Training Stage:
"Hey! You scratched my anchor!"
Level: Easy
"Seriously, Merv, everything is great. I was thinking about picking up some hash this weekend, maybe going up to the mountains."
Level: Medium
"Why do you keep calling me Felix?"
Level: Hard
"I always knew you'd end up in a Crow's cage"
Level: InSaNe!!
"I did it! I took the Lindbergh baby! I am Josef Mengle! Owww!!!!"
Bonus:
"Chicks dig me because I rarely wear underwear...and when I do it's usually something unusual.
I had a lot of fun remembering these lines from some of my all time favorite movies (of the 80's). I probably spent way more time doing this than I should have. Try not to rack your brains too hard. An don't cheat either!
Vinaka Viti
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
'Not sure if I like Dean Koontz but The Face gave me some cheap thrills and chills' - Or - 'Hello from Suva!'
Ten points for each movie/character indentified. Matt McGlone is not allowed to play.
Level: Beginner
"Sounds like my grandfather taking a leak, Mikey, so what"
Level: Intermediate
"Nothin left but a grease spot on the R&L"
Level: Novice
"I got a question. If you guys know so much about women, how come you're here at like the Gas N' Sip on a Saturday night completely alone, drinking beers, no women anywhere?"
Level: Suicide
"We're in the Spirit World asshole"
My latest Doctors appointment was delayed yet again. Tuesday morning has now been moved to Friday morning, so I'm still in Suva. I'm really missing my island right about now. My tikina buddy & PCV, Rachel, spent the night in my bure last night while on a sort of business trip. I asked her to try and explain a bit to my counterpart and others where i've been and why I'm gone. Her Fijian is pretty awesome so I think they will be well informed, more so than if I had to explain myself.
The last two nights I've been joined by ms. Kiva at the hotel. She is in for medical stuff two but leaves tonight. We had some fun cooking dinner the last two nights even though she insisted on mixing tofu in with the veggies. I really miss cookingfor myself. Out in the village I eat all my meals with families. This is because my one room house does not allow me to operate a gas burner. Maybe once my bathroom is completed I can move the stove into the safer tin part of the house as opposed to the bamboo and grass bit.
Today I was cruising around peoples blogs and noticed there are some new additions to the pile. The FRE-7's will be here pretty soon and it's kind of funny to see some of the same thoughts of excitement and terror that I had before leaving. Today I also noticed that I've forgotten how long i've been gone. For a long time you just knew the number of months absent from home. Today I had to count (on my fingers) how long I've been gone. The one year mark is creeping up on us Fre-6's and soon the Fre-5's will begin to depart from Fiji. It really doesn't feel like it's been so long since I left. Perhaps having the gift of visitors from the "before life" has made time do some sort of weird acrobatic trick thats both wonderous and gut wrenching to witness. What? Anyhow. If I can offer some insight to the soon to be PCT's, you're coming to Fiji. F-I-J-I, Fiji. Isn't that awesome!!??!? It did kind of suck to put up with smart ass comments before leaving. Comments such as, "Who joins the peace corps and goes to a tropical paradise?". When you arrive you will see what Fiji really is and not have the misconceptions of the ordinary tourists. "Well the resort was nice, but once you left it was kind of dirty".
Furthermore, try not to worry too much about exactly what this is like or where you will be living. Everyone you ask will give you different versions of what their Peace Corps experience is like. That, you will have to wait and see for yourself. Nobody will be able to tell where your site will be until the end of training, so really don't worry about that. I was very surprised, as were a lot of others, on site announcement day. I thought for sure I was gonna be in a city working under some ministry or NGO. Nope. I ended up on beautiful Vanua Levu, in the friendliest village and my closest town has so many amazing views that sometimes it makes me physically ill.
Personally i'm exciting for a new group to get here. And if I can offer one more bit of knowledge (if this in fact applies to you), staging is all about deception. First impressions are undeniably skewed in L.A. Don't believe the hype. Just wait for people to get a little comfortable and you'll see there are some cool people there after all. Just takes a little time and patience.
I feel a little lame for trying to be comforting or whatever. But, hey, this is the internet and by the time May comes around my cheeseball antics will be long forgotten.
Thanks for the brownies Mom! I havent eaten them yet but I heard they are in the post office back North.
