Octopus! It’s What’s For Dinner….wait…what?

I saw one of these color shifting cephalopods at the local wharf & I had to try my hand a cooking this tasty creature.

I consulted with a well-spoken Fijian woman at the Lautoka market & she gave me detailed instructions on how to prepare said Fijian delicacy. Myself & fellow volunteers Alicia & Megan made our way to the wharf & haggled for a 8+ lb. prize-winning $12 octopus, which we named Paco…..later we affectionately referred to him as Pactopus. Thankfully the dirtiest work is done for us ahead of time, namely removing the eyes, brain, ink sac & 3 hearts…eeewww…this is done by well….are you sure you want to know? Turning the thing inside out and ripping it all off.

Our friend Paco had obviously run with a rough crowd because he was only rocking 6 of his 8 tentacles, which are very tough & need to be tenderized. So the first thing we have to do is & I quote “beat the thing nicely.” But before that, we all partake in a pre-bludgeoning photo shoot while we squirm & squeal & seriously question whether this was a good idea.

All of three of us hold a rolling pin in hand & start beating away while sea water is flying at our faces and we feel an odd mix of determination & remorse.
Once thoroughly tenderized Alicia has a stroke of octo-genius & she brings out scissors to cut off his suckers. A far better idea than slicing them off with a knife & potential my own appendage.

The next step is to get a large pot smoking hot then throw him in, put a lid on it & let the natural sea water come out so he boils in his own Paco au jus. Once all of the water boils away we added homemade coconut milk, onions, chilies and a squeeze of lemon juice.

It was a screaming success, albeit totally disgusting! This was made 100% true to the traditional Fijian method of preparation and was delicious. It was tender and tasted mild like the smell of fresh ocean air. A highly nutritious animal, filled with lean protein, iron, selenium and omega-3’s, it’s dressed perfectly with the rich coconut milk and tang of lemon. It will definitely be making it to my table again. I need to get it while I can…I wonder if I can get whole octopuses in Cleveland?

Recipe

Sulua Vaka Lolo-Octopus in Coconut Milk

1 whole fresh octopus (brains, ink sac etc. removed)
Salt and baking soda
1 coconut or 1 can of coconut milk
1 small onion, diced
1 chili pepper, diced
1 lemon cut into wedges
Rolling pin or meat tenderizer
Newspaper

Take octopus outside to tenderize, this is a messy job.
Put salt & a bit of baking soda on all sides, place on newspaper & “beat it nicely” using a rolling pin or meat tenderizer. Then rinse it off with water thoroughly. Do not cut it up, leave it whole, however we removed the head & just cooked the tentacles.

Cut off the suckers using scissors and discard. If the beak has not been removed, do so. It is in the center and is a hard black mass that can be cut out….it sounds disgusting, but at this point you are pretty much committed so deal with it.
Heat up a large stock pot until very hot with no water in it. Then add the octopus to the hot pan and cover. Water will naturally come out of it & it will boil in its own liquid. Simmer covered for about 30 minutes, until its own water is gone, turning once about every 10 minutes. The tentacles will curl up & the entire octopus will turn an inky purple hue. Turn off the heat and add fresh (or if you must canned) coconut milk, onion and chilies to the pot. Squeeze with lemon before serving. Serve with boiled cassava.

Is this really a road?

When I was in the US I had the pleasure of working with a wonderful doctor of chiropractics named Andrew Ragon. When I told him I was moving to Fiji he said that his college did clinics abroad there. I contacted the administrator for the clinics & arranged to meet the team on 2 separate clinics in a town near me. It was lovely to meet these hard working students, be among like minded people and spend time with Americans. Of course it also rocked that I got adjusted and they left behind the ever-coveted American magazine.

So after the last clinic in July I thought it would be great to host a clinic in my town. The students from Palmer Chiropractic College come twice a year and spend about 12 days going to mostly schools and adjusting the students and staff. It took months of emailing back & forth with the college in the US & with people locally. I needed to get approval from the head teacher to have a clinic at my school, set up a venue in town, arrange for 2 teas, design a flier to distribute, walk all over creation to hang the fliers & of course give a description of what chiropractics is because it is an unknown form of treatment here. So after several long months of detailed work it came together on Friday Sept 30th.

The team of young chiropractors-to-be slowly disembarked from the bus after an early morning wake-up call and a long journey to my school in the bush. My school is about 10km outside of town & 1.5km in the interior down a bumpy, windy, dusty and sometimes precarious road. The admin person Cheryl, looks at the road then looks at me & asks “Is this really a road?” My reply is “Yes. It even has a name.” About 5 minutes later the driver got a flat tire. Oops.

