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Home Sweet Home

We are home – jetlagged and culture shocked, but HOME! It’s been hard for the kids to adjust their sleeping schedules in the 6 days we’ve been back and it is taking its toll on us all. They are tired, but cannot fall asleep before midnight (some nights we have even seen 4 am!). We’ve tried waking them early so they are sleepy early, but they sleep for a few hours then wake up and can’t go back to sleep. Fingers crossed that we all get a good night’s sleep SOON!

We arrived at the airport at 1 am on Friday, not expecting any friendly faces to be waiting to greet us, but were pleasantly surprised to find my sister-in-law Michelle waiting at the bottom of the escalator to take us home! It’s was so good to see a familiar face. When we arrived at our house, we found our porch full of signs and banners welcoming us home. It’s so nice to travel, but it is awesome to come home, too! Since then, the days have been a whirlwind of friends and fun – we’ve all had a quite a few opportunities to catch up with family and friends. Playdates, sleepovers, dinner dates, a cookout with some African drumming, and we even had my 11 week old great niece Kristina spend two nights with us!

It’s been an adventure adjusting to life in the States – cars driving on the RIGHT side of the road, grumpy people in the grocery store, water that flows from the tap and ice on demand! When we walked in to our house, Bethie exclaimed that it was like a mansion. The bure that we all shared in Fiji was the size of our dining room. The space and the amount of stuff filling up our space is quite bit overwhelming. We all came home with a different sense of what our needs truly are. It’s been nice seeing the kids have less attachment to things – as we get settled into our home again, they are weeding through their things and getting rid of them, on their own. I’m feeling overwhelmed at having such a big space to keep clean and tidy – the bure was much easier, for sure! Fortunately, we are getting some help. Bethany developed some good habits in Fiji – since we’ve been home I’ve noticed she is MUCH tidier and cleans up after herself. She washes her dishes after her meals, tidies her room (without being asked!) and does things whenever she notices they need done, like feeding and watering the dog. Now if only her brothers would join her!

Now that we are home and nearly settled, we have some very BIG news to share with everyone. During our stay in Fiji, our family was asked to take on the job of leading the project this next year! Much sadness and excitement are mixed up in this decision, but so much synchronicity has been at play these past few months that we cannot deny the path that we are meant to take. Before we left for Fiji, we felt that we were being led there for a reason but were not sure what it was. We knew we were ready to make major changes in our life, to live intentionally, to find meaningful work that would fulfill us. The trip was meant to be time for us to experience another culture and disconnect a bit from our culture, to slow down, reconnect, and listen to our hearts. It was time for us to grow and heal together – the past few years have been rough on us all. When we were searching for a place to travel, this project came up in a web search and we knew instantly that it was perfect for us. Everything fell easily in place for our travels, and somewhere along the way it became clear that we were meant to go. That made it easy to let go of worry – we just followed the direction our hearts led us and we knew everything else would work out okay, even though Jimmy had left his job and we found ourselves for the first time ever with no income, no security. The trip did prove to do all the things for us that we needed. The time spent in a relaxed and community minded culture helped us redefine our perspectives of how we wish to be in our community and our relationships. Living out of our comfort zone and in a place where everyone and everything was different brought us closer together as a couple and as a family, and gave each of us opportunities to discover qualities and gifts within ourselves that we hadn’t seen before. It slowed us down, put things into perspective. We found a peace inside, a direct connection to something Divine. Old habits that kept us stagnant gave way for the birth of new ways of being that became more a part of us by the day. There are so many aspects of our experience that I don’t quite know how to articulate it, but in future blogs I will continue to try.

The same synchronicity/guidance that led us to Fiji continues to work in our lives now in such a way that we feel so lucky that our path is so clearly laid out for us. We learned shortly after arriving in Fiji that the Project Director and Tribe Manager positions were going to become open at the end of our stay. As the weeks went by, we could see how well we fit into these positions – the skills needed are all the things that Jimmy and I are naturally good at and enjoy. And it fulfilled all the things we have been wanting in a job, the only thing was that we weren’t expecting our perfect jobs to be across the world. So now the plan is that we are home for 6-8 weeks, then we are off to Fiji for 1 year. We have lots to accomplish in that short amount of time to be ready to leave, but we are trusting that it will all work out as easily as it has up to this point. Just taking it one day at a time.

Because we are leaving soon, our past few days of getting reacquainted with friends and family have been a bit bittersweet. We are thrilled at seeing all the people we love and value, but I don’t think any of us were prepared for the punch in the gut sadness that comes with sharing the news of our leaving again. Following this path is going to be hard, harder than I thought it would be. Again, just taking it one day at a time and taking every chance to share good times and laughs with the people we love so much.

I will be uploading more photos to Flickr later today. Lots of the huge 3^rd Anniversary Celebration of the project. Be sure to check it out – there are some photos of Jimmy dressed up in full Fijian celebration dress – draped from head to toe in Tapa cloth. A big part of the celebration was celebrating the new leadership for the next year as well, so he had an important role in the ceremony. It is exciting to us how having a family lead the project with change things in dynamic ways – the Fijian culture is very much a family oriented culture. They are very excited to have us join their family, as are we.

A few links you might want to check out:

A really cute and funny video that the current project director (and adopted big brother to Lucas and Ollie) put together about Oliver

The press release announcing our new positions

My blog for the Tribewanted website

Lucas' blog for the Tribewanted website

Almost time to come home...

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we are doing okay - just haven't been able to get to the internet for a while.  We have a few more days here, then we fly to Nadi for a couple days, then it's home.  We will be back in Indy early next Friday, Sept. 4.  

Life here is well - busy with lots of work and preparations for the 3rd year anniversary of the project.    Bittersweet - we are eager to come home and see all those whom we miss so much, but sad to leave the friends and culture we have come to love so much.  Sure to be an emotional parting, I'm sure.

Off for now.  Next update will be when we get to Nadi. Till then, much love to you...

Long time, no post!

Been a while since I had the chance to update.  Town trips are 3-4 short hours to do everything – email, blog update, upload photos, shop.  Hopefully some new photos are uploading as I write this.  Check Flickr!  http://www.flickr.com/photos/cahillfamilyphotos/

Our stay with Chuck, Susie and family was wonderful – seems like so long ago already.   We had some amazing talks - much to learn from each other.   Lots of talk about parenting – what works, what doesn’t.  Feels good to share some of what we have learned.  They have 3 adopted children, 2 they have had from infancy, one older daughter they have had only for 1 ½ years.  She was abandoned when she was an infant by her mother, and then abused terribly by the woman with whom she was abandoned – she lived there for years, until she ran away to live at the children’s home.  She lived there until Chuck and Susie brought her to live with them.   So many challenges come with integrating a child with no concept of security or family into an existing family structure – this is made even more challenging amidst  the hard work of getting a new farm off the ground.  Quality people they are - I admire the work they do in the world.  Their sustainable farm is impressive – they’ve only lived on the land a handful of months and have done so much.  They’ve built basic Fijian housing – outdoor kitchen, sleeping rooms.  Acres and acres of food growing in the ground, sheep grazing, chickens fattening – hoping the pictures from our time there will upload today.  Their intent is to one day have the farm open to widows and orphans as a home – a place to live and learn skills – a place to which they can always return.

