Welcome to Fiji - a different world

Coming from Sri Lanka to Fiji in the mid seventies I found it was like a different world. There were many things that were new to me. Differences ran across the board from food, the house we lived in, roads, stores, school, clothes, language and the culture.

The first thing I noticed was the food. Our Dad was eagerly waiting to welcome us. He had stocked the fridge and kitchen full of goodies that were not available back in Sri Lanka at that time due to severe economic restrictions. Amongst the goodies that we now take for granted were, apples, oranges, Kraft cheddar cheese, Cabin crackers, Cadbury chocolate bars,Tang, sliced bread, instant Nescafe coffee, sliced ham, frankfurters,lamb, hotdog buns and ice cream.

The fruits were Australian, the apples were bright red and the huge oranges which were bright orange. Apples were non existant at that time in Sri Lanka. The closest I had had to an apple was something called 'pears' that was a kind of pear only found in Nuwara Eliya. Even the oranges were different to the local Sri Lankan oranges which only turned greenish yellow when ripe. They also had something called Tang which was the orange crystals that you dissolved to make a drink.

The cabin crackers came in a big square tin and were similar to cream crackers but were slightly sweet. The Cadbury chocolate was way creamier than the Kandos chocolate that seemed to be the only choice available in Sri Lanka back then. Tang was the orange crystal drink that you made with water. The sliced bread was cut into neat, even slices and so clean although rather soft. We were finally able to enjoy bread again after suffering the 'gullo (weevil) bread' of Sri Lanka. Nescafe coffee was also a pleasure to drink, the Sri Lankan coffee always had too many 'rodu' (bits of coffee grind) in it. Sliced ham, frankfurters and hotdogs were not available to us while we were back in Sri Lanka. We finally got the chance to enjoy ice cream everyday right at home. The ice cream was imported from New Zealand and was sold in plastic tubs. It came in many different flavors. Lamb chops were a common food item from New Zealand and oh so delicious although I have since given it up.