The Year of Bagpipes and Boats

It is the end of the year. And in the name of vain celebration I wanted to document all the shenanigans (a word termed after me?. . . wiki it) of the past 365.24ish days. The following is the list. The order is what comes to mind as I type - so basically the typical way I do things. Each was given the same number as to eliminate ranking. I added pics if I had them. This is just how I roll. I know. You love it.

1. Played with guns on the Prime Minister of Fiji's Ship (he became the PM when taking over with a military coup. . perhaps I played with the gun that toppled the gov't!)

1. Acted like a doctor on Mel Gibson's private island to unsuspecting locals.

1. Hung with Bill Clinton.(and my husband in a super snazzy suit)

1. Played a bagpipe on top of mountain in a Bulgarian village (next to a giant cage?).

1. Saw a random baby being born.

1. Jumped in a bounce house - till I got kicked out.

1. Mastered Wii golf.

1. Ran a marathon (well. . .technically I didn't run anything. . .but JB did! - and I live through him, so it counts)

1. Smoked huka while playing backgammon and watching soccer in a salon with only old Turkish men.

1. Drank grog.

1. Drank rakia (traditional Bulgarian liquor).

1. Started drinking coffee and never stopped.

1. Hiked on the top of a mountain with snow up to my knees, with no trace of other humans around.

1.Meet the V.P. of Malawi (Hon. Joyce Banda), Jennifer Buffet, Kari Potts, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Bryer, Wayne Lapierre (ha. you're shocked right?!), Chris Elias, and some other high rollers.

1.Made a cornhole board.

1.Hung out at a cabin in the middle of Arkansas and played capture the flag in the middle of the night.

1. Went to white water (and i'm not talking real estate investment gone wrong. . i'm talking transportation devices for humans made from plastic chutes and water gone right! - they should put those things everywhere. right next to the stairs! (this also just made me think of the game Chutes and Ladders. . . the game is set up all wrong. you should start at the top and win by making it down first. . .cause everyone knows going down a water slide is way better than climbing UP a ladder)

1. Got a dog (well actually this is not true. but i'm hoping JB will read this and buy me one. here's to wishful thinking!)

1. Taught myself to knit. Who wants a scarf?!

Trick-or-Treat??????

Trick-or-Treating in Bulgaria = not such a productive idea. Some of my Scout kids asked me if i wanted to go trick-or-treating with them. Hell yeah. I love Halloween and I can seriously house some candy when given the chance (this is probably a result of growing up in house with NO candy and then marrying someone who thinks grapes and oranges are a perfect desert). So I threw together a costume. A soccer player. Very creative and time consuming to put together - I know. Those soccer socks were toward the back of my drawers.

Anywho, we went. And we were the only ones who got the Halloween memo. Cause the streets were empty. Knocking door to door in communist block style apartments and getting blank stares instead of candy is a far cry from Uncle Jimmy dressing up as a scarecrow and chasing unsuspecting kids down the road while throwing candy at them in the suburbs of America. But, by the end of the night we did score a few treats: a croissant (one to split between the 6 of us), a handful of purple candy, and a bag of treats from one family who KNEW Halloween (the lady even came to the door in a mask!). Here is a picture of the kiddies. Better luck next year - I think the holiday is just starting to gain steam - so don't give up!

On Aging

I turned 30 this week. I know! You are shocked, right? You can't believe it because of my youthful personality and my unaging face. I wouldn't believe it either.. .but i have been there to witness the whole thing - well, most of it, anyway.

I was really scared about turning 30 because unlike the other decade birthdays I have had, there is nothing (seemingly) big to look forward to in the next 10 years (at least under law)- except maybe trying to pay off my debt . . and that is never fun to talk about. . just ask the US government!

When I turned 10, I was pumped because that meant I was only 2 years away from getting my very own moped (which i did get when i turned 12, and drove to elementary school, and locked next to everyone's Huffy bicycles. and yes, I was a BIG deal. since then, i've never doubted my coolness. . sometimes when i feel bad about myself, i think. . .remember when you had to ask the teacher where to put your motorcycle helmet cause it won't fit in your cubby - you're awesome!).

When I turned 20, I was pumped because that meant i was only 1 year away from being able to legally throw back those Zimas with jolly ranchers in them.

