Top 10's

My time in Fiji almost halfway over and I'm experiencing mixed emotions. I'm having a blast, but really suffering from some withdrawal over some comforts of my life back in Iowa. Some of you may be confused, so let me get you up to speed. I've switched from a two-year program to a one-year one and also changed my course of study from Social Policy to Education, hence why I'm almost half-way done already. There are a number of reasons behind my decisions, but essentially the change in field of study allowed me to complete my coursework in a year (with a thesis following) instead of two, so I decided to change from the Multi-Year Scholarship to the Academic Year one. Financially, the cost of living here for two years would have greatly exceeded my scholarship funds as well, so I'm glad I made the switch. All this happened only a couple weeks after arriving, but I realized I forgot to mention it any of my entries. So yeah, back to the mix of emotions. I've been having an awesome time here but I'm really starting to miss things from home. I think my thoughts would be best illustrated in a Top 10 list of things I miss the most. Here goes...

Top 10 Things Mike Misses From Home...

10. Postal (Zip) Codes - Every time I write my address down I feel like I'm missing something. Never thought I'd miss that!

9. "Yes" Meaning "Yes" - This is hard to explain, but sometimes when Fijians say "Yes" they really mean "No." They will shake their heads wildly up and down as if they understand you, but they really have no idea what you are saying and/or simply want you to go away thinking they agree with you. This "No-Yes" also comes in the form of promises that will simply never be kept - Ex. "So, you'll be back tomorrow to fix it?" "Yes, yes, yes." or "Io, io, io." Ahhhh...No, no, no... Really they mean "Yes... I'll be back whenever I get around to it and maybe never!"

8. Laundry Washer and Dryer - Enough said!

7. Free Sauce - At most restaurants here you have to pay extra for sauces like ketchup or even salad dressing (it doesn't come with the salad). Being a person who believes firmly that most foods are simply a means by which we consume delicious sauces, this really ticks me off! I miss the freedom of gluttony of American society!

6. Quiet Nights - I've adjusted to the dogs for the most part, but it never ceases to amaze me just how loud a neighborhood can be at night. The buses going by, the dogs barking, the kava-pounding... I miss the peace and quiet of my little neighborhood back in Boone or the stillness of the forest at camp.

5. Pizza - In my experience, it doesn't matter what restaurant you choose here in Suva, finding a decent slice of pizza is not gonna happen! Even Pizza Hut struggles to make par. I think it's the sauce or the meat or the combination of the two, but something's off and it always leaves you disappointed. I miss that greasy American good stuff from back home!

4. Driving - There's something to be said about the independence of having a car and the ability to go wherever you please without soliciting the services of public transportation, however entertaining it may be (see previous entry, haha!). I miss the feeling of being behind the wheel and deciding on a whim when and where I want to go. I miss the freedom of that.

3. Inside Jokes - Whenever I get a wall-post on Facebook or talk on Skype with people who are back in the states, the best parts of our conversations are always the inside jokes we re-laugh about. Because I haven't been friends with people here that long, our inside jokes are few and far between.

2. Camp - Summer is just arriving back home and this will be the first time in six years that I haven't been a camp counselor. I'm definitely going through camp withdrawal. I miss the smell of the fire and the company of camp friends. I miss the kids, and the laughter, and the escape from what Kerouac calls "the world of seriousness."

1. Friends and Family - Even when you are surrounded by picturesque places and fascinating people, there is nothing like passing time with good friends and close family. The coolest thing about traveling is getting to see new things and experience a different life for awhile, but also learning to appreciate the life you have back home and the people who make it what it is.

Despite the occasional homesickness, things are going incredibly well here in Fiji and time is flying by. I cannot believe I'm already done with my first semester here, only exams to go (wish me luck, by the way!). I'm returning to the states for my brother CT's wedding and will be home for a couple of weeks. I plan on visiting a Camp Hantesa, making an appearance at my sponsor Rotary Club, and of course catching up with friends and family while I'm back. I'm super pumped to get to see everyone again and I'll definitely by eating lots of pizza and using tons of sauce at every meal, haha! Hope everyone reading this is doing well. Take care and I'll see some of you soon! Peace and grace. Moce, y'all.

Transportation Inspiration

You don't have to be in Fiji long to get acquainted with some of the quirks of living here and transportation is one of them. When trying to get from A to B in Suva there are only two options - bus or taxi. I wish I could say one is more "unremarkable" than the other, but both are fantastically odd and will ever-amaze you with their tackiness. In fact, I think it is each driver's personal mission to deliver the highest quality of ridiculousness in their little moving houses of fun.
When I rode the bus for the first time a couple of months ago, I wasn't sure what I was in for. Yup, let's just say it was a little strange. The decor was pleasant to say the least - plastic covered seats with pealing paint on all the metal-worked framing, matted looking tassels dotting the front windshield, faded pictures of Hindu deities taped up along the dashboard, and this huge pleather-tassely thing covering the stick-shift (driving with one of these appears similar to palming a basketball... seriously). I gotta say the combination of all of it made the ambiance strangely charming. The music really topped it off though. The radio blared hit after hit of today's chart-toppers from India. It was like listening to the soundtrack to the Bollywood version of 'You Got Served' - epic! If it weren't for the sounds and smells of the transmission about to drop, I'd have thought I was in a nightclub. Meeting capacity standards is not exactly priority for the good ol' 'Central Transport, Ltd.' It was incredibly packed. I've never seen anything like it actually; there were three to a seat all the way back and the people in the aisles were practically on top of each other. It was, of course, a million degrees out as well, so the bus created a sort of solar oven in which all of us would eventually roast to our death. Let me tell you, it was a good time.
There is equal effort put into the "entertainment" sector of the taxi industry here as well. Often the dashboard will be plastered with bumper stickers or bobble heads and tinker toys. The seats are almost always covered in plastic so that your butt sticks comfortably to the surface and usually makes a squeaking sound as you move in and out of the cab. Again, you'll commonly find yourself listening to 'Hindi-Hop' (as I have affectionately termed it), and staring bedazzled at the enormous and fantastically stupid-looking tassely stick-shift cover. The makings for the best of transport atmospheres is, of course, when there is an additional seat cover placed between the plastic one and the seat itself (they really like their seat covers...). The most tasteful of these 'tweeners' are made of fake animal skin (leopard is my favorite) or out of a gigantic doily. So avant-garde!
Regardless of whether you take bus or taxi, if you're headed out for a night on the town in Fiji, the entertainment starts before you even get to where you're going!