vatu-i-ra.

I have to mention this place because it was really extraordinary. Especially because recently I've become so rutted in the same sights and sounds and smells of Fiji -- this place was so different!

Eight of us went. We rode a boat for 2.5 hours to Vatu-i-ra Island -- "the bird island." They did not lie about the birds. I was so overwhelmed with the odor of bird $@&* initially that I ran across to the upwind side, thinking my lord, what was I thinking to come all the way here, this is insanity. But then I looked up and nearly collapsed. Hundreds of birds, all frozen in place by the wind. I laid down for over an hour just staring. There they were, gliding, not moving a muscle; there i was, watching, not moving a muscle. We were both flaunting our mortality as if to say, yes, we are so evolutionarily adept, we have so much time on this earth, that we will spend the next several hours ending up no farther from where started. I felt guilty being the lone observer, thinking of ornithologists around the world that would be mesmerized by what I was looking at. Hell, even non-ornithologists would be mesmerized.

Soon Kara joined me, and we proceeded to name all the different species of birds. There were the "batmans," the "ladybugs," "white stripes," "all blacks," etc etc. We got pooped on, to be sure. But somehow, it was worth it.

We camped on the beach, just us and the birds, and I made sure to wake right before 6 so I could race to the top of the small hill on the island to watch the sunrise.

I want to go back.

(Pictures: top, view of the shore from the top of a large rock. middle, birds at sunrise. bottom, view of entire island at sunrise with our boat on the left)

this'n'that.

My latest efforts. My wonderful village carpenter and I put together this super cool stove using a wood mold and cement, sawdust, and sand. It's about 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 foot. We used a manual that was put together by another PCV, and I added a little somethin' extra to the top (using extra tiles lying around the village). An attempt at infusing my surroundings with some kind of creative energy and spunk. Or something. The stoves are cool because they require less firewood and emit less smoke. And what I love is that they are relatively cheap (10 USD per stove, more or less) and use locally available materials and carpentry talent. So, we'll see how this goes. I gave the first one to nana and she seems to be pretty happy with it. When nana's happy, I'm happy.

I thought about water fountains the other day for the first time in over a year. Wow, water, cold clean water to boot, at the press of a button, in a convenient place. I mean, I guess there are water fountains here sometimes, like accidental ones, when big cane trucks run over the exposed PVC pipe in the road. That doesn't count!

At the end of the day, I have started writing down both something i'm grateful for and also the cutest part of the day. I'm really liking it. Yesterday I couldn't choose, so I wrote down all 5. And without consciously thinking about them, I would've never thought to put them in my journal, and would've likely forgotten about them quickly. Things like nana and I running around the yard together, hollering, collecting my ibes and clothes off the line when it started raining. Or when the new 6 puppies from next door came and visited me while I was making a new cover for my compost, so I stopped to pet them. Or when the fish truck came into the village to sell fish, and I told nana I didn't want fish today, and she said ok, and then she bought me a fish anyway for my lunch. Or when tata came over and asked if I could get a new "globe" because my "globe" seemed to be weighing down the generator. Little things, yes. But it's good to remember these little things.

The finality of this experience is starting to sink in!