In Bulgaria, having a birthday is like a nice kick in the teeth. Not only are you getting older and more decrepit, but YOU are the person who is suppose to buy all the drinks and chocolates and cakes for the people around you. You say, "hey guys! it's my bday! have something - I'm buyin!!!" and then everyone sings you Happy Birthday while eating your food. At first, I was really offended by this model of bday celebrationess, but then I realized it may be better. Sure, it may not be too thrilling on your birthday BUT every other day of the year some poor, aging, SOB will be buying the cake! That is like 364 potential birthdays just for you!

So I accept it. I bought my Scout kids candy and watched them run around the park on a sugar high. The kids (and my community partner) gave me photographs and wrote on the back of them and my landlord gave me a flower (covered in glitter! super bonus). So the day turned out to be really nice after all. And my anti-aging lotion must be working cause I look just the same as I did yesterday. Perhaps 30 won't be too bad.

Don't Read This. It has Opinions.

You should probably stop reading this now.

America does a lot of things really well. Like teeth. American dentists can take a kid with the most jacked-up horse-face and turn them into the star of a toothpaste commercial.

Most other countries aren't doing this. In fact, when i was living in Fiji the people asked me why American's like to put silver jewelry all over their teeth. Then i would explain that Americans have braces because without them half the country could eat apples through tennis rackets. . . .and that is not a look that is really "in" these days. I had braces and that is why I’m in toothpaste commercials now!

America is also good at making burgers AND inventing sports, with world championships - that no one else plays WHILE still giving the sport the same name of the world's most popular sport - even though they are nowhere near the same. These things are working! I'm craving a burger and have been trying for a week to live-steam a college or NFL football game. What's wrong with me? I'm American.

But let's get to the point.

America is TERRIBLE with alcohol policies. Throughout the world people are legally drinking at 18 or 14 or 3. But we are sending kids off to wars, college, and medical physicals without a shot of tequila first. I'm not advocating for handing 5 year olds cases of Paps Blue Ribbon (but if they do drink. they should drink this. it is basically water). In fact, i'm not advocating for anyone to drink. But I do think we need to calm down as a nation.

The other day I was in the grocery store and one of the kids I work with came in, she just turned 10 years old, and she bought 3 beers. She was taking them to her dad and his friends. The cashier didn't ask her anything. I am almost 30 and in America I still have to give my id and a blood test to buy a bottle of cough syrup. I think the strictness of our laws is dangerous. I have seen friends binge drink to the point of hospitalization. It was only because they were dumb about alcohol. They were dumb about alcohol because we (Americans) have commercials telling parents to avoid drinking with and around teens and cops searching for 20 year olds in nightclubs. So kids sneak alcohol in back alleys and drink whatever they can get their hands on. Which is usually cheap finger nail polish remover. no wonder they are losing their livers.

In Bulgaria I have seen adolescents passing a beer around in the street. Once they were sitting on the playground equipment at a school (not during school hours). At first i was disturbed. But then i realized. This is good. I would much rather have kids sitting around sharing a beer where everyone can see them than kids chugging handles of vodka in abandoned buildings. As a nation we need to reexamine our alcohol polity and lighten up a little. Also, if you are underage. I will NOT buy booze for you. But I will pick you up from a party and feed you a sandwich before I tell your parents what a terrible child you turned out to be.

I'm not always this truthful

There is a gnarly scab on my knee. I got it today. This is what I would tell you if you asked me about it - which I know you would - cause your compassionate like that:

Today I was playing soccer with a bunch of guys. Once when I was going for the ball, I slide and somehow ripped open the flesh on my knee. It started bleeding everywhere but I didn't mind. I was proud of myself cause I won the ball in the tackle. And it didn't hurt so I kept playing and didn't say anything.

But the truth is:

Today I was playing soccer with a bunch of little boys. Once when I was going for a ball that had been kicked out of bounds, I fell on my own and somehow ripped open the flesh on my knee. It started bleeding a little but I tried to ignore it. I was totally embarrassed with myself cause I fell on my face - with no one around! It was our throw-in so I kept playing. It hurt but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to look like pansy.

the end. oh! I should mention (as a redeeming factor) in the game I scored 4 of our 6 goals! .....or did i?

