Week 7

While most places around the world spent their Monday celebrating St. Patty’s Day, we joined in on the Holi Festival. Since Fiji has a very large Indian population, there was a Holi celebration right here on USP’s campus. Holi, which I learned, is the celebration of color. You take this sort of colored powder and rub it people’s faces, with the idea of ignoring their ethnicity, gender, size, etc. As ridiculous as it might sound it was a lot of fun and we were absolutely covered by the end of it.

Wednesday morning before class we went out for our first open water dive, and then we did our final one on Sunday. We took a boat out about twenty minutes outside of Suva Harbor to some of the coral reefs. There was an array of amazing marine life and luckily there were no sharks- I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.

 

Saturday a few of us girls headed to the Sigatoka Sand Dunes, which is a National Park about a two and half hour drive east of Suva. We weren’t completely sure how to get there, so we wound up just asking locals for directions. We later found out that we had gone into the wrong entrance, but it turned out to be for the better. We went in on the wrong side of the park so we had the entire place to ourselves. The dunes stretched out for quite some distance, with the beach on one side and Sigatoka city on the other.

After being here for about a month and a half, I ‘ve come to the conclusion that there are some things that I’m just never going to get used to. For starters, the cab drivers. One in every three cars is a cab and about half of them that pass you honk or slow down, hoping you’ll jump in their car. It’s especially bad since my white skin makes me stick out like a sore thumb, so they all immediately think I’m a tourist. My walk to class is about 20 minutes along a main road, so I can’t even calculate how many times I get honked at on a daily basis. Last week I even had a cab driver slow down and follow me in my peripheral vision for about sixty seconds until he finally gave up and drove away.

Another thing that drives me insane is walking along the sidewalks. When I first got here I assumed they all walked on the left side, because that’s the way they drive. And sure some do, but then others walk on the right. And some just walk straight; there’s no order to it. Going on an evening run is impossible because I’m dodging people left and right.

However I’m surprised at some of the things I’ve become accustomed to. I honestly never thought I would get used to this heat and humidity but it’s started to get better. Another strange thing is the lack of crosswalks. The first few days we were on campus my roommate Sara and I took about 15 minutes to try to cross a road. Since I’ve started to understand how to play this cruel real life version of Frogger though it hasn’t been too bad. I’ve also been able to combat the lack of Chipotle and other mexican food restaurants with weekly Taco Tuesdays which have included anything from Cali burritos to nachos .

Week 6

Highlight of this week: THE AC GOT FIXED! After more than a month we finally have a cool place to eat and sleep.

 

On Saturday a group of us went to the Colo-i-Suva National Park. Only a twenty minute bus ride from the city and a thirty minute walk/hike through the forest we found ourselves at the “lower pool”. The river was nestled under a canopy of trees and the water was crystal clear. The pool area was at least twenty feet deep, most likely more, which enabled us to jump from the rope swing (or even higher as some of the more daring locals demonstrated for us). We spent most of the day there swimming, hiking, and relaxing.

Sunday, I began my first scuba diving course. A large group of us enrolled in a three-step program that includes one pool day and two days of open dives. I hadn’t ever really considered getting scuba certified before but I couldn’t imagine doing it ten years from now and looking back on a missed opportunity to dive in Fiji. I guess you can never really understand it until you do it, but breathing underwater is awesome. I can’t wait until next week when we get to do our first ocean dive!

Week 5

3/3/14

The pace in classes and coursework is starting to pick up, and we are all getting into the groove of things. Around this time is when our advisers told us students would start to feel homesick and go through a slump. Most people I’ve talked to, including myself, however had not had this problem. One of my friends and I agreed that it was actually harder when we first got here because we had no way of contacting home, and if we did it was very limited.

3/8/14

We went back to the Beachhouse again just for Saturday to go surfing.

I hadn’t attempted to go out since I’ve been here because they only have reef breaks. But I’d been itching to go so with my limited surfing abilities that I tried to acquire over the previous semester, I made the 15-minute paddle out to the reef on a foam board twice my size. The waves, and my board, were unfortunately too big. We stayed out there for a while though and when I wasn’t avoiding the waves I was watching the others actually surf. The amount of times the board hit me in the face and the amount of times I stood up was exactly equal: Once. However considering how often I got sucked under the wave, I’m lucky I didn’t hit the reef like some of the others (discretion advised).

We left the Beachhouse right at sunset and spent the rest of the weekend back in Suva.

