This morning we had peanut butter sandwiches! I was so
excited. I’ve been eating so much bread the last few days too because I feel
like it’s been lacking since we’ve been here. It doesn’t hurt that Sanjita’s
rolls are amazing and she’s been serving them at every meal since she found out
we like them so much.
Our bus was over an hour late this morning to take us to
a museum in town. I thought it was ridiculous, but everyone said it was running
on “Fijian time,” which sounds like the biggest crock ever. When we finally got
to the museum, we realized it was ridiculously small. It took us like ten
minutes to wander through and the rest of our time was spent in the small gift
shop. I bought a souvenir bottle opener, which I realize I probably should have
brought with me because even things like wine coolers in other countries aren’t
twist-offs.
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| View outside the history museum |
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| A traditional boat in the history museum |
After the history museum, we went to the other side of
town to visit the prison. Apparently, Fijian prisoners who have served most of
their sentence are encouraged to develop a talent while in jail. They are put
in a separate area with house-like structures where they are able to roam free.
They said not many try to escape, which sounds bizarre to me. There wasn’t even
a barbed-wire fence keeping them in the area, just the open road. But that’s beside
the point, these men are encouraged to try artistic pursuits. And they’re
amazing! There was a bunch of beautiful paintings and mosaics in the small art
gallery attached to the prison. We were encouraged to purchase something (the
money goes to the families of the prisoners), but there was no way I would be
able to get any of the mosaics I liked home. They were super heavy.
On the way back to campus, we stopped at the town theater
so that a couple of our group members could purchase tickets to the late showing
(8:30 is their latest!) of the new Batman or Superman, whichever, movie.
Someone told me it isn’t even out in the states yet. Tickets were only $5
Fijian though, so that’s a really good deal.
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| The town cinema |
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| View of Suva |
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| Freighters on the coast |
We had lunch on campus, nothing notable, after returning
and were left to our own devices for the afternoon to “study” for our exam
tomorrow. I wandered around campus with two girls for a little while before we
went to McDonald’s to use the internet. Even though we were promised internet
access on campus, we haven’t been able to get the wifi to work, so McDonald’s
(which has no plugs) was our last resort. Anyways, not much studying got done.
I went for a run up a pretty big hill after my laptop died. I only ran for 24
minutes, but I was impressed with myself because it’s much hillier and muggier
here than I’m used to.
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| Litter Please :) |
Dinner was more rolls :) and lamb stew with some kind of
baked potato concoction. It was alright. We spent the rest of our night trying
to figure out who the random people were that kept wandering in and out of our
host families house. It’s possibly the equivalent of Thursday poker night, with
kava? We’re not quite clear. There was a man from New Zealand here though that
tried to bring up some uncomfortable controversial subjects with us though.
I bought a notebook today so I could record some of the
random Fijian things that I’ve learned:
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Fiji is ruled by a strict military regime with
limited freedom of speech and jail as a repercussion
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Only men appear to drive here
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It’s illegal for women to run away with a man
(without permission) before 21
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Illegal for students and those under 18 to smoke
(marijuana is completely illegal)
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21 is the voting age, but this is switching to
18 in the next election
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You are to remove your shoes before entering
one’s house
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Clubs are open until 5am and do not admit native
students
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Girls must wear their hair up and cannot wear
fingernail polish to school
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Citizens are not always able to get visas to
travel due to some citizens staying past their allotted stay
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Peanut butter is common :)
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All apples are imported (and hard to find)
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Motorcycles are uncommon except amongst
Europeans on the North Island (we’re on the South)
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There is only one national park in the whole
country
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Many stores and products suffer from heavy
inflation due to the popularity of imported goods
·
Television subscribers have only about 13
channel options
·
Following primary school (the equivalent of
elementary), there is a semester fee of about $50-70 to attend grammar school
and an additional fee for year-end exams
·
Kava, the national drink, is made from a natural
muscle relaxing root and tastes like dirt-filled water
·
Bugs are out constantly! (which explains my many
bug bites)
·
Fiji water is much cheaper in Fiji
·
Animals are rarely kept in homes
