A day in the life of

me. I feel like the great thing about being here is that every day is so different! But I'll give you the last day or so, to give you an understanding of what COULD happen while here. Once again, each day is super different.
Yesterday, Janey and I got up and went to the town of Dramasi to visit with an Indian lady (Urmelia) and her family and to help them build a garden. Because we are both relatively new to Fiji, we were a bit nervous about the traveling on our own. However, always ready for an adventure, we headed out! We rode the public buses (one of our FAVOURITE things to do because you are sitting and the windows are allowing a breeze from your sweaty body sticking to the pleather seats) and got off on a dirt road in Dramasi. Great, where do we go from there? An Indian man got off at the same stop and insisted that we go to his house and "rest" (super common here) for a while. We tried to politely decline but because of the language barrier - which is approximately 100% - he didn't understand and we ended up following him. He took us to his house and we sat on his porch, where we could see the road in case someone was going to come for us. His wife came out and served us juice (which happens everywhere we go...or it's cocoa or tea which I don't understand why they would drink that in this heat...) and stared at us. Palangi (white people) are super uncommon on this side of Fiji and people are often excited to see us. So, she watched us drink our juice. Janey and I tried to make conversation but the language barrier, as always, was too much and we were unsuccessful.
Finally, we called Urmelia and told her where we were. She yelled that that was far from her house and we shouldn't have gotten off the bus so early. Sorry? That's where the bus driver told us to get off! I handed the phone to our host and he spoke with her. He found out where she lived and agreed to walk us to her place. Before we went about our way, he chopped down two giant pieces of sugar cane for us. In case you don't know what sugar cane looks like, it's really similar looking to corn. It grows in tall green straws in rows. He grabbed his machete (they are everywhere. children literally run around with them in their hands) and hacked two down for us. They are what sugar is made of so they are kinda like giant candy canes. You just bite into it and suck and it's sugary water. I'm not in love with it but the Fijian people eat it all the time (which could account for their less than desirable teeth). So, Janey and I had these swords for sugar canes and were trying to eat them as we walked with this man on the dusty, hot road.
After about a mile uphill, he finally pointed out where we could go. He then gave us his phone number and told us to call him if we ever needed anything. The people here are so so nice!
We walked up the rest of the way and were greeted by Urmelia. She immediately took me into her arms and kissed me and called me her daughter. Her son brought out juice and cookies and we sat and ate. Though we were not hungry. Most of the time this is the case. After chatting for a while (understanding about 65% of what she was saying), we decided to get gardening. Urmelia did not want us to get burned so she put those large and in charge straw hats on our heads. Unfortunately for all involved, this put Janey and myself into a fit of giggles. I was trying to be professional as I explained to her the benefits of a square-foot garden and how we would plant it but as soon as I got myself under control, I would see Janey's pink face under that sun hat and start giggling again.
Then we built the garden. Her husband helped. Then they fed us gross food. Janey whispered that her mouth was on fire. I moved food about my plate as if I had tried it. Then she offered us coffee. No thanks. Really, we're full. Okay, thank you. The husband insisted we drink it. Normally this would be some sort of circumstance where I could stand out and say I don't drink coffee but no, they don't understand me. All they understand is how rude it is that we're just holding our cups. After several scoops of sugar, I managed a few sips. Uck.
Then Urmelia took an interest in Janey's age and realized that she would be the perfect bride for her son. She took her hand and led her into a back bedroom where she and her daughter-in-law stripped Janey to dress her in a sari. The best part of the whole day was when they were taking her clothes off and Janey begged to keep her shirt on. I turned around to get my camera and turned back to see that the shirt was off. Janey had lost that war. She was now their little doll (and future family member!) and they needed to dress her correctly. She was a good sport and went outside in her sari, posed with the family and declined to keep it as a gift. She then said that I wanted to try it on. Okay, I did. And they're beautiful. And I was disappointed to find out that the little dots that the Indian women wear on their foreheads are just for fashion. If you're married, you wear one. If you're not, you don't have to. And the jeweled ones are just to look nice. Here I was thinking that it was religious...
Then Janey and I hopped on the bus to come home. We got home and played Norwegataire and I won twice. Excellent. Since it gets dark at about 5 pm and we're not allowed outside after that, we play a lot of cards.
I fell asleep on Janey's bed while we all watched "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" and did not have restful sleep. I was in the fetal position at the bottom of her bed.
We got up and headed out to check on some of our gardens. That was just this morning. While we were there, the kids were getting out of kindy (kindergarten) and saw the palangi and came RUNNING at us! I have learned important Fijian words like run, climb, hi, bye, come and some of the children's songs (though I'm certain I'm singing them wrong) and that makes the kids love us! We played with them for probably longer than we should have and decided to head out and be productive for the rest of the day.
As we jumped into the carrier (pick up truck with a cover over the bed that charges you to take you places), the children were literally hanging on as we drove off. We all screamed good-bye at them so they would jump off. They eventually did. I wanted to take EVERY one of them home.
We went to do work at the Church. I climbed a tree and asked Janey if she would give me money to jump out. She said no, that it was too easy of a jump. I jumped. It was not too easy. I think my chin is bruising as we speak. or read?
After that? Pizza. Now the internet cafe and I need to leave to go do a garden in the village of Yasi Yasi. This probably wasn't near as entertaining for you to read as it was for me to experience but alas, here it is.
Loves!
me