weather

/'wεðə/ n. 1 the state of the atmosphere, mainly with respect to its effects upon life and human activities. As distinguished from climate, weather consists of the short-term (minutes to months) variations of the atmosphere. Popularly, weather is thought of in terms of temperature, humidity, precipitation, cloudiness, brightness, visibility, and wind. 2 the short term state of the atmosphere at a specific time and place, including the temperature, humidity, cloud coverage and fall of precipitation, wind, etc.

Every weekday morning, I catch the bus to work. (I was walking for a while, as some of you may know. Catching the bus isn’t much of a short cut, but it is less strenuous. Also, people kept commenting that I was losing weight, so I decided to stop walking so much. I still do walk at least part of the way home, because the buses are not that frequent — apparently I live in a “rich” area where everyone can afford taxis … or their own 4WD.) The bus travels down along Queen Elizabeth Drive, which is also known as “the sea wall”, and most of the time, it’s a pretty decent drive.

The weather here in Suva is extremely changeable. The general pattern seems to be about four days of hot sunshine, and then four days of cooler, cloudy weather with some rain thrown in for good measure. Which usually means that it’s pretty humid when it’s hot, the puddles just start to dry up, and then get filled again by the sudden downpour (consequently, there’s a never-ending supply of stagnant water around, and apparently this is the ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes carrying Dengue fever). About a fortnight ago, it was so humid at night that all I had on my bed was one sheet. But it’s cooled down again a bit now, so I’ve pulled out my fleecy blanket again.

So anyway, the sea wall, with its backdrop of the hills of Suva, makes a very pretty canvas to observe the tides and changing weather. Most of the time it’s fine and sunny. Sometimes, early in the morning, the people on the other side of the harbour light fires and all the smoke creates a multilayered effect (this reminds me of my trip to Thailand earlier in the year, where I saw a similar kind of thing: the mountains surrounding Chiang Mai in the early hours of the morning are stunning). Some weeks ago, the morning bus trip into town was miserable. It was raining hard, the wind was blowing, and the waves were spilling over onto the footpath. You could hardly see the mountains in the distance, and it was so cold I had three layers on. Three! In tropical Fiji! Can you believe it?

Yesterday, I woke up to the sound of rain, even though it was bright and sunny outside my window. I wanted to take my camera to work with me, because that afternoon there was a rugby match between the Fiji Deaf Rugby team, and a visiting team from New Zealand. (By the way, the Kiwis were thrashed … sixty-something to seven … and the seven points were only because apparently some of the Fijians swapped teams towards the end of the game to give the poor guys a hand! I was barracking for the Fijians …) It was lucky I did have my camera with me. This is one of the most perfect rainbows I have seen. I was awestruck by the way it touched the water, and I love the different colours of the clouds reflected in the harbour.

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

— Genesis 9:12-16 (NIV)

In other news, just last night I got to shake hands with Waiseli Serevi … probably Fiji’s most famous celebrity. He’s a rugby player, and was invited as the “chief guest” to a fundraising dinner for a rural village youth group. All in all, he seems like a very humble, sincere man. His speech was entirely in Fijian, but, through a rather convoluted turn of events, I was able to understand what he said … Here’s how it happened: I was at a table with Tina, one of the teachers from my school. She had been involved in organising the night, and had invited us along. There were a couple of Deaf staff members from the school and the hostel at our table as well. As Serevi was delivering his speech, Tina was interpreting from Fijian into FJSL (Fijian Sign Language). I was able to pick up the gist of what she was signing, then interpret it into English. I whispered it to Janet (who was sitting next to me), and she in turn whispered it to Kathryn (who was sitting next to her). So how’s that?! We never actually asked Kathryn what she thought Serevi was talking about, so who knows how effective the whole procedure was …


I hope everyone’s well. I’d love to hear from you if you get a chance to send me an e-mail. By the way, have I broken some kind of record for the most number of parentheses used in one blog posting today?!

Cheers,
Andy

parade

/pəˈreιd/ n. 1 an organised procession consisting of a series of consecutive displays, performances, exhibits, etc. displayed by moving down a street past a crowd.

I think I’ve heard the saying, “everybody loves a parade”. I guess it’s true, but especially for the people of Fiji, I’m sure. I’ve seen two parades in the main street of Suva over the past month!

The first was for the 2006 Hibiscus Festival a few weeks ago. This is a big event in Suva, and something akin to the Royal Easter Show in NSW. I was at Deaf Christian Fellowship Camp for most of the festivities, but did make it back for the main parade. In the lead-up to the Festival there were several so-called “queens” (read, “beauty pageant contestants”) who were all competing for the Miss Hibiscus 2006 crown. And, for the first time ever, the general public could actually SMS in their votes on who they wanted to win!

