I just got my first letter a couple of days ago from my grandparents and it was so nice so please keep the letters coming! Also, I was unable to "unlock" my cell phone from the states so I bought a new mobile (that's what they call cell phones here). It turns out that The US is one of the only countries in the world that charges you to receive calls and text messages. In Fiji I only have to pay to make a call or send a message. Also, it costs the same to send a message to the states as it does to send a message in Fiji, 20 cents a message. So feel free to call me or text me if you can figure out the international code system. My number is 8353 763. Everyone says Fiji has really good cell phone coverage and so far it's been true. Dad, I never received your text so try again. Oh yeah and Mom, I payed my credit card online so don't worry about that bill.
We find out our sites next Friday and we're all so excited. We've all been trying to get hints and clues from the staff to try and figure it out on our own. I did find out that I am one of the 5 trainees who will be getting marine assignments so that's good to know. However, the two islands that I really wanted to go to (Kadavu and Taveuni) are off limits to female volunteers for "safety and security" reasons. So I'm a little disappointed, but only a little because there are so many great places in Fiji. Once we get our site assignments, then we'll meet our counterpart (a member of the community that we'll be working closely with for our project) and the two of us will travel to the site to check it out for one week. Then we'll come back to our training villages.
I have to go so sorry no culture lessons this time. Also, pictures will probably have to wait until I leave my training village. My computer is out of power and my family only has one outlet and it's in the main room of the house and I really don't like using my computer in front of them. Sota tale (until we meet again).
Friday, June 27, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
More about Fiji
Sorry I got cut off last time. I'm back in town today for a little while today. Still no pictures. I think the pictures will have to wait till the end of training because I don't like getting my computer out in front of my family.
Food
The traditional Fijian food is pretty bland. Mostly starches: dalo (also known as taro) and tavioka (also known as cassava, yuka, tapioca, etc.). They also eat a lot of fish and chicken when they can afford it. Vegetables aren't usually a part of meals except for rourou which is the cooked leaf of the dalo plant. Luckily, I was able to explain to my host family that I prefer to eat vegetarian food. They have a pretty good understanding of what that is because there are plenty of Indo-Fijians that are vegetarian. Actually, my family decided that they would become vegetarian too while I'm staying with them. They understand that vegetables are healthy and they've even told me that they feel healthier since they started eating them. Also because of the Indo-Fijian population, they know how to make curry and roti other good Indian foods so I've been eating really well.
Dress
Since I live in the village, I have to dress very conservatively. This means a wearing a skirt that goes below my knees and a shirt that covers my shoulders. I often wear a sulu (in other parts of the pacific it's called a sarong) and for special occasions I wear a flowery sulu with a matching shirt called a jaba (pronounced "chamba"). Men often wear sulus too, and when they dress up they wear "pocket sulus" which are tailored to look like dress pants that men in the US wear. When I'm in town, women are allowed to wear jeans and tank tops just like in the US.
Church
Fiji has definately been changed by the missionaries. Most native Fijians are Methodists with some Assembly of God, Seventh Day, Catholic, and a few other denominations. My village only has the one Methodist church which has services every day and three times on Sundays. Also, many families have devotion in their homes twice a day at four in the morning and at seven at night. All of this was very scary to me when I first got to the village. Especially because the only white people that have ever stayed in this village before were Methodist missionaries from Australia and New Zealand that come a couple times of year to give money to the church. So natrually everyone thought we were missionaries too and I think some people were trying to impress us with how religious they are. It took some time and lots of explaing but I think most people in the village understand who we are now and since then my family doesn't act nearly as religious as they did when I got here. I go with them to church once on Sundays and we pray before each meal and that's about it. It's really not too bad.
Traditions
Well, it looks like I have to go again so I'll continue next time I'm in town. Please send me messages and don't forget about snail mail! Other people have gotten letters from home and they've all taken about one to two weeks to get here which isn't that bad so don't be afraid to send those letters! I'll definately write you back! Until next time...
