Here's to 2007

Another Christmas season away from home, and we can’t tell you how much we really were dreaming of a white Christmas. This hot season is not messing around this year, and we have the prickly heat rashes to prove it. You know it’s really quite amazing how tin homes replicate the phenomena of a real oven. Thank goodness this season we invested in battery operated hand held fans, which if you turn them both on at the same time and close your eyes it’s almost like air conditioning. :)

The holiday season brings in all the children who school on the main island, Viti Levu, all year long. Most of them only get to see their families during this one month summer vacation, so everyone makes it extra special with lots of big teas and picnics. Drew and I helped out a lot making bread and scones over the fire and making the Fijian Lovo, an underground oven. We also had the chance to do some workshops with the youth on environment and AIDS. It's bizarre sometimes to have all teenagers missing from the island, but then again that 14-20 age can bring out the rebel in some. In the picture to the right, my village lady friends are buttering up breads for a big tea. With 2007 finally here, we can say confidently that we feel culturally adjusted in the village and quite comfortable with our island dialect. We can now slurp up fish head juice and octopus suction cups, we now too can pull up our shirts to compare our boils, and belt out church hymns while using our machete for every purpose possible from cleaning our nails, to chopping wood, to slicing papaya, and scratching our backs. We feel so Fijian at times it's scary. The left picture shows Liss is in her handsewn Fijian dress she made and Tave is showing off one of his tricks. We took a nice break over New Year’s Eve and treated Drew to a surfing excursion to one of Fiji’s best waves, Frigate’s Pass. It’s a beautiful consistent wave in the middle of the ocean that took about an hour by boat to get to. On the boat ride we also fished a bit and caught two yellow fin tuna, and a Spanish mackerel. Needless to say Drew was the happiest guy in Fiji that weekend.

We are working hard right now with about 8 grant proposals pending right now between the two of us for four different villages, the school, and the health center. It’s a very busy time, but we really feel like we have been making great progress with all of our work.

We are happier than ever right now. Surprisingly, it seems to be getting easier as we assimilate more and more.

Drew at the Covula (sacred red prawn pool) with Marica and Tukala

On vacation in Yanuca Island for New Years.