One

               Let me start by saying that July 25th lasted exactly 43 hours for me. I drove through the rainforest, watched the sun set, flew for the next 12 hours, landed in the desert, and watched the sun set again. How cool is that?! On top of that, I developed a sleep schedule (which included three cups of coffee, thank you very much!) to prevent jet lag as much as possible. I'm proud to say that I successfully avoided all forms of jet lag which I consider to be an awesome feat!
               ... And that's how I've been able to get several full nights of sleep in the desert that I'm referencing, which is also known as Las Vegas.
               Is it possible to experience culture shock in your own country? After visiting my sister here for the past four days, I am going to go with a firm YES. Having never been to Sin City before, I was mesmerized.
               Las Vegas is a huge city that literally jumps up from nowhere in the middle of the desert. Three things struck me about this: 1. I knew that it was very hot and dry in Vegas in July, but for some reason, I wasn't expecting the vast amount of dryness everywhere! 2. I kept asking my sister questions like, "Who do you think decided to walk into the middle of the desert, stop, and randomly decide to build a city there?" I'm sorry, but that's so weird to me. WHY ISN'T THERE ANYTHING ELSE AROUND HERE?! 3. The amount of tourists. Let's just say that I saw a lovely dose of shallow Americans, touristy Americans, and annoying Americans in a short amount of time (but I do love my country!).
               FORTUNATELY, my sister doesn't fit into any of the categories as she is incredibly considerate, kind, and loving. She picked me up from the airport, hosted me in her beautiful home, and was basically catering to me during my four day stay here. I complained about my nails being gross, so we got our nails done. I said that I missed Mexican food, so we had tacos. I said that I wanted to go to a show in Vegas, so we went to an AMAZING Cirque show, One, which is set entirely to Michael Jackson music. (Thank you, Mitch! You truly are beautiful on the inside and outside! I had SO much fun hanging out with you and miss you already!)
               Now, I don't mean to sound sappy or anything, but this show was top-notch. The dancers, the performers, the music... It was all amazing. With the addition of Michael Jackson quotes and messages, I found it incredibly inspiring. After all, according to Jon (my sister's boyfriend), the show is called "One" because it shows MJ's desire to have all people, regardless of race, religion, gender, economic status, or nationality, to be treated equally... as one. Not for anything, but I found this to be a perfect message to end an incredibly eye-opening, humbling, and beautiful trip!
               Thank you to everybody who provided encouragement while I was gone in one way or another. I loved receiving your e-mails as they always put a smile on my face and know that your prayers were incredibly encouraging and are much appreciated! I hope that by reading my blog this summer, you were inspired, excited, encouraged, or interested in one way or another. Like I mentioned from the beginning, I love writing. I love telling stories. I love sharing my experiences. I hope that I was able to successfully share many of the things that I had encountered, but know that you'll probably be splashed with many more stories verbally in the near future. :-)
               Over the next couple of weeks before school starts, I'll be putting together a video which compiles all of the projects, adventures, and trips that I've experienced this summer. Although it's primarily a memoir for me, you can expect to see it on here in the near future as I've found (after last year's video) that others appreciated it and found it inspiring, also. Check back sometime soon to see it... and in the meantime, allow me to close with a beautiful Michael Jackson quote which was displayed at One and, somehow, captures everything that I've been trying to say over the past several weeks perfectly.

"In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope.
In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort.
In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream.
And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe."

I pray that you hope, comfort, dream, and believe in the coming days, weeks, months, and years. God bless!

Bula Life

Although "bula" means "hello" in Fijian, I've learned that the direct translation of it means "live". So, as you greet people, you're telling them to live. If you sneeze, others are giving you well wishes by encouraging you to get better and to... live. Now, perhaps you understand why the word is so commonplace here as it's literally what people do... LIVE.

I've been so fortunate to "bula life" here for the past several weeks as Fiji is a beautiful place in every sense of the word. I will forever cherish my weeks there as I have grown, experienced, and appreciated so many things in such a short period of time. I will miss so many things about this country so, without further ado…

Top 10 Things I Will Miss About Fiji (note: this list, apparently, is an annual one that changes for whichever county I’ve visited)

1. The friendliness of people. I find it amazing that I walk down the street and every stranger that I pass smile and says, “Bula!” In addition, people actually take the time to get to know complete strangers and to truly make them feel welcome. In fact, I was so welcomed, that if I were to ever return, I would easily have a handful of places to stay, a cab driver that will drive me around the island for half price, volunteer work to jump into, and an endless amount of kava ceremonies with Vili. (He invited us all “home” for a goodbye kava ceremony on Wednesday night. Because of the craziness of the past couple of days, I had to decline… but how awesome that he, like Naomi from the village I stayed at, welcomed us “home” as if we were family despite having only known us for a short period of time!)
2. The natural beauty. Fiji is only slightly larger than the state of Connecticut, yet there are both mountains and beaches, palm trees, rainforests, and lush green scenery everywhere. How could one not appreciate this?!
3. The fact that everyone thinks I’m from Australia or New Zealand. Although I love the U.S., you have to admit that it’s kind of cool for others to think that you’re from such a sweet place. In fact, I thought it was so awesome, that I just started telling strangers that, “Yes! I’m from Sydney (or Auckland, Melbourne, Queenstown… you get the idea)! How did you know?!” My personal favorite response is when I get a very excited, “It’s your accent! I can tell from your accent!”
4. Reggae beats. If you can find a song that can’t support a Reggae beat in the background, then I’d hardly call it a song because trust me… It’s possible! Don’t believe me? Here’s one that they played all the time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmcKBBHeo1U and here’s one that I about died laughing over when I heard it on the bus because I, like you, didn’t think a Reggae beat was possible for a song like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waPhXBv_oNk. You’re welcome.
5. My work. The workshops and professional development sessions were very well received. As I was speaking, I would see many teachers smiling and nodding along. Several would come up to me afterwards and ask questions, provide support, or share positive opinions. One principal even sent me an e-mail to share that her staff is now required to use motivational techniques (primarily movement) in their lessons to help students learn. It’s amazing to me that I have been so well received and have been able to share so much to a country with very traditional ways of running schools and classes. Without a doubt in my mind, I know that I’ve made a difference among 40 schools, 142 teachers, and countless students (which is nearly three times more schools, teachers, and students that I had anticipated working with! God is SO good!)
6. The people here that I’ve formed lasting relationships with. I think this one has been made pretty apparent throughout the summer, but I will say that the only time that I cried was shortly after saying goodbye to Mere at FENC. She had tears in her eyes while she was saying goodbye and said beautiful things about how much she’ll miss me and how much of a difference HELP volunteers have made (and are still making!) among the students that we have been tutoring there.
7. Fresh bread and exotic fruits. I’ll be honest in saying that traditional Fijian food isn’t my favorite; however, the bread and fruits will truly be missed. After all, I can’t get a loaf of freshly baked, Fijian home-made bread or locally grown pineapple and papaya for next to nothing in the U.S.!
8. The simplicity of life. For example, when my bag didn’t fit into the overhead bin on my flight from Suva to Nadi, the flight attendant took it to “lock it up in the back”. Please see the picture below to see where I picked my bag up from. Enough said.

     9.   Fiji time. Lord help me! It's such a double edged sword, but without it, I wouldn't have felt so relaxed and so carefree for the past month and a half. Without it, the Fijian people wouldn't be so friendly, so welcoming, or so kind. By living without time constraints, they stop following their own agendas and, instead, do little things to make others happy. What a beautiful thing!

     10. Fiji Meghan. Can a few weeks change somebody? Absolutely, and I like to call these changes "Fiji Meghan". This version of me makes time to do more of the little things that make me happy, appreciates living and loving simply, and (I think) is kinder and more friendly. I'm looking forward to being back in the "real world" and to bringing as much of Fiji Meghan as I can with me. I suppose that the first challenge will be making this work in Vegas as I visit my sister! (I'm planning on making a Vegas blog post in a few days as I consider it the "finale" of my trip!)

