Training

Upon arriving in Fiji, we were met at the airport by a number of volunteers and staff members.  After passing through customs, we loaded all of our selves and our possessions (including a 15ft surfboard brought by one eager trainee) and our selves onto an open-air bus and started to drive away.  Which is when a large cushy touring bus arrived, windows dewed with airconditioning condensation, arrived and we realized we had been directed onto the wrong bus- headed in the wrong directions.  (Such an incident is endearingly referred to as getting “Fiji-ed” by previously established members of our clan.)

We traveled part of the way around the southern coast of Viti Levu (the Coral Coast) to a tourist village where we stayed at a resort and received an orientation to training.  There was really nothing of great value learned during this time, just an idea of how training will go.  The next day, we had water safety training on a cold and windy beach, and then spent the afternoon aboard a bus to our next training destination.  Positioned at a technical college, we spent the weekend learning elements of safety and health that we would need to know for the next 7 weeks.  We were then told what languages we would learn, given our first language class, and then divided into training groups. 

On Monday, we were delivered to our host villages where we lived with separate families throughout the duration of our training.  Each week we had language class Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday from 8 am to 2 pm.  Sprinkled throughout, we had a few technical trainings and interviews with various staff members.  Thursdays were “center days,” where all 25 trainees met in town to get more in-depth technical training and a great deal of policy information.  Fridays were spent in brief language classes and then cultural afternoons were divided among the training villages, one per week.  A great meal was provided, followed by cultural information typical of the sort of village we were in and then entertainment, generally a meke performed by the trainees of the village.