Week 4

2/24/14

USP has 12 member countries as apart of the school, so a lot of the students don’t come from the Fijian Islands. With students from Tonga, Samoa, and even reaching up to the Marshall Islands, there is a diverse community within our classrooms. A lot of the lectures are centered around discussion and the professors are curious to know about what things are like in everyone’s countries. I thought it was funny though when one of my professors had already acknowledged the presence of four international students in his classroom, but then proceed to ask the question, “Well you all come from a Village, am I correct?” Right as he said it the Norwegian, two Canadians and I simultaneously start shaking our heads “no”. A neighborhood? Maybe. A community? Yea, sure. But a village? No.

 

I’ve already started learning a lot about Fijian culture in one of my Resource Conservation classes. One of the first things that interested me was the Fijian recycling practices. At Chapman we have high tech trash and recycling bins to help compact the waste, whereas here it’s hard to even find a trash can- let alone a recycling bin. From the moment we got to the country I noticed the lack of trashcans. When you go for food there’s nowhere to throw your waste away, because someone is expected to come pick it up after you. I think it’s a part of Fijian hospitality. Unfortunately though this is affecting their country in a terrible way. Walking along the beaches in the city or even around campus you can look down and see piles of trash washed up on shore. In the country areas, they burn what trash they do manage to collect. It’s sad that a country that relies so heavily on it’s land treats it so poorly. But what can they do? Without proper funding from the government and time to further develop the country, it’s going to stay this way.

 

Lower campus beachfront

But when you look closer…

We had a student committee come talk to us about joining their recycling program; one that has only been on campus for a couple of years. Their program focuses on three parts; awareness, educating the community how to recycle, and then actually taking the waste to separate facilities. As of now, people use both cans for the same reasons- if even at all. One student said he doesn’t bother to recycle because he knows all the waste will go to the same place in the end. This forms a vicious cycle where students don’t bother recycling because they don’t think the waste gets separated, but then the waste doesn’t get separated because people don’t bother to recycle.

 

The heart of this problem? Believe it or not is Fiji’s education system. In primary school, students here are taught to not throw their trash away. When they leave the lunch table they are told to leave all of their trash for someone else to pick up. Why? I have absolutely no idea. It’s exactly the opposite of what we do in the States. One of my professors said his kids come home from school and refuse to clean up their own messes because that’s what their headmasters teach them. One student posed this question in class “If we did start to teach the children how to clean up after themselves and recycle, would it even work? Would they continue this later in their lives” The students who did respond didn’t think so- the idea seemed stupid to them. But all I could think was ‘yes, it would absolutely work!’. Growing up that’s what I was taught and still to this day I continue to carry out those practices.

 

My super eventful week learning about Fiji’s trash problem was cut short though when a cyclone rolled through on Thursday, cancelling classes for the rest of the week. The rain started on Wednesday, and it was so bad I wasn’t even able to make it to class. Since our AC is still broken our windows have been open to let in air, which caused water to start pooling up in our kitchen and living room. It was so humid this even continued once we shut the windows. I’ve learned that Northfaces are only good for the little sprinkle that we get almost everyday in Seattle, not for a Fijian downpour.

 

Outside the apartments

Friday, when the weather was supposed to be the worst, it was actually sunny enough that I did a little homework lying out in the grass. Apparently the worst of the cyclone had missed us. And by Sunday, we made our first trip to the USP pool.

Week 3

2/17/14

 

Our first week of class was rough to say the least. Not that any of them were hard, but they were extremely unorganized. Lecture times are really random (for example I have one class that is Wednesday at 1, Thursday at 5, and then Friday at 12) and if they don’t fit peoples schedule the teachers can move the date and time of the lecture. Classes got moved without even an email and sometimes teachers didn’t even show up. One of my professors had been hired the night before classes started and a couple of my friends are in a Pacific Island Biogeography class and they flew in a professor to teach who had never even been in the southern hemisphere before. My roommate got the worst of luck though. She’s in the journalism department, which is pretty much run by one professor, and he up and quit during her first class. With all of her classes cancelled she now just has to wait for the department to hire more teachers.

2/21/14

 

Despite all the problems, it was nice not having to jump right into class. The system is so relaxed compared to back home it takes a lot of the pressure off. So not having much to do, we again travelled away for the weekend. This time however we just took a bus to another part of the island to the Beach House Resort. Even though it rained most of the weekend, it was so warm we were still able to go out kayaking and play a little Frisbee in the knee deep water.

