Photos: AYS Group in Nalawauki and Kava bowl
"June 4, 2008, Later
There are lots of people from Australia at this resort. There are a few from England and there is even a woman named Rosie from Scotland. Her accent is absolutely beautiful. I'd never before heard a Scottish accent in person.Last night there was a welcoming ceremony for the AYS group and for a couple on their honeymoon. A Fijian man had a large bowl on legs full of Kava. (I later learned that the bowl is actually known as a Kava bowl, surprising.) Kava is a drink made from a ground up root. Shawn told us when we first got here that if we don't drink more than three cups then it isn't against the Word of Wisdom.
Kava has a unique taste. Surprisingly, it tastes a little bit like dirt. It makes your mouth tingle and feel slightly numb like clove oil, but not as strong or as gross-tasting.
We all sat cross-legged in a circle around the man with the kava bowl. There were a few polished coconut shell halves which are Kava cups from which the kava is drunk... drunken? drinked? Haha, I don’t think that’s even a word. Anyway, this is where we learned the Kava-drinking procedure. When you are given the cup of Kava by the man in the center or a man appointed to deliver it to different people, you clap once, then accept the kava and down the cup. While you drink, everyone claps three times in unison. When you finish, you return the cup, and clap three times alone.
"June 5, 2008
I'm sitting on a beach chair at the end of a row of several. All the people in them are with AYS. the tide is high and the waves are crashing on the beach. I slept well last night. Our dorm has one fan and one mosquito net per bed.
This morning for breakfast we had a selection of fresh fruit, cereals, granolas, and pastries. It was very good. After that, we all met in the dorm, packed some water and sunscreen, and hiked up over the top of the island and visited the village of Nalawauki. The hike was pretty vigorous. The path on this side of the mountain was 90% steep cement stairs. They were tough because they height between one to the next was about double the height of our regular steps. The path down on the other side was just dirt, rock, and roots. It was much easier for me because I’m used to hiking, if not in these humid, hot conditions.
The village people were very kind. They all look very alike. Even the men and women are difficult to tell apart because they are so beautiful. There were many children. They were so sweet. They all speak English and interacted with everyone.
The village people were in mourning because on a recent death. I’m not sure how it would have been different if they hadn’t been.
When we first got there the mayor, Kianu gave us a guided walk around the town. Homes were either made of thatch or tin sheets. They all seemed to be one-room. These people must have such a simple life.
On this tour we got to see the school. It was one room. There was a table and a chalk board. On the walls were papers with letters written on them and large poster sized ones with song lyrics. The children were all under six-years-0ld. When they reach that age, they are sent somewhere else to be educated. I think they go to the large island. The local women displayed their crafts for us to buy.
They had all their stuff laid out on blankets and they sat next to it. Some of the things they had were really neat. There was jewelry made of pearls and shells. There were wood and bone ones too. There were wooden statues and small asks. There were rugs like the ones all over the town and this resort. The rugs were made of small bits of many different fabrics, they sewn together in an overlapping fashion.
I bought a necklace made of a huge wild-boar’s tooth for my grandfather, a white and red pearl necklace for my grandmother, a necklace with a hand-carved wooden sea turtle pendant and one of the Fijian rugs for my mother, and I bought a small wooden keychain that said “Fiji” for me. I felt good about buying from these women instead of stores. Their stuff was so much more authentic and they looked like they could use the money more than people who ran organized businesses.
In the village we cleaned the garbage on the beach and buried it. That’s how they take care of it. The villagers slowly joined in. Later the mayor, Kianu said they were feeling guilt watching us work. We finished around one or two in the afternoon. The women had prepared rice and taro roots to eat. After that we hiked back. While I was there I gathered two mall shells and three large seed pods. I have no idea what they belong to but there are really neat and I plan to make necklaces or something with them.
The first thing most of us did when we got back to the resort was eat lunch then swim in the pool to cool off. It was nice but I started to get a bad headache. We played Marco-Polo in the pool.
After that I took some pills and laid down on a chair on the beach hoping that my headache wouldn’t turn into a migraine. I was there for a while. Chris and Trevor came by. Chris sat down next to me for quite a while. He was comforting. He was happy just talking quietly with me. Shawn came by and told us that we should call our parents. They did but Chris said he would be back. I waited for a long time and he never came back so I left to get dressed and to get my journal. I later learned that at this point he went to sit by me, saw that I wasn’t there, and asked Megan where I was. She told him I was in the dorm laying down. When I was finally on my way back to the beach chairs, I stepped out of the dorm and met Chris stepping up the porch toward me. We went to the beach and sat together for quite a while until it started to rain. I left then and went up to a table with an umbrella. Pretty soon he came and sat with me. Our table slowly gathered people until half the group was there talking and laughing. We had a great time.
Dinner was good. Last night everything was something fishy. Tonight it was chicken.
I’m not worried about Megan and I having fun with these Utah Mormons anymore. Some aren’t like us, but some are our kind of people. We had a great time with all of them.
“June 6, 2008
I’m at Uprising Beach Resort now on the main island. This morning we were free until 15:00 when a boat come to take us away from the Octopus Resort. I packed before everyone else so that I wouldn’t have to do it all with everyone in there. I had the whole dorm to myself in the morning. After that I sat in a hammock and finished Thief of Time and started Small Gods, also by Terry Pratchett.
