A quick kava lesson

So what's kava again!? I tell you how I drink it regularly but have yet to actually describe it. Let me give you a groggy little lesson.

KAVA, also called yaqona or grog, is a large part of Fijian culture. It is a mild narcotic, looks like light brown muddy water and makes your tongue go numb. Yaqona is a type of pepper plant. Grown in tropical areas. And in order to create the lovely kava powder, must be separated from the leaves and then dried out in the sun so its brittle enough to pound into powder.
Yaqona is such an intricate part of Fiji's culture because it revolves around everything. People drink it on a daily basis here but most have no idea why or how it actually became such an integral part of the culture. Every important ceremony such as marriage, offerings of forgiveness, deaths, for church, after church, hosting important guests in the village, saying goodbye for an extended period of time, or just because it's Saturday are just some of the reasons to grog. When visiting a village a visitor is usually required to give an i sevusevu or the ceremony during which you present a yaqona root wrapped in newspaper and tied with ribbon, in order to offer your gratitude and hopefully acceptance to stay in the village with their blessing.

There are certain protocols to be followed at a kava ceremony. Sit cross-legged, if you're a guest you must sit above the tanoa (large wooden bowl), if you're apart of the village you sit behind it. Women usually sit behind the men, and the elderly are allowed to bring cushions because if it's a good ceremony it means people have brought lots of kava to drink until the wee hours of the night. Never walk across the circle of participants facing the front (unless you're already sitting up front) or one of the youth who is giving the cups of kava. Also DO NOT turn your back to or point your feet at the tanoa, or step over the cord that leads from the tanoa to a white cowrie shell, which represents a link with the spirits. Right against the back part of the tanoa are always 3 people, more often than not men, and the "youth". They will make the kava bowl.

Once it's dried, the root is then "tuki"d or pounded into a thin powder, and wrapped in a piece of cloth. Then water is poured into the tanoa and the piece of cloth is twisted and ringed out in order for the powder to mix with the water. Then the main middle man behind the tanoa claps his hands three times and does the "stir the pot" move over the yaqona to bless the bowl. After the bowl has also been blessed by a long Fijian blessing, you will be offered a drink of the resulting concoction from a bilo (half a coconut shell). Clap once, accept the bilo, say "bula vinaka or cola vina" to say offer good health and peace to the men and women surrounding you & whosever house it is, and finally drink it down. Then, clap three times in gratification. The drink will be shared until the tanoa is empty (they refill it and refill it until there is no more powder left). After a few bilo's you may feel a slight numbness of the lips. Longer, 5-7 hour sessions with stronger mixes can make you very drowsy, and some heavy drinker develop kanikani (scaly skin).

For a village Peace Corps Volunteer like me, being at grog sessions is used for bonding with villagers, for storytelling sessions or beginning to talk about business plans. Many ears in the village fill with delight when the distinct "dinging" sound of the metal rod pounding the brittle root into powder in a long metal cylinder bowl. Today kava is a part of daily life across the country and across the races. It's actually sold in the US! Check it out :)

Below is a picture of me drinking kava, group 89's very first i sevusevu and grog session with the Peace Corps staff, then my first encounter with my training village Lodoni (see how there's three men surrounding the tanoa bowl), a sign of a store where women sell small bags of already pounded powdered kava, and how the i sevusevu's look in the market (these are what guests and large ceremony gatherings will give)!!

Rua-sagavulu-ka-tolu

So I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess you don't know what my title means. It means the number 23 written in Fijian (Roo-ah sanga vulu ka toe-lu) As in this past weekend I am officially at the age of 23. Woopdiedoo :( And let me be frank, turning 23 in this beautiful amazing and breathtaking place can not even completely turn my birthday frown upside down. For all those people who hate me for saying this, I'm sorry... But 23 is not an age I wanted to be nor did I ever want to turn because it just makes me feel like an adult. And I have never thought of myself as "adult" material.

