FightinJoe : Aaron Wheeler

What did I do?

Saturday, 27 October 2007

Before heading to Fiji to work with Tribewanted, I got a lot of questions, the main one being “WHAT? ! ? !” After the dust settled from my original announcement, however, the questions became a bit more articulate. “Where will you be?” “How long will you be there?” “What will you be doing?” “Yeah, but what will you be doing?”

Before departing it was difficult to correctly answer the last question. Often, when people asked what I’d be doing, I’d describe typical IT work and how it usually maroons professionals in an island chain of cubicles, each it’s own private island. So if I was building websites and changing the face of the internet, it didn’t much matter whether I was on a virtual island or a real one. Some pointed out that the lack of power and an internet connection might make a difference. I agreed, but tried not to focus on these minor technicalities, and instead would draw the conversation back to the bigger picture of working in Fiji.

The big picture did little to answer the reoccurring question of “Yeah, but what will you be doing?” As it ends up – a little bit of everything. And in lieu of the broken big picture that did very little to answer the question before, here are a series of small pictures that should better approximate my life on Vorovoro. Choose five to ten of the small sentence fragment snapshots below and you’ve got a typical day.

• Waking up in a coconut-frond thatched hut shaded by wind-blown trees and backed up by a 20 foot stone cliff and looking out the 9 ” x 3’ window ten yards down the beach to the ocean.
• Disguising a quick walk to the compost toilets as a casual morning stroll while dodging chickens that have been awake since 4am.
• Checking automated emails received on a Blackberry mobile to see if there have been any server crashes overnight.
• Sitting down with a dozen other tribe members and discussing our dislike of the non-biting yet ubiquitously annoying ants over one of our five daily meals (being a British operation, there are two tea times during the day + 3 regular meals)
• Frantically looking for and finding my sandals that I haven’t worn in 3 days as the boat into town threatens to leave me behind.
• Hunkered down trying to read the last Harry Potter book on a 10 foot boat powered by a 40hp engine for thirty minute commute into Labasa where power and internet can be found.
• Walking through town during lunch, trying to decide which greasy Chinese restaurant to eat at while trying to blend in amongst the throngs of Fijians and Indo-Fijians on the sidewalks (which are equally congested with people as the streets are with cars)
• Heading to the only internet cafe after packing my computer and change of clothes into my bag as we’re informed that the boardroom at the hotel today won’t be at our disposal.
• Biting my tongue while listening to the cab driver (5 minute ride ~$1.50 FJD) espouse the benefits of polygamy, the majesty of the local HIbiscus Fair, and then ask me if I had change smaller than the $2 bill I’d given him, then waiting by the side of the road for another cab to break the $2 bill for change.
• Taking pictures – lots and lots of pictures
• Meeting new arrivals, taking them into the market to buy a bundle of yagona roots as a token gift for the chief, explaining how a sarong is called a sulu in Fiji, and carting luggage to the jetty to watch the tide go out and wait for boat.
• Taking off my shirt, hopping in the boat, and getting settled to read my book, looking up when we reach the mouth of the river and can see Vorovoro 15 minutes away from us halfway between the horizon.
• Gardening, picking up trash, gathering firewood, washing dishes, foraging for flowers and leaves for our meke (tribal dance) outfits, raking leaves, bathing in the sea, brushing my teeth on the edge of the ocean from water in water bottle, watching the phosphorescence light up with little blips of purple as the waves disturb the water in the middle of the night
• Watching the slow sweeping of the Milky Way across the sky while trying to mentally match up the phases of the moon with the tides for tomorrow (high tide in the morning was perfect for a morning bath, while in the evening you’d be refreshed for dinner)
• Sitting around the fire or kava bowl, legs falling asleep, chatting with friends, listening to the singing of the local Fijians relaxing after a long day of work.