Just a little update and some pictures

It has been so long since I have posted anything on our blog that I hardly know where to start. I am not going to back-track, instead I will just bring you up to speed on the last few weeks.

We, the FRE-6 Peace Corps volunteers, just completed our Mid-Service training in Nadi. It was so great to see all of my fellow volunteers. Training focused on project reporting, tracking and sustainability. I think most of us came away with the feeling that we need to do more to make our projects sustainable. I know that I am guilty of letting the aggressive, American side come out a bit too much. I take control of many of the projects I am working on instead of allowing a host-country-national the opportunity to lead and manage a project. This is because I believe that I can do it better and faster. So my goal for the remainder of my service is to slow down and give up control a bit. Anyone who knows me will understand the struggle this will be for me :)

After training ended John and I planned to do the Beqa Shark dive but instead ended up in Suva for a week with boils! Yuck! I do not wish boils on my worst enemy, they are truly awful. John and I both got them on our faces. I had three small ones (praise Jisu they will not leave scars!) and John had one huge one on his lip. John's was far worse than any of mine and much more painful. He had to take antibiotics via IV it was so bad. There is no way of knowing how we got the infections. The bacteria that causes boils is always living on our skin and in our bodies. There are many triggers that bring about boils, not the least of which is weather and overall humidity of the tropics. It is my opinion that lack of sleep,"moderate" drinking, and being around 26 other volunteers all played a part in the formation of our boils. We are not dirty people (I feel like I have to say that for my own dignity). That is enough about boils.

We hope to return to the village by Tuesday at the latest. John is looking forward to continuing his work on the village MPA (Marine Protected Area) and I am looking forward to a new round of beekeeper trainings and getting back to my business class at the vocational school.