At night there was a thunderstorm and we sat out on the beach for hours just watching the lightning.

Week 2

2/11/14

After returning from the village we finally had some time to get settled into our rooms on campus. Most of the Globalinks students including myself are staying at the apartment style flats just a few minutes walk from the main campus. The flats are very nice and much bigger than I had expected. I have one roommate and we each have our own bedroom/bathroom and we share a living and kitchen area. Our flats come equipped with air conditioning, 2 channels of cable, and even housekeepers. Unfortunately though it’s only our third day here and so far our power has gone out, our air conditioning broke, the Wi-Fi routers don’t work, and we only get running water 50% of the time.

The actual campus is very nice. The buildings are in pretty good condition and the entire campus is covered in lush tropical plants that will make any walk to class a good one. There is no AC inside the buildings, but the windows are always open and the fans are on. The lower campus, which is were all my classes will be, rests right along the beach.

  

The University of the South Pacific is in Suva, which is the capital of Fiji. You could tell right as we entered Suva because the roads were newly paved (they are undergoing a huge street renovation project at the moment) and there are sidewalks. The actual city (about a 5 minute bus ride from USP) isn’t that big compared to many in America but it sits along the harbor and has a huge farmers market.

Suva Harbor

Suva Market

2/14/14

To kick off the semester a small group of us travelled to the island of Ovalau, which is known for its historic landmarks. On Friday night a few of the Globalinks students made some local friends on their way back from the bar, and they offered to take us on a hike the following morning. Neglecting everything our study abroad programs had told us about going off with strangers, we decided to go. There were three guys taking the eight of us up on the hike to Gorilla Mountain – so we figured that if worse comes to worse the odds were in our favor.

The right side of the rock looks like the face of a Gorilla

Well we were wrong. As we followed them through their village and up a small path, a few more guys with machetes greeted us. And before we knew it, there were about 12 locals with machetes to our 8 frightened young selves. Shit. With a million thoughts running through our heads- which included possible escape routes, “are they going to eat us?”, and “holy hell no one will ever find our bodies out here”- we nervously proceeded up the path. Half the locals went in the front and the other half followed us from behind. We were trapped.

We soon learned though that most of the guys were going off to farm, and that’s why they needed the machetes. The three guys that were taking us up on the hike however needed them for other reasons. Along the way they came in handy when they climbed up the coconut trees and knocked down fresh coconuts for us to eat and drink.

We were also treated to fresh papaya, sugar cane, and bananas. About halfway up the hike we came to a point where nobody had been for over three years. Very steep, overgrown, and slippery, we spent another two hours chopping down a pathway to make it to the top. Exhausted and drenched in sweat we managed to make it to the top of Gorilla Mountain, and it was well worth it.

On our way back down we were able to jump in the river to cool off. The guys then came back into town with us and jumped off the bridge with some of the kids, where we also encountered a very deadly water snake.

The following day on the Island we spent playing rugby, relaxing on the beach, and collecting shells. It was only a small beach but was covered in dead coral, which is sadly an effect of the coral bleaching caused by rising sea level temperatures. Having spent a lot of time studying the topic, it was still heart wrenching seeing the effects in person.

 

Due to awkward ferry times, we spent Sunday night in Ovalau and woke up at 3:30 Monday morning to catch a boat back to Suva to make it in time to our first class.

Week 1

2/4/14

We arrived in Fiji roughly around 4:30 in the morning- just in time to catch a beautiful sunrise. By “we” I mean our 15-person Globalinks group, which is a program that sends students from the U.S to Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia. We were greeted by the lovely Lavenia, who is pretty much our mom for the first week we are here. Born and raised in Fiji (now currently residing in Australia) she comes back every semester to help show students around the island and get comfortable at the University of the South Pacific.

Sunrise outside of the airport in Nadi

We all hoped in a bus to head to the Uprising Resort where we spent three days. At first they told us it would take 3 hours, maybe 4. Then they said it could be shorter or longer they weren’t really sure. Truth is they had no idea because everyone on the island runs on “Fiji Time”. After spending a couple days here too I’ve come to realize it is a real thing. Nobody is on time for anything and you can’t trust any time estimates people give you because chances are they are completely wrong. What I’ve noticed though is because of Fiji Time nobody is in a rush to get anywhere, and that’s one of the most relaxing feelings I’ve ever experienced.

