Day 3: Welcome Ceremony

Our first official day began with an introduction to the culture of Fiji by our friendly teacher 'Jeffrey.' The central principle of traditional Fijian culture is RESPECT. Already it is possible to see the effect of Chirstianity on the island with the protocols we learnt today being a mix of early Christian teachings and ancestral traditional ways of living. I found it particularly interesting that the protocols had developed out of necessity due to the open and public nature of the original single roomed Bure that traditional Fijians lived in. This lifestyle demanded the introduction of protocols such as the 'observance of silence in formal gatherings' to maintain a peaceful and respectful atmosphere.

We then were able to practice what we had learnt at the formal welcome ceremony hosted for us at the Fiji Museum. The ceremony included welcome speeches from the Director, a speech from Nikki, an I sevusevu, a traditional kava ceremony, homemade cakes and tea and ended with beautiful dancing and singing by students of the Conservatory of Music. The I sevusevu is a traditional introduction ritual in which the root of a kava plant is presented to the visitor. As representative of the group 'Jeffrey' accepted the plant indicating that we are accepted as 'one of the natives' with a responsibility to the 'vanua.' This was followed by a traditional kava ceremony which was an elaborate ceremony in which performers in full traditional attire served kava to Nikki whilst chanting and dancing. It was a very special honour to experience a full kava ceremony, as it is usually reserved for High Chiefs- we all felt very priviledged!

Following the kava ceremony was a series of dances from the Conservatory of Music students. These are too hard to describe with words- I have included photographs to try and illustrate the sounds and movement of the performance: (photos to come!!)

Following the ceremony the performers took us on a shopping excursion to find a formal outfit for our weekend trip to Bua. For girls this consists of jamba and for men it is a sulu and shirt. I was very touched by the warmth and welcoming nature of the music students and staff. Ana was particularly welcoming- ensuring that I had a dark green jamba to match my hair and insisting that I try the many different juices that we walked past along the streets. The experiences of the Conservatory of Music students can be related to the article by Epeli Hau'ofa titled 'Our Sea of Islands.' This article distinguishes between the identification of the Pacific as 'a sea of islands' as opposed to 'islands in a far sea.' The later emphasises the smallness and remoteness of the islands. From this perspective the islands are 'tiny isolated dots in a vast ocean.' (pg 153) I feel, to a certain extent, that this was partly my perspective having never experienced or studied Fiji and Fijian culture. These students clearly showed that the Fijian population are no longer limited to their national boundaries and can by no means be considered as a remote or 'small' culture. In the past year alone the group had performed at the Shanghai Expo, in Canada, in Hong Kong and they are planning a trip to Australia next year illustrating how closely connected and in demand this culture is!

In the afternoon me and Hannah split from the rest of the group to meet the people we will be working with at the National Trust. Saki met us at the ceremony and gave us a very warm welcome. She introduced us to therest of the office (all very lovely!) and gave a quick debrief on what they had planned for myself and Hannah during the next three weeks. We both feel very lucky as it appears to be very organised and busy. Tomorrow we will both be travelling to the Sigatoka Sand Dunes to stay with the Park Manager, Jason, until firday morning. The Dunes were Fiji's first national park and it is a popular tourist and school trip destination. I am not exactly sure what we will be doing, but we were told to bring good walking shoes and lots of sunscreen!