Spring Break 2015 - Taveuni

Hi everyone and happy belated Easter!  I’m back in Dreketi now after being gone for about 10 days.  In Fiji, Easter weekend is a public holiday so we get the Friday before and Monday after Easter off of work making a nice four-day weekend perfect for traveling.  I also find it funny that Easter is the longest holiday we have in Fiji but that’s life in a Christian country for ya.  To take advantage of this long weekend a group of other PCV’s and I went to Taveuni Island. 

Traveling in Fiji is completely different than how I would ever travel in America.  For example, in Fiji it is totally normal for me to sit on a bus for four hours roundtrip just to go to a grocery store.  To get to Taveuni, we boarded a bus at 3:30 am in Labasa (closest town to me).  From there, we stopped in Savusavu around 6:30 where we picked up some more PCV’s.  Bus then continued to Buca Bay where the Taveuni Princess Ferry leaves.  We got there aroune 8:30, left around 10 on the ferry and got to Taveuni between 11:30-12.  Overall, it was almost 9 hours of traveling which in America I never would’ve agreed to for just a four-day weekend, but here in Fiji it seems totally normal. 

The Taveuni Princess - Ferry between Vanua Levu and Taveuni

There are two PCV’s currently living in Taveuni and they served as our official tour guides.  They both have done a really awesome job of integrating into their island community as we were walking around it seemed like they knew everyone we met.  The first two nights we stayed at this really awesome hostel that was actually inside a village and right on the beach.  The village is called Lavena, so the hostel was Lavena lodge.  Attached to the hostel there is the Lavena Coastal Walk, which is a hike that goes along the coast and through the jungle.  The hike ends up at this beautiful waterfall where we all cooled off. 

Beach views in Lavena

Village Hostel in Lavena

Village Boy caught octopus that we had for dinner that night. (Photo thanks to Melissa!)

Lavena Coastal Walk!

I love my Peace Corps family.

In Fiji, little girls don't play with dolls, they climb coconut trees. 

After leaving Lavena, we went to stay at this really small, family run hostel called Waimakare.  The compound was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.  The family grows their own fruits and vegetables including avocados, papaya, cucumber, mango, cocoa, bananas, cassava, and the list goes on and on.  We all agreed that it felt like eden with all the lush fruits and veggies growing, there were even parrots flying overhead. 

My PC family eating dinner together at Waimakare.

The stretch between Vanua Levu (my island) and Taveuni Island is called the Somosomo strait and it is home to the world famous Rainbow Reef.  This reef boasts some of most beautiful fish, coral, and underwater life in the world.  We spent our last day in Fiji scuba diving and getting a glimpse at the underwater beauty Fiji has to offer. 

PCV Melissa hanging out on the dive boat

Caitlin (one of the PCV's in Taveuni) looking out over her kingdom. 

The International Date Line runs through Taveuni Island... Here I am straddling the line between today and yesterday.

My absolute favorite thing we did in Taveuni was hike the Bouma Falls.  Bouma is a long hike that shows you three magnificent waterfalls.  It’s much more “interactive” than the Lavena hike seeing as how we had to cross rushing rivers, climb rocks, and quite literally bush trek through the rainforest.  It was so worth it though because the falls were beautiful and the climb takes you high up into the jungle with some of the most breathtaking views of Fiji I’ve ever seen. 

These pictures are all thanks to Melissa, she took some amazing pictures in Bouma!

Ricky and I looking for the best place to jump

Love these girls, and that view!

(Also this is what we look like after hiking 6 miles through the rainforest, crossing two rushing rivers, and bush wacking our own shortcut)

One of the most amazing views I've ever seen

Post-Hike eating cocoa at Waimakare

When our four days in Taveuni were over, we all headed back to Labasa together where we had a three day Peace Corps training.  We got to stay at a hotel where we had our own rooms, aircon, and even hot showers…posh!  Generally Peace Corps trainings are not my cup of tea because they pull me out of site too much, but this one was really nice.   It was a smaller group, only the 7 of us in the north, and it took us through the process of grant writing and project starting. 

Peace Corps Training

By the time training was over, we had all been together for almost 9 days and all of us were itching to get back to our sites.  

Now comes a bit of a tangent:

Having been in Fiji for 7 months now, most of us actually feel more comfortable around Fijians than “kai va lagi’s” (Europeans/general term for white people).  After  spending over a week together we were all joking about how we were getting sick of hanging out with kai va lagi’s and we wanted to head back to our villages.  Not only were we sick of each other, but other kai va lagi tourists as well.  Taveuni is known as the “Garden Island of Fiji” and it is one of the most beautiful places in Fiji.  Because of this, there are tons of resorts and tourists traveling around the island.  Peace Corps volunteers in Fiji are in this unique middle ground where we live with locals, speak the local language, and get paid like locals, but we still stick out as kai va lagi’s and we are often presumed tourists.  When we’re on vacation in places like Taveuni it would be easy for us to pretend we’re like all the other kai va lagi’s coming through but when we try to relate to them, we realize we’ve become Fijian.  While staying at Lavena, we ran into a couple from America who was staying at one of the nice resorts in Taveuni.  One of my fellow PCV’s was telling them about how they have electricity for most of the day and then it turns off around 10:30 for the night.  One of these Americans we met made the comment “Don’t you get hot at night when they turn the generator off.”  We were confused for a second and then realized that she was referring to our aircon (which doesn’t exist) which would turn off with the generator.  We all kind of took this as one of those more obvious times that we clearly could not pretend to be like the average tourist to Fiji, we are locals. 

