In Fiji it is perfectly normal to…
1. Go swimming fully clothed
2. Take a rain bath or bath in the
river… wearing clothes
3. Have teatime a half-hour before
your lunch break…
4. … And then again a couple hours after lunch break
5. Inform your co-worker/friend/family
how fat they are getting
6. Walk around town without any
shoes
7. Drink kava/washdown through the
night into the next morning
8. Take naps in the middle of the
day during a workweek
9. Take naps after any meal
10. Lie down while eating
11. Scrape the inner eyelid with a
blade of grass to “cleanse the eye”
12. Offer to share your food to
anyone whenever you are eating
13. Ask anyone where he or she is
going
14. Yell out to people in passing
vehicles
15. Have a silent conversation across
the street with someone involving a lot of pointing
16. Call a gay or feminine man a
“poofta” and a black person (not Fijian) the “N” word.
17. Bundle an infant in layers of clothing, booties, cap, and large
blanket when it is boiling hot outside.
18. Cure any pain with a coconut oil massage
19. Drink beer with a group of people out of a single shot glass
20. Offer the shirt off your back to help someone in need… or if they
just like your shirt
Sweetheart I believe what you are experience here is called "culture shock." This why one of the reasons I'm proud of you for going, it's one thing to read about different cultures. It's a WHOLE other thing to experience them.
ReplyDeleteChelsea! I love this list! Spot on friend :) And as weird as the eye cleaning sounds with the blade of grass, its actually pretty cool to have done. During the dry season I constantly get dirt and grime in my eyes and would regularly have one of these old women clean my eyes out. It sounds insane but I have grown to love it!
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