Part-time Fiji Princess

The phrase "Fiji style" refers to a lot of amazing things about how the Fijian people live and work. But after 3 weeks here, and especially after this week, the phrase has taken on much greater meaning to me.  The amazing thing about the mix of the Indian and Fijian cultures here is that both groups of people have adopted the most awesome things from each other.  I have been blessed to have "cultural guides" from each culture. Sangeeta and Dropati are Fijian-Indian, and Ufemia is iTauke, or native Fijian.  Because they all know each other so well they are comfortable talking about similarities and differences between the two groups.  I'm just eating this up because I find it so fascinating!

Of course each cultural group has a ton of diversity within it, but in general these are the similarities the ladies have shared, and I have noticed myself. The indigenous iTaukei people are gifted artists and craftsmen and talented athletes and musicians. They call themselves a "singing people", and their voices are amazing! They bust out harmonies singing anywhere. They are outgoing and laid back and love to laugh and they also like to hug and kiss you.  A lot!  They don't seem to be in hurry ever.  They are story-tellers and they need to talk about things... and then relax for a minute, and have a snack... and then talk some more.  They'll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. They are fiercely loyal to each other and family and tribal structures still matter a great deal to them.  They play Rugby... everywhere, all the time.

The Fijian-Indian people I know are very concerned with showing proper respect and kindness to strangers and teachers and people in authority.  They are much more quiet, but they will stop everything they are doing to help someone in need.  I have to be careful not to say out loud the things I'm thinking when I'm with them, like "I'm thirsty", or "I need to go get a pen", or something like that because that means one of my Fijian-Indian friends will have to drop everything he or she is doing and run and get me a drink, or find me a pen, or spend the next 30 minutes making me a delicious meal.  They seem to be a much more serious lot.  They plan for next week, today.  The women I know spend hours every day cooking for their families - even after a very long day at FNU.  The men play soccer, not rugby, because as Dropati told me "A Fijian would smash them!"

There is so much more! But this week I experienced their common love of making beautiful things and auspicious occasions where you give speeches and gifts and eat food. (Ufemia keeps saying "Nikki is going to put on some Kilos here in Fiji!")  I was invited by Ufemia to present to their early childhood association's western branch about inclusive early childhood education today.  I asked Sangeeta if I could do a trial run of the workshop material in one of her classes before the event  because I really needed feedback about if what I was saying was culturally relevant for them at all.  So I presented to a group of inservice teachers here in Lautoka and another online group in Suva on Thursday.  After I presented the students gave me this beautiful flower arrangement.

Those are all flowers from one of the teacher's gardens that they arranged together as a class before I arrived. Here's the Lautoka group after they presented me with the flowers. 

Then the workshop for the early childhood association was today.  Ufemia had also asked a visiting Speech Pathologist from Australia to present.  Her name is Terry and she was excellent!  Anyway, we had the most amazing welcome from the group.  They presented us with these hand-made garlands in this lovely little ceremony before we spoke. Ufemia said I can tell my friends back home that I was crowned a Fijian princess.  

 Check out the fans with our names woven into them!

The presentation itself was an intense experience in trying to translate the principles of inclusion to teachers in a place where it does not exist.  I was blessed to visit so many schools this week because I finally had a sense of the classroom context in Fijian kindergartens.  Luckily, everyone has kids that make them crazy in their class, so I had a nice starting point to talk about reflective teaching and meeting every kid's needs.  Then, because this was going to be our first and last time meeting with this group they sang us their good-bye song. They also sang songs while they were waiting for the meeting to begin. I had this image of telling a bunch of teachers in the U.S. that they had to sing a farewell song to end a meeting and it made me smile. They also began the training with a prayer. #fijistyle

I hope so much that you can get this to play because it was beautiful! They just broke into song on the spot.  

Sangeeta literally took 100 pictures of me presenting.  I deleted all of the 20 or so super-close-ups (where you could actually see my wrinkles) and the other 76, and kept about four of the ones from a safer distance, including these.  You can see I'm sporting my new #fijicut. The only thing to be done with hair like mine in a humid place is to chop it all off!   I just had that done yesterday by a Fijian-Indian woman who looked at me like she had not the slightest idea how to deal with hair like mine.  We both survived and she did just fine.  Poor Sangeeta, she already thought my hair was too short when I got here.

All is well

I had an amazing day!  But let me start at the beginning.  Last night and this morning were tough.  Watching the election results come in while I sat in my office all alone was not a fun experience.  It's the first time I've felt homesick since I got here.  I'm not even sure what I needed from home. I think mostly just to hear the actual voices of the people I love so I could be reassured that there are still lots of great things in the world and everything will be okay. Yeah...  I took the elections results pretty hard.  In fact, I woke up today feeling that sort-of deadness you feel when you're too sad to even know what to do with yourself.  

Sangeeta and I had some school visits planned for the day, so I got in the car in a daze.  We passed this road sign and I thought that it described my feelings perfectly.  I made the driver stop so I could take this pic (and I almost got nailed by a car in the act).

 Then, this amazing thing happened!  Sangeeta decided that we should make a quick change of plans so we could randomly stop by her old school. It was not great timing given how much we had to do today but I just went along with it.   When I first saw the place I realized that her old school was not any ordinary Fijian kindergarten.  This place was going to mean something very special to Samara, my Nepal student-travel partner in crime. I won't go into all of the details other than to say that this school is the reason why Samara needs to come to Fiji!  And our beautiful friend Gayle who lives in India as well.  The timing and place and all of the things surrounding the moment didn't happen by chance. Sangeeta had no idea that anything about the school would matter to me or anyone else.  And on such a day as this; God took the time to make sure to get me exactly to that place at that time.

