My Fiji Adventure Part 2
In four days I am leaving Fiji and have so many stories to share with you all, it has been a really incredible experience and one I couldn't have had at a resort. Mind you, I don't mind a bit of resort R&R myself; but if you go there you don't see much of the real Fiji - most people here are very helpful and if you make an effort to talk and spend time with them, they will make sure you feel at home.
Upon first meeting, Fijians will courteously offer their hand for you to shake; a Fijian hand-shake is like a Byron Bay hug, it's lingering while pleasantries are spoken and when you say goodbye most of them will pull you in for a peck on the cheek.
The warmth, strength and kindness of the people in Fiji keeps beguiling me and I have fallen in love.
On Monday afternoon Ally, Leez and I took the two'0clock bus to Ucunivanua where Leez comes from. Her grandfather is Ratu of the village there. Ratu is chief and Ucunivanua, roughly translated means "the trunk of the tree" which was the first kingdom in Fiji.
Ucunivanua (pronounced Oo-thu-knee-va-noo-a) is typically a one and a half hour bus trip north of Suva but we hopped on the bus which went to every stop, so one and half hours was three and a half.
During the first two and a half hours the three of us alternated between talking and doing our own thing.
Ally read fan fiction on her phone, Leez listened to music and I snapped loads of photos.
An hour and a half to our destination a bunch of school kids stepped on the bus and walked down the aisle to find two white girls in the back seat.
There was a bit of shuffling around, a small boy wearing a light brown scarf around his head sat next to the window which left one more place to sit between him and me and that was filled by a young girl with a shy smile who introduced herself by sharing her treats with me.
Her real name was too hard for me to wrap my tongue around, so she told me to call her Leila.
Leila and I talked about Australia - from the towering sky-scrapers of Brisbane city to the dangerous wild-life which lurks in our oceans and the Northern Territory.
Leila told me about school, her favourite subject is math and competive sports - baseball being her favourite. When a bouncy hip-hop song came on we bobbed our heads to the beat and from there showed off our adorkable dance moves - my 'dancing jelly-fish' went over big!
Leila is one of those rare people you meet once and miss for the rest of your life.
We reach the village at six'0clock that night and greet Leez's grandmother, bearing a food offering
to demonstrate our appreciation for her hospitality.
Leez's grandmother warmly welcomes us and speaks in rapid Fijian, Leez translates to Ally and me that her home is ours. Famished from our journey, we get settled and Leez's grandmother sets up a feast of tea, butter, long-loaf white bread and crackers.
A typical Fijian snack is bread and butter dipped in tea- some people like it and some don't.
Then we get called to meet Ratu, who graciously accepts our food offering in his native tongue with Leez telling us in English; expressing his pleasure for our visit and now that we have met with him, we are free to move about the village.
After concluding our visit with Ratu, his wife Meri and daughter Mela, we return to Leez's grandmother's house next door and spend a pleasant evening drinking kava, a Fijian beverage- it's an acquired taste which numbs your body and makes your tongue heavy.
Drinking kava in fellowship is quite ceremonial, whenever you are offered kava you say "Vinaka," and clap once before swallowing the kava and then clap three times with everyone else.
I started feeling a little drowsy and called it a night at 11:30pm.
The next day I woke up and freshened up. After peeing in a water-flush toilet in the dark the previous evening, I wasn't ready for the revelation of showering in a village quite yet.
Freshening up was a dab of roll-on deodorant under each arm and a minty blast of toothpaste along my teeth followed by vigorous brushing. I combed my hair, smacked on some lip-gloss and I was ready for breakfast. Leez's grandmother asked me to wake up Leez and Ally because Ratu would be ready to take us on a tour of the village after he finished breakfast.
Ally and Leez aren't morning people without a caffeine hit and here we were in the middle of Fiji eden and at least two hours away from decent coffee. So I figured the only way to rouse Ally and Leez from their zombie slumber was to annoy them with my perkiness, courtesy of early mornings at my work. "ALLY! LEEZ! GET UP! RATU WILL BE HERE SOON!"
A sleepy moan is the only acknowledgement I get from Leez and Ally just rolls over without opening her eyes. "Al-leeeeey! Wake up! Ratu is coming!"
"All right!" Ally snaps moodily and gets up, followed by Leez.
Two tired, grizzly and slightly hormonal chicks - mission accomplished!
After breakfast the three of us went with Ratu. He is a humble man who is innovating the old and young Fiji, he tells us that he is working on getting the village water tanks and shows us the Medical Dispensary/Clinic. He proudly shows us the district school, its kitchens and lunch hall where red plastic bowls of processed meat and potato are filled in anticipation for the coming lunch-hour.
We are shown the kindy classroom which Leez's little cousin Lani attends, we had spent time together with her the night before playing memory with a deck of cards.
Lani told Leez's grandmother she liked my soul - those simple words from a pure heart were so beautiful to hear.
There is so much I want to share with you about the village but I would be here all night trying to capture every golden moment - and there have been many.
Ratu's house is on a cliff overlooking the ocean and beneath the arms of a large tree with roots that dig deep in the earth, sitting on a weathered mattress atop a wooden bed-frame, there is the most beautiful, serene view I have ever seen in my life.
