Fiji, American Samoa…and Beyond

Our "greeter" at the Fijian Village

I was SO busy for the 5 sea days from American Samoa to Hawaii that I got nothing done on the blog – so now that we are a day out of Honolulu, it is time to catch up!

We were in Suva, Fiji, the capital, on a Sunday when most everything is closed.  Instead of seeing the city on our own as planned, we joined a tour organized by one of our fellow Cruise Critic members when there was a last minute opening.  Glad we did!

The tour took us by bus about an hour outside the capital to a tribal village to learn about local life, customs, and culture.  Seeing the countryside on the way was beautiful – lush tropical vegetation – small villages – Indian settlements with Hindu Temples and churches on every corner.  Fiji is a multi-cultural society and a deeply religious one.  As the guide said – 'Everyone goes to church on Sunday.”  Along the way we noticed every denomination represented from Assembly of God to Mormon to Baptist to Catholic.   

In the small village we visited there was a Methodist and a Roman Catholic Church.   Our time in the village was scheduled to be between the Methodist and Catholic services.  In the church – as in the homes – there were no seats.  Everyone sits on woven mats.  Now this was going to be interesting for a “bunch of Older American, Canadian, and European tourists!” 

   

We assembled in their “meeting area” – a room that was open to the elements on the sides.  We were led to the area by young men in typical dress carrying large wooden warrior implements – they were the guardians of the village.  Children put a garland of flowers around our necks – something like a lei.  Suddenly the villagers appeared with an assortment of chairs and stools that were “vintage” to say the least…a welcome sight!  All ages of the village were there.  The welcoming ceremony started with a prayer – with everyone making the “sign of the cross” at the end before starting the Kava Ceremony.

Preparing the roasting of Taro

What is kava?  I need to research more when I get home – but - It is a traditional drink in the Pacific that looks less than appetizing, to be frank. Watching them make it is interesting but the outcome looks like dirty water from a ditch.  There is a tradition about how to accept it and how to drink it.  A few representatives from our group agreed to “do the honors.”   Your teeth and tongue go numb and after too many drinks you are very happy we were told!

Kava Ceremony

The children sang for us and then the entire assembled village sang with the unique South Pacific harmonies – what did they sing?  The tune was the old hymn “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder, I’ll Be There!”  Some of us who knew it sang along in English.  (English is spoken in Fiji but there are so many local languages and dialects that a common form of communication is Pidgin English.) 

We then were given a tour of the village to see how they live.  There were demonstrations of various things – scraping coconut meat into a fine powder; wrapping taro roots in banana leaves to put in a pit with warm stones; making baskets: how they open coconuts for drinking; making firecrackers; etc. 

What friendly and open people!  They were very eager to talk to us and to show us their way of life. I ended up in a long conversation with one of the elders of the village who told me about his brother who now lives in Melbourne and was married to a Maori he met while working in New Zealand.  He was so eager to answer all of my questions and he wanted to know about California and San Diego!!!

Their homes were simple with sparse furnishings and amenities but the village was clean and ordered.  I suppose they would be considered poor in terms of income but they are rich in many other ways - the land provides, family ties appear to be strong, etc.  After the tour, they had prepared a meal and refreshments for us of fresh fruits, juices, fish, taro, and various foods mixed with coconut.   

We later learned that we were only the second group to come to the village and that they had been preparing for us for two days.   It was a fascinating day.

We had a sea day between Fiji and American Samoa – in fact we repeated Sunday April 26 - adding back the day we lost crossing the International Date Line going to New Zealand.  American Samoa is a beautiful island but our tour there was limited.  Tourist infrastructure seems sparse and there are fewer places to visit.  It does not appear to be a major tourist destination. 

American Samoa

The next 5 days were “sea” days to Kauai and then Honolulu.  We have just finished our first complete sea day out of 5 on the way to Vancouver.  This trip has been interesting – we have seen a lot of new places and now have a long list of places to return!  The “bucket list” never seems to get shorter!