Ni Sa Bula everyone!
I am writing today from Nausori again, a little town on the Southeastern side of Viti Levu, Fiji. I have finally moved in with my host family, and so far everything is going great!
MY TOWN:I am located in a village (population ~300) that is considered one of the biggest in the Bau province (it even has its own school!). It is very nice compared to where most of my fellow trainees are located. For example, there are concrete footpaths (meaning only wide enough to walk single-file) leading almost everywhere that keep us dry from the mud (it rains a lot in the tropics)! I am also very lucky to have 7 other volunteers with me in the village for company and language lessons every day.
MY HOST FAMILY:
My family consists of a mother (Manaini) and a father (Eroni) who like me to call them "Nana" and "Tata." They are amazingly cute and nice, and they already tell me they will love me forever as one of their own children. They are a little bit older, and so my house is more mellow than some others who are constantly surrounded by excited young children. Luckily, all of our neighbors are extended family members and there are lots of cute kids who come and play with me but then leave to make lots of noise in their own houses at night! Although my host Mom does not speak English, most of the kids do. A three-year-old brother-cousin of mine even speaks a little, which really makes me feel great about my own language skills at this ripe old age!MY HOUSE:
Mine is a four bedroom wooden house in which I have my own bedroom with a double bed,
a desk, a small dresser and an almost full length mirror. The outside is painted bright green and the inside is one of my favorite colors--turquoise blue. There's a small porch that my Nana and Tata like to hang out on out front as well, and yesterday Nana planted a really cute little flower garden out front. It has full-time electricity and part-time (cold) running water (they shut it off between 6pm and 5am to conserve for the region), so I really can't complain at this point
about the amenities. There is a slight mosquito problem and I have seen a mouse or two lurking in the rafters, but that just reminds me to apply bug spray 24/7 and to get a cat when I have my own place!MY ROUTINE
At the moment, I've got a pretty good routine going. Some of the other volunteers and I wake up in the morning to work out on the school's rugby field (this morning some of my sister-cousins who came to watch us even participated at the end), and then I have a shower and a hot breakfast with coffee before heading to language class. The afternoons are filled with lots of Peace Corps activities, but I am always home by 6pm to wash up and have a short prayer with my family before dinner. On Wednesdays, my whole training class comes into Nausori, the nearby town (with this great Internet cafe!) for some group lessons, and on Wednesday nights my whole extended family has a private prayer session for an hour followed by an evening around the Kava bowl. Sunday is a day of rest and a day for going to church, so I guess that's when I'll catch up on some sleep from my busy routine. Also, I just got a cell phone, and that's probably the best time for me to receive your calls.*
Well, it's getting late and I should go catch the bus back to my village. I'm sorry to say that once again I've run out of time to post pictures. Although, because of "kerekere" (a local custom that's almost literally like, "what's mine is yours") I haven't busted out my camera in the village yet, so you're not missing out on that much.
I miss you all dearly and I hope everything is going well at home. Please keep me in your thoughts.
xoxo
Melissa
*A note about security: Unfortunately I cannot disclose my village's name nor my cell phone number in this forum for security reasons (the "Coconut Wireless," as we call it, moves surprisingly fast), but please contact me by e-mail if you would like that information and I would be happy to provide it.
At the moment, I've got a pretty good routine going. Some of the other volunteers and I wake up in the morning to work out on the school's rugby field (this morning some of my sister-cousins who came to watch us even participated at the end), and then I have a shower and a hot breakfast with coffee before heading to language class. The afternoons are filled with lots of Peace Corps activities, but I am always home by 6pm to wash up and have a short prayer with my family before dinner. On Wednesdays, my whole training class comes into Nausori, the nearby town (with this great Internet cafe!) for some group lessons, and on Wednesday nights my whole extended family has a private prayer session for an hour followed by an evening around the Kava bowl. Sunday is a day of rest and a day for going to church, so I guess that's when I'll catch up on some sleep from my busy routine. Also, I just got a cell phone, and that's probably the best time for me to receive your calls.*
Well, it's getting late and I should go catch the bus back to my village. I'm sorry to say that once again I've run out of time to post pictures. Although, because of "kerekere" (a local custom that's almost literally like, "what's mine is yours") I haven't busted out my camera in the village yet, so you're not missing out on that much.
I miss you all dearly and I hope everything is going well at home. Please keep me in your thoughts.
xoxo
Melissa
*A note about security: Unfortunately I cannot disclose my village's name nor my cell phone number in this forum for security reasons (the "Coconut Wireless," as we call it, moves surprisingly fast), but please contact me by e-mail if you would like that information and I would be happy to provide it.
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