Food
The traditional Fijian food is pretty bland. Mostly starches: dalo (also known as taro) and tavioka (also known as cassava, yuka, tapioca, etc.). They also eat a lot of fish and chicken when they can afford it. Vegetables aren't usually a part of meals except for rourou which is the cooked leaf of the dalo plant. Luckily, I was able to explain to my host family that I prefer to eat vegetarian food. They have a pretty good understanding of what that is because there are plenty of Indo-Fijians that are vegetarian. Actually, my family decided that they would become vegetarian too while I'm staying with them. They understand that vegetables are healthy and they've even told me that they feel healthier since they started eating them. Also because of the Indo-Fijian population, they know how to make curry and roti other good Indian foods so I've been eating really well.
Dress
Since I live in the village, I have to dress very conservatively. This means a wearing a skirt that goes below my knees and a shirt that covers my shoulders. I often wear a sulu (in other parts of the pacific it's called a sarong) and for special occasions I wear a flowery sulu with a matching shirt called a jaba (pronounced "chamba"). Men often wear sulus too, and when they dress up they wear "pocket sulus" which are tailored to look like dress pants that men in the US wear. When I'm in town, women are allowed to wear jeans and tank tops just like in the US.
Church
Fiji has definately been changed by the missionaries. Most native Fijians are Methodists with some Assembly of God, Seventh Day, Catholic, and a few other denominations. My village only has the one Methodist church which has services every day and three times on Sundays. Also, many families have devotion in their homes twice a day at four in the morning and at seven at night. All of this was very scary to me when I first got to the village. Especially because the only white people that have ever stayed in this village before were Methodist missionaries from Australia and New Zealand that come a couple times of year to give money to the church. So natrually everyone thought we were missionaries too and I think some people were trying to impress us with how religious they are. It took some time and lots of explaing but I think most people in the village understand who we are now and since then my family doesn't act nearly as religious as they did when I got here. I go with them to church once on Sundays and we pray before each meal and that's about it. It's really not too bad.
Traditions
Well, it looks like I have to go again so I'll continue next time I'm in town. Please send me messages and don't forget about snail mail! Other people have gotten letters from home and they've all taken about one to two weeks to get here which isn't that bad so don't be afraid to send those letters! I'll definately write you back! Until next time...
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Ni Sa Bula Vinaka!
Sorry for making everyone wait so long for this post! I'm in Fiji, and I'm safe and healthy and everything like that so stop worrying! This post is going to be difficult to write because I've been here for almost four weeks now and so much has happened. I didn't know until the last minute that I'd be coming in to town today so I didn't bring any pictures to post, sorry. Where to begin?
Nadave (pronounced "nandavay")
After arriving in Fiji, all 32 of us stayed at a small college in Nadave for the first week. We all lived together in cabin-like dorms called "bure"s. We spent most of our days listening to various peace corps staff talk on and on and on about PC policies, rules, safety, security, culture adjustment, etc. We started to learn a little language, but we didn't know at the time if we were going to be learning Hindi or Bauan (the most common dialect of Fijian), so everyone learned a tiny bit of both. At the end of the week, we were finally told which language we would be learning and in which village we would spend the next 8 weeks of training. I found out that I will be learning Fijian and my training village is called Naimalavau.
Training village
There are five Peace Corps trainees (PCTs) in Naimalavau and one Language and Culture Facilitator (LCF) named Josefa (or JT). Each of us lives with a different host family in the village. Every weekday morning, we have language and cross-culture training with JT. Then we have lunch with our families. In the afternoon, we have technical training. There are 3 types of volunteers in Fiji: environment, health, and business. So every afternoon we're divided into these three groups for tech training. Then we go home to our families for the rest of the evening. On Saturdays, we usually go into town with our families and Sunday is a day of rest and church. So that's an overview of my daily life.
My family
There are six people in my host family:
My Qei (pronounced "ngay" and means mom) Matalita
My Tamanqu Paula
My three brothers: Epeli (4), Taione (7), and Asaeli (15)
And my sister Ilikaci (13)
I also have a 21 year old brother who lives in capital with his wife. They just had a baby last week and guess what her name is: Nansi Monika Saurara. That's right, my new baby niece was named after me.