Is this a World Record???

Holy moly this beer is ginormous. It makes regular sized beer feel bad. I bought the normal beer for $1.30 and the super-sized steroid beer for $2.70. I don't know how long regular beer can keep up in this market. Someone told me that every month they come out with a bigger beer - in order to out-do the competition. People better start making bigger refrigerators (and stomachs)...stat.

You know what else is big? The mountains. See... I went hiking.

That is a church, chillin on the hillside.

What's inside?

Near my house there is a shop. This is what it looks like from the outside. This is a fact. Look:

So for a long time I avoided it - it looks a bit out of my league. I never liked green apples- or scantly clad girls on chairs. Instead of going in, I wondered what might be sold inside. Everyday I saw all sorts of people entering: men, women, children, and some crazy chain-smoking guy in a wheelchair. Anywho, curiosity got the best of me. If curiosity killed the cat, I'm not sure why it hasn't killed me yet. I'm curious about a lot of things.

Inside was one long freezer and one long aisle of . . . . food. It's a grocery store. Of course it is.

Naked or pretty risky images of women appear everywhere. The other day I bought a newspaper from the side of the road for 50 cents for a game that I had planned for the kids. But as soon as I opened the fold there were naked girls. So I skipped the game. I can't be handing out that out to minors. . . maybe I will be arrested and have to spend my life in a dungeon.

Then the next day my community partner bought a newspaper to make paper hats for the kids. The same, well, not the exact same, pictures scattered the press as the day before - when I threw the paper away. But don't worry. She made the hats anyway. And the kids proudly walked around town with paper hats with smatterings of what I once thought were inappropriate pics. I was wrong. Now I'm really mad at myself for throwing the first paper away - I had a really good game in mind and now I'm short 50 cents.

The Bieber Backfire

During the day I take a group of kids out for hikes and out to play silly (but incredibly fun) games (and I know. cause I play too.). And since I always strive to be the cool (in a I'm-not-trying-to-be-cool-but-I-am kind of way), I try to relate to the kids in areas of pop-culture.

Most of the kids I am working with are 10-12 year old girls. I thought to myself, "i bet these girls just drool over Justin Bieb-ster. I bet they think he's soo dreamy with his fancy high-tops and autobiographical movie. My God, even Fiji's Prime Minister has the hots for his combed forward wispy hair (see my other blog post to learn more about this)." So I asked the kids, in a cool way (cause i'm trying to be cool here), "so you like Justin Bieber?"

And their response?!! they say, "UGGGGG. HE IS TERRIBLE!" then they say, "Do you like White Snake? What about Ozzy? Or Queen? Or ACDC? Or Pink Floyd?"

shit. these kids may be too cool for me.

Learning to Read

Knowing how to read is GREAT! I highly recommend it to everyone. My 7 year old sister is super at reading - she can read like a real-life 13 year old. For real. They should be testing that kid for using brain steroids. She could be a drug cheat. But like they say, if you ain't cheatin'; you ain't tryin' (i think they are southerns, like my friend Spencer Lucker, because they say words like ain't). Kuddos to her.

In fact, kuddos to you! Obviously, you have mastered the art of reading too. I can tell because you are making sense of all these crazy symbols that are crammed together. Or sorry. . .maybe you are that poor sucker that is stuck having someone read this to you because you haven't learned the fine art of reading yet. . .but don't worry there is still plenty of time! I know. I have been learning how to read this week.

Everything here is written in Cyrillic. A wonderful lady in the Peace Corps Office gave me a book with the Cyrillic symbols listed next to how they would sound in the Roman Alphabet. like H symbol sounds like Na. I tore that page out of the book and now I aimlessly walk through town trying to decode every signs' meaning. I can spend several minutes staring at a sign, slowly, painfully, sounding out the word. Every once in a while the word will be the same as in English. Then I lose it. I jump up and down and scream to the frightened pedestrians, "HA HA HA. It says C-O-FF-EE! I think they sell C-O-FF-EE here!!!" And since must people don't speak English, they think I'm crazy. And the people who do speak English also think I'm crazy. But it doesn't matter because I'm very proud of myself. And that is what learning to read is like - feeling incredibly dumb for 10 minutes and then feeling incredibly smart for 30 seconds - and then starting all over again. It is totally worth it.