Level: Beginner
"Sounds like my grandfather taking a leak, Mikey, so what"
Level: Intermediate
"Nothin left but a grease spot on the R&L"
Level: Novice
"I got a question. If you guys know so much about women, how come you're here at like the Gas N' Sip on a Saturday night completely alone, drinking beers, no women anywhere?"
Level: Suicide
"We're in the Spirit World asshole"
My latest Doctors appointment was delayed yet again. Tuesday morning has now been moved to Friday morning, so I'm still in Suva. I'm really missing my island right about now. My tikina buddy & PCV, Rachel, spent the night in my bure last night while on a sort of business trip. I asked her to try and explain a bit to my counterpart and others where i've been and why I'm gone. Her Fijian is pretty awesome so I think they will be well informed, more so than if I had to explain myself.
The last two nights I've been joined by ms. Kiva at the hotel. She is in for medical stuff two but leaves tonight. We had some fun cooking dinner the last two nights even though she insisted on mixing tofu in with the veggies. I really miss cookingfor myself. Out in the village I eat all my meals with families. This is because my one room house does not allow me to operate a gas burner. Maybe once my bathroom is completed I can move the stove into the safer tin part of the house as opposed to the bamboo and grass bit.
Today I was cruising around peoples blogs and noticed there are some new additions to the pile. The FRE-7's will be here pretty soon and it's kind of funny to see some of the same thoughts of excitement and terror that I had before leaving. Today I also noticed that I've forgotten how long i've been gone. For a long time you just knew the number of months absent from home. Today I had to count (on my fingers) how long I've been gone. The one year mark is creeping up on us Fre-6's and soon the Fre-5's will begin to depart from Fiji. It really doesn't feel like it's been so long since I left. Perhaps having the gift of visitors from the "before life" has made time do some sort of weird acrobatic trick thats both wonderous and gut wrenching to witness. What? Anyhow. If I can offer some insight to the soon to be PCT's, you're coming to Fiji. F-I-J-I, Fiji. Isn't that awesome!!??!? It did kind of suck to put up with smart ass comments before leaving. Comments such as, "Who joins the peace corps and goes to a tropical paradise?". When you arrive you will see what Fiji really is and not have the misconceptions of the ordinary tourists. "Well the resort was nice, but once you left it was kind of dirty".
Furthermore, try not to worry too much about exactly what this is like or where you will be living. Everyone you ask will give you different versions of what their Peace Corps experience is like. That, you will have to wait and see for yourself. Nobody will be able to tell where your site will be until the end of training, so really don't worry about that. I was very surprised, as were a lot of others, on site announcement day. I thought for sure I was gonna be in a city working under some ministry or NGO. Nope. I ended up on beautiful Vanua Levu, in the friendliest village and my closest town has so many amazing views that sometimes it makes me physically ill.
Personally i'm exciting for a new group to get here. And if I can offer one more bit of knowledge (if this in fact applies to you), staging is all about deception. First impressions are undeniably skewed in L.A. Don't believe the hype. Just wait for people to get a little comfortable and you'll see there are some cool people there after all. Just takes a little time and patience.
I feel a little lame for trying to be comforting or whatever. But, hey, this is the internet and by the time May comes around my cheeseball antics will be long forgotten.
Thanks for the brownies Mom! I havent eaten them yet but I heard they are in the post office back North.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
I'm stuck
I have been in the capital city of Suva for almost two full weeks now. I came in to get my eyes examined after I heard my twin has specific eye troubles. My medical officer was concerned so I came in to get checked. My appointents have been painfully spread out and I've been doing a lot of sitting around and waiting, especially since Dave, another volunteer, went back to his site. He was in Suva to recieve physical therapy for his foot which he messed up during training all those months ago. My final appointment was supposed to be today but the Doc is out sick and the earliest I can get in is next Tuesday. So here I am, in Suva...bored to tears. I have developed a routine though. I wake up in my hotel and go to the Peace Corps office and use the internet for a few hours. I'll cruise facebook as well as research possible projects to do in my village. When I start to get hungry around 11 or 12 I'll go back to the hotel and either make some noodles (tomatoe chow noodles of course cause they are the best kind) or change and go into town for some banging schwarma or doner kebab depending on where you go. After that I'll go see whats playing at the movies and but a cheap matinee ticket and then walk around aimlessly until the movie starts. Yesterday after I saw the Pink Panther 2 (which was awesome no matter what anyone says) I got lost trying to walk back to the hotel. I got a little mad at myself cause the hotel is only like 2 hundred yards away up a small hill. I just wasn't paying attention and ended up on a street I had never been on before. Now I know where to go to get hassled by drunk guys at 4 in the afternoon on Thursdays. Anyhow, after that I go home and make some more noodles and watch aljazeera on maiTV for about 5 hours and go to sleep. It's about all I can muster from my time in Suva. However two days of movies in a row is a bit much so today I will have to find another way to spend my afternoon. I could just go for a walk but it has been exceptionally hot the last few days and my stroll in the metropolis will quickly turn into a sweat bath followed by a game of 'where is that smell coming from?'. It's me!! Yay!
