When we got back to suva the next day it rained for four days straight. It did not help our positive attitudes that 5 of us were sick for that whole week. I guess the food in Silana really did a number on all of us. I think it as the rich lolo (coconut cream) that everything is cooked in. Whatever it was I still cant think of the word seafood without gagging. On Wednesday instead of having Fijian class we went as a a class to see a Bollywood movie called Dil Bole Haddipa! It was really good and as soon as it comes out on DVD I’m buying and bringing it back for everyone to see. It was about an Indian girl whose dream was to play cricket for her country but since she is a girl she was never allowed to be on the team. So she dressed up as a boy and wound up playing on the team and being the star. The music, clothes and dancing were amazing throughout the movie. I think I have found my new favorite types of movies. It was interesting that the movie definitely promoted women’s rights which is not really a concept in the Indian community. That Friday we did another field trip to an Indo-Fijian house and learned to cook Indian food. We split the group into two and each group went to a house. Our house was with an Indian women and her mother. We made a variety of things including, roti, chicken curry, eggplant curry, these fried balls of beans and vegetables (my favorite), and a good pasta desert dish. The meal was amazing and I am looking forward to using my new cooking skills when I get home. Later that day we went back to USP for “open day” which is where the campus is open to everyone and all of the schools come to walk around and get a glimpse of all the different activities and clubs that are offered at USP. Then there is a dance production done by all the international students. Every group of people performs a traditional dance from their homeland. It was too crowded to even get into the theater to see it but from what I saw of the costumes, im sure the production was really cool. The weather really cleared up and started to be sunny and hot and has continued to be that way all weekend and this week. Its been nice to have sun every day instead of the occasional sun and constant rain.
Last weekend was a lot of fun. We all hung out in Suva and sat outside most of the day, bought a ukulele which I am determined to be good at by the time I get home. Saturday night my friend Megan and I went over to her boyfriend, Alex’s house. We hung out with his family which was very entertaining. His house consists of his mother, 4 brothers and their wives, a couple cousins, a 1 year old and his grandmother who is crazy and can’t walk. His mom is a baker so after dinner we enjoyed an amazing cake that she had made. Later that night we met up with the rest of the group and did some karaoke and danced the night away. There is a big Fa’afafine population in fiji and they just so happen to be all of our director’s best friends. So when we go out we wind up all dancing together and it is definitely a seen. Fa’afafine is the word for Samoan men who dress up as women. In Samoa, this practice is very popular and very accepted. It is not considered a homosexual act. If a Fa’afafine and man have a relationship it is considered heterosexual. A lot of these Fa’afafine come to Fiji, where there is also a large population of them, although it is not as accepted in Fiji. Anyway these are not like the normal cross dressers of America, these men really do look like women and they are not creepy at all. Part of the description of the Fa’afafine is that they are caregivers, nurturers and belong to a tight sisterhood. So when we are out in the clubs with Mrs. Quillio’s crew we all definitely feel safe and have a blast with them. They are usually the life of the party at most of the bars. It’s very entertaining



This week was beautiful. Its been sunny and hot for a week straight- very good news. The tsunami hit Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga. There was a warning for fiji, but nobody really thought it was a big deal nor did they pay any attention to it. Thank god it didn’t hit us. When we asked what we should do if it does hit us, our only instruction was “well, we would head for the hills”. Mrs. Quillio ( our director) is Samoan and still has a lot of family in Samoa, so the tsunami was horrible for her. Her aunt died and some of her relatives got hurt. The night of the tsunami we chose to go to Tiko’s floating restaurant. It was a really nice restaurant and I had my first steak in Fiji that was awesome. Since the restaurant was floating in the water the whole time we were eating we were also rocking a lot and it was a little disconcerting. It was the cheapest, nice meal I’ve ever had. I had a salad, calamari, 10 oz steak with vegetables and friends and a banana split all for 46 FJD ( 24 USD).