Me on the shark dive ... see my shark friend behind me!?










The kids I taught at the math and science camp at the Sunshine Special School. Showing off their periscopes.










Another picture from New Zealand - Sean and I in a kayak on Milford Sound.












Group shot in NZ after the worst part of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.










The pineapple upside down cake I made for tea and a movie for ladies night. Doesn't it look so good! Made on a stove! Yes, be impressed. It was quite moist and delicious.

Video from the shark dive I did on my friend's birthday - the morning after the tsunami in Japan.

Dear Loyal Followers, I am so very sorry that I have not updated this blog in some time. I have no excuse. Ok, that’s a lie – I have some excuses BUT they really don’t work because I ALWAYS have free time in which I could have been writing a blog.

OK, so with the apology out of the way, let’s get down to business. The last time I wrote, I mentioned an amazing trip to New Zealand. It was pretty wonderful. When I think back on it now, though, it feels more like a dream. Since my return from NZ, the end of my service has seemed imminent. Add to that one Jewish mother (you know who you are) and you have someone who is just a bit FREAKED OUT about the job market back home. SO – I have been applying to jobs. I have had 2 job interviews, 1 which has resulted in a standard “no thank you” email and the other is pending. To give myself a bit of credit, the “no thank you” email interview did go quite well, it was merely a timing issue. If anyone out there has any connections to an aquarium which may be interested in a marine biologist and returned Peace Corps volunteer – please … hook a girl up.

Meanwhile, work wise I actually feel like things are moving forward! Well, not the marine protected area which I came here to do … please. I have been promised progress on that for 2 years. I am no longer gullible. BUT – I did host another volunteer at my school in March for a weeklong literacy training and that went really well. And before that I assisted at a math(s) and science camp at a special school in Lautoka – a “city” on the other side of Viti Levu. That was incredibly fun and I am currently helping to make a manual out of the activities for future volunteers to be able to use. AND the world map at the school is finally in the next to last stage of completion. The map part has been complete for some time now, but it was waiting for a Peace Corps and Delana School logo and the handprints and names of all the kids who worked on it. DONE. Now it just awaits a coat of varnish to preserve all the hard work that went into it. And currently the kids are on a school break and I am trying to entertain them at the house with more than just games of go-fish and episodes of Glee. We are doing an arts and crafts activity each day which involves reusing old potential trash materials. Day 1 of break we made plastic bottle dolls using old soda bottles, pieces of cloth, and toilet paper rolls. Day 2 we made bracelets with old fishing line (aka, fishing line I bought 2 years ago when I foolishly thought I could catch my dinner on a regular basis!). Future activities include making piñatas with old newspaper and coloring pictures of marine scenes (no recycling here – just coloring fishies!). I also plan to make them watch some BBC ocean episodes instead of Glee or other equally annoying high school style movies which they always request. So, the movies are not ALWAYS annoying, but they are because they have watched them about a million times.

Oh right – the fun stuff. COS CONFERENCE JUST HAPPENED! COS = Close of Service. It is both a noun and a verb in my little PC community. As a noun, it is the conference I just attended at the end of April where the process of leaving Fiji and the Peace Corps is gone over and my official end of Peace Corps service date is chosen – JULY 14^th! (FYI: Post PC plans for travel are still being determined – requests may be made to my gmail account. J) I also learned about resume building and all the resources available to me as a former volunteer. As a verb, it is the process of leaving … as in “I will COS on July 14^th” or “When do you COS?” The conference was held at a swanky hotel on the coral coast of Viti Levu. And as my brother pointed out, my definition of swanky has changed over the course of the past 2 years, but this time swanky means swanky – they put us up at the Pearl and it was glorious. After the conference most of the volunteers went up to an island off the northern coast of Viti and enjoyed what is likely our last time all together before we start to leave the country. After that, I went to the Yasawas with 2 other volunteers as the last place in Fiji I really wanted to visit. If you have the time, Google the Yasawas and you will see how BEAUTIFUL they are. I stayed at a place called Octopus and had a most relaxing 3 days reading, snorkeling, eating, and sleeping.