Bulgaria

Ok. Listen. This stuff is big news. I moved. . . . to BULGARIA!!!

Let's get down to business: I had to change the fish background of the blog (in case you are new to the scene - there use to be fish where those crazy lasers are (also i think laser should be spelled lazers...cause it's cooler that way) because now that i'm in Bulgaria I don't expect to see fancy-tropical-coral fish. Leaving them up would be false advertising. Do I expect to see lasers?! You betcha! well, maybe. well, i doubt it.

Before moving here I knew as much about Bulgaria as I do/did about Herman James Linstell. Which is nothing - especially since I made-up Mr. H.J. Linstell. Anywho, I'm learning fast. There is sooo much to see and learn. Like the Cyrillic alphabet! The following is a quick list of the things I have learned that I love so far:

-there are sunflowers everywhere.
-when people talk about something they like they raise their voice and use their arms a lot. if you love something you shout about it. DID I TELL YOU ABOUT HOW MANY SUNFLOWERS THERE ARE?????
-a bottle of wine can be bought for approximately $1.25 USD. WOW, WINE!!!
-coffee and espresso can be purchased from vending machines on the street for a few cents. it comes out fresh, hot, and with a little stir stick. (i just have to learn Cyrillic and Bulgarian to know what exactly i'm ordering, when i'm pushing those buttons)
-fancy cars drive past my house. so do horses pulling carts.
-there is a public pool by my house - that plays rap music on load speakers, sells beer, and has a soccer field.
-there is a place that has bears. and you can feed them!(i guess you can always feed bears, but at this place you give them fruit - not your kidney)

who knew? i certainly didn't. but I do now. and so do you. tell a friend. and come visit.

Supermodel Documentary Hour

Now that I am in the States, I thought I would sum up my trip with some pics. . . and add illustration to some of my blog posts. I will be leaving for Bulgaria in the middle of August so perhaps I will pick back-up blogging then. Anywho, enjoy.

Eating in a Village

Leaving a Village Health Outreach. We like boats.

I taught my co-workers the emotion game - the person holding the camera yells out an emotion, situation, or animal, just before snapping the pic and the "models" have to quickly act out what was said. This is "monkey" -

Guns and Coffee on the Prime Minister's Boat -

Figuring out the results of the "Baby Show" in my Fijian dress. Who says I don't know how to get "dolled" up?? Nobody!

Ice is good at climbing trees -

DOUBLE RAINBOW!!! WHAT DOES IT MEAN??!!

Drinking grog -

Grog Drinking -

Doing a village cleanup. Everything is mowed with a weed-eater. I am a pro.

Relaxing with a fresh drink -

Cleanin' fish for dinner (we caught all these fish in about 5 minutes with a net just off shore) -

Dhalhole! -

My students from 2004-2006. They are soccer refs now! World Cup prepare.

Dhalhole - A Gift that Keep on Giving

i finished my project! so you can clap your hands and give a few hearty cheers. and what is even more impressive (or maybe equally impressive) - I made a full cornhole set for the island. if you don't know what cornhole is - i feel sorry for you. it is great. google it. i even sewed the bags myself! (with my friend Ice - which is the coolest name ever! and even not in a pun kind of way!) My skill with a needle and thread was tested for the first time and I think i did well considering I never even took home-ec in jr. high! - i opted to play the trombone for the band instead. If you have ever heard me play the trombone you would know I made bad choices in jr. high.

instead of using corn for the bag i used dhal so maybe the game should be called Dhalhole. Now this feat is real public service. you are welcome world. I'm a real giver.

Doors

Fijian's don't have doorbells (That I have ever seen. And everyone knows if I haven't seen it then it doesn't exist. . .like the Easter Bunny or Antarctica). Maybe it is because they never close their doors.

