Gotta be quick.

The bus leaves in half an hour and I still need to run to the corner shop to get some of the cake that the sweet woman only bakes every two weeks. They are coveted and I requested them yesterday and saw them in the window today. No, I will not let that opportunity pass me by.

I officially have bed bugs. Disgusting, I know. The way to get rid of them is to leave my mattress out in the sun (vulnerable to dogs, roosters, mice, spiders, etc) and have the sun kill them all. Is it worth it? I do hate waking up itchy, it's somewhat of an inconvenience.

Last weekend, there were four girls in the house. We returned from our weekend vaca early so that we might enjoy having the house to ourselves. As I was getting ready for bed, I saw a giant spider in our back room. Giant. I called for the girls. It was big enough that when Courtney came in and saw it she yelled "tarantula!!". As we were plotting how we would murder it, we saw a cockroach the size of my pointer finger on the wall. A decision needed to be made. Would we go after the spider or the cockroach first? Because I was quite persistent, I won. The spider would go first. With much screaming, stomping and only a few tears brimming, Rachel Miles successfully killed him. And then hit him some more. We had to be sure.

By the time that was done, the cockroach was gone. We knew that that would happen. We proceeded with our regular bedtime routine. As I was brushing my teeth, I saw something in the drain. In pure X-Files style, the little antenna of the huge bug were twitching in the drain. I swallowed my toothpaste and once again, called for the team to assemble. We watched it crawl up out of the drain and into the sink. Courtney Lebaron took the win this time as she was the one to do the murdering.

My turn. Sunday morning, we were (still just us girls as no one had returned yet) preparing some lunch when I saw a small mouse run across the kitchen floor. Team assemble. He was a tricky one as he would run under the fridge, we moved the fridge, he would run out, we would scream, he would go back under. This routine lasted longer than any of us would have hoped. Finally, he came at me. Knowing how diseased and germy the little vermin was, I had to do it. It was done with a broom. With one quick whack, I stunned him. He twitched. Rachel hit him with the fly swatter. Blood was smeared on the floor. He twitched again. Stacie hit him with the other fly swatter. He finally let go. Turns out, we don't need the boys at our house. But then agani, I most definitely prefer them doing the dirty work over me. Naturally.

Yesterday I was in the village of Nadolodolo, visiting Assay and her newest baby, which she named Unanaisi Dana, after Dana, one of the volunteers earlier in the summer that she had been close with. Dana will be elated to hear that she has a namesake. As we talked with Assay, a toddler crawled into my lap. Of course I didn't know this child but as her sticky brown arms wrapped tightly around my neck, I became nastalgic for Fiji and I'm still here.
Two weeks from today, I am jumping on an airplane home. I have mixed feelings about it. I am so excited to have carpet, warm water, family and good food. But I will miss hitchhiking, the fantastic people, the sun, walking anywhere barefoot and living with these new friends.

I will be forever grateful to the many Fijians who have taught me, laughed with me and spent a lot of time laughing at me. I think I'll need to do a similar experience next summer.

Hope the cakes haven't been sold out, gotta peace!
loves