But my last few weeks at site have been amazing, and people who are important to me here are really just making it easier to be 23. After our 10 day training in Pacific Harbor, a few of us went to Suva to get some dance and be crazy time. A little let loose after the stress of training! It was really fun, and I was glad I went. Then that same weekend I spent some time with another volunteer in Rakiraki. You haven't seen crystal clear oceans, plush green mountains, and the beauty of Fiji until you take a bus from Suva to Rakiraki town. Rakiraki and its Peace Corps inhabitants are just some overall great guys. Especially the one in my group, Matt! He's one of those guys that are just good and easy to be yourself around. And whenever I go visit him we always nerd out and watch Game of Thrones, cook something random and chat about life experiences. Haha sounds like me and my best friend at home, MISS YOU MADISON!! <3 but for my birthday weekend he let me steal away to Rakiraki to enjoy the sites and just stay inside. Check out some pictures from my trip to Rakiraki!

My job has been crazy!! So as I have mentioned before I work for several areas of the Ministry of Health, but I also work for my village. So while most volunteers here work directly with a health center or health inspector, I get to work with the hospital's NCD team, Sigatoka Health Center's School Health team, and Korolevu's Health Center outreach while still maintaining a work schedule for my village. Plus another volunteer and I want to work on a peer education manual and help primary/secondary schools with a booklet on activities to make being a health promoting school easier in the classroom. I have been crazy busy attending village meetings, doing school health talks, assisting Hospital programs for NCD's, doing curriculum research and village outreach events. I'm exhausted every evening on the bus ride home from work. But lucky for me Fiji is a wonderful place and the people I work with are seriously phenomenal. The different teams I work with are such an intricate and balanced family. One nurse on the NCD team talked to me about her personal life and even sought my council. I told her I wasn't a professional though my degree is psychology but she told me everything anyway.

Now I don't know if I ever explain a typical I Tau ke or Indian Fijian person, but neither group of people are very willing to even talk a little bit about their personal lives. Others personal lives, sometimes but to talk of their own trials and tribulations with a foreigner like me is a huge deal because it means they trust us deeply. I can't even explained how touched I was to know intimate details of her life and even her asking for what I thought she should do. And then another time a wife of a very important person in the village came to me and after talking for a while told me many intimate details of her troubled marriage. I honestly have no idea how I have been able to make these women feel it's ok to talk to me about these issues after only knowing me for a short period of time but it is a blessing I'm sure. These past few weeks at site have been nothing short of blessings.

Today I went to a local Health Promoting School, and had the most amazing talk with the Class 8 (12-13 yr old children) about sexual health. I split the groups in girls and boys and when I talked with the boys questions flooded out about everything!! And it was crazy when they saw the teachers walk around they would shoosh their voices and turn the topic to something else. It felt great to sit and talk to them about being safe and why it's important to always be conscious of your actions. I felt like I was getting through to them, though it was funny when their first question was if I was single. Typical boys. Though there was a very young Muslim teacher who I had my eye on all day lol. Oh Fiji...

By the way, in case you wanted to know, a Health Promoting School is a school that does just that: Promotes a healthy well-being for the children in and outside the classroom. The United States Public School system could learn a thing or two from this. Now though it's difficult to follow every guideline, like build a community garden, change over the snack canteen to only healthy foods, or even making the area a healthy and aesthetically pleasing environment for the students... every school has priorities that can hopefully influence the students to make better choices. A Health Promoting class, specified teeth brushing time after lunches, lunch box checks or specific days that are for physical activity etc, all for the promotion of health lifestyles in their future. It's a wonderful concept, but its the follow through that is what holds the development back. Many schools find it hard to carry out all these practices for a multitude of reasons, which leads to decaying teeth in children age 7, hefty lazy children, and malnourished cases for the clinics. It's sad to see some children with beautiful smiles whose teeth are black and they're only 6 years old.