When Fijians are home, and not sleeping, they leave their doors (and windows) wide open. If the door is closed (aside from the conditions listed above). . .it means that the people inside are weird, they hate everyone, and they want to punch you in the face instead of offer you tea. Stay away from these people, their homes, and their fists. Closed doors DO NOT mean the owners want to prevent bugs, dogs,frogs, or chickens from getting inside - that is just silly.

anyway, open doors create communal communities where everyone visits everyone, everyone eats with everyone, and everyone shares with everyone. Fijians are undoubtedly among the best sharers on earth. If a person buys a bottle of coke he will pass it around until it is empty (there is no such thing as saving for later). If someone gets paid then he will be the one shouting drinks for all his unemployed friends. Once I was on a bus and some lady brought some papaya. She cut it into pieces and passed the tray down the aisle until everyone had a piece.

Sometimes the definition of Fijian sharing is equivalent to American stealing. For example, when you enter someone's house you take off your shoes. When you leave someone's house you take a pair of shoes. sometimes those shoes aren't your original shoes. Sometimes you didn't bring shoes to start with BUT if you leave first you can take some with you. Meaning, if you are last to leave, your trek home might be barefoot. No one is stealing your shoes. They are just borrowing them until you "share" them from outside another house.

I regress. Fijian's don't have doorbells (or closed doors) - so when people come over they knock on the door frame. the knock happens with the pointer finger in rapid succession. as they continually tap, tap, tap, tap, they will say your name over and over and over and over. it drives me mad but it works well - cause I always come running in order to make it stop.

Food - for you foodies

Last night I dreamt I was unleashed in one of those crazy American style buffets – the kind where every type of food imagined is somewhere, sitting under a bright heating lamp, slowly turning into plastic. I loved it! I didn’t know what to do with myself. My God; the options!!! I was sprinting in circles, trying to decide if I wanted macaroni and cheese, a breakfast burrito, a make-it-yourself salad, or just liquid cheese dip. My dreaming self, smartly, and health consciously, opted for everything. But when I got to the register, the lady in the hair net told me the total was $9.50 and I panicked. I didn’t have any money. It was a disaster of epic proportions. Then I woke up. And to be totally honest, I’m still a bit depressed – I was really looking forward to that liquid cheese.

The menu in Fiji would put the fanciest seafood restaurant to shame. If you want seafood; Fiji is your place. If you crave anything else. . .well, you’ll have to dream about it. The menu here looks something like this. . .all these items can be served with your choice of rice, cassava, dalo, or breakfast crackers:

• Fried Fish
• Boiled Fish
• Fish in coconut
• Fish with onions
• Fish with papaya
• Crab
• Lobster
• Curried Crab and Lobster
• Eel
• Octopus
• Oysters
• Seaweed
• Shark

Eating in a Fijian village goes something like this:

• Everyone sits cross-legged on the floor(on a mat made of palm fronds) around a long piece of cloth which is somehow acting as the table.

• The most important people sit at the top of the “table” while the least important sit at the bottom. It is a visual ranking system. If you wanna know how you are viewed in the Fijian community, just go to lunch. (also, men tend to be at the top and women at the bottom. . or they are in the kitchen finishing all the cooking).

• After a prayer everyone eats.

• You eat with your hands (which really is the best way)

• Bones and shells and seeds are still intact so as you eat you must carefully debone, peel, and unseed your food treats.

• If you are lucky you will get to eat the head of the fish. A majority of Fijians agree that the fish eyeballs are the best part. On this, I must disagree.

• While you eat, everyone around you will say, “Eat. Eat a lot. Eat.” They will say this the entire time you are stuffing your face. Even if you sat eating for 14 days and your gut outweighed a Killer Whale’s, they would still keep saying it. These people love to encourage a hearty appetite. (it is shocking Diabetes is the leading health problem is the country).

• When you are finished eating you will wash your hands in a bowl of water. Then you will say, “thank you for the food. I will rest now.” Then you move away from the “table” . . . By doing this you are allowing another person (who doesn’t rank as highly as you) to come sit in your spot and begin their meal.

The culture here embraces fat people. When you are looking exceptionally stunning someone might tell you, “My! Haven’t you gone fat!” Men sitting on the side of the road holler to attractive women by yelling, (essentially) “Hey, Fatty. You’re really Fat!” – it’s their catcall. It is a compliment. The word for fat is uro. So they really say, “hey, Uro. Uro Levu!” When guys yell this to me, I like to yell back, “Hey. Ulo. Ulo levu!” Ulo means worm in Fijian. sometimes my cleverness even astounds me.

