First of all, she is doing great, seems very happy and is adjusting to her new village life. She has her own little house with 2 rooms, one is her bedroom and the other the kitchen and living room. She uses this 2nd room to host guests, as well as serve hot tea to the chief and important men - which has become a new daily routine. Although she complained that the villagers all like to eat her 'unusual' food that they cannot afford, she is turning into quite the little hostess!
Melissa has a small globe and a few select pictures from home that she uses to show her new neighbors where she comes from, but as most people have never left the 10 mile radius of the village - they really cannot comprehend her stories. They have little idea what it is like back here in america, let alone will be able to envision Melissa studying at a private university and growing up in la jolla. They laugh historically when they see pictures of her with her cat Mango, as in Fiji cats are not allowed inside the home nor are ever given names and treated as a pet! But, to no surprise, they all say melissa is smart, as she is already basically fluent in the language, and is a pro at the special weaving technique her village is known for. The man in charge of the peace corps came to visit melissa yesterday and, of course, was very proud with all she has accomplished so far. Not to mention the fact that she scored the highest of all the trainees on the fijian language proficiency exam. There is a word in fjian that means 'to learn quickly' that has quickly become melissa's new nickname throughout her village!
Another one of her new talents is cooking. Believe it or not, the same girl whose kitchen in college was a deserted area, is learning to cook some incredible dishes from scratch. She got a book of recipes from previous peace corp members that uses only locally available ingredients. With this, she has cooked many meals including mexican food, chili, and a bunch of other fijian dishes I don't want to attempt to try and spell out!
This past week has been an whirlwind for her village. As melissa explained before, her village is basically 1 very large extended family, so basically all 150 people are related. Well...last friday the eldest woman in the village passed away. To morn her death the entire village takes off work and comes together for 1 week . The first part of the week is spend praying, giving offerings, sacrifices, etc. The second half of the week has many festivals and events celebrating the deceased life. Members from surrounding villages also come to join, and today one village surprised everyone by offering a large cow. Another neighboring family donated a pig. Both will be used for the big final feast. The woman prepare the food and weave burial mats all day, and the men build the burial site, coffin, and...well...actually I'm not sure she told me what else the men do! Anyways, they will end with a huge, elaborate feast with more food that most have seen in a months time. After the feast they will sit and pass a bowl of kava all night long, just sitting and talking and drinking kava together until wee hours of the night.
Currently Melissa travels by bus twice a month to the nearest large city, savusavu, to buy food and supplies. Because of the bus schedule she only has a few hours in savusavu, which is why she has been unable to check her email or write on her blog for a while. But, next month she will start spending 1 night of each trip into savusavu with a fellow peace corp rep, and therefore have 2 days in town to stock up on supplies and get ample time on the internet.
And until then, I hope you enjoyed a brief glimpse into Melissa's life in fiji :)
Love,
Risa