I’ll let the pictures tell the story of the rest of our days these past few weeks.  Each day is so full – yet still flows with ease and joy – I truly love the way life integrates here.   We have grown as a family in ways I couldn’t have imagined before we came.    The kids are so comfortable here in their Fijian home and with their Fijian family.  This past week has been a week of firsts – all three kids have accepted invitations to go home and spend time in the home villages of some of our friends.  Bethie spent the night in Sala’s village on a neighboring island on Friday night, Lucas went home to Jone’s village on the mainland on Friday and stayed until Monday morning, and Oliver went home with Sala last night.  They had amazing experiences.  It has been such a privilege to watch them grow and mature this summer – they have really grown into their own.  They are so confident and capable.  It was quite strange being without kids this weekend – only Ollie stayed behind!  And when he was invited yesterday, he couldn’t pack his bag fast enough – he couldn’t wait to go to the village and play with all the children.   On Sunday, I went over to Sala’s village to attend church – amazing experience.  Most beautiful singing you will ever hear on this earth.  No pictures, but I do have some video to share when I get home.   Had an emotional talk with Sala's mother last night - she has 8 children and lost her 9 year old son, a twin, to leukemia about 3 years ago.   To hear her say that she is always looking for the one who is missing, always seeing her son when she looks upon his twin, to hear her describe her pain and tears when they learned what was making his sick, because the only end to leukemia here is death - breaks my heart wide open.  She shared with me her faith, her pain, her love for her children - she is an amazing, strong woman.  I learn so much from each person I have the privilege of knowing.  I am grateful.

Much love back home to each of you reading this.  About 3 more weeks to go – can’t wait to see my new niece, catch up with friends, give and receive lots of hugs!  XOXO!

 

The Half Way Point...

Good morning or yandra sia!  In town early today – came on the 7 am boat to do some computer work, then J and the kiddos are meeting me later this morning to head to Chuck’s farm – he and his family have invited us to come stay the next two days for a visit and to celebrate his daughter Tia’s birthday.  Really looking forward to this chance to get to know Chuck and his family better, explore inland a bit more, and check out his sustainable farm.

Realized a few errors/omissions in my typing frenzy last week for the blog – I said the island made bio-diesel – ha/ha!  Not true – we use the pig manure to make bio-gas. It’s Chuck’s baby, as well as the bee hives.  The bee hives have not been successful – they vacate the hive within days of placing it – we need advice from the beekeepers out there.  Ideas on why this is happening?

Happy belated birthday to Rachael, and happy birthday next week to Jamie!  Hope your days are filled with laughs, hugs and joy.  Love you!

Sorry - no new photos uploaded this week.  It takes hours and hours - hoping to have some extra time in town on Wednesday before we catch the boat home to upload some.

It was a great week.  Here’s a bit of my journal writings from the week…

Monday, July 20, 2009

Today is our ½ way mark – been here 5 weeks, and 5 more to go.  It has gone so quickly…

Trip into town today – computer catch up time, some shopping.  Got to chat quite a while with my dear friend Blythe on Facebook – so grateful for that.  Bought some eye ointment for Jone’s eye – he has an infection that looks terrible.  Hope it works. Treated myself to a Blitz bar – heaven on a stick.  Toffee ice creams nestled in a crunchy chocolate shell – aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!  Three new arrivals today – one is an American woman, so that makes 2 other Americans besides ourselves on the island – the most since we’ve arrived!  Let the language dueling begin!  It is an ongoing joke on the island between the Americans and the English – they say they created the language, but we say we perfected it.  To be honest though, I actually prefer the way they speak it!  I love to watch the newcomers faces on the boat ride to the island – love to watch the amazement and emotion that comes across their faces as they take in the scenery and the reality of their adventure. 

Back on the island, the children greeted me at the shore as though I had been gone for a month, full of stories of the day’s excitement.  They retrieved the billibilli (bamboo fishing raft) that had washed up down the beach a few days earlier.  J pulled the bilibili while the kiddos wrote atop.  They saw a shark and a jellyfish on their journey.  The bilibili is in good shape, and Lucas is bursting to show it to Pupu so they can make it as good as new.  Ollie’s big news was that Jimmy and Mark made him a fishing/butterfly net from some sticks and an old mosquito net.  J finished drying the wash, brought it in, and put it away.  Yippee!  He also walked some other people through caring for the pigs, so he can take a break from that job for a while.

Shortly after returned, Chevonne and I grabbed some water, put on our trainers, and set out on a hike.  I offered to take her around the 4 Peaks since she will leave before there is another guided hike.  I love this hike and could do it everyday, which everyone else thinks is just crazy.   You work up a great sweat and use every muscle in your body to scale the rocky terrain and scramble over rocks, but the breeze at the top of each peak is soooo worth it.  The day before, Jenny and Lisa watched the kiddos for a bit so J and I could hike and chat alone, and it was amazing.  Great fun hiking with Chevonne – we had some wonderful conversation.  I love so much the mature and insightful perspectives of the young people who come through the island. 

Had to run the last bit back through the mangroves cuz the sun was setting.  J and Lucas had already left on the fishing trip when we got back, but Bethie did a good job of looking after Ollie until I got back.  After dinner, it was on with the sulu and and then onto the grog mat, where Ollie curled up on my lap and fell asleep.  Drank a few bilos but then felt queasy, as usual.  Grog makes my dinner want to come back – ick.  J and L returned from fishing, but caught nothing.

Left the grog mat around 10 (a VERY late night for us!) and then settled into to sleep, lulled by the beautiful music and voices of Jone, Oriah, and Antonio. 

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Cooolllld morning – J and the kids are behind me actually building a fire!  Cooler air blew in on a storm yesterday – after a stretch of windless, humid days, I welcome the feisty wind!  The Fijians hate it – all bundled up in their jackets, hats, scarves – to them it is freezing.  Last night was the most lovely night since we arrived - J and I snuggled up in long pants and long sleeve shirts, socks, and blankets and lay stargazing, listening to the wind in the coconut leaves and the sound of the coconuts falling to the ground, thump, thump, thump!  The sky was black and clear and the stars were twinkling by the millions.  We pointed out the constellations we knew and made up others.  The Fijian sky has inspired me to learn more about astronomy – the beauty and the mystery of the night sky is just overwhelming to me.   As the night wore on, we ended up singing our hearts out to any and every song that we could think of that we both knew the words to – completely off-key, I’m sure!  I slept so well – love when breeze blows through the bure – it was nice to need the warmth of a blanket and another body rather than sweat the whole night through.

Some very good friends left this morning – it is so sad to form friendships and attachments to wonderful people as they pass through and then have to see them leaving, knowing that most you will never see again, although email and Facebook does take the sting out of that a bit.  A few others left as week, so it was a big Isa Lei (the ceremony and song with which we send people on their way).

The funky tides are back – really, really low and high tides.  The Fijians say it happens with the new moon, once a month.  Ollie and I ventured to the far end of the island during low tide to explore tide pools yesterday.  It was AMAZING!  Ollie had it exactly right when he said it was just like looking in aquariums.  Bright, colorful, graceful fish, eels, stingrays, and crabs.  We tried our best to catch some fish with his new makeshift net, but succeeded in only catching a few.  They dart away so quickly to their coral hideaways!

Chuck is here, so Jimmy is deep into projects with him.  Ollie and Mana are up to whatever they do all day – running between the villages.  Lucas is consumed with a new book, and Bethie is helping Jenny, Lisa, and Clinton with cleaning and organizing the Chief’s bure.  I think I am going to spend the day working on my water conservation information board I am making, sit in on the language class after morning tea, then help lead a beach clean up this afternoon in the mangroves.

The war between us and the rats continue – J had to take up floorboards today to remove one that had eaten our lovely poison treats.  Although we keep NO food in our bure, these rats come at night and terrorize our bure – they’ve eaten some of the beads off of J’s prayer beads, the top of my hat, the tabua (whales tooth) carved for Ollie’s birthday by Jone.   Each day, the list grows longer – it is ON!

Beach clean up went well – because of poor systems for rubbish disposal/removal, so much of it ends up in the sea and then washes up in the mangroves.  Need to go back several more times before the job is done.  Lucas and Ollie came along and helped, providing us constant entertainment.  When we were done, we brought the rubbish back, where it was weighed and logged, then sorted through into landfill, recycling, and re-usables.   We are currently collecting plastic bottles to replace a pontoon that died a while back – we use the plastic bottles to float a wooden frame dock that will be anchored offshore for fishing, sunbathing, etc.  The data collected is used to help educate and inform, especially in Labasa, where most of the trash comes from.  During the clean up, Ollie surprised us all by showing us all a hidden cave where their were baby birds in nests attached to the ceiling – evidently he had been there before with one of the Fijians.  Lucas also found a gorgeous sea lobster, dead.  He brought back the carcass and Jone helped him take it apart and clean it – they are going to varnish it and wire it back together.  The colors and markings of this thing is amazing – nothing like anything I’ve ever seen before. 

