I think I may be getting the hang of this

Well that’s it. I’m officially 2 months into my three month placement. That’s right.. 2/3 of the way through. Incredible. As the days tick by I think they go by as they should but now looking back and realizing that as of Thursday (the 1^st of August) I only have one month left. I feel like I’ve done so much while being here but I also keep thinking of things I still need to get done. I am back into the swing of things at Tovuto Base and am pretty comfortable with my daily responsibilities. My new project is organic gardening! There is a small orange beetle with a big bum that keeps eating the vegetables we are planting at school (mostly the long beans). I am going to try planting sunflowers and certain herbs, because they are good, but also because they are supposed to attract parasitic wasps which take care of pests pretty well. The only problem is that I don’t know whether there are parasitic wasps in this region of Fiji… any other suggestions?

Today on construction was pretty successful. This morning we picked the first vegetables that were fully grown in the garden at school. These cabbages were planted about a month ago so have a pretty good growth rate here. It was exciting for me to see one of my projects from start to finish and great to see the kids at school having some fresh veg in their lunch. Afterwards we detached and cleaned a whole water tank from the inside out as a rat had gotten in. Seeing how the water tanks work and knowing how each and every part of one fits together is something that I feel will be very useful in this coming month because we plan on installing many water tanks at many different villages surrounding us in the Yasawas. When we were done cleaning and setting the water tank back up where it was supposed to be we cleaned the filter and made sure everything was working properly. After lunch Mr. Kant, the class 6 teacher, came to me and explained that the guttering on his water tank was constantly breaking. By taking a quick look we managed to fix the breaks with glue and supporting beams to ensure it wouldn’t happen again. Our last task of the day was watering the entire garden, which is quite a task now as it has grown quite a bit since I first got here. Overall it was a successful day which I thought went through without a hitch, which is a pretty big deal with Fiji Time.

I think I will begin my diver training this week as I will have to fill out tests, practice, and complete my Open Water all on the weekends.. and there really aren’t many of those left. This weekend the plan is to have a girls staff day at Blue Lagoon Resort where we can escape from Base for a day and have some casual drinks, good food and a sit by the pool. Fingers crossed it will work out! I hope everyone at home is doing well. Please continue to comment and email, I love hearing from you!

Xo H

What a week!

Hello all! Well I have probably had one of the best weeks of my life here in Fiji! The dolphins at moon reef are absolutely amazing! We're doing such cool research with acoustics, photo ID, and behaviour. We split up half and half each day to go out off the boat which is seriously like white water rafting because you get so wet. Once you get out to the reef though it calms down and it's completely worth it. The animals are so serene and peaceful and it's an incredible experience to get to study them so closely.

We have also been doing a lot in the communities surrounding the Eco lodge every night. On Wednesday we were invited to Nataleira for a traditional sevu sevu (welcoming ceremony). We walked over the black sand beaches (the only ones in Fiji) to a palm frawn hut at the outer edge of the village. There we were greete by the village elders and other important members. We presented our offering of kava and were each given the first taste while accepting the sevu sevu for our respective countries -> I got the first bowl for Canada :) after the ceremony was over and we were accepted into the village we continued in the kava circle with periodic dance parties on the beach. At one pour my dance partner looked over at me unexpectedly and said "Canadians can dance!" it seems as though he wasn't the only one that thought so a the night culminated in a dance off between me and their best. It wa a lot of fun an generated a lot of laughs. We left being told that we were welcome back to the 'Black Sand Bar' anytime.

The next night we were invited to another sevu sevu in the neighboring village of Silana. There the ceremony was held in a big welcome hall and was much more traditional than the night before. We had our kava and then got to witness a traditional story telling dance -> the Meke. It is a warrior dance learned by all male members of the village growing up an performed traditionally before battle. It was phenomenal and so great to be a part of. Fijians are natural musicians and have a very special rhythm that it is an honor to watch these dances. We also danced with the villagers in traditional two by two format. You petty much walk up and down a certain space for the length of the song.

The next day was the Moon Reef Festival. It was put on by the Sunshine Coat university visiting. It was a big sporting event put on to conserve te reef and educate about it. All the children from the high school came out to perform in the events. These were things like an ocean race, Bili Bili races, coconut tree climbing competition, and much more. It was a lot f fun to compete next to the communities and all have fun learning about the reef 7.3 out. after the festival finished lots of the volunteers went to Suva but the ones that were left and I ahead a great time. First of all a giant tall ship moored in te bay and when it's inhabitants came ashore I recognized 2 of them! Carole and Norman (volunteers from the Yasawas) were on the tall ship! It was so good to catch up with them and learn what they had been doing! We all won't out o the tall ship with them, explored, and spent a long time climbing shrouds and jumping into the water while enjoying a brilliant sunset over the hills. Coming back to shore we joined yet another kava circle and had a bonfire on the beach.

I truly truly LOVE Fiji. I hope everyone gets to come to these beautiful islands and witness the beauty and hospitality that I have. It's truly incredible. 

Even though I'm having such a great time I miss everyone at home and love hearing your updates. I hope all is going well!

Now I'm enjoying my weekend off with 3 of the volunteers on a tiny island resort called Leleuvia. It's where my profile picture was taken and if someone could possibly show that to my mom that would be much appreciated as I can't on here :(

BULA! (from Suva)

I'm currently in Suva at a beautiful hostel called the raintree lodge.. most definitely recommend it for anyone who will travel Fiji in the future... they have working showers AND flushing toilets! Yes!

My 5 hour trip from the Yasawas back to the mainland yesterday went really well! We took the new volis out for dinner last night to the favourite joint in town... Tu's Place and had a good time getting to know everyone. Afterwards the staff went out to the bar to watch the Lions v. Australia rugby 15s match... it was great. so many brits screaming and yelling about and we won which made it even better! I think I may start liking rugby now ;)

This morning another staff member and I took the new volis up to Suva.. it's crazy.. I've only been away from cities for a month and already the capital seems crazy. We went to a mall today... it had air conditioning! Crazy.

After having a quick lunch and dropping our bags off we went down to the University of the South Pacific to learn about the dolphin research we'll be doing. Mostly behavioural research by using photo and acoustic methodologies. Pretty excited.. not gonna lie. Tomorrow we head up to Dawasamu where we'll get straight out on the boat and go see some dolphins! :D

Miss you all... love you!!!

xo H

Also a Psy remix just came on in the café where I am... "Opum Fiji Style.. Heyyyyyy Viti Levu"

Love Fijian remixes... :P