Yesterday I was sitting at a small retaurant waiting for the pink panther to start. I Fijian guy came over to my booth and made himself comfortable. I forgot his name but he was a nice guy, if not a little intoxicated, and we got to chattin (like I had a choice). He has been living and working in Suva for two years but he grew up on the same island and in the same area that I live. When he asked me what I thought about the weather in Fiji I told him 'katakata vei siga', which means it's hot everyday, but I used the dialect from his home island and dropped the K's. After I said it he smiled, reached out with both his hands and grabbed my face. then he half stood up and leaned across and planted one on me. I don't think this is part of Fijian culture but whatever he was having a good time. Me, I was a little confused. I mean, we barely knew each other. I'm not that kind of guy. At least this time my lips weren't on fire. Which leads me into my next story.
Back in mid December I was at a bar in Savusavu with some other volunteers on a Friday night. There was a live band playing there, the Long Beach Boys. I know these guys a little bit and had jammed with them a couple times before. After a while one of them asked me to go up and sing some songs with them. With a little reluctance I want up and did my thing. My third or 4th song was a Fijian track called Isa Lei, Leah. I only know the chorus but we rocked it anyway. When the second chorus came around this Big 'Ole Fijian woman came shuffling up to the stage area and smooched me in the middle of a sentence. I shook it off and kept playing but about 5 minutes later my lips started to tingle. After 10 minutes they hurt and 15 minutes later thay were absolutely burning. I went to the bathroom and washed my mouth with soap but nothing could stop the fire of emotion that woman burned onto my lips. Actually i think it might have been herpes. I should get that checked too.
By far the best kisser here is Bigsby. He doesn't use his little cat lips he uses his whole head. I know he is actually marking me as his territory with his spit but I'll take what I can get.
We watched the SuperBowl in town last Monday, that was special. The place we went was selling Milwaukee's Beast for cheap all day. I think one of the patrons there may have taken advantage of that deal in excess but it was exciting to watch a football game. I don't even really watch football al that much back home but I found myself rooting for the Steelers. I think it's because my dad rocks a Steelers sweatshirt. He wears it when we go out to dinner almost every time. It's like his dress sweatshirt or something.
Valentines Day is coming up and I'm sorry to say I can't be with Ashley this year. I don't remember what we did last year...I know I was living in Keene. We probably went to the Olive Garden or something. Two years ago I bought her as good a bouquet of flowers as I could find and filled the plastic wrapping with as many taco bell taco's it could support. She loved it. Nothing says I love you like a greasy ass Taco Bell valentine.
I wonder if my vilage misses me at all? Last time I left the village for more than a few days someone had been sleeping in my house and messing with my stuff. It doesn't bother me too much cause I knew who it was, but at the same time he is kind of young and probably had a bunch of people hanging out there at night going through all my letters and electronic stuff. Pretty creepy. See the sliding lock on my front door was put on upside down so no matter how large the padlock is you can open the door. I couldn't get the nails out to fix it myself so I asked someone else to do it the day before I left. When I left they had moved the bolt down about a half inch and left it upside down.