               So, in a nut shell, what I've learned... Slow down. Appreciate the little things. Smile. Say hello. Serve others. Be kind. Share. Ask questions. Be grateful. Praise God. Have fun. Be flexible. Be thankful. Recognize beauty. Balance work and play. Love life. Bula.

So Close

               I'm so close to boarding a plane and heading back home. I'm so close to saying the last of my goodbyes here in Fiji. These realizations are truly bittersweet, but I'm not QUITE ready to write a "see you later" post, so instead, please enjoy my random compilation of recent "So Close" stories!

• While co-teaching in Class 1 today, I told the students that I lived near Washington D.C. The teacher asked if they knew who lived there (they didn't). Then, she asked if they had heard of Barack Obama before (they said they did). When she asked if he had "fair skin like Ms. Meghan or brown skin like me," they chorused, "FAIR SKIN!" ... So close!
• In the same class, the teacher asked students what they saw last week that is big, red, and has a ladder. The answers that were given? "Australia!" "Dog!" The poor teacher then apologetically explained to me that English is their second language. Although I completely understand this, I couldn't help but smile because they were so close.
• It's been cold here recently, and by cold, I mean like 70 degrees. Because of this, I've seen many people in sweaters, fleece, scarves, and hats. Carly asked a local when it will get warmer. He said, "Maybe tomorrow?" I asked another. She said, "Maybe September?" Clearly, they don't know, but I can tell that warmer weather in Fiji is so close.
• The students that I tutor at FENC, the FENC staff, the Ministry of Education employees, and Dee (one of the teachers that I co-taught with this morning) are all partners that I truly feel like I've become so close with in a short amount of time. I know that I will continue to have relationships with these people through technology and, hopefully, can see them again at some point in the future, but that doesn't change the fact that I'll be incredibly sad to say my final goodbyes!
• Speaking of people in Fiji that I will miss, I truly have become so close with the HELP team. Although I was able to form a lot of great relationships during the first month, I've truly learned to love and appreciate every single person on the team over the past couple of weeks since there have only been a handful of us in the house. We've had several "technology free" nights, lots of down time with each other, and wonderful, down-to-earth conversations that have really helped to build lasting friendships.
• Lastly, Sarah and I were fortunate enough to conduct 5 workshops for teachers at various schools in Suva this week. Most of them went fantastically and the staff were so excited to implement these ideas and resources into their own classrooms. Sarah and I even got to help teachers do this at one school today which we both found incredibly rewarding and fun. (I taught some multiplication tricks to Class 4 -- see the video below. I don't think they've ever had so much fun learning!); however, after doing an entire workshop on ways that teachers can motivate students at one school, the principal thanked Sarah and I by saying, "We learned a lot today; however, teachers don't have time to do this because we have a lot to teach. But thank you!" Good thing I'll never get that hour of my life back. Hey, you win some... you lose some. It's too bad for these students that they'll never be introduced to our awesome motivational techniques (approved by Ms. Puckli's 5th grade class). They were so close to having them though! #sorrykids

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               I'll write in a couple of days to give my proper goodbyes and to tie my summer in Fiji together with a nice little bow, but for now, I'll continue to cherish every moment until it's gone as I'm so close... so close... so close.

Stand Out

              In case I haven't made it clear enough in previous posts, I stand out here for pretty obvious reasons. Because of this, though, people recognize me and I'm starting to feel like I, in a weird way, belong here. For example, when I went to the flea market the other day, one man said something to me like, "You look familiar... In your face. Do you live around here?"
               You may be wondering how I can be so confident that I was the person that he had seen. Well, if I'm being totally honest, there's literally nobody else here that looks anything remotely close to me. In fact, one of the teachers at Hilton was talking to Carly (one volunteer) while trying to remember another volunteer's name. After providing a brief and vague description (by saying that the girl looked like a taller Lucy. Awesome.), Carly still had no clue who they were talking about, so she started listing off names. When she said my name, apparently the teacher said, "Oh no no. Meghan looks very different than the rest of you."
               Like I said earlier... I stand out.
               On Friday, I was walking through the streets of Suva when I felt somebody poking my back saying, "Bye, Meghan!" I turned around, only to see Martin, one of the boys that we tutor every Tuesday and Thursday at FENC who recognized me from a good half-block away. (It must be my stir-fry hair...)
               On Saturday, six of us decided to go to Colo-i-Suva park. While there, we were able to hike through the rainforest, see several waterfalls, and at the end of our hike, jump off of a rope swing into a natural swimming hole. As soon as we walked up to the rope swing, Ledua, another student that we tutor at FENC, was there, waving at me excitedly. It took me a good minute or so to figure out who he was, but I, being the clear stand out that I am, was easily recognizable. (In case you were wondering, the rope swing was a lot of fun and the hike was amazingly beautiful. What a neat experience to be able to do all of this in the middle of a rainforest!)
               Today, a few of us traveled to Warwick (a resort a couple of hours away) to enjoy some beach time. Unfortunately, it was pretty cloudy, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading, napping, and relaxing all day. The highlight of my day trip oddly came on the bus ride home. Four of us took a smaller bus back to Suva and, after an hour or so, were the only people on it. The bus driver started yell-talking to us to get to know us better, but kept having to look back in order to hear us better. Finally, he said, "How about one of you comes and sits up here so that I can hear you better?"
               ... And that's how I ended up sitting shotgun on a bus in Fiji.
               I spent the next hour talking to this man about literally everything: hopes and dreams, the past, present, and future, religion, family, friends, perspectives, the weather... you name it. My favorite part of the conversation was when he asked why I wanted to be a school teacher. When I explained to him that it's something that I've always known I wanted to do, he told me that he completely understood. He claimed, "When I was a little boy, I thought, 'How neat would it be to drive?' I knew then that I wanted to get my license and drive one day for a job. Look at me now! I'm the only member of my family that can drive... and I get to drive a bus every day! I'm so lucky!"
               This comment truly humbled me. This man then spent the next 10 minutes, verbally explaining to me how to drive, assuming that I, like his family, didn't know how to. I didn't have the heart to tell him that driving is an expectation in the United States. I didn't know how to say that I would be in the minority of the population if I didn't have my license. I wasn't sure how to explain that I actually complain about driving long distances, about having a 25 minute long commute, or about having to sit in northern Virginia traffic. In those few minutes, none of these things mattered as I honestly had tears in my eyes as he (in a very complicated way, mind you) gave me the play-by-play of how to operate a motorized vehicle. As he was talking, I was nodding along and saying, "Okay," and, "Yeah," at the appropriate times, but my mind was wandering as I recognized how easily we take something like this for granted on a daily basis. I only hope that when I begin to complain about things like driving in the future, that Raji, our bus driver from today, will stand out in my mind. I pray that I can remember the pride in his voice as he told me that he was living out his childhood dream and how happy he was making his family by doing so. I want to forever remember the fact that he was excited to work 14 hours, day in and day out, because he was doing what he loved... driving a bus back and forth on the same road, several times a day, on this beautiful island.
               God bless the simplicity and beauty of this world... and may this humbling mindset continue to stand out for me in Fiji, in the United States, and beyond.

"Tuna and a Smoke" Kind of Birthday

                My life? Ridiculous. The Fiji team? Ridiculous. My birthday? Ridiculous. And this birthday was nothing short of amazing and definitely one for the books. In fact, I would consider it a strong contender for “best birthday ever”…

                I began the day by getting up early… like usual. As I walk into the main living area, our cook’s kids are singing Happy Birthday because they see a birthday banner hung up. Although they had no idea it was my birthday, I considered it a pleasant touch as I looked at the beautiful note and homemade “You Are Special Today” birthday plate that Brittany made. (At dinner the night before, Lucy had everybody share one birthday tradition that their family has. I talked about the birthday plate. How thoughtful of Brittany to do something little to uphold this tradition!)

