Yup, another great day.

Right now, we’re sitting in what’s known as the “Sand Spit” anchorage. It’s a little part of the lagoon in the southeastern side of the island. Our stern is backed to the sand spit, our bow toward the Southern Cross, and I’m looking out over the peaceful water at a full moon (plus one day) coming up over the island. The moon is leaving a trail of white gold over the water that I think we could almost walk on to the beach. Palm trees are silhouetted on shore and the roar of the ocean on the reef is flowing through the palms and the jungle.

View from our back yard.

After a leisurely coffee and papaya breakfast, Ann and I jumped in the dinghy for what is now a half hour ride through the lagoon to the beach that gives access to the village. We pull the dinghy up on the beach away from the tide and take the 20 minute walk through the jungle to the village. Along the way we can hear the loli (a type of Fijian drum) announcing church is starting. Ah, oh, we’re a bit late. No worries, we’re on Fijian time.

Part of the view walking into the village.

There are four other boats in the Sand Spit anchorage with us and we decided that we would dive again this day. The only problem for us was after church you are supposed to have lunch with your host family. I had a feeling it would be tantamount to a mortal sin if we skipped lunch, so instead of saying we would skip lunch in favor of diving, I asked if maybe it would be too much trouble for them to have us for lunch again. Me, “The yachties are going diving, maybe you don’t need to make lunch today”. Jasmine, one of our hosts; “Diving? Why”. Me; “The tide is right, it would really be best if we leave and then you won’t have to do lunch today”. Jasmine, “OK, you can go dive right after lunch. Come on”.

It’s like that. Fijians sometimes have a stubborn streak (don’t we all) that shows more as just ignoring your question. Anyway, we (I) knew in our hearts that skipping lunch on Sunday would not be good, so we dutifully trudged over to Tau’s house and sat down. She said, “I hear you want to go dive today?” Me, “Yes, the tide is good and the other yachties will be there”. She, “OK, you can go right after lunch!”

OK. So that’s how it went. Lunch was delicious as always. The highlight was clams baked in the lovo (underground oven). Yum. Once lunch was done they dismissed us, “OK, you can go dive now”, and off we went and darn if we didn’t get back to the boat just in time to make the dive.

The dive was spectacular. Even better than yesterday. Very clear water, at least 120 feet visability and crystal clear. It doesn’t get better. We’re looking forward to more dives all this week – except maybe tomorrow when the wind might come up. We’ll see.

Excellent water clarity

Dinner. Fish again. Fresh tuna marinated in sesame oil and soy sauce and cooked very rare, with rice and breaded eggplant. Yes, life is tough out here.

Signing off from Fulunga for some extreme moon watching.

When someone comes over to your boat and asks if you would like some fresh tuna, you of course say,”Yes please”. But beware when that someone says, “OK, do you have a bucket?”…. That’s what happened (again) today. Once I brought the bucket over, a chunk of yellowfin tuna that filled a five gallon bucket came aboard. Oh my, we are going to have to eat a LOT of sashimi in the next couple days. Yay!

Got to go diving outside the reef. Beautiful!

I got the chance to dive the outside of the reef pass today. Spectacular. We spent most of the time drifting with the current at about 60 feet. A cliff of beautiful, live coral on the reef side, pure blue/purple ocean with a huge drop off on the ocean side. 120 foot visibility. Saw some sharks and a sea turtle. We are definitely going again in the next day or so.

Ann got to paddleboard. I think she went a couple miles on her paddleboard while we were diving as she explored among the motus. From Ann – I was looking for turtles! As we moved from the village anchorage to the sandspit anchorage three turtles helped guide us. And that is not counting the one that popped up to say goodbye as we left the village anchorage. One was so big I called it out as a bommie to be avoided…until it swam away! Unfortunately no turtles were found but two puffer fish and a shy sting ray were cited. I loved being back on the paddle board…and with a full moon I am going out again right now!

We ended the night with a fantastic dinner aboard Spruce (it was Sue’s birthday) with three other boats (Mystic Moon, Buffalo Nickel and Vision) who we have not really met, but with whom we now feel a strong friendship. It was one of those evenings when you end up with your cheeks hurting from laughing so hard. Also one of those nights where if you tried to explain any of it the result would not make sense. Perfect!

Good times.

Yep, it was a tuna kinda day.

We were delighted when the skipper off the large yacht Gliss dropped by with…you guessed it… tuna! They caught a bunch of yellowtail a couple days ago and had said they would drop some by, but today they caught a huge dogtooth tuna – it was about 4 foot and when they came alongside they said, “Do you have a bucket or something?” Yup, we got a bucket of tuna. I gave them a couple cold beers in return and we chatted a bit before they headed back. Nice guys.

Back to the bucket. I think the