Fiji!!

Bula (hello), friends and family! Well it has been a very eventful couple of days so far! We got into Nadi airport in Fiji at 5:30 am on friday and had no idea what we going to do at all, so we basically started walking. rather than hire a $20 cab ride, we braved the "locals only" bus for 50 cents a piece and took a ride downtown. Nadi itself is just a big city on an island that looks like most other cities and is a little shady. We decided to get out of there as quickly as possible and met a Christian brother named Lai, who took us by the hand and guided us to where the boats went out and walked on just as it was leaving. Everyone kept asking which "all inclusive island resort" we were headed to and we kept telling everyone we didn't know. After befriending Mariaye, a woman who worked on the boat, she hooked it up for us so we could stay in the Yasawa Island chain in a village called Naisisili on the Island of Nacula. She used to live in that village and knew a nice man named Navi Vola Vola and his wife, Sai Mathawa who we could stay with for free. After a 4 hour boat ride (which matt miraculously didn't get sick on!) we were ferried ashore and instead of going to the resort with the rest of the sunburned tourists, we followed a man into a small village and got to know our new host family.
We got to stay with the Vola Vola family from Friday to Monday and it was very different but a lot of fun. Native Fijians are very friendly people many of whom are Christians because of the missionaries and they live very similar to the New Testament idea of community. They all band together and help each other, they honestly love their neighbors, they fish for each other, watch each other's kids and just look out for one another. No one is rich except maybe the chief who gets free kava (alcohol) and $5 from every tourist who comes to his village. For the most part it is very conservative with very modest attire worn by all and a very male dominated culture. Our female hosts did all cooking, cleaning, and other chores non stop all day. When they served us meals they had separate plates with all the dregs of the food and weren't permitted to eat until the men finished. It was kind of awkward eating a meal while the women watched and then laying around on the floor with the other guys afterward while the women cleaned it all up. their culture longed for western influence but we kept assuring them they had a lot more figured out than we did about life. For instance, it is so peaceful and no one fights or argues. You never hear raised voices or anger and Fiji time is the only clock in town. Time didn't seem to exist at all. In fact only 2 people had watches that we saw and no one worried about being on time at all. There were bells for church but they included a 30 minute warning bell, a 10-minute-til bell.
We kept ourselves busy by eating a whole lot and drinking a lot more tea than we were both used to. Most of our meals included Kasava root, breadfruit, amazing bananas, curry, noodles and ban (rolls). The most Fijian we got with food was eating smoked sardines that they caught that morning while Tai(grandma) Vola Vola picked the bones out for us. We also got to take a hike to the top of the mountain to see the whole island, snorkeled a couple times in crystal clear blue water, and mostly got to hang out with people and learn their culture. Bathrooms were very interesting with humongous spiders which were "friendly", showers were pouring a bowl of water over ourselves in a cement room, the house was a very small wood paneled structure with a thatched roof which had been built by the whole village, and the kitchen was a separate room with no walls, just a roof, thatched floor mat and side beams. Very cool culture overall...got to attend two church services, one was a very strict methodist service, and the other a very charismatic All Nations Church service. They had "Pastor Matt" come up and teach a short lesson and it was very well recieved and I think by doing so he has consequently committed himself and Pastor Bryan back home to coming back to Fiji in October for a men's conference.
After a very cool 4 days in the village we headed back to the main island Viti Levu and found a pretty nice hostel for about $15 american with a warm shower and decent food. Nothing wrong with Fijian food, but if I have another piece of Kasava it will be too soon! Well we are off to Auckland New Zealand in the morning for a one day layover and then to Sydney for 11 days. THanks for everyone's prayer, we are heaving a blast! Until next time...Nate and Matt (Na-than-yel and Mathayu) signing out!