Beyond the half way point!
Trip Start
Feb 11, 2006
1
14
18
Trip End
May 27, 2006
Suva,
Fiji
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
They say that tourism is down because of the approaching elections and subsequent political tension, but the fact that I couldn't find a place to stay this weekend outside of Suva definitely suggests otherwise. My original long weekend plan had been to head to an inexpensive backpackers and just hang out and collect my thoughts for the upcoming independent study project, but I was unable to find one within my allotted budget. As a result, I stuck around Suva for the weekend and honestly think I had more fun than I could have had any where else! Four of the girls decided to go away for the weekend, but Becca and I stuck it out for a low-key weekend in Suva. Believe it or not, this was the first full weekend I'd spent in Suva in the nine weeks I've been in Fiji. All previous weekends have been spent in various villages or traveling. I learned so much about Suva on the weekends: it's a booming place on Saturday as all the farmers from distant villages come in to sell their crops in the market and on Sunday it looks like a ghost town because everyone is in church. I had time to do things I haven't had time to do in Suva before. On Saturday I walked about five miles along the seawall that runs around the outside of the city to where Becca lives. I discovered several new restaurants, including a little shop that has the best sandwich I've eaten since home (good sandwiches have been one of my main food cravings). Earlier in the week we had met up with some of the Peace Corps volunteers here and Becca and I hung out with them Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Becca and I took the bus to Pacific Harbour to spend a few hours on the closest good public beach to Suva (about 45 minutes away) on Sunday. We swam for a bit, then walked down to the Pearl, the newest five-star resort to grace Pacific Harbour. We met the Peace Corps crew there and spent the late afternoon and early evening just chatting on cushions and pillows on the Pearl's outdoor patio listening to live jazz and watching the sun set. It was one of those "only in Fiji" moments. All in all, the weekend was low key, but incredibly relaxing and fun all at the same time without being ridiculously expensive.
We're in our last week of school, though it's hard to call this a week when we had Monday off for Prophet Mohammed's birthday (there's a big Muslim population here) and we have this Friday off for Good Friday. We only have class in the mornings, followed by brief field trips. Yesterday we had class from 9-11am and then we went to see one of Fiji's many squatter settlements. Entire villages pop up on government land. They are made up of people who have come from all over Fiji to be closer to jobs and schools for their children. They can barely afford school fees (about $100 Fijian dollars per year with tuition, books and uniform; probably US$70), so they need to live as close to schools and jobs as possible to avoid transportation costs. The government says they'll provide land for the squatters to live on elsewhere outside the city. While that sounds like a good idea, if they move the people, then they have expensive transportation costs to get their kids to school and get to their places of work. The possibility of being moved by the government prevents the people in these settlements from building "good houses." If they could be moved at any moment, they don't invest much in the infrastructure of the settlement or in the structure of their homes themselves. The homes are just little shacks constructed from tarps, corrugated scrap metal and canvas sacks. There is one water tap that serves the entire community. The land itself that they are living on is a mangrove swamp that they filled in with dirt. Toilets are small structures with planks and a toilet seat over an open hole. There is no garbage disposal system; all rubbish ends up in piles outside or dumped deeper into the mangrove swamp. In a 2002 study, 35% of Fijians were found to live below the poverty line and that percentage rises every year. In a nation that is supposed to be "developing," the poverty problem just gets worse and worse.
Interesting sidenote: this morning I got up at 5:30 to go for a run/walk with host mom Suzie and her friend along the seawall. Not only was it absolutely stunning to watch the big thunderhead clouds start to glow as the sun came up, but I came face to face with Fiji's Prime Minister Qarase! Apparently he walks the seawall every morning. He had three or four escorts walking with him and an SUV following parallel on the road. We both just smiled and kept on trucking. So yeah, that was my Fijian brush with greatness. Although I actually just realized recently that I'm actually living with a Fijian celebrity. Suzie's live-in boyfriend used to play for Australia's national rugby team and he's just been hired as a coach for Fiji's national team. I didn't realize he was famous until he came to our meke performance two weeks ago and our language teacher's son got all excited to see him! I wish he'd teach me a thing or two about rugby. I'm starting to catch on to the rules, but the terminology is pretty much Greek to me.
New pictures of my homestay house and my room will be up soon in the "Homestay" album. I'll also post pictures of the class one class I've been volunteering with at the primary school. Keep in mind that all the kids you see are in one class with one teacher!