                Like my birthday last year, we had delicious French toast for breakfast (despite the fact that it was not made in a wok in Thailand) and then I was able to start my work day. I travelled to the Ministry to figure out why I haven’t had any more school professional development sessions set up yet and was able to sit down with Vili, the sweet man who has been helping us recently. He went up a few notches on my “most liked Fijian” list when he literally had us sit there while he called every school in Suva that was scheduled to have me. Then, he would hand me the phone as, “They want to speak to you because they like hearing your voice. Your accent.” Good news: I have 5 different schools that I’ll be visiting in the next three work days that I’m here!

                At one point during our conversation, Sarah (another volunteer), turns, looks at me, and says, “I’m going to embarrass you right now.” Then, she turns to Vili and says loudly, “Guess what? Today’s Meghan’s birthday!”

                Not only was he incredibly excited, but he guessed how old I was turning… 17. When I told him 26, he was floored as, “I really didn’t think you could be older than 20!” (Why he would be allowing a 17 year old to conduct workshops and train teachers across their school district is beyond me!) Allow me to also include here that I think Sarah used my birthday as an out from her conversation, where Vili (who we find very difficult to understand) asked her if she liked McDonald’s. She responded that it’s very humid here to which he replies, “Yes. I just don’t understand. It’s bread, sliced in half, with some beef in the middle. Why do people go crazy over it?”

                I’ve never been more satisfied to be an outsider, listening in on a conversation in my entire life. Here I am, listening to Vili talk about the simplicity and stupidity of hamburgers while Sarah talks about Fijian weather. I have no idea how this happened, but it was quite possibly the best birthday gift I could have ever received!

                After lunch, I was able to go to the handicraft market and flea market to buy souvenirs. Alex, another volunteer, made it a point to constantly tell people that it’s my birthday just to see what they would do.  (In case you were wondering, I got a free gift at one stand and had a “special deal” cut for me at another. #birthdaysforthewin)

                For dinner, the entire team went out to eat at Nando’s in Suva. While at dinner, Alex decided that in honor of my birthday, everybody should share their favorite memory of me thus far. The only thing that you need to know about this exchange is that Yen Shun, our only non-U.S.  volunteer, said that his favorite memory was the first time that he met me… because he realized that my hair looks like stir fry noodles. Rather than me commenting anymore on this, I’ll allow you time for this to sink in for a moment.

                …………………

And now I can continue with the rest of my day.

After dinner, we walked across the street to the University of South Pacific to see a cultural performance of the evolution of men’s dance. They had tribal dances, rapping, a “Stomp”-style drum line… It was honestly one of the coolest things that I’ve experienced in Fiji thus far. We went crazy over it and didn’t want it to be over when it ended! (Video coming soon!)

As we were walking out, I received a phone call from Vili, the man who works at the Ministry of Education. Remember when I mentioned earlier that he was very excited about my birthday? Well, he was so excited that he had already sent me a very sweet e-mail (“May the 26^th year of your journey shine like a midday sun!”), called me twice at dinner, and texted me. The phone call after the dance was the 4^th or 5^th time that I had heard from him that evening as he and his family wanted to prepare a birthday kava ceremony for the team and I. (I’m sorry, but how can you say no to that?!) Right before I was about to hang up, he said, “Can you bring tuna and a smoke with you? Moce!” (‘Moce’ means ‘bye’ in Fijian.)

Allow me to remind you that Vili is difficult to understand a lot of the time. At this point, I say out loud in the cab, “He asked us to bring tuna and a smoke…?” to which everybody about dies laughing over. I asked the cab driver what this means, to which he replies, “Well, tuna is a type of fish…” Thank you, cab driver. Thank you.

I, Meghan, am proud to say that I’ve never purchased cigarettes in my life… until my 26^th birthday. We stopped at a gas station and asked a random customer and the clerk what “tuna and a smoke” means. They, like us, had no idea, but assumed that Vili meant tuna and cigarettes... So that's what we went with. Who knew that cigarettes here can be purchased in a pack of 20, 10, or just by the single cigarette? With no rhyme or reason (and no idea if this is what I was supposed to be purchasing at all for that matter), I chose the pack of 10.

When we arrived at the house, I was given the responsibility of presenting our gift to Vili. Good news: he did actually want tuna and a smoke for reasons beyond me. I think his gift (for having us over for my birthday, mind you) was perfect! YEESSSS! (As Shawney would say, “Happy birthday to me!”)

Vili instructed me to sit at the head of the circle in his main living area (That’s right, Ben. I GOT TO BE THE MASTER CHIEF!) while everybody else sat around. He then taught us about the kava ritual and, when we ran out, how to make kava (he especially taught this to one volunteer, Natalie, who was serving everybody because she was the youngest. I should really start applying this principle to my everyday life. Mitch – Are you ready to serve the rest of the family!?) We spent the next hour and a half or so drinking kava, talking, and having a good time.

So, what makes it “birthday kava”? Before anybody could have theirs, they had to say something kind to me. BOOM. Cultural birthday celebration for the win!

When we left, we went dancing, of course. We had so much fun doing absolutely ridiculous dance moves and just being totally carefree. Lucy made me a delicious dessert (at like 2 A.M., mind you) once we made it back to the house. As I was enjoying her unnamed banana, oats, and ice cream concoction, I was honestly thinking about how my birthday was absolutely perfect. I was able to both work and play. I experienced both American things and Fijian things. I felt incredibly loved by and had so much fun with those around me.

               ... And then it hit me: MY BIRTHDAY IS ONLY JUST BEGINNING IN THE U.S.!

I love my life.

Surprises

               Over the past couple of days, I've honestly been just "going with the flow" of things. My schedule? Not clear. My day? Who knows what will happen. My plans? They'll probably change once... or twice. Allow me to explain.
               I met with the Ministry of Education on Tuesday to discuss a plan of action to get me back into the schools. I was under the impression that they would send out an e-mail to the schools that they would like me to work with. Then, I can travel around to work with the teachers in the classrooms, helping them to incorporate the concepts that were taught in the workshops.
               Wednesday rolls around and the e-mail still had not been sent. After talking with them on the phone, they inform me that it will be sent out soon. Two hours later (keep in mind that we're working under Fiji time), I receive an e-mail that I am to visit two primary schools... later that day. 45 minutes before I'm supposed to leave, I receive another e-mail, informing me that I will not be working in the classrooms with teachers. Instead, I'll be conducting professional development sessions at both of these schools for their staff. AWESOME! (Please note that I was very excited to do this, but was freaking out a bit due to the time constraints!)
               Fortunately, it all worked out. In fact, it worked out really well. There was one teacher at both schools that had attended the workshop, so rather than me trying to scramble around and stress out (well, I did... a little bit...), I decided to have them help me present the information from the workshop which, it turns out, was the best thing that I could have done. It was amazing to hear these teachers share strategies that they learned (some of which they had already tried in their classrooms!) with their coworkers. My personal favorite story came from Raichel, a Class 6 teacher who said, "Just because I made a kinesthetic activity for phonics, ALL of my students, whether they need the review or not, want to participate in my phonics lessons now!" That comment in and of itself made my day as it proved that I've provided suggestions to make a small difference in her classroom and now, she can (and did!) share these ideas to her coworkers. Hopefully, this small difference will spread to make a bigger difference among the students and staff at her school. I'm even more hopeful that teachers at other schools were inspired and are beginning to impact the education in their own classrooms and schools, as well. Sustainable project? I think (and hope) so!
               Side note: you may be wondering how I was able to conduct 1-hour long professional development sessions at two different schools in one day. Oh, that's because the headmaster of the first school called a school-wide recess so that all of his staff could come to my PD in the middle of the day. No big deal. At least the students enjoyed my visit! (I think the teachers did, too -- but I felt awful that I was sent there to interrupt their school day! Oh, well!)
               Today, I was instructed to wait for e-mails back from the remaining schools that the Ministry would like me to visit. Of the 6 that I contacted, I heard back from a whopping 0. Fortunately, I still had a very productive day of compiling and organizing materials at the house, but I suppose that I'll continue to just "go with the flow" with this project for now. Ahh, Fiji time -- a beautiful blessing and an awful curse!
               Lastly, I'd like to share that I was also was surprised when making baked oatmeal for the team at breakfast yesterday morning. I was the only person in the house awake and the cooks didn't know how to make it, so I looked up a recipe and offered to do it (I mean, why not?!). As I was pouring the ingredients into a bowl, I felt something on my leg. I turned around, only to find a cat biting me. Yes, I was bitten... by a house cat. Fortunately, I was quick enough to shake it off of my leg which then made it scramble away. And fortunately, it was a very tender bite and I was not injured in any way whatsoever... But you can only imagine how surprised I was at this early morning fiasco!
               In case you were wondering, the cat's name is Biscuit. I'm not sure which is more hilarious: the fact that I was bitten by a cat in general or the fact that I was bitten by a Biscuit. You can decide.
               ... And that's why I hate cats.

