I'm on my way back to the village from my very first weekend away. I spent it in Bua, the province in the West, with some families I've gotten to be close with. I think for me one of the hard things that I can't do is separating myself from my "work." I like being in the village, I like people I spend a lot of time with, and I'm enjoying the experience that I'm experiencing. The emotional ties for me are really strong; ironically, I have a hard time with this in the US but here it seems so much easier. I wonder if it's because of the close proximity in which we all live?
Anyway, this weekend was a nice change of pace. Where I was isn't a village per say but a government station. I left my village at 7:30 am, got there at 7 pm, three buses later. As soon as I stepped off the bus, I rushed to put on my sulu over my shorts, but then I found out, it didn't matter! Since I wasn't in the village, village rules don't really apply. Shorts! Tank tops! It's weird how that makes you feel naked. We went swimming off the wharf with a fishing line and hook. Our bait was flour and tuna, which is not a good bait. You should use bread, I guess. We didn't have much luck. But last night they went out in the boat and caught lots of big fish. I'll post pictures after I get back to the village and such. We ate a ton of fish and bananas. They have lots of banana trees there! I went swimming in the ocean, slept, watched a gazillion movies. I felt like I was in an alternate universe. One of the sons of the family I was staying with is a successful businessman in Suva. He and his girlfriend and his kids came up. They brought a Playstation, a handheld PSP thing, like two dozen cell phones, a portable DVD player, and all these crazy electronic gadgets I haven't seen for a long, long time. The kids all spoke English and could barely speak conversational Fijian. Urban Fijians lead a much different life than us in the bush. The kids were obsessed with TV and their games. I had a really hard time with it because, well, I hate that stuff. And I hate the influence Westernization has had here, for the most part. The good part: I got to eat chocolate cake and ice cream. Yum! That is a good influence.
One more note before I go... over the weekend some stuff went down with the government here. Rest assured, all is well with me and the PCVs. It's all happening over our heads, and besides, I'm in the bush! We remain untouched by volatile political situations.
2 comments:
What a dichotomy you paint between the bush and the city! It is amazing to see how Westernized (Americanized?) Fiji has become. Yay for ice cream! I know how you must miss it!
What are you doing in the picture of you and that little person, when you're bending over by the water?
Parts of Fiji yes, are very Westernized. And then at the same time, you'll see things that are really behind.
In the picture, we're looking at fish and fishing.
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