Passin Time in Fiji

I STILL have not written the birthday letter for Zoë.  I have something due at work that I need to focus upon, but once I finish, I will put all of my spare time into that letter! I learned a few things this week.  One interesting thing I learned in Fijian class is that Fijians are not really big into birthdays.   Birthdays are becoming a bigger deal nowadays, but mostly they just focus on major life milestones.  When a baby takes his or her first steps, there is a huge celebration/feast.  When a boy first gathers firewood, there is a feast.  When boys get circumcised around 9 or 10 years old, there is a HUGE feast and party.  When girls get their first period, there is a big celebration!  It's pretty cool I think.  These kids and their families don't focus as much on years...but milestones.   I like it.  It's a nice transition into adulthood.   On another note, at book club this week, one of the members told me that in their family when a kid turns 13 they get to choos

This weekend was the time to celebrate Zoë's birthday and today is her actual birthday (in Fiji anyway).    So hard to believe she's 6.  She still feels like my baby that sucks her thumb and carries around a stinky old blankie everywhere.  (Well, she does still do those things...so she is still my baby a little bit).  She also does big 6 year old girl things now too....   More love coming soon to Zoë when I can finally get my birthday letter pulled together.  My deadline is by Thursday. Somehow I was able to convince both girls that instead of a big birthday party this year they should just do something small with their friends.   Both were super excited about it!  Zoë decided that she wanted to invite three friends to the movies and to Snowy House (ice cream type of place) after the movies.  She asked for one of those friends to spend the night, along with her sister for Andie to play with.  Easy!   So much easier than a big birthday party!  Actually, Warren has been out of

It's been a bit of a weird week.   Our sewage tank was leaking so our landlords said we needed to be out of the house for a few days so they could repair it.  We stayed at a hotel in town.  The girls liked it, but I found it terribly inconvenient.  When we go out of town for the weekend, I remember everything we need (admittedly, since we've been here, I've forgotten to pack someone's underwear almost every time we go to a resort!).  But, usually I have most things we need when we go out of town.  When we went to the hotel locally, I found myself running back to the house for every little thing.  "Oh ya, Andie has swimming on Friday morning at school, I need to go get her stuff." "I have a headache, I need to go retrieve meds." "I need to make the girls' lunches.  Let me go grab some salami." "Oh, we have to eat out again tonight and return back to the hotel late and then try to do homework!"  Anyway, in the grand scheme of li

Time has moved slowly this week.  Zoë has been sick with a high fever. She missed three days of school. It's funny how sometimes it's just so nice to stay at home and relax, while other times...all I want to do is get out.  She's back to school today so instead of getting out there, I'm sitting in the breeze on my porch, looking at the ocean - writing this blog.  I cannot complain. Lately, I've been reflecting on our lives  here, maybe because of the frequent farewells or maybe because next month we are going home to visit.  There are SO many good things here.  I LOVE that I am working part-time and can pretty much catch up on life on the days that I don't work.  I've been chatting with some friends from home lately, and they all seem to have that feeling, " I just cannot catch up.  No matter what I do, I'm constantly busy and behind in life."   They feel trapped by their laundry, their house projects, their dishes, their meals.  I totally ge

For book club we just read a book, The Expatriates by Janice Lee.  It was fairly good..a pretty easy read.   It did make me think a bit about our lives here as expats.  At our book club discussion we talked about whenever anyone without a high paying job moves into another country they are called immigrants, where those with good jobs are usually expats.  The book discussed some American expats living in Hong Kong, and I get the feeling that living in Hong Kong is WAY different than living in Suva.  The expats there seemed to live a much more privileged life than here....but there were some similarities.  We do live a life of privilege compared to the majority of the population here in Fiji.  It's nice at times, and other times it's a bit unnerving... It does make me very grounded in what we have.  (I felt like that too when I worked at a Title One school).   I am constantly reminding myself to be grateful and try not to take what we have for granted.   The expats in the sto

I have been freezing all day.  I am wearing long sleeves and jeans.  I finally checked the official temperature on this cold, drizzly day.....   Well....it's a whopping 77 degrees Fahrenheit!  I'm ruined for cold weather.  Good thing we are going back to the states in the summer time this year!   Here's my best "I'm cold" face.... funny girls this week sunset for dinner on the deck last night!