...YOU WIN A PRIZE IN THE NETBALL RAFFLE!!!
That's right. I have won 7 bottles of Fiji Water. I am pretty sure I have never won anything in a raffle before. What a great prize!
The only upsetting business is that I missed out on the 10kg bag of flour. That was the golden prize and I wanted it! Missed it by ______ this much!
Suva is by no means a raging metropolis. But going away this weekend genuinely felt like I had left the big smoke behind and had arrived in paradise.
Up until now, I had no real sense for the Fiji that everyone talks about - the sandy white beaches...the crystal blue oceans...the fresh clean air. Well, I have finally met that Fiji and I have to admit, I am pretty much in love with it!
It is hard to put into words the feeling of pure happiness I felt as soon as I put my feet into the warm waters. I am not usually a water person, but floating in the water and chatting to lots of different people was quite soul restoring.
Not that my soul needed restoring. I love living in Suva, but you can sometimes feel overwhelmed with all the people, and things to do! So a weekend of doing nothing except swimming, sipping tea and laughing was simply delightful. All the light and airy words you can think of, this is the best way to describe the feeling.
I was hoping to start learning how to dive over the weekend, but it turns out you have to spend several hours studying before your get to jump into the water.
Outrageous!!
I have to take an exam and I didn't have time to do the exam prep! So, I will slowly start to build up a bit of diving know-how and hopefully by the end of the month have a chance to get my certificate. I am starting to get dive envy - there are some incredible experiences being shared with the fish and coral. As scared as I am of being underwater, I am also really looking forward to it as well.
Coming back to Suva was also a really good feeling. It is much cooler here after really hot weather last week and I can appreciate things more now I have had some time away.
The prisoners have been caught! Also, one of the robberies were opportunists pretending to be the prisoners.
Now THAT is ingenious!
Just got back from a weekend away - will update with pictures soon!
Well, probably the most crisis like event - if you want to call it that - arrived yesterday with the breakout of five prisoners from a nearby prison and proceeded to go on a crime spree throughout Suva.
There was a prison breakout and a bank robbery which was close to where some of the volunteers work and live. So it was quite close to home!
You can read a bit more about what happened in the Fiji Times: High Security Alert
But it was interesting to watch how different people reacted and responded to the situation. OK, we were never really in any danger. It was more of a post event feeling of vulnerability that just made me want to go home, hide in my house and have my housemates around me. It was an unexpected emotion!
It wore off pretty quickly though - logic and rationality kicked back in quite soon after. But everything seems to be back in place today. One can only assume the road blocks across the island will pick these gentlemen up sooner or later.
And now time to get excited about going away for the weekend!
So earlier this week I awoke
to bloodcurdling screams and tears. I thought the worst...
the zombie apocalypse had
commenced in our kitchen and was eating the leg off one of my housemates.
Well, OK, maybe not. But at
the very least I thought we were under attack from multiple bugs or something
slimy had found its way into the house.
Enter Bryan. Our newest
resident. A mouse. No bigger than your palm and with a delightful brownish hue.
He raced through the kitchen
and made his way down to one of the bedrooms. This set of a second round of
screaming!
With great bravado I entered
the mouse infested space, and proceeded to blockade the bed under the careful direction
of my housemate so Bryan could escape with some dignity.
It was then I spotted him crouched under the bed
in a fashion which looked like we had squashed him!
Ohh, the humanity! As my
housemate and I mourned poor little Bryan, he sprang back into action and proceeded
to crawl about under the bed. And that set of another round of squealing and
quick as a flash I was up on the bed.
No way this mouse was going
to catch me!...Wait, what?
We are pretty sure Bryan
ended up back under the couch in our living room. Not sure. He has not made a
reappearance…and given the shenanigans that accompanied his first appearance I
can understand why!
Poor Bryan! Welcome back
anytime!
You may have heard that Fiji and the Pacific won its first gold medal ever in an Olympic event. Iliesa Delana won a gold medal in the high jump and Fiji welcomed him home this week in style!!
When you win a gold medal for Fiji, you are presented with a giant, massive roast pig and a house. Which I think is well deserved, given it is a momentus achievement! I have unashamedly jumped on board the Iliesa train! Shameless!!!
I also got a free mini Fiji flag, which quite frankly sealed the deal for me!
AND...I got to see the Fiji police marching band once again in all their glory. These guys are actually pretty damn awesome and have affirmed my love of all things marching band. I have not yet discovered why these guys get sulus that have ridgy bottoms - I am not sure if that is just an asthetic or serves some other function related to them being in a marching band. These are the challenging questions of the day!
In other news, earlier this week I sat in on a really interesting panel discussion related to particpation in the development of Fiji's new constiution. This is a fascinating process, where members of the public are invited to submit ideas on what should be included in the new constiution.
Still being new to Fiji and working for people who are in the human rights, advocacy and awareness world, this was a really good opportunity to hear what is important to Fijians and what are some of the challenges.
And I got free sandwhiches - also makes me happy!
Mmm, I feel a bit of theme emerging here on the free stuff front...
I feel like I should be talking a bit more about my Kizomba and French lessons. That is right people, when in Fiji take French and learn Angolan dance, It's the only way! OK, i will be starting to learn how to dive soon. There - country appropriate news for you all!
So my weekend of sailing was simply fantastic. I have never sailed before so this was a big first for me.
Hobie Cats are really F A S T. So when the wind picks up you just zoom across the water! The first day we were in the water is was quite windy - up at about 20 knots. So it was basically a day of struggling not to capsize and keep the cat up right.
And try to learn how to tack and gybe and just generally steer the boat!!! It was tough conditions for a girl's first day out on the water. I have at least 17 bruises and scratches and bumps to the head to show for myself...check it out:
OK, it is a bit difficult to see, but let me tell you I earnt every single one of my bruises and then had to back it up the next day on my knees!
I was so exhausted and deydrated that I came home and collapsed and was pretty much useless for the rest of the evening. Pity I missed the BBQ to catch up with everyone and trade war stories.
Day II and we get the complete opposite conditions - it was still, sunny and light. We were worried there wouldn't be enough wind to propel the boats!
We spent the day out at a sand bar on the harbour and learning skills without the panic and threat of crashing and tipping up - except for the deliberate capsize to get training in how to get the boat back upright - as if I needed that after Day I!
It was really relaxing and I learnt so much about how to sense the wind and how to steer into and out of the wind. I had this breakthrough moment late in the day when I started to get the hang of it all. Just in time for us to come back on land!
Will most definately be going back for more, but plan to let my bruises heal a little bit first!
Woah!
Just had a mad day out on the water at the national sailing centre learning how to sail a Hobie Cat!
Epic!
we capsized...
we sank....
we got rescued...
we visited a sandbar...
we crashed into another boat...
we capsized again...
we turned the boat over twice trying ot get it up right again...
and then we came home!!!
The water was warm, but it was quite windy and we got a spray of salt water every few seconds. Our skipper was this kid Syril - he must have been about 16, but he had 5 years of sailing under his belt and he got the job done!
I am home battered and bruised, but ready for another day tomorrow!