Back to the village for tea – warm, honey glazed donuts.  Pure sin – I tried to resist, but failed.  Afterwards a few of us gathered with Jone to practice some Fijians songs, worked on perfecting the Isa Lei and started learning the ever popular and fun Goat Song, a grog mat favorite.  Bethie joined in the singing for a bit, then headed of to snorkel with Jenny and some others.  Then it was a sustainability meeting in the Hammocks with Chuck to discuss the water desalination device.  I chose to stay behind and continue a conversation with Jone – so much for us to learn through each other about our cultures.  We chatted about his birth, pros and cons of life in the US, about Fijian family life, and life in general.  I will miss Jone and his laugh, mischieviousness, and persectives.  He plans to visit us in the US – I hope he does.

Aside from the beach clean-up, I hardly saw the boys or J all day.  Everyone was busy with their own projects.  J had to move a bookshelf to get to the rat, so while he had it out he put a back on it, then spent the rest of the day working on the biogas project and making new recycling bins with Chuck.  Because there are no power tools, building projects take much longer!

The day is at it’s end – as I write I can hear the heartbeat of Vorovoro – the boys are pounding more grog.  It’s Oriah’s last night on the island before he returns to his chiefly duties in Ligu Levu tomorrow.   I will miss his singing on the grog mat.  Ollie is sleeping beside me and J and the kiddos are watching “Monsters vs. Aliens” on the laptop – one of the $3 movies from the many pirated DVD shops in Labasa – the only way to get movies here.  It cracks me up because when you pop the movie in, the name and phone number of the movie pirate scrolls across the screen as an advertisement!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Kini, the kitchen chef, taught Ollie how to hold one of the huge, hairy spiders today.  He carried it around and let it crawl all over him.  He claimed it as a pet and named it Bill.  That kid is fearless!

This morning, Lucas is hiking the 4 Peaks with some others, Ollie is off somewhere with Mana, and Bethie is helping Jenny move into her new living quarters – now that she took a staff position she gets to move out of the dormitory vale into her own private house.  Today is her first official day as Wavu.  Jenny (we are known as Jenny squared when we are together) has become such a special friend to our family – we were thrilled when she decided to apply for the Wavu position, which meant extending her stay until the end of our stay.  There was no doubt she would get the position – her outgoing, buoyant personality is a perfect fit for the job, as well as her enduring passion and enthusiasm for the project.

Hoping for a  bit of rain today, enough to get the waterfall flowing.  Really need to shower today, and would love a waterfall shower.

Written later in the day…

Lucas’ maiden voyage of the bilibili was a success!  He and Chez took it out fishing and actually caught a small fish that they used for bait to hook a larger one that broke their line.  He and Jimmy took it out again later but caught nothing – beginning to think that Jimmy is bad fishing luck!

Worked more on my info board – it’s all sketched out and ready for paint tomorrow.  Also outlined the text for another info board. 

B and I hiked to the end of the island to explore tide pools, because it is the time of the month when the tide goes waaaaay out.  Didn’t see anything as cool as when Ollie and I went the other day, but enjoyed our girl time, just the two of us. 

As I am writing this, we just got an emergency call from Chuck.  As he was boating home over rough seas, his motor hit something and bounced off and sank to the bottom of the sea.  Jone is heading to fetch him and his boat.  Glad for him he had a phone, and it had charge!  Looks like he is spending another night on Vorovoro with us!

Got my beads out today, and it attracted the Fjians like bees to honey, drawn to all the pretty shapes and colors they had not seen before.  We all beaded together for a couple hours – now everyone has a new piece of jewelry.  I love seeing my beads around their necks and on their ears – their gratitude and enthusiasm is truly heart warming.

Waiting, waiting, waiting now for dinner – we’ve been invited down to the Fijian village for dinner, but because it IS Fiji, time is just an abstract concept, despite rumbling tummies.  But like always, I know dinner will prove itself well worth the wait!

 

 

Au Lomani Iko!

Au lomani Iko means I love you!  Much love from us to you and your families - we are doing well, loving life here in Fiji, but we are all missing the smiles, hugs, and good times with all those we left on the other side of the ocean.   AU LOMANI IKO!!!!  

Probably going to be a short post this time, with no new photos.  Short on time.  Gonna type till someone comes to let me know that it's time to board the boat.   

The big event of this past week was a Lovo, which is a great big festive Fijian celebration - the Lovo specifically refers to the main dish prepared for the feast, which is a pig cooked in the ground - a hole is dug in the ground, the pig is wrapped in leaves and cooked 1.5 hours in the hole - there is more to it the cooking and preparation process, but I missed it this time around.  There will be another, bigger Lovo next month to celebrate the 3 year anniversary of the project, so I will have pics and more details about it then.   This Lovo was to celebrate the homecoming of 4 Fijian team members who traveled to London for a month to do some promotional work there.  Unless they are important political figures or Rugby players, few Fijians ever travel out of the country, let alone across the world.  This was a big deal.  They are taking a week off to reconnect with their families, but then they will be around to share their stories - Fijian stories are the best.  I love to hear them tell about the world from their perspective.  Upon first seeing a double-decker bus cruising down the street in London, one of the guys asked with alarm, "Why is that house moving???"   Lots of stories and laughs to be had around the grog mat next week, I'm sure.  I just have to make sure I sit next to someone who can translate well for me, because I have figured out that while I can learn enough Fijian to communicate crudely, the language is WAAAAAYYYYY too complicated to learn fluently - folks who have been here decades still haven't mastered it.  