Goodbye & Hello

               My time in Fiji is quickly coming to an end... and that's a sad realization. Although I still have a little over a week left here, I hate that I can now actually SEE the end. It bums me out that the Ministry already asked if I was having a farewell party or that Brittany (one of my country directors) said, "I can't believe that you're leaving so soon!" I think this realization is hitting me primarily because so many volunteers left this past weekend. I mean, I was living in a house with 18 people and half of them have now left! Although I'm an introverted person, the house now seems eerily quiet and I'm definitely missing the presence of some of those that left (yes, that includes you, Ben!). With that being said, I'd like to say goodbye to a few things where the door is now, sadly, officially shut...
               As for volunteer work, today marked my last day of doing remedial reading tutoring at a local primary school. I had been going there twice a week to teach letter names, sounds, and sight words to several adorable children. In addition, I've formed a great working relationship with Mary, the remedial reading teacher there. I've been able to teach her about phonics instruction, how to conduct running records, and provide her with some ideas and resources to make her instruction a bit easier. In return, she's given me valuable knowledge about the Fijian education system as she has earned her teaching certificate, taught for 10 years, and is now in the minority of Fijian teachers as she is going to college ("university" as they say here) to get a teaching degree. I'll miss working with Mary and these students, but I know that I have a lot of other things to do as far as projects go... Especially because another "goodbye" should be given to what I now call "my baby" -- the teacher workshops. In case you were wondering, I've worked with 57 teachers in 33 schools so far which are numbers that even I find impressive. 25 of these teachers have attended a workshop that I conducted and are now (hopefully) sharing ideas with their staff and motivating students to strive for success in both Reading and in Math. For the remainder of my work days here, I'll be helping the teachers that I've worked with to implement these motivational strategies into their classrooms. I'm excited to see how they put these ideas that they were so clearly on fire about into practice!

               Now that the depressing part is over, let's get on to the more upbeat section of this post. Really, I can sum it up in a nutshell... Hello to: a quiet house which means a more productive Meghan, more quality time with volunteers which includes secrets, pranks, and good conversation (this may or may not involve building a fort in the living area and removing mattresses from beds...), and my upcoming birthday. This past weekend, several of us went to Nadi for some beach time. On Saturday night, we went out to eat when Ben decided to share that my birthday was coming up. Not only did the staff make me stand on a barstool in the middle of the restaurant, but they sang Happy Birthday to me. The best part was that they wished "Maggot" a "Happy Sweet Sixteen"! Lucy is convinced that they didn't say this, but I heard it and thought it was hilarious... And this is my blog, so I'm sticking to it. #sorryboutit HAPPY (ALMOST) SWEET SIXTEEN TO MAGGOT!
               I should also say "hello" to the many other hilarious things that occurred on Saturday night -- many of which were new experiences for me -- which include karaoke, cab drivers, dancing, and golfers. These stories are ones that you'll have to e-mail me about or wait for me to tell you in person if you're interested though. I mean, I can't give away EVERYTHING that I do this summer on my blog, can I?!
               ... I guess a hello is also necessary for a Meghan that is too bored and tired to elaborate further. You're welcome.

Just Love

               True confessions: I'm selfish. In fact, the longer I'm here, the more I realize that MANY Americans are selfish. Heidi, another volunteer, and I had a long, in-depth conversation about this yesterday afternoon.
               Heidi, along with 9 other volunteers, is leaving this weekend. She had the privilege of visiting a local village yesterday and donating the majority of her clothes to a sweet woman there. Heidi was floored by the gratefulness and kindness that this woman showed towards her despite the fact that she literally has next to nothing. Why is it that Heidi felt like she received more when she was giving nearly everything that she brought with her away? Perhaps the better question: why is it that the gift of giving is so much more humbling and rewarding here than it is in the U.S.?
              We've developed this theory. In the U.S., many people have expectations which, whether we realize it or like it, causes our lives to revolve around money, greed, and selfishness. We expect gifts, favors, and kind gestures. When we don't receive them, many people get disappointed, upset, or angry. Here, Fijians are happy to just live and to love. Because so many people don't have money or resources, these expectations haven't necessarily been developed yet. Then, when they do offer you a compliment, a cup of tea, or some hospitality, you see the huge sacrifice that is being made for such a simple offer. That makes it even more worthwhile and meaningful.
              Heidi's cab driver explained the Fijian mindset to her perfectly. "If I can offer you one piece of advice," he said, "it's to just love each other. Everything else will fall into place if you just love!"
              Wouldn't it be nice to live in a world where we realize that this is the key to happiness? That money, selfishness, greed, and expectations aren't necessary because others, out of the goodness of their hearts, will show you kindness, favors, and gratitude through their love?
              If nothing else, I feel like I will come back a changed person because, for several weeks, I've lived in the day-to-day mindset of Fijians and their simple mindset to "just love." I hope that I can show and exemplify this love to others, not just to those that I know, but to strangers, as well. Perhaps then, a chain reaction of love will begin. I challenge you to try it and to see what happens!

             ... In other news, I've successfully completed Teacher Training Workshop #2. I received wonderful reviews from the participants and had several volunteers help me and/or come watch. My personal favorite comment was from Brittany, one of my country directors. "Watching you was like watching an animal in its natural habitat!"
            Thank you, Brittany... I think?

            Until next time... JUST LOVE!

Infinite

                “And in that moment, I swear I felt infinite.”

                This quote, from The Perks of Being a Wallflower, is one of my favorite quotes ever… And it basically sums up my weekend. I thought last weekend was great, but my time in the Yasawa Islands was truly over the top. I apologize for continuously sounding like my trip has reached its’ peak as far as joy and excitement levels go, but I’m somehow constantly outdoing myself! What a wonderful problem to have!

                Eleven of us volunteers decided to embark on this adventure, so we all boarded a bus that would drop us off in Lautoka, a city about 5 hours away on the other side of the island. From there, we stopped and had dinner, then boarded a fishing boat which departed at 10:00 P.M. and would arrive at the island that our resort was on about 6-7 hours later. It had two levels (but only seating on the bottom level) and some of us thought that it’d be cool to hang out at the top for a little bit.

                It. Was. Beautiful.

                I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life. Here I was, at the hull of the ship, with my legs dangling over the edge, just staring out into the Pacific. Since it was dark outside, you couldn’t tell where the ocean ended or where the midnight sky began. When I would lie down, I looked up at a sky that was twinkling with more stars than I had ever seen in my entire life. I ended up falling asleep while looking for shooting stars (In case you were wondering, I saw twelve that night. TWELVE!). Each time I woke up, I felt like I was still dreaming as I would open my eyes and feel like I could see the entire universe. It was incredibly peaceful, calming, and magical. Not only did the sky, the universe, and the stars seem infinite, but I felt infinite, also. 6-7 hours turned into 8 ½ hours. I slept terribly on the hard surface of the boat, but I didn’t mind the time or the lack of comfort because I wouldn’t trade that view for anything!

