One thing Fiji has taught me it’s not the end of the world if something is late. My friends in Australia know just how twisted my knickers get about this. I HATE waiting and I hate people keeping me waiting. In Fiji it gets reinforced every day that if you have to wait the most unimaginable catastrophe of all happens: you wait. That’s it. No one dies.
Men in skirts
I've always felt sorry for men who have to sweat it out in a suit in a tropical summer. As I am a woman and have the choice, I never wear pants when it's over 25 degrees (I wear skirts instead, mind out of the gutter!). The men of Fiji have have thought ahead and developed the pocket sulu: a mid-calf length wrap around...skirt...in suiting material. It can be worn to any occasion, including work, church and formal events. Sure beats sweating it out in pants! And no, it doesn't look remotely girly.
The gentle sun
I know this is relative, but as a melanin challenged person from a place with probably the harshest sunlight on earth, the sun here is incredibly gentle. The Fijian sun gently kisses your skin rather than mauling it. No longer is a trip to the beach inevitably followed by lobster-face, in spite of my best efforts with the 80+ sunblock.
The sense of humour
The Fijians are some of the most cheerful people I've ever met. Everywhere you go you hear people talking to each other and laughing. And yes, I’m the cause of that laughter more often than I would like (and only sometimes on purpose).
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| Background: proof that I am hilarious! |
I love some of the local humour too
The natural beauty
Everywhere you turn here there is something to take your breath away. The views, the light, the incredibly vivid colours are all spectacularly, intensely beautiful.
This is the view from my bedroom window:
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| Yes I wake up to that every morning, can’t help bragging! |
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| Also, islands! |
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| And flowers! |
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| And dinner! |
Bula print EVERYTHING!
The local bula print (tropical plants on a bright background, akin to a botanical Hawaiian print) is THE choice of fabric for all kinds of clothing. Men and women wear it, people in villages and cities wear it, people in offices wear it (on Bula Friday...whoo!) and I'm told ladies can also wear it on formal occasions.
I plan on taking this to the extreme and making the craziest bula print stuff I can think of this year.
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| Off to a flying start |
The kids
I have never wanted kids, but the Fijian kids are so cute that I now really want one: provided someone else does all the hard work like pregnancy, childbirth, nappies, sleep deprivation, terrible 2s, school fees and the teenage years. And takes the financial, career and social hit for me.
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| Actually, I think I’ll just take photos of other people’s kids! |
Tropical fruit
This stuff is delicious! For some reason it is so much sweeter and tastier here. I’m even pretty sure that there's no added MSG…probably.
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