So I have been really bored these past few days and listening to the radio in lot for fear of a cyclone warning… it has been raining quite a lot for the past 3 days and low lying areas have been issued minor flood watches. Well anyway, all of that radio-listening got me inspired to write my own version of the 12 days of Christmas, specifically for Fiji so here it is! Copy this one out and sing it with your family this year, I’m sure it’ll be the next biggest hit :)
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a house in Natokalau village
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two babakau
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, three ice blocks
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, four coconuts
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five bags of grog
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, six protex soap bars
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, seven cups of sugar
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, eight iri iri’s
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, nine hour meetings
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, ten kids with cane knives
On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, eleven cyclone warnings
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, twelve breakfast crackers
Now let me take a moment to explain why some of these can be considered funny, or maybe they are only funny to me because I’m beginning to get island fever… you be the judge.
Babakau: Fijian pancakes that are really just deep fried dough. Good at first and then you look at your fingers dripping with oil and fear for the impending heart attack.
Ice Blocks: These are delicious little popsicles that people in the village make and sell. The 30 cent ones are sugar and fruit juice frozen into a small cup with a popsicle stick in them. The 50 cent ones are made with milk, sugar, vanilla and frozen in the same way. They are my saviors on hot sweaty afternoons.
Protex Soap: An antibacterial soap that is one of 2 major soaps used in Fiji (the other being Bodyguard) Protex is what I use. And I probably actually have 6 right now for fear of ever running out.
Sugar: Well this is just funny because I bought a 2 kg bag of sugar when I first got here nearly 6 months ago and still have about 1/3 of it. I think most families here go through 2 kgs in about a week or so.
Iri Iri’s: those are the woven fans made out off the same plant that the mats are woven from. Once again, saviors on super hot afternoons or really long church services with no airflow.
9 Hour meetings: Yeah. Meetings here (when they do happen) can be excruciatingly long. To the point where I lose my ability to attempt to understand what is being said and start drawing up plans in my notebook for projects.
Kids with cane knives: There are so many kids that couldn’t be more than 3 walking around with these huge super sharp machetes. It scares me to see them running with them.
Cyclone Warnings: Haven’t actually gotten one yet, but the weather recently has been making me think about them a lot.
Breakfast Crackers: Breakfast crackers are these flour crackers that are really thick and dense. They are used for breakfast every day, or a snack, or lunch. Breakfast crackers with jam, with butter, with peanut butter, topped with tomatoes and homemade hummus, topped with pineapple slices or papaya slices, bananas etc. you name it. These crackers will hold it. Now that’s not saying they are delicious or anything. I actually found them vile at first but they are growing on me.
Cannot wait to meet you when we visit in June. LOVE the posts.
Happy Holidays!!