In conclusion, recently I have had lots of great moments and memories that make me realize how much I will miss Fiji and PC when July 14^th rolls around. However, last night I had a moment when I realized how much sometimes I really just want to get the hell home. Why? Because a beetle the size of a football flew into my kitchen, knocking things off my counter willy nilly!! This is before crash landing on it’s back and flailing around like an upturned turtle. I used that opportunity to make a beeline for the door (I had been in my bed with the protective mosquito net around me while watching a movie) to try and find my neighbor – a big burly Fijian man with the world’s most bushy mustache. He wasn’t home! I couldn’t run around the village because alas I was wearing pj pants and would NOT go back to the house to get a sulu or skirt. I did grab my shoes though and creep around the house to see if I could see anyone in the distance. And to my luck, it was women’s night for church and so I saw my friend Radini and waved her out and she valiantly came to my assistance and squashed the still flailing monster. Is that all? NO! I also encountered a giant moth, giant spider, 2 frogs, and another beetle clinging to the outside of my mosquito net. I shut myself inside the net, put my headphones on, and tried to rock myself to sleep so that I could wake up in the daytime.

The New Zealand Blog - or the ZLOG

Look around the glacier.


More glacier!



Courtney intros the luge!

*More videos to come ... this uploading in Fiji thing just takes forever!

New Zealand. Is. Awesome. Just in case you didn’t know. I was there for 14 days, 15 nights, with 3 friends, drove 1 car, ate 15 delicious dinners, kayaked in 1 fjord in a 2 person kayak, saw 1 penguin and many sea lions, baa-ed at an undetermined number of sheep, walked 18 km through a national park, saw 0 hobbits, ate sushi 3 times, visited 1 museum, drove around infinite numbers of wiggle and waggles in the road, rode 1 gondola, had 5 rides on a luge, ate at 3 burger joints (veggie options each time), avoided 1 earthquake by 2 days, and had 1 million tons of fun. Ok, that last one was over the line – but the rest was true! Some true highlights from the trip:
1) The Tongariro Alpine Crossing – it was one of those highlights that you also think about with flashbacks of fear. The 17-18km, 7 hour hike started off fine. Mist shrouded the tops of the surrounding mountains and the walk was easy. As we got closer to the (and already passed 2 of the 3 bathroom stops along the way) the terrain got steeper and more precarious. After climbing many many MANY stairs we thought we were at the top – we were, after all, in the clouds and getting very wet – but we were wrong. The climb got steeper and more difficult. The maintained wooden walkway disappeared and became lava SAND at a steep incline. SAND AT AN INCLINE! Oh – and did I mention there were 50 mph gusts of wind literally blowing the plastic raincoats off of people’s bodies? At the other side of this intense summit, the wind died off and the clouds cleared away to beautiful emerald lakes and mountain scenery. We also could see Lake Toupo in the distance. The last 4 hours were beautiful. We had lunch by the shore of an emerald lake and devoured a plate of nachos each when we got back to the hostel.
2) Franz Josef Glacier – we walked on a glacier with spikey shoes! It was so cool! My first time wearing cramp-ons. The ice was blue and muddy but so very cool to be standing on. Our guide (who incidentally knew another Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji – weird!) even let us play with his giant axe for photos when we reached the highest point of our hike. Not as scary or difficult as the Alipine Crossing, but it was certainly one of those “I’ll likely never do this again” kind of moments.
3) Kayaking in Milford Sound – When we pulled through to the other side of the tunnel marking the last 10 minutes of our drive to the sound, we saw fog rolling in through the mountains. Not a bad way to start the morning. We had woken at 4 am to drive 2 hours to kayak for 2 more hours through the sound. We saw a seal and a penguin and paddled right up to the base of Lady Bowen Falls – the waterfall that powers Milford Sound’s town and also provides their freshwater drinking supply. Pretty cool! Made me want to buy a sea kayak, a feeling I have had before and didn’t follow up on. Who knows where I will move after PC but perhaps a sea kayak is on the list of things to buy when I get there.
4) The food! It was so great to eat good food again. Now – don’t get me wrong, I cherish the times I get to eat Fijian food. In a certain way. As in – I don’t eat it regularly so I enjoy it the few times I do eat it. But westernized food – wow. Sushi, pizza (with cream cheese and smoked salmon on it!!! Best pizza ever!), bagels, string cheese, spanakopita, crepes … it all just made me so happy. I was sure to avoid Chinese and Indian foods at all costs.
5) Driving – how fun is driving!? Granted it was on the left side of the road in the right side of the car, but it was power. It was control. It was great! Coming back to Fiji and having to put myself at the mercy of 5 hour bus rides and 1 hour ferry trips was kind of a bummer, but I am still enjoying the lorry truck rides a little bit.
6) The weather! I know that when I am cold I am usually a bit cranky, but this was great! I mean, as I write this blog in my house I am wearing nothing but a scrap of fabric wrapped around me like a towel and I am dripping sweat everywhere. It feels disgusting. But ahhh New Zealand. Cool, crisp New Zealand. Thank you for the reminder that there are places out there that are cooler than 80 degrees at night.

