Sote Village and first few days in Suva

Hey everyone! Finally back to the internet world, although everything is already much slower and takes 4x as long to load. It can be quite frustrating at times but hopefully I get used to it soon! We arrived in Suva on Friday to drop off our belongings and see the city before leaving early Saturday morning to start the journey to the Sote Village. One of our group leaders, Lavenia, actually grew up in the village before moving to Australia several years ago so she was able to provide us with plenty of information before arriving. As soon as we arrived in the village, we were formally welcomed into the community. The elders gave speeches (that were all in Fijian...) and we joined in on their kava ceremony. As previously mentioned, kava is a root found in Fiji; they mix the cut up root with water and take turns passing cups (coconut shells) around, beginning with the visiting tribal chief and then the home tribe's elders and then so on and so forth.

Traditional kava bowl

 Once we were formally welcomed into the tribe, we truly felt the community atmosphere and they treated us just like great friends. The first day, we helped build a vegetable garden for the community and helped install a sink with running water at the school. We then spent an afternoon playing with the children, they were so awesome. We had a coconut competition, a tug of war competition, and played volleyball and rugby for the afternoon. They were entertained doing anything and everything!

Coconut competition (they had to husk, crack open, and scrape the coconut)

...where's Waldo...?

All of us with the students!

Sote kids and I 

 On saturday night, the village graced us with several different dance performances. Every the small children offered some kind of entertainment for us! In response, we would run up and put small pieces of wrapped candy in their mouths and placed a long piece of fabric around the group at their feet as a sign of thanks and respect. Afterwards, we just danced the night away with them :)

Dancing on the first night

One of the boys' dances. Powder is often rubbed on dancers'  faces while they perform.

Sunday mornings are always reserved for church. They are a methodist village and they said their mass all in Fijian. It was scorching hot, we were all so sweaty; the gentlemen from the village wore "sulus" (the sarongs, or traditional long skirts) with coats and ties! Traditionally, no one does anything on Sundays. Literally, they eat and nap and then eat and nap some more. While we partook in some of the eating and napping, we all went on an afternoon trek through a LOT of mud and then floated down the
river a bit back towards the village.

Trekking through the river

Every meal is a feast there! 

Sugarcane is everywhere, its a tasty treat!

Sunday night was spent with a lot more kava and relaxation. We spent Monday at the school "teaching" the children. I was with the 7&8 group, roughly ages 12-15. This is the last grade level before they reach secondary school, a school located in the nearest town (Nasouri, roughly an hour from the Sote village). I was able to teach them the star spangled banner, and we played pictionary on the chalkboard. They taught me a few Fijian words and we worked on some math problems involving mixed fractions. They are so well-behaved and respectful, they were truly awesome kids to be around and just as willing to teach me things from their culture as they were to learn about mine.

"Teaching" the students

We spent the afternoon just hanging out, naturally with more kava and dancing. It was a sad farewell, but I knew that the children were well taken care of and there was plenty of food (they just pluck a coconut off the tree whenever they want a snack!) A bunch of the kids wrote down their addresses for me so hopefully one day I can send them a letter with all the great photos I got this past weekend. Some of the australearn kids are talking about going back and visiting again sometime this semester.

Goodbye children!

Goodbye Sote!

My kids and I

As for now, nothing really new in Suva. It's a city, so its fun and exploring what the city has to offer but its definitely not nearly as cool as the coast or the other parts of Fiji. It's weird not having a set schedule of events and I think we were all weirded out with the amount of free time we had the first day here. Orientation and registration is going on this week and classes start on Monday. We're hoping to get a short get-away trip this weekend before classes so I'll keep you posted!