - you've not lived until youve heard Fijians playing dreidle - it's hilarious.

Thanksgiving feast! Hard for me to look at it again ... sooo tasty!

Asa had the restaurant bring me a piece of custard pie for my bday. Ain't it cute ...

The party layout with some of the guests.

Me and the driedle poster I made - notice the directions in Fijian!

Weather:

CYCLONE SEASON IS HERE! We had our first one, I believe it was named Nick, just this week. It would have been fun if I had a friend to play scrabble or dominoes with, but cyclones (even in Fiji) are kind of dull. I read 2 books and didn’t dare try to watch movies. I had my computer packed away with other don’t-want-them-wet items in case I had to make a mad dash from the hut. Oh and I attempted to “bake” oatmeal cookies in the makeshift oven of mine. The theory being – if you have to be stuck in a cyclone, might as well be stuck in a cyclone with oatmeal cookies. They didn’t bake well and I ate a lot of dough in the process so the theory failed and was converted to “shit, now I’m stuck in a cyclone with a stomach ache.” Overall it was fine. I had to pull my mattress onto the floor because of the leak over my bed. This meant no mosquito net protection. There were several other leaks all over as well so the mats had to come up so as not to be ruined, exposing the sasa underneath. You don’t realize how unsealed a tin house with a grass roof is until situations like this. The wind was gusting to 65 mph I believe which isn’t too bad, unless your roof is made of sasa (palm fronds). The wind was causing them to fall apart a bit and it rained down debris (in addition to the actual rain that rained down) on me all night. Simba didn’t like it much either as I kept him under house arrest for almost 2 days straight.

It all really started when I was woken up the first night of Nick by the village mayor and wife at midnight to tell me the cyclone would be here at 2 am. WHAT?! So I do what any normal person in their upper 20s would do … I called my mommy. Woke her right up. Had trouble sleeping the rest of the night and texted my fellow Ovalau-ian, Asa, until about 3 am. Don’t get me wrong – I wasn’t scared (really! I wasn’t!) but that kind of wind in this kind of house is just a tad bit loud and it was the middle of the night and dark. Let me put it in perspective – Asa sends a text that says “the wind sounds so loud it’s like the ocean is out there!” (Asa lives more inland than I). Well, Asa, imagine that kind of wind AND THE ACTUAL OCEAN outside the house. The rough weather lasted almost 2 days, and then by the afternoon on the 3^rd day, you would never have known there was a drop of rain! It was amazing how flat the seas were. Now the past 2 days have been beautiful. I have swung in my hammock, swam in the sea, and swashed some clothes (I had a whole ‘sw’ thing going there, didn’t want to ruin it).

The wind kicked up the ocean reallllllly nicely.

Standing in the storm - my raincoat was attempting to stop a leak in the house, and an umbrella would have been useless - hence, the towel.

The aftermath in the house - this is just a small square of an already partially swept house (before I realized to take a photo) of the debris that was all over the floor from the roof.

This is the calm after the storm - and a great pic of me using my birthday hammock from dad and natalie!

So folks, I believe that is all for now. This is a ridiculously long blog, but it will probably be the only one for this month so stop your complaining. And for those of you who love me enough to have gotten this far … perhaps you wish to peruse the Amazon.com wishlist? I’m just jonesing for those Ugly Betty DVDs and they are just waiting for someone to buy them. What?! Who said that? I’m not begging …

Foooood

Just a fun glimpse at my ziplock clogged foodshelf. All must be sealed lest the ants feast on the everything!!

My successful scone attempt - too sticky to mold into balls, so I just made a scone cake of sorts. On top is cinnamon and sugar. Yummm!

Zucchini patties!! Sooooo delicious (see article). Made many people try - making them again ASAP!

My workstation for cooking - here I am in the process of making gnocci. You can see some of the dough balls on the plate pre-boiling.

Tuna wrap on homemade tortillas with herb and garlic flavored tuna from Claire!

Yes, I’m going to talk about food. I love food. LOVE it. Too much so, but that isn’t the issue of today’s post. Today it’s all about enjoying cooking. Despite LOVING food, I never loved to cook it. I was overwhelmed by ingredients and instructions like broil, reduce, or knead. More than 3 ingredients and/or steps and I was out. Just ask my brother Douglas who used to live with me – and cook for me from time to time so my dinner didn’t involve the use of a microwave or a pot of boiling water. Or ask Claire, my roommate of 1.5 years who would also spare me the humiliation of trying to cook dinner and would allow me to “help” (aka run to the local Piggly Wiggly for ingredients) her cook something we could eat together.