It was sad to leave. We had a wonderful time at that place. The boat ride was several hours long. I talked to Trevor quite a bit. I have a lot more in common with him than I do with Chris. I played “BS” with several of the kids. Again, we had a great time. After the boat ride, we had a three-hour-long bus ride to this side of the island. We ate a dinner that some women from the church had prepared for us. It was stew and rice and it really surprised us when the stew meat still had bones in it. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with that, but it took us spoiled-american kids by surprise."
Kava has a unique taste. Surprisingly, it tastes a little bit like dirt. It makes your mouth tingle and feel slightly numb like clove oil, but not as strong or as gross-tasting.
We all sat cross-legged in a circle around the man with the kava bowl. There were a few polished coconut shell halves which are Kava cups from which the kava is drunk... drunken? drinked? Haha, I don’t think that’s even a word. Anyway, this is where we learned the Kava-drinking procedure. When you are given the cup of Kava by the man in the center or a man appointed to deliver it to different people, you clap once, then accept the kava and down the cup. While you drink, everyone claps three times in unison. When you finish, you return the cup, and clap three times alone.
"June 5, 2008
I'm sitting on a beach chair at the end of a row of several. All the people in them are with AYS. the tide is high and the waves are crashing on the beach. I slept well last night. Our dorm has one fan and one mosquito net per bed.
This morning for breakfast we had a selection of fresh fruit, cereals, granolas, and pastries. It was very good. After that, we all met in the dorm, packed some water and sunscreen, and hiked up over the top of the island and visited the village of Nalawauki. The hike was pretty vigorous. The path on this side of the mountain was 90% steep cement stairs. They were tough because they height between one to the next was about double the height of our regular steps. The path down on the other side was just dirt, rock, and roots. It was much easier for me because I’m used to hiking, if not in these humid, hot conditions.
The village people were very kind. They all look very alike. Even the men and women are difficult to tell apart because they are so beautiful. There were many children. They were so sweet. They all speak English and interacted with everyone.
The village people were in mourning because on a recent death. I’m not sure how it would have been different if they hadn’t been.
When we first got there the mayor, Kianu gave us a guided walk around the town. Homes were either made of thatch or tin sheets. They all seemed to be one-room. These people must have such a simple life.
On this tour we got to see the school. It was one room. There was a table and a chalk board. On the walls were papers with letters written on them and large poster sized ones with song lyrics. The children were all under six-years-0ld. When they reach that age, they are sent somewhere else to be educated. I think they go to the large island. The local women displayed their crafts for us to buy.
They had all their stuff laid out on blankets and they sat next to it. Some of the things they had were really neat. There was jewelry made of pearls and shells. There were wood and bone ones too. There were wooden statues and small asks. There were rugs like the ones all over the town and this resort. The rugs were made of small bits of many different fabrics, they sewn together in an overlapping fashion.
I bought a necklace made of a huge wild-boar’s tooth for my grandfather, a white and red pearl necklace for my grandmother, a necklace with a hand-carved wooden sea turtle pendant and one of the Fijian rugs for my mother, and I bought a small wooden keychain that said “Fiji” for me. I felt good about buying from these women instead of stores. Their stuff was so much more authentic and they looked like they could use the money more than people who ran organized businesses.
In the village we cleaned the garbage on the beach and buried it. That’s how they take care of it. The villagers slowly joined in. Later the mayor, Kianu said they were feeling guilt watching us work. We finished around one or two in the afternoon. The women had prepared rice and taro roots to eat. After that we hiked back. While I was there I gathered two mall shells and three large seed pods. I have no idea what they belong to but there are really neat and I plan to make necklaces or something with them.
The first thing most of us did when we got back to the resort was eat lunch then swim in the pool to cool off. It was nice but I started to get a bad headache. We played Marco-Polo in the pool.
After that I took some pills and laid down on a chair on the beach hoping that my headache wouldn’t turn into a migraine. I was there for a while. Chris and Trevor came by. Chris sat down next to me for quite a while. He was comforting. He was happy just talking quietly with me. Shawn came by and told us that we should call our parents. They did but Chris said he would be back. I waited for a long time and he never came back so I left to get dressed and to get my journal. I later learned that at this point he went to sit by me, saw that I wasn’t there, and asked Megan where I was. She told him I was in the dorm laying down. When I was finally on my way back to the beach chairs, I stepped out of the dorm and met Chris stepping up the porch toward me. We went to the beach and sat together for quite a while until it started to rain. I left then and went up to a table with an umbrella. Pretty soon he came and sat with me. Our table slowly gathered people until half the group was there talking and laughing. We had a great time.
Dinner was good. Last night everything was something fishy. Tonight it was chicken.
I’m not worried about Megan and I having fun with these Utah Mormons anymore. Some aren’t like us, but some are our kind of people. We had a great time with all of them.
“June 6, 2008
I’m at Uprising Beach Resort now on the main island. This morning we were free until 15:00 when a boat come to take us away from the Octopus Resort. I packed before everyone else so that I wouldn’t have to do it all with everyone in there. I had the whole dorm to myself in the morning. After that I sat in a hammock and finished Thief of Time and started Small Gods, also by Terry Pratchett.
It was sad to leave. We had a wonderful time at that place. The boat ride was several hours long. I talked to Trevor quite a bit. I have a lot more in common with him than I do with Chris. I played “BS” with several of the kids. Again, we had a great time. After the boat ride, we had a three-hour-long bus ride to this side of the island. We ate a dinner that some women from the church had prepared for us. It was stew and rice and it really surprised us when the stew meat still had bones in it. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with that, but it took us spoiled-american kids by surprise."
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