When we finally arrived at our destination at 6:30 A.M., the staff greeted us with a song and served us breakfast. After putting our belongings down in the room, I spent the rest of the day reading and dozing in and out while lying out on the beach. At one point, when we were on a “private beach,” several local small children ran up to us and randomly started playing with our hair without saying more than three words. I thought they just wanted to touch our hair since they’re not used to the texture of it, but I soon had a full head of mini braids. While the girls braided our hair, the boys were twirling sticks and playing games. After saying goodbye (mainly because we were so exhausted that we couldn’t continue to entertain these adorable children), we went to a different beach to continue with our agenda of doing nothing.

That night, the resort put on a show featuring Fijian Fire Dancers. I loved seeing something so different and cultural, and was especially surprised when two of the little boys from the beach earlier were participating. (Yes, they were practicing twirling sticks because they were performing an act later that day… with fire burning on either end of the sticks. I suddenly felt stupid for commenting on how talented they were earlier because it was nothing compared to the show!) As soon as it ended, the Fire Dancers went out into the crowd and grabbed people to dance as current hits started to play. Next thing I know, I’m whisked away, having a Fire Dancer teaching me Fijian dance moves to very American music. (The hilarious irony of this situation kills me!) Soon, all of the volunteers were dancing with the kids from earlier in the day and with each other until very late in the night. It was fun, hilarious, and incredibly carefree. I made an awesome game of showing everybody ridiculous dance moves just to see if they would actually do them, and I don’t think I ever failed! At one point, I realized how much power I had when I suggested playing the Dance Game (shout out to the post-college Beach Week crew!) and the entire dance floor started playing. I have no idea what happened or how I gained so much control of everybody, but it was awesome and hilarious!

On Sunday, I spent the majority of the day reading and laying out again. Ben, Lucy, and I decided to go on a snorkeling trip which was beautiful and then several of us took a sunset hike to the top of the island. It took about 45 minutes of travelling through tall grasses and overgrown weeds, but when we finally got there, it was breathtaking. I was at the highest point of the island and, by doing a 360, I could see the entire island and several surrounding ones. On one side of the island, I was watching the setting sun glow over the water. On the other side, I felt the wind blow the tall grasses towards me. I was so awestruck, that if I closed my eyes and lifted my hands up, I honestly felt like I could have flown. That’s about the best that I’ll be able to explain it, but just know that this moment was beautiful, perfect, and wholly mine. I’m not sure if or when I’ll ever experience something like that again, but it was another point in time when I felt completely alive, free, and “infinite.”

We left the island early on Monday morning and took our long boat ride back to the main island. Despite the fact that this one was during the day, I remained in my “spot” on the top deck. It was incredible to be in the exact same place, but to this time see the water, the islands, and the rising sun dance across the water. The highlight of our boat ride back was the 5 minutes or so that two dolphins raced along the side of the boat. How cool!

Today, I took my last vacation day of the trip to go on a shark dive. That’s right -- I was swimming with sharks! I thought I’d be terrified, but, for some reason, it was oddly calming and majestic as the sharks didn’t even seem to take notice of us. I literally could have reached out several times to touch a bull shark that was swimming in front of me or over my head and there were DOZENS of them swimming around, but I was more fascinated than anything else. Here I am, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, watching sharks (many of which looked frighteningly similar to Bruce in Finding Nemo!) in their natural habitat. What a cool experience… and one that is now up there on my list of craziest things I’ve done. Good news: I survived!

Overall, you can tell how fantastic my long weekend was. In fact, Ben started making fun of me for the number of times that I said something like, “I’m SO HAPPY right now!” or “I’m absolutely elated!” over the past few days. Honestly, I don’t blame him though. I’m seriously loving everything about Fiji… The small moments, the big moments, the volunteering moments, the trips, the people, the moments where God’s presence is so apparent, and the times where I feel infinite. Why wouldn’t I be happy? Why wouldn’t I feel elated? And why wouldn’t I feel incredibly blessed and fortunate for all that God has blessed me and for how big He is?

Fiji is my euphoria.

Who I Am

               Since being here, I like to think that I've made a good impression on both the locals and the other volunteers. Here's some proof that I'm really becoming something here:

• The Reading resources that I printed for the tutoring classes were being used today! I haven't been there in a week or so since I've been so busy, but I was so happy to see that the kids were using them and LEARNING from them. How awesome!
• I stopped by a school to look at their curriculum for Reading. When I introduced myself to the principal (who I hadn't met yet), she exclaims, "Oh, Meghan! You're the one doing the workshop on Friday, aren't you?!" It easily made my day yesterday. (In case you didn't already know... I'M SO EXCITED TO HOLD THIS TRAINING TOMORROW!)
• I stopped by the electronics store down the street to purchase some blank CDs to burn resources onto them. They cut me a deal for buying them in bulk, but I was about to run errands and didn't want to carry multiple CDs around with me. I asked if they would remember me if I came back later. They looked at my like I was crazy. That's when I remembered that I'm the tall blonde girl in Fiji... BUT AT LEAST THEY KNOW ME!
• We played a game called "Superlatives" last night. Basically, everyone writes down ridiculous superlatives, puts them in a bowl, and then we all vote on the winners. You'll be happy to hear that I won "Most Likely to Marry a Dwarf," "Most Likely to Sneeze Next," "Most Likely to Get Electrocuted in a Lightning Storm," and "Most Likely to Become a Carpet Salesman." I don't get it either.
• At Hilton, where they've nicknamed me M Smile, my name has taken a new twist. Instead of signing M Smile (by forming the letter M and then pointing to your smile), one student misinterpreted and thought it was M Fishhook. Now, whenever I show up, many students call me M Fishhook. #winning

               Happy 4th of July! We celebrated it here in Fiji by donning red, white, and blue clothing, having banana chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and enjoying a delicious dinner of pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, and watermelon (thanks, Lu!). (In case you were wondering, Lindsay, I did also play the traditional July 4th iTunes playlist which consists of any song in my library with the words "red," "white," "blue," "independent," "America," and "U.S.A." Ahh, memories!) This weekend, we're travelling to the Yasawa Islands of Fiji for a long, relaxing weekend on the beach. Google image Yasawa Islands in between spending time shooting off fireworks and eating American food. Enjoy!

               Lastly, I'm proud to say that I successfully executed my workshop today. I was in my element and loving every second of it! I had 12 of 15 teachers show up and we had great conversations and discussions about how to motivate students, various learning styles that people have, and how to incorporate some easy resources into everyday teaching. I'll consider it a win based on the fact that I was given two rounds of applause from the attendees afterwards, received very positive feedback on the post-evaluations, and was asked to hold another workshop next Friday. In addition, a couple of teachers asked if I would be willing to come and speak to the staff at their schools. So, I guess you could say... COMING SOON: Fijian schools where students are playing games and singing songs. Fun learning for the win! I LOVE FIJI!

The Little Things

                This weekend was amazing. Period. We packed in so many adventures in such a short period of time and I loved every last second of it. Lucy, Ben, Aly, and I had a conversation over dinner on Saturday night, saying how we can try to explain our trip as well as we possibly can to others, but our stories will never do the actual experience justice. Living out this past weekend will definitely be an example of this as I know that my words can’t convey everything that I want them to, but I’m going to try my hardest!

                We started off this weekend by heading to a village a couple of hours away. One of the volunteers had visited a resort several weeks ago and met Naomi, the sweet woman who offered to house us. We informed Naomi that we wanted to visit and 8 of us then took a bus out to the middle of nowhere. The bus driver dropped us off on the side of the highway and we waited with some of the locals for a van to bring us to their village. The villages here consist of tribes that live in small homes that are set up in a neighborhood-type format. Sometimes, they don’t have electricity or running water, so you can see how people get both a humbling experience and real sense of Fijian life by staying in a village. It seems like people here LOVE hosting visitors as they give guests the highest honors. For example, Naomi and her family refused to eat dinner until after the guests had completely finished eating.

