Sega Ne Lega (pronounced 'senga ne lenga') means 'no worries.'
Bula Vinaka everyone!
Welcome, and thank you for visiting my blog.
It is currently my third day in-country, and everything so far is going great! After almost 40 hours of flying, my training class arrived at Nadi (prounounced 'nandi') airport on the West Coast of Viti Levu (the big island), Fiji. 
After sharing some fresh Fiji water and fruit with some of our administrative training staff and a few currently serving volunteers at the airport, we took a six-hour bus journey East to our training compound which is located in Nadave, just outside of a town called Nausori.
A few highlights of the bus trip included our first glimpse of the Fijian landscape. As you can see from the picture, EVERYTHING is green in Fiji! Even the trees are covered so thickly with green leafy vines that it's almost impossible to tell what they are!
Since then, we have been busy with various meetings and language classes to prepare us for our homestays that will begin in two days (Monday). Although I still do not yet know what village I will be placed in for the nine weeks of PST (pre-service training) (I will find out tomorrow), I do know that I will be placed in a Fijian village (as opposed to an Indo-Fijian settlement) with approximately five other Health Promotion volunteers. I am both excited and nervous to meet my host family and to get started with the meat of training!
Right now, the training compound is somewhat like a summer camp. We are living in beautiful Bure (Fijian huts) outfitted with electricity and outhouses with (cold) showers, and we have three meals of Dalo (sliced Tarro root) and lots of Curry served daily in addition to two tea breaks. A handful of the girls and I have been waking up early to excercise in the mornings before breakfast, and although we must wear ankle length skirts during out work outs, we are having a great time. This morning we jogged under a beautiful sunrise--this truly is paradise! Hopefully, I will be able to avo id the PST-15 that all the currently serving female volunteers swear we will gain over the next few months, but somehow with all the amazing fruits and sweets, I don't see this happening.
Also a notable part of this training compound stay was the Sevusevu (Kava ceremony) that we presented to the school's managers when we first arrived. This is done in Fijian culture upon entering any new village when the goal is to accomplish some type of work. It consists of offering the Yaqona plant (which is where Kava comes from), and usually is followed by participation in a practice that I have come to informally refer to as a "Grog Session." (FYI: Kava/Yaqona/Grog is scientifically known as the "Pepper Methysticum" plant, and when the root portion is pounded into a powder-type substance, mixed with water and consumed (from half-coconut-shells), it is found to have mind-altering properties. More on that later...
Also, I've had my first experience hand-washing laundry. That was quite a feat!!
Luckily, the time change here is technically 19 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time, but if it's easier just think of us as 5 hours earlier. That makes us 8 hours earlier than the East Coast, but it's a day ahead here, of course.
Anyway, I miss you all dearly and I hope to start receiving letters from you soon! Also, please note that packages/padded envelopes sent during my first six months of service will have duty taxes paid for by the Peace Corps, so take advantage of that now! Also, I've been told that the customs agents will asign any value they want to the items you all send, so please do your best to (under)estimate the values and include copies of any and all invoices with the goods.
Sota Tale (talk to you later)!
XOXO
Melissa Lailai
("Little Melissa")
Bula Vinaka everyone!
Welcome, and thank you for visiting my blog.
It is currently my third day in-country, and everything so far is going great! After almost 40 hours of flying, my training class arrived at Nadi (prounounced 'nandi') airport on the West Coast of Viti Levu (the big island), Fiji. 
After sharing some fresh Fiji water and fruit with some of our administrative training staff and a few currently serving volunteers at the airport, we took a six-hour bus journey East to our training compound which is located in Nadave, just outside of a town called Nausori.A few highlights of the bus trip included our first glimpse of the Fijian landscape. As you can see from the picture, EVERYTHING is green in Fiji! Even the trees are covered so thickly with green leafy vines that it's almost impossible to tell what they are!
Since then, we have been busy with various meetings and language classes to prepare us for our homestays that will begin in two days (Monday). Although I still do not yet know what village I will be placed in for the nine weeks of PST (pre-service training) (I will find out tomorrow), I do know that I will be placed in a Fijian village (as opposed to an Indo-Fijian settlement) with approximately five other Health Promotion volunteers. I am both excited and nervous to meet my host family and to get started with the meat of training!
Right now, the training compound is somewhat like a summer camp. We are living in beautiful Bure (Fijian huts) outfitted with electricity and outhouses with (cold) showers, and we have three meals of Dalo (sliced Tarro root) and lots of Curry served daily in addition to two tea breaks. A handful of the girls and I have been waking up early to excercise in the mornings before breakfast, and although we must wear ankle length skirts during out work outs, we are having a great time. This morning we jogged under a beautiful sunrise--this truly is paradise! Hopefully, I will be able to avo id the PST-15 that all the currently serving female volunteers swear we will gain over the next few months, but somehow with all the amazing fruits and sweets, I don't see this happening.
Also a notable part of this training compound stay was the Sevusevu (Kava ceremony) that we presented to the school's managers when we first arrived. This is done in Fijian culture upon entering any new village when the goal is to accomplish some type of work. It consists of offering the Yaqona plant (which is where Kava comes from), and usually is followed by participation in a practice that I have come to informally refer to as a "Grog Session." (FYI: Kava/Yaqona/Grog is scientifically known as the "Pepper Methysticum" plant, and when the root portion is pounded into a powder-type substance, mixed with water and consumed (from half-coconut-shells), it is found to have mind-altering properties. More on that later...
Also, I've had my first experience hand-washing laundry. That was quite a feat!!
Luckily, the time change here is technically 19 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time, but if it's easier just think of us as 5 hours earlier. That makes us 8 hours earlier than the East Coast, but it's a day ahead here, of course.
Anyway, I miss you all dearly and I hope to start receiving letters from you soon! Also, please note that packages/padded envelopes sent during my first six months of service will have duty taxes paid for by the Peace Corps, so take advantage of that now! Also, I've been told that the customs agents will asign any value they want to the items you all send, so please do your best to (under)estimate the values and include copies of any and all invoices with the goods.
Sota Tale (talk to you later)!
XOXO
Melissa Lailai
("Little Melissa")
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds so wonderful. Missing you tons but enjoying your descriptions of life there. Keep the info coming.
Mom