Quick Update from the Road

I'm in Savusavu right now. It's the third leg of our whirlwind journey. So far I've spent four days living with a family in a Fijian Village and three days with and Indo-Fijian family in Lambasa, on Vanua Levu, the second biggest island in Fiji. This excursion has been an emotional rollercoaster. My physical health has been wavering which makes the traveling tough. I've still had some pretty sweet times though.

I loved my host family in the village. I had a grandma, a grandpa, a mom, a dad, a teenage sister named Mary, a teenage brother named Ron, two little brothers called Sepo and Choelli, and a baby. It was a crazy big group but everyone was so welcoming and sweet. I had a blast playing with my little brothers. Sepo is adorable. I also busted out a disc in the village and taught some of the kids how to throw. It was a great time. We went to another waterfall (no jumping for me since my ear is still healing). We also took a boat ride out to a reef that the village people view as their sacred ancestral ground. They used a conch shell to summon dolphins to the boats we were in. It was one of the most amazing moments in my life. We also got to go snorkeling. I watched Ron spear fish, which was really impressive. We really learned how people live off the land and sea.

The downside of the village stay was getting sick. I had a headache for most of the time while I was there and I got really sick on Saturday. I think my body just didn't handle the food and water there very well, even though it was treated. I ended up getting violently ill sitting on the steps of a school house at a village child's birthday party. There were tons of kids around watching me and they all burst out laughing as soon as I puked. I ended up stumbling down the hill to my family's house and lying in bed with a fever. It was actually pretty traumatizing at the time just because I didn't know how sick I really was and we were hours away from medical attention. My little brother Sepo came in and held my hand, which was one of the sweetest humane gestures I've ever experienced.

I'll write about my other homestay in Lambasa later.

Peace.