A handful, a heap and a bundle

Today's morning adventure started with a trip to the market. It's like what we would call a farmers' market. They sell fresh fruits and vegetables there, and the quantities are priced by the handful, the heap and the bundle.

There was a heap of ginger for a dollar, which works out to fifty American cents. If you've ever purchased ginger in the US, you get why that's impressive.

The next item on our agenda was a drive through Nadi and a trip to an actual village. We went there and were welcomed in a traditional ceremony. Of the four of us, we had to select one person to act as our chief and another to act as his spokesman. Both of those positions he to be held by men, so that meant that Cas had to do one of those things, and Jim (the male half of Karen and Jim, the very nice couple on this trip with us) had to do the other. 

The guys couldn't decide who should hold which post, so we flipped a coin. We flipped a Fijian five cent coin that I found on the beach when Cas and I walked in the sand yesterday. 

The coin decided that Jim was our chief. That simply meant that he was the first one served a bowl of Kava in the welcome ceremony. Cas was second to drink, then Karen, and finally, it was my turn. 

It was an amazing day. We were welcomed, given kava, then walked around the village by a one legged man. I'm not even kidding. Ron, the tribe's ambassador, walked us from place to place using his one leg and a pair of crutches. He showed us he chief's home, the traditional drum used to call out to people and the beautiful Methodist church. The nicest buildings in any village, Ron said, were the chief's house and the church.  

One of the other things we got to see was the quick way they get past all the husk and into a coconut. Once they split it, they keep the milk and use a flat metal stick to shave out all of the meat from it. The husk becomes a strainer for the milk, and the shell gets buried out by the mangrove trees so they can make bowls from it. 

When we got back to the place in the village where our visit began with the kava ceremony, we had a wonderful lunch with fresh fruit and vegetables. They sang a farewell song after that. It was the most authentic, up-close cultural exchange I think we've had on this whole trip. With just the four of us, it was certainly the most intimate. 

The tribal people taught Cas to weave a basket, then insisted that he take it as a wedding gift. There's no way we can get it home, but for the next couple of days, we have the fruits of this effort:

 

I'd spend a lot more time going on about our visit, as it was one of the most wonderful, authentic experiences of this whole vacation, but I have a schedule to keep. We got back to the hotel at about one in the afternoon and laid down for a nap just before two. I was beat, and it seems like Cas was, too. It's about a quarter past three now, and we have to get all pretty. The wedding is about two hours away. Wish us luck!