LOLOMA YANI VEI NANUCA

LOLOMA YANI VEI NANUCA

"Send my Regards to Nanuca"

Ni sa bula vinaka to all my friends and family,

It's been a long, wonderful, and sometimes bumpy road to get here. But the time has finally come for my last Peace Corps Fiji blog entry.

Here are some highlights from my final week in the village. It was hard to say goodbye, but I tried very hard to spend quality time with all the groups who have meant a lot to me over the past two years...

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MONITI

(Monday)

I spent my last weekend in the village packing my house up and making inventory lists for the replacement volunteer who will be moving to Nanuca in July. So, I got to hang out and have fun all week during my last week.

First on the agenda, Ilimo took me out to see the new Nanuca Village Seaweed Farm along the reef edge. We walked out there at low tide and caught a pole boat in after a few hours of work.

Swimming in front of the boat on the way to the seaweed farm.

The men working the seaweed farm use thick pieces of mangrove wood to tie strings of seaweed to.

They wedge each sharpened mangrove stick into the sand and then take the pre-tied seaweed strings (done by the women on the beach earlier in the morning that day) and tie them between two poles.

The seaweed will grow using sunlight and nutrients brought by the tidal waters, and after six weeks the village will harvest and dry the crop for sale to a Japanese wholesaler (who provided the starting materials to villages all along the Cakaudrove district coastline).

I had lunch at Mesi's house when I got back from the seaweed farm. She showed off the seafood her husband Tevita had caught the night before when he went night diving with his spear gun. She and her son Amania are holding up Octopi in this picture.

And, of course, wherever there's seafood to be eaten, you can find one of S.K.'s grown kittens getting fat on the scraps.

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TUSITI

(Tuesday)

On Tuesday I made a quick and final trip into Savusavu town so that I could bring back some food to serve at a Tomitomi Tea I was having for the Nanuca school children (who participated in my rubbish pickup and waste separation workshop over the last two years).

I made a fruit salad, and another woman in the village cooked doughnuts for the tea party.

We all crammed ourselves into my little house, and I gave out signed certificates for participation in the project to all the kids.

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VUKELULU

(Wednesday)

Here the chief and his wife pack up five kuta mats that another PCV ordered from the village to bring home to America as souvenirs. They were emphatic that I tell everyone I know that the village ladies will be happy to take orders from any of my friends and family back in America wanting more of these beautiful handicrafts...

In the evening, I hosted a tea for Ilimo and the members of the village Water Committee. After Tea, we drank a basin of yaqona for good measure. I asked if I could mix the powder since I had never done it before...

...Unfortunately nobody took over for me once I had my photo op, and I ended up mixing and serving for several more hours until the grog was finished...

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LOTULEVU

(Thursday)

On Thursday morning Marica came over (with little Eddie Goldman in his adorable american flag kerchief) to help me finish translating my speeches to the village over some morning tea.

When she left I spent one final day cleaning up the garden and yard for my replacement volunteer, and then I headed over to Kasavu Primary School for the last time.

At school, I surprised the class 7&8 kids with a tie dye party (they had been told to bring white T-shirts by their teacher).

Then while the kids played sports (it's school rugby/netball season), one of the younger boys and I took a leisurely walk home along the beautiful Kasavu coastline.

Amania practiced his spelling and writing of letters in the sand along our walk home. (He's written my Fijian name, "Milika" above.)

I always meant to take a picture of the beautiful swim-through cavern that the kids always play in at high tide. Doesn't it look gorgeous here?!

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VAKARAUBUKA

(Friday)

Friday was a big day in the village as it was the long-awaited day of my "Farewell Party."

I spent the morning and lunch with my former fundraising group (remember the village budget project I worked on last year?) who were in charge of cooking fried fish in coconut cream for the event.

Metui and Milika.

After scraping the flesh of a mature coconut and adding hot water, it is possible to squeeze the cream out of the scrapings and strain them into a dish for serving really yummy food. (I uploaded a video of my friend Emi doing this onto facebook if anyone is interested in seeing it).

Sitting at the "head table" with all the important men during the feast.