Anyway, this is making me hungry. I gotta go eat.

Sparkleface and Glitterface

My neighbor is the best - hands down. This is evident because he is raising a baby sea turtle. He (the sea turtle) will be released into the ocean once he is big enough to have a high chance of survival. I do my best to be a good citizen of the world - i feed him in the afternoons. We have named the turtle Sparkleface (April's namesake) A nameless dog that usually roams around near Sparkleface is now called Glitterface - the dog is laying behind me in the top picture.

A Tragedy

To fully understand the tragedy of this story you should read the post “In Electric Shock” first.

So the boat carrying all the island’s supplies, minus our fuel, came and left today. When it left three nurses left with it. One for maternity leave, one for annual leave, and one to take two patients to a more fancy hospital than ours– a hospital that can provide anesthesia with surgery.

I spent the evening at the wharf, with basically the entirety of the island's population, to say goodbye to all the boat’s passengers (and esp. the nurses). The boat’s coming and going is a big deal – much like the Oscars, the Olympics, or Indie 500 (remember these people don’t have televisions or shops or restaurants or mini golf). This once a month occurrence is “The Event” of the month.

When Fijians want to give a good wave hello or goodbye they use both hands and do an exaggerated double wave- moving both arms up and down like they are trying to fly. I love the double wave business and try to execute it whenever there is an appropriate occasion.

The boat left at 10pm and I stood with my flashlight on the wharf. As soon as the boat began to drift out to sea I began my Fijian double wave. I moved my arms up and down with such force that my poor flashlight became unhinged from my grip and flew into the water. It plopped into the ocean below and sank at warp speed. I yelled out a few expletives – because now I am flashlightless and now the electricity will not be working. Now I will really have to learn how to see in the dark. FML.

In Electric Shock

The hospital is going through a renovation. Part of the renovation is the installation of a brand new, more powerful, generator. Everyone is really excited because it will be able to supply enough power to take an Xray and power the lights at the exact same time!!! The current generator can’t even produce enough power run two electric kettles at the same time.

Everyone around the hospital is high-fiving and celebrating. Soon we will have electricity for more than a few hours per day and more than two hours in the night. Think of all the activities we can do! So many activities!!!

Well, everyone WAS high-fiving and celebrating. . .until today, when we got a phone call from the main island that said that they had forgotten to put our fuel on the boat (which is arriving today). No fuel = no way to run the generator (the new one or the old one) = NO electricity until the next boat arrives. The boat, well it comes just once a month (and only if the weather is good). So no lights, no electric kettles, no xrays, no refrigeration for the immunizations (?), no fans, no nothing for 30 days. I hope if people get injured it happens during the day. And if babies decide to be born they wait until sunlight. If not, medical care will be done by candle light. [And the computer classes I teach will have to be moved to the high school next door, because they use solar power instead of relying on million year old plant and animal decomposed gooey matter.]

Also, no fuel means the hospital truck/ambulance and boat will remain idle. Looks like people should avoid getting sick this month and I should learn how to see in the dark.

Werewolfs and Babies. . . but not in that order.

Baby:I work at the hospital and everyday someone new comes in with some kind of crazy disease or problem. A kid came in who poked out his eye with a machete. Once an infant drank gasoline because it was being stored in a Sprite bottle. He thought he was getting a tasty treat but what he got was 3 days in the hospital. Some people have elephantiasis and some have goiters but mostly we (the hospital) have women coming in to have babies.

(the population of the island is low and the hospital is small. usually we have about 3 to 4 patients admitted at one time. the waiting room is never full and the service is always good. and free. you should come next time your boil need lancing).

With all the new babies being produced here it seems like we are a baby-making factory. I decided I wanted to see how it all worked as I have never been in a delivery room. For the past few weeks I have been debating about asking if I could observe a live birth - out of fear (I was terrified that if something went wrong with the birth the mother would think I put some crazy foreign curse in the air and I didn't want to be blamed for anything. .. even if it was for only watching). Anyway, I finally decided I was being stupid and today when the nurses announced a baby would probably come in the afternoon, I jumped at the opportunity. I asked if I could watch and they said yes.

