A mouse finds my coffee.

Oh hell no. Luckily, I keep most of it in a sealed glass jar. But I had reserves in a flimsy plastic pouch, which it devoured (?). It also chewed through the top of my oil and I found it spilling over onto my bamboo floor. So, it's on. Papukeni is on mouse patrol. I guess that's what I get for leaving the village for a couple weeks, the longest I've yet been away from the village at one time.

But my sister was here! How wonderful to see her. We spent a week in the village -- talked in a meadow, floated down the river, picked fruit, hiked to a waterfall, ate freshly-caught prawns at the top of a mountain, drank plenty grog. Then we spent a week going around elsewhere, ending up at a cute resort in the Yasawas, meeting some very nice people from Israel, England, Australia, NZ, etc. We are such desert people coming from New Mexico and all. But we tried scuba diving! First in the swimming pool, to see if we could hack it, then the actual ocean. What a trip. I had been fearing it for some reason, but really, if you like breathing, you will like scuba diving. So, let's see if I can be somewhat responsible with my money and save up enough to get certified.

Then we had a week-long conference in Suva called MST - "Mid service training." By some curious misfortune, the hotel bookings got messed up such that most of us had our own room in a ridiculously nice renovated hotel for 3 nights until they consolidated us into 3's onto the other not-yet-renovated side of the hotel (that's more like it). What a nice treat those 3 nights were, though. What especially impeccable timing to be able to watch world cup games on a flat screen TV. Sorry taxpayers.

The new group of volunteers has arrived, which is awesome, but that means the old group is leaving. They stagger their departure, so a few leave every week or so. Which basically means this month has been going by in rolling waves of depression. Isa! But they are all eager to be leaving and starting their new adventures, going on with their lives, blah blah. I will still miss them a bunch.

Fourth of July! My goodness, what a day. We Ra volunteers met at John C.'s house and cooked delicious food, took a boat to an island to snorkel, then ate the delicious food, pretty much continuously, over the entire rest of the day. Hamburgers, veggie burgers, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw, chips'n'salsa, other various dips, other various chips, nacho cheese fritos, pecan pie, chocolate cake, cheesecake, ice cream. Best day ever?

Also, it's cold now. I always remember July as the month my mother swore off New Mexico, the yard exploding with weeds, the heat melting our souls, inserting limeade intravenously. Planning an escape north, somewhere, anywhere. But here, in July, I wake up chilly. Like, wool-socks-flannel-shirt-fleece-pants kind of chilly. Soon, maybe August, I'll be able to see my breath in the mornings! How exciting. And yes, I know I have a mouse, but silver lining, the ants cannot maneuver in the cold!