Oops, I sharted

Hi. The generator has been broken in the village for about 2 months now. So no electricity has been pretty cool. I switched to candles after my lantern busted and I think I like it better. They don't smell and I like playing with open flames so it's win/win. Something that has been kind of a bum out is no water. A new water source is being piped into the village right now and about 5 days ago running water ceased flowing through the taps. Instead of just jumping into the river to bath I have been taking bucket showers with the water from my filter. I have nothing against the river, I just don't have biodegradable soaps here. There's already pig guts and horse terds floating around, I should try not to make it worse. My filtered water will run out in a day so I hope when I get back to the village the problem will be fixed.
2 weeks ago I started farming harder than I have before. I borrowed a digging fork and scratched three plots for my watermelons, chinese cabbage, and peppers. On day two I got a sunburn on my back. On day three I decided I was never gonna get a proper tan if I didn't get as much sun as possible. On day 4 I had sun blisters. I spent 3 or 4 days laying on my floor on my stomach trying not to move. With any luck something will grow. I have a feeling that my efforts will just be scorched by the sun.
Ashley will be here this month...in just over 2 weeks. I am ever so excited!! I have no idea what we will do because neither one of us will have money to spend. I think we'd both be happy just laying around and looking longingly into each others eyes. I guess we could give my cat a bath too.
I dont have much news to relay back home. Oh! I dont know if I thanked Aunt Donna and Uncle Tome for their last letter (and gift). Thank you very much. I get kind of backed up in my e-mails and what not and never remember what I say to whom. So Thank you! And FIY, first class mail does not get here any faster so save your money. Mail has been WICKED slow the last month. I guess its becuse of the holidays but things are taking close to a month to reach me, if not more. Ok BYE!

I Had Nothing to do With That

Just got back from PDM (program Management Design) workshop. Five days in Labasa town, holy shit it's hot up there. The workshop was very productive. I brought my buddy Apolosi from my village and we walked through how to develop good project plans. On the last day of the workshop each group presented their proposal ideas. We developed this plan to build a Resource Center in the village. It will serve as a Community Meeting Hall, a Kindergarten and a village office. Part of our plan revolved around trying to find funding for the project and coming up with other ideas on how to raise small funds. I think if the excitement about this idea can make it back to the village with me and Apolosi we might accomplish something.
Other than that, it was nice to see the other volunteers on Vanua Levu that I don't see too much. We had some fun.. I'm getting a new Peace Corps neighbor this week. A volunteer has moved from Viti Levu up to Vanua Levu and her village is only about 30 minutes by bus down the road. This is VERY close in Fiji.
I would like to say Good Job Team! to america. I watched the election results in town with some friends and we celebrated hardcore when Obama got the proverbial nod.
On a very morbid end note. When I was in Labasa town for the workshop, on the first night, I saw a dead guy. A taxi picked us up and was driving back to our room when we came upon a bunch of flashing lights next to a park. The taxi driver said, "yes, somebody killed themselves in the park tonight." We said, "oh man, when did that happen?".
"Just now, he's right there", says the cab driver. Sure enough we look out the window and a poor fellow was hanging from a tree. Maybe I shouldn't share this story but it was too surreal to keep to myself.
Have a Nice Day!

Good Lord. It feels amazing to be in town today. I stayed in the village for just over 2 weeks without leaving. I think that's a new record. I thought I was gonna crack after the first week but I found peace with my whole situation.
There is talk of finishing my house soon. My village got cement from somewhere to make footpaths and I was told they would use some of it to make my bathroom/kitchen. I'll believe it when I see it, but it was nice of them to say. Work is coming along too. This past week and next week has been/will be spent gathering information to write multiple grant proposals and letters to organizations for funds for several different projects.
I met this American kid this past week. I was layin around reading on Wednesday afternoon when I heard the very distinct accent of a tourist. Found this 20 year old kid from California standing by the river in my village. He came over and introduced himself to me and the first thing I said was "what the hell are you doing here"..not in a mean way but more of disbelief of what I was seeing. He had come to the village with some missionaries or something like that, dont know exactly. Anyhow, he kept coming around the rest of the week and it was nice to talk to someone while in the depths of isolation.
I recently got a Peace Corps newspaper type deal in my mailbox. They take submissions from volunteers in the field so I'll be sending them stuff to print all the time..I hope they have a sense of humor and will publish some of my articles.
Hmm..yeah, I dunno. Keep on keepin on.