So yeah – New Zealand was pretty great. It was really sad to hear what happened to Christchurch only 2 days after we left. We realize how lucky we are to have left when we did and our thoughts are with those people in Christchurch. I’m glad we got to see it before the Cathedral collapsed. It really is the heard of the city.

Now that I am back in Fiji, though, I have to admit that I was not thrilled to return. But there were a few things that helped jolt me out of the “I don’t want to be back here” state of mind.
1) Several people called me to check on me from my village after the earthquake to make sure I was back in Fiji. My neighbor and my vakatawa (preacher). That they thought of me and wanted to check in just made me smile.
2) My neighbor called to tell me he was cleaning my house for me! And when I returned he really had done a great job. He even pulled things out from under my bed I hadn’t seen in 2 years. And there were flowers by the door and my mosquito net had been washed! Plus he was weeding my back yard when I arrived. Makes such a huge difference to not have to clean house after a day of travelling before you can relax.
3) The kids say I look slimmer!
4) Fiji really is beautiful.As I was riding that lorry into town, looking out the back of it I kept thinking that I will never have such a lush tropical environment as my backyard and I intend to appreciate it now.
5) It’s my home. For now. And after travelling, it always feels good to be home. (a sappy ending - come on, you shed a tear didn't you?)

Na Talanoa ni Kalavo (The Story of the Rat)

As we enter the New Year, I have found myself an interesting house guest. To catch everyone up, I have had rat issues for some time now. I think that since Simba died, they have found my house to be most … hospitable. Though I doubt Simba did much to rid the house of rats in an active sense, he may have scared them away simply by being there. The rats in Fiji have a delicate taste palate, eating only the finest of foods including, but not limited to: fly swatters, tank tops, soap of all varieties, ziplock bags, clay face mask (including the tube in which it is housed), triple antibiotic ointment (again, including the tube), brand new tampons, plastic of ANY KIND, carrots, toothbrush handles, popcorn, beans, couscous, papaya, mango, peanut butter. They also like to eat away at my sanity. The most recent battles of WWIII – aka, Na I Valu ni Kalavo (The War of the Rat) – get a bit more personal.