 

The drive to the resort was a bumpy one. We travelled on a road that laid on the outskirts of the island, one lane each direction. During our trip we passed many people (and cows). Every time we would see someone they would shout “Bula! Bula!” while eagerly smiling and waving. Sometimes we would pass through villages where children were on their way to school and they would all hoot and holler in excitement. Fiji is believed to have the nicest people in the world, and it is in fact true. There are not too many places you can find people waving with one hand and holding a machete in the other.

 

When we arrived at the resort the only thing I could think of is a travel magazine or a Buzzfeed article that maybe talks about “30 places you have to go before you die”. The place was straight out of a brochure. Our rooms were spacious huts tastefully decorated in the interior with mahogany furniture. Out back there was an outdoor shower that made you feel as if you were bathing under a waterfall in the middle of the jungle. The property was of course beachfront. We immediately hoped in the ocean where the water was crystal clear and arguably warmer than a pool. Fish danced around us as we all soaked up the sun and enjoyed the beautiful day. We had only been in the country for about 6 hours and it was barely 11am, and I was already sunburnt.

The following day we travelled by (a sinking) boat up to an inland village where we all were apart of our first Kava Ceremony. Kava is a traditional drink that looks like muddy water and has a bitter after taste of Oragel. The locals drink it every day and night. We only had a few cups during our village trip, but as you drink more, you start to loose feeling in your body. First your mouth (which you can kind of feel on your first cup) then it spreads down to your arms and legs. They call it getting “doped” because after too many, your friend might have to carry you home.  The advantages of Kava though is that it is cheap- much cheaper than alcohol- and there is no hangover in the morning. One of the things that disturbed me about our visit though was the clear dominance of men in the village. When we first entered, men and women were segregated so that all the men sat in the front and all the women in the back. Coming from America where women and men are considered equal now in almost all places, it was hard to embrace this even though it is apart of their culture.

 

The rest of the village trip was spent watching how they cook their food and perform other tasks like opening coconuts and basket weaving with the leaves of the coconut tree. From there we said our goodbyes and headed up river to the waterfalls where we able to swim and jump off the rocks- perfect for such a hot day. On our way back down we were able to shortly travel in a bamboo raft- one that farmers used to take their crops down to the villages. Apparently it takes so long that they load up all their goods and start their travel on Friday night, and then arrive around 9am Saturday morning just in time for the market. The rafts however don’t travel back up river so they let them go and then pay for rides back up. The rafts are about 6×15 feet however only take about 3 hours to make- 2 ½  hours cutting down the bamboo and the other half hour stringing the raft together.

The following day, and last day at the resort, we were invited to test out an event for an Australian Reality T.V show somewhat like survivor. Our first task was to paddle a boat with about eight of us around a buoy about 100 meters out. After that they had us attempt to rig the sail onto it, and we failed miserably. After watching us struggle for a good half hour they finally showed us how to do it.

Later in the day we got to go on a snorkel cruise. This wasn’t quite the same as one that you might go on in Hawaii though. It had rained the night before so the waves were really rough and they all loaded us up on a boat and drove us about 10 minutes out to the middle of the ocean and said “Ok, go swim. The reef is that way.” I’m actually not even sure if there were life jackets on the boat. The reef was beautiful however, and we even saw a shark.

White Tip reef shark

 

2/9/14

For our first weekend on the island we travelled to Sote village. The village was once home to Levenia and her family, so we were all able to stay in a big pavilion like room that her family owned right next village. Our first day there was exhausting- we started by helping the school plant crops and then running around with the kids playing soccer, volleyball, and duck-duck-goose. Later in the day we went to the river with the kids and ended the evening with dancing and Kava.

The second day was a day of rest (how every Sunday is in Fiji), but we managed to squeeze in a waterfall hike through the jungle. On our final day there we were all excited to join the kids during school hours and help around the classroom. Little did we know that we weren’t helping around the classroom, but instead the teachers for the day. Besides the headmaster, all the teachers left that day to travel into the city. There were only 5 classrooms in the school, and I was placed alone with the oldest group that consisted of 7^th and 8^th graders. I spent the first half hour nervously thumbing through the workbooks trying to go back and forth between each grade. It’s too bad it took me until college to finally gain respect for substitute teachers.

 

Overall the village trip was a great one. The entire community was so welcoming and they even called us an extended part of their family. The kids were all so excited to have us and hopefully we will all be able to make a weekend trip back there before the semester is over.