Boating and Beddings in January

The hot, wet months are here. Keeping clothes and beddings clean and dry is difficult. It rained for two consecutive weeks earlier this month which meant no sun to dry clothes which meant no doing the laundry which meant stinky clothes and bed sheets with bedbugs – but a sunny week this week relieved us. Summer vacation just ended which means all the city folk that spend the holidays in my village with their families have returned to Suva, meaning no more volleyball, much less grog, and time to get back to the crops. It also means I can continue with my projects which have been on standstill for two months because of the holidays.

Drinking tea on Kuli's porch, watching volleyball on a Tuesday afternoon

Kids in my bure with mouthfuls of breadfruit

Junior and Alewa in my bure - after the electricity went off

I recently went on a long paddling trip with a fellow PCV. We paddled out of my village, crossed Dravuni Bay, and went up the Savu River for about five hours. The scenery was pristine – all mangroves and jungle with critters and flora I’ve never seen in Fiji. We didn’t see a human being or even signs of people until we reached Savu Village. We reached Savu, got out and walked uphill to the village. The villagers were shocked to see two white guys – and that we had paddled that far. They had never done it themselves (we had to bushwhack our canoe path at times because the river was blocked in places by dogo trees). At the first house we came to a fat lady who lived by herself made us come in and eat pineapples. Then some local boys took us to a nearby waterfall which was absolutely beautiful, and we swam and relaxed there for an hour then left so that we could make it back to my village before dark.

Lucas clears the brush as the Dadakulaci pushes upstream along the Savu River

A woman does laundry at a waterfall in Savu Village, an isolated village established for forestry workers and their families

Speaking of boating, about two weeks ago I paddled the Dadakulaci (my boat’s name) up a different river that runs beside my village. About a mile upstream I saw a dorsal fin gliding across the river. Surely enough it was a bull shark, about 4-5 feet long. I couldn’t believe it. I knew they could live in freshwater but didn’t believe I’d actually run into one in a river. It swam right up to my boat, just out of curiosity it seemed. I swung my paddle at it and it swam away.

My villagers are interested in starting a seawall to help protect against rising sea levels. I am game to work on this but they haven’t been very organized the past three months and I’m not sure if there will be enough organization to get the project up and going before I leave. We currently have 3 projects in the village up and running with the crab farm, tree nursery, and the water project, and I’m not confident a fourth will be started before July (my month of departure). I am already looking at my future; my next move. I’m studying for the GRE and researching jobs on the internet when I get such opportunities.

I kind of adopted another stray dog this month. But I left my village for the weekend this past week and when I came back it was gone. Pretty sure someone killed it and threw it in the ocean. The ocean disposes of many “problems” in Fiji.

RIP - Skipa

Good books I’ve read recently: The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde; Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon; The Third Chimpanzee, by Jared Diamond; The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway; and Netherland, Joseph O'Neill.