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...........

ISA ISA........... Fiji

ok.. soooo.. Its been quite awhile since i have written last hasn't it.... Lets see if i can remember what all i have done in the last month.. Peace Corps washington sent out a Lady(Lynn)(This lady rocked... Cool as hell) to check on the Peace Corps Fiji program to see if Fiji needs more volunteers and in what sectors.....One of her Visits was to my site as well as my friend Nicks sites here on Taveuni.... we took her around to all of our Projects and showed her a fantastic time i hope.. I have a hard time believing that there is anywhere else in the world where the water is this Blue!!!! Not only that but one would never think how many different shades of Aqua and blue that could exist. I'm getting to know a lot of the fish by site now and some even by thier Fijian names.... I really am fearfull though at the amount of fishing/overfishing that occurs here in Fiji... Our Oceans are being devasted at a rate that even is amazing me.... I'm witnessing this first hand and i will be the first to admit that i do eat fish here when it is given to me... Its a real issue out here and i imagine now after seeing all this , the whole world as well..... Makes me sad.... But on a brighter note.. work is starting to pick up... I'm hoping to do some Customer Service and business training within my village as well as other villages too...There is a real lack of knowledge when it comes to running a bussiness properly here and i want to make sure i take care of that before i do my time here... I am also hoping to do some guide trainings as well with the marine Park Guides... I'm working on Securing a Grant for a new water System in my Village as well as starting to initiate a whole New venture for the Village. This new venture involves building 3 new Traditional Fijian bures next to the beach for Accommodations for the Tourists... My village is different in the fact that it is very remote and bush and would provide tourists with an opportunity that is truly hard to find here in Fiji, an authentic Village experience... and not only that but my Village is one of the most beautiful villages in all of Fiji.... So this all involves a lot of Planning, trainings , and monitoring so things will def be picking up in the near future....My Dog is doing good and it seems as if i have adopted a new dog as well.. her name is Zero... She is a good dog and is Tukai's sister... she was wasting away and i just couldn't stand to watch anymore.. I am getting scared i might have about 7 or 8 dogs before i leave! lolWe just had our early Service conference a couple days ago and come back to the main island again in3 weeks for In service training as well as Thanksgiving.....I've been snorkeling a few more times and everytime i go others see a shark but i have yet to see one.... I did get to see some more dolphins when i was out in the boat again a couple weeks ago.... I've also jumped off a couple more waterfalls as well... the water here is soooo refreshing and pure here .. at least on taveuni in ther remote parts it is..... Half of the Island is Virgin rainforest and is still in its original state as it was 1000's of years ago.. For a whole ecosystem like this to still be intact here on Fiji is amazing because so much of the Original environment has been destroyed.... So its nice to know it is here and protected... at least for the time being....Bure life is still the same... No electric.. Bugs.. Kids everywhere screaming at 6 in the morning and 6 at night.... and misc rat heads left on the counter as an offering to me from my oh so kind cat Yali.... She is sweet enough to offer yet i haven't quite figured out yet how to explain to her that it is not necesary.
3 more books have been read....
And go Buckeyes!!!!

Books, books and more Books....

So since i have come to my site, 1 and a half months, i have managed to read 9 Books... Mind you that most of these books are not small either.. they are as follows.... :

The Naturalist- by edward o. wilson

The 7 spiritual laws of success- by Deepak Chopra

Homelands"Kayaking the Inside Passage"- by Byron Ricks

The Longest Memory- by Fred D'Aguiar

Skinny Legs And All- by Tom Robbins

The Supreme Court "The Personalities and Rivalries That Defined America" - by Jefferey Rossen

The Prophet- by Kahlil Gibran

Sex Lives with Canibals- by J Marten Troost

Getting Stones With Savages- by J Marten Troost

I think i have doubled my entire book reading of a lifetime in only 1 month and a half!!!!!

Went fishing last week.. not an kind of fishing like anyone else might think either... Went fishing using snorkeling gear at night and with an underwater flashlight and Makeshift Spear gun. It was maybe 10 o'clock at night when we first entered the water.. The rain was pouring down and i took my first steps into the water and assumed the snorkeling position... We basically walk sometimes then float sometimes but the entire time little Bio-Luminescent Phytoplankton are lighting up in the water so as to make it look like 100's of little stars are twinkling in the water.. We swim/walk along till we find a fish laying half asleep then shine the light fully on him/her and shot the spear at him/her. We then empty the fish into a container that we drag behind us that floats on the water.... Its a pretty amazing experience the first time you try it, although I'm sure it has become a little mundane for the villagers to do it as it is for sustenance. So after we were finished i took one fish, a "Timor Snapper", and set it in water to wait to be cooked until the next day, which i did in the same fashion that me and my Dad used to do it.
1. Fillet fish
2. Pulverize "Ritz" Crackers into a fine dust...
3. Roll the Fillets in the Cracker dust.
4. lightly oil a pan
5. fry fillets until lightly crisp on the outside.
6. EAT!!
It was delicious.....
I'm sure i will be doing it more often as well.......
and to those of you who are or have sent a package i thank you so much.. It means a lot , it really does...... every little bit helps here.....
I will do my best to keep in touch on what limited Internet time i have! Just know that if you write that i do see it and appreciate. It just might take me some time to get back.
Vina'a Va'a Levu
Moce
p.s. Is it TRUE?? tHE WOLVERINES SUCK THAT BAD THIS YEAR??? LOL