In other news, my favorite fellow Peace Corps volunteer Tricia is out visiting her family in Taiwan, I miss her a lot :( she lives in Suva and I think I talk to her more than 2-3 times a week (which is a lot haha). After training I think I have a new perspective on everyone. Good one though :) It's amazing how intricate people are! I've been having really good conversations with people back home and it just makes me miss it so much!! My beautiful little Sam, my best friends Justin Madison Amanda Frank and Shannon, my wonderful siblings and family. The best moment though over the past month had to be when my past boss Larry and Madison sent over packages for me! Maps, crayons, markers, cards, uno, a cuddly giraffe of happiness, shampoo/conditioner, make up and a safe case for my ipad. AKA Christmas came late but my birthday came early!! Then as a birthday present, my local Fijian mom helped me completely re-decorate and clean my large house (new pictures to be posted soon). Even though it's been a complete mess of weather with the rain, it's seriously been a great couple of weeks. Though yesterday when I didn't have any water after coming home from a long day of work was devastating. NO BATH :'( lol

Well, as I said turning 23 has been an internal battle but an external celebration with amazing gifts of confidence and love to be thankful for. Peace Corps has honestly taught me so many things in these past 6 months. OMG I've been here for 6 months! This experience is truly a blessing! Thanks everyone for the amazing birthday wishes! Love you!

So Contagious

What a crazy couple months its been!! From Christmas and New Years in my host village to celebrating crazy times with fellow Peace Corps Volunteers, to FINALLY HAVING A NEW SITE!!

That's right, I have a spanking new site! No Peace Corps Volunteer has ever been to this village and it's right on the beach!! My house is on the church compound which makes alone time so much easier! And I always feel safe so it's such a huge improvement to my situation before :) I'm the luckiest though because it's a small village and I get to work in all three aspects of the ministry of health. I get to work for the hospital with the dietician, the town health center with the school team, and then my health center for the NCD team!! I'm so excited :)

We actually just got to training this past week and it's been slow but very relaxing. Plus nice to see the rest of the volunteers. The couple volunteers I'm closest to are actually the ones I'm closest to in distance too so it's really nice. I really miss my group in Vanua Levu though. They were just a great group of girls! But down here on Viti Levu is nice too. It's funny because I have seen all current PCV's which most of the others won't get to do anytime soon, so I'm obviously very spoiled with some PCV loving. But me and my ridiculousness keep acquiring crazy migraines to the point of tears and blurred vision. I'm in the hospital but no worries, things are looking up!!

Some of my more recent adventures include going to do NCD screening and presentations at local hotels. It's funny because I am in hotel central of Viti Levu, 6 in my area alone I think. But the hotel people are really nice. And they provide lunch since we're usually there all day. Which they have tomatoes!!! And let me tell you, I think my new obsession is avocados and tomatoes!! Yummyyy!! Then I went to visit another volunteer barely an hour away and we got all fancy with the spices and made pumpkin curry! It was nice to just relax and have fun, then play with new kids. I'm sort of in love with the children of Fiji. Their happiness and fearless mindset is so contagious. The love that Fiji can bring is a breath of fresh air to the mindset I had in the states.

Also, I've waged a cockroach war on my new house. According to some of the locals, my house was decomposing until the current church ministers came to try and revive some of it. Now I'll have two porches!! I will show pictures once its done! Of the beach and the village too!! My village is wonderful and the people are really nice!! They have traditional bures, and its a spoiled village for sure :) according to another volunteer, a villager expressed to her that their volunteer (me) is KaiViti and vosavakaviti taladrodro which means I'm from Fiji and I speak Fijian fluently which is a huge compliment to me. My usual breakfast is eggs, lunch is probably tuna and crackers, and dinner is usually noodles or something with avocados and tomatoes if I've been to the market that day. Below are some photos of the inside of my house!!

