AYS Fiji Service, Part 3

Pictures: coconut with straw from Nalawauki,

Pandanus leaves drying in the sun.

"June 7, 2008
Megan and I always wake up earlier than everyone else. The leaders Mary and Nicole are next. We woke up around 6:30, got ready, (showered, dressed, awake -in that order) and went exploring. It was too dark lastnight when we arrived to see anything. This resort is beautiful. It seems quite a bit larger than Octopus. This one is also right on the ocean. There are coconut trees full of fruit all around me. It is so strange to actually be in a place like this. Apparently the other day at Nalawauki the rest of the group hacked open a coconut and drank the milk. Megan and I were off picking up trash at the time.
We are all staying in one dorm here. At Octopus, the girls were all in one dorm and the few boys shared a bure.
The sun just rose. It's so beautiful here. They have a pool and a volley-ball net too.
Our dorm here has bunk-beds. The room is divided in half by a curtain, boys on one side and girls on the other. We close the curtains at night or when we all get dressed. Most of the girls are using mosquito nets they brought. Courtney and Katherine were assigned beds above me and Megan, but their nets needed something from which to hang. Mine has its own little tent thing and Megan doesn't have one, so we gave our bottom beds to them and we sleep on top. It's hard to sneak out in the morning without waking them up.

"June 7, 2008, Later
Today we had free time until 10:00am when we got on a bus and went to Galoa (pronounced Nloh-uh. It's hard to say correctly and I'm still not sure I'm saying it correctly.) But, I get ahead of myself. As I mentioned earlier, Megan and I were up by 6:30. I was tired by 10 but I sure wasn't at 6:30.
Megan and I got a lot done before anyone else got up. First we sat and wrote in our journals. When breakfast was ready, we ate. It wasn't as varried here as it was at Octopus, but the food was just as good. Here they have toast, jams, butter, corn-flake-like cereal, strange cereal bar things, watermellon, pineapple, papaya, coffee, milk, juice (we're not sure what kind). There is also a heating pan with oatmeal in one side and spaghetti and sauce in the other... I'm not kidding. I didn't try the spaghetti. I have nothing against eating that particular food for breakfast, but I do have something against eating spaghetti, period. Yuck.
We dressed up to go to Galoa. We had a very official welcoming ceremony when we arrived in the town hall. We drank Kava. It was much better at Galoa than it was at the Octopus Resort.
After the welcoming ceremony we were given food-- fruits, cookies, and coconuts with holes hacked into the top so we could drink the milk. I liked it a lot, but not many others did.
A kind man gave up a tour of the village. We saw a place where they play net-ball (similar to basketball) and an underground oven in use. We saw Kava roots and a kind of leaf that the women use to weave into mats being dried in the sun. (I never did figure out what kind of leaf those were.) The houses and other buildings were very similar to Nalawauki.
When the tour was completed, we had a farewell ceremony. There was no more Kava involved but there was a lot of talking in Fijian.
We boarded the bus and went back to the resort, changed into casual clothing, and headed to the cultural centre that was about 10 minutes away. Most of us were tired of playing around and excited to work, especially after we saw the village and met some of the people.
We were fed lunch on the bus. The two sandwitch options were cheese, and some kind of fish. (Later we learned that this was Fijian Tuna.) The fish ones did NOT go over well. They were really disgusting.
We saw a firewalking show. Five guys walked on stones that were white-hot. It was amazing. We also saw dancing and some games. Two men had a coconut husking and cracking competition. For the husking they used a stick and their hands, but they did the cracking without tools of any kind.
We went on a boat tour. We were shown weaving, some kitchen utensils and cooking, fishermen's tools, and weapons. We got to see and learn about a temple, the chief's hut, and a regular man's life. Fijians were really into human sacrifice and canibalism. We had a 10-minute break during which I bought a shirt for my dad.
We walked back to the resort after the cultural center.
Dinner was good tonight. We had noodles with vegetables and for desert we had ice cream and a fruit sauce. The mosquitoes are vicious. They are small, black, and make very little noise. Megan's legs are already covered in welts. My small bottle of 100% Deet seems to be the best repellant anyone has.
I took a shower after dinner and played a game called "Scum" with Chris, Trevor, Nicole, and Megan. We have a devotional at 21:15. I'm so sleepy! I'm not sure I'll make it until then.

