I'm gonna miss my village and my friends...

Well as some of you know and some of you may not know, i decided in Mid April to Leave the Peace Corps and return to the United States. This was a decision that was not entered into lightly. I agonized and agonized over this decision and it was the MOST difficult decision i have had to make to this date..... I miss my village tremendously ever day more than anyone could imagine.. I left behind an amazing group of people in my village as well as an amazing group of Friends and fellow volunteers back in Fiji as well.... It is easy to just sit and write words on a computer and claim that i feel this way but i assure you that not 1 day that has gone by since i have left Fiji that i don't think about the beautiful people and friends i left behind...... I miss my village, my dog, the ocean, the animals, the kids, the bus rides, the crappy Fiji Bitter beer and Bounty Rum. Yea i am sad in so many ways... Did i make the right decision? Time will tell.. i can only tell you that the reason i did leave was to come back to the United States to be with an amazing and beautiful woman. To spend another year without such an amazing person was just going to be too hard on me but on her as well.. I had 2 people to think about i guess....
I hope those of you who read this will understand and not think less of me.... I will never forget Fiji and fully intend to go back to see my people in my village one day as they had become like a family to me.... When i left Fiji i was the happiest i had ever been since i had arrived in Fiji... I didn't leave because i wasn't happy.. i have nothing bad to say about anything, my experience or the people there.... I had everything a human being could ever want there in Fiji.....
I will live with Fiji in my heart for the rest of my life... It is part of who i am now................

Shitty week....

So i had a really crappy week last week.. A cyclone hit my island and My bure was damaged a little bit and i had alot of stuff that was wet.. Then it rained straight for about 10 days. One of my dogs had about half her face cut in 2 by someone with a cane knife(I need to add it was an accident..not by me) and she died a few days ago. My other dog came down with a virus called Parvo and almost died... I got a sinus infection and still have it as of today.. But alas, all this too shall pass... Its bright and sunny here today and i'm feeling a bit better...
More books read...

The Richest Man In Babylon- George S. Clason

The Life of PI- Yann Martel

The Guide to raising fish in Fiji(REal Page Turner)- Michael Yerkey

A Patriots Handbook- Caroline Kennedy

I'll be Home on the 23rd of March and Leave on the 2nd of April
Can't Wait to see you all...!!!

NEW PICS UP...~

Yea yea.. So Ohio State Lost... Its done, over.. Maybe Next year right? Man i hate the SEC....
So yea.. I have a few new pictures up on my photopage so feel free to check em out if you want...
Embassy was cool, sat and had lunch with the Ambassador and a few other people who worked there.. Watched the game on the Armed forces network.. You guys should see some of the Comercials they have on there.. Pretty hilarious... No pepsi commercials like you guys got. We had Military recruiting propaganda commercials instead. Fun for all... For those of you who don't know yet i'm coming back to the states in March.. I'll be in Ohio from about the 21st to the 30th. Not much else to tell about right now.. Hopefully in my next few posts i can give you an insight more into what life is like in my village on a daily basis, not just for me but for the average villager.. Lets just say that the women in the U.S. should feel great that you are lucky enough to live in the U.S. and don't have to go through some of the backbreaking work these women go through.. I was a cynic of the United States and still can be from time to time(Mostly because of our Government) but we really don't realize how easy we have it sometimes in the United States.. Trust me on this one....
Till next time....

Christmas, New Years + New Books Read...~

So has anyone ever wondered what Christmas or New Years is like in a remote Fijian Village? Well , pretty similar to Christmas in The United States! lol I was Drunk both days... Now keep in mind drinking here doesn't mean the same as in the U.S. Here we work on the "Taki" system. For example.. If we have a bottle of rum and 4 of us then we have one glass which shots are poured into.. Now one shot at a time is poured into this glass and given to each person in order. So we basically all take turns doing shots WITHOUT stopping until the bottle is done. No casual drinking here.. Its pretty much a race to get shitfaced as quick as possible. needless to say that me in my old age am not so good at the chugging and shots as, those of you who used to know me in my younger days, I used to be. But i did my best and ended up the same way i would have ended up if i was in my younger days.... Hugging the frickin toilet and swearing i would never drink again... It is also an important thing to point out that the rum here is over proof rum meaning that it is 116 PROOF. So ho ho ho and a bottle of rum ,Christmas + New Years have come and gone.... And just when i thought it was over come to find out that we celebrate or full week after the new years!!! This is the time of year when we splash water on each other and rub baby powder on each others hair. The kids walk around the village playing drums on old junk pieces of tin and clang on old beer bottles going all around the village attacking people with water and baby powder and flour. Amazingly the kids sound like a pretty good damn band.. I'm thinking of teaching them how to play "Hang on Sloopy" next! " lol
Which leads me to my next Subject which is OSU football... I could not bare to go without watching the Buckeyes in the Championship Game so i took matters into my own hands....
I Called up the U.S. Ambassador here in Fiji and i asked him if i could come to the U.S. Embassy and watch the Ohio State game on the Big screen TV there on the U.S. Armed Forces network..
He invited me to come and i'll be flying to the mainland on Monday to catch the game which will be shown on Tuesday at round 12pm or 1 pm...
Last but not least.... I've been reading more and more books..
here is an additional list of new books read..:


Striper Wars~ Dick Russel

Villa Incognto~ Tom Robbins

Freakonomics~ Stephen D Levitt + Stephen J Dubner

Mindfullness~ Ellen J Langer

Jitterbug Perfume~ Tom Robbins

The Politics of Ecstasy~ Tomothy Leary

The Weather Makers~ Tim Flannery

Me Talk Pretty One Day~ David Sedaris

Among the Elephants~ Iain + Oria Douglas Hamilton

Sunrise With Seamonsters~ Paul Theroux

Either Side of Winter~ Benjamin Markovitz

I think that makes 20 books so far.... My high school English teachers might finally be proud to see i'm not using Cliffs Notes anymore! :)

Once again i hope everyone is doing good back home.. I miss all of you everyday....

FIJIAN JAMES BOND....~

So there is a man in my Village named Elia... He is a man that occupies the house directly behind mine is is roughly around the age of 65. Apparently Elia when he was a young man and living in the big city of Suva on the Main Island of Viti Levu, he was quite the rebel.. In the 1970's he had kicked over a garbage can in the city and a photographer had taken the picture and he was then put on the front page of the FIJI Times with the Title "FIJIAN JAMES BOND"!! So i am constantly giving him crap about being the Fijian James Bond.. :) To which he always replies that that was back in his younger and wild days... I don't have a picture of Elia yet but i will try to post one of him in the future... He is one of the guys who i am probably closest with in the Village.. Almost every night while i am in bed the village is pretty much dead silent and i can here Elia from his house letting out massive amounts of gas from his Sphincter(Sp?.)!!! So one night i decided to join him in this fun action!!! Well from there it kinda turned into a farting contest with plenty of giggling!!! So now when we want to communicate non-verbal at night all we do is let our anus's do the talking! lol If i had to make a top ten list of things i thought i would never be doing in my life i'm pretty sure that would rank right up there!!!!
We just had our Early Service conference a few days ago and now i have been in Suva for the past few days getting Quotations for a grant that our village is applying for so i can get them handed into the Ministry of tourism.... I head back to Taveuni tomorrow... I will probably be there for quite sometime as well as through Christmas and new years.... Should be an interesting time...... And lets cross our fingers for the Buckeyes....~~~!!!!
Moce...........