The doctors set up their tables and supplies and quickly got to work on the 160 students/staff and nearly 100 locals from the nearby village and neighborhood. It was blistering hot that day with the sun shining and humidity hazing the mountains. The doctors worked tirelessly through heat, sweat and exhaustion. At one point I was sitting and watching the clinic progress and I saw a doctor treating a young, nervous girl. The doctor is smiling and generously explaining what is about to happen. The child is trusting and has no idea what to expect. I was holding back tears as I watched my vision of holding a clinic taking place right before me & seeing these future chiropractors treat so many deserving people in this financially weakened land.

We wrapped things up at the school, had a lovely tea of local fruits and traditional Indian snacks and headed to town to set up for the next venue. It was held at the local Sathya Sai Centre. When we arrived there were already 30 people waiting! We set up and got to work. The team of 18 saw nearly 150 people in 3.5 hours. A SMASHING success!

I later spoke to one of the team and he said that Friday, even though it was their last day of doing clinics & they were all exhausted, was his favorite day. I was overjoyed! He said he saw more patients at the final clinic than any other place that were relevant to chiropractics and would be similar cases to what they would see in the US.

This was one of the most meaningful projects I have done since I’ve come to Fiji and by far the largest scale. Chiropractics is something I firmly believe in & it has healed me from many injuries and a car accident. In 1 day the team treated nearly 400 people. I am still standing tall and proudly wearing a feather in my cap for this accomplishment. The young students from the Palmer college have made an impact in Fiji and I am so grateful for their service.
A hearty Vinaka Vakalevu!! (huge thanks!)

Coming soon…..this blog is taking a different direction….Fiji Feasting-all food all the time.

THE FLOOOD IS COMMMIIINNNNGGG

My dear friend Michelle from the US came to Fiji to visit for 2 weeks. We traveled all around the main island of Viti Levu & then took an 18 seater twin Otter prop plane to the aptly named “Garden paradise” of Taveuni. There are 2 other Peace Corps volunteers on the island that live in Fijian villages. Our first venture was a 5 hour hike on the Bouma Trail. It was a long, deep, winding hike through farmland and lush dense jungle. Our guide was well versed with the local flora and showed us the native plants that have been used for hundreds of years, specifically for blood coagulation for cuts & a special leaf that has natural surfactants so it lathers and was used for soap. We saw several exotic birds and laid our heads for the essential photo opportunity of placing our necks on the large stone where many a heads have been chopped as part of human sacrifices when cannibalism was alive and well. Christian Missionary soup anyone?

Following this arduous, sweaty hike we walked to a gushing waterfall 2 stories high. The waterfall plunges into a large, crisp fresh-water pool, begging to be swum in. So we jumped into the pool and the guide helped me climb jagged rocks to make our way behind the fall to jump in. Oooone….Twoooo….THREE! Weeeeeeeeeee….SPLASH! Then we waded around and took a looong deeeep breath and swum under the crashing fall. It was revitalizing after a 5 hour hike and waking up at 4am to catch our flight.

The next day we met another volunteer in her village where there is a well maintained trail called the Lavena Coastal Walk. This is a popular hike among adventurers & has unparalleled beauty, seeing long stretches of white & black sand beach, villages with waterfall backdrops, fresh water streams, fields of dalo climbing hills and of course it wouldn’t be complete without the Indiana Jones style suspension bridge, slippery and swinging in disrepair. Inviting indeed.
We started our hike and within 15 minutes it began to rain, not just a light sprinkle either. A down-pouring of rainforest proportions. No part of us was not covered in warm jungle rain. The hike 1 way is 1.5 exquisite hours. At the end of the hike you reach a river that leads to 2 waterfalls one of which is 50 feet high, the other is like a slide you can climb to the top of a slip all the way down. Basically natures version of a 6 flags water park. Because the rain had been pouring on us for over an hour the river was swollen and the current was moving swiftly. The guide said we may not be able to stay in the river long because there is a danger of flash floods. So we eagerly removed our shoes & hung our bags on a tree branch. We tumbled into the water & started to slowly move toward the waterfalls. Michelle, admittedly not a strong swimmer, was getting nowhere fast with the current pushing against her. At one point we stopped and hugged a rock to hold us in place. I was looking in the distance toward the waterfall & realized there was no possible way we could get even close enough the current was pushing so strong. Not 5 minutes of crawling in the river did the guide look back to us and yell “THE FLOOOD IS COMIIINNNNG!” I look at him in breath-holding surprise & yell a now obvious & stupid question, “Should we go back?” He does not reply & then yells a second time “THE FLOOOD IS COMIIINNNNG!” He follows with “GO BACK, GO BACK!” At that moment I don’t know if I imagine what happens next or if this is a real occurrence but, it felt as through the river had retracted, as if the water level reduced for a just a second, followed by the river swelling again larger than before, followed by another retraction and expansion. It was as if the river was breathing. I look to Michelle & say we have to go back & she says “Oh, this should be easy.” We now laugh at the irony of that statement. We let go of the rock that was securing us & get pushed down the gushing river. We are in the center of the river doing our best to move to the bank where we had left our things. Michelle nearly passes it & I am struggling to make my way across. We reach our things, just as the guide saves his flip-flops & Michelle’s tennis shoes. My brand new Teva flip flops, only a month old, went running away down the river….(at this moment one very lucky Fijian down-stream will probably be seen walking around with my brand new shoes.) Michelle starts to slip away as the current pushes & I reach for her arm and pull her toward myself & the river’s edge. We do our best to stand & are instructed by the guide to chain link our arms, as we very slowly step one foot at a time in knee deep water, shoeless & drenched, making our way to safety. In a matter of 5 minutes the river had swollen from our ankle to our knees. The guide thankfully had saved his shoes which allowed me to at least walk back with some protection, albeit they were pancaked flat & three sizes too big. We caught our breath and let the adrenaline subside along with the rain. Finally dry enough to get out our cameras, we stood posing for a photo, smiling out of life affirming happiness that we survived a flash flood.