On the morning of Christmas Eve I woke at 3am to catch the ferry that takes me off this island (see previous blog for travel details). What is the first thing all of us do in the mornings? Use the facilities. I went to my (thankfully indoor) facility and saw something … inside. My first thought is “FROG” because they are so ubiquitous in my home (I just chased one under the bed, FYI). Then my first instinct is “FLUSH!” I do, and as I watch the “frog” spin round and round I realize – this is not a frog! No no … it is a kalavo!!! A rat!!! IN MY TOILET! What is the first thing I did after realizing there was a RAT IN MY TOILET? I called my mommy of course! It was 3 am Fiji time … who else would be awake, so no judgments please. And what does she say? “Did you try flushing it?” YES MOM! What else would I do!? The slippery little bastard, still being alive, was able to remain un-flushed. I tried again. No luck. Mom’s next suggestion? “Do you have any poison around?” Really? Raise your hands if you have spare poison lying around your house? Wow … that many of you … hmmm. Well I don’t, so I just poured blue toilet cleaner on it, then added a spritz of Febreez (hoping to suffocate it, not make it smell nice). Oh, and this was AFTER I tried to beat it into submission with a large stick, but then freaked out thinking it could get purchase and crawl up the stick to get revenge for trying to flush it … twice. Might I remind everyone that this is all happening at 3 AM! How lucid are most of you at that hour? My next dilemma (btw, at this point I probably only have 15 more minutes before I need to be by the road awaiting my transport) is … where in G-d’s name do I pee. I have a 20 min truck ride and then a 1 hour bus ride before I have access to one of the world’s most smelly toilets. I’d like to pee first. So … I go in my yard. Outside under the stars. Now, I know that since I am in Peace Corps most of you think me a big outdoorsy hippy. I like outdoors, yes … but I very much prefer to not use the bathroom there. Especially if I have a toilet so easily accessible. But I cannot pee on top of a rat. What if it gets a giant burst of energy and leaps up while I am sitting?! What if it bites me … there?! NOOOOOO! So I do what anyone would … pop a squat in my yard. How classy. I got dressed, finished last minute packing, and then caught my truck on time, leaving the rat behind. I left the spare key above the door and called my neighbor on Christmas day, asking for one of the biggest kerekeres (favors) I may ever ask for.

Do you think this story ends here? No no, my friends. It’s not over. I was away from the village for the holidays for about 2 weeks (It was great fun, and probably worth a blog …). I returned to a house run amuck by critters of all sorts. The frogs had left several piles of dried feces on the floor for me … one of which was less dry than I would have liked. Then there is the kalavo. He left a rather interesting gift I never would have expected. First, this monster rat (as it must be at this point) managed to cart my bottle of oil from the shelf on the wall over to the sink, where it kept company with an old wine bottle that I am not sure why I am still holding on to. Then the rat proceeded to chew the cap off the oil. Yum. When I saw the bottle, I approached slowly because there seemed to be something OTHER than oil inside. My first thought was maggots, but that didn’t seem right – this is oil, not decaying matter. As I got closer, I saw that it was hermit crabs! Yes, the kasikasi as they are called here in Fiji like to crawl towards food. I have seen them clamor towards the spot on the ground where I have just poured old used oil or food scraps. These guys did indeed clamor towards the oil, not realizing once they did … there was no way out. So I return to my home for the first time in 2011 to find a bottle filled with canola oil and hermit crab carcasses. And piles of frog poop. Who is jealous of me now for living in Fiji? Anyone? Beuller?

On the other hand … I am still shocked that this is indeed the year in which I will have to return to the real world. I’m scared and excited all at the same time. The simple act of opening a can will trigger me to think “what will it be like to open a can in America again?” I also look out my door and see the lone coconut tree on a hill that always makes me smile because for some reason, I think of it as MY coconut tree. And then I wonder what sort of thing I will see out my backdoor in America. And at night when I get frustrated with all the noises I hear (moths beating at my mosquito net, kasikasi scraping their legs against my tin walls, rats bustling about, dogs barking in the night), I wonder if sleeping in America will be too quiet and what kind of artificial noises I may have to create in order to fall asleep. I also am scared I will not fit in when I return. How many people will get sick of hearing stories of mine that start “oh yeah … when I was in Peace Corps ….” Or “back when I lived in Fiji … blah blah blah.” And will I be overwhelmed the first time I walk into a grocery store with more than 2 aisles and choices beyond tinned fish and piles of potatoes and onions? And will I yearn for the days of cold showers and afternoon swims? I do know that I am looking forward to home, but also do not look forward to leaving this home. But I must ask, even 6 months in advance of my return, that everyone please bear with me and know that although there will be so much joy to return to my loved ones and the luxuries I have missed these 2+ years I’ve been away, there will be intense sadness for the loss of Fiji and the close knit family I have created here of volunteers, Peace Corps staff, and kai viti (Fijians).

Just another fun photo - the candles on my menorah melted when I didn't light them because I left for a couple of nights and I came back to find them like this ... isa.

Well, after it rains here the water kicks up quite a bit of shmoo. The Peace Corps has outfitted us with some filters and this is what mine look like when attempting to filter the water after the rains. They are looking rough.

