1_Arrival

[note: due to my current location, I cannot routinely update my blog. I write the entries as I have time and then copy and paste them into new blog entries- this means that the frequency at which I update is not directly tied to when I actually wrote the original post.... thanks]


I am already getting the impression that the phrase “many things have happened since I last wrote” will become a re-occurring theme in this blog; at least for the next seven weeks or so while I am in the Pre-Service Training (PST- we love our acronyms here…) phase prior to site assignment.

My time in LA was rather tense, as I think it was for most of the team. All of us were coming from different points in life but we all left something or someone behind. For me, LA was difficult as I found myself in an in-between point between life as I knew it and the addition I was about to add to it.

FRE-8 (Fiji Re-Entry Group 8- or, the eigthPeace Corps group to come to the country since the post re-opened in 2003) is awesome. I had been expecting to be one of the older people in the group but was surprised to find that the average age of my group is around 27. We have a very diverse make up, with a bunch of people older than me bringing some pretty unique experiences to the table.

As a cross sample, consider the following: Former land developer, a woman that was in the process of getting her dive rescue credentials, a woman who wrote her capstone on toilets and sanitation, a former LA County lifeguard, a Yoga instructor, a white-water rafting guide, social workers, a mental health councilor, an aquatic ecology specialist, a public health worker, another wilderness first responder… the list goes on.

Needless to say, I’m excited about my team.

We arrived in Nadi (pronounced Nawn-Dee) around 5:30am and after a lengthy luggage collection process made our way to a bus which took us to our orientation location on the other side of the island. The first smell when I stepped out of the airport was a smell I’ve come to enjoy- it’s a heavy smell of exhaust wrapped in a warm, humid blanket. It instantly took me back to other places where I’ve experienced these smells- Tanzania, Ethiopia, Haiti- and the personal growth these locations and experiences brought.

As I considered this, the tense feelings I had in LA immediately disappeared- they fell away and were replaced by a feeling of calm that surprisingly has not left me yet. I learned early on that I basically have received everything I could have hoped for: I will be learning Fijian Hindustani (what some Indo-Fijians refer to as “broken Hindi” as it is not the proper Hindi taught in schools but more of a street language) and working in a public health capacity- likely attached to the Fijian Ministry of Health or some NGO working with this entity.