Fun stories from this week include a swim across the Viti Levu Bay, approx. 2 miles, in which I paddled a boat while 6 fellow volunteer swimmers swam. (Sorry dad, I just didn't get those swimming genes!).
Another fun story includes a wasp attack during an impromptu hike, in which I got bitten about 7-8 times by the same wasp, throwing my body down the hill of sugarcane to escape. Never before have I swatted away a wasp, only to watch it come right back for me, looking for a new place to attack. It was something out of a horror film, perhaps, only it was just one, but man, did it make itself known. And I was in clear sight of my main road. If my village didn't think Americans were crazy to begin with, seeing me flail and scream around a patch of sugarcane has probably confirmed their suspicion.
The best part was that I was on the way to feed the pig at the time. And afterward, I thought I saw a clear shot up to the top of the hill, so I went for it. I'm always looking for a way up the hill behind the pigs, so that I can look out on the valley from a clear, uninterrupted vantage point. But no. The search continues.
And I returned, with an empty bucket, pale and shaky, with cuts on my arms and legs, telling my neighbors that I had returned from feeding the pig.
Am I a crazy American? I am starting to think so.
But good news. I have found a new community partner to work with, who is extremely intelligent (and I have actually swapped novels with!). A few days ago he asked me, "Now Lisa, I just found this out yesterday and it really shocked me. Is Turkey part of the European Union or the Middle East?"
An intellectual challenge!
I told him I didn't really know, and he launched into a discussion about its precarious intersection between Europe and the Middle east...
I have actually talked to him about the Fijian tendency to expect Peace Corps volunteers to give them free handouts (eg. brushcutters, sewing machines) and how unsustainable it all is. He agrees that it is unsustainable, and that is not my job, and we are both thinking of ways to supply this community with income-generating projects that could, if these communities wanted in the future, buy them 15 brushcutters and sewing machines if they so desired. Talks of backpacker's resorts, vanilla planting, and money management workshops. We'll see where it all goes...
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
fiji summer hits
School restarts next week, and life will once again move like it did in the end of November. I'm excited for that. I'm excited to dedicate a full year of myself to do whatever I can to improve my villages. I'm ready.
Right now though the days are hot and long. Fiji right now is an unexpected and never before experienced amount of tough. The water shuts off multiple times every day, and sometimes for more than a day. The heat is so bad at times you wipe your brow every 15 seconds, thinking of ice cream, dreaming of snow-covered mountains. Life continues to move back home, without you, and visitors remind you that you are being slowly forgotten, and not on purpose, but because life just moves. It's just the natural progression of things.
I am slowly realizing what a family I have here, though. The volunteers around me are an endless supply of laughter and diversion and fun. Without them, I am not sure I could stay and do the things I am trying to do. What an amazing group of friends I have here. How lucky am I!
I have not mentioned the cyclone, which happened mid-December. It shook me up beyond belief. Without dwelling on it, safe to say, I do not like cyclones. And, with 8 more scheduled to rip through the South Pacific this season, I may have to change locations for a few months to ensure that I never have to experience that ever again in my village. My location is particularly vulnerable, as the river flooded and I was trapped to weather the storm in a tin house that could have easily been crushed by a tree or had its roof blown off. And nearly did.
One thing that has surprised me recently is thinking of religion in a new way. Not as the root of all evil, and as a way to justify persecution, like I unfortunately used to. But rather as a source of strength and help when life is too sad, or too hard. Having never before even considered religion, this is a huge realization for me. But I've always felt there is too much sadness in the world to not believe in something higher. Perhaps I've never before been driven to places so dark as to really seek it out, to need it. But I am starting to really see its value. It gives people hope, and sometimes, that's all you could ask for.
Everything will be ok. And I still, despite it all, would not want to be anywhere else. I am having an amazing experience. Here I am, making my way in Fiji, trying to do something good in the world. That can't be all bad.
Right now though the days are hot and long. Fiji right now is an unexpected and never before experienced amount of tough. The water shuts off multiple times every day, and sometimes for more than a day. The heat is so bad at times you wipe your brow every 15 seconds, thinking of ice cream, dreaming of snow-covered mountains. Life continues to move back home, without you, and visitors remind you that you are being slowly forgotten, and not on purpose, but because life just moves. It's just the natural progression of things.
I am slowly realizing what a family I have here, though. The volunteers around me are an endless supply of laughter and diversion and fun. Without them, I am not sure I could stay and do the things I am trying to do. What an amazing group of friends I have here. How lucky am I!
I have not mentioned the cyclone, which happened mid-December. It shook me up beyond belief. Without dwelling on it, safe to say, I do not like cyclones. And, with 8 more scheduled to rip through the South Pacific this season, I may have to change locations for a few months to ensure that I never have to experience that ever again in my village. My location is particularly vulnerable, as the river flooded and I was trapped to weather the storm in a tin house that could have easily been crushed by a tree or had its roof blown off. And nearly did.
One thing that has surprised me recently is thinking of religion in a new way. Not as the root of all evil, and as a way to justify persecution, like I unfortunately used to. But rather as a source of strength and help when life is too sad, or too hard. Having never before even considered religion, this is a huge realization for me. But I've always felt there is too much sadness in the world to not believe in something higher. Perhaps I've never before been driven to places so dark as to really seek it out, to need it. But I am starting to really see its value. It gives people hope, and sometimes, that's all you could ask for.
Everything will be ok. And I still, despite it all, would not want to be anywhere else. I am having an amazing experience. Here I am, making my way in Fiji, trying to do something good in the world. That can't be all bad.
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