                Before we could be accepted as guests into the village, we needed to present the chief with kava, a calming anesthetic made from the roots of a plant (and is very commonplace here), in an official ceremony. We all walked out, sat in a line, and waited for the chief to bless the kava and thank us. (At least, I think that’s what he was doing. This was all in Fijian, so we really all just awkwardly sat there in front of members of the village.) Then Ben, being the only male with us, was given the responsibility of presenting the kava to the chief on our behalf. It was very formal, very traditional, and very… different. Once we went through this entire process, we were welcomed into the village with singing, dancing, music, and more kava. We stayed up for hours doing this and all of the volunteers had a blast! The interesting thing about this particular village is that, in addition to guests being given the highest honors, men are also treated very highly; therefore, guests that are men are treated like celebrities. Ben was LOVING being the only male guest as he was able to eat first, was called “chief” and “master” by the locals, and everyone (locals and all 7 of us female guests!) basically had to listen to and do whatever he said. Just take a moment to picture this scene in your mind and you too may find Ben’s newfound power and 15 minutes of fame to be absolutely hilarious, also.

                On Saturday, we bused to another beach and hung out there before we went to do our first two open water dives. I was terrified to scuba dive 40 feet in the water, but after I got over my initial freak out, it was fine. My thought process was something like, “Oh my gosh. I’m in the ocean. I’m underwater. I’m sinking deeper. I’m still breathing. I’m still breathing! I’m still breathing! Hey, this is really cool!” After staying in an awesome beach hut (which cost me a whopping $25 U.S.), we went back yesterday to do our last two open water dives and our final exam. Good news is: I got my open water scuba certification and can now, officially, do a shark dive next week! Although I’m sure it will be amazing, I’ll naturally be freaking out in the meantime.

Our dive group at a shipwreck

SCUBA SUCCESS!

So, what’s the reasoning behind the title of this post? I talked to my friend Jessie several months ago as she was on a quest to find 1,000 “little things” that made her happy. I loved this concept so much and it ended up becoming a great topic at dinner on Saturday night as I experienced several of these little things over the weekend. Because I was able to sum up the “big things” fairly easily, I figured that the best way to end this post is by recognizing the small moments that also contributed to making this weekend one of the best that I can remember.

The Little Things That Make Me Happy (and I was able to experience this past weekend):

·         Looking at the stars on a clear night. While waiting for the van to bring us to the village on Friday night, I was mesmerized by the stars as I was literally in the middle of nowhere on an island that’s surrounded by the ocean for hundreds of miles. Suffice it to say that I have never seen stars so abundant, so beautiful, and so breathtaking.

·         Outdoor showers. The beach hut that we stayed in had one of the best outdoor showers that I have ever seen. It was huge with a waterfall showerhead and palm trees that enveloped over the top of it. I could have stayed in there for hours!

·         Listening to music while riding with the windows down on a nice day. Most of the buses here have open windows and blast the radio through their sound system. It makes the hour or two ride fly by because you just feel so young, so alive, and so free. Plus, they typically play “Top Hits” stations or else Fijian music. I find it amusing that a lot of times, I’m lucky enough to get on a bus that combines the two genres. The other day, the bus I was on was playing “Slim Shady” to an island beat. Seriously!

·         Feeling a sense of accomplishment. I’m not going to lie -- I’m kind of proud of the fact that I’m scuba certified!

·         Finishing a really, really good book. I’ve been reading a good amount here and I finally finished The Bronze Horseman Trilogy over the weekend (awesome recommendation, Lyss!). In general, the best books that I’ve read are the ones where I become emotionally invested in them. This book was no exception as I had tears streaming down my face while reading on the beach on Saturday morning. I actually put sunglasses on just to hide the fact that I was so emotional over the book!

So, may you stop to think about and enjoy all of the little things that make you happy throughout the next few days. I truly believe that focusing on and recognizing these moments (in addition to the “big things”) is a perfect way to realize just how blessed, beautiful, and satisfying life can be!

Hot or Not List: Fiji Edition

                It's official! I have too many stories to share. In an awful attempt to get as many in as possible, I've decided to make Meg's first official "Hot or Not List"! So, without further ado...

Things that are "Hot" in Fiji:

1. Rugby. Everybody here is obsessed with the sport. Sometimes, when I say that I'm from the U.S., people say something like, "Ahh, the U.S.?! That's a big competitor for us in rugby!" Yesterday, I even received some trash talk from teachers in the staff room. In case you were wondering: Yes, I took it well. No, I didn't know how to react, so I just laughed in response. And no, I had no clue that the U.S. even had a rugby team. I guess now would be the appropriate time for me to say, "GO, U.S.A.!"
2. My name. I went into a class yesterday, and introduced myself. As soon as I said, "Meg," the teacher goes, "Meg? Meghan? We have a Meghan right here!" That's right. A Fijian child with my name who had never met anybody else with her name before. I asked her why her parents chose "Meghan" while all of her classmates have very Indian or Fijian names. Her response? "They thought it was very modern." BOOM! (Thank you, Mom and Dad, for my "modern" name!)
3. Desk decorations. Seriously, who needs lockers when you're allowed to decorate your DESK? I've noticed that it's very cool to put fabric, a tablecloth, or duct tape pictures on top of your desk, especially in the secondary school. My personal favorites were the green sequined desk (see picture below) and the girl that I was sitting next to yesterday whose desk was entirely devoted to One Direction. It even included a huge picture of all of the members of the band holding puppies. Go here http://www.topnews.in/light/files/One-Direction_1.jpg and you may die, also.
4. My cab driver this morning. When I got in the taxi, I asked him how he was doing today. He responded with, "Very good! Those that say they are 'good' are in the world. Those that say they are 'very good' are in the Lord. Praise Jesus!" I then spent the next 20 minutes talking with the cab driver about Bible verses, how to spread the good news of the Lord to others, and discussing how to enter heaven. By the end of our drive, he had taken me on a free detour so that I could see his church and invited me to visit his taxi stand in the mornings to read through Luke with him. What a brilliant way to start a Friday morning! (Also, fun fact of the day: his name is of Indian descent, but he's changed it to "James" as it's more biblical. How awesome!)
5. The tea that I've been force fed nearly every day this week during "recess break". Literally... It's SO hot. Because it's steaming, I find it so hard to drink when it's as humid and hot as it has been outside! Today, I was also force fed a tuna and carrot sandwich. For those of you that don't know, I don't like tuna. For those of you that haven't visited Fiji, they hardly ever refrigerate things here. Yes, I was force fed a warm tuna sandwich today that I tried to wash down with steaming hot tea while sweating profusely. I couldn't decide which of the two evils was better. After choking down half, I thanked the principal and informed him that I needed to continue my observations. He felt badly that I was being rushed, so he gave me a warm tuna sandwich to go, also. YUM!

Hot List: Green sequined desks.