This was supposed to be the month when I started working with a village committee to draft a grant proposal for the district. This was a big one and they want $40,000 (Fijian) to do it. I've tried to start before but when I set a time to get together someone just drops off more sheets of paper and I think they expect me to just whip up a proposal out of nothing. The people backing this proposal are not very good at relaying information to me about exactly what is going on and they cross refernce other projects they want to do until I get so confused I feel like my head will seperate from my body and launch itself into the stratosphere.
Today I think I will go to the history museum here in Suva. I've heard it might be a little pricey for tourists but i'll see if I can't get the local rate, or perhaps just Kerekere my way in. If that doesn't work out...well...I hope someting good is playing at Village 6 cinema!
Yesterday I was sitting at a small retaurant waiting for the pink panther to start. I Fijian guy came over to my booth and made himself comfortable. I forgot his name but he was a nice guy, if not a little intoxicated, and we got to chattin (like I had a choice). He has been living and working in Suva for two years but he grew up on the same island and in the same area that I live. When he asked me what I thought about the weather in Fiji I told him 'katakata vei siga', which means it's hot everyday, but I used the dialect from his home island and dropped the K's. After I said it he smiled, reached out with both his hands and grabbed my face. then he half stood up and leaned across and planted one on me. I don't think this is part of Fijian culture but whatever he was having a good time. Me, I was a little confused. I mean, we barely knew each other. I'm not that kind of guy. At least this time my lips weren't on fire. Which leads me into my next story.
Back in mid December I was at a bar in Savusavu with some other volunteers on a Friday night. There was a live band playing there, the Long Beach Boys. I know these guys a little bit and had jammed with them a couple times before. After a while one of them asked me to go up and sing some songs with them. With a little reluctance I want up and did my thing. My third or 4th song was a Fijian track called Isa Lei, Leah. I only know the chorus but we rocked it anyway. When the second chorus came around this Big 'Ole Fijian woman came shuffling up to the stage area and smooched me in the middle of a sentence. I shook it off and kept playing but about 5 minutes later my lips started to tingle. After 10 minutes they hurt and 15 minutes later thay were absolutely burning. I went to the bathroom and washed my mouth with soap but nothing could stop the fire of emotion that woman burned onto my lips. Actually i think it might have been herpes. I should get that checked too.
By far the best kisser here is Bigsby. He doesn't use his little cat lips he uses his whole head. I know he is actually marking me as his territory with his spit but I'll take what I can get.
We watched the SuperBowl in town last Monday, that was special. The place we went was selling Milwaukee's Beast for cheap all day. I think one of the patrons there may have taken advantage of that deal in excess but it was exciting to watch a football game. I don't even really watch football al that much back home but I found myself rooting for the Steelers. I think it's because my dad rocks a Steelers sweatshirt. He wears it when we go out to dinner almost every time. It's like his dress sweatshirt or something.
Valentines Day is coming up and I'm sorry to say I can't be with Ashley this year. I don't remember what we did last year...I know I was living in Keene. We probably went to the Olive Garden or something. Two years ago I bought her as good a bouquet of flowers as I could find and filled the plastic wrapping with as many taco bell taco's it could support. She loved it. Nothing says I love you like a greasy ass Taco Bell valentine.
I wonder if my vilage misses me at all? Last time I left the village for more than a few days someone had been sleeping in my house and messing with my stuff. It doesn't bother me too much cause I knew who it was, but at the same time he is kind of young and probably had a bunch of people hanging out there at night going through all my letters and electronic stuff. Pretty creepy. See the sliding lock on my front door was put on upside down so no matter how large the padlock is you can open the door. I couldn't get the nails out to fix it myself so I asked someone else to do it the day before I left. When I left they had moved the bolt down about a half inch and left it upside down.
This was supposed to be the month when I started working with a village committee to draft a grant proposal for the district. This was a big one and they want $40,000 (Fijian) to do it. I've tried to start before but when I set a time to get together someone just drops off more sheets of paper and I think they expect me to just whip up a proposal out of nothing. The people backing this proposal are not very good at relaying information to me about exactly what is going on and they cross refernce other projects they want to do until I get so confused I feel like my head will seperate from my body and launch itself into the stratosphere.
Today I think I will go to the history museum here in Suva. I've heard it might be a little pricey for tourists but i'll see if I can't get the local rate, or perhaps just Kerekere my way in. If that doesn't work out...well...I hope someting good is playing at Village 6 cinema!
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