Rugby Fever
One of the reasons I left Australia was to get away from a country that was sports mad. I have come to the wrong place. This country has less sports to get mad about but it is certainly rugby mad - Rugby Union to be particular. The Deaf even have different signs depending if you are talking about 7-a-side, 12-a-side or 15-a-side. Thankfully over the years I have heard my brother and father chat about rugby and I must have absorbed some of their talk enough to know what 7, 12, and 15 are referring to and that in Australia we mostly play 15-a-side I believe.
The Hong Kong Sevens tournament has been on and for the past 2 weeks everyday in the paper has been some detail about the preparation of the players. There have been columns in the paper about the shameful way people are not turning up to church because they are watching the rugby and that even more shamefully some churches change the times of the services so people can watch the rugby and not be unfaithful. There have been comments about the fact that God has chosen in the past, because of this shameful behaviour to make the Fiji team lose and what will happen this year?
I have been swept up into the fervour of Fiji rugby and watched TV in Fiji for the first time on Friday. The Fiji team is impressive. They are fast, nimble, throwing and passing the ball skillfully and when they go for a goal, they make it look like they are just having a warm up jog down the side of the field. The commentators have been talking about the ‘men’ of the Fiji team having to play the ‘boys’ of Portugal, Hong Kong, Japan etc. So tonight is the final. I will go next door and watch TV with Salote who lives in the bure attached to our house.
GO FIJI GO!!! They won displaying the skills that make them the best in the 7’s. As I watched the game with Salote at home, she told me she could hear people yelling and screaming all over the neighbourhood. Then when they won, there was even more din as people let off firecrackers, beeped their horns and banged anything that made a noise. One fellow who had nothing to bang, started up his whipper snipper (brush cutter they call them here) and revved it over and over. This country for the next week went out and bought every Fijian flag on sale and flew them from cars, buses and houses. Local businesses had special t-shirts printed and made for their staff to wear and they had banners hanging from their offices. Government departments who have trouble finding money to pay for interpreters for deaf students in school took out full page advertisements in the paper congratulating the team. Of course there were letters in the paper about how silly everyone is being when the tournament only involves winning a rather small looking cup, no money and rugby is not considered a world game by any means and the rest of the world does not care much about 7’s. Fiji has not won for 5 years so it was a big thing. Got to celebrate when you can I reckon. It’s how much money you spend in the process that is another matter.
So when the team arrived in Nadi from Hong Kong, there were 10 000 people waiting to cheer (in a population of 800 000). It took them a day to make the journey from Nadi to Suva (3-4 hour drive) because the roads were blocked from people wanting to say hello. The thursday before Easter was declared a public holiday by the Prime Minister who put up $150 000 from a reserve fund for the celebrations. People from my work then promptly sat down and wrote letters to the editors about better ways this money could be used ie for victims from the recent landslide, wheelchair accessible buildings and interpreters for deaf students. Other people wrote letters complaining about the public holiday as it means many people won’t be able to earn a living as they earn from day to day selling things by the roadside or at stalls in the markets. Each player was also given $10 000 dollars by the Prime Minister and even the captain Serevi said this was not needed.
Robyn and I live near the national stadium so we trotted off on Thursday morning and got a seat in the grandstand to watch the festivities. School kids were there in uniform, all the men in fiji rugby shirts. Banners were printed with the verse from the bible that the captain of the team Serevi said he got his inspiration from. If you look at him when he was playing he looked like he was praying a lot of the time. The Prime Minister arrived in the vehicle of choice, a green 4WD ( it used to be Rolls Royce) and the crowd cheered. We did a few practice sessions of the Fiji national anthem. The Vice President arrived and again we cheered. Then the team arrived and they did a round of the track and we all screamed at our favourite player. Mine is a man called Bobo (it means ‘close your eyes ‘ in Fijian) and every time he scored a try he did a manic grin. I have another favourite called William Ryder who played his first game at 21 years old and did a few dance steps on the field and went on to win a number of tries. So then they were all presented with flower leis by various school girls who I am sure were wetting their pants in excitement. Ever the gentlemen, Ryder, knelt on the ground so the girl did not have to reach up to tie the lei around his neck. Then we had a 20 min Methodist church service except could not hear anything because the electricity all over Suva was out so they had to use a generator and it was not powerful enough. The minister went on too long for a public sermon if you ask me. Then we had some traditional dancing and warrior dances which were great and then some modern entertainment but instead of this being centre field so we could all see, it was off to the side under the stadium. When asked why, people told me that because the Vice President was so chiefly (from a high ranking island called Bau) nothing could be performed in front of him as that would be disrespectful. Respect in Fijian culture is taken very very seriously.