We've been asked to explain more about what the project is about and what we are doing here, so I will try to do that before I get pulled away.  The project is called TribeWanted - we found it when we were searching for international volunteer opportunities that accommodated families.  We had no luck finding any family friendly volunteer opportunities abroad, but this project appealed to us on several levels.  1) It is in Fiji, a country we fell in love with 2 years ago and have wanted to spend more time exploring the land and the culture, 2) The focus is sustainable eco-tourism - something that has not yet been done, 3) Cultural immersion - living, working, playing with the indigenous Fijians of the area, 4) Cultural conservation - a focus on learning and preserving the cultural traditions of the area, 5) Providing a sustainable income for the indigenous Fijians - a very valuable thing - Fiji is a very poor country with limited income sources, 6) Share environmental awareness - Fiji is undereducated in terms of the negative impact traditional tourism and general daily life and business practices has on the environment and eco-systems.   The history of the project is that two young men from England had the idea of creating a sustainable eco-village, utilizing the internet to create a world-wide "tribe" where tribe members would work together online to hash out ideas and vote on important decisions regarding the creation of the village, before arranging to visit the island to experience the island and put their share of work into the creation of the dream.  The lease of the land to TribeWanted would be 3 years, enough time to create the infrastructure and the physical structures of the village, and then the established eco-village would be left to the Fijians as a source of sustainable income, while the project re-located to another location to begin again.  The goal of the eco-village would be all the things I stated above that appealed to us, as well as establishing a new niche in the eco-tourism that would promote sustainable practices.   Their search for the perfect location to lease led them to Vorovoro, where two years previous Tevita, a spiritual man from the island, had a prophecy that "The world would come to Vorovoro."  When the men from England approached the leaders of the island with this idea, an agreement on a 3 year lease was quickly agreed upon, and the project began.  Construction on the composting toliets began first, with traditional Fijian housing and cooking structures next.   All the planning and sweat came from project members and the Fijians - each learning from the other.  The nature of the project brings together like-minded individuals from all over the world united in a common desire to help the project to succeed, thus creating a tight community atmosphere, something we have loved ever so much since we have arrived.   Over the last three years, solar and wind power has been established, a dam has been attempted (and unfortunately failed, but still hopeful to work with some revision), huge progress has been made in growing enough food to sustain the needs of the project, elaborate water collection and distribution systems have been put in place, biodiesel system has been put into place, pigs and chicken housing created and animals purchased, water de-salination device created (not successful -needs work!), the compost toliets have been built and succeed in providing excellent compost for the fruit trees, a reed bed filtration system completed, an ongoing environmental club established at the local school, and loads of environmental education has been shared with the island community and beyond into the larger community of Labasa.   The Fijians offer lots of opportunities to learn from them - we forage with them, line and spear fish with them, build with them, join in their celebrations and festivals, and of course spend lots of time on the grog mat with them, where we probably learn the most of all!  I feel like I am forgetting a lot - trying to type fast before I have to go.  A unique aspect of the project is the cultural immersion - learning the culture by living it along side the Fijians.  Also unique is the shared work - the project is a sum of its parts - international and indigenous - and much pride is shared.  As the project has come up on it's 3 year anniversary and lease expiry, the Fijians have offered an extended lease of 5 years, so the project will continue in it's current location.  That the Fijians want us to stay is a huge compliment - they are pleased with the project and it's impact and respect to their environment and culture.  There have been other Tribewanted communities started elsewhere in the world - Peru, I think.  We love the project for all the reasons we have stated, as well as the chance to include our children in the creation of something that we believe in - they are included in every part,  the meetings, work, planning, etc.  Some of what we do is general upkeep - usually community housekeeping duties - things that must be done in a communal living situation - cleaning, organizing, helping in kitchen, etc.   There is continual maintenance of the existing projects, work to be done on projects in progress, and continual planning of future projects.   A major issue for the island right now is water - water is a big issue for all of Fiji.  In the dry season, a lot of island run out of fresh water, and given the amount of people who pass through Vorovoro, water is a bigger issue there.  With extremely limited supply choices in Fiji, and a limited budget, this problem is very tricky to solve.  My personal hope is that now that the project is moving out of it's infancy and has established it's viability, it will become more attractive to investors.  As of now, we use salt water for as many uses as we can, catch as much rain water as we can and then use it sparingly, using it for multiple purposes if we can, such as the final rinse water for dish washing doubles to water the gardens.  Showers are a luxury - when there is rain water available we put a bit into a bucket fitted with a shower head - I have mastered the art of bathing, shaving, and shampooing and conditioning my hair with about 2 liters of water.  Never would have thought that was possible before now!  When the fresh water is gone, we bathe in the sea.  Not my favorite though - the hair tends to dreadlock!  And amazingly enough, I have come to looove doing laundry by hand.  Being on the beach at high tide probably has a little to do with that!

A big plus to the project is the international community - we have made close friends with people from all over the world, some of those friendships I know will last a lifetime.  The atmosphere of the project is playful, inspiring, and a committed and loving community.  It has been an amazing experience for the kiddos - one that I think will shape their view of the world forever.  For Jimmy and I, we needed a break from our "old" life to sink into some new ways of being, to do some personal work that we found was difficult to do within the structure and routines of our life back home - this has been an incredible springboard for us into the next chapter of our lives.  While this seemed crazy to us when we first decided to go with it, we are glad we listened to our hearts.  When we listen, our hearts never steer us wrong.  

Lucky for me, the new arrivals' plane was late, so I got to type waaaay more than I thought I would!  Hope this explains a little bit more about what we are doing here.   You can also check it out on the web - www.tribewanted.com.

Till next week!  Hoping then I can share more pictures.  Much love from our family to yours!  Moce!

Bula sia!  Short blog post this week, put lots more pictures.  Check em out here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/cahillfamilyphotos/

We came in to Labasa and stayed in a hotel last night (hotel named North Pole – there’s some irony!) so Jimmy could get his ultimate souvenir, a Fijian tattoo.  Crazy, I know, but totally safe.    Not as professionally precise as his other tats, but authentically Fijian and very well done given the equipment available.  There are pictures on Flickr if you wanna check em out!  

Only a few minutes to update!  Highlights of the week:  On Thursday we celebrated Ollie’s 5^th birthday - what a fun day.  The fun, community spirit of the island made for a wonderful birthday – Ollie actually became shy when everyone sang to him at the morning meeting.  He was gifted with some wonderful, beautiful handmade gifts and was the recipient of endless hugs and tickles.  On Wednesday, Chuck (the sustainability manager) came back to the island after a week away on holiday.  It was good to see him again – we’ve become fast friends.  As the sun began to set, he offered to take us out spear fishing, so we left the kiddos in the care of our friends on the island and headed out to sea.   The reef off the coast of Vorovoro is the 3^rd largest in the world – it is amazing to be in the middle of the ocean and have the water so shallow!  We boated past the reef and then donned our snorkel gear and jumped in the blue, choppy sea, following Chuck as he shined his waterproof torch into the coral, looking for anything large enough to spear.  The evening ended up a bust as far as fishing went, but it was an amazing night in the boat, surrounded by the vast sea and a bright, luminescent, full moon.  Our first time alone since we arrived in Vorovoro – aaaah!   The next day, Chuck's wife Susie and their three Fijian adopted children joined us on the island for a couple days to help celebrate Ollie's birthday.  We are going to join them on their sustainable farm for a few days in a week or so.  

There were lots of other things worth mentioning this week – hikes, excursions, projects started and completed, jokes and games, new friends, the Rugby game we attended while in town (Rugby – now THAT is a violent sport, especially in person!!!!).  But time is short now, so I’ll have to let pictures tell some of the stories.  Much love to you all!  Till next week,

PHOTOS!

The connection here is simply too slow to upload photos so the blog, but I was able to manage to upload a few to Flickr.  Go here to see!  http://www.flickr.com/photos/cahillfamilyphotos/  The set is titled Vorovoro, FIJI.

Enjoy!

Have we really only been here for two weeks? It already feels like forever!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

So we’ve been here 2 full weeks now and I am beginning to relax and get out of my head a bit. Seems since we’ve been here I’ve been really enjoying myself, but being so much out of my element has made my mind go on overtime, whether it be figuring out the best way to do something unfamiliar (like doing our laundry in the sea, and getting it dry before one of the day’s inevitable showers comes along), organizing and reorganizing our new home so the things we need often can be accessed easily, or just simply thinking through the day’s activities.  It wasn’t until yesterday that I really realized how hard it’s been for me to let go and give in to relaxing moments.  I’ve been reflecting on that quite a bit this week – the contrast of life here and how relaxation/downtime is just integrated into the day versus back home where relaxation seems to come (at least for me) with a hefty guilty price tag.   I want to move past being a “human doing” and become a “human being” – and for me that requires that I get out of my head and into my heart.   Only then do I really feel fulfilled with whatever I’m doing, whether it’s work or play.  And it’s amazing how when I’m living from my heart how the line between work and play becomes blurred and the two integrate together.  Why is it as adults we take life so seriously?  I realize that I have so much to learn from how children move through their day, ever present in whatever moment they are in, seldom thinking or worrying about what needs done or what they could have/should have done better.   They never miss an opportunity to laugh or play, to sing or dance.   I am happiest when I live this way – how bout you?

 Life here has a wonderful rhythm that is comforting and secure, yet there are new things happening and new people to meet nearly every day.  On Monday, Wednesday, and Saturdays, we bid farewell to any members whose stay with us has come to an end, and welcome any new members who are arriving.  We’ve met some amazing and fascinating people from all over, although right now there are quite a few folks here from England.    It’s been so much fun learning each other’s variety of English – so many things that we say they find hilarious and vice versa!  Torch = flashlight, shattered = exhausted, jelly = Jello.  They though it was so strange that we were offering our children peanut butter and Jello sandwiches!  We joke that when we come home we will be speaking a strange combination of American/British English sprinkled with Fijian. 

