A visit to the Fijian Deaf Association (FAD)

Wailei! I am tired! What an exhausting day it was - but it was so great!

Here you have a photo of me visiting the Fijian Deaf Association for the 1st time! Finally I visited & was so glad because the deaf people at this organisation were fun to be with & we had some really great conversations. My Fijian signing is improving each day now but I was so tired at the end of today as there was a lot of head work going on for me - with me trying to remember all the Fijian signs as I chatted. I think I did rather well! The president of the organisation was glad to have met me because now he wants to see how he can get me back to do more work in Fiji especially in the area of Deaf Awareness. (He told me a story about how a deaf man was shot by a member of the army not so long back - perhaps some communication breakdown! Just terrible! So FAD tries to inform as many organisations as possible about Deaf Awareness)

FAD & I swapped a copy of our books - I gave them a signed copy of my Deaf Awareness book called 'Look at Me' & they gave me a signed copy of their recently published Fijian Sign Language Dictionary.

Prior to coming here, I had a cup of coffee with a deaf Fijian man who happens to be the boyfriend of my deaf Aussie friend. He will move to Australia next week to finally be with his girl! He is nervous - a bit worried about Australian security at the airport. I think he has heard too many stories about how tough our security is at the airport! Hee! He wants to know if he can bring some Kava (Fijian alcohol) to Australia & if he wont get into trouble with Australian security. I said he'll get thrown into prison! Hee! No I said was not too sure & that he best find out from someone before he goes. Quite funny really - he is very nervous. He has a wild cheeky side to him - so perhaps he has reason to be a bit worried. Ha! No seriously - he'll be fine I am sure & I'm sure Australia will welcome him with open arms. He is also very worried about the cold weather in Australia. I said it's freezing cold! Ha! No not really but for Fijian people it might be a bit cold - as I know Fijians get cold very easy as they are so used to the warm humid weather here in Fiji.

It looks like my new friends here at FAD want to throw me a farewell / end of university celebration party this Friday night! I am looking forward to it! It might be a calm & easy night or it might be a wild night - I have no idea. I think I maybe visiting a nightclub also - hope so cos my deaf friend in Australia says I must visit one before I go as its a unique experience & quite different to western nightclubs. I'll let you know if I go.

Tomorrow night I maybe going to finally try some Kava - my deaf Aussie friend's Fijian boyfriend (as mentioned above) will take me out tmw night to try some Kava. I hope it wont make me too drunk as I hear the drink is potent! I do need to attend school the next day to teach & dont want to sleep through my alarm or come into school with a bad hangover. Ha!

Hmmm ... it's turning out to be a great last week in Fiji! I am making the most of my last few days here - with just 5x more days to go! Oh!

Though I must say I feel more tired each day now & really look forward to lying on that hammock by the beach in Nadi before I fly out to Australia!

Moce moce - goodbye!