Wednesday, August 06, 2008

How to know if a Fijian man is married?

I have been getting heaps of emails, and chatting to women in much the same predicament as myself. We have all been mesmerised by the lush green tropical setting of Fiji, blue lagoons and white waves crashing on the fringes. Then along comes a sweet, gentle, smiling Fijian who is just so friendly. Yep I fell for it too.
How do you know if they are single? married? available? The only way I found out was by going and living in Chita's bure for six weeks. Every night and day I was surrounded by Fijian men; I met his family and European friends and I just sort of worked it out that he is free. There is no one else in his life.
Spending three months of the year apart, makes it hard. I sometimes do think - maybe he could be with someone else- then I ring him up and he is at the cafe, or walking along the road, or sitting with friends on a hillside nearby. I have to trust him.
Fiji is close to Australia. That is the trap. You can actually contemplate coming back and developing a friendship - if it was Madagascar you'd think, 'Oh well, I've met a great guy but this is never going to work'.
Let me tell you now, its not easy. Its bloody hard work. I spend three months of the year on my own. We talk a lot by phone. We share our two lives over the phone, but we do not have a life together. I have tried to get a job in Fiji but I cannot live on $20,000. Applying for this fiance visa has been a hard journey. It took me three months just to put the documents together. Then I had to hand over a huge amount of cash to an immigration agent.... then sit and wait.... a month to the day of our initial application, Chita receives a call from the Immigration department in Suva to come for a medical, x-ray and to obtain a police clearance. He tried to wake me at 6.30 am but I was of course dreaming of other things. He waited two hours until I woke up and eventually found his message then off he went.
Its a big deal - getting involved with someone from another culture. In Fijian culture everyone knows how to respond to different situations; its not verbalised; its internalised. Its difficult to sometimes know if you are making a big blunder or not - those smiling faces will never give it away.
Is he married? The only way to find out is to ask his friends and family.
If you marry a Fijian, you marry a clan, and a village. I am about to pay $100 for transport for the body of chita's cousin's grandmother because no one else can pay. Each clan is given a responsibility and as I am the only one working and earning we have to contribute.... that's the Fijian way..... If you are loaded you probably won't mind, but if you are middle of the road like me, every cent counts. I am busy setting up a flat for Chita and I to live in when he gets here.
It could be soon! September/October I am hoping....
I have bought a charcoal grey couch today, two cube book shelves and now I am scouting around for a small flat screen tv..... after that I will be saving to take my boy on a road trip around the apple isle....
Are you ready for all this??
I wasn't, but now I am in it up to my neck, I just keep trying to move forward.
Moce.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your blog is always an enjoyable read. Oh by the way, driving down the coral coast a couple of weeks ago, I actually saw it...'Chita's cafe'. Pretty nice.

Hope it works out for you two.

kaiviti...

Anonymous said...

Hi Amanda-very interesting reading your blog.I was in a kind of predicament that Chitta experienced as I'm Fijian from the Yasawa's and my wife is Australian.Not so much the problem about the Immigration Dept but more so on the cultural divide that I had to cross to meet my wife's cultural zone.I could relate to alot of issues that you mentioned in your blog and that is is still a learning curve for me,even though I have 3 three beautiful coffee coloured children,that journey is something that Michelle and I will continually walk along for the rest of our life.
Though I have not met you nor Chitta,I would like to keep in touch and share experiences or just have someone to chat with-my contact email address is : arokobaro@gmail.com

Vina Du Rixi,

Apenisa Rokobaro-(yasawa-blue)