Oh and of course as some of you saw we had a small scare of a possible tsunami but nothing happened! Though they are a possible threat, the tsunami would have to go through a lot of land before it hit Fiji so it won't be too harsh if they did hit! :) well if you have any questions let me know!! Sometimes I feel like I'm not saying everything I should or what you really want to kno about lol!

Moce mada! (mo-they manda)
Goodbye :)

The Pursuit of Happiness

So last time I posted, I explained how I went into to Suva for a few appointments; well they were more because of my work site. Let’s just say things didn’t quite work out, so I was moved into Suva for a few weeks until Peace Corps was able to find a place that was safe, secure and a health center to work at. Well of course, as I was traveling into Suva that Thursday there was an expected cyclone to hit Fiji that very same weekend. Luckily it veered itself off from Suva, but still hit devastatingly over the west of Fiji including several other volunteers’ hospitals and homes. In Suva, we lost power and water but I had moved into the hotel by Monday so I hadn’t lost too much where as the volunteers in the west are still without power, and were without water for quite some time!!

All of this reminded me of home in Florida!! Cyclones are the exact same as hurricanes, and do just as much damage. But here, the devastation is just felt a little more with little relief and less government funding to the protect the people of Fiji that are left without homes or jobs to go to. Because of Cyclone Evan; 5 people in Samoa were killed and 1 in Fiji. Also due to Cyclone Evan, the entire water system in Samoa is shut down and there was a huge outbreak of Typhoid in the Ba region of Fiji. So much devastation from a cyclone that was originally marked as a non-threat to the people of Fiji; and while that same system is warning of another possible storm making its way down South, more reports say that it may grow cyclonic.

But on a lighter note, during the cyclone I stayed at another volunteer’s house and we had so much fun playing games and just cooking fancy on our non-electrical stoves. Also I spent sometime making cookies at my country directors house with his grandkids! Such a big family!! It reminded me of living in the village with all the kids and I have to admit I missed it so much that for Christmas I decided to go back to my home-stay village and stay with the other family I became really close with there. And Christmas was a blast!! We made a million dishes of food, I saw a pig and cow get slaughtered in front of my eyes and I met my older brother who had been at teacher training college while I was in the village so I hadn’t met him before! Plus on Boxing Day we splashed everyone with water and it just became so much fun trying to get everyone with water secretly! It will also happen New Years Day, so I'm excited to go back to the village again this weekend for that! After that we danced around the house, took naps, drank kava, then went to the river where we swam, jumped off a landing and then just enjoyed each other's company. It was nice to reminded what Christmas was really about without having all the stress of gift giving and the fake face of happiness around family that can sometimes happen during the holidays. All in all a wonderful Christmas, though I have to admit when my grandma and I skyped one day and she began to cry... it really made me miss her and the US!

But even now I still don't know where my new site will be and I've just been hanging out with the Peace Corps staff, a few volunteers, but itching to back to the village to get that cultural exchange. I swear I really do love the Fijian people, even though sometimes they can be difficult to work with I just love what they bring. And for what ever reason maybe I have a better relationship with many of them than most but I'm just really fortunate for that! I can't wait to go back for New Years and I will have a full post to report with hopefully news on my new site then as well!! So talk to you later!! BYE!!!!

Breathe, stretch, shake... Let it go

Over the last six weeks so much has happened its hard to even try to explain, but don't worry, haha I'll try!!

My second week here I met a lot of wonderful people in my village. I was able to do some talking while drinking plenty of yaqona or kava! It's a great tool to get to know people that's for sure!! Even if it is bad for you, in excess anyways.

My third week was thanksgiving!! Also I had conference in Savusavu on the new reporting system in the Ministry of Health, which was actually very enlightening!! And one of the presenters, Siga from Labasa, was amazing!! So knowledgeable! That whole week was pretty crazy, went out to have a couple drinks with two of the other volunteers on Wednesday. Thursday met the other volunteers from the North and other group, then Friday helped another volunteers supervisor with some accounting stuff. Then I met a couple locals of Savusavu and they were so wonderful! That Saturday we went to Labasa to have another Thanksgiving with other PC volunteers, but also JICA and AUSAID volunteers, very international haha. That was a great night because we got to go dancing and its honestly the best medicine for me.