OK OK.. WHOEVER STOLE THE MOON, PLEASE BRING IT BACK.. WE KINDA NEED IT.....~

So imagine you walk outside onto the front step of your traditional Fijian Bure looking forward to consuming a fresh breath of a cool Tropical breeze and Enjoy the Full moon that you had been taking photos previously that night ,when suddenly you realize your precious White marshmallow was being all consumed by the very planet that you currently stood on..!!! At first i was confused and though maybe a stray cloud had covered up the Moon until i looked in the sky and there were fewer clouds in the sky than teeth in the mouth of an English Bride. In about 30 minutes the earth had finished up gobbling what remained of the moon but instead of it dissapearing completely only to be thrown up later, the Moon turned an eary, yet beautiful shade of Blood- Orange.. It remained in this state for another Hour and a half where i decided to retire to my back for a bit on my front step and look through my binoculars at this Halloween production i was witnessing. It was impressive and amazing, if anything for its abrupt appearance that caught me unaware. I had never seen a Full Lunar eclipse before in my life and probably never will see one again quite like this one. Laying on my back, listening to the Waves break on the reef, watching the Flying Foxes swoop past the Moon , staring up at this beautiful Blood- Orange, dim lit, lightbulb, i had forgoten about the 50 misquito's making a buffet out of my viens of my legs.. Who cared.. This was sublime... It was then , thinking that the sublime couldn't become any more enjoyable that the little blaze of a rocket flew past the moon as if to salute it on its fantastic show much like an f-18 would do a fly by at the superbowl. I had seen falling stars before, even more prolific in size and brightness, but it was this one that i will never forget.... Such is the life in the South Pacific..

It is nights like that that make up for the days that leave you depressed , feeling down , and wondering why in the hell you decided to Join Peace Corps..It is the little things... The little things are what make it all worthwile.. Sometimes putting a smile on a kids face or making someone laugh at or with you is larger than any great "accomplishment". In Fact it is the little things that ARE the great "accomplishments". The sum of the whole is often overlooked and was even by me until that night. I am happy the moon showed back up though.. I was getting scared for a bit. :)

So on a side note.. How many creatures live in your house???

Lets count mine.....

1. Cockroaches

2. Spiders(sometimes as big as your fist)

3. Rats

4. Ants(3 different species so far from what i can tell)

5. My dog

6. My cat

7. My dog and my cats Fleas..

8. a multitude of misquito's(About 6 at night is tea time for them)

9.Moths, wasps, many other flying insects...

10. Gheckos!!!( they eat my bugs) :)

11. Land crabs

12. and other miscelaneous creatures..



The fun part is you never know which fun creature you will get to run into on what night.. :)



oh.. and i forgot the mildew.. Mildew forms on everything.. So i try to sun my clothes and everything else i have as much as possible.. keeping things dry here can be a task...

Paradise is swell....

So hopefully my new tooth will be flown or shipped in from Hong Kong here in the next 2 weeks so i don't have to keep this hideous temporary tooth in my mouth any longer...

Its not the purtiest thing you ever saw let me tell you...

Other than that things are good here.. I miss the States, my friends and family, the redwoods, the coast, the mountains, all tremendously, so if you could all just quit what you are doing for 2 more years that would be great. i don't wanna miss out on anything.. I truly do feel like i am living on the moon sometimes here in FIJI.......

almost forgot....~

I left some things off my wish list.... Sorry to seem so greedy but if you were here you'd understand ! lol
I just realized that i have been breathing in toxic fumes everynight in the form of my kerosene lantern when i read. So if anyone has the kind enough heart to send a coleman type led lantern(full size) i would love you forever.. (helps me ruduce my carbon footprint too!)
Something similar to this would work fine.... anything as long as it doesn't send toxic fumes up my nose... :)
http://www.summitcampinggear.com/coledsela.html
that is just one site.. i'm sure there are many other sites to find it on....

and also, q-tips would be great too!(ear wax builds up here so quick.. no joking either.. its a problem!)
and any kahki shorts , about knee length with cargo pockets are always good too(size 34)

and a private jet, and... j/k

This week has been pretty good.. Got a few things done around the bure.. starting to beautify it on the outside now with some landscaping.....
Attended a Tourism Board meeting Yesterday with most of the Hotel and Resort managers to organize a national tourism Day for the island of taveuni... Met some great and very generous resort owners.. Its a pretty tight community around the island.....
So as part of the national Tourism day here on Taveuini, we plan on making a Brand New 180th meridian sign and having ceremony for the new sign as well as a Meke competition (Native Fijian Dance) for the tourists.. FIJI ONE should be there as well to broadcast the event. They aare the only tv station in Fiji.....
Hope as is well with everyone back home!!!!