It’s summer break here as the holidays approach & school is out for two months. The last year has been a flurry of unexpected events and challenges that have landed me at a place where my name is Miss Sarah…which the kids love to yell even when they have nothing to say to proceed it. This little school has been my community within the city, and where I’ve finally felt like I could call this place home and the people my true friends & “family.” Living in a city here comes with some great perks (like consistent access to cheese, a swimming pool, and resources for work) as well as unique challenges. When I moved to Lautoka, it was difficult not to blend in amongst the ex-pats and tourists. It doesn’t help that I live in one of the safer neighborhoods here, which is also coincidentally the middle to upper class suburbs of the city. It took a while before my coworkers and other locals realized I was here to be a part of their community and not the exclusive one amongst other Europeans in town. It took more work on my end to get invites for dinner or a night out—while the village is full of its own unique challenges, it would be a rare occurrence if any of them had an issue being invited over for dinner. I’m glad to report that my friends and coworkers finally feel comfortable stopping by my house for a few drinks, invite me to local events, and check in on me to make sure that I’m not getting lonely in my flat.
I am living in an incredibly paradoxical world where time stands still while moving at the speed of light. Some days move slower than molasses in a Canadian winter and then the calendar turns to December and I’m left a little overwhelmed with the feeling that time is moving all too quickly and that before I know it I’ll be on a plane back to America & this time it won’t just be for a short visit.
Let me give you a look into the last month of my life… my how it’s flown…
The students at our school participated in a junior Paralympics sports tournament in the capital city against other special needs schools. We boarded a crowded bus and camped out at a school there for three days going to the national stadium each day to play sports and participate in track & field events. At the end of the days, we returned to “camp” to eat dinner & prepare for the next day. The boys dominated the field playing rugby & soccer while the girls looked on…until Miss Sarah started running laps around the boys who are notorious for leaving the girls out of everything. Pretty soon the girls were all running laps around the boys, who, amused by this sudden change in gender roles screamed “lako! lako! (Go! go!) and cheered us on around each corner. I’m proud of my students who returned to Lautoka with more medals than I could count. It was also fun to see the students and staff outside of the school context and I had some great one on one chats with a few of the older girls who I have formed a bit of a sisterly bond with.
Thanksgiving, as you all know, is also when we Americans celebrate Thanksgiving…and celebrate we did. The volunteers on my island all convened in Suva for a delicious feast complete with all the essentials—sub chicken for turkey. After dinner we rested before heading out to the nearest dance floor to work off all those Thanksgiving kilos. I contributed Apple pies & raviolis to the dinner…one of the apple pies went to the teachers the day before. They loved it! A few took the recipe, and one of the teachers declared that this year for Christmas she would make apple pie AND pumpkin pie that I supplied her the recipe for. It’s great to see people get excited about trying new things here, and since my love for cooking & baking has grown here, it’s one of my favorite things to exchange recipes. My next endeavor is to cook kakoda correctly (fish cooked by rubbing salt on it, then covered in coconut milk, coriander, onions…) mmmm it’s delicious.
At the school we finished the world map mural—and though it was a bit chaotic—the kids managed to pull of a world culture fair to display newfound knowledge on various countries around the world & served food based on recipes from those cultures. The two students studying Argentina was very happy to discover the delicious nature of quesadillas that they are determined to bring to their dinner tables at home.
My family visits in two weeks…I’m very excited to take a real vacation to Taveuni—the Garden Island. I haven’t been in vacation in-country for a long time…I’m about ready to discover some new places in this country before my time runs out!
If I don’t write before the new year, Happy Holidays!
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