Early Service Training

Hey everyone. Sorry for not posting in such a long time. Leslie and I have had a busy couple of weeks. Last week all Peace Corps volunteers in Fiji met in Nadi for "All-Vol" day. The Fre 6s (my group) came a few days before the All-Vol day to do some training, and the Fre 5s (group that has been here one year) stayed after All Vol day for their training. The sessions were actually a major improvement over Pre service training. They emphasized practical skills we need to do our jobs rather than abstract concepts like "integration". We spent a lot of time learning about how to get funding, which is something that is on all of our minds. We stayed in the very nice Tokatoka hotel, near the Nadi airport. The hotel had a fantastic pool and the rooms were air conditioned. It was quite a shock.
On the night of All-Vol day the Fre 5s and the Fre 6s had a party and played a game called "Rubric's Cube". The idea of this game is you come to the party wearing clothes of 6 different colors (I forget the colors but they are supposed to be the six colors of the rubrics cube). You then swap clothing with people until all your clothes are of a single color. Nobody got too crazy with it, but we do have some very funny pictures. I will have to post these next time.
After All-Vol day the environmental volunteers, plus a few others, headed south to the Shangri-La Resort to learn about coral farming. We were taught by an energetic 60-something marine biologist named Austin. Coral farming is pretty straightforward. Basically you snip little pieces off live coral, and let them grow on a steel grate. The growing colonies can then be used to repopulate bleached or otherwise damaged areas. Of course, if the corals in an area are damaged because of water pollution, as is the case in my village, you need to deal with this first before you plant corals.
We got to do some snorkeling around the resort. Shangri-La has a Marine Protected Area, so we saw quite a few large fish.
After this, Leslie and I headed first to Suva and then to Leleuvia. Leleuvia is a tiny island near Ovalau with white sand beaches and abundant corals. It is what comes to mind when people think "Fiji". We spent two nights here in a simple thatched bure, snorkeling at least 5 hours each day.
We are now back at site and are eager to actually get some projects going now. Leslie is working on grant applications for some borehole projects that will deliver water to some settlements in very dry areas. I am still pushing the marine conservation and piggery waste thing. Progress is very slow here. We will do our best to let everyone know what is happening.