Let the Hoildays begin

It has been over a month since our last post....oops! The past few months have been relatively eventful for me and Choney. After our Kayaking trip with John and Natalie went straight to work in the village.

John C. and I had four weeks of beekeeping technical trainings that we starting right after the trip. We worked three days a week. Some days in more than three apiaries. That is a lot of bees. I can say without much hesitation that I am glad that that string of trainings is over. Beekeeping work is exhausting...much more so for John and the local trainers than me as the men don't let me do any of the heavy lifting. I work the smoker for the most part. In the third week of training I had an "ah ha" moment: I realized that I understand beekeeping well enough that I can split a hive on my own. Doesn't sound like much but I was pretty proud of myself.

Since the beekeeping trainings I have been trying to spend as much time as possible in the village. I spend the majority of my time with three women: Ruci, Milika and Sai. They and Judy (John C.'s wife) helped me organize a Pumpkin pie making training for the sogosogo vaka marama (women's group). Before we started with the mixing and baking I talked a bit about Thanksgiving and why it is celebrated in the US (goal 2 of PC!). The training was a success, not just because a good number of women attended but more so because women are now making the pies on their own and asking for more cooking trainings. It is great to see Fijian women excited about trying new things with the foods they grow and I love helping them find their creative sides. Recently Ruci started a small business in the village selling "fudge". I taught her to make peanut butter-chocolate-oatmeal, no-bake cookies....a personal favorite...and no need for an oven. About a week into making and selling the "fudge" Ruci said to me, "Hey Leslie, you know what I have realized? I have realized, that business is just about being creative." I think I will always remember that moment.

Pumpkin Pie training group (minus a few women)

John's Donu (Salmon Cod)

John has been spending the majority of his time fishing with his friend Utom. Utom is married to the women's group president, Sai. He is the only Indo-Fijian living in the village. He is a great fisherman and he is teaching John a lot. They usually go out to fish early in the morning and come back at mid-day. John almost always comes back with a bag of fish....he takes the ones Utom cannot sell. Fish was John's contribution to the Peace Corps Thanksgiving. He has also been spending a lot of time in the Dadaculaci, exploring the reefs (always with his life jacket). It is usually one of the village youth who accompanies him but sometimes I get to go too. We found a great little beach really close to the village that we paddle to sometimes. It is great to have an escape when things get to loud or rowdy in the village (or when there is a church function!) John has also started building smokeless stoves for the women in the village. Joe (third year PCV) taught John to make the stoves. They are great because they use less wood and produce a lot less smoke, making cooking with wood healthier and easier for women. The women who have started using them love them, we hope the new design will catch on and spread through the village.

At the end of November we went down to Suva for Thanksgiving. Julie (a first year PCV) hosted an awesome Thanksgiving dinner at her amazing house. I made two pumpkin pies with Nuper....they were a hit! I also made Tara's broccoli/cheese casserole....it was the first dish finished at dinner! Almost every volunteer on Viti Levu was present and it was great to see everyone. There was so much food that we ate leftovers for lunch the next day....even after that there was still food left! We went dancing every night too.....keeping those holiday pounds off :)

December and January should be equally busy months (if we can help it) so that we don't miss our families too much.