Bula!

Last night was really great. Dinner with the Moslem family was fantastic. Abdul was such an excellent host. He gave us a tour of his farm and then showed us around the local mosque. He grows all sorts of things on his property and is also a beekeeper. Dinner was really delicious. We had chicken and fish, curried potatoes, tomatoe chutney, and roti. After dinner we listened to his stories and played with children from the area.

This morning we had our first "drop off" in Lautoka, a city near Nadi. A "drop off" is when our program director drives us to an area around the city and and drops us off in pairs with a topic to discuss with locals and vagure directions into the main city. I was partnered with Marshall and our topic was politics. We got dropped off by a housing development of people in a lower social class. The entire process was nerve wracking. The political situation in Fiji is kind of a touchy subject. A coup occurred in 2005 and the military is currently the governmental authority. We ventured into the housing development and saw some women drying out their floor mats. A flood recently devasted the region we're staying in. We approached them and they warmly welcomed us. One of them was our age, and took us around the apartment to talk some more. We learned that the people of Fiji are desperately hoping for an election so that the leadership will change, but at the same time feel like they themselves can't make a difference. As we were talking, children saw us through the windows and came out to play. The weren't used to seeing tourists and were fascinated. The kids weren't shy at all. They were very affectionate and playful. We wrapped up our political discussions and headed into town to explore. We had lunch at a curry house and ice cream at an Indian eatery. The types of food here are incredibly diverse.