I went to visit Salote’s family’s house today for lunch. I bought a woven mat from her sister for the floor in the house. They live about 7 miles from town in small 3 room corrogated iron house. As is the Fijian tradition the kitchen is a separate shed next to the house and the toilet is again separate and called valelailai (small house). I think they caught me gazing at their place as I was thinking to myself how much we take shelter for granted in Australia and the range of housing we have in Fiji, from massive embassy mansions to government cottages (which I am living in) and then basically tin huts. Salote’s place is quite comfortable but even so they have used cardboard to line the inside walls, and three of the teenage kids share a tiny room together.
Back when I used to be a Royalist (aged 11-14 when I was the most devoted), and I kept diaries of pictures of Princess Diana, dreamed about marrying Prince Edward (he was only 6 years older then me so I thought I had a chance but the one time he came to Fiji, my family chose to take a rare holiday out of town so much to my disappointment had to miss out on seeing him) and read history books of the various kings and queens, I came across in the paper a story about the Queen Mother. She had been rushed to hospital because she got a fish bone caught in her throat. Ever since then I have been very wary of eating fish with bones. Her plight had a strong impact on me. Well today at Salote’s we had fish in coconut milk and dalo (taro). It was very small coral fish and I was very careful with the bones but then one slipped my notice and before I knew it, I knew there was one stuck in my throat. I explained my predicament to my host and they told me to eat lots of dalo as that would force it down. So I ate and ate dalo until I felt the prick in my throat go. Now I understand what the Queen Mother must have gone through. It was slightly scarey. Later when I was having a cup of tea, I felt a pain my ear and thought maybe the bone had somehow migrated to the ear canal. I had to force myself to be rational and know that bones don’t do that. But I have heard of earwigs and cochroaches getting lost in ear canals. The pain has gone.
People here have a funny way of talking about the body. It’s very hard to get any accurate or specific information from people about anything to do with their bodies. When Salote’s mother died and I asked how she told me “her eyes rolled and she fell over”. It turned out to be a stroke. When I ask deaf people how they became deaf it’s “I fell in a river and my head blew up and I was in hospital for 3 months”, or “I became deaf when I was nine because my mother was smoking”. People talk about worms crawling in through an ear and then making people crazy because they have made their way up to the brain. Another person was talking about a women who “killed 4 of her children” when she was actually referring to abortions. I am sure it is due to a lack of information and proper explanations, made worse if you are deaf and not getting proper communication anyway and then people seem to describe what they see at the time rather than what made them die. It’s bewildering!
White people are called ‘European’ here. When you talk about someone who has white skin, you refer to them thus. Even Americans! When people want to get to know you they will ask where you are from but they will still call you ‘European’ if you say you are from Australia or New Zealand. I am enjoying playing with the perception people have here of what ‘Europeans’ do. When I tell people that I am born in Fiji, they nearly all react with shock and disbelief because I am ‘European’. White people don’t get born here! Or when I go to see a Hindi movie and show the usher my ticket and she thinks there has been a mistake and she has to ask me ‘you going to see a Hindi movie?’ White people don’t watch Hindi movies!
There is really no need for speech or sign language in Fiji. They have a 3rd language called “eyebrowish”. It’s amazing what can be communicated with twiddles, raising, frowning of those brows. I want to make a film about it. It does save a lot of effort and energy in this humid country. You can ask a child about 10 questions before you get a word of speech or sign and have a reasonable conversation just with those eyebrows. I think I will come back to Australia with a few extra creases in my forehead.
For Easter I have just spent 3 days at an island off the coast of Suva called Beqa. This place only accomodates 9 people. They say it is like a top of the range backpacker and meals are included. A group of us volunteers went. The highlight was the snorkelling. The coral reef starts about 3 metres from the beach and you can only go at high tide or you will caught on the reef. I have never seen so many different types of coral and fish. Some of the best and original art I have seen in a long time. I think JR Tolkien should have included some “Crown of thorn” starfish in “Lord of the Rings” - maybe he never had the chance to snorkel in the southern hemisphere. They are almost as menacing as Orcs. They were a good reminder for me of Easter. The trees here grow right to the edge of the beach so there is very little sand to frolic on. The compound is surrounded by jungle in the distance and then coconut trees. The moonlight was so strong at night, I could see myself in the mirror. If any of you need a romantic cheapish getaway, I can recommend Lawaki’s.