Happy Mother's Day!

How I Knew My Mom Was Cool:

The first memory of knowing my mom was cool……She took us out of school for a day when we were young kids & we drove to the Ohio Caverns & got milkshakes from McDonalds.

She let me marry the wrong man, but didn’t say “I told you so”, when it didn’t work out.

She STILL hides an Easter basket for me.

When I was 16 I told her I was going to get a tattoo and she didn’t freak out.

We got tattoos together when I was 17.

She loves to dance.

She harmonizes to raunchy Snoop Dogg songs.

She has an undying crush on Usher.

She used the phrase “bro’s before hoes” in a recent email.

She emphatically & effectively uses the “F” word.

Mom, you ROCK! (P.S. She gave birth to me, a 10 lb. 13 oz. baby on mother’s day in 1980…right on.)

So, do you want to marry him?

Background information to the story that follows: The Indian population in Fiji still practices arranged marriages. Not the kind where before birth you are betrothed because your astrological forecasts are a perfect match. But the kind where a nit-picky, controlling mother insists you marry by the time you are 27 or you will shame the family- kind of an arrangement. So everybody spreads the single status word & starts to find you a mate. What happens next is as a woman, my prospective partner comes over with his parents & siblings & my family tries to schmooze him with tea and food & our parents brag about each of us. Meanwhile, myself & my potential future husband sit in silence, staring at each other in the most awkward hour of our lives. And of course, the final decision is made 99% based on looks…I wish I were joking about that….they even acknowledge that it’s superficial & know that looks don’t last, but that’s just how it’s done. (So let’s cross our fingers you are having a good hair day.) And if either party says no, you have to deal with the unfortunate rejection, your family’s frustration & pressure & the entire awkward experience ALL over again with the next potential match.
Obviously this isn’t quite the way things go down in my American culture (Haaaaaa-llelu-jah!), however, in my effort to realize we are all One, it’s really not too dissimilar to that of a friend setting you up with someone they know.

The story: I am in the market and was buying eggs from a different vendor because my usual guy was out. I am speaking Hindi with her & because this is unusual & makes me like a show at the circus to them she calls over her brother & the lady from the vendor across the aisle. They are asking the usual questions-“Where are you from? Why are you here? Where are you staying? Are you married or single?” I am used to this & am answering accordingly. One of the women says “I have a son. I want you to meet him.” I know what this means & I reply “No thank you.” Of course she is insistent, a popular trait among Indian women :) She is literally pulling my arm to have me meet her son, so I have to get “American” on her and say “Really, I am in Fiji to work, not get married. I don’t want to meet anyone.” She softly acquiesces and lets go of my arm & then makes a quick call on her cell phone that ends with “Jaldi aao.” Which means, come quick. Oh shit, here it comes, I just found myself in the middle of an “arrangement” in the middle of the damn market! The son comes up and the mother says “Talk to her.” The boy pauses, looks at me and then looks at his mom and says “About what?” The mother grits her teeth and elbows her son and says “Speak in Hindi, talk to her!” I am MORTIFIED and am standing in front of this kid nearly 10 years my junior and thinking “run, ruuuun!!” Alas, the tension breaks and the mother angrily tells her son to leave as if he blew it. Then she squarely looks at me and in all seriousness says “So, do you want to marry him?” I can’t hold in my laughter and then adamantly proclaim to her “In my culture this is not how we do it! No, I don’t want to marry your son, I don’t want to marry anyone now!” She follows, veeeery casually and relaxed as if nothing horrific just transpired “Okay, come back around soon and we can speak more Hindi.”

