Thursday, 31 May 2007

Bula! Dress!



Today was a fundraiser... you had to wear bula. Since I had no bula, my kind neighbour, Nyna, leant me one of hers.
Bula is fun! I think bula for me today was what fluro was to me in the 80s.
Only problem was I couldn't get the camera to focus on the self timer if I stood away. Hence two shots... one to see the style... the other for a close up of the print... pretty pink palms!

Friday, 25 May 2007

Elsie and her bula dress




Elsie has a lovely new bula dress. Bula shirts are very popular here among most Fijian men. Bula dresses seem to be popular only with older women or women having to look "Fiji" for tourist jobs or traditional goings on.




I've included a picture of my mad year 8 English class. They're really lovely. A little indifferent towards homework, but lovely. One of my students is from Kiribati (pronounced Kiribas), which is expected to be completely underwater within 50 years' time. They will not be the world's first global warming refugees. New Zealand has made a commitment to some Pacific islands in terms of providing refuge for the nationless. Hope Australia commits in a similar fashion. Perhaps Australia already has? Does anyone know? I am not aware of it.

Thanks to the man in black and white, Ratu Sakuna, I have a holiday on Monday. French Foreign Legionaire in WWI, barrister and Chief. Love a long weekend! Yay for Ratu!

Thursday, 24 May 2007

My new swizzle stick and bilum


My new swizzle stick has been busy stirring G&Ts. So much so that my 2L supply of Bombay Sapphire has come to a sorry end. Swizzle stick, AKA letter opener, was procured at the local Suva craft market for a small price and is dark in colour because it has been buried in mangrove mud.

Signora Bianco: “I love your new swizzle stick, but NOTHING beats the Banana Discoteque, especially when it's probably not even standing any more!”

NB: Banana Discotheque is located in Phuket, Thailand, hit by 2005 Boxing Day tsunami. It’s a relief to finally have someone realize the value of my previous swizzle stick (see 30th March blog posting for picture) which came from the discotheque.

Elena is very excited about her new litter. Does the world need so many cats? Does the world needs cats at all? And did you know that guitar strings were once made from cats’ guts? Useful piece of trivia and explanation as to why Stings is the name of my neighbour’s cat. He’s not a very handsome cat but for some reason he doesn’t seem to pick up on the fact that I don’t like him….cats never do… and they sit on my lap and purr and I feel obliged to pretend I like them (don’t read this Celeste or Moses, RIP Whiskey).

Now, for a little about my bilum (traditional PNG bag). This unique bag was hand made in Paupa New Guniea and is sure to receive a lot of attention upon my return to Australia! It already has the Suva market women gasping in admiration. Gasps which are closely followed by enquiries (“where did you get that?”). It’s a bag for a lover of art and tradition, completely handmade of natural materials. Flaws may appear in the weaving and variations in the fur, but this merely ensures that my bilum will be a one-of-a-kind item, adding to its authentic quality. My new bilum is made from durable, expanding, tightly woven, scratchy grey and brown possum fur. The weaving technique is called string looping. Although already distinctly PNG, my bilum features the PNG flag (the PNG flag was designed by a 15 year old girl in a national competition in 1971) in red, black, white and yellow cotton. The Southern Cross on my bilum is quite a random, artistic representation of what’ll you see when actually looking at the night sky’s version. The handle is strong, long-lasting and thick for a more even distribution of weight. Bilums are perfect for market shopping and carrying babies. Like a possum, the bag expands to provide room for its content. So, really, I am just a possum (as opposed to a cumquat), now that I have a little pouch for carrying things in. Though you now know it’s much more than a little pouch!!

Speaking of all things PNG… I chewed my first betel nut a couple of weeks ago. After a good chew, I was meant to feel mildly euphoric (high levels of psychoactive alkaloids - stimulating, mildly intoxicating and appetite-suppressing effects on the mind). Betel nut chewing is definitely an acquired taste and one that I don’t actually expect to obtain. The finest thing about the whole chewing scene is that when you chew betel nut along with some lime (calcium oxide… not the citrus fruit I put in my gins) at the same time it creates a bright red colour in your mouth and a superb bright red spit. I am not very good at spitting, but I had a fair crack at it. You’re meant to chew a nut for about 20 minutes and I think I lasted 5… so unfortunately no euphoria for me. Like all good mind-enhancing products, they’re carcinogins and those who regularly chew have a much higher chance of oral cancer. I am sure if the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria looked into it, they’d declare I had a high level of carcinogenicity to humans (especially to those of the teenage, students-of-English-with-outstanding-homework variety). They’re good for your teeth (reduce cavities) but bad for your mouth and gums. In fact, so bad for your gums there’s a good chance your teeth’ll fall out altogether! So, not sure I’ll be in a hurry to get addicted to betel nuts. I am considering marketing them in Australia as the new weight-loss fad.

Speaking of marketing… I was aspiring to enter a business partnership with a couple of Israelis I met on the beach last month, importing a superior sun block cream into Australia. People make fun of me because I use SPF 30. Well, these two olive-skinned Israelis had SPF 100!!! So, I figured Australians, especially ones with white pastey complexions like mine, would love this and I was ready to go into business and retire from the whiteboard. (Enter: some smarty pants science teacher who tells me that SPF 30 was the maximum required for complete skin protection.) Doh! Back to the coal mines for me.

