USP

I have no idea where time has flown off to, but we’re officially on night three of being at the University of the South Pacific. My last entry ended off with me en route to Suva, so as one can imagine, a lot has happened since then. One of the International Program coordinators met us where the bus dropped us off – the Holiday Inn in downtown Suva. We caught a cab back to USP and learnt that the new res halls that were recently constructed for international students were not ready to be moved in to immediately. As such, we spent our first night sleeping in the res halls that locals stay in – which Angela and I were both happy to do. Keeping in mind that Fiji is a developing country, the locals’ res halls here are far different from what we’re used to back home. The living conditions were a tad startling, but I knew what to expect so it wasn’t so much shocking for me as it was a reality check. I was left unsettled over the circumstances under which university students in such parts of the socioeconomic world live in. I appreciated the experience, as it reminded me that when we complain for ANY reason whilst studying back home, we need to shut the eff up.

Unfortunately, my first night in Fiji left me battling a cockroach. As my family knows, I am terrified of spiders and generally don’t do well with any sort of insects. Thankfully, lovely Angela came to my rescue and all was well (although the scene of me screaming while she tried to trap and kill the roach was like something out of The Exorcist). As you can imagine, I’ve been paranoid about creepy crawlers ever since, but considering the fact that I’m living in a tropical environment for the next 4.5 months, I know I need to get over it.

By the second night we were moved into the new halls along with the other international students. It consists of apartment style living – so we have shared bathrooms and a kitchen. This place is a castle in comparison to what the other students are living in, and I’ve been feeling pretty unsettled about this fact. As I unpacked my belongings and setup my new room, I couldn’t help but feel nauseated when thinking about how much I have to call my own when people here have so little. Spending the small amount of time that I have in Fiji has left me feeling so grateful for the life I’ve been blessed with. This night I found a gecko in my room (Ang thinks all creepy crawlers in our area are conspiring against me because they can sense my fear, lol). Gah. Thankfully I’m no longer bothered by geckos - apparently they eat the insects, so they’re friends ;)

Today we started Orientation Week (information sessions and planned events/excursions for international students at USP). We finally saw Christy and met her husband Kevin, along with a bunch of other international students. All of the other students are incredibly friendly and we’re all really enjoying familiarizing ourselves with USP together. This is the first night since I’ve been at USP that I’ve really had the chance to write. All in all, I am enjoying Suva greatly!