The kids are doing great – the homesickness is becoming less and less as the days go by and they become more involved with the project.    Everyone here is ecstatic to have a family on the island – they go long periods of time without children on the island and everyone is loving having them around.  The kids’ enthusiasm and playfulness is contagious, which makes for lots of fun throughout the day.  Jim, the project manager, is a big kid at heart and the kids have loads of fun with him.  He made them a scavenger hunt this week to properly initiate them into his Hammock Society – a society dedicated to hosing down anyone seen running or exercising on the beach with water guns or water balloons.  Their motto is “Chill out, don’t work out”.   He has really taken Lucas under his wing – involving him in projects (and practical jokes!), swimming, chatting, and playing Nintendo DS – the kids were just thrilled to meet a grown up who owned his very own DS.  It elevated him to a whole new level of coolness that Jimmy and I can never hope of attaining.  It is hilarious to me to see Jim, Lucas, and Bethie with their video games, matching each other around the campfire, under the palm trees, on a remote Fijian island!   For Ollie, it is like he has been here his entire life – it is inspiring how easily he has adjusted.   The Fijians adore him – he roams freely between the villages, hanging out with everyone, helping whoever needs help.  He takes his work very seriously – he loves to feel useful.  The girls in the kitchen spoil him, and his friend Mana was here all week and the two were inseparable.   They spend a lot of time playing in the sea together – you can hear their laughter through the entire village.  He plays so hard during the day that he falls asleep most nights before we can get him to bed – just curls up on one of us and crashes.

We spent our time this week doing some of the usual – the trip into town, Tuesday was sevusevu day when Tui Mali comes to the island, lots of grog sessions, lots of Meke practice, lots of music and singing, games, snorkeling, hiking, lots of laundry, and general work around the village, like taking care of the pigs, cleaning up after meals, village clean up, etc.  More roofs were torn off and re-roofed, so there was more coconut weaving done.  Jimmy, along with a fella named Tim from England, built some nice shelves for the Ecotricity Hut.   Lucas, Pupu, and I made a trophy out of driftwood and a coconut shell to present to Amy for completing the Iron Maiden Challenge.   As I write this, she just completed the challenge (had to do it a few days late, due to the weather) and smashed the record previously set by a man – 2 hours, 10 minutes!  That is absolutely amazing.    

Jimmy and I have been getting up early and doing yoga together on the beach.  Sometimes some of the other members join us.  It is a wonderful way to start the day – watching the sun come up golden over the headland, soaking up the beauty and solitude of the beach.  I’m hoping to start running in the morning as well.   Wish me luck! (and motivation!!!!)  :o)

The highlight of the week was attending a church bazaar for a village on Mali on Friday.  We were invited to attend and perform our Meke, so there was lots of Meke practice throughout the week.  When Friday rolled around, we dressed up in our colorful Fijian best, loaded up in the boat (so many of us we had to make two trips), and headed to Mali.   None of us knew quite what to expect, but were excited to be invited for a Fijian celebration.  It turned out it was a true testament to the concept of Fiji time – we arrived promptly at 10 like we were instructed, did a brief sevusevu, which is customary anytime you come into another village, and then waited and waited and waited.  And waited.  And waited while the Fijians got ready for the bazaar.  We waited through tea time, and long after lunch time.  This was a real test for the kids, and fortunately our Fijian friends thought ahead about that and had a separate meal ready for the kids so they didn’t starve.  It was a long, hot, and humid wait.  When everything finally started, it was a lovely ceremony involving lots of prayer, singing, and grog drinking, all in Fijian of course. We got the low down from Jone, one of Fijian buddies, that the guest of honor was a man formerly from the village who now lived in the mainland, who had gifted the church with a large donation.  The most shocking part of the ceremony was when they brought out their gifts of appreciate for this man and his village, which were several lovely woven reed mats, a large amount of daro root, and a live pig tied to a stick.  The pig was distressing to the kids – they had it tied so tightly it’s feet were purple, and throughout the ceremony it kept squealing out in distress.  The Fijian people do not form attachments to animals at all – they just simply see them as food and do not treat them any differently that they would treat any other possession.  But it is a part of their culture, and the kids felt better knowing that soon the pig would be released to a new pen to be fattened up for a future celebration.   When the time for the Meke came around, we donned our banana leaf bracelets, lined up in the blazing sun, and Meke’d our hearts out.  We performed our Meke well, and received lots of laughs and applause.  The Fijians find it both humorous and respectful to see us trying our best at their dances.    When all of the ceremony was done, all that was left to do was to eat.  And what a feast they had prepared!  This was our first opportunity to attend a traditional Fijian feast.  They had a long, narrow cloth spread out on the floor that was filled with dishes of delicious and interesting looking food.   We sat on the floor on both sides of the cloth, served ourselves from the dishes, and ate with our fingers.  There were many dishes of various kinds of fish, caught by the women of the church.  There was lots of cassava, a staple of their diet and very similar to potato.  There was a paupau dish, an eggplant dish, watermelon, and lots of delicious juices.    We stuffed ourselves until we could eat no more, and then went back outside to the mat to enjoy the festive singing, while the kiddos joined all the children in playing and catching crabs.  We were meant to also go to the school that day, but the ceremony went on long past the time for the school trip, so we had to abandon that idea.  Sega na lega!   We finally headed toward the boat, hot, exhausted and full of good food.  I took some pictures that day, and can’t wait to check out how they turned out.

Last night we celebrated 4^th of July, Fiji style.  We could not find any fireworks in town, so we had to settle on the glow sticks that we brought with us from the US.  We passed out the glow sticks and played around with our glowing poi balls, and then were inspired to do some creative photography using the glow sticks and poi.   A bunch of us wrote VOROVORO and shot it with the camera at a slow shutter speed and it turned out really cool.  We did some other fun stuff too, like making Ollie into a snowman and Bethie into an angel.   As I write this, I am really hoping that I am able to upload some pictures tomorrow so I can share our creations with you!

That’s all for now.  I am dripping with sweat – it is a hot, steamy day with no breeze – much too hot to be inside snuggled up with a hot computer.   Off now to snorkel with the kiddos, and then take a refreshing bucket shower!  Much love from our family to yours!!! 

 

Sega na Lega!

Bula!  Sega na lega (pronounced senga na lenga) is our motto - it roughly translates to "No Worries!"  One definitely needs to subscribe to this philosophy here - if you think you can control or plan anything here, you will just be in a perpetual state of frustration!  The internet connection requires healthy doses of sega na lega - it is slower than dial up!!!!  ARGH!   Uploading is nearly impossible.  So no pictures this week - it would literally take hours and I have shopping to do before I catch the boat back to the island.   I will try again next week.  Sooooo a long post in lieu of photos ..... SEGA NA LEGA! 

Lots to share this week.  Probably going to be the longest post of our entire trip.  So many new things and experiences to share.  Sorry it is not organized into categories for easier reading - time is short.  Hope you can make heads or tails of it.   Enjoy!

Also,  as I logged in to check email today, I got the exciting news that I AM A GREAT AUNT!  My niece Tara gave birth last week to a beautiful baby girl, Kristina Maria.  Big hugs and sweet kisses to new babe and her mama.  Please send more pictures!!!

June 24, 2009, Wednesday, early morning

Just woke up from a great night’s sleep.  It get dark really early here, around 6 pm or so, and the kiddos have all been asking for bed right after dinner.   A lot of game playing and grog drinking goes on in the evening, but once I lay down while the kids fall asleep, I have been out for the count.   Jimmy has gone down to the main bure a couple of nights to hang out  - last night was a really looooong grog session that started at 2 pm when the chief arrived for sevusevu, and was going on long past 11 pm when he came to bed.  Grog is the drink made from kava root – it is soaked in water and then squeezed into the grog bowl and then is drank, with great ceremony.  It is a huge part of the culture here – grog is drank during social gatherings, meetings, ceremonies, and pretty much anytime a bunch of Fijian men are gathered around!  It is said to have a slight narcotic effect – like a relaxed and drowsy kind of drunk – but it is an anti-tolerant, meaning that the more you drink it over a period of time, the less tolerance you have to it.  So being newbies to grog drinking, Jimmy and I haven’t noticed anything but a slight tingling in our mouths.