Of course there was grog to be drunk.

Even the little kids wanted to join in the fun...

I took pictures with just about everyone there. It's amazing that this little girl was a tiny baby when I first came to the village. Now she's a year away from starting kindergarten!

At the request of just about everybody in the village, I had gone to visit the chief earlier in the day to request that he lift the tabu (ban) on dancing for the duration of my party. So, the "youth" kids brought a generator and gigantic speakers to the outdoor shed, and we danced the night away Fiji-style.

Here I am with Sotia, Ilimo's mother. She has made it clear that she is available to be a mother to my replacement volunteer when he comes to Nanuca.

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VAKARAUWAI

(Saturday)

On my second-to-last day in the village, I went and played in the ocean right in front of the village with the kids.

I love this picture because I have one almost exactly the same, taken in almost exactly the same spot, from my very first trip to the village.

We spent hours playing and jumping off of the little islands in front of the village. I'm embarrassed to admit that this was my first time doing this since living in the village.

Looking back at the village from one of the islands.

The girls found some mother of pearl shells (that had probably been discarded after they were broken open by a fisherman in the village) that I quickly boiled to sterilize and packed in my bag to bring home.

Then we walked over to the deep pool so we could jump in and swim in the "swim-through" with the rest of the children.

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SIGATABU

(Sunday)

My final day in the village was a Sunday--which means church.

This was my final church service in Nanuca, and I'd be lying if I said that I haven't had a countdown to this day for at least six months!

This was the first time I had brought my camera into a church service. I guess the chief noticed me videotaping some of the beautifully sung hymns during the service, so when it was over he asked everyone to wait so I could walk up to the front and take a picture from the pulpit.

The chief.

After church the entire village had an outdoor tea together.

The women did the serving, of course...

... while the men did most of the eating...

When everyone was finished with the food, there was grog to be had (notice the Tanoa behind the chief there).

I was sure to get a picture with all the girls to whom I gave most of my sulu jiaba and other clothing.

After showering and changing out of my uncomfortable church clothes, I smoked some suki for the last time with a bunch of the youth boys. (Suki is a kind of tobacco that they roll with strips of newspaper into very long thing cigarettes).

In the other room children were gathered to watch a movie...

And, of course, no farewell would be complete without a gunu vei talatala (ceremonial goodbye and safe travel grog session).

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MONDAY

My final morning in the village...

I woke up early, had a shower, finished packing my bags and then ran over to Marica's house to say goodbye to my little namesake for the last time.

I drew him a graphite portrait to remember me by...

Here's my sad and empty little bedroom. Meleni (the cat) refused to abandon it until the very last moment.

All my luggage (including 3 duffel bags for the plane, a large and small backpack for my two-week trip with Tait, a final bag of rubbish to bring to town, and the five mats for my PCV friend to bring home for her friends and family).

When the lori truck I hired to drive me to catch my flight in Labasa pulled into the village, all the people of Nanuca came to see my off.

The kids were very confused as they thought we were going to brush our teeth. The whole thing nearly broke my heart...

Some goodbyes were formal,

and others were more tearful.

I guess this is the end of my village experience... for now. I hope that one day, when I have a family of my own, I can bring them back to see the place I lived for two years and meet allthe friends and extended Fijian family members I had as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

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Earlier this week I met my replacement as PCV in Nanuca Village. His Fijian name is "Wili," and it think he's going to do a great job in the village.

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As of 24 June 2011 I officially Closed my Service as a PCV, and I now hold the title of RPCV or "Retired Peace Corps Volunteer," if you will....

Until my July 10 flight back to California, I will be traveling around Fiji with Tait and getting one final taste of this island paradise. On July 31st Risa and I will be flying to Chicago, and I will move into my new high-rise apartment in the Streeterville (downtown) neighborhood on August 1st. I am both nervous and excited to make the transition.

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So, I will close out this blog entry with a big

VINAKA VAKALEVU!

Thank you all so much for your support and kind words over the past two years.

I have sincerely enjoyed sharing my experience with you all.

xox

Milika