Lessons learnt: Don’t sit on inviting piles of coconut husks, they contain horrifying arachnids, and root vegetables are better when eaten at infrequent intervals and in small quantities.
Well, I’ve survived my first few weeks in Fiji, and the rigorous *cough* process of In Country Orientation.
A highlight was a weekend spent in a small village about an hour (or 20 Fijian minutes) out of Suva. We went on a canoe trip to the mangroves where we learnt to catch 'mud lobsters' (a kind of crayfish), swam in the river and drank coconuts fresh off the tree.
 |
| Coconut grove in the mangroves. |
I was enjoying the serenity, when I looked left and saw a MASSIVE spider (I'm talking largish huntsman size) sitting on my shoulder. Here’s a picture of his (much smaller) cousin I found in my bathroom:
 |
| I shall name him Fluffy! |
You'll be glad to know I was brave and my screams of "GET IT OFF!!! GET IT OFF!!! GET IT OFF!!!" scared it to the middle of my back, where one of the guys flicked it into the water, and it was dispatched by our heroic paddler with a well-aimed whack.
 |
| Me hiding from spiders and sunburn. Man on left deserves a spider killing medal. |
Our adventure continued that night with (another) kava session, and a surprise dance performance from the guys of the village.
 |
| How was your Saturday night? |
Thankfully, we'd come prepared and already knew some Pacific island dances, and we threw in a few sweet moves of our own. One of our number inadvertently asked the chief to dance (as I understand it, a bit of a no-no) but he was a good sport about it.
 |
| You're in! |
The next day we were initiated into the great Fijian tradition of the lovo. We even helped (in the way a 2 year old "helps").
 |
| Grating coconuts: sweaty work |
 |
| Success! |
After church, we got to enjoy the feast. There was a truly epic amount of food, a great amount of which was the local staples: taro and cassava. Taro has the texture of Play-Doh, while cassava is like stringy potato. Neither is particularly offensive, but they are both really heavy and after 6 meals in a row of these, we were feeling it!
 |
| Us feeling it. Taro and Cassava centre right. |
The experience was certainly a real eye-opener of a lot of us. It is pretty easy to avoid a sudden culture shock in places like Suva, where you have the same services and even a lot of the same brands as back home (although in the case of a certain coffee chain, this may not be a good thing).
A weekend of sitting on the floor, wading barefoot through mangroves, cooking over a fire and washing with a bucket of cold water was a dose of reality. It was also an insight into the way many (if not most) Fijians live. Thanks to the wonderful people of the village for having us!