Monday was the first day since we arrived that the Fijians were here in the village.   They are here throughout the week, but go back to their villages on weekends for church.  Vorovoro and Mali are separate islands, but considered the same.  Vorovoro is where our village is, where the members of the project and many of the Fijians who work with us live throughout the week.  Mali is a neighboring island with 4 villages, and that is where the school and church is.  We will go there on Friday to work at the school.    The Fijians are incredibly friendly with a great sense of humor.   The Fijian men are big, lean and muscular, you would expect them to have these deeeeep laughs, but instead they have these high pitched melodic laughs that you can hear all over the village.  And it seems someone is always laughing!  I love it. 

On Monday, Jimmy took the boat into town to get a few things that we needed, like pillows and a pot for Bethany and I to use when it is raining too hard to go outside to pee.   He was gone most of the day.  The kids and I helped muck the pigs – gathering all the empty coconut shells into bags and hauling them down the hill, then taking them with a wheel barrow to the coconut shell pile.  Then we gathered grasses for the pigs, and helped shovel out all the yuck from the pens and take it to the biodiesel tank.   Did you know pigs could leap fences?   These pigs can!  Samson, the bigger pig, jumped right over the wall of his holding pen to get to his clean pen, rather than be led around through the door.  This prompted the Poasa and Nemani, two of the Fijian men where were around, to build the fence a little higher so we weren’t having to chase them down around the island!

Yesterday was sevusevu – a very big and important day on the island.  It happens each Tuesday – Tui Mali, the chief of Vorovoro and Mali, comes to the island to greet any new members who have arrived.   The morning was spent cleaning up the Grand Bure and the village.  And since our kids hadn’t had a proper bath since we arrived, I took the kids down the beach for a bath in the sea.  The water is SO warm, almost like bath water.    We had a culture class as well, to learn proper etiquette during sevusevu, and how to present our gift of kava to Tui Mali, and how to sit and receive grog during the ceremony.   We also had a Meke class.  Meke is the traditional Fijian dance.  Most everyone had learned it the evening before while we were sleeping, so we were learning it for the first time.   It is a dance where you sit on your bottom, so it was a little easier to learn since it was mostly just upper body movements, Everyone wears sulus or traditional Fijian dresses during sevusevu, so everyone was dressed beautifully and colorfully in their Fijian best.    The grog drinking began around 2 pm and went on well into the early morning hours.  During grog drinking, there is a lot of talking, laughing, and music as well.  It is very, very festive and lots of fun.  I didn’t take part – I turned in early with the kiddos-  but Jimmy did and by the time he had had his 20^th or so bilo (coconut shell used for drinking grog) of kava, they had promoted him to the honor of serving the grog.  He didn’t feel any effects of it, but said the next day it made him feel energized.  The Fijians laughed at this – usually it makes one feel lazy, they say!

Sunday, June 28, 2009, mid-morning

So the week whizzed by without me getting back to writing, so here I am doing a catch up before I take the boat into town tomorrow to do our internet stuff.  Lots goes on during the week.   We made good friends with Chuck, the sustainability manager, who comes to the island once or twice a week to do work on several projects around the island.  He and Jimmy hit it right off and worked together all day.  He is a very interesting man – he is a white man originally from Africa – Zambia, I think.  His family lived there for generations, but his immediate family then moved to Australia when he was 16.  He lived there for a while and married, and has lived the last several years in Fiji. He gave up his citizenship to become a Fijian, and he and his wife and their three adopted Fijian children live on a nearby island on their sustainable farm.  It is in the early stages of development, so they live rather primitively but happily.  They also homeschool their children, so we had lots in common from the get go.  He has invited us to come stay on their farm sometime during our stay in Fiji, and we can’t wait to take him up on his offer.

A lot of this week has been getting into the groove of things and finding out where our help is needed.  Things we have pitched in with this week are food prep and kitchen help (Oliver is the official bell ringer), weaving coconut palms for roofing for Amy’s, the project manager, new house, slopping and mucking the pigs, building shelves, logging the food as it is brought onto the island, and more.   We’ve made fast friends with all the Fijians, they are warm and welcoming.  And they LOVE the kids, especially Oliver.  Sala, one of the kitchen helpers, is the oldest of 9 children and took right to Oliver, and he to her.    Anytime he is near you hear, “O-lee-vah!” as she or Francis, the head chef, call out to him to “come hee-yah!”   Friday was Oliver’s favorite day – two of Francis’ grandchildren came to the island for the day.   Mana is 5 and Junior is 3 – and the three of them were inseparable from the time they met.  Despite not being able to communicate much (the Fijian children don’t learn English until they enter school) they got along just fine.   Ollie ran back and forth with them from our village to the neighboring Fijian village where Francis lives, ate lunch with them, and sat with them at Francis’ feet while she cooked.  We hardly saw him or hear from him all day!  They left for the weekend, but are coming back today or tomorrow.   We also joined in with a language lesson taught by Poasa, the village chief's brother.  I'm picking up the language pretty quickly - the kids, not so much.  

In the neighboring village, there is a complete skeleton of a baby sperm whale that washed up on Mali a year or two ago.  Poasa brought the bones back to Vorovoro and is assembling it.  It is amazing to see!  I won’t have pictures this week, but will take some the next time I am there.  I don’t take my camera around with me and therefore miss lots of photo opportunities, but I find focusing on lugging my camera around and taking pictures distracts me from being present to the experience, so I figure we are here long enough that I figure I can just take a few here and there.

Bethie and I hiked the Four Peaks Challenge this week – it is a hike led by Amy over the island to four of the highest peaks.  It was a challenging hike, but worth it!  The views are amazing.  Again, I didn’t have my camera with me, but will take it next time.  There was a lot of uphill hiking, downhill sliding, and rock scrambling, but Bethie did great and kept up with the group.  I’m struggling with an injury to my Achilles from April that I don’t notice when I’m barefoot (which is most of the time), but it really hurt in my shoes and caused my ankle to give out a few times and I fell – going to try to strengthen my ankles before I hike again.  Amy is very impressive – she is raising money for Survival International by doing the Vorovoro Iron Maiden Challenge – basically she is running (or hiking very fast, anyway!  Can’t really run it.)  the Four Peaks and then swimming around the entire island.   She is out every day running the beach and swimming to finish up her training – the big day is this Thursday.  Her record for running the Four Peaks is 34 minutes – that didn’t mean nearly as much to me until I actually experienced the Four Peaks – that time is amazing.   

The evenings are filled either with grog drinking (there was an extra long session one night to celebrate the completion of Amy’s new roof) and singing/music making, or on grog-free nights, everyone plays games, makes music together, or sometimes watches a DVD on a laptop.   The kids especially like game nights.  There are a few games we’ve played that we can’t wait to share with friends at home – especially the chocolate game!  A group of people sit in a circle around a plate of chocolate bars, a knife, and a fork, and a hat, mittens (or socks will substitute) and a scarf.  Then everyone takes turns rolling a die – when you roll a six, you run into the middle of the circle, quickly put on the hat, socks on your hands, and scarf, and then take the knife and fork and cut off a bite of chocolate.  The challenge is to do all these things before someone else rolls a six and then you have to take everything off and give them a turn.  It is hilarious fun – I’ve not laughed so hard in such a long time.    A few of the Fijian men played with us, which made it even more fun because of their antics.  And because chocolate is not common in Fiji at ALL, it was the first taste of chocolate that I’d had since we left the US.  Ahhhhh!  

Lucas is in a hot chess competition with Seroma, our friend from California who is here serving a 4 month stint as a staff member.   At least once a day you will find them bent in heavy concentration over a chess game.  Seroma is ruthless - I think Lucas has finally met his match!

There is lots of music being made nearly all the time –  there are a few musically talented members on the island right now, and the Fijians are incredibly gifted at music making – it is a huge part of their culture.  They learn to harmonize in school.   Their singing voices are beautiful, and oddly enough the men are often the falsetto.   They sing on and on for hours, but no one ever tires of listening.