Things that are "Not" (Hot) in Fiji:

1. The teacher today that very sternly told her class to "shut up" because they were giving too many answers. I was shocked, but wanted to laugh so hard at this one. I'm trying to figure out how much trouble I would be in for telling my students to shut up. (Don't worry -- I would NEVER do this!)
2. The recess and lunch bell. I'm used to a quiet ding when classes are to start or end. I swear that I jump every time their bell goes off as it sounds like an emergency siren that's blasting right in your ear. Like, I truly feel like I should find shelter immediately because a tornado warning has been issued inches about my head.
3. Lying students. This one is also hilarious though. A Class 2 student came up to me yesterday and told me, "Excuse me, ma'am? When I was in your country, I saw you." I smiled and said, "Oh my gosh, that's crazy! What was I doing? Where was I? Did I see you?" He told me that he didn't remember because it happened a very, VERY long time ago.
4. How stupid I feel when observing secondary school Math classes. I don't remember how to do functions, matrices, or trigonometry, yet here I am, watching the lesson and taking notes on things that the teachers and students are doing. Even worse, I've been tutoring secondary students on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Please know that working with these students has been the most rewarding part of my trip so far, but when they ask me their Math questions, I've learned to go find Lucy and to have her work with them instead. I'll take the Reading, the Science -- heck, I even worked with students on the digestive system, the history of Fiji, and the background of the ukulele! -- but when it comes to advanced Math, I am NOT the go-to person! In fact, Ben is sitting next to me right now, looking up a geometry/trigonometry question that one of the students had yesterday as it stumped all of us. I joked with the house the other day and said something like, "I don't care if you don't want to work with students, but if you're smart AT ALL, we need you to tutor on Tuesday and Thursday!"
5. That the people here don't realize how beautiful and desirable their country is! In the U.S., people would say to me, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're going to Fiji this summer!" Here, people are asking me, "Why would you CHOOSE to come to Fiji during your vacation?!" When I comment that it's a beautiful country and that the people are so friendly, I don't think they buy it. Clearly, although the numbers are the same, my "HOT" list far outweighs my "NOT" list. I just wish the locals could see this as clearly as I can!

I hope you enjoyed this compilation of Meg's first ever "Hot or Not List: Fiji Edition" and that you, like James, have a "very good" day! God bless!

Fly on the Wall

                … That’s what I’ve felt like for the past few days here while doing my observations. The only differences are that this fly is not inconspicuous. Instead, I’m like a huge, obvious fly that very noticeably stands out no matter where it goes.

                So far, I’ve visited six schools. Of these six schools, 2 were Catholic, 2 were Muslim, and 1 was Buddhist… and they are all a part of the public school system! (Just imagine how much the uniforms vary from one school to the next!) At each school, I’ve been given a schedule to observe various Reading and Math classes. Then, I go into the class (after knocking on the door and waiting for the teacher’s permission to enter. I’ve learned that it’s rude to just walk in on your own accord.), introduce myself – but only if the teacher wants me to, and then sit back. The teacher then goes about their normal lesson as I take notes very… conspicuously while trying to be inconspicuous. #tallwhitegirlinfiji

                Some interesting things that have happened during my observations:

1.       I’m treated like royalty. The Ministry of Education called each of these schools ahead of time to inform them of my visit. Because of this, I’ve been served lunch, have been willingly driven around by school personnel, have had headmasters brag about their schools, and have had teachers apologize for their lesson plans as if I actually cared. Yesterday, I spoke to the entire staff at a secondary school (which had to be 50+ teachers!) as I sat between the Principal and Vice Principal at the head of the table. Apparently, the teachers were very concerned/worried/interested in understanding my ministry business, to which I shared, “I’m from the U.S.A. I’m just here to observe so that I can see how schools in Fiji are similar and different from schools in America. I’m learning a lot and am hoping that I can make it a fair trade by sharing some resources and ideas to help you, too. Thank you for having me.” Needless to say, they were extremely relieved to hear this as they were expecting a big observation from the Ministry itself! In addition, I just received an e-mail from the Ministry telling me that they’re very interested in meeting with me early next week and to hearing my frank assessments of the schools here. (Who am I to judge?!) Moral of the story: I guess you could say that they think that I'm kind of a big deal here. The size of my head has only grown a little bit and I’ll only expect a small amount of this treatment when I return home.

2.       I’m constantly being asked if I’m a “Miss” or a “Mrs.” The manager at a school yesterday even grabbed my hand, checked for a ring, and then cried out, “Oh, thank God! Don’t ever put a ring on this finger! It will give you great headaches!” I laughed very hard at that one.

3.       I was observing in Class 2 yesterday when the teacher started talking about lenses. I’ve noticed that not many people here wear glasses, but at this particular point in time, I happened to be wearing mine so that I could see what the teacher was writing on the board. When she started talking about lenses in “spectacles” and how “old people wear them” or “people that have bad eye problems,” I suddenly changed from being a huge, obvious fly on the wall (even more obvious as I was in a Muslim school!) to a huge, obvious alien that had just crash landed from another planet. I swear 32 pairs of eyes (spectacle-less eyes at that!) turned to stare at me, the foreigner wearing glasses. I’m sure that each student was thinking, “What’s wrong with HER eyes?” AWESOME.

                Random other things to note: I'm currently working on my SCUBA certification which is both exciting and terrifying, I got the team to play Psychology the other night which they found to be hilarious (shout out to CNU volleyball days!), and that we've been going to see movies every Tuesday night here as they cost the equivalent of about $2 in the U.S. I guess you could say that I'm having fun and, apparently, becoming a whole new person... or fly... or alien... After all, who would have EVER thought that I would watch movies this often? Or, more realistically, ever get SCUBA certified? Don't worry, though... I'm not planning on becoming a professional... ever. I hope you appreciated that comment as much as I enjoyed writing it. You're welcome.

Culture Class

                On Friday, I was fortunate enough to go to Hilton Special School for their “Club Day” (a day where they focus entirely on art, culture, dance, gardening, etc. instead of the content areas). Personally, I thought the highlight was the hour-long culture class as I learned A LOT.

                The students were split up into several classes. In one class, I had way too much fun hanging out with the kids during the end of their lesson on Fijian music and dance; however, the class that I spent the majority of my time with focused on traditional Fijian foods (I’m just picturing my students from this past year rolling their eyes as they read this. What can I say? I’m predictable! I love food!). I had the opportunity to grate cassava, smash coconuts to make cream, and roll out dough to make roti. I quickly learned that all of these activities are pretty labor intensive and that Americans are AWFUL at them all!

Can you tell which roti the Americans made?! (Hint: Find the most irregular shaped ones!)

Scraping coconuts to make cream!

                For what it’s worth, I was truly humbled by this experience. After all, us Americans have the luxury of avoiding all of this labor and simply buying the pre-made and pre-prepared products at the grocery store. Thank you, culture class, for showing me just how much effort it takes to get to that final product!

                Besides the actual class, I feel like I’ve been learning a lot about Fijian culture in other ways. On Friday night, the local museum hosted a culture night where many entertainers (dancers, musicians, etc.) performed traditional acts. I'll just sum it up by saying that it was a lot of fun to be able to experience this! Today, I was able to observe (!!!) in both a primary and a secondary school to prepare for my teacher training that I’ll be conducting in the near future. I learned so much about the education system here and how a lot of it is, well, influenced by their culture. For example, when an elder asks you a question, it is rude to not answer. Although this sounds similar to America, imagine what would happen in a Fijian classroom when the teacher asks 40 students a question during his/her lesson! (Correct answer: loud chaos!) Another example is that engaging students in reading is a huge struggle here. Again, it may sound similar to America, but the culture is that oral stories are more valued than written ones, so it makes it twice as difficult to motivate students to read! Now THAT'S an obstacle to overcome!

                Lastly, I want to share some things at random that I’ve learned through my “cultural” experiences:

1.      Haircuts, specifically for males, are very different. I honestly never knew that there was an infinite number of ways to make a mohawk!

2.      Dress. Professional attire is similar for females, but for males, they have the added bonus of wearing either pants or a sulu, which is basically the male version of a skirt. Because it gets so hot here, it’s rare to see a man wearing pants. Instead, most opt for the wrap around that falls just below the knee. Mike – Are you ready for me to bring one home to you?!

3.      The kindness and friendliness of the people here. When I did my observations today, the teachers and administration at the two schools were literally bending over backwards for me. I was driven around by both headmasters to get from one point to another, I got the cell phone number of one headmaster to contact if I "EVER need anything", and several teachers gave me e-mail addresses so that they can continue to help me with my findings and research on Fijian schools. This way, the training can be as relate-able as possible!