And this picture is especially for my wicked stepmother. She sent me lots of books and the kids absolutely love the magic treehouse series. They were all reading together in my house one night and it was one of the happiest moments in my 2 years here. Thank you Natalie!!

If I were a blog ....

Some videos of the kids at the school where I teach doing a meke - traditional Fijian dance. They do it for the cruise ship visitors that come to Ovalau every few months. Its a great way for them to raise money and do some cultural exchange. Some of the kids I teach and some that live in my village are dancing here. And now below is a blog I wrote a few days ago at my house.

OK, so I’ve done the goo-ey shmoo-ey blog, and I know I said it was only a onetime thing. Maybe we could classify this one as introspective instead. Thoughtful. Pensive. Reflective. All those smart sounding words. Contemplative.

Today was a good day. I know that doesn’t seem like much to write home about (that feels very literal in this case), but it was. You know how all those things that you know you SHOULD do because they will make you happy, but they are the things that are really hard to force yourself to do? Exercising and eating healthy falls into those categories. Doing your homework early so you have the weekend free. Going to the lab so you don’t take 4 years to work on your master’s thesis … hypothetically speaking. Well, in Fiji exercising and eating right certainly make me feel better and more energetic, but there is something simpler than that that makes me happy but is still REALLY hard to do. Two things really, but they are related. 1) Opening my doors, and 2) Leaving the house.

Don’t judge me! I know that sounds so inane to those of you who have to wake up at early hours and go to a job whereas I have nowhere to be … ever. But it is hard. Interacting with people regularly here can be incredibly frustrating. In fact, it seems that lately I have been nothing but frustrated with the people in this country and I feel bad about that. I’ve been finding that the only thing I was enjoying about being here was the scenery. Which, let’s face it, doesn’t suck. But the people are good, too; I was just having some rough times. There was a near-stealing incident. A pooping incident. A teenage girl gossiping incident. Lack of work. Illness. ARGH! BUT – I was also closing myself off more each day because it all seemed to be too much and was just piling on top of me causing me to want to leave the house less and less! I felt like I was at a wall – an “I’m so freaking close to leaving, but yet still so far” kind of wall.

But today was a good day. It was very Fijian. In fact, I got CALLED Fijian today by a girl in my house. My good day started with some catching up (very overdue catching up) in my journal. Then breakfast (oats, milk, sugar) and the sudden urge to clean. It was a sunny day – the mats in my house were gross. One of the downfalls of a roof made of dead leaves is the dust. And one of the downfalls of living in a glorified tent is the creatures I share it with. Frogs mainly – they poop and pee all over the mats. I hate them. So the mats got a scrub down and then went out into the sun. This is something most Fijians do every time the sun is out. I HATE to do it – my mats are big and awkward and under things (like my trunk and my table), but doing it today felt good. It was necessary. Two-thirds of the way through, I got company! A couple of young’uns (10-13 y/o) came over to help me and ask if we could snorkel. I haven’t been snorkeling in ages! At least 2 months! I know I live by the sea, but I have been sick for 2 weeks and it’s been raining nearly nonstop since the end of September and snorkeling here is tide dependent. While cleaning we looked at photo books and Life magazines – hello nonformal education!! I even have the kids reading this Magical Treehouse book series (courtesy of my fabulous stepmother) and they LOVE IT! It feels so good to watch them reading and coming back sometimes more than once a day to trade the books out for the next one. High tide came and I went snorkeling for almost an hour. We checked on the fish houses we built last year; and the kids saw all kinds of sea life, pointing out what they remembered from last time and finding things I missed – like a nudibranch!! There was also a sea snake incident – creepy, but cool. Back at the house after showers, they came over and baked muffins and we watched The Incredibles (I tried to go for the first Star Wars movie, but realized during the credits and 5 minutes into the movie that the plotline was over their head and the language was hard to understand for them – oops).

But the best part of the day was them telling me they loved me. J I don’t even remember when or how it came up in conversation, but it felt good after feeling so frustrated and worrying about the kids still interacting with me. The interacting is sometimes a challenge. Trying to find activities for the kids when they visit. Wanting to interact but not really being able to communicate THAT well. But at the end of the day – it’s rewarding and I am happy. Tada!