Know what I could go for? A mandolin and a guitar. In a perfect world I'd have a banjo player, a bassist and my clone here to drink whiskey with and play mountain music. Alas, i'm just a lonely guitar picker without a guitar to pick.
Today i'm going to kana vakalevu and go back to the village when i'm full. My lantern got broked so I switched to candles...I like it better, more of a moody kind of feel to the whole bure situation.
Ash is coming for real in December...I can't even believe it. I bet she cries when she gets off the plane, i'm puttin money on it. Any takers?

Ha-roh. Been sometime since I updated you on my deal. Not much has really changed since I first moved into my village. Projects keep being talked about and nothing ever gets done. My house is still without a bathroom and cooking area. However, my cat Bigsby did return to me after being lost for more than 2 weeks. Little scamp. He was carried off by a rogue band of little snot faced kids and he was too little to find his way back across the village. But now he has returned, he's getting big and strong and he is the champion at eating crickets and other crunchy bugs. I wish his breath wasn't so bad, but he's such a cuddler I just try to ignore it. I'm sure he says the same thing about my breath anyway.

All the volunteers gathered in Nadi for about a week of workshops and stuff in the beginning of October. Not much to say about that except it was a blast and I can't wait for Mid-Service Training. I had my first visitor right after I left Nadi. We had some good moments but it was definitely not the right time for a guest and I feel like it ruined a friendship. C'est la vie, right?

My experience in the village seems to be getting more unbearable on the bad days and really really good on others. The extremes I feel there surprise me and I can't imagine living like this for 21 more months. I have to change something. I'll have to find out what that is first. I could go for some more mail and news from home, thats for sure. People keep asking me what I want or need. I'll take a letter with encouraging words, thank you very much. (and a little cash).

Talked to Ashley yesterday and it seems like she is really coming to visit in 2 months. That is very exciting news. Something to look forward too. Hopefully I win some kind of lottery before she comes so we can have a good time.

Yeah, so uhh... I don't know. Weird times here. However I feel more inspired than ever to start writing my first novel. Wish I had a laptop...

I hope everything is cool back there.

Oh yeah, I'm Broke.

Dear Family & Friends

If you don't vote for Barack Obama, I will never come home.

Quick Hello

Hey Everyone! I've been pretty busy lately. I've been on a tour of my tikina meeting people and sitting in while another volunteer and my counterpart push for environment friendly practices on their land and waters. My language is still pretty pathetic and minimal. But, I am the entertainment at the end of the meetings. I think my biggest hit here is "Cotton Fields"...ya know, the CCR version. "When I was a little bitty baby my momma would rock me in the cradle"...you know it. They love that stuff.
Anyhow, I've slept in my own bed maybe 2 or 3 times in the last week and i'm looking forward to cleaning up my house. Still hasnt been finished yet but it doesnt really bother me too much.
The first week of October we'll all be going to Nadi for our "In-Service Training". I'll be there for just under a week or so before I come back to Vanua Levu.

Gotta Catch my Bus!
Hope everyone is feelin alright.

Hi

Ok, so its been one month in my village. There are a lot of lazy, do nothing kind of days and there are some crazy things that happen that leave you asking yourself, "what the hell was that." Here's one story from my first month.

There is this waterfall out in the bush that I've been asking about. Last Friday, Solo - the chiefs eldest son, decides he's gonna take me out to see the waterfall. Great! I didn't do much last week so I was glad to be going out and doing something fun. Solo, myself and Masi (my 15 year old sidekick) set out early Saturday morning for what is sure to be good clean fun. We walked about 3k down a dirt road before we stepped onto the trail.
This first trail took us through about 4 or 5k of dalo fields and banana plantations. I was surprised to see so many farms and houses that far out into the bush. Eventually the trail became slippery red clay, coincidentally the trail became more narrow and steeper. "Ok, thats cool. Just be careful," I says to myself. We cross many rivers and go up and down many small hills.
we come to a river valley where I am told the waterfall is nearby. Solo follows the river up to its source while Masi and some boys that were out in the bush take me on a 'shortcut' further into the bush. There was a trail or path or any sign these boys knew where they were going. Soon we found ourselves scrambling up incredibly steep hills with nothing to hold onto. The boys swung their cane knives into a tree and pulled themselves up. I thought, "hey this is kind of dangerous. but the waterfall is close by, it'll be worth it." We approach the last hill (or so they tell me). I wasnt paying attention to how high we were climbing or how steep the hill was because I was too busy trying to breath. about halfway up i look back and Holy Shit! This hill is practically verticle with nothing to hold onto, just wet grass. Masi grabs my hand and starts pulling me up and another two boys start pushing on my rear end to make it up this friggin hill. So we get to the top, but the top keeps going up...strange and miraculous event. So now we're at the top, and now we have to come down. That took a while. by the time we get to the bottom my knees are killing me and i just want to see these damned falls and go home.
the waterfall was not a waterfall at all. It was a 20m high rock face with one trickle of water falling from the top. They said the bigger falls is over that cliff. I said, "no thanks." I sit down and rest and try to see the humor in it all.