I hope you all had a happy, peaceful and meaningful Easter in whatever way.
The Hong Kong Sevens tournament has been on and for the past 2 weeks everyday in the paper has been some detail about the preparation of the players. There have been columns in the paper about the shameful way people are not turning up to church because they are watching the rugby and that even more shamefully some churches change the times of the services so people can watch the rugby and not be unfaithful. There have been comments about the fact that God has chosen in the past, because of this shameful behaviour to make the Fiji team lose and what will happen this year?
I have been swept up into the fervour of Fiji rugby and watched TV in Fiji for the first time on Friday. The Fiji team is impressive. They are fast, nimble, throwing and passing the ball skillfully and when they go for a goal, they make it look like they are just having a warm up jog down the side of the field. The commentators have been talking about the ‘men’ of the Fiji team having to play the ‘boys’ of Portugal, Hong Kong, Japan etc. So tonight is the final. I will go next door and watch TV with Salote who lives in the bure attached to our house.
GO FIJI GO!!! They won displaying the skills that make them the best in the 7’s. As I watched the game with Salote at home, she told me she could hear people yelling and screaming all over the neighbourhood. Then when they won, there was even more din as people let off firecrackers, beeped their horns and banged anything that made a noise. One fellow who had nothing to bang, started up his whipper snipper (brush cutter they call them here) and revved it over and over. This country for the next week went out and bought every Fijian flag on sale and flew them from cars, buses and houses. Local businesses had special t-shirts printed and made for their staff to wear and they had banners hanging from their offices. Government departments who have trouble finding money to pay for interpreters for deaf students in school took out full page advertisements in the paper congratulating the team. Of course there were letters in the paper about how silly everyone is being when the tournament only involves winning a rather small looking cup, no money and rugby is not considered a world game by any means and the rest of the world does not care much about 7’s. Fiji has not won for 5 years so it was a big thing. Got to celebrate when you can I reckon. It’s how much money you spend in the process that is another matter.
So when the team arrived in Nadi from Hong Kong, there were 10 000 people waiting to cheer (in a population of 800 000). It took them a day to make the journey from Nadi to Suva (3-4 hour drive) because the roads were blocked from people wanting to say hello. The thursday before Easter was declared a public holiday by the Prime Minister who put up $150 000 from a reserve fund for the celebrations. People from my work then promptly sat down and wrote letters to the editors about better ways this money could be used ie for victims from the recent landslide, wheelchair accessible buildings and interpreters for deaf students. Other people wrote letters complaining about the public holiday as it means many people won’t be able to earn a living as they earn from day to day selling things by the roadside or at stalls in the markets. Each player was also given $10 000 dollars by the Prime Minister and even the captain Serevi said this was not needed.
Robyn and I live near the national stadium so we trotted off on Thursday morning and got a seat in the grandstand to watch the festivities. School kids were there in uniform, all the men in fiji rugby shirts. Banners were printed with the verse from the bible that the captain of the team Serevi said he got his inspiration from. If you look at him when he was playing he looked like he was praying a lot of the time. The Prime Minister arrived in the vehicle of choice, a green 4WD ( it used to be Rolls Royce) and the crowd cheered. We did a few practice sessions of the Fiji national anthem. The Vice President arrived and again we cheered. Then the team arrived and they did a round of the track and we all screamed at our favourite player. Mine is a man called Bobo (it means ‘close your eyes ‘ in Fijian) and every time he scored a try he did a manic grin. I have another favourite called William Ryder who played his first game at 21 years old and did a few dance steps on the field and went on to win a number of tries. So then they were all presented with flower leis by various school girls who I am sure were wetting their pants in excitement. Ever the gentlemen, Ryder, knelt on the ground so the girl did not have to reach up to tie the lei around his neck. Then we had a 20 min Methodist church service except could not hear anything because the electricity all over Suva was out so they had to use a generator and it was not powerful enough. The minister went on too long for a public sermon if you ask me. Then we had some traditional dancing and warrior dances which were great and then some modern entertainment but instead of this being centre field so we could all see, it was off to the side under the stadium. When asked why, people told me that because the Vice President was so chiefly (from a high ranking island called Bau) nothing could be performed in front of him as that would be disrespectful. Respect in Fijian culture is taken very very seriously.