At the end of the workday, most days we all end up at the volleyball nets to get our butts whooped by the Fijians.  They are amazing at volleyball (or at any sport, I’ll bet).  It is a lot of fun – I’ve never met people who laugh so much and so freely as Fijians.  

On Friday, Bethie and I went on the school trip to Mali.  It was probably one of my favorite parts of the week.  Again, I did not have my camera, but will have pictures and video to share soon.  All the children from the 3 villages on Mali come together at this one school – I believe there are 74 children.  The children who come the farthest walk 1 hour 15 minutes each way.   In addition to the school, there are several houses that border the large, green play space where the head master and the teachers live.  When we arrived, they were just finishing up their lunch and were brushing their teeth to the beat of a drum.  When they were finished, we spent time in the classroom for a bit, introducing ourselves and answering questions – the funniest one was, “Is there elephants in America?” – next week we are bring origami to share.  Then the bell rang and then the real fun began – free time!  The boys ran off to play rugby – wow, are they rough!  Literally grabbing and throwing each other to the ground, all in fun.  To watch them kick the ball so far and high in bare feet made my toes hurt.  The girls ran off to play net ball – I tried to play for a while but did not understand, so was the source for many laughs and giggles from the girls.  Bethie had a throng of smaller children following her around – if she ran, they ran.  If she sat, they sat.  If she turned a cartwheel, they tried to as well.  It was funny to watch.  She loved it, and wants to come each week.  Only she and I came this week because there is a per person charge for the boat ride to get there, but everyone at the school begged us to bring the boys too next week, so the project director is working on a family discount for us so we can all come.  The older girls had lots of questions for me.  I really enjoyed talking with them.  Their English is very good, so it was much easier than with the younger children.  Their eyes grew HUGE when I explained to them that where I live, it is $8 FJD for one coconut or pineapple.  That started a great conversation about what we import/export vs. what they import/export. They pay the same amount for apples or grapes, so they began to understand how it works.   One thing I have noticed is that everyone I meet is in love with their country – they love Fiji.  Although they are aware of how the rest of the world lives, they do not long for it.  They love their villages, their simple ways of life.  The children played their games with so much enthusiasm and joy, completely present in their joy.  The sound of laughter and the sight of big, toothy smiles never ceases.  I really like it here.

In our short week here, we’ve seen lots of interesting animals.   The snorkeling here in front of the village is great – in the few times we’ve been we’ve seen lots of beautiful fish.  Further down the beach we’ve seen black tipped reef sharks from the shore – not sure I’m ready to encounter sharks yet while snorkeling!   Jimmy hit one with a spear, but it bounced off.  If he killed it, we would have had a feast for dinner!  We’ve seen several small sea snakes, and yesterday we saw something very rare – a HUGE, 6 ft. sea snake resting on the rocks.  According to the Fijians, they are the deadliest snake – 5 minutes from being bitten till death.  So needless to say, we all have a healthy fear of them and steer FAR away whenever we spot one.  Luckily, they are also shy and not aggressive, so it is not likely that we would ever come upon one in the water.    And there are various lizards and geckos EVERYWHERE – all the kids are pros at catching them now.  Ollie caught a big frog earlier this week, before we found out they were poisonous and should not be touched.   They are only dangerous if you put your fingers in your mouth or in your eyes after touching it, so we washed his hands and all was good.  Lots of beautiful, exotic crabs here as well.  Probably the most gorgeous thing I’ve seen so far.  And of course the usual spiders and bugs, but we are used to them by now.  There are a couple living in our bure that are carrying huge egg sacs with them, so we are going to shoo the out today – we would rather not be overrun with millions of tiny spiders.  The bats are amazingly huge and graceful, and they feed on the papaya right outside our windows.  They sound like squealing pigs when they fight.  And last night, we snuck outside to take a photo of what we assumed was a bat in the papaya tree, only to find it was a rat up there munching away. 

My legs and feet are covered with bites – not sure what has bitten me, because I’ve not seen mosquitoes, but they itch like crazy and none of the creams I’ve brought will lessen the itching at all!!!  When the Fijians return tomorrow, I’m going to ask for a remedy.  They are very wise about the use of the plants medicinally, and usually have a solution for anything.  As I was watching the men work on Amy’s house the other day, one of the men got something painful in his eye, so he laid down while another squeezed the juice of a paupau (papaya) leaf into his eye.  Before we left the US, Bethie has been breaking out with hives for several weeks.  We thought it was due to allergies and treated her with Zyrtec, which made them go away, but they continued to come back off and on for weeks.  Just as we were about to see a doctor about it, they stopped coming and we thought it was over.  Well, when we arrived on Vorovoro, they came back in full force – covered her with these itchy welts.  Luckily, we brought the Zyrtec, which is continuing to help with the breakouts, and there is a doctor in the mainland we can see easily.  Pupu, one of the village elders, made her an oil to put on twice a day.  He said when he gave it to us, “If you believe it will work, it will.  If you don’t believe, it won’t.”  So we are putting our faith into it, that it works, and so far so good!  She has not needed Zyrtec at all since starting the oil. The next step was a trip into Labasa to see a doctor who would most likely prescribe steroids, and we really want to avoid that route if possible.   So keep your fingers crossed that Pupu’s oil is our remedy!

So that’s was our week.   We are really enjoying our time here, and are feeling very much at home.  The kids have had a few moments of homesickness, and it hurts my heart to watch them cry for their friends back home.  They rebound quickly though, and have had far more smiles than tears.   Jimmy and I agree that this week, as they get more involved with the projects and activities going on, get their own jobs, they will feel more at home and less lonely.   There are also supposed to be more Fijian children, closer to their ages, coming to visit, so some new playmates will be good too, I think.    We are also going to take on the village treehouse as our project, finish it up and give it a coconut leaf roof.  And Jone, the village tatooist, is giving Jimmy a Fijian tatoo, so watch next week for photos of that!  

Much love from our family to yours.  Sega na Lega!  Till next week,

Getting Settled

Sunday, June 21, 2009, Evening

 

We’re settling into our new home nicely!   Our bure has a full sized bed, bunk beds, and a single twin – just right for us.    Though they all just have thin foam mattresses, they all sleep very comfortably.    When we arrived, there was one bookcase with 4 shelves – now we have a matching set!   Jimmy spent time today building another bookcase using extra wood from the wood pile.    I think he plans to build at least one more – then we will be in really good shape for places to store our things.  It is already getting tiresome living out of suitcases.

As I write this, it is another rainy night.  Very unusual this time of year, as it is already a few months past the rainy season.  But the rain is very much needed, so no one complains.   We were told today that it is not likely that the systems in place for water collection/conservation is going to be effective enough to make the water last throughout the entire dry season (which is now), so it is likely that the gardens will not make it, and when the water runs out we will have to do all our bathing in the sea.  But they have a new sustainability manager on staff now, so next season should be much different.  The project is just now wrapping up it’s 3^rd year, and have accomplished so much.  From scratch, they’ve built a village – all the structures, gardens, a dam, bucket showers (which I will be helping to mosaic the walls of later this summer!) water collecting systems, ecotricity from wind and solar, and much more.    As time goes on, I will lead you on a tour through pictures of all that goes on here.   It’s a wonderful set up, and really, really inspiring.  The goal is for the island to become completely sustainable – the obstacle to this right now is the water issue. 

We figured out today that our big, friendly, furry, spider friends don’t just come inside in the rain – they just like to hang out on the ceiling.  The dried palm fronds that are our ceiling are their homes.   We just have to be at peace with them – grateful that they are munching on all the other creepy crawlies..  In all honesty, we are really okay with them, it’s just still alarming to shine a flash light up to the ceiling and see all these eyes looking back at you! 

The kids had a great day of playing in the sea, chasing geckos, lizards, and hermit crabs, chatting with other members, and exploring.  They helped a bit with dinner, tagged along when it was time to feed the pigs, played a game of Vindi Vindi with a couple of the Fijian men who happened to be around (think pool/billiards, but on a small wooden table low to the ground, with round pieces like checkers instead of balls, and flicking with fingers rather than pool sticks), and of course ate their share of birthday cake when we celebrated another member’s birthday this afternoon. 