After I took 5 million pictures and we talked to the Head-Teacher (principal), and made plans for placing some of our interns there in 2018, we headed off to our planned destinations for the morning.  Our drive took us right by the ocean and up into the mountain areas that I love so much.  In that moment I was filled with peace.

Disclaimer for my non-religious friends:  This is going to delve a bit into matters of faith, but I promise I won't stay there too long.

I had just been given a gentle reminder that a power much greater than us is still in charge, and not only that, but knows us individually and works in small ways in our lives every day. AND additionally, works through us to make some really beautiful things happen for each other. Too many things have happened too many times in my life for me to deny it.  Mary Oliver - the greatest poet in the history of EVER, who found a way in her amazing career to put words to all of the high and exalted feelings I feel when I am in the mountains - wrote this in one of her poems,

This is not fact;

this is the other part of knowing something,

when there is no proof,

but neither is there any way toward disbelief.

Thanks, Mary, for saying it better than I ever could always. Don't ask me to explain how this relates exactly to Donald Trump being the new President of the United States.  I'm not clever enough tonight to tie up all of those loose ends.  But, I do think it relates to the pic below.  This was the theme for the week in the second kindergarten we visited today. 

They teach this stuff in schools here!  I love it and I sure needed it today.  The icing on my attitude readjustment cake was just spending time with kids and the people who are willing to spend their lives broke and underappreciated just to teach them.  

I don't have any answers, but I can at least send you all my Love from Fiji!  

All is well!

Man-sounds

On this election day I'd like to provide some meaningless distraction for all of my American friends. We had our daylight savings switch on Sunday, except down here we moved the clocks the opposite direction.  Having moved them up one hour I now find myself falling asleep at around 7:30 and waking up at 4:00.  I'll adjust again eventually. This morning I decided since I was up I'd go for a walk and try to catch the sunrise.  I took this pic just up the hill from the guest house on campus.  The mountain on the left is my favorite thing to see each day.  I'm pretty sure it's called table top - no one here can give me a clear answer and they always look at me like I'm crazy for asking. Don't they name mountains here? I'm not clear about this, but I want to hike it so much!  I have to find one other person willing to go with me to book a tour and I can't find anyone so far.  I'm not giving up though!  

The guest house has been a busy place lately.  The Chinese man, hearing that lots of people were going to be coming and going soon, decided last week to move to this tiny old servant's quarters on the other side because it has its own bathroom and shower. I didn't know this place even existed and I did feel a bit like he threw me under the bus. He still uses the kitchen and dining room, though, so we still have a daily awkward conversation.  Actually, I like him.  He's nice and quiet and I even once watched the Chinese version of American Idol/The Voice with him.  Now I know all of the features of the show including the requirement that contestants use ancient Chinese instruments and that the judges are mean (shocking). He also likes to watch Korean TV dramas. They help him with his ethics lectures.  My horizons are broadening. Embarrassing fact: I don't know his name and I'm a good 2 weeks past it being okay for me to ask.  I often find myself in this predicament.

The thing about the constant coming and going of other guests for a night or two here and there is that although we each have separate rooms with locking doors, they are less than sound proof.  There are two main problems with this.  First, I have frequent conversations with Leonard and Junior, and Loretta when she comes for a visit.  So when someone sneaks in to a room next door without me knowing it I inevitably find this out just after having a lengthy conversation with Leonard about his attitude and general noise-level, his commitment to killing bugs, and my issues with him pooping on my desk.  The second challenge this poses is that I am surrounded by man-sounds.  As a single woman this is unfamiliar territory.  When I visit friends and family I have a taste of this, but nothing quite like what I'm experiencing here. Sorry guys, but it's best for us to just be honest.  Men make a lot of sounds - at a higher decibel than women and usually on the gross end of the spectrum. But today... having woken up and gone for a walk by 5:30, as I was reading in my room I noticed something.  I heard quiet walking noises... quiet closing the door noises... quiet turning the key noises... quiet breathing noises... and the absence of other disturbing noises altogether, and I knew! A woman had finally come to stay at the guest house.  

I didn't see her before I left, but Ganesh, the guest house guy I have mentioned before, told me this morning that there WAS a women staying at the guest house last night (and that he told her she and I could be friends).  Before the weekend is out there are supposed to be 10 or more men coming and going!  My current sleep schedule proves useful in these circumstances because I am usually in bed before they all come in at night, and I beat everyone to the shower in the morning.

Here are some pics of the early childhood center on campus.  It's right across from the guest house actually.  It's a lovely place!

Here's a random house  on campus that I just love.  The old abandoned bus out front is my favorite. True Fijistyle!

This is Annie, the one and only dog that hasn't been afraid of me on campus.  She let me get close enough to feed her french fries.  Look at those sweet eyes!  No petting though.  Every dog has fleas and who knows what else.  

I woke up this morning feeling grateful to be a citizen of the U.S.  Regardless of what happens today things will all be okay.  I'm currently in a place where military coupes d'etat have happened so frequently in the past that people stopped counting.  We're a hot-mess in the U.S. in lots of ways, but we've go so much to be thankful for!