SO. today I saw a baby being born! holy moly. TV got it all wrong.

the mother was about 21 years old and it was her first baby. She was given no pain medicine. she did not scream. she did not make a sound. when she pushed you could see the pain in her face but shit, this girl could withstand waterboarding with a smile. she did not have a cloth or blanket covering her and there were no stirrups or anything for her feet. whenever she was pushing she would lift her legs and push them against the delivery nurses. I saw the entire thing. the head came out. then the body came swimming into the air. the entire process took about 45 minutes. the result - a beautiful, healthy, baby boy.

Another thing. The baby takes after his mom. when he was born he let out a quick little yelp and then didn't cry after that. at all. He just opened his eyes... and looked around the room. this baby could have been born in the library and no one would have noticed.

Werewolf: I live with the head doctor of the hospital and her 14 year old brother. Today when I came home from work, Jack (the brother), asked me,

Jack - Hey, what do you know about werewolfs?
Me- A lot! (even though I know nothing except for what is portrayed in Teen-Wolf the movie. I said that because I wanted to see where the conversation was going. It is not often a kid asks you about werewolfs in a their second language.)
Jack - Are they real?
Me - no. they are only for fun. . . for movies. . .why?
Jack - uh, cause I'm worried I'm turning into one.

turns out: poor jack was bitten by a dog when he was 13. shortly after he started growing - a lot! he became hungrier then ever. he was always craving food especially meat. he wanted to sleep all day but stay up at night. and mostly, when older people told him what to do he became really angry. He still has these symptoms today. and they are getting worse!

I told Jack I think that he is not a werewolf but he is just going through puberty. And these terrible symptoms will go away after a several long hard years. I also told him I would lock my door and avoid him on nights of full moons. Just in case.

Picture Time!

Its a Christmas Miracle! The internet is working super fast (uploading these pics only took a few hours!).

This is a pic from the church (which I talk about in the post Safety First). It is right next to the hospital and below is one of the villages.

Throughout the week we go to different villages to provide medical screening and services. On the way to one village we came across this. . . and then we turned around. . . hope no one was too sick!

Flying to Mel Gibson's private island:

fresh coconuts from the side of the road.

I Know Impressive People - and some of them know me too!

Listen: in case you have forgotten the women's world cup is starting in just 1 day! And depending on when you read this - it may have already started!!!! (for those of you who are not reading my blog immediately following my posting. . .which, I bet, is everyone. . .except me. . .who lavishes in my own writing/work/existence) So, go turn on your tv (if you have one) and watch America (i hope) come home with the cup. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY - WATCH FOR

Finau Vulivuli. She is one of 16 center referees chosen to officiate the tournament. Finau is from Fiji and when I was in Peace Corps we started refereeing together. We became the first female referees in the country. We traveled together to control men's professional matches. I thought we were a big deal. Now i know, Finau IS a big deal. anyway, watch for her. she's the one who never makes mistakes.

Also. on the trend of impressive folks:

this story isn't about Fiji but it happened while I was here. Thus,I will include it for your reading pleasure and mostly, cause I like it.

for Christmas JB and I gave everyone in our family a photo of us standing with President Bill Clinton. President Clinton has his arm hanging over our shoulders and we look like best buds. . .which is awesome cause well. . .it just is.. . and you know it!

Anyway, my father is the type of guy who hears anyone talking about kids and he will whip out a photo album (that he carries in his briefcase) to showcase how attractive his own kids are (why do you think I'm so vain). Someone could be talking about baby goats and half a second later my dad will be saying, "well, look. Look at my group of little rascals" and then he'll shove a dozen photos in their face (even if they are blind).

So the other day my dad was talking to a client (about painting a house) and dad starts showcasing his kid photos. When the client sees the photo I described above, the following conversation ensued:

Client: Wow! Your daughter got a picture with him!
Dad: Yeah. She's in grad school at the Clinton School so she gets to see Clinton sometimes.
Client: I'm NOT talking about Clinton! Look! Do you know who that is??? (starts pointing). . .. that is Josphat Boit! He is an amazing runner.
Dad: Oh yeah. JB - That's her husband. She gets to see him ALL the time.

so anyway, kudos to JB, and Finau, and President Clinton. . . i am continually shocked by your awesomeness.