Settling in

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I’m nearing the end of my second week in Fiji and Suva has definitely grown on me. It’s an interesting place with plenty to do, although more geared towards living here rather than being a tourist. Ed had been cleverly telling me our house was liveable but VERY basic, so when I arrived I was pleasantly surprised. The walls are a bit bare, but we can fix that and otherwise it’s quite nice. The living room is sizey, as is our bedroom, and apart from an occasional feeling of being in prison due to the heavy duty security grills on all the windows, with a few of our things around to brighten the place up it could definitely be called a home. We’re living with Carolyn, a fantastic girl whose AYAD position is at Marie Stopes where I’m volunteering, and luckily there were previous AYADs in the house before us so it’s mostly already decked out with kitchen utensils etc.
Some things about the house are very different from home; I now just shake the ants off my toothbrush and get on with brushing my teeth, and we keep the weetbix inside an extra knotted plastic bag to avoid the kitchen ant onslaught. We’ve even named the geckos in the kitchen and the mongeese (is that the plural of mongoose, or is it just mongoose?) in the garden. There’s a four-generation Fijian family in the bure attached to our house, and they are lovely. Kara and Atu run the show, then there’s Kara’s mum Louisa, Kara’s daughter also Louisa, and Louisa’s kids little Atu and Sala. (I haven’t quite worked out who actually lives there and who’s just visiting, it’s all a bit confusing). Big Atu is hilarious (and he is big), he wanders into our house and I can understand about 30% of what he says, and we have these great conversations based almost entirely on laughing and saying ‘vinaka’ (thankyou) over and over again. Little Atu is gorgeous and very cheeky, especially when in cahoots with their puppy Jabo (pronounced ‘Jumbo’).
The night before last we went outrigger paddling on Suva Harbour, and having been a rower for so many years I was sceptical as to whether I would enjoy it, thinking it would be too different and a bit strange. Actually it was great fun, a lot smoother than I expected, and it was lovely being on the harbour looking across to the mountains as the sun sank behind them. Hopefully we’ll be back paddling next week, although our instructors were pretty keen on signing us up for regular training and apparently marathon season is approaching, so I think I’ll take it slowly!
We were warned beforehand that it can get a bit boring in the nights and to bring plenty of entertainment or pick up a hobby, but so far it doesn’t seem like there’s any danger of boredom. We’ve had some chilled nights at home, but then there’s been outrigger paddling, tennis, free documentaries, and tonight is ultimate frisbee. There’s even an expressive dance class every week, but I think I’ll practice being a tree in my own time and maybe give that one a miss. So compared to the AYADs in some other countries, we’re not really all that ‘out there’. We’ve got running water (although we boil it before drinking), flushing toilets, a couple of nightclubs to choose from (some dodgier than others), and there was even free French wine and paté at the doco night. Considering the Solomon Islands AYADs have been shipped home already due to the violence there, we’re not doing too badly.
The heat is becoming manageable; although it’s not really the heat that’s a problem but the humidity. Last night we played tennis and we all ended up drenched in torrents of sweat, even at 8 o’clock at night, but I’m starting to get over the urge to change my clothes several times a day and I’m getting used to generally being hot and damp.
I’ve started volunteering at Marie Stopes International, a non-government organisation that works on reproductive health in developing countries, doing some media and communications work. I’m doing three days a week with them, and so far it looks promising. Fijian work culture certainly takes some getting used to though. The work day is from 8am to 4:30pm, with an hour for lunch from 1pm to 2pm. This is non-negotiable, everyone goes to lunch then. If you think lunchtime bank queues in Sydney are bad, try being in a city where every single worker has lunch at exactly the same time. Meetings are also interesting, they tend to begin with the boss taking an opportunity to assert some authority by giving a dressing down to each individual staff member for something they’ve done wrong during the week. (While I’ve heard that this is not specific to our organisation, we’re getting a new boss in the next couple of weeks so we’ll see what changes!)
Tomorrow we’ve got some free tickets to a rugby international, Fiji vs Samoa, so although I’m not really a rugby person it should be a great atmosphere. Go Fiji!

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