"June 8, 2008, Sunday
Church today was really neat. The chapel was large enough for probably 100-150 people, but I'm very bad at estimating things like that. There were only about 40 people in sacrament meeting, including the AYS group. Cary wore a tsulu that he bought in Nadi. It was pretty neat. Shawn gave a talk and Katherine and Trevor gave their testimonies.
Sunday school was akward. The Fiji boys were EXTREMELY shy. We were divided into groups and instructed to read various chapters from Alma. Megan and I were the only Americans in our group.
In Young Women I noticed that there were Fijian girls, but there were also Into-Fijian girls. They look very different. The entire ward is divided into these groups, but I didn't notice until YW. I didn't see any explicit segregation, but I read about the possibility before my trip.
I met a very nice girl named Agnes. [We still write to eachother and keep in touch.] There was a fireside in the chapel right after church. Megan, Katherine, Courtney, Jessica, Cary, Chris and I sang a poorly rehearsed special musical number. Rachel played the piano for us.
Several of the Fijian and Indo-Fijian youth talked about what it is like to be a member of the LDS church here in Fiji, then Utah kids talked about what it was like to be a member in "America." Their representation was very poor because being a member in Utah is nothing like being a member in Idaho or other places in the United States. Megan and I mentioned this to Shawn, who is from Boise originally. He got up and talked about that a little bit.
We ate lunch there at the church. We were fed cold hot-dogs garnished with some kind of cheese, a sauce similar to marinara sauce, and cucumber pieces. It was odd. It wasn't very good, but I ate it because I was hungry.
In place of the spaghetti for breakfast today, there were baked beans, sharing the heated plate with the oatmeal."

AYS Fiji Service, 2

Photos: AYS Group in Nalawauki and Kava bowl

"June 4, 2008, Later

There are lots of people from Australia at this resort. There are a few from England and there is even a woman named Rosie from Scotland. Her accent is absolutely beautiful. I'd never before heard a Scottish accent in person.Last night there was a welcoming ceremony for the AYS group and for a couple on their honeymoon. A Fijian man had a large bowl on legs full of Kava. (I later learned that the bowl is actually known as a Kava bowl, surprising.) Kava is a drink made from a ground up root. Shawn told us when we first got here that if we don't drink more than three cups then it isn't against the Word of Wisdom.
Kava has a unique taste. Surprisingly, it tastes a little bit like dirt. It makes your mouth tingle and feel slightly numb like clove oil, but not as strong or as gross-tasting.
We all sat cross-legged in a circle around the man with the kava bowl. There were a few polished coconut shell halves which are Kava cups from which the kava is drunk... drunken? drinked? Haha, I don’t think that’s even a word. Anyway, this is where we learned the Kava-drinking procedure. When you are given the cup of Kava by the man in the center or a man appointed to deliver it to different people, you clap once, then accept the kava and down the cup. While you drink, everyone claps three times in unison. When you finish, you return the cup, and clap three times alone.

"June 5, 2008
I'm sitting on a beach chair at the end of a row of several. All the people in them are with AYS. the tide is high and the waves are crashing on the beach. I slept well last night. Our dorm has one fan and one mosquito net per bed.
This morning for breakfast we had a selection of fresh fruit, cereals, granolas, and pastries. It was very good. After that, we all met in the dorm, packed some water and sunscreen, and hiked up over the top of the island and visited the village of Nalawauki. The hike was pretty vigorous. The path on this side of the mountain was 90% steep cement stairs. They were tough because they height between one to the next was about double the height of our regular steps. The path down on the other side was just dirt, rock, and roots. It was much easier for me because I’m used to hiking, if not in these humid, hot conditions.
The village people were very kind. They all look very alike. Even the men and women are difficult to tell apart because they are so beautiful. There were many children. They were so sweet. They all speak English and interacted with everyone.
The village people were in mourning because on a recent death. I’m not sure how it would have been different if they hadn’t been.
When we first got there the mayor, Kianu gave us a guided walk around the town. Homes were either made of thatch or tin sheets. They all seemed to be one-room. These people must have such a simple life.
On this tour we got to see the school. It was one room. There was a table and a chalk board. On the walls were papers with letters written on them and large poster sized ones with song lyrics. The children were all under six-years-0ld. When they reach that age, they are sent somewhere else to be educated. I think they go to the large island. The local women displayed their crafts for us to buy.
They had all their stuff laid out on blankets and they sat next to it. Some of the things they had were really neat. There was jewelry made of pearls and shells. There were wood and bone ones too. There were wooden statues and small asks. There were rugs like the ones all over the town and this resort. The rugs were made of small bits of many different fabrics, they sewn together in an overlapping fashion.
I bought a necklace made of a huge wild-boar’s tooth for my grandfather, a white and red pearl necklace for my grandmother, a necklace with a hand-carved wooden sea turtle pendant and one of the Fijian rugs for my mother, and I bought a small wooden keychain that said “Fiji” for me. I felt good about buying from these women instead of stores. Their stuff was so much more authentic and they looked like they could use the money more than people who ran organized businesses.
In the village we cleaned the garbage on the beach and buried it. That’s how they take care of it. The villagers slowly joined in. Later the mayor, Kianu said they were feeling guilt watching us work. We finished around one or two in the afternoon. The women had prepared rice and taro roots to eat. After that we hiked back. While I was there I gathered two mall shells and three large seed pods. I have no idea what they belong to but there are really neat and I plan to make necklaces or something with them.
The first thing most of us did when we got back to the resort was eat lunch then swim in the pool to cool off. It was nice but I started to get a bad headache. We played Marco-Polo in the pool.
After that I took some pills and laid down on a chair on the beach hoping that my headache wouldn’t turn into a migraine. I was there for a while. Chris and Trevor came by. Chris sat down next to me for quite a while. He was comforting. He was happy just talking quietly with me. Shawn came by and told us that we should call our parents. They did but Chris said he would be back. I waited for a long time and he never came back so I left to get dressed and to get my journal. I later learned that at this point he went to sit by me, saw that I wasn’t there, and asked Megan where I was. She told him I was in the dorm laying down. When I was finally on my way back to the beach chairs, I stepped out of the dorm and met Chris stepping up the porch toward me. We went to the beach and sat together for quite a while until it started to rain. I left then and went up to a table with an umbrella. Pretty soon he came and sat with me. Our table slowly gathered people until half the group was there talking and laughing. We had a great time.
Dinner was good. Last night everything was something fishy. Tonight it was chicken.
I’m not worried about Megan and I having fun with these Utah Mormons anymore. Some aren’t like us, but some are our kind of people. We had a great time with all of them.

