For those who can't guess what a type of time named after islands in the South Pacific might be like, Fiji Time refers to the extremely slow pace of life here on the islands.  I got a wonderful introduction to Fiji Time last week. 

I should start this story by explaining my situation right now. The first 10 weeks in the country are designated to language, technical, and cultural training.  There are 29 other people like me (called Peace Corps Trainees, or PCTs), and we are split into 6 groups.  Each group lives in a different village and each person lives with a different family.  I live in a village called Lauwaki.  My family is wonderful-I have a mother named Varo who is a tall, lanky, kindhearted woman who is determined to make me learn Fijian and how to do my laundry by hand.  My father is named Masau and works 6 days a week for the telephone company, so I don't see him too much.  I have 3 siblings aged 18, 16, and 11.  The two oldest go to boarding school in the interior of the country, but the youngest boy, Kong (as in king kong), is an energetic, animated kid.  Our house is made of concrete, we have tv, electricity, and running water.  All in all, it's pretty luxurious to waht you might think life in a third world country might be (we don't have airconditioning though...and it is missed dearly!). 

Last week in the village there was a wedding.  When tehre is a wedding in the village, everyone who lives here gets involved in the preparation and participates in teh celebration (there are 500 people living in the village).   For us PCTs in Lauwaki, it was all we could talk about all week.  Although the wedding wasn't actually until Friday morning, the we started preparing Tuesday night.  Our village is divided into 4 clans, and on Tuesday my clan, the chiefly clan, gathered our gifts together (woven mats, pillows, mosquito nets, and canisters of kerosene) and presented them to the bride and groom in a ceremony.  The next night, the other 3 clans did the same.  Each clan had a specific duty to prepare for the wedding on thursday night.  Our clan helped with the cooking (I chopped carrots), another decorated, another pounded kava root down into a powder (so it could be made into a drink), and the last clan was in charge of slaughtering animals for the feast.  With each day's activities, our group's excitement for the wedding grew. 

Finally, Friday morning came.  Our morning language lessons ended early so we could go home and dress for the 10am church service (which is then followed by a traditional service with dancing).  I showered and put on my brand new jaba (pronounced chamba) and sulu.  the jaba/sulu combo is the typical outfit for woment to wear to village events, and I had picked mine up from the seamstress the night before.  A jaba is a loose, short sleeved blouse without buttons that falls about mid-thigh.  the sulu is a skirt made of matching fabric.  My outfit is is made of a bright red fabric covered with huge hibiscous flowers, sea turtles, and surfboards.  There are small bows on each sleeve and it's got a sweetheart neck.  You can be assured that this outfit is quite the head turner...or, at least it would be at home, here it mostly turns heads because I'm a white girl wearing a jaba and sulu.  So, all dressed and ready to go at 5 after 10, I realize that Varo isn't even home from the village co-op yet, so she's clearly not ready to go.  Another one of the trainees, who lives right next door, Rhiannon, comes over and we hang out for a while.  She's dressed in her new outfit too.  We chat, have some tea, and then chat some more.  No one in the village seems to be moving yet, or going anywhere near the church yet.  It's now 12.  Varo has come home and gives us the scoop.   Apparently, rumor has it that the bride's village, which was supposed to show up at 8am, hasn't arrived yet.   We eat lunch and then leave the village for a technical training session that starts in a neighboring village at 1pm.  The wedding still hasn't started.  After training, we find out that the bride's village doesn't like to have weddings in the morning like our village does, so they didn't show up until 1:30pm, despite the 10am scheduled starting time.  the wedding didn't start until 2:45, only 4 hours and 45 minutes late.  Welcome to Fiji Time.  It wasn't all a loss though, after training we went to the president's granddaughter's birthday party and got to show off our new outfits there. 

Your Language lesson for the day; a formal greeting 

M: Ni Bula (Hello)

Y: Ni bula vinaka. (Hello and Thank you)

M: 'Oni bulabula vinaka?  (Are you in good health?)

Y: Io, vakalailai. (yes, i'm ok)

So far, this looks like the next two years are going to be fantastic.  Yes, the language might be a little tricky, but the other volunteers seem fantastic and the Peace Corps staff are great here.  We have been in a hotel for the past two days doing orientation (i have never been so oriented in my life) but tomorrow we are leaving for our homestays!  For the next 10 weeks, I will be in a village with 4 other volunteers getting trained on what we will be working on and speaking the next 2 years.  I think this is going to be great.

Well, it's been a whirlwind last few days, but I am finally heading to the airport this afternoon.  The journey started Wednesday, when I left for Arizona.  I got to AZ about 3pm and Robby got to Pheonix from the Grand Canyon at 3pm.  I rented a car and we sped on over (or crawled, depending on the traffic) to Tempe, near ASU.  We grabbed some beers, some sushi, and hiked up the mountain to the big A, and then I drove him back to the airport around 9pm.  I took the 2 hour drive up to Prescott where my Aunt, Uncle, and Grandpa live and got there about 11:30.  I woke up around 7:30 the next day and wished my aunt and uncle a good trip down to Phoenix, where they were, of course, going to the airport to pick up another relative.  I spent the day with my Grandfather watching John Wayne movies and chatting until everyone got back from Phoenix.  We had burgers and then I sped back down to Phoenix around 4:30 (much more alert this time).  Before I left, I got yet another pair of shoes to stuff into the already extremely overweight suitcase.  Hey, if I'm already over 20 lbs over the limit, what's another 5?  I got to San Diego around 11pm, and it was glorious to see Sarah, Amanda, and Meredith's shining faces at the baggage claim.  We crashed at their friend's place (as Sarah and Amanda are currently homeless) and hit the beach bright and early (7am!) to secure the perfect spot at the beach for their Sarah and Amanda's going away party.  (it turned out that there was no need to really get there that early b/c it was a cold and cloudy day...but, it's nice to say that we beat teh crowds there) We hung out on the beach all day drinking mimosas and playing bocce ball.  Around 6 I hopped on the train to LA.  I promptly passed out and woke up dazed and confused in downtown LA. I took a bus to the airport and another bus to the hotel.  whew.  After all that, it was amazing to put my 100 lbs of luggage down (hey, I'm leaving for 2 years, ok!) somewhere where I knew that I would be for more than 24 hours. 

The last 2 days we've had a Peace Corps orientation.  There are 32 trainees here who are heading to Fiji. They all seem like amazing, interesting people, and I can't wait to learn more about them and Fiji.  We are meeting now to head to the airport.....so I've got to run.  But just think, after all this travelling, I'll be in Fiji by Wednesday (it's monday now.  we have a direct, 13 hour flight, but because we're crossing the date line, we lose tuesday forever). 

This is my website where I will post journal entries, pictures, and any other info from Fiji.  I'm not sure how often I'll have access to internet, but I'll try to keep you all updated on my adventures as often as I can.  Departure in 7 days!!