I have been living in my new home for just over a month now. School ended at Thanksgiving time (which no one has ever heard of here) and so I have had a lot of time.. Before coming to site I told myself I wanted to take things slowly when trying to integrate into my new community. Two years is a relatively long time and I want to be sure to take everything in before taking everything on. I quickly and surprisingly found myself overwhelmed by things I thought I was prepared for. I no longer had any other volunteers nearby to seek support or solidarity from. One of my biggest struggles the past month has been trying to explain to the people of Dakuivuna Village my role as a Peace Corps volunteer..and what the Peace Corps is. In this area of the country they get a lot of Australian volunteers. Most who come for a day, or a week and bring lots of goodies or complete a large project quickly for them. My village called these people Peace Corps volunteers. The village seemed to have missed the education assets I was able to bring to the community (teaching Family Life Ed classes, Lifeskills, HIV/AIDS, Family Planning, Drug Abuse/Awareness, Sexual Health, etc) and were zoned in on when/how I would complete all of my projects they had planned for me (build a sea wall, school library, school computer lab, school church, etc). And so the majority of my first month I felt a bit uncomfortable not knowing how to answer their questions because yes, projects are possible but there is a process to make projects happen in Peace Corps, and it certainly isn't what I am most excited about doing with my new community. I want to collaborate, educate and inspire. I want to share, experience and learn. But I was getting stuck in my internal half and found myself shying away from opportunities because I knew I was going to get quizzed about 'my projects'. Last week we were able to get some clarity to the village with the support of one of my supervisors. She is Fijian and so she was better able to explain the community my role. Every one speaks some level of English (British English) but there is still a large gap in understanding one another.
With all that said, things are on the upswing and I am becoming more comfortable in my community every day. Each day I make a small goal for myself...sometimes it is as simple as go to the neighbor's and learn all their names and ages. And hopefully as time goes on my goals will get bigger and better.
Alright so enough with all that jazz...here is a silly little list that former and current volunteers have made of "You Know You Are A PCV in Fiji When...." (not all are true to me, but to give a little insight into our lives as volunteers here in Fiji)
- You see 6 fairly large stains on your shirt and you think 'oh yeah, this shirt is still good'
- ants in your food=free protein
- a hot sunny day means laundry day
- you cover yourself in baby powder because you don't have enough water to shower with
- you choose dinner based off of what is about to rot/expire
- you decide not to sleep in because your neighbors start pounding grog at 7am
- you spend 20 minutes discussing with your neighbors what may have bit your arm the night before
- you're constantly brushing off bugs or poop
- you are constantly checking each pocket to make sure you didn't lose your bus ticket to and from town
- you haven't washed your hair in a week in hopes of not catching lice
- you've made enemies with the village roosters because they love crowing outside your window and your window alone
- you've been charged at by a goat
- your best friend in your village is your cat
- you've made a game of guessing how many frogs are in your bathroom when you go to pee in the middle of the night
- your feet are always dirty
- you are lolled to sleep by dog fights
- you use orange/lemon/lime as after shave
- you step in freshly made cow pie when trying to take down the laundry
- you bargain with the spider in your bathroom to not move until your bowels are evacuated and they surprisingly comply
- you've gotten real good at day dreaming and completely leaving reality in church
- you're not sure if you just agreed to marriage or dinner
- you don't have a kitchen or a sink so showering, washing the dishes and doing laundry has become one activity
- at first you don't understand how Fijian can sleep anywhere and everywhere and now you can fall sleep on the hardwood floor in the middle of a social gathering
- you experience more emotions in one day than a human is meant to experience in a lifetime
- you have at least one good poop story
- "never trust a fart"
- you've lost or gained 15 lbs, or both
- it is considered a successful day when you come home without visible sweat stains
- you're convinced you're going bald, have parasites or a skin disease, and sometime you do
- you never travel anywhere without toilet paper
- grocery shopping and doing laundry are considered day long chores
- you've started to name the cockroaches, rats, spiders and lizards that live in your home
- you treat every month like no-shave november
- you get excited when you order something with chicken and it doesn't have bones in it
- you eat the entire contents of your care package in one sitting
- you preach nutrition and then consume an entire sleeve of oreos after work
- you have spent more time in church than you have your entire life (and understood 1% of what was said)
- you gamble with death every time you ride public transportation
- most of the time, you have no clue what is going on.
The contents of this Web Site are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.