“June 6, 2008
I’m at Uprising Beach Resort now on the main island. This morning we were free until 15:00 when a boat come to take us away from the Octopus Resort. I packed before everyone else so that I wouldn’t have to do it all with everyone in there. I had the whole dorm to myself in the morning. After that I sat in a hammock and finished Thief of Time and started Small Gods, also by Terry Pratchett.
It was sad to leave. We had a wonderful time at that place. The boat ride was several hours long. I talked to Trevor quite a bit. I have a lot more in common with him than I do with Chris. I played “BS” with several of the kids. Again, we had a great time. After the boat ride, we had a three-hour-long bus ride to this side of the island. We ate a dinner that some women from the church had prepared for us. It was stew and rice and it really surprised us when the stew meat still had bones in it. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with that, but it took us spoiled-american kids by surprise."

Alliance for Youth Service Trip, Fiji 1

Fiji was absolutely amazing. The culture, the people, the physical geography. I've decided to enter a few of my journal entries in here for anyone thinking about going on a trip with AYS or going to Fiji, although my thoughts will probably be more useful to the former group. I'm going to cut out a few of the less-interesting things or things that may only be pertinent to me, but I'll give a this a good try. Please let me know if you like this.

"June 3, 2008

I'm on the plane from LAX to Nadi, (pronounced Nahn-dee) Fiji. We're supposed to land around 5:30 Fiji time so we're getting close now. The flight from Boise to LA was uneventful. I spent most of it reading my current book, Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett."

All of the kids were in AYS shirts that were fairly noticable, but luckily they're weren't especially ugly. They were white with AYS in large black letters, and then "fiji" in smaller, green writing underneath. We had been instructed to meet eachother underneath the "Air Pacific" ticketing desk. We waited forever for any of the other AYS kids to show up. Megan and I were the only two from somewhere besides Utah. We felt a little odd meeting everyone. Most of them knew eachother and were different than we were, but it was fun anyway.

"June 4, 2008

I'm sitting in a hammock with Megan at Octopus Resort. Some of the group is playing beach-volleyball next to us. We plan to have out hair put into cornrows in a few minutes. I had to convince Megan to have it done. I'm excited. She isn't...

We went through customs at the airport. I wish it hadn't been dark when we landed. I would have liked to be able to see the islands during our decent. We met up with our second group leader, Shawn Moore at the airport. We all found breakfast and played Two Truths and a Lie while waiting for our transportation. It was a nice way to get a feel for the other people.

Around 7 am we received a message that our boat to the resort was going to leave at 8:30 rather than at 10 as had been previously planned. We grabbed our luggage and got on an unplanned bus, very quickly. On the way to the harbor, our bus rear-ended a food truck. (pictured above) It would have been funnier if we weren't all worried about missing out boat."