Storms been a brewing

It’s been a while since I’ve written; the reason being-life has been stormy seas, rough waters, low tides. The past 3 months have not been all rainbows and puppies as one’s Face Book pictures may suggest.

It started with the culture shock of coming back to 3rd world living after being in the salsa dancing, yoga doing, amazing food eating hedonistic pleasures of Melbourne. Followed by political/financial issues at work, multiple health issues (maybe a bacteria?, maybe a parasite?), followed by the worst blow of all, my best friend here, Zoe, was heading back to America for good. She gave it her best effort, but in the end she made the very challenging choice to leave, as she realized she was not going to be able to reach her fullest potential in Fiji. Zoe was my soft place to land at the end of a rough day. We spoke almost every night. She is the kind of person you click with immediately; you see life through the same set of glasses, you live by the same philosophies and she didn’t judge. She was a true soul sister.

AND then to top it all off, I have to move…..again…..my 4th time since I came to Lautoka. Sigh….

No one wants to read Peace Corps Fiji turned country song, but it would be a big fat, shit-hitting-the-fan lie if all I wrote about were pina coladas and sculpted Fijian men. So I’m doing my best to cope during the hard times, realizing that with my former coping mechanisms not around (yoga, salsa, family) one must deal with it in other means….I’m still figuring out what those are!

In other news: I have been chipping away at my CD & have almost all of the music lined up to practice & then hopefully record in late June. I recently wrote a song called “Hugs Not Drugs”. I was walking to the bus stand on my way to work & a guy had a shirt on that said that & I thought, “Yes, I will write a catchy tune that children all across Fiji will sing. They will stop sniffing glue & smoking weed & will run around hugging each other instead.” Perhaps that’s a smidge Utopian, but whatever, the song still rocks.

I’ve also decided it would be a good project to re-establish the library at my primary school. It’s a major project!! I love to read & there are resources in the US where I can get free books. Hopefully the teachers are on board & we can make it a success.

I recently wrote 3 chapters for a values based parenting guide. I felt TOTALLY hypocritical writing them because I don’t have kids! But my boss asked me to do it, so I did.

I finally found a great Hindi tutor! I go to their house every week, we chat and have tea, have my lesson & then eat dinner together. It’s awesome. They really love me, they treat me just like family except for wait on me like a regal guest. Its been 6 weeks now & my Hindi is definitely improving, a most challenging yet rewarding endeavor. I totally busted this kid walking past me talking to his friends in Hindi saying I was hot, hahahahah. Of course he didn’t know I understood & when I said thank you in Hindi he got totally embarrassed and was apologizing.

My most recent brain-child is to create a yoga DVD. PCV Fiji Yoga DVD! I enlisted a very talented video camera aficionado volunteer & we are going to record on the beach front outside their house (actually grass hut). It is going to be VERY basic & the point is that it can be used by volunteers themselves, by PC staff & for volunteers to use in their villages for wellness projects or women's groups etc. I also want to include a special feature of some basic things to do for kid’s yoga & some fun partner work as well as a simple 5-10 minute meditation. I hope to start working on it in Dec.

Finally, about a month ago I got a bike. I have never seen a woman riding a bike in my fair town, ever. So as I was blissfully joy-riding my bike down a dangerous pot hole ridden street a Fijian man running toward me, looked at me and said “freeeaaakkkyyyy”. Apparently no one else has ever seen a woman riding a bike in this city either. I am a spectacle! People literally stop what they are doing to watch me ride my bike. It’s hilarious! Maybe I’ll start a trend. Forget about bra burning, its women’s liberation through bicycle!

The Magic of Melbourne

Welcome to the Land of OZ (as the locals call it). It’s a magical place, that reminds me of home. It has hot showers and air conditioning. Salsa dancing and yoga studios. It has educated men that know how to flirt & grocery stores and Kmarts. Yes, my friends you have come with me on my most exciting journey back to a developed country. Welcome to Melbourne Australia. .

I went to Melbourne in mid-January on a much needed holiday. I was traveling alone for the first time & found it to be a most enjoyable experience. There were definitely times when I wished I had someone to share my joy with, but it was really awesome not have to worry about anyone else hunger or sleep schedule.