4.      Driving here is ridiculous as I feel like I’m constantly playing a game of Frogger. Basically, if I die in Fiji, it’s because I got hit by a moving vehicle. The silver lining (I guess?) is that Suva isn’t as congested as most cities you would think of, but pedestrians should definitely cross at their own risk! (Don't worry, Mom! I'm being careful!)

5.       My name is very difficult for Fijians to say. So far, I’ve been called, “Magnet,” “Maggot,” and “Bacon.” Every new name that I’m given, I find hilarious, yet I can’t correct them because I don’t want to be rude. My personal favorite story from this occurred today, when I introduced myself as “Ms. Meghan”. The teacher wrote “Ms.” on the board, but didn’t know how to spell my name, so she stopped writing. One of the students then asked me where I was from. When I responded, “America,” the teacher wrote that on the board. So, for about 30 minutes today, my name was Ms. America on the board. Thank you, Fiji. I accept. In the meantime, I've decided to officially introduce myself as "Meg" from here on out. After the Ms. America ordeal, I got about 30 six year olds to get my name by saying something like, "My name is Ms. Meg. Like an egg, but Meg." If THEY all got it, then I think the rest of the country will be able to handle it, also.

… And all of these lessons are only from week 1! I’m looking forward to making many more memories and to learning so much more in the coming weeks... and to potentially promoting world peace as Ms. America.

Well, whatever you call this work that I'm doing here, I say: BRING IT ON, FIJI! Bring. It. On.

Fijian Time

                Things have been progressing here in Fiji. Yesterday, I had a meeting with four (!) board members of the Ministry of Education. Previously, they had expressed interest in holding teacher trainings, so I went to receive more information from them regarding this. I was very excited to find that they were interested in having me hold a Reading and Math workshop for the teachers in the Suva school district. (For those of you that don’t know – this is RIGHT up my alley as I would love to teach education at the collegiate level one day. Actually, that’s an understatement. I genuinely get excited thinking about the fact that I WILL teach at the collegiate level one day. Yes, I’m that big of a loser. You can judge all you want.) We set a date for the training and began ironing out the details, but I asked to do some observations first. See, the education system is SO different here, that I want to make sure that whatever I may be discussing in these trainings is applicable. Otherwise, it would be a waste of time for all parties involved. In the meantime, I’m anxiously waiting for them to get back to me about observations and with more details about the workshop, but I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high about this potential project.

Why? Well, like I had mentioned, this would be a dream for me, but I’m quickly becoming accustomed to the fact that Fijians truly live on “Fijian time”. In fact, if I wouldn’t feel like a piece of me was missing, I’d take off my watch altogether as it really doesn’t serve a purpose here. If somebody tells you that they’ll get back to you tomorrow, consider yourself lucky if they actually do because, realistically, it will probably be several days from now. This mindset honestly drives such a big part of the culture as there are little time demands on anything. To emphasize this even further, allow me to take a moment to break this down even more: Imagine teaching without stressing out about the limited time you have. Imagine showing up for a meeting or an appointment and not having to worry if you’re there on time or not. Imagine a world where you don’t worry about what other people think because you just do things whenever you want to do them because, hey, it’s Fijian time! NOW, you may have the slightest idea as to how laid back the cultural mindset is… and now, you may understand why I’m trying not to get my hopes up for this project as my time left here is slowly ticking away.

Despite my rare annoyance with “Fijian time” (and yes, the locals actually use this term to joke about and reference this laid back mindset), allow me to say that it’s been fantastic to live a completely stress-free, worry-free, live-your-life-however-you-want-to type of lifestyle. So, while I’m waiting to hear about this potential project, I suppose that I have no choice but to wait because although it can be frustrating, I’d be lying if I said that Fijian time wasn’t a beautiful, beautiful thing.

I’ll end this post by saying that I’ll update my blog again soon – but you’ll just have to live via Fijian time because who knows when that could actually be!

God bless!

M Smile

               Day 1 of volunteering was already incredibly humbling and rewarding. I went to a school down the street which only educates students that are deaf or have physical or mental disabilities. As soon as I arrived with 6 other volunteers, we were greeted by Sala, a deaf girl who was so excited that we were there, that she was running in circles giving everybody endless hugs. I was then placed in Class 1 which is equivalent to 1^st grade, but I was working with 10, 11, and 13 year olds that had some pretty severe mental disabilities as the levels of classes here are determined on ability rather than by age. We learned about the letter “I” and then sang some songs. I was so moved by the fact that these students were so inspired by singing a song as simple as “The Wheels on the Bus”. I can’t even begin to describe the way their faces lit up over something so simple, but it was amazing to witness.

                We returned back to the house after lunch, where I met with a local NGO that works with the most at-risk and needy students in the Suva school district. I had the opportunity to work with some of these students on Reading this morning at one of the local schools. Here, they practiced letter names, sounds, and sight words. Mary, the “Reading Recovery” teacher, asked if I would help with testing. I was impressed that Fijian schools used running records that are very similar to what we use in the U.S. to assess fluency (which I am constantly administering to my students!). After we finished testing, I asked Mary if she wanted help with determining the type of errors and with finding the accuracy rate. She looked at me, smiled, and said, “I don’t know how to do this. I taught myself about running records on the Internet.”

                I was floored by how much she knew simply by researching it online. I then explained to her how it works and helped her assess them. Then, we talked about what running records are used for and I told her that I would bring her some resources when I return. She was so excited to have more information regarding this as the only thing that she’s been going off of is the handful of books that she has. Because there are so few, many of her students have now memorized the words in the books because they’ve read them so often! (Allow me to send a HUGE thank you to all of my coworkers who provided me with a suitcase-full of books. Clearly, you can see how this will benefit this specific project!) I’m excited to spend time working on getting these materials together for her tomorrow.

                This afternoon, I went and worked with students that are in secondary school as they are, apparently, very low in their content areas and have been identified as needing extra tutoring in order to bridge the gap before they take their term exams in about 8 weeks. The first student I worked with was Alecio. We worked on his Social Science as he was having a tough time memorizing dates, vocabulary, and information from his notes. He was laughing at me as I came up with songs and dances to help him remember this information, but he can now tell me what blackbirding means (kidnapping) and when Fiji became a British colony (10 October 1874). Hey, however crazy he thinks I am, I’ll call that a win!

                I then worked with Ledz, a 17-year old, on his Math. We worked on the identity and inverse properties, exchange rates, and percentages. I was surprised that he didn’t know how to do basic multiplication and division. When I asked him why he wrote something down in his notes, he responded with, “I don’t know. My teacher wrote it on the board, so I copied.” I then asked if he understood something else, and he said, “No. There are too many children in the class to ask questions.” With that being said, when he finally understood percentages, his face lit up and he said something like, “Oh! I finally understand!” He was so excited, that he then asked to be my Facebook friend so that I can help him more in the future. BOOM!

Working with Ledz

                I also had the opportunity to observe Class 5 (about a 5^th grade level class) today. I found it interesting that during Math, they copied their notes from the supposedly “consumable” workbooks that they use year after year. In addition, they were sharing these workbooks among 2 or 3 students. There are many more things that I can talk about here, but I’ll just sum it up with the fact that the education system is very different here, but the majority of the people that I have worked with seem grateful to receive help. They keep telling me that I can teach them so much, to which I respond, “No – you can teach ME so much!”

                Lastly, you may be wondering what the title of this post means. Well, when I was working with some deaf students yesterday, I learned how to sign my name in Fijian. They learned how to spell it, but then it became difficult to spell M-E-G-H-A-N over and over again when they were speaking to me. Instead, they shortened it by calling me “M Smile”. One girl (who is not deaf) translated for me and said something like, “We are calling you M Smile because you have a good smile.” How beautiful, how inspiring, and how perfect of a reason to continue to smile while working with the wonderful students of Fiji!