On to a short list … some list items may seem counter to the good mood I am in, BUT they are merely observations (and sometimes criticisms):

- There are 5 kinds of feces in my house: frog, lizard, rat, cockroach, and bat (they go on my clothes when they hang outside overnight). Yes, 5 kinds of feces. Jealous?

- The resident rodent that has decided to call my bure home is eating my curtains. And my soap, cheese, mangos, fly swatter, popcorn, and almost anything plastic.

- My fly swatter is being held together by duct tape – that’s how intensely I swat.

- 17 months later, the hermit crabs still amuse me, crawling across my floor.

- I have read 115 books in country, 3 of them on my new Kindle.

- A papaya tree fell on my house this week. The tree banged into my door – it was dead and therefore contained no fruit. Bummer.

- I figured out how to conference call on Skype and its wicked!

- I’m teaching myself guitar, very slowly, and can now play Yankee Doodle fiercely.

- I’ve bought my ticket to New Zealand! I go in February with 3 good friends!

- I start job hunting in February after returning from New Zealand. I’m open to moving anywhere (within reason), so if you see or hear of anything … marine-y … let me know!

- IF you made it this far, you deserve a joke. This one is from a good friend of mine from high school, Joe. It may seem familiar to you as I did a variation of it in a previous blog. **** What’s brown, sticky, AND JEWISH? Email answers.

- Bonus Joke: **** What happens when you throw a blue rock in the Red Sea? (also from Joe!)

If I lived on Ovalau ...

A marama (woman) eating candy corn at a grog party - apparently candy corn is a good chaser!

Teaching kids how to carve pumpkins. They did a good job, but letting them handle the knife made me nervous despite knowing that they run around with them and use them all the time.

I wrote my name on a mango when they started coming in on my friend's tree. I did this twice. The first one fell off on its own. This is the second one - her son ate it! But I've still managed to have many delicious mangos this season.

Video of the completed community hall!!

Yes yes yes … it has been a long time, but … ok, no buts – I have very little excuse. I’m sorry.

I decided that it was time for a short blurb about transportation here in Fiji. In particular – transportation on Ovalau and on/off Ovalau. I wholeheartedly believe that after hearing this you will ALL appreciate the ease of travel in the states. On Ovalau, there are no buses. Ok – that’s a lie – there are 2 buses. BUT – 1 of these buses is used only on the ferry to the island and only arrives on Ovalau around 6pm and then leaves promptly the next morning at 6am. The other bus is a school bus for the kids taking them from the Levuka town to a secondary school only 20 minutes to the north. When I ride this bus home from town I still have a 20 minute walk to my village. Then it returns to Levuka town, picks up kids going south and then travels about 45 minutes around the southern part of the island. Normal transport for me on Ovalau is via carrier truck – pickup trucks that have been fitted with benches in the back and covers made of tarp that arch over the truck bed. There are small AND large carrier trucks. Some of these trucks are reliable. The one in my village is not. Now, in order to get off of Ovalau, things get trickier. I have to wake up at 3am to be ready by the road at 330am. There is a carrier that will come from one of the villages to the northwest of mine at 4am, but has been known to come earlier; therefore I must arrive 30-45 minutes before the truck usually comes. I have missed this truck before, thus making this part of the trip the most stressful for me. The truck takes me to Levuka and then I jump on that ferry bus I was telling you about. It leaves town at 5am to drive an hour to Buresala wharf on the other side of the island. The bus boards the ferry then leaves Ovalau around 6am, goes for about 1-1.5 hours to Natovi wharf on the main island. Bus leaves the boat and drives 2 hours to Suva capital. The reverse happens if I want to return to Ovalau, leaving Suva at 12-1pm – a much more reasonable time. The alternative is to fly on and off the island which is much more costly. The ferry gets me from my village to Suva for 25 FJD (about 12.50USD). The flight has gone up in price from 88FJD to 110FJD to recently 206FJD ONE WAY (this does not include taxi fares from my village to the airport on the other side of the island). It is a 10 minute flight aboard an 8 passenger plane. These flights used to run 3 times a day every day. Just this week I have learned they changed to 3 flights A WEEK using an 18 passenger plane. Wow – the feeling of isolation just keeps going up, doesn’t it?