So on the Saturday (the last day of Hibiscus), they all loaded themselves onto elaborate floats guarded by Fijian warriors, and paraded down Suva’s main street. There were lollies and chocolates being thrown out into the crowd, and lots of cheering and flag-waving. It was all very exciting, and the marching bands were awesome. I think it would be very unlikely that you would hear “Onward, Christian Soldiers” being played by a marching band down the main streets of Sydney nowadays. By the time the parade finished at Albert Park, it was packed chock full of stalls, and barbecues, and Ferris wheels. Man, the Ferris wheels! I promised Janet that I would call her to meet up at the Park, and so when I rang her, I said, “I’m standing near a bunch of three Ferris wheels all grouped together.” “From where I’m standing, I can see eight of them,” she said, “so that doesn’t help me very much!” You know how when you go on a roller coaster, you scream? You’ll have to give me your ideas about why that is. Is it because you’re enjoying yourself? Is it because you’re frightened? Or is it just the breakneck speed at which you travel around the ups and downs, the loops, and the sharp turns? You wouldn’t normally think that people on a Ferris wheel would be screaming, hey? … Usually they’re just a nice leisurely ride to the top (to get a bird’s-eye view of the park), and then you come down again, right? Well, the people riding on these Ferris wheels were screaming, and it was literally from fright, I’m sure. Unfortunately, my photo doesn’t really show how fast the thing is actually spinning. Needless to say, I didn’t actually ride one. They also had some dodgem cars and things. Janet (in her typically dry way) said, “This looks like the same kind of thing your mother would have ridden on thirty years ago … In fact, it’s probably the very same one your mother rode on thirty years ago!!” The big dent and gaping hole in the front of one of the cars was somewhat off-putting.


Yesterday marked the beginning of National Library Week, which is a great idea. There had been mention of it at my school, but I admit, I did forget about it. So, yesterday, when I went into the markets to buy some bananas ($3 FJD per bunch) and tomatoes ($2 FJD per bag), all the roads were blocked off, and there were police cars with sirens blaring, leading a procession of school kids (and of course, marching bands) down Victoria Parade. They were very cute, because they had all dressed up as their favourite story-book character. There were lots of fairy wings and pretty pink dresses, and I saw one little girl with a bright yellow wig (Goldilocks?). I caught sight of a Wicked Witch of the West, and then came this little group of young boys, wearing plain brown shorts and white singlets and carrying lanterns over their shoulders. I was a little confused for a while, then I saw one of them with a piece of paper pinned to his shirt: “seven dwarves”! All in all, it was really enjoyable … there were lots of adults involved too, really getting into the spirit of Library Week. It actually took me back to our “Book Week” parades we used to have in primary school. Ahh, memories!

This message was sent to my phone via text message the other day:

“The network crossover this weekend may affect all your … services at times between 11:30pm Sat n early Mon. Details available in Fiji Times.”

Anyway. Hope you’re all well. It’s been good to get e-mail updates from everyone. Thanks for writing to me!

Cheers, Andy

marriage

/ˈmærιdʒ/ n., 1 the social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc. 2 the state, condition, or relationship of being married; wedlock. 3 the legal or religious ceremony that formalises the decision of a man and woman to live as husband and wife, including the accompanying social festivities.


Last week was fantastic. After a long bus ride from Suva to Nadi /'na:ndi:/ I caught an even longer flight back to Sydney. It was awesome to see my family and friends again.

One of the highlights of the week was catching up with my good friends Heather and Gary, from the United States. They have just finished a tour of the US and Asia, and are now staying with my parents for the next few months. They are also keeping a blog of their adventures … If you get a chance, check it out at http://www.xanga.com/newlywednomads. Heather and Gary have been great family friends for a long time now, are honorary Aussies, and I really enjoyed their friendship and conversation over the week. I’m only sorry I didn’t have longer to hang out with my “brother and sister”. Don’t worry, mates, I’ll see you at Christmas.

I also had a nice long phone conversation with my best mate, Phil, who is teaching in Thailand. It was good to chat with him after not being able to hear how he’s been going for so long.

My sister’s wedding on the Sunday was beautiful. Both Tania and Belinda are princesses. The day started out looking a bit grey and blustery, but it all blew away and turned into a beautiful sunny day. Everyone spruced up really well, and overall it was a really happy time. Belinda and my new brother Mat are honeymooning close to the NSW/Queensland border. Again, I’m looking forward to catching up with everyone in December. The reception was just as beautiful, in a picturesque location overlooking Darling Harbour.

A couple of my relos told me I had lost weight, so I obviously look thinner. But, for the record, I would just like to advise everyone that I have officially lost only 2-3kg, which is not really that bad!

After finishing the reception at about 11:00pm, we went home and I finished packing my bag for the flight back to Nadi. I was done by 3am, and had about an hour’s sleep before Dad came and woke me up at 4am to drive to Sydney airport. It was really tough. After spending a fantastic week with friends and family, then being able to share in the emotion of my sister’s wedding, and being so tired on Monday morning, it was really hard for me to get on the plane. Realistically, it would have been better for me to relax for an extra day in Sydney. I ended up arriving back in Suva at about 9:00 at night, and I was dead tired.

I’ve had a few good nights’ sleep since then, though, and have recovered, and worked my way back into the swing of things here in Fiji. Jim, the director of the school has arrived from his overseas trip, and it has been good to finally meet him. I have started taking a class in basic Fijian too! Au sa via sara yaloyalo, ia au sa osooso! (I really want to watch a movie, but I’m busy)!

The next big exciting thing on the agenda is when my parents arrive in October to help me celebrate my birthday, so I’m really looking forward to that. I hope everyone who visits this site is happy and healthy. Please check back regularly.


Cheers,
Andy