PHOTO PAGE

I have a new photo page up with some new pictures on it.. Feel free to check it out.. Hopefully more pics to come soon as well.... Enjoy....

Swearing In....~

So here i am sitting in the Peace corp office with with 8 other people from my training group because we have had to stay behind one moe week because our language was not up to par. This is the first year that Peace Corp Fiji is holding people back if thier language isn't good enough... I tested at a novice high and we needed to reach intermediate -low. So we all just need to re-test at one level higher and off we go to our sites... I'm not too upset as it gives us a chance to hone our language skills and also another week of air-conditioning in a hotel before leaving for 3 months of heat, rain, bugs, humidity and isolation.... It has also been a chance to bond with a few other volunteers from the other training classes... My class is whats called the FRE(Fiji Re-Entry)-5 group.(Since Peace corps was kicked out of fiji back in the late 90's and came back in 2003, we are the 5th group to go through training after Peace Corps Re-entered the Country) So we are FRE-5's. We had our Swearing In Ceremony Last Thursday with a representative from the US EMBASY there as well as some other people and all of our Host Stay families came as well.. We were on the Radio and i also made my first appearance On FIJI-1 TV. Yup.. i'm a star here in Fiji!! lol Which brings me to my next subject.... I think i know how Famous people feel now.. Everywhere i go people want to touch me, talk to me, get to know me, know where i have been , where i am going, what i ate, ect ect.. It never ends and can be tiring sometimes... Its wierd to say but we all kinda feel like rock stars here in Fiji..... Some of that has to do with us being Peace Corps volunteers here in Fiji as we have a good reputation here... I just hope my head swells back down before i come back to the US..
So by next week sometime i will hopefully know what my Postal Address will be so hold off on those packages for now or else i won't get them until 3 months from now! :)
Hope everybody is doing great!!!!!

TAVEUNI.................~~~!!!!!!

Ok.. So no more leaving anyone hanging here.. I have been stationed on the Island of Taveuini in Fiji... It is Considered the Garden island of Fiji and the Most beautiful... Here we have it all.. White sand beaches.. Some of the best Diving anywhere in the world... And we also have the World famous waterfalls you see in the postcards and Tv and some of the most remote old growth Virgin Rainforest in all of Fiji. I will be staying in the village of Waitabu(WHY-TOM-BOO). It is on the Eastern side of Taveuini and is considered to be the most beautiful side as well... My main Project here will be working with the Local Takina(Collection of villages) in Bouma to help develope their World Famous , BOUMA NATIONAL HERITAGE PARK. My village runs the Waitabu Marine Park portion of the Park so i will working heavilly on this aspect of the park.. I have a fellow Volunteer who will be stationed about 10km away from me(2 hour walk, 1 hour kayak ride). we will be working together to come up with a marketing, business, ecotourism management plan for the park as well as ensuring the protection of its natural resources.. My fellow peace corps volunteer lives in the village of Lavena where the movie ,"Return to the Blue lagoon" was filmed.. In the BNHP(Bouma National Heritage Park) we have a trip to our marine park, a rainforest hike, a waterfall hike and also a coastal walk that ends in a fantastic waterfall that can be jumped off of for those with the balls enough to do it!! Needless to say i did it.. About 45 feet high ..!!!! Crystal Clear water with fresh water trout swimming everywhere.. And to top it off we have a backpackers lodge for you to stay in and enjoy the night, or even a few days.. i would recomend a few days here though to truly take it all in... I will also be coming up with community projects for the women of the area to help bring in a sustainable income or to at least supplement the current incomes... Plus some communtiy projects with the kids as well.. I will also be working on learning a totally new Dialect as well..!!! As if it wasn't hard enough learning one!!!! Guess i have 2 years huh.......
So i may beg some of you for a care package from time to time.. Nothing to expensive, just things that i can't get here.. I'll keep anyone up to date on that who might be interested in helping out with that.....!!
Hope everyone is doing good, and don't forget if you comment on here make sure i already have your email so i can get back to you!!!!!
Take care,
matthew

EMAILS.......
For those of you who i don't have emails for when you leave a comment on here please leave an email for me to get back to you on or else i have no way of contacting you!!! I have some exciting info for you all.. Lets just say i will be living the dream...... More to come later....
Peace out.......