By the time training was over, I was so ready to head back to site.  I was however, extremely lucky to convince one of the peace corps staff to drive me back to Dreketi so that I (1) didn’t have to take the bus or pay bus fare and (2) could pack his truck full of stuff to take home with me without lugging it on and off buses.  I took this as an opportunity to finally move some real furniture into my house!! Enjoy some of my house progress photos! (For before pictures look at my old posts)

The amazing JC (Peace Corps Staff and all around lifesaver) loading my new couch onto his truck in the middle of Labasa.  

A couple bonus photos:

View of the river from Dreketi Health Center

Reading in my yard with my pooch... I don't know her name but she kind of came with the house.  I call her Lewa. 

Me during a slow moment at work. 

 Vinaka Vakalevu!! 

Training, Outreach, and Cyclone Pam

Bula re everyone!  I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last post but I’m here now to catch you up on everything that’s been happening.  As of March 1^st, I have officially been in Fiji for 6 months… half a year… a quarter of my entire Peace Corps service.  It is crazy to think it’s been that long since I left America.  I’m not saying it feels like yesterday, but it definitely has gone much faster than I expected.  There’s a common Peace Corps saying about the two-year service: “the days feel like months, but the months feel like days.”  I could not agree more.  In my day to day life, time feels like it is passing really slowly, but when I look back and think I’ve been here for 6 months it doesn’t feel nearly that long. 

In the beginning of February the health center started its year-long outreach program after the very long holiday season.  I was/am really excited about the outreach program where the whole health team goes out to visit schools, villages, and settlements in the area.  This is really what I came to Fiji to do, go out into the communities and work on health education on a personal level.  Unfortunately, right as all this was getting started I had to go to the capital (Suva, which is on a different island) for a two-week Peace Corps training.  I shouldn’t say unfortunately because it was actually really nice to get to see all the other PCV’s I hadn’t seen since November. 

Plane down to the mainland!

View of some of the islands from the plane

Overall, training was a great time getting to catch up with fellow PCV’s, brainstorm some new ideas to take back to site with me, and spending some much needed time in the capital where there are things like restaurants and movie theaters.  Our training facility was right on the coast, so I got to do a lot of swimming and walking on the beach.  Also, there was some really awesome bioluminescence in the water that you could see at night so I did a lot of night swimming.  It was honestly one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen to be swimming in bioluminescence under the Milky Way, it was like stars in the sky and in the sea… my apologies for the cheesiness of that. 

Some beautiful views from the beach next to our training facility:

One of the resorts near our training site.

One of my favorite things I got to do while on the main island was go back to my training village and see my host family.   The other 5 volunteers from Vanuadina and I all went back together for a day.  It was one of best days I’ve had in Fiji so far.  I got to catch up with all my friends and family from the host village and we spent the afternoon just hanging around under the mango trees.  It felt so comfortable, walking back into Vanuadina village felt like coming home. 

Carissa and I waiting for the bus ready to leave Vanuadina.  My host mom packed me "pie for the road." Obviously we had to share it with strangers.

The entire Vanuadina crew at our celebratory end-of-training dinner at one of the resorts.

Although training was a really nice break, after two weeks I was really ready to head back to site.  I spent a couple more days in the capital getting some extra training because I became part of the peer support network.  This is a small committee of peace corps volunteers who offer a safe, confidential ear to any other volunteers who are looking for support, or just need someone to talk to.

When I got back to site, I jumped right back into work at the health center.  We’ve been really busy the last couple weeks doing school and village visits.  Coming back to site after being gone for almost 3 weeks was harder than I expected.  I’ve been having to do a fair amount of re-integration into site and reminding my community that I live here and should be included.  The process is slow but it’s working and that’s all the matters!

Here's some pictures from our latest outreach visits!

These pictures are from an outreach for two Indian settlements: Nacula and Naibulu.  We set up at the local shop.

Valelawa school visit!

Everyday after lunch, the kids gather in this big square and brush their teeth.  For some reason I found it really funny.

Fabulous nurse Ana!

Maraumarua School visit!

Our doctor checking all the students.

We give eye checks to classes 1, 3, and 6.  For class 1 it's a mess because they don't know the alphabet so they have to use these weird hand signals to tell us what they see.  

Baskalave Settlement outreach visit.  We held it at one of the families' home.  

In other news, Fiji is buzzing this week because the first cyclone of the season is headed our way.   Cyclone Pam is currently somewhere between Fiji and Vanuatu and is a Category 3.  It is expected to become a Category 4 or even 5 cyclone.  Right now, if it even comes to Fiji, the cyclone is expected only to hit the west meaning Nadi, Lautoka, and the Yasawa Islands.  In the Peace Corps, we have stages of emergency action.  Currently, we are in what is called standfast.  This means we have to stay at site and can’t leave until standfast is lifted.  We were told to start preparing by storing food, filling buckets/containers with water, and charging all electronics.  The next stage of emergency action would be consolidation.  If this happens, all the volunteers go to pre-determined consolidation houses.  My consolidation site is in Labasa, so if the cyclone starts heading towards my part of Fiji that is where I will head. 

The calm before the storm...

These are just some pictures of my garden for fun!

Eggplant

Bele.. kind of like Fijian spinach.

Not much is planned for the next couple weeks; I plan on staying at site and continuing to work on outreach with my health team.  I am going to Taveuni for easter with some other PCV’s but until then it’s all Dreketi all the time!