In other news, the community hall is complete!! I am including a video in this post (hopefully) of a tour of the completely refurbished hall and would like to thank everyone again for their help with project donations. The community did a great job getting the work done in a timely fashion. Other projects in the village that I am trying to complete include a waste management system using trash cans to help separate the waste to dispose of it better. The school term is over so I anticipate children visiting and I hope to do some more marine education. My world map project at the school is 99% finished – I just have to go back while the kids are gone to paint back over the ocean where the gridlines I used to draw the map can still be seen. I would also like to get moving on my crown of thorns removal project now that I am done teaching for a while.

Last week I went to Suva and had a really nice time for Thanksgiving with other volunteers. We had a big potluck dinner at the country director’s house and I made mac-n-cheese with the help of my mom and brother from overseas; I finally learned how to make cheese sauce. I also celebrated my birthday with my fellow volunteers and it was great – sushi lunch, Harry Potter 7 movie, dancing, and midnight McD’s. My friend Courtney even gave me a tiara to wear out. Unfortunately, after the celebrations, many of us got stuck in Suva because of a tropical depression causing rough seas and flooded roads. I returned 3 days after I was scheduled too. Back at my house, I found lots of dust and my bar of soap completely gone – the resident rodent had eaten it all. I did return from Suva, though, refreshed and with a new thing of treasured Kraft parmesan cheese – 20 bucks a tub, but highly valued among volunteers.

Another fun list: things I hear go bump in the night. I can figure out what almost every noise is that I hear in the night time. Frogs hopping along my floor, gecko poop falling from the ceiling and hitting the mats, rustling palm fronds in the wind, the waves crashing on the beach, gecko chirping, scuttling of bugs, buzzing of mosquitoes, dogs fighting, cats shmexing, frogs bumping into the tin walls of my house from outside, rustling in my roof, squeaking that COULD be a rodent of some kind, hermit crabs scuttling across the coral rubble of my floor. I’m sure there are more but I can’t think of them right now – in the light of day.

I am going to try and load some other videos and possibly photos onto this blog – I apologize if the internet is unable to accomplish such a difficult task for Fiji’s network capabilities.

Oh, have we not met?

I’ve lived in Fiji for 16 months, 13 of which have been on Ovalau. There are plenty of white tourists on the island, but for the most part I am one of few regular white people to be seen between Levuka and my village 20 minutes to the north. I am not conceited. I am not full of myself. In fact, I sometimes believe my self esteem to be lower than it should be. That being said – if you live on Ovalau, by this point you should know who I am! Even if we haven’t been formally introduced!! I am the short haired, slightly overweight white girl that walks around town 3 days a week and sometimes walks the 2 hours from town to my house. I’m famous!! People who I haven’t met call out my name in the street almost every day! Get with the program! I’m freaking Paris Hilton here!! With that in mind, I decided to generate the top 10 questions I always get asked, without fail. However, in the spirit of fun – I am going to give you the answers to these questions and you see if you can figure out the question – you know, Jeopardy style ( I was just watching old SNL celebrity Jeopardy skits).

1. My name is Tuli. No, not Julie, TTTULI. Like, Tuliana. No, not Tulia either – Tuli. I will punch you if you call me Julie. I hate that.
2. No I am not a teacher. I’m a Peace Corps Volunteer and proud of it! I teach at a school in town, but that does not make me a teacher.
3. I’m from America, like all other Peace Corps Volunteers. No, not Australia, New Zealand, or England. America. You’ve heard of it, right?
4. Yes I live here. In N****o village (not allowed to print the name of my village in a public blog) and have been here for over a year. Yes! I see you are shocked, but I have indeed been here that long. And I have one more year to go – so please remember all the answers to these questions so you don’t ask me again. Oh and spread the word.
5. I do like my stay in Fiji. It is beautiful. I love it here. Know what I don’t like? These questions.
6. No, the weather is not the same here as it is in America. I won’t go into the various climates in time and space that we have in the good ‘ole US of A, but no – it isn’t scorchingly hot and humid all over the country.
7. I am not married. I don’t have a husband, boyfriend or a Fijian man that I “talk to often.”
8. Sorry, I should have clarified – that isn’t an invitation. I don’t want to marry you. Or your cousin. Or your son/brother/uncle/dad or any other Fijian boy you have seen.
9. I don’t live with Inoke and Sue. Just because there is one other white person that lives on my side doesn’t mean I am her daughter. I live in my own house. Haha, sure you can come over for grog one night (please don’t). Oh and I would like nothing better than to make you dinner with my limited supplies from America. Sure – I’ll come over to your house one day stranger that I just met.
10. No really, I am happy being single for now. I am not married by choice. It’s OK. Please – I don’t want to marry “one Fijian boy.”

