Things that are "Hot" in Fiji:
- Rugby. Everybody here is obsessed with the sport. Sometimes, when I say that I'm from the U.S., people say something like, "Ahh, the U.S.?! That's a big competitor for us in rugby!" Yesterday, I even received some trash talk from teachers in the staff room. In case you were wondering: Yes, I took it well. No, I didn't know how to react, so I just laughed in response. And no, I had no clue that the U.S. even had a rugby team. I guess now would be the appropriate time for me to say, "GO, U.S.A.!"
- My name. I went into a class yesterday, and introduced myself. As soon as I said, "Meg," the teacher goes, "Meg? Meghan? We have a Meghan right here!" That's right. A Fijian child with my name who had never met anybody else with her name before. I asked her why her parents chose "Meghan" while all of her classmates have very Indian or Fijian names. Her response? "They thought it was very modern." BOOM! (Thank you, Mom and Dad, for my "modern" name!)
- Desk decorations. Seriously, who needs lockers when you're allowed to decorate your DESK? I've noticed that it's very cool to put fabric, a tablecloth, or duct tape pictures on top of your desk, especially in the secondary school. My personal favorites were the green sequined desk (see picture below) and the girl that I was sitting next to yesterday whose desk was entirely devoted to One Direction. It even included a huge picture of all of the members of the band holding puppies. Go here http://www.topnews.in/light/files/One-Direction_1.jpg and you may die, also.
- My cab driver this morning. When I got in the taxi, I asked him how he was doing today. He responded with, "Very good! Those that say they are 'good' are in the world. Those that say they are 'very good' are in the Lord. Praise Jesus!" I then spent the next 20 minutes talking with the cab driver about Bible verses, how to spread the good news of the Lord to others, and discussing how to enter heaven. By the end of our drive, he had taken me on a free detour so that I could see his church and invited me to visit his taxi stand in the mornings to read through Luke with him. What a brilliant way to start a Friday morning! (Also, fun fact of the day: his name is of Indian descent, but he's changed it to "James" as it's more biblical. How awesome!)
- The tea that I've been force fed nearly every day this week during "recess break". Literally... It's SO hot. Because it's steaming, I find it so hard to drink when it's as humid and hot as it has been outside! Today, I was also force fed a tuna and carrot sandwich. For those of you that don't know, I don't like tuna. For those of you that haven't visited Fiji, they hardly ever refrigerate things here. Yes, I was force fed a warm tuna sandwich today that I tried to wash down with steaming hot tea while sweating profusely. I couldn't decide which of the two evils was better. After choking down half, I thanked the principal and informed him that I needed to continue my observations. He felt badly that I was being rushed, so he gave me a warm tuna sandwich to go, also. YUM!
Hot List: Green sequined desks.
Things that are "Not" (Hot) in Fiji:
- The teacher today that very sternly told her class to "shut up" because they were giving too many answers. I was shocked, but wanted to laugh so hard at this one. I'm trying to figure out how much trouble I would be in for telling my students to shut up. (Don't worry -- I would NEVER do this!)
- The recess and lunch bell. I'm used to a quiet ding when classes are to start or end. I swear that I jump every time their bell goes off as it sounds like an emergency siren that's blasting right in your ear. Like, I truly feel like I should find shelter immediately because a tornado warning has been issued inches about my head.
- Lying students. This one is also hilarious though. A Class 2 student came up to me yesterday and told me, "Excuse me, ma'am? When I was in your country, I saw you." I smiled and said, "Oh my gosh, that's crazy! What was I doing? Where was I? Did I see you?" He told me that he didn't remember because it happened a very, VERY long time ago.
- How stupid I feel when observing secondary school Math classes. I don't remember how to do functions, matrices, or trigonometry, yet here I am, watching the lesson and taking notes on things that the teachers and students are doing. Even worse, I've been tutoring secondary students on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Please know that working with these students has been the most rewarding part of my trip so far, but when they ask me their Math questions, I've learned to go find Lucy and to have her work with them instead. I'll take the Reading, the Science -- heck, I even worked with students on the digestive system, the history of Fiji, and the background of the ukulele! -- but when it comes to advanced Math, I am NOT the go-to person! In fact, Ben is sitting next to me right now, looking up a geometry/trigonometry question that one of the students had yesterday as it stumped all of us. I joked with the house the other day and said something like, "I don't care if you don't want to work with students, but if you're smart AT ALL, we need you to tutor on Tuesday and Thursday!"
- That the people here don't realize how beautiful and desirable their country is! In the U.S., people would say to me, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe you're going to Fiji this summer!" Here, people are asking me, "Why would you CHOOSE to come to Fiji during your vacation?!" When I comment that it's a beautiful country and that the people are so friendly, I don't think they buy it. Clearly, although the numbers are the same, my "HOT" list far outweighs my "NOT" list. I just wish the locals could see this as clearly as I can!
I hope you enjoyed this compilation of Meg's first ever "Hot or Not List: Fiji Edition" and that you, like James, have a "very good" day! God bless!
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