One last picture to refer to… I tried to explain to somebody yesterday that the bruises on my wrists were due to a lover going overboard… but sadly they knew me (and my non-existent love life) better. The truth is volleyball is a deadly contact sport. Contact between the volleyball and my wrists is simply excruciating. However, since it was I who chose to begin a staff volleyball team at work and I thought it’d be pathetic to abandon ship so soon. So, herein lies photographic evidence of volleyball being a dangerous and unforgiving sport. This shot was taken today, two days after my second training session and after much complaining, with little sympathy expressed, it was decided that training needed to occur twice weekly for a toughening up. I am saddened that I have to use my blogspot as a last-ditch attempt to extract sympathy. Anybody?
PS Must change my blog’s links from the political Fiji blogsites to something less controversial… as the military have shut down most of the sites… in particular one that was titled Resist Frank’s Coup. The shutting down of these sites occurred a week or so after an interesting forum held at University of the South Pacific on Freedom of the Press Day. The forum was financed and organized by the Australian High Commission and heated up towards the end. The military spokesperson, spin-doctor, whatever you wanna call him, was asked some pertinent questions about deaths of individuals that had occurred in military custody. A day later I was eager to see what the Fiji Times reported… a total pro-military white-wash…. Disappointing! Needless to say, after attending this forum, I’ve not been such an avid reader of the Fiji Times, which (if the forum is anything to go by) is doing copious amounts of self-censorship. It’s too reminiscent of Winston in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four… or Bad Boy Bubby: (same director as Ten Canoes. Both great movies… see them if you haven’t already) “If the poison doesn’t get you, then Jesus will”. Bad Boy Bubby does offer a final solution to the issue of cats: cling wrapping. Though, I am against animal abuse…. Apart from that one time that Julie and I killed huge quantities snails on the front lawn after a down pour of rain. The crunch sound was music to my ears…. And anything that moves at 1mm/s has it coming to it, if you ask me. Don’t even get me started on sloths!

Tuesday, 15 May 2007

First Fiji Haircut

Well. I went to the haircutters and got some hairs cut and I look all different.

And the hairdresser requested, "$20 please" and I thought... wow... that's the cheapest haircut I've had in ages. (AU$17)

Note that my hair isn't washed in this picture... so it's not really a good picture to publish.. but oh well. Can't be bothered doing myself up for you guys.... it's really only mum who reads this.

So, this is a Suva cut and it'll do me... because (I know you're not going to be happy to hear this, Elena... and Tash please don't tell the Milano hairdresser... what's-his-face...Mario?...Fabio?...Giovanni!! that's it) I asked the cutter to cut it in a way that meant I didn't have to do it in the morning. I just told her straight out... I don't do my hair... so cut it with that in mind please. Oh dear... I feel like Elena will arrive from Italy to hang me for that! Yikes! Please please... don't tell Giovanni... he thought ill enough of me after our little conversation at the end of his masterpiece cut this January (he thinks everything he does is a masterpiece!):
G: I'll just get a mirror and show you the back
K: No need to worry with that, I don't see the back
E: Porca! See! See what I am dealing with here, Giovanni! Kate, you will never be a princess!

How true, Elena, how true.
PS Oh! How could I forget?!! I forgot to mention that I found a new swivel stick! I'll put it in my next blog.
PPS And happy birthday to baby Elsie who turned one today! She had a TV remote control cake.... it's her fav toy.

Friday, 11 May 2007

Hindi wedding



Last Friday night was Joeteshyna's wedding. She was our French teacher but now she's gone to live in the States (something to do with the bride groom not being Fijian). The wedding ceremony was the last 1.5 hours of three days of preparation and started at 7:30pm. It's the first Hindi wedding I've been to and the first wedding that did not serve alcohol. It was also vegetarian. At the end of the ceremony we were fed by Hare Krishna.. lovely dahl and roti and vege curries with fruit juice and sweets. We ate with our hands too. So quite a few wedding firsts for me. Afterwards we went into old Suva town to hit the gin in our Salwahs! Jo (Head of English, soon to be living in same publess town as my brother and his family and my partner in all things criminal) put the finishing touches on me in the car park before going in.. a tikka in between the eyes. I thought I was quite dressed up but most of the women there were wearing salwahs with lots of beading and sequins. So, Jo and I were like the poor plain cousins.

Wednesday, 2 May 2007

Food and neighbours



The lovely neighbours (L-R): Nyna, Elsie and Tim. Elsie is delicious! She has approximately one hour of hyperactivity per evening which amuses everybody. Tim and Nyna call it Bean Hour. She's taking lots of steps on her own... but not confident enough just yet for walking to be her preferred choice of travelling.

Elsie was a great help last weekend with the gardening... well, actually she was a bit of a distraction because she kept eating dirt and we had to watch out for that! What is it with babies and dirt? I can't remember if I ever ate dirt.
I thought my mechanism for re-heating some spag bolg was interesting... I used an asian steamer, with a pacific leaf to heat an Italian dinner. The next photo down is my very successful Pineapple and Coconut Curry. That's a cinnamon stick you see. I can't take all the credit for the cooking. I invited a friend for dinner and then set them to task.