Please note, that my sentiment from the last gooey blog is still in full force and I appreciate everyday here - but that doesn't mean I don't have some right to get annoyed now again. And the time was now.

I am a Gooey Sentimental Fool ...

I don’t often write mushy or gooey blogs – I find them less entertaining to read and they really aren’t that fun for me to write either. I save that kind of stuff for my journal and even then it’s not really my thing. It comes off sounding fake of foofy. You know what I mean … foofy. But I’m about to drop a gooey bomb on you.

In Peace Corps you have plenty of time to be pensive. More time than you would ever need or want in a lifetime. But I’ve lately been contemplating my current and past situations and have made a decision. While I have enjoyed my time here in Fiji and in Peace Corps, I sometimes feel like I could have a more improved attitude. The rollercoaster of emotions that accompanies my day are made of such severe highs that one can only accept that the corresponding lows are also severe. I don’t like that. I want an attitude adjustment, so I’ve ordered one online.

I’ve realized that I’ve lived in some pretty great places, yet it isn’t until after I’ve left those places that I truly appreciate them. I was in Chapel Hill for 4 years and spent almost 2 of those years abroad trying to not be there. I resented being in Chapel Hill because UNC was not my top choice school – so even though I enjoyed Chapel Hill and found it a pleasant place to live – in the back of my mind I had always thought that I’d be having so much more fun at Dartmouth. Then I was in Charleston and because I had moved there from Hawaii was resentful of the fact that I was no longer in paradise. But anyone who has been to Charleston knows how charming it is! I realized this in my final year and a half studying there, but again – also had a hard time realizing how lucky I was to live there because I felt held hostage by my studies that would never end.

Now I find myself in Fiji and half the time I am counting down the months until I get to leave. Although I realize now it is not that I am counting down until I leave, but more until I get to see my family and friends again. Until I get to eat some of my favorite foods again. Just to be clear: I love living here and that other half of the time that I am NOT counting down the time until I return home, I am silently freaking out about leaving – because how could I leave. It’s a scary notion to imagine not falling asleep to the sound of the real ocean – not the one made by my iPod docking station. I do appreciate how lucky I am – believe me.

But, there are plenty of times I am frustrated because I don’t feel like I am making the difference I intended to by joining the Peace Corps. I don’t like how this or that project is or is not moving forward. And sometimes I am just a little rude to the kids when they won’t give me a minute alone. I’ve just decided I want to live in the moment more. I will walk on the beach at least once a day. I will stare at the islands in the distance and realize that I will probably never again have a view like this out my window. And those cultural differences that sometimes make me want to pull my hair out, I will laugh at more … not out loud of course … that could be rude.

Now … a few more list items:
- My toilet needs its own mosquito net for those 130 am trips to the bathroom.
- Cats drool!
- My community hall project started last week! We painted 60 sheets of tin with red roofing paint … I painted 10 of those and then the men finished the roof in 4 days!
- I have 3 frisbees here and no one in the village likes to play … or knows how to throw a Frisbee at all.
- I got my first mango last week and it isn’t even the season yet. I ate it yesterday and it was AMAZING! I need more.
- I’ve grown very attached to Lily – my puppy. I didn’t want her at first because it is hard to care for a dog here, but she is adorable and I love her now.
- I’m reading Wuthering Heights for the first time.
- I accidentally peed on the floor when I jumped off the toilet last week because I thought there was a spider on my back … that is something I look forward to never doing again in America.
- My new favorite joke: What is brown and sticky? Email me if you know the answer. No cheating!