So now we start walking down the river. I found out in about 5 minutes how slippery therocks in river are. I fell about a dozen times, tore my thumb open on some bamboo and busted my elbow open. this descent took about 3 hrs until we reached the river valley once more. Here, a bush woman came out and boiled me about 2 dozen prawns which I ate with some enthusiasm. Solo says i'm too banged up to walk the trail back to the road. So I'm gonna ride a horse. (and yes Peace Corps they brought a helmet). I get on this horse with Masi and we take off through the bush, going upand down river banks, through bamboo forests and muddy swamps. I've never ridden a horse before, and riding bareback is quit rough on your whoo-ha. I thought we were gonna get thrown off at least 10 times. I felt bad for this horse too because I'm sure he is not used to the weight of one large white man and a Fijian boy to boot. Eventually we get back to the road where I walk back to the vuillage aching from head to toe. But I was very happy, glad to be alive, glad i hadthe adventure.
Get backto the village and start drinking grog with the men. Solo and I tell them everything that happened to me, and everyone was laughing. Turns out I'm the first white guy they know of to go out to see those 'falls', and most ofthem have never been there because it sucks so hard to get there. haha, awesome. Now they want to see my pictures from the day. So I go get my camera, turn it on and....no pictures. One of the boys was playing with my camera at while i was eating and deleted ALL OF MY PICTURES. No pictures from me in Fiji for the last three months. You'll just have to take my word for - i'm here.

Contact Info

Mike McGlone
P.O. Box 407
Savusavu
Fiji

you'll have to find the country code but my number is
905-2773

Vanua Levu....A New Hope

I got to site safe and sound this past Saturday. The 12 hour boat ride to the Island was pretty rough, I think I'm still recovering. I got to Navakaka Saturday afternoon to find my house hadn't been worked on at all in the last two weeks. I'll be staying with the Turaganikoro and his family til then. Kind of sucks cause my bedroom has no door so I get Zero privacy and all my stuff is fair game for a 15 and 4 year old to rummage through when I'm not there. This is only the third day but I had to come into town because my stress levels are through the roof. Garret, a volunteer in Wailevu (about 2 hrs from me) also came into town so we got to bitch and moan to each other...makes ya feel better. And also, the Peace Corps gives you money for and strongly suggests you buy a cell phone here in Fiji. Having that phone and getting texts ad phone calls from the new volunteers has definately been a lifesaver these first few days.
I think my attitude has been all wrong since I got here in Vanua Levu. I admit I was pretty hung over and not happy about not having my own house, but either way, I need to step it up. Its surprising how little things, like a good meal in town, can boost your morale. At least I won't have to go home tonight and eat roro, ika and suli...again.
Anyways, I havent bought much stuff for my new unfinished home. Today I got a gas stove, a paid a little extra for it but lesson one living in Fiji - DO NOT buy the cheapest version because it is absoloute crap and will break upon first use. Other than that I got a weeks supply of tined meats, a kettle, some mosquito coils and some other odds and ends. I don't have to worry about much material stuff til I get into my house.
Other than my living situation (which is only temporary) I am enjoying myself. Tonight I will have to go drink grog with the men at the chiefs house. Talanoa is to "tell stories" and thats what you do around the Tanoa(grog bowl). I bet they make me sing them songs all night again. Apparently I have a horse now too. My counterpart and I were walking back from his pig farm out in the bush yesterday and we passed two horses tied to coconut trees. He said, "that black one is yours." And I said, "Sweeeet." I think the Peace Corps will want me to wear a helmet though so I'll have to get one of them before I go galloping off into the sunset.
I just realized I've only been swimming once since I've been here. Granted I was snorkling and it was awesome but I'm in the middle of the Pacific I should me swimming more.
Thats all for now I'm feeling flustered and thoughts are hard to form. I'm meeting back up with Garret for a drink or two before the 4:30 bus back home. Did I give out my cell number yet??