Village life
For those of you who thought that I would be coming to a tropical paradise, let me describe my village a bit. It's not near the ocean. The ocean isn't even within walking distance. Actually, yesterday was the first time we got to go swimming and it was raining and we had to do "water safety training." I haven't gotten tan at all for two reasons. 1. It rains all the time, I hardly ever see the sun. And 2. I have stay covered from my shoulders to my ankles whenever I'm in the village, which is always. Our village does have electricity and running water that comes from Suva (the capital of Fiji) so it's safe to drink. However, the water pressure isn't ever high enough for the shower to work so I take bucket baths. If you've never done this before, it's actually not as bad as it sounds. I fill up a bucket of water in the shower room and use a bowl to pour the water on me. You get used to it pretty quick. The village pays for electricity a little differently than we do. It's prepaid. So you go into town and buy however many units of electricity you can afford and you're given a number. Each house has a box on the wall where you type in your number and it tells you how much electricity you have left. If you run out of units, your electricity switches off. Because of this and other costs, not everyone can afford refrigerator or other electric appliances. Though everyone seems to find enough money to buy a tv and dvd player.
I have so much more to write but I have to go. Hopefully I'll be able to use the internet again soon so I can finish writing. Since I can't email very often, I would love to get snail mail! Here's the address is you don't have it yet:
Monica Papp
Peace Corps Fiji
Private Mail Bag
Suva, Fiji
Much love.
Nadave (pronounced "nandavay")
After arriving in Fiji, all 32 of us stayed at a small college in Nadave for the first week. We all lived together in cabin-like dorms called "bure"s. We spent most of our days listening to various peace corps staff talk on and on and on about PC policies, rules, safety, security, culture adjustment, etc. We started to learn a little language, but we didn't know at the time if we were going to be learning Hindi or Bauan (the most common dialect of Fijian), so everyone learned a tiny bit of both. At the end of the week, we were finally told which language we would be learning and in which village we would spend the next 8 weeks of training. I found out that I will be learning Fijian and my training village is called Naimalavau.
Training village
There are five Peace Corps trainees (PCTs) in Naimalavau and one Language and Culture Facilitator (LCF) named Josefa (or JT). Each of us lives with a different host family in the village. Every weekday morning, we have language and cross-culture training with JT. Then we have lunch with our families. In the afternoon, we have technical training. There are 3 types of volunteers in Fiji: environment, health, and business. So every afternoon we're divided into these three groups for tech training. Then we go home to our families for the rest of the evening. On Saturdays, we usually go into town with our families and Sunday is a day of rest and church. So that's an overview of my daily life.
My family
There are six people in my host family:
My Qei (pronounced "ngay" and means mom) Matalita
My Tamanqu Paula
My three brothers: Epeli (4), Taione (7), and Asaeli (15)
And my sister Ilikaci (13)
I also have a 21 year old brother who lives in capital with his wife. They just had a baby last week and guess what her name is: Nansi Monika Saurara. That's right, my new baby niece was named after me.
Village life
For those of you who thought that I would be coming to a tropical paradise, let me describe my village a bit. It's not near the ocean. The ocean isn't even within walking distance. Actually, yesterday was the first time we got to go swimming and it was raining and we had to do "water safety training." I haven't gotten tan at all for two reasons. 1. It rains all the time, I hardly ever see the sun. And 2. I have stay covered from my shoulders to my ankles whenever I'm in the village, which is always. Our village does have electricity and running water that comes from Suva (the capital of Fiji) so it's safe to drink. However, the water pressure isn't ever high enough for the shower to work so I take bucket baths. If you've never done this before, it's actually not as bad as it sounds. I fill up a bucket of water in the shower room and use a bowl to pour the water on me. You get used to it pretty quick. The village pays for electricity a little differently than we do. It's prepaid. So you go into town and buy however many units of electricity you can afford and you're given a number. Each house has a box on the wall where you type in your number and it tells you how much electricity you have left. If you run out of units, your electricity switches off. Because of this and other costs, not everyone can afford refrigerator or other electric appliances. Though everyone seems to find enough money to buy a tv and dvd player.
I have so much more to write but I have to go. Hopefully I'll be able to use the internet again soon so I can finish writing. Since I can't email very often, I would love to get snail mail! Here's the address is you don't have it yet:
Monica Papp
Peace Corps Fiji
Private Mail Bag
Suva, Fiji
Much love.
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