Fast forward to Fiji – no microwave, no Douglas or Claire, no Piggly Wiggly. My ingredients are limited these days. My options in the local supermarket (called MH) are REALLY scarce – I have an aisle of tinned foods, an aisle of cookies/chips/cake mix, an aisle of cereals (2 varieties only – luckily I have fallen head over heels for Wheet-Bix)/teas/powdered milks/jams, an aisle of juices, and an aisle of household items. There are also a couple of freezers of frozen goods, but my lack of a refrigerator eliminates those options. Oh and there are potatoes, onions, garlic, eggs and a variety of Indian spices.

Somehow, however, I have come to enjoy cooking!! I have to because I have no microwave to heat up Lean Cuisines (if I could even find a Lean Cuisine here) and I can’t just live off pasta. Soooo … I’m cooking now! There isn’t a lot of variety by any means – pretty much “stuff type A” on top of other “stuff type B” in which I can set up a mix and match situation. Stuff A: tinned tuna, black beans, kidney beans, veggies from garden. Stuff B: rice (white only), couscous (if available, must get from Suva), or Harvest Grains (if available, sent via caring and concerned mother). A variety of spices I have stashed away can be added on top of said stuffs: ranch dressing mix, taco seasoning, mustard, soy sauce, soup mixes, etc.

But not only am I a master of “stuff on stuff.” I have also gotten pretty good at “Peace Corps Oven” cooking. I can’t take credit for the invention of the “oven” because I got the design from Peace Corps. Use a large pot, put 2 stones at the bottom, place baking dish inside large pot on top of stones, cover pot with lid, turn on gas stovetop. Bake! In my makeshift oven I have successfully baked scones (after a couple of attempts), roasted pumkin seeds, and roasted eggplant. Next up to try is to roasted potatoes with Lipton Soup Mix, tuna casserole of some kind, and of course a cake.

In addition to stuffs and ovens, I also make other things. For example I cooked up some zucchini patties recently!! Some may know them as potato latkes with zucchini instead of potatoes. I was so excited at how tasty they were I went around the village passing them out for everyone to try. Au sa kauta mai kakana vinaka! Tavolea mada! (I am bringing good food! Try please!) Props to Carolina magazine for the recipe (and thanks to Natalie for sending me the magazine!). I also managed some lettuce wraps – stir fry some veggies, mix with couscous and mustard, wrap in lettuce leaf (from Preacher’s garden – lettuce be holy … come on! I’m funny!). I can even make some homemade tortillas – they are called roti here, and I used them to make a tuna wrap (soooo good!), a bean burrito of sorts (black beans and rice with tomato, lettuce, and highly processed chedder cheese), and homemade gnocchi (potato dumplings). And yes, I am totally bragging.

To wrap up this supersized food blog, a final thought. You don’t really think about your food that much at home. I had so many options and I took advantage of that while there. I did not appreciate supermarkets in which I could choose between many different types of veggies, fruits, and dairy products. Not to mention the ease that goes along with cooking at home – most of the things you need, you have – both ingredient and utensil wise. I have less but have still manage to produce some decent food. So I look forward to sharing my newfound skills with my future visitors. My mother has decided that when she visits with my stepfather, brothers, and Emma there will be an iron chef style competition between my talented-in-the-kitchen brother Douglas and me the formerly-incompetent-in-the-kitchen sister. Normally I would have thrown in the towel, taken my defeat with grace, walked away with head held high, and with luck left the competition with all my fingers intact. Now I look forward to the challenge! Douglas … I am your Bobby Flay. Bring it.

How Do YOU Stay Entertained on a Sunday?

The following videos are all ways I have found to entertain myself on days like Sunday when there is not much to do and you arent allowed to really do anything but relax. I relax during the week a lot so sometimes I get antsy. Enjoy "How Juliana entertains herself in Fiji" videos.



So I KNOW the fish got there by the tides before any of you smart science-y people try to tell me that. ;) But how did it just die, puff up, and end up on my walk!? It was pretty exciting on a Sunday when not much else happens.