My fourth week was pretty random. My supervisor got really sick so the clinic was closed. On Wednesday I helped with the prize giving or certificate of completion day at one of the local schools, which was so much more fun that I can tell you! The kids danced meke, guys drank grog, and women brought some amazing food. I definitely did not starve the week she wasn't cooking for me. It was cool because I learned how to make a fire and to cook over and open fire. I have to admit I felt very bush at that point. But also this week, PC staff came to visit me and I ended up being able to ride a horse too! Fun!

My fifth week here was short and sweet! I went to a tabu fishing area workshop for all the areas in my district. Two response volunteers were there and it was very informative! Made me want to help my village in that area too! Also, later that week I went to a tuberculosis conference in Labasa! That was pretty cool too, and I liked being able to understand some of the procedures with TB. I stayed the weekend in Labasa, because I got to go to an Hindu-Indian wedding on Saturday, then left Sunday! Of course I missed the bus that would take me straight to my village, so instead I went to Savusavu and took a ridiculously expensive taxi cab home.

My sixth week was nothing short of a weird time for sure: I did some good patient talks on Monday about the importance of not keeping babies coddled up so heavily, then hung out with one of the girls in my village that's home from school. Tuesday I went to town for a bit, then went to the gift exchange party for the women of my village. Did I explain at all of these functions, workshops and conferences I'm eating a ridiculously amount. They won't let you leave the table until they know you're full. I have to start faking my fullness or something haha. I've gained 7 pounds since I've been in the village!! That's crazy!! I ended up having a small medical issue Tuesday night so I talked to the doctor and she said I should come and get a few things checked. So by today I'm in Suva having a few appointments here and there.

All in all an interesting time to say the least!! So much to be thankful for!! Happy Christmas in case I don't post again :) miss everyone back in the states!! With all my love <3

Um... Yes I live in Fiji!

Sites, leaving, Swearing In and my first week at site!!

So after waiting forever, it finally arrived, site announcement day! And I'm on the island I wanted to be on, near one of my closest friends and it's dirt cheap to go see her. Needless to say I am super happy about my site :) can't believe we found out October 26th! It's so weird to think that it was almost a month ago we found out!

Leaving my village in the Tailevu area was really difficult. There is a family that I didn't stay with but they will always be my family. That village is my village and they are my kin and my family. I probably wouldn't have gotten through training as well as I did had it not been for them! I learned how to weave mats, we watched movies, jumped off bridges, rode on bamboo rafts called billibillis, messed around, did church choir together, and became a family. Even now in my own village I call them all the time and tell them how I can't wait to visit in March! It's when all of our birthdays are so I'm going for a week hopefully to spend with them!! They sent me off with a new sulu jaba and a mat for good measure! I took a photo of the whole village coming out to say goodbye to us!! Its below!!

The week we were in Suva was great!! I went out and partied hard the night after swearing in!! Haha I think we earned it for sure! We learned a little more about our sites, how we get there and what's going on! They explained more thoroughly that my village is small and I will work at a district nurse station! Swearing in was sort of surreal! We promised to uphold the values of our constitution and got to meet the ambassador, the Minister of Health, a bunch of old and current peace corps volunteers and the ladies in our group did an amazing MEKE!! (traditional Fijian dance-picture of us below) I still dance and sing the lyrics to this day! I miss my friends from the Peace Corps but since we have this cool little text to talk network on Digicell they're just a free phone call away! But bummer is that I have absolutely no service in my village so I have to go to town more often that not to just make the call in the first place!