"Same day, later

Megan just came to sit in the hammock with me but I was too warm so now I'm in a chair by the pool. The Octopus resort is very nice. They have a lovely view and very nice food. It is right on the beach. Megan and I snorkeled yesterday with our new but cheap equipment. It worked well. There are coral formations all around this island. At low tide you have to walk over the top of them to get to the water/boats. While snorkeling we saw colorful fish just like on tropical marine nature shows. We saw a sea cucumber too. Soon after our underwater adventure we decided we need to learn sign-language so we can communicate more effectively under water."

I'll write later, but right now I have to go practice my violin.

The Beginning

I've never blogged before but recently I was indirectly challenged by my older sister to try it. She probably doesn't even know she did it. A few birthdays ago she gave me a book called 101 Things to do Before You're Old and Boring by Richard Horne and Helen Szirtes. I work on it when I'm bored, because surely the state of being bored precedes becoming boring. The book says the world "blog" is an abbreviation of "weblog" which makes sense. This discovery interested me. I'm supposed to be logging stuff on the web.
I'm an 18-year-old female. My mother wanted to name me Aspen but my father said it was too hippie so instead, I am Garnet. I'm proud of my unique name. I wouldn't be very happy with something more common. It just wouldn't fit me.
I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, (aka- LDS, Mormons). My mother follows the same religion, but my father doesn't especially follow any religion, although he attends our church weekly. He's not open with his feelings but I would assume he's an agnostic.
Artistic things fascinate me. I make hemp necklaces and sell them at a local jewelry store. I want to make a website for myself so that I can sell more of my creations, not just the hemp items, but I don't know how. I embroider, cross-stitch, sketch, paint, design and decorate skateboard decks, paint miniature figurines, and I'm sure I do more things, but none of them come to mind at the moment. Lately I have been trying to learn to work with Polymer. I have also taken a class on glass blowing and it was wonderful. Learning more about that is definately in my future.
Travel is one of my passions. In the summer of 2006 I went with a youth tour group called EF to Greece, Italy, and a brief walk-around in Turkey. It was fun and I had a wonderful time, but the trip I got to take last summer was much more fun. I went with a group called Alliance for Youth Service (AYS) to Fiji for two weeks and we built toilets. It was hard work but it was one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had. AYS travels all around the globe doing service. I made some wonderful friends in Fiji and I wanted to stay. One of the boys in my group watched me very carefully on the day we were to leave because he was honestly afraid I was going to try to escape. This is rediculous of course... although it was quite tempting.
I play a few computer games: Warcraft Frozen Throne, Oblivion, Call of Duty. I play the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) weekly with a group of friends. Occasionally I watch movies if I'm with people and we can't think of anything more entertaining to do. Snowboarding and skiing are very fun for me. I live in a small town in Idaho, USA and we get a lot of snow. The nearest hill is 14 miles by road from my house. My school work is done online through BYU Independent Study, however my schooling has not always been here. 1st-4th Grade I was in public school. For 5th grade I attended a private, one room school house with students in grades 1-8. In 6th grade I returned to public school. I started having migraines around this time in my life and they just suck. That year I missed 74 days of school, however I still had a 4.0 GPA thanks to my teachers who were willing to let me take home work to complete alone. I understood it well, so for the next two years I uused the online school K12. I liked it very much and learned a lot. I tried going back to the public High School for my freshman year because I didn't want to miss the "High-school experience." Also in that year I attended a private school for English and Literature called North Fork. Halfway through my freshman year, I was forced to leave the public highschool because of the jerk who they call the principal. Again, my teachers were allowing me to take home work that I missed due to migraines and again, I had above a 4.0GPA. The people who mattered were perfectly willing to work with me, but the principal, who does nothing but sit on his lazy butt all day entertaining ideas of vendetta against teachers he doesn't like, tried to force me to apply for a disabilities thing so that it would be "acceptable" for me to miss so much school. I was made to go and make a formal appeal to the school-board for every 7 periods of a class I missed. It was absurd. By the time all of this was over, I was ready to leave that highschool and never look back. I went to keystonehighschool online after that for the rest of my freshman year, and the two following that. They were nice. I continued to take from the private school, North Fork for several years, although I didn't return this year. Now I am inrolled in BYU Independent Study Online Highschool. They're pretty nice. I am behind in schooling due to my migraines, so I probably won't graduate until sometime next year or possibly early the year after, rather than this spring when the rest of my class-mates will be finished. This is depressing but I'm not sure why it should be. On the bright side, because of the classes I'm taking through BYU, I will graduate with several college credits under my belt so I guess everything works out OK...
Well, I suppose I should close now. I'm on the computer a lot because of my school so feel free to comment (if that is indeed how these things work.) I'll be happy to respond and make friends on here.

Garnet