The shower set up is beautiful – it is high up on a rocky cliff.  Inconvenient if the water supply is low up there though, as it was today.  We had to take our bucket down to the main kitchen area, fill it up, then lug it back up the cliff.   We took our showers as the sun was going down and the bats were coming out.  Lots of fruit bats – and very large.  I estimate the wingspan of one to be about that of a large turkey vulture, maybe bigger.  They are amazing to watch. They were flying all about above us while we showered.  We heard them fighting last night, which is pretty common, we are told. 

As I write this, I am grateful for the rain.  However, if the bure roof had to leak, I just wish it wasn’t right over my bed, where I am typing this.   But the roof to the bure was just replaced a couple weeks ago, so I guess I am grateful that it is not more leaky.   Really, for the roof being made of palm fronds, it is really keeping the rain out very, very well.

Being Sunday, it was the quietest, most laid back day of the week here on the island.  On Sundays all the Fijians leave the island for church and family, so we have the island to ourselves and it is just a lazy day.  Also the rules about dress are lifted, so Sundays are the days that tank tops, shorts, and bathing suits come out.  Tomorrow starts the week – the Fijians return and there is work to be done.  I’m really eager to meet all those I’ve heard so much about and find out what the projects are for this week.  Jimmy is riding the boat into Labasa to do some shopping (we really need pillows!)  and to use the internet, so he’ll be gone most of the day.

Off now to read a bit before bed!  Good night!

Our New Home!

Sunday, June 21, 2009, midmorning

Ahhh, our new home!

Yesterday was the big day – the day we would finally arrive at our new home for the next 10 weeks.  It was another early morning – the time difference has made our early risers rise even earlier – as early as 3:30 am some mornings!   After a casual breakfast of cold leftover pizza from the dinner the night before and fresh pineapple and bananas, we all loaded all 10 pieces of luggage, our backpacks, our carry-ons, and our eager selves into the taxi van that would take us to the Nadi airport.  Checking in was easy – much easier than in the US – and we saved $130 when the airline employee that checked us in offered us a bribe to let us slide on some overweight luggage!

Like everything else here, the airlines run on Fiji time, so 3 hours later we were at last on the small propeller plane that would fly us to Labasa.  A beautiful flight over the ocean – we even spotted Vorovoro, our new home, from the air.   A nice woman with a bright, welcoming smile from Tribewanted (the organization we are staying with) met us and one other arrival at the tiny Labasa airport.  The airport was literally the size of a large living room!  We loaded our luggage into one van, piled ourselves into another, and were driven to the harbor where the boat waited to take us to the island.  There was only room enough room for our luggage on the small boat, so we went into town to buy kava root (our passport onto the island – it is a gift for the chief of the tribe that owns the island) at the market – sooooo busy on a Saturday!   Our fair skinned/fair haired children attracted more attention than ever.  After our market business was done, we stopped for a delicious Chinese lunch with our new friend Mirth from Holland. She is on gap year and has been backpacking through Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji these last several months.   Bellies full, we loaded once more into a minivan that would take us to a harbor closer to Vorovoro – the boat had dropped off our luggage and was headed back to meet us.

The yellow boat was small, but sturdy, and fit all of us and a few extra people comfortably but cozily.    Rain drizzled down and mixed with the sea spray as we sped across the sea – both Bethany and I were grateful we had our glasses to keep the water out of our eyes.   The air was cool and I was surprised to see goose bumps on my arms for the first time since we arrived.   I was immediately grateful that I had decided to pack a fleece after all!  Fifteen minutes on the sea and then we idled up to the shore – home at last!   Amy, the Tribewanted onsite manager that I’ve been corresponding with for the last several weeks, met us at the shore.   She welcomed us and announced that we had arrived just in time for afternoon tea – perfect!  We followed her through the tropical foliage to the Bounty Bar – the name for the community kitchen.    Afternoon tea was delicious rolled pancakes with lemon juice – aaaah!  As we ate, a few other project employees and members introduced themselves.   Currently on the island, there are members from California and Chicago, Scotland, London, Australia, Holland, New Zealand, and Ireland.   And now, Indiana!

Shortly after tea, we were shown to our bure and began to settle in.  The walls are made of woven reeds, the roof is made of dried palm fronds woven and tied to long wooden tree poles.  It is very shady inside, and because it was overcast and rainy outside, we had to use our headlamps to see to unpack.  The windows are open so a nice breeze blows through.  The floor is made of wood slats – the kids are having a lot of fun fishing out treasures from other inhabitants that have fallen through the slats.  So far a drivers license for woman from Israel, some Fijian money, and some shells have been fished out.    As we settled in, folks stopped in to help gather extra pillows from around the village, put up mosquito nets, and answer questions and offer tips.  We learned that all food must be kept in plastic containers or the rats would visit.  We learned that the roaches are big, plentiful, and harmless, but always keep bags zipped closed or we would likely find surprises.  The main pest control resource on the island are harmless but huge spiders – as large as a man’s hand, and hairy.  But perfectly harmless – the Fijian men let them crawl on their faces to make the women squeal.   They do not bite and they help control the bug population – this information helped calm the heebee jeebees that arose in me at the thought of encountering one of these fellas. 

After some unpacking and a walk along the shoreline to explore, the dinner bell rang and we joined everyone else for dinner.  Because it was raining, we ate in the Grand Bure (the central meeting place and the largest bure in all of Fiji) rather than at the picnic tables by the sea.  Dinner was delicious – lentils burgers, green beans, and potato wedges.  Over dinner, everyone introduced themselves – so many names, I know I will not be able to keep track!  Right now, there are 17 members on the island, but many leave on Wednesday.  I am not sure how many new arrivals we are getting yet.   The Fijians leave for the weekend, so it was more quiet and lazy around the village than usual.  I get the impression that with the Fijians here, village life is a lot more lively!  But a nice quiet arrival was just perfect for me – time to settle and take it all in. 

After dinner, Jimmy carried a sleeping Ollie off to bed while Lucas, Bethie and I taught our new friend Jim how to play Uno.    One game was all us tired travelers had in us, so off we went to the bure for some sleep.  The kids climbed in their beds, tucked their nets in around their mattresses to keep out the creepy crawlies, and settled down with books and flashlights to read.  Jimmy and I settled in our bed, net tucked in securely – no chance of one of those spiders getting in here!!!!.  Jimmy wrote in his journal, I read my book – then for some reason Jimmy had to get out of bed and while he was up he shined his light at the ceiling and dozens of eyes shined back at him.   Whether it was because it was raining outside, or if their visit indoors is a nightly occurrence still remains to be known – but the ceiling of our bure was dotted with dozens of the friendly large exterminating spiders, doing their nightly hunting, I suppose.  I am not a squeamish one about bugs, and I quite expected to encounter some large ones here in Fiji, but I have to say sharing my new home with so many of these large, furry spiders certainly stretched my comfort zone a bit.  But feeling secure in my net and in the knowledge that they were not interested in me or my children at all, I settled down to a peaceful sleep, lulled by sounds of the wind, rain, and sea. 

We slept pretty well – Ollie and Bethe were both up a bit in the night and we ended up playing musical beds a bit – but we all arose shortly after dawn feeling well rested.  Down to the sea to explore a bit, and then to breakfast.  Fresh fruit, Weetbix , French toast filled our bellies.   Both Jimmy and I have decided to give up coffee while on this trip, which isn’t going to be too hard because the coffee they have to offer is the instant stuff.  Jimmy says the loose leaf tea is good, so I plan to try that later today.  Four days now into our coffee withdrawal symptoms, we are frustrated that we are still experiencing headaches.  Hoping that will stop soon. 

Time to go now – the bell just rang for morning tea.  Today promises to be a day of exploration, nesting in the new bure, and resting.  Aaaah.  Feels good to be home.