SO after I made this video I munched on the "thing" for a bit longer and it turned out to taste not so bad. I got used to it and would eat another!



Douglas and Emma sent Simba a cat toy and I wanted to post this one so they could see how much he is enjoying it. It looks funnier to me to watch the video as you cant see anyone manipulating the fish.

Veitalanoa

Brittle star ... they are in all the tide pools at low tide and I'm always scared of stepping on them when I'm walking out to snorkel.

Welcome to my Shalom House. One of the villagers had this sign made me me and I love it.

No those aren't my legs. Just having some fun after early service training at Nan and Chris's house. Graham loaned me his legs for a bit ...

Melissa helps me do the airplane. Weeeee ... That's the biggest bed I've slept in since moving to my village.

Veitalanoa is Fijian for the telling of stories. How convenient that such a word exists because I have some stories to tell. Unfortunately, for those hoping to hear about cool work I am doing here, none are work related because that is soooooo slow going to the point of flowing backwards. For now, you will just have to enjoy these ....

1) Snorkeling!! The weather here has not been the tropical paradise I imagine – much more rain and cloudiness and chilly! Of course it is winter here I guess. Anyway – because the weather is less than optimal, the few times I get to snorkel I relish (no, not the stuff that goes on hotdogs). One time I got to see a small sea turtle!!! I squealed with delight into my snorkel, which is probably the reason it bolted. I’ve also had the pleasure of visiting with Nemo’s cousins. They send their regards (or lolomas in Fijian - see video above).

2) I had several visitors to my home since I returned from Peace Corp’s early service training. I entertained the preacher and his family over a pot of my home cooked soup. Quite hearty and delicious. My most memorable visitor to date was a woman and her small son. While showing photos to the woman her son was playing outside. All of a sudden “whack!” What just hit me in the head? Pants? AH! The kid is standing in the doorway without pants, penis pointing INSIDE! NOOOO – don’t pee in the house! Phew, he moved. But wait – after walking the mom out, looking to the left and down … POO!! That little boy dropped a load right next to my door. Excellent. Maybe it’s like a welcome basket? Or when people give fruitcakes at Christmas?

3) Tonight was one of my favorite nights since I’ve been in Fiji. The stars were shining brightly – cila sara na kalokalo if you will. Thanks to my Saftah (grandmother aka Buqu in Fiji) I had the ingredients for S’mores! When trying to explain the S’mores to some of the villagers, I realized that most Fijians have never heard of marshmallows let alone S’mores. So I told them we would make them one night, and that night happened to be tonight (10/18/2009). Funnily enough, the kids at the house where we were building a fire were watching some movie in which there was a bonfire and they were making S’mores!! That just made them so much more excited – like it was confirmation that I spoke the truth about these wonderful marshmallow and chocolate sandwiches. They made the S’mores, roasted some more marshmallows and we danced to UB40 under the stars. Seriously – excellent evening. I felt like a true Peace Corps hippie. Excellent. Nice way to celebrate the Dewali holiday.

4) Bad stories: people have been swiping food from me in many ways. Just today someone stole a papaya from my garden and while I was away for training someone swiped some of my eggplants. Perhaps I need a sign. “Na Turaga so raica tiko” aka “G-d is watching” … that should do it. Also when I got mail recently one of my packages had been pillaged to within an inch of its life. All the candy from my stepmom had been taken. See solution below.

********** Important *********** I had some postal issues last week – the first since arriving in Fiji. Several packages had been left somewhere besides the post office over a holiday weekend. 1 of the packages arrived in good condition, 1 was completely gutted by rats and 1 had been slightly invaded by rats but the only casualty was a bag of chex mix, and the final one had been ravaged and pilfered. I asked people at the Peace Corps Office and they said perhaps all packages should now be sent to the Peace Corps office address which can be found to the right. Letters, however, can still be sent to me on Ovalau to the Levuka Post Office. Packages should probably also be sent in either envelopes or flat rate boxes which can’t be opened and resealed without being obvious like a cardboard box. Food items in Ziplocs might be good as well because of rats. I really do appreciate all the effort and time friends and family have been putting into care packages and letters and I hate that the last few I received had been damaged. I am really sorry about that. Thank you so much to all who have been writing!! You have no idea the smile the mail puts on my face!