Ow, My Eye

In Suva cause I have a blocked tear duct in my right eye that got infected. No creams or pills so i'll have to ride it out. Kind of hurts.. Next week is the big week, we are swore in as volunteers next Thursday. Pretty Exciting stuff, just one more Language Interview stands in the way. There are still 32 FRE-6's, no ones gone home yet. We're goin for some kind of record.
I baked Oatmeal cookies for a Waste Management Workshop along with 4 other trainees in Vunivaivai. It was very informal, mostly drank yagona and ate the food we brought. All in all I think it was a success, maybe 30 people showed up. Just getting people to show up is gonna be the hardest part, so we've been told. I think we're doing it again on Sunday?
Well my eyeball is sore so I'm gonna head back to Vunivaivai. Tonight we head over to the Indian Settlement, Visama, for "culture night", whatever that may be. This last week will be a whirlwind of stuff before we all take off for our respective posts.
hope all is well back home

HI MOM!!

In two days we find out where our posts will be and then on Monday morning we depart with our counterparts (whom we will meet on sunday) to spend a week in our new homes. Next friday we return here to the Nausori area for another week or two of training...then we're off. Yay.
I am already getting sentimental over my host family, they've been pretty much the raddest bunch of people I could have hoped for. I feel silly to have been so nervous about all this peace corps business. You learn real quick to just take shit slow and easy here, which fits my personality, so i'm set tiko.
I'm not getting to anxious to find out where my post will be. I figure if i want to be in a certain area or on a certain island in fiji, i prolly wont get it. So if i just dont think about it i won't be let down. Not that i'd be let down anyway, i'm in Fiji for fucks sake.
HEY PEOPLE BACK HOME, how about some fucking mail, huh? I've only been getting letters from Ashley, even my parents have forgotten about me already. Strike that, I got an e-mail from my mom saying, "i have a package for you sitting on the kitchen table"....thanks maah. I come back in two years try to get it out before 2010, k?
I ran out of deodarant a week ago and that stuff is expensive here. Needless to say i've been doing a lot of laundry by hand this week.
I dont really have much to say, i had a tech sessions today in Vunivaivai (my homestay village) and then I hopped on a bus to Nausori town and now i'm in the internets. My brother Joe said we're having Roti for dinner so i'm headin back before my Ta, Atu-Stone, eats it all.

And I read your comment Mike, but I cant figure out how to send you a reply, so if you want to email me feel free. michael.mcglone1@gmail.com
Congratulations on your nomination.

Next time I'll tell you all about how many bilo's of grog it takes to wet your bed.

Freak Out In Progress

I was at work tonight..thinking about a lot of stuff. I started thinking about leaving for Fiji and I'm pretty sure I had some kind of anxiety attack. I freaked out and thought to myself "what the fuck are you doing!?" It was the first time I had a second thought about going. I hope this is normal. Before I left for Europe in '05 I kind of felt like this, but that was only three months. I don't know, perhaps this is the hardest part of the peace corps, leaving. I'm not really worried about being away from Ashley, and I want to do this more than anything, so where do the jitters come from? Hmm..maybe I need a hug.
On another note I'm picking up a new pair of chakos this week and i'm pretty excited about it. It's nearly Spring in NH and I can't wait to not be wearing smelly muddy boots everywhere. Hopefully with my tax return, security deposit on my apartment and a months worth of paychecks I will be able to afford all the shit I need to go to Fiji. Does the Peace Corps supply the beach balls?

Peace Corps Time

So I just found out about 4 days ago that I'm going to Fucking Fiji in May. I don't know exactly what Environmental Resources Managment Promoter means but sounds like fun.
Also, I forgot I made this blog thingy a long time ago. Hi! Nothing exciting has happened to me in the last 9 months. I got my Journalism degree and now i'm a janitor in Keene, NH....Fucking Fiji...haha...i cant believe it. See ya in the funny papers, New England winters.