Airports have always fascinated me.
They bustle with the joy of reunions, the bittersweet tears of departures, and the excitement of unknown destinations.
When I fly from the Toronto Pearson Airport, I usually do so to visit my family back home in Brazil.
As an international student from Brazil living in Canada to attend the University of Toronto, travel, for me, brings opportunity — opportunity to learn from and within a formal post secondary setting; opportunity to pursue a career in communications, technology, and writing.
But also, opportunity to learn about how love perseveres and thrives despite geography and distance, and opportunity to learn about culture, friendship, and myself when facing the world away from everything and everyone I’ve ever known.
Instead of boarding my usual flight to Brazil this summer break, I embarked on one of two flights in my first ever transpacific journey to the Fiji Islands.
The ways I found myself travelling to Fiji were unexpected yet necessary.
“What is meant for you won’t miss you,” said one of my close university friends before my departure.
As a student from the University of Toronto, through my involvement in campus life, I was awarded the Laidlaw Foundation’s Undergraduate Research and Leadership Scholarship.
As a Laidlaw Scholar, I participated in a two-year program, consisting of, first, undertaking original research with a chosen supervisor for six weeks during the summer period (May to August).
Then, during the academic year (September to April), together with the twenty-four other selected Scholars from my university, we come together monthly to participate in leadership workshops.
While these leadership workshops vary across participating universities worldwide, they mostly equip Scholars with various skills to navigate their individual leadership style within different social and professional settings.
Monthly leadership workshops served to further prepare each Laidlaw Scholar for our next summer, where we would be executing our Leadership-in-Action projects.
One of three options for Leadership-in-Action is to partake in experiences overseas to contribute to local impact.
This advances each Scholar’s personal leadership in collaborating with other Scholars and local community members in an unfamiliar environment.
This is how I found myself travelling to Fiji to join a Think Pacific project.
Think Pacific acts as both a UK-based social enterprise and a registered Fijian charity.
Through their institutional model of collaborating with the Ministry of iTauikei Affairs and local partners, Think Pacific delivers projects in rural Fijian communities to advance Fiji’s National Development Plan.
Several Think Pacific projects unfold simultaneously in different locations with different teams of volunteers.
Travelling to Fiji reveals a delightful aspect of time travel.
I board my first flight from Toronto to Vancouver, flying west to make my way to the South Pacific.
Once I find my seat, I notice the passenger across the aisle to my right adjusting the knob of their worn-out analog watch.
The clock hands circle counterclockwise, back in time, adjusting to Vancouver’s time zone.
I do the same, pushing a few buttons on my digital watch, although I know it’s pointless.
I will soon board on my next flight to Nadi, crossing the International Date Line and skipping one full day into the future.
In-flight announcements from Fiji Airways combined with my limited knowledge of Fijian help me realize I’ve been mispronouncing Nadi all along, forgetting to soften the ‘d’ by placing an ‘n’ before it.
The plane descends into Nadi International Airport and I briefly stress about overseeing these and other minor linguistic nuances in my attempts to speak Fijian during my six-week stay in Viti Levu.
Despite this, I savour my time traveller moment.
Having departed from Canada on July 7 and arriving in Fiji on July 9, I reflect on how the dawn’s darkness outside my window seat view overwhelms me in a comforting way.
Just a few months ago, this moment seemed unimaginable.
Me, a Laidlaw Scholar from the University of Toronto, joining a Think Pacific project in Fiji?
But what was once a fuzzy date has translated into the present, and since my arrival, I’ve been immersed in cultural exchange and reflection.
Airports have always fascinated me and Nadi’s airport presented me with uniquely Fijian traits.
As I leave the plane and proceeding to the customs line, a trio of Fijian men, dressed in colourful bula shirts sing and play songs on the guitar to greet arriving passengers.
The Nadi airport transcends the Fijian warmth, beyond the humid weather and joyful smiles.
As a seasoned traveller myself, only a Fijian airport has successfully managed to make a customs line up less intimidating for newly-arrived visitors.
After going through customs, I meet with another Laidlaw Scholar at the Nadi airport.
Together, we exchanged some cash for Fijian dollars and, together, hopped into the back seat of a taxicab.
I notice that the Fijian driver sat behind the wheel on the left side of the vehicle, just like in the UK but unlike Canada.
We arrived at the resort and we chatted with the receptionist while we wait for our room check-in.
She generously welcomed our questions and enthusiastically responded to them with small insights into Fijian culture.
One insight included the Fijian alphabet lacking the letters H, X, and Z.
Another insight explained how in Fiji, the flower behind a women’s right ear meant she was single.
But behind her left ear, just like a ring in her left hand, it meant that she was in a relationship.
“Do you ladies have any more questions?”
The receptionist asked.
I stare at the floor, gathering my thoughts. “What’s your favourite thing about Fiji?”
The receptionist ponders my question while also staring at the floor.
Before replying, she offers a coy smile.
“The village, to be honest,” she says.
“And the people.”
Throughout that week, Laidlaw scholars from universities around England, Scotland, Ireland, Hong Kong, Canada, and the United States meet with the Think Pacific staff for briefing on the project we will be undertaking for the next six weeks..
Once briefings conclude, we drive in Suva for some last minute shopping before heading to our rural Fijian destination.
• MARIELA SOL TORROBA HEN- NIGEN is a Laidlaw scholar at the University of Toronto currently in Fiji as a volunteer under the Think Pacific Foundation. She is also the author of ‘My ABCs: Argentina, Brazil, Canada: Stories, Poems, and Letters about Identity and Belonging’.
TO BE CONTINUED