The rough and yet cool thing is that I have to travel by ferry to get to my island of Vanua Levu, but it's a 10 hour overnight ferry! I don't mind it but I know not everyone enjoyed the journey! Our rooms weren't air conditioned so while other peace corps volunteers toughed it out, I just went and slept on the floor in the rooms where everyone else was at. So I live about an hour outside Savusavu!! It's a wonderful village filled with great people :) right now I haven't quite moved in because my bure (a traditional Fijian straw house picture below) flooded so I'm living with the nurse but I of course love getting to know her and her amazing son! Her husband is funny too! It's seriously how amazing how welcoming the Fijian people here are. I find myself wondering if they're ever not so cheery or joking. They live by a very no worried be happy attitude. Of course there's a lot more to them than that, but it's all "under the iceberg" as Peace Corps taught us and it's difficult to break into!!

I'm seriously so thankful for my supervisor! She's so progressive and I can't help but think how bored I'd be if she wasn't! I have a picture of her, my closest other PCV on Vanua Levu and I on the compound I'm currently staying in. Sure there are days where I'm just sitting on my butt reading a book, but I get to talk to her patients on her clinic days, go with her on her house call visits, help make presentations and just get to know the area!! We already have long and short term goals and even though we know it will be a rough road we think we could make some great changes since Vanua Levu is still even a couple years behind Viti Levu in some areas!! I wake up sometimes and wonder, am I still living in paradise!? Sure nothing is perfect but I'm surrounded by wonderful people, who are very laid back, and the most beautiful mountains that take my breath away everyday! I know I'm going to have challenges and have already seen some but I mean... There's always a positive to see... HAH I LIVE IN FIJI PEOPLE!!

Six weeks

Let's see, where to even start!!

My picture!! Well that's the traditional grog or yagona drink! They do it for traditional, religious, forgiveness, wedding, and when coming into a village ceremonies! Then some people drink it just to drink it. It's also called kava. It's pretty good but most people can't stand it for some reason. Right now we're learning a traditional dance called a Meke for our swearing in ceremony. We wear grass cuffs, grass skirts with a black skirt under it, and peace corps is giving us a shirt for it! It's really fun and I'm super excited for that. Everyone has been really sick this past week so moral has been pretty low, but we've been pretty on our game every other week so I don't think staff is too upset with us. The roller coaster of emotions is truly a serious ideology that many people thinking about joining the Peace Corps need to understand, even people who have been away from home long periods of time. It's not about the being away, it's some of the difficulties that people can deal with; in terms of village problems, or problems that can arise because of the way your home-stay family may react towards things! But honestly it's been an amazing experience!!

Next Friday I will find out where I'll be living for two years and what I'll be doing! I'm so excited. All 25 peace corps trainees leave next Sunday from our villages to Suva (the capital) which will be weird. A lot of my hopes of getting awesome gifts for my home stay are totally getting dashed, but besides that things are amazing!! We went on a host volunteer visit and I got to be one of the lucky recipients who went to Vanua Levu to visit a volunteer who lives an amazing village surrounded my some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen in Fiji yet! Besides having the most perfect time, I learned so much about the culture in Fiji. The amount of Fijian the volunteer knew was a little intimidating but she's been here for 16 months now! I know it's too far away to think about it but I'm excited to host my own volunteer next year!! This week I am learning how to weave a big floor mat and one of the kids made me a fan!! I hang out with his family a lot, and his older brother in the village is the local monkey so I get coconut water almost daily. Their family is so good to me! They told me they asked to have a volunteer but since their shower and toilet are too far away from the house itself they weren't allowed one. This whole "coconut wireless" ideology is pretty remarkable, when they mean the whole village will know in a millisecond they mean it!! People talk about the smallest details too and it goes through our village and to other villages as well!! Haha one of the other trainees calls it the coconut internet because it's almost broadband fast.

Well there's not much else going on here, I miss my amazing friends and family back in the states! Today's my sisters birthday! Happy 11th birthday Hannah Rose! I love you with all my heart baby girl <3