Things I’ve noted about Fiji, Lautoka City & myself

I have been in Lautoka now for 1 month, it has been quit rocky. Adjusting to a new environment and schedule was extraordinarily challenging. I am living with a roommate in a very small 2 bedroom flat and have 2 foam mats on the floor for a bed….I really miss my chiropractor. I am living in the 2^nd largest city in Fiji with a population of 53,000. That was my first adjustment actually, living in an urban environment…not what I had envisioned or wanted when I was signing up for Peace Corps. I was thinking more like hut-living along the beach, questionable water quality & random electricity. Not so. I have a concrete house with a solar powered hot water tank, electricity all of the time-however, I only have water from 4am-8am & 4pm-8pm…that can be rough when you are trying to hand wash clothes in the middle of the day. I was daydreaming more rainforest jungle than concrete jungle. I have neighbors very close on all sides, an Indian family at the back & left, Rotuman in the front & Fijian on the right.

Possibly the worst part of the city is the burning trash. Burning trash is a regular practice which has been recently deemed illegal, but of course is un-regulated so it still goes on everywhere all of the time. In the village they most often burned trash away from the houses, here we live right on top of each other & I just so happen to live on top of a hill so all of the smoke rises…yeah!! My liver is doing its best to process the fumes.

On an up note, the people here are truly friendly. I was invited to a party at a Rotuman family’s house. (Rotuma: a small island a 36 hour boat trip north of Fiji, there is no bank, post office etc, that small. It is part of the Polynesian Islands with their own culture and language separate from Fiji.) We talked and ate & danced while they played the guitar and drank kava. Their laugh registers on the Richter scale it’s so bountiful..awesome! More and more people have been inviting me to their home’s, teas and parties. This means a lot because I didn’t realize how important having a social life was to me. In Cleveland I was always going to a yoga class, a friend’s party, a salsa event or family occasion, starting all of that from scratch in Fiji is not easy. Not easy, but slowly happening.

Last weekend I was feeling very homesick. I missed my Mom, Dad, sisters, niece, nephew and friends. So I decided to go back to my host family’s house in Naqio and stay the weekend. It was exactly what I needed. They were so happy to see me!! It had only been 3 weeks & they treated me like royalty. So many people were coming over to ask me how things were going on my own, giving me hugs and demanding I eat at their house. I went to see a movie with my sister, slept in a real bed (hallelujah), had my mom feed me 3 amazing meals per day & learned how to make imlii ke chutney-tamarind chutney. That weekend of caring was a much needed juicing up of my spirit. I realized I was missing the feeling of being loved.

Below is one of my famed “lists”. I was forever being teased by my Mom and friends about my numerous lists and here is another one…..

Things I’ve noted about Fiji, Lautoka City & Myself

Older men color their hair…..apparently going grey is Universally unfashionable

Many people, mostly Fijian men, go shoeless all over town, the bus, stores, everywhere. Sometimes I think by choice, sometimes b/c they don’t have shoes.

The decibel level of the music on buses is more than my delicate eardrums can handle. It’s hard to find a moment of silence around here: dogs, cars, tv’s, every store has music playing outside of it, as if that were going to lure me in, when it actually does the opposite.

The Fijians have their own way of communicating without words. Clicks, whistles, head nods, hand gestures, eyebrow raises for yes & no (good luck figuring that one out). Unless you’re a native, you’ll never really now all of these subtleties.

Men that smell good really stick out…mmeeeeooowwww

The Fijian way of asking “how are you?” is “where are you going?”

The kids read the national newspaper.

Young men get up on the bus to let older women sit down.

The simplest things like flax seeds or a “new” used shirt can make my day when I’m missing home.

It takes time for a new place to feel like home.

Total strangers (in my case a cab driver) invite you to stay with their family on other islands. (I might do it.)

There is a serious untapped market for Fijian male models.

The furniture patterns are from the 1970’s-plush maroon paisley anyone?

Re-mixed, burned, dubbed, pirated, re-recorded music is all the norm & no one seems to care.

Waiting is something you just have to get used to.

Complete lack of customer service is something you just have to get used to.

Half of the people wear clothes that in no way come even close to matching & they obviously could care less.

The faux hawk has made it to Fiji....Indians wear it & the Fijian men rock Fro-hawks with tails, yes that’s right, the “tail” , I’m sorry to inform you, has made it back into style.

For being so close to the equator it actually does get cool here. Its winter now & gets into the low 60’s at night.

Most of the people in this city have trash pick up-4 times per week-yet they still choose to burn it..right next to my F#*^ing house. I wonder if burning plastic will ever smell good?

Life and work are progressing and adjusting. Looking forward to trips and events keep me positive. xoxoxox