Tuesday, February 19, 2013

First Day in Fiji

Savannah and her kids


Savannah just recently started her mission experience in Fiji.  

Fiji-
An Island Paradise. Vacation Destination for the adventurous all over the world. Where I choose to spend the next 5 months.

Saturday January 12, 2013. Sometime before 9:30 a.m. I’m rummaging through the odds and ends in my room. On the top shelf of my desk are odds and ends that I have collected from all over the world. Paris- an Eiffel Tower, Spain- a glass impression of some Flamenco Dancers, Seattle- a jar of ash from St. Helens, Alaska- an totem pole of stacked owls, Hawaii- a painted wooden turtle. What sort of trinket would Fiji be represented with? These thoughts didn’t last long, I retrieved the carabiner that I wanted to hook my filtering water bottle to my back pack with.

My family and I headed to the Boise airport with my two suitcases of clothes and supplies. I hoped I was at least materially ready for every sort of weather, scrape, illness, and challenge that would emerge out of the jungle of coconut palms. My backpack stuffed with two laptops and all the documents and papers that held any information any government would ever want to know about me.

At the airport the confusion started- as to how to weigh and charge me for my excessive baggage. “I think we go by the rules of Air Pacific...huh, that’s weird they charge per kilogram not by pieces. So how do you convert from pounds to kilograms.” Luckily my mom had some experience converting between metric and standard. To the sound of $112.00 being charged on my debit card- my bags were sent away.

Goodbyes are tough. I didn’t want to leave...but the feeling that I had a spot on my way to Fiji was a little bit stronger of a feeling.

A flight to Sacramento. A flight to LAX and I finally met up with Mishayla at the gate of her plane. Here we started our adventure together. After finally finding our way to the international terminal we retrieved our tickets- after repacking Mishayla’s bag. I jumped in the slow moving line to go through security before Mishayla thinking that I was going to save a spot in line for her. That was a joke. The line quickly filled with all sorts of international travelers. Now that I think back on it I’m sure there were a lot of flights going to Asia heading out that night. I stood a little taller than most of the crowd. I kept tip-toeing looking in the winding lines for Mishayla. The nice lady in line in front of me was going home to Taipei, she was also worried that Mishayla wasn’t coming through line quick enough.
I got through security for the third time that day without a hitch. While I was waiting against a wall outside of the security area I swear I saw Ricky Gervais. Just walking with a friend like a regular guy, dressed in regular traveling clothes. He was talking a British accent, it really was him.A few minutes later Mishayla hustled through the door and we headed towards our plane as it gave it’s second boarding call.

On the plane we had separate seats. I had a window, Mishayla had an aisle about ten rows behind me. It had been a while since I had been on a plane trip that lasted more than a few hours. Some words of advice- for long plane rides over seas- get the aisle seat. You can get up whenever you want. In my case I felt terrible every time I wanted to get up I was at the mercy of two strangers. One of which, a 61 year old on a once in a lifetime trip, was on his way to trekking trip in New Zealand. The other, a total California girl, was visiting friends. They were nice enough- but I still felt bad making them move every time I wanted to stretch my legs.

On a side note- for that whole 10.5 hour flight I didn’t use the bathroom once. I hate using airplane bathrooms and I was victorious once again.

When the plane landed at 5:30 in the morning on Monday (Fiji Time) the humidity of the day already began to creep in. Inside the international arrivals area they had live musicians greeting us with their island music.

We got through customs and started exploring the airport. We often turned down rides in taxis and offers for beach trips- opting just to stay in an air conditioned corner of the airport. I handed off my second laptop for an Adventist worker that needed one for his new job at the headquarters. He was so happy to receive it, I was happy to speak with someone that knew me.

Mishayla and I were destined for one more flight. The plane held about five others, two female travelers from the UK. Claire and Frankie. We chatted like girls, oohing and awwing at the sights from our little plane. I mean little plane. Only the second smallest I’ve ever ridden.

We were told that Vulie would meet us at the Savusavu airport. Sure enough he was there. Vulie is someone that can’t be explained easily. A venerable looking old Fijian- standing like he owns the ground beneath his flip-flops. He ushered us inside a taxi. The first thing I noticed about the taxi other than its flamboyant flower print upholstery was the lack of seat belts. “You’re on the other side of the world now Savannah. They don’t ticket you for not wearing a seat belt.” However theses thoughts were only secondary to the one. “IT’S SO HOT. I CAN”T TELL IF I’M SWEATING OR JUST COLLECTING MOISTURE.”

The taxi took us through Savusavu and Vuli showed us where we could shop and buy fruits and vegetables. I remember seeing everything for the first time- I was terrified that everyone was staring at me. The place was entirely new and strange. The smells were definitely off, the way the floor seemed slippery and grimy was off, the closeness of it all was off. After the market Vuli took us briefly to his house, and through the village of Nagigi- and then up to the school and our house.

Vulie opened up the building and let it air out. Soon discovering that the electricity wasn’t working. Ignorant of that particular problem Mishayla and I shoved all of our stuff inside, quickly picked rooms and listened to Vulie.

We are always listening to Vulie- he chooses to explain everything in three ways. First with a list, second with hand motions, third with half sentences that only sometimes have obvious endings. An example of his half sentences would  be like “As best you...” can. Then there are the sayings “then you come up.” ??? After what? Come to where? Where are we coming from?

As Vulie was winding up the grand tour our stomachs started to rumble. “What should we do about dinner?” Mishayla piped up. “You come to my house.” Vulie nodded. Ohhhh... that’s what he meant. After he had left, Mishayla and I stood in our house- for the first time alone. “What did I get myself into,” pulsed into conscious thought.

Our first Fijian meal, I expected to be treated like a guest, but not to the extent that I was. I didn’t have to move at all once I sat down. Everything was handed to me by Diana- Vulie’s daughter-in-law. She waited in the kitchen while Vulie, Sunia (Vulie’s nephew), and some church elder dined with us. They sat there and ate- while I tried to dispell the awkwardness and general sweaty discomfort I was feeling with conversation. Tried and failed. “Is there any interesting history for Nagigi?” “How many kids go to the school?” “How long have you lived here?” All a waste of breath.

Then Nau-Mita entered the room, she was the one that had prepared the food. She sat down and starts asking about our trip, about our families. She told us to call her Nau- because it means grandmother because while we were here- she was our grandmother. I wasn’t complaining she made me feel instantly like a real human being instead of an alien. She put at bay the doubt and fear that I wouldn’t make it through the night without asking to go home, to go back to the sub-zero temperatures and ice where I had electricity and hot water and all the internet I could want. Nau is a saint.

It started to sprinkle outside and Mishayla and I excused ourselves, decided on how we would get breakfast in the morning, how we would keep bugs out of the food and all sorts of discussion. We headed out, eager to cool off. We were experiencing our first tropical rain shower on the walk back up the hill to our house. It was wonderful. Our eagerness to get out into the rain was confusing to the natives, but the grime of two days of traveling needed to come off in a grand fashion. Using flashlights later that night we crept under our mosquito nets and tucked in for a hot and sweaty but much needed good nights sleep. 

At the Beach