We do a lot of waiting here. There are long lines most public offices, banks, post office, and at the hospital. It is not uncommon to wait 3 - 4 hours in the emergency room at the hospital. Another funny thing about health care. They have three emergency vehicles here, but they didn't have enough money after they bought the vehicles to equip them, so the only thing they are good for is a ride to the hospital... But if you come in an ambulance the wait is not as long - so you hear them all day and night - sirens blaring...
Because we have to cash the check for the missionaries disbursements each month we had to open have an account at the bank. We waited two hours to get waited on - but we enjoyed people watching and visiting with the people. The lines at the post office are always long. You get your mail from your PO box (we have two to check - one for the mission and one for the institute), go to one place to send letters and boxes, and if you have boxes to pick-up you have to go around back into another room to pick them up. We usually split up so it doesn't take so long.
VILLAGES...
The islands are divided into villages, not towns or cities. Every village has a chief, and he has the final say about what goes on in the village. Land is owned by the villages - not the country, and so it is hard to buy land for public buildings. The only reason that the church is able to build chapels is because the chief and all the members of the village agree to sell it to them. It can take months for all the people in the village to agree to sell the land and what to charge. Of course they want premium price because they feel the church has deep pockets...
The village chief determines many things in the day to day life of the members of the village. He can even determine how they spend their money. They are really big here on funerals, and will spend thousands of dollars for one. If the chief goes to a family and tells them to pay a certain amount, even if they don't have it, they borrow the money - and so many are in debt because of it. Because you can't buy and sell land - everyone lives in the village. Multiple generations of families live together in the same house, or in houses right next to each other. They are very close however. They do most of the cooking as families (especially the evening meal), and they look out for each other's children. Not everyone has jobs, so they share lots of expenses. One week a family may buy the groceries, another family will pay the utilities, another will pay the car payments etc.
VEHICLES & ROADS...
Speaking of cars - there are lots of them on the island, and there is just one main road here - it is about 27 miles long and runs from the East end to the West end of the island along the South shore. It does not go all the way around the island. There are some side roads (about like the road to Timberlane) that go into the villages, and when it rains they are almost impassable. When it rains it comes down hard and fast, but the temperature of the rain is almost as warm as bathwater (where is the soap?). Everyone seems to have vehicles - usually trucks - try nice ones, and everyone rides in the back of the truck. They place a lot of emphasis on vehicles, clothes and food - which is where most of their money goes.
Missionaries are really respected - even by non-members. When we are driving, if they recognize our van, they honk and wave. Many stop to let us in traffic if we are waiting to make a turn. Problem is, with the road being only one lane, every time someone stops to let someone in it slows the traffic. The speed limit is 25 miles per hour, but most of the time you won't ever get going that fast. There are no stoplights and only a few stop signs. Needless to say, the cars/trucks never open up to any high speeds - so the gas mileage is terrible.
ANIMAL LIFE...
There are LOTS of dogs here. People love them when they are puppies, but when they reach adulthood they don't want them anymore. It is not unusual to see 5 or 6 running together. However, we haven't seen any on the road that have been run-over. There are cats - but not as many as dogs. They really help to keep down the rats. We haven't been over-run with bugs - in fact we have seen very few, but we have more than our share of sugar ants. The day we got here there was a line of them going from the headboard of our bed all the way to the ceiling. Bug spray took care of them quick. Yesterday we left some cookies on the table and within about 20 minutes the ants had found them. It was funny, we didn't see any ants on the table where the plate was, but they were sure lots on the plate.
They have large bats here called Flying Foxes because their face looks like the face of a fox. They come out at dusk and are fascinating to watch.
A LITTLE ABOUT THE FOOD...
We have four "American" fast food places, KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonalds and Carl's Jr. But don't ask for refills - there aren't any. In fact, we went to McDonalds and got their "share meal deal" - two Big Macs or 1/4 pound cheeseburgers, medium fries and medium drinks for $10.00 (no tax). When we asked if we could have a refill, they said it would be $1.50 each. Needless to say, we didn't get a refill...
We have found food to be a little more expensive than at home. Some things are about 40% higher, but some things are about the same or cheaper. We have been able to find most things we need. But when you see something you want, you need to buy it then. If you wait it may be gone when you go back and who knows when they will get more... We have been able to find lettuce and tomatoes, which makes us happy because we were told they were hard to find. The lettuce is not the best, but we have a member of our ward who has a greenhouse and grows lettuce. We have arranged to have her deliver a bag to us every Monday. We have to pay $4.00, but it is worth it - it is so good. The other day we found frozen turkeys, so we bought one for Thanksgiving, and I am glad we did, because we went back to the store a couple of days later and they were gone. Someone told us in church today that they saw cranberry sauce so we will pick some up tomorrow so we have it for the holidays. Shopping is a little more of a challenge, but it is fun...
