I Love My Host Family

“There’s no combination of words I can put on the back of a postcard, no song that I can sing but I can try for your heart. These dreams, they are made out of real things… like a shoe box of photographs with sepia-toned loving.” Better Together by Jack Johnson

I don’t write on my blog for one simple reason… I am doing other stuff instead. Fiji is incredible and there is something to do every free second of the day. If you’ve facebook stalked any of my pictures, you will quickly learn how in love I am with Fiji and my life here. The pictures do a great job of describing what I have been doing and what it looks like here but due to many requests to keep writing my blog, I will write about a few things going on in my life.


QUICK BACKGROUND:

I live in Suva which is on the west side of the largest island that makes up the Fiji Island nation and go to school at the University of the South Pacific. Although there are many students from all over the pacific that go there, I have class with the three other girls on my program in a secluded hut at the back of the campus. We have our own classes because we have specialized subject matters that we study. Lecturers come in every day and debrief us on different aspects of Fiji including the history, language, economy, political situation, religion, identity, gender relations, customs, etc. In the afternoon we have Fijian language class and then the rest of the day we have free. Typically I go to a coffee place down town and we sit together and work on language homework or do our long readings to prepare for the next day’s classes. I am not going to lie, after studying we typically go to happy hour at our favorite bar where we have befriended all the bartenders. Then make it home for dinner and then typically go back out. Some weekend we travel to different islands and thus far we have visited the cities of: Labasa, Savusavu, Nadi, Lautoka, and Levuka, which are all on various islands. I love the other three girls in my class and our three teachers (Mrs. Quiliho, Faira, and Mrs. Taubere)... because of the unique dynamic of everyone being female, the semester has been especially helpful due to our gender intensified interactions.


HOST FAMILY:

I have the BEST host family. The other three girls like their home-stays but it is unanimous that mine is by far the best. Although they start out really shy (like ALL Fijians), once they warmed up to me everything fell into place perfectly. My host dad, Tui, works for his father’s business which is sort of like an accounting firm for other businesses. My host mom, Kata, works with Tui but from what I have seen… really she just takes care of the kids, which leads me to my host sisters. I have two little sisters, Tia, who is 5, and Emily, who is only 2. Tia goes to kindergarten for half of the day while Emily stays home with Kata. Although it has been suggested that Emily go to preschool, Kata has explained the impossibility of that situation to me. Due to Emily’s badass nature (envision a SUPER sassy version of me as a child), inability to communicate in any language other than her own made-up one, and overall authoritative demeanor, my host parents don’t want to subject the teachers and other students to her destructive nature. I have been able to reassure them though… relating to Emily, I have let them know that children like her, although seemingly difficult as children, typically grow up to run companies and governments. The two little girls are one of the best parts of my day, greeting me EVERY morning with a running and yelling hug into my arms and every evening with the same affection. I play with them, read them stories, and have even taken Tia on a “sister date” into town to get milkshakes and see a movie. I have definitely integrated myself into my host family and feel like they are a true extension of my own family, not just a group of people that have given me a place to live. My host family actually functions much differently in real life than how they are supposed to on paper. My host mom is more like a big sister, making Tui (my host dad) more like my brother-in-law and the two little girls are like my nieces. Funny thing, its not just me that thinks that way… because of the unique way I look people in Fiji actually think I am related to Kata and Tia because I look so much like them. They live with Tui’s parents, in the bottom floor of their house. It’s a locked off portion so really it’s more like an apartment in the lower part of the house. I have my own room with a dresser and mirror with an incredible view. Our house sits on top of a hill that overlooks the ocean so sunrise is a pretty incredible site.

I have been able to participate in a few fun activities with my family thus far:

CHURCH- With two little kids, the hilarity of every ‘normal’ activity gets amplified. Take church for instances… I went with them to Palm Sunday to watch Tia perform in the children’s production. Tia did NOT want to be on stage and decided to stand in the far back corner still, frightened and not singing. But because I had woken up after only 4 hours of sleep still drunk I MADE sure she saw me and MADE sure I got pictures of her cute little self standing up there with all the other kids. Emily, of course, was ban from performing with the other children but instead decided to yell my name out in the middle of church because she was sitting far away from me. By the end of the production, due to my overexcited disposition emulating from my sweaty pores, Tia was reassured and eventually made it to the front of the stage to sing and dance along with the other kids. At the end of church, Tia and Emily yelled and ran over to me and hand-in-hand I walked back to the car with my two little sisters. After this interaction, I was no longer some girl living in their house but their sister which was further confirmed later that evening. Kata asked Tia to pray for all the people in their immediate family and Tia said “Mommy, Daddy, Sarah, and Emily.”

BIRTHDAY PARTY- In fiji, when the oldest child in a family turns 21 it’s a BFD. Kata’s niece was turning 21 years old which put everyone in the family in charge of something. Kata’s job was to emcee the entire production which included speeches, a slide show, the presentation of the key (it’s a Fijian tradition to present the birthday person with a huge key that says happy birthday on it which symbolizes their freedom from the house), and cutting the cake. Everyone in the entire family comes, donates money to the party process, and gives gifts. This particular party, for Sarah, was themed “green and yellow” so my family decided to get clothes made in the same pattern so everyone would know we were all together… much to my surprise, this included me! I got to go to the party, sit with the important people up front and wear a dress that matched the other people in my family. I spent the entire night dancing and laughing and getting to know my extended family. AND, I got to get to Kata and Tui so much better because this was not a kid inclusive event so the little ones stayed home with Tui’s mom.

VACATION- Over Easter weekend, I went on vacation with my host family to the West side of the island that we live on. It was about a 4 hour car ride to the beautiful Denarau Island. Although I had previously visited it with my class to observe how “touristy” it is, I was really excited to return with my Fijian family and see what it was like to vacation with them in a very Western destination. The entire weekend was a blast! I brought my friend Emma (she is on the SIT program with me) along for the weekend and we both felt 100% like part of the family. Friday night we cooked dinner for everyone and sat outside with the extended family members who live in the west and drank and shared stories. The next days we went to the pool, laid out, hung out with my family, drank (my family really likes drinking and partying), and just talking about all things Fijian. I learned SO much about the intricacies of Fijian culture and customs. It may seem like a pretty straight forward place of paradise but the truth is, Fiji is extremely diverse and rich with culture and customs that seem to get more complicated and intricate the more we learn about them. By the end of the weekend, Emma was my families adopted daughter and we both decided that we had never smiled or laughed so much in one weekend in our entire lives.



Fiji is rich with so many different cultures and heritages and histories that I wish I had the patience to type out and share with everyone. I will try and write more often, I promise, in those blogs I will include different aspects of the culture as well as what I am doing, eating, seeing, etc.

Until next time!
Love.
Sarah