fiji? san yun?
20 Apr 2010 1 Comment
in beach, holiday, resort, tradition Tags: fiji, fiji water, history, resorts, scuba diving, surfing
this is the most faq i get since i got here.
btw, i think the only reason my husband was attracted to me the first time we met was of all the girls he met so far in the philippines, i was the only one who knew where fiji was. admit it, ado…
so here’s a little fiji islands 101:
the republic of the fiji islands is a nation located in the south pacific flanked by vanuatu, new caledonia, tonga, tuvalu and new zealand. i bet you only recognize new zealand. perhaps tonga too, but only because you know asi taulava.
from fijibeachouse.
it has over 300 islands and over 500 islets. which is not a very remarkable fact for you, i’m sure, because you’re accustomed to over 7,100 islands (“high tide or low tide?”).
native fijians are of melanesian descent. they account for about half of the population. indo-fijians account for almost another half. then the rest: europeans, asians, arabs.
fiji children. from johnny jet.
the islands became a british colony in 1874. they brought in contract workers from india to work on the plantations (there was a policy then wherein native labor wasn’t allowed to keep from disrupting the culture). thus the large chunk of indo-fijian population.
fiji indians in 1953. from te ara.
they were granted independence in 1970, but became a republic only in 1987. it’s a young nation.
they operate under a parliamentary system where the prime minister is the head of government and the president is the head of state.
speaking of population, fiji has less than a million. imagine: the philippines has over 80 million, about 11 million in metro manila alone.
of course, in the world over, fiji is best known for its resorts…
…and surfing…
from surfers village.
…and scuba diving.
from le grand bleu.
oh, and… well, fiji water.
playing tourists on christmas evening
29 Dec 2009 Leave a Comment
in denarau, entertainment, resort, tradition Tags: christmas, denarau, entertainment, fire dancing, resort, sheraton, special event, tradition
ado and i decided to just pop into a resort last christmas and go around as if we were tourists. we might as well have been, ado himself hardly recognized the place since a big part of the sheraton’s lobby and pool area was remodeled.
tourists abound, as you might expect during the holiday season, and it wasn’t too hard to blend into the throng of foreigners.
we made it to a live show of fiji history, though i hardly listened to the narrative as i flit from spot to spot for a better view. i could tell it was extremely interesting when i caught enough key words like “cannibals” and “tribe wars”. i should get around to dropping by again and watching it properly.
the actors would occasionally walk straight into the audience (standing on the edge of the lobby going into the pool area) and wave the torch at our faces which elicited yells of fright and amusement combined.
then there’s the fire dancing. nothing like seeing the real south pacific do it.
he even put the torch baton ends right on his feet…
…another twirled two flaming batons at the same time…
…and performed blindfolded.
when the “chief” called on the performers and the guests to “feel free to take photographs”, cameras just clicked and buzzed away like nobody’s business.
especially the ladies…
…including me, of course.
hope everyone had a wonderful christmas!
christmas program at the village
23 Dec 2009 1 Comment
in entertainment, special event, thoughts, tradition Tags: christmas, entertainment, meke, party, program, sabeto, special event, tradition
i joined the sabeto (pron. sambeto) pre-school program as an audience member to support dani’s little grandson, eddie (full name etuate, the fijian derivative of edward).
i finally saw just how the much-talked-about fiji time works when we got to the village less than 15 minutes prior to the performance and there isn’t a single soul nor signs of preparation to mean anything near a pre-school program. well, for the record, it started about an hour and a half after sked. and i thought filipino time was infamous. that’s extremely laid back culture for you.
we got to dani’s house and found our boy of the hour still rolling on the ground. literally. with a younger playmate who seem to be enjoying the frolicking and the chasing each other around the yard like a little puppy dog.
folks had to collect eddie’s meke (traditional fiji dance) costume and props from the neighbors and thread his lei of frangipanis, not to mention industriously coerce him to take a very unwilling, very long-winded shower as showers are wont to be with four-year-olds, before we finally made our way into the town hall.
it was almost full to the edges when we got there, we had to crane our necks to find a good spot for sitting. sitting, of course, means on the mat down on the floor. no chairs, not even for the elderly, so arthritis and rheumatism are not welcome ailments for anyone who finds himself invited to these special events.
the town chief was giving a speech in nadi dialect as we left our footwear into a corner and weaved our way into the crowd so we had to try and be as discreet as humanly possible, given the circumstances involving care and consideration not only for toes but fingers unwarily pressed on the mats in the way of our feet. the school principal took his turn to speak after that then sevusevu was performed.
in a matter of minutes, the curtains were installed and the program commenced with children’s songs and christmas carols.
at the end of the first segment, the children were led almost forcibly (like all pre-school program segments end) out the door for them to eventually reappear among the audience, each making his way towards his respective parent to change him into the meke costume and to thrust the spear and shield into his hands.
at around this time, some of the guys still refilling and drinking grog (yes, grog was continuously downed throughout this children’s program) offered me a bilo (coconut shell used for grog) as was customary to guests.
i think it would also be best to point out now that aside from grog, smoking was permitted during the children’s program.
all of sudden, eddie’s littler cousin started bawling his eyes out without warning. which promted eddie himself to look around for a perp and found what it was with a shock. then both of them cried uncontrollably in unison.
that’s because the object of their terror had entered the premises and posted himself on a chair next to the gifts, flanking the table with another villager dressed in a santa outfit, swathed in semi-darkness and motionless but for his eyes that dart around the audience. of course i know he’s a man dressed in a clown outfit. i guess it doesn’t matter whether you are in the north, east, west or south pacific, clowns are as universal a horror as ghosts in chains.
as a result, eddie refused to join the meke with the other boys because that meant going back up front, closer to his horror clown. so much for the costume and the props.
anyway, it’s christmas eve today. we’re busying ourselves with preparing noche buena. you can take me out of the philippines, but you can’t take the philippines out of me. especially not during christmas. we’re having some of our pinoy friends over and there will be pansit and leche flan and potato salad and hamoooooooon de bola with the pineapple slices and syrup!
have a merry merry christmas and a wild and wacky new year!
sevusevu
22 Oct 2009 1 Comment
in special event, tradition Tags: fiji, kava, sevusevu, tradition, yaqona
from fijiatoz.com:
The sevusevu is an important ritual in Fijian culture. It’s a ceremonial offering of kava. If a relative or stranger (including yourself) enters a village, he or she must arrive with the sevusevu (gift of kava). If you are visiting on a tour, your guide will be the person to present the gift to the chief or host. The presenter will give a short speech telling why you have come. The host will invite you to join him for kava – this is traditionally the way to make a stranger feel part of the family, so expect some small talk as well as kava. Usually someone takes responsibility for preparing the yaqona (kava) and another to serve it. Guests and the host sit in a circle on woven mats for the ceremony and the chief or host always has the first shell. Just follow the ceremony and enjoy.
our sevusevu when we got here about eight weeks ago.
we were trying to figure out the species of plantlife around our necks.
the ceremonial drink.
bula!
say a little something