The New Village

Back to the village. I had a very tearful goodbye to my old village and felt immensely sad as I drove away in the car, quite possibly never to see these people again. The transition was a bit rough, with a few popped tires and at least one missed ferry. But I did make it to the new site and only a few hours later than intended!

I have been adjusting as best as I can and find that I really like it here. The people are great and since their village is much smaller than my first, I already know most of them fairly well. The house is nice, with an indoor bathroom this time and an army of ants. The best part of the house in landscaping with lots of colorful flowers, passionfruit and papaya trees, and a beautifully walled garden. The village is powered with solar panels - each house has one. This is the result of a project with habitat for humanity several years back. The only downside is that there are no outlets, so the solar only provides for lighting, which to be honest with you I would most happily do without if it meant I could charge my phone or laptop.

The beach and view of the ocean is breathtaking beautiful. The pictures I have here unfortunately were taken on a rainy day so the colors aren't so apparent but just imagine waters of the most intense turquoise, azure, and cobalt blue with little sandstone islands scattered here and there and mountainous islands in the distance.

My inherited cat named Melanie. I'm not a huge cat person but I like having her around; she's affectionate and a good friend. <3



My bed. All the walls in the house are pink.



New kitchen area. Filled with ants. No matter how many meausres I take against them...

The outside. That's my veranda...lol. I did make the windchimes you see hanging though!

Imagine how you would feel if you turned the tp around and got this instead. It's not as big as Larry but I think that location counts for a lot. Still just picture how big that is... imagine the face you would make.



A bit of the village itself, which is very very small. Maybe only 25 houses total and set in a cul-de-sac formation. My house is situated right at the base of the lollipop and top of the stick if you can picture that.



Tomitomi (picking up trash) with the village children. I give them fake coins for helping and then after a certain number of trips they get to buy simple toys from me (like stickers, balls, glowsticks, pencils, etc). This is a project that the previous volunteer started and I'm just continuing. This and group teeth brushing with the kids every morning before school. 

**If anyone is interested in donating some CHEAP toys I would be happy to chat with you! It would be much appreicated :)**

Ocean view from the edge of the village. We're up on a little hill.

The best volleyball court I've played on since coming here. I have also had the most fun playing the game in this village. People are still really good and serious about the rules but everyone seems to just have more fun, especially when it is raining and we run down to jump in the warm ocean waters when our team isn't playing.

The beach looking northwest towards an elbow in Vanua Levu.

Straight out to the southweest. You can't see it well on this day but on clear days you can see the large island of Taveuni in the distance spanning much of the horizon. 

The beach looking right to the southeast.



Looking back towards the village beach from a popular swimming lagoon.

That's all for now! Looking forward to being in touch as I being project work!