Life is amazing - you never know where you'll be unless you say yes, because that is the word which brought me here.
I have been very fortunate in my experience here and making incredible memories which will last for the rest of my life. A big thank you to Bringing Hope Ministries and Ally for the trip of a life-time which has strengthened me as a person and as a believer in God.
For those of you who are wanting to know more about Bringing Hope Ministries, please follow this link: http://bringinghopeminstries.org/BHM/Welcome.html
To sponsor Ally's living and ministry in Fiji or for an opportunity to bless, enrich and nourish a child, please inquire about joining Bringing Ministries sponsorship program.
To make a donation please end whatever amount is on your heart to:
Bringing Hope Ministries.
BSB: 034045
Account: 103113.
Her real name was too hard for me to wrap my tongue around, so she told me to call her Leila.
Leila and I talked about Australia - from the towering sky-scrapers of Brisbane city to the dangerous wild-life which lurks in our oceans and the Northern Territory.
Leila told me about school, her favourite subject is math and competive sports - baseball being her favourite. When a bouncy hip-hop song came on we bobbed our heads to the beat and from there showed off our adorkable dance moves - my 'dancing jelly-fish' went over big!
Leila is one of those rare people you meet once and miss for the rest of your life.
We reach the village at six'0clock that night and greet Leez's grandmother, bearing a food offering
to demonstrate our appreciation for her hospitality.
Leez's grandmother warmly welcomes us and speaks in rapid Fijian, Leez translates to Ally and me that her home is ours. Famished from our journey, we get settled and Leez's grandmother sets up a feast of tea, butter, long-loaf white bread and crackers.
A typical Fijian snack is bread and butter dipped in tea- some people like it and some don't.
Then we get called to meet Ratu, who graciously accepts our food offering in his native tongue with Leez telling us in English; expressing his pleasure for our visit and now that we have met with him, we are free to move about the village.
After concluding our visit with Ratu, his wife Meri and daughter Mela, we return to Leez's grandmother's house next door and spend a pleasant evening drinking kava, a Fijian beverage- it's an acquired taste which numbs your body and makes your tongue heavy.
Drinking kava in fellowship is quite ceremonial, whenever you are offered kava you say "Vinaka," and clap once before swallowing the kava and then clap three times with everyone else.
I started feeling a little drowsy and called it a night at 11:30pm.
The next day I woke up and freshened up. After peeing in a water-flush toilet in the dark the previous evening, I wasn't ready for the revelation of showering in a village quite yet.
Freshening up was a dab of roll-on deodorant under each arm and a minty blast of toothpaste along my teeth followed by vigorous brushing. I combed my hair, smacked on some lip-gloss and I was ready for breakfast. Leez's grandmother asked me to wake up Leez and Ally because Ratu would be ready to take us on a tour of the village after he finished breakfast.
Ally and Leez aren't morning people without a caffeine hit and here we were in the middle of Fiji eden and at least two hours away from decent coffee. So I figured the only way to rouse Ally and Leez from their zombie slumber was to annoy them with my perkiness, courtesy of early mornings at my work. "ALLY! LEEZ! GET UP! RATU WILL BE HERE SOON!"
A sleepy moan is the only acknowledgement I get from Leez and Ally just rolls over without opening her eyes. "Al-leeeeey! Wake up! Ratu is coming!"
"All right!" Ally snaps moodily and gets up, followed by Leez.
Two tired, grizzly and slightly hormonal chicks - mission accomplished!
After breakfast the three of us went with Ratu. He is a humble man who is innovating the old and young Fiji, he tells us that he is working on getting the village water tanks and shows us the Medical Dispensary/Clinic. He proudly shows us the district school, its kitchens and lunch hall where red plastic bowls of processed meat and potato are filled in anticipation for the coming lunch-hour.
We are shown the kindy classroom which Leez's little cousin Lani attends, we had spent time together with her the night before playing memory with a deck of cards.
Lani told Leez's grandmother she liked my soul - those simple words from a pure heart were so beautiful to hear.
There is so much I want to share with you about the village but I would be here all night trying to capture every golden moment - and there have been many.
Ratu's house is on a cliff overlooking the ocean and beneath the arms of a large tree with roots that dig deep in the earth, sitting on a weathered mattress atop a wooden bed-frame, there is the most beautiful, serene view I have ever seen in my life.
Life is amazing - you never know where you'll be unless you say yes, because that is the word which brought me here.
I have been very fortunate in my experience here and making incredible memories which will last for the rest of my life. A big thank you to Bringing Hope Ministries and Ally for the trip of a life-time which has strengthened me as a person and as a believer in God.
For those of you who are wanting to know more about Bringing Hope Ministries, please follow this link: http://bringinghopeminstries.org/BHM/Welcome.html
To sponsor Ally's living and ministry in Fiji or for an opportunity to bless, enrich and nourish a child, please inquire about joining Bringing Ministries sponsorship program.
To make a donation please end whatever amount is on your heart to:
Bringing Hope Ministries.
BSB: 034045
Account: 103113.
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