Sinterklaas in Fiji?

Bula,

Let’s start around Saturday the 1ste of December. Well I went to the mainland beach with a group of locals and volunteers and had so much. When I got back home the nephews and sister of Betty were there. They stayed for the night and the next morning we all went to Suva. (Her father got into the hospital of Suva). The next morning we drove back home, so I missed the first day of summer school. The next day Projects Abroad told me to stay home, relax a little bit, and go to school on Wednesday and please step by the office around lunchtime. (They want to know everybody’s opinion about Fiji.) So on Wednesday I went to summer school, I got class 3 en 4, with Luisa and Fleur. We have about 5-9 children coming, it depends every day. (The children don’t have to come, they can!) But the most fun is we can teach whatever we want, as long as we do teach something. So we did some English reading and played the game Ninja. (The game works like this; you go stand in a circle, hold hands of the persons next to you. Then you let go of their hands, step 2 steps back. Then you bow and say Bula! and you go and stand in a ninja move. Then one person starts, and you have to touch the hands of the person on the left of the right, next to you, in one move. If you touch their hands, they are dead, and have to wait for the next game. You can just make one move, and then the next person next to you is.)
After school I went home and made some pepernoten because of Sint Nicolas (=Sinterklaas). I hope, everybody who celebrated it, had a nice and fun time. Instead of using Speculaas, I had to use something else. So it did taste a bit different, but the idea was there. So far we haven’t seen any Sinterklaas, but we saw Santa Claus. So maybe he is hiding, or doesn’t want to flight so far. But I saw some ‘Zwarte Pieten’ and I did see the white horse. So is he trying to send a message or was he in Fiji. I guess we will never know.

The next day, Connie and Alina joined us. So we were with even more volunteers. This day we did the song we prepared since Wednesday. The song goes as follows:
Boys: You are holy,
Girls: You are holy,
Boys: You are mighty,
Girls: You are mighty,
Boys: You are worthy,
Girls: You are worthy,
Boys: Worthy of praise,
Girls: Worthy of praise,
Boys: I will follow,
Girls: I will follow,
Boys: I will listen,
Girls: I will listen,
Boys: I will love you,
Girls: I will love you,
Boys: All of my days.
Girls: All of my days.

Then the girls and the boys will sing different things on the same time.
The girls will sing:
You are lord of lords,
You are king of kings,
You are mighty god,
Lord of everything,
You are Emanuel, you are the great, I am.
You are lambz of peace,
Some other sentences And then:
You are my saving grace,
You will reign forever,
You are our child of praise.
You are alpha,
Omega, beginning
And end.
You are my savior, messajo,
Redeemer and friend,

The Boys sing:
I will love and,
Adore you,
And I will bow down,
Before you.

When the girls say friend, everybody will sing:
You’re my prince of,
Peace and I will live,
My life for you.
Then I organized some art & craft, we gave them a bit of paper, and they made a beautiful mask. In the afternoon we played some games and that’s been it so far.
On Friday we had items day, this means that all the classes perform a little item after the first break. We performed the song which you see above. In the morning we told the children something about the countries there teachers come from. So that’s Holland (me!), Germany (Luisa, Alina), Austria (Connie), Belgium (Fleur) and we told a little bit about Europe. Around lunchtime, we were free.
Around 20.30 a few volunteers met up at Ice-bar and we all went to bamboo. This is a place where you hang out, relax a little bit, and drink a lot of kava (‘’mud-water’’ – a Fijian tradition). After this place we went to Ed’s bar and had a great time.
On Saturday I woke up, talked on skype to my mom and dad (Wuis, where are you, haven’t talked to you in ages…). After this I went to the beach with some volunteers, around 3 I came back home. I did my laundry and listened to the wedding music of the neighbors on the other site of the road. It is great to hear.
Moce & Take Care,
Joëlle

Ps. For those who don’t know who Sinterklaas is. Sinterklaas is a celebration and tradition in Holland. It is about a white men who gives presents to the children, who have been very nice during the year. He lives in Spain and has a lot of helpers ‘Zwarte pieten’. If you want to know more, ask me or google it. (: