Fiji25 Blog 15 - Nate







 

Nate

Day 15

Our first Monday here, our first full day in Nanuku, was a very jam-packed day. It was a flurry of meeting new people, seeing new things, and learning new customs. The thing that stuck with me the most was the time we got to spend at the school. School in Nanuku felt so close to home yet so new at the same time. We have all spent countless hours in and around school, and I don’t think any of us expected to find ourselves in one during the summer, but school here was different. Nalotawa District School is the school that we have found ourselves spending a couple hours at every morning and often later in the afternoon to play rugby. Every morning we meet at the bottom of the village to start our day with a walk to the school. We meet at 8am sharp everyday. 8am sharp meaning anywhere between 8:03 and 8:27. After the teachers perform a quick head count, and a short health check, we start our short trek to the school. We walk along a wide dirt road, dust kicking up with every step. For the first 100 or so meters we walk with the slow flow of the river to our left, and the jungle of a banana farm to our right. Along either sides of the road we often see horses tied to fences, posts, or sometimes just roaming around. The road is rocky and uneven, and you’ll twist an ankle if you’re not paying attention. After that short 100 meter stretch, we reach a slight bend in the road that leads to a small cement bridge crossing a rock infested river. After coming around the bend the large school grounds are in sight. Nalotawa District School stretches up a large hill, surrounded by beautiful trees and the mountains of Fiji in the background. The school is divided into 3 sectors, each with its own purpose. The first level is the field. The textured grass stretches about 150 yards in length, and probably around 70 yards in width. This game harbors rugby games, soccer matches, and volleyball rallys all at once. The second level is the dorms. Our first day here, we performed a dance for the school, and they performed a couple songs for us. After we both performed our assigned duties, we were released to interact with each other. The second the headmaster said these words we were all swarmed with 12 kids each, ages ranging from kindergarteners to 8th graders. The second level was the first place they took us. Since this school is partly a boarding school, this second level was a lot of kids part-time homes. The last, and third level, are the classroom themselves. Each of the 8 classrooms with a bright yellow sign above it. In dark green writing reads: Kindergarten; Year 1/2; Year 3/4; year 5/6; Year 7: and Year 8. The resources in each classroom vary. Some classrooms with whiteboards and large desks, while others have large chalkboards and just the floor to sit on. There is one thing that all 3 levels have in common. Joy. In the classrooms we experienced loud, energetic, and hungry to learn kids, who genuinely seem happy to be there. The second level is where kids rush to after the bell, rampaging to change out of their school outfits and into lighter, cooler clothes. After a quick change on the second level, they funnel out to the field, where they are finally free. Free to play.

              Soon after arriving at school it was clear that there are several luxuries that we have at home that we don’t have here, and we are constantly reminded of these. These luxuries include laptops and screens, air-conditioning, and consent. Especially the last one. Do you want to hold my hand? Too bad. Every second of time we spend at the school kids seem to cling to every thing they can grab a hold of, even finding hand holds on our arms and legs that we didn’t know existed. Trying to move around during school free time is a challenge. We resort to taking baby steps, going 6 inches at a time to avoid crushing any children's bare feet. While walking with a group of children, they are often in a fight for your arms. A kid will walk in front of me and rip my hands away from other kids to wrap my arms around them, leading to a short scuffle for my hands. This seems to be the case for most of the other Lakesiders. Physical touch seems to be the national love language. Whether its holding hands, giving hugs, making up handshakes, or even just a fist bump before bed. Everything about Fiji that we have seen so far seems to radiate joy and happiness. All the way from the children at school, to the nenes and momos at home.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fiji Pre-Trip

Image
Pre Trip Days: Our first few days of Pre-Trip were a mix of learning and prep for our GSL trip! For the first few days of our prep we were in the lab and studied things like waterborne illness, Fiji's environment, and issues surrounding lack of water around the world. We all did presentations about sicknesses that stem from dirty water, and did a lot of experiments in the labs. For one we dripped water on a sloped box of sand to simulate the formation of rivers. It was interesting to see how the water carved different paths. For another, we filtered different materials from each other with different methods. The first box had marbles and coins, which we used our hands for, the second had poppy seeds and salt, which we filtered through water, and the third had sand and cloves, which we used a colander for.  In the next few days we focused on the GSL aspect of our trip and learned dances, Fijian language, and more about the culture. We all did presentations about an aspect of Fijian ...
Read more

Fiji blog 2 - Nate

Image
After 12 hours in the air, and 7 hours in the airport, we finally arrived in Nadi, Fiji. Immediately after stepping off the plane we could already feel how different it was from where we had come from. The air is humid and filled with moisture, and almost seems thick enough to choke on. Promptly after getting off the plane, and exchanging our useless US money for Fijian Dollars, we found out what Fiji is “all about”. Mr. Beast, the most famous Youtuber of all time, walked no more than 10 yards away from us. While we were all shocked to run into such a famous and rich person, this also reaffirmed a stereotype that we had about Fiji. That it’s where wealthy people go to “get away”. In our minds Fiji just seemed to be this mystical beautiful island with sandy beaches and tropical fruits, a dream vacation spot. At least to me. But this pre-accusative believe was soon removed from my mind, as in just one day I saw so much more of Fiji than I ever pictured. We left our hotel and headed strai...
Read more

Fiji Day 4

Image
Day 4 Abigail We woke up to many different sounds and aromas this morning. Some woke up to the sound of roosters cock-a-doodle-dooing much earlier than sunrise. Others woke up to the smell of delicious curry and Nene (mom’s) sweet singing in the kitchen. And the rest woke up to the beeping sound of alarms. The ones who woke up along with their family helped with preparing breakfast by putting and stirring potatoes in a pot or even swepted and cleaned up around the house. We’re all mostly used to sitting at a table to eat breakfast but here each family sits on the floor of the house and eats breakfast together. During breakfast many of us were asked to pray which is something that families do before every meal. Different families ate different things but some delicious common breakfast food items we had were curry with roti, PB&J, biscuits, banana buns, and eggs. A common drink we had was tea which was actually some of the best tea I ever had. It was SO amazing. I think we could a...
Read more