Every day the people sell their produce on the streets. We have tried some of it, and haven't found anything we didn't like.
They have Breadfruit trees here. The fruit is beautiful. They peel it and boil it like we do potatoes and either eat it mashed or in salads like we do our potato salad. We haven't tried it yet, but will very soon I am sure.
They have several types of bananas. The ones growing in our yard and small and very sweet! They make awesome banana bread - and because of the temperature here they ripen very fast. They also have a large banana - about twice the size of the ones we get a home. They boil them in the skin and then prepare them like we do boiled or mashed potatoes. I am told they make good potato salad.
The lemons are about the size of our large grapefruit. In fact it only takes about 10 to have 4 - 8 cups of juice. We are really enjoying fresh squeezed lemon aid. We share the lemons from our tree - there are so many, and our neighbor gives us all the papaya we can eat. We have been grinding it up and freezing it for cookies. I couldn't find applesauce so I ground up the papaya with some bananas and used that in Grandma Inkley's applesauce chocolate chip cookie recipe. They have been a hit! We took some to a baptism tonight and they just vanished.
The grapefruit are small (ha, ha, ha) and VERY sweet. We have a bishop that shares his grapefruit with us and we share lemons with him as well.
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| This is a grapefruit.... |
They also have coconut trees that are ornamental - you don't eat them. They grow everywhere. The coconuts are an orange color. At first I thought they were young coconuts, but learned otherwise.
HOUSES...
Most of the homes remind you of what you see on the Indian Reservation. Very humble, but clean and tidy. They do most of their cooking outside - in fact most of their living is outside - due to the heat. Almost every family has a Fale (open air hut) in front of their house and that is where they spend most of their time. The floors are usually concrete. You will see clothes hanging up to dry, furniture, stoves, food, etc. in them. Many families have no houses, just Fales. It is like camping out.. The one in this picture are on one of the public beaches and used for large gatherings, but most are smaller than these.
They play lots of volleyball here!!! Almost every village you drive through at any time of the day or night has a volleyball game in progress.
The families spend lots of time at night together singing and visiting - and playing volleyball....
The other night about 10:00 we could hear singing and I wondered if we had left the radio on in the other room. It was a family across the street singing and dancing. They were laughing and really enjoying themselves.
Families are very important and they love being together.....
People greet you with a kiss on the cheek and lots of hugs! It is awesome....
SAU - This is a nightly ritual done in each village. The heads of the homes stand on the sides of the streets dressed in lava lava's. The men in Mapusaga (the village where we live) dress in green lava lava's and orange shirts. They ring a bell at 6:00 and everyone in the village is supposed to be in their houses saying family prayer. The funny thing is all the men and some boys are outside lining the street... You can drive down the main road, but you can't walk. If you turn off the main road you have to stop your car and be quiet until the next bell rings about 10 minutes later. Then the men in the village gather in the village Fale to discuss the needs of the village. At 9:00 another bell rings. That is a curfew bell and all the children have to be home and no longer on the streets. That is usually when you hear the families singing and dancing together. Another bell rings at 10:00 and I am not sure what that bell is for.
RELIGION AND MEETINGHOUSES...
Everyone on the is religious and very dedicated to their beliefs. We have been told there are no atheists on the island. Other than the LDS Church, the Catholic and Seven-Day Adventists are very prominent.
The meetinghouses have no inside hallways. All the classroom doors open to a courtyard. The baptismal font is in the courtyard with a roof over it. There are no water heaters and there is no air conditioning in the buildings, but there are ceiling fans in the chapels and cultural halls - about 24 - 30 in each room depending on the six of the room. The stake center has a cultural hall (with ceramic tile floors) that is almost as big as our entire building at home. The stake center parking lot is brick pavers. Most buildings have concrete parking lots. It was fun to visit the FM office here. They don't have to worry about furnaces, boilers, air conditioners, water heaters (except in the mission home - where we live), sprinkling systems, or brown lawns. But they do have to deal with rust, mold, and deteriorating rock walls due to the salt water. Many of their challenges are no different than ours. The organization is basically the same - they even have their own set of cultural beliefs... It was funny - there were a couple of things that needed to be repaired/replaced in our house and when I told the FM that I had been an FM myself, he was right on top of things. I told him I didn't want to be a pest, and that there was no hurry to get them fixed - but they were fixed the very next day!
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