I went to visit Salote’s family’s house today for lunch. I bought a woven mat from her sister for the floor in the house. They live about 7 miles from town in small 3 room corrogated iron house. As is the Fijian tradition the kitchen is a separate shed next to the house and the toilet is again separate and called valelailai (small house). I think they caught me gazing at their place as I was thinking to myself how much we take shelter for granted in Australia and the range of housing we have in Fiji, from massive embassy mansions to government cottages (which I am living in) and then basically tin huts. Salote’s place is quite comfortable but even so they have used cardboard to line the inside walls, and three of the teenage kids share a tiny room together.
Back when I used to be a Royalist (aged 11-14 when I was the most devoted), and I kept diaries of pictures of Princess Diana, dreamed about marrying Prince Edward (he was only 6 years older then me so I thought I had a chance but the one time he came to Fiji, my family chose to take a rare holiday out of town so much to my disappointment had to miss out on seeing him) and read history books of the various kings and queens, I came across in the paper a story about the Queen Mother. She had been rushed to hospital because she got a fish bone caught in her throat. Ever since then I have been very wary of eating fish with bones. Her plight had a strong impact on me. Well today at Salote’s we had fish in coconut milk and dalo (taro). It was very small coral fish and I was very careful with the bones but then one slipped my notice and before I knew it, I knew there was one stuck in my throat. I explained my predicament to my host and they told me to eat lots of dalo as that would force it down. So I ate and ate dalo until I felt the prick in my throat go. Now I understand what the Queen Mother must have gone through. It was slightly scarey. Later when I was having a cup of tea, I felt a pain my ear and thought maybe the bone had somehow migrated to the ear canal. I had to force myself to be rational and know that bones don’t do that. But I have heard of earwigs and cochroaches getting lost in ear canals. The pain has gone.
People here have a funny way of talking about the body. It’s very hard to get any accurate or specific information from people about anything to do with their bodies. When Salote’s mother died and I asked how she told me “her eyes rolled and she fell over”. It turned out to be a stroke. When I ask deaf people how they became deaf it’s “I fell in a river and my head blew up and I was in hospital for 3 months”, or “I became deaf when I was nine because my mother was smoking”. People talk about worms crawling in through an ear and then making people crazy because they have made their way up to the brain. Another person was talking about a women who “killed 4 of her children” when she was actually referring to abortions. I am sure it is due to a lack of information and proper explanations, made worse if you are deaf and not getting proper communication anyway and then people seem to describe what they see at the time rather than what made them die. It’s bewildering!
White people are called ‘European’ here. When you talk about someone who has white skin, you refer to them thus. Even Americans! When people want to get to know you they will ask where you are from but they will still call you ‘European’ if you say you are from Australia or New Zealand. I am enjoying playing with the perception people have here of what ‘Europeans’ do. When I tell people that I am born in Fiji, they nearly all react with shock and disbelief because I am ‘European’. White people don’t get born here! Or when I go to see a Hindi movie and show the usher my ticket and she thinks there has been a mistake and she has to ask me ‘you going to see a Hindi movie?’ White people don’t watch Hindi movies!
There is really no need for speech or sign language in Fiji. They have a 3rd language called “eyebrowish”. It’s amazing what can be communicated with twiddles, raising, frowning of those brows. I want to make a film about it. It does save a lot of effort and energy in this humid country. You can ask a child about 10 questions before you get a word of speech or sign and have a reasonable conversation just with those eyebrows. I think I will come back to Australia with a few extra creases in my forehead.
For Easter I have just spent 3 days at an island off the coast of Suva called Beqa. This place only accomodates 9 people. They say it is like a top of the range backpacker and meals are included. A group of us volunteers went. The highlight was the snorkelling. The coral reef starts about 3 metres from the beach and you can only go at high tide or you will caught on the reef. I have never seen so many different types of coral and fish. Some of the best and original art I have seen in a long time. I think JR Tolkien should have included some “Crown of thorn” starfish in “Lord of the Rings” - maybe he never had the chance to snorkel in the southern hemisphere. They are almost as menacing as Orcs. They were a good reminder for me of Easter. The trees here grow right to the edge of the beach so there is very little sand to frolic on. The compound is surrounded by jungle in the distance and then coconut trees. The moonlight was so strong at night, I could see myself in the mirror. If any of you need a romantic cheapish getaway, I can recommend Lawaki’s.
I hope you all had a happy, peaceful and meaningful Easter in whatever way.
posted by kate at 4:16 pm
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