I Couch Surfed. There is an international website called couch surfing & you sign up, set up a profile & try to find someone in the city you will be staying in that has similar interests to show you the lay of the land, to hang out with & to crash at their place all at no charge. I had a pleasant experience with a most generous host who used his Iphone like an Inspector Gadget tool of omniscience.
My sole purpose on this magical journey was to go salsa dancing & do yoga. I researched the main things I wanted to do before I got there but otherwise had no real plan.

The first place I went to was the Queen Victoria market in North Melbourne. It was stupendous! I spent 4 hours there. I started by sampling 6 different wines from this very innovative spot called Re-Wine. He makes & bottles his own wines & if you bring his bottle back you can re-fill it at a discounted price. He gives you generous pours of anything you want to taste so after about 30 minutes I had a healthy buzz at the ripe hour of 10am. Following that I ate peaches, nectarines, grapes, hummus, marinated mussels and olives. A heavenly assortment of all things I miss while in Fiji.

The first night I went dancing I had a lovely dance with a man named Marco. He was from Mexico, grew up in L.A. & was now living in Melbourne. I told him I was from the US, he said “Which place?” I replied, “Ohio.” He said, “Oh really, my wife is from Cleveland.” I couldn’t believe!! Where is she!? He brought her over, we had a great chat & became fast friends. The next night I went dancing and was asked to dance by an Indian fellow. I asked him where he was from & he said Fiji. In Hindi, I said “Really? Which place?” He said, “Lautoka.” What?! “I live in Lautoka!” There was another friend of his there as well, also from Lautoka. SO here I am in Melbourne with a new friend from Cleveland, and 2 other friends from my new home town of Lautoka. Really incredible.

You know what else was incredible? The dancing. I love salsa dancing more than words can express. It simply makes me feel alive. I almost wept on the dance floor I was so overjoyed & elated while being spun to loud shoulder-shimmying conga rhythms. I was in bliss. It had been 9 months since I stepped on the dance floor & I was concerned I had lost my mambo mojo, alas, it was if I had never stopped. I could be myself again! Rocking out my fishnet stockings & stilettos. I was so graciously accepted into their dancing community & now have a whole new group of friends that I can visit any time.

I went back to the North Melbourne on a Wed. night for what is called Night Market. They clear out the veggies & bring in isles and isles of local crafted good, art, jewelry, cheap junk and tons of FOOD! There is food from all over the world. Spanish, Mexican, Middle Eastern, French…..including sangria, gelato, fudge, cupcakes and of course it wouldn’t be Melbourne without the coffee. I had a generous serving of paella with clams, mussels and shrimp. I ate my lemon meringue cupcake with frosting so light it could have dissolved in mid-air, before my dinner :) There were 2 stages with live music & hundreds of people eating, drinking and jamming to the cool grooves. I had so much fun that night! I stumbled upon an amazing musician named Grace Barbe performing. She called her music Afro-Creol as she is from the Seychelles Islands off the coast of Madagascar. I call it sexy, spiritual, soulful reggae bliss. I was so in love with her music I coughed up $20 and bought the CD. Since then I have turned on at least 5 people to her sensual grooves. I would strongly encourage you to check her out.

Melbourne itself is a bustling cosmopolitan city. There are small cafes and boutiques around every corner, a real haven for entrepreneurialism. This was a very refreshing contrast to the suffocating Starbucks and McDonalds chains of my homeland. There are museums and an obvious support for the arts. The public transport was so easy to use, trains and trams running regularly all over the city & suburbs. I easily became a pro within a few days. Melbourne is also unofficially known as Australia’s foodie town. I traveled into the city or surrounding suburbs everyday and generously ate my way through. In Lygon St. I filled myself with a fresh salad nicoise, studded with marinated olives and chilled potatoes followed by a silkend scoop of honeycomb gelato. In St Kilda I snacked on fresh cherries and pistachios while I rode my bike down the sea shore. In S. Melbourne, I indulged in the national fair of fish and chips with a liberal splash of vinegar, a throw back to my love of french fries drowning in vinegar from the carnival days of my youth. Downtown, I had a lamb burger on a gluten free bun with arugula and a mint pesto mayo-genius! I made a friend on the bus & she invited me out with her friends to a 6 course all vegetarian Thai meal, even the tofu was from scratch-blooming tea anyone? My last day there I devoured a buttery and crisp gluten free polenta crust pizza with peppers, tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella. I washed it down with what else-a cup of joe and an Oz favorite, the vanilla yo-yo cookie. A brilliant concoction of 2 buttery shortbread cookies with vanilla butter cream frosting in the center.

I love Melbourne. I hope to go back someday to re-connect with my new friends and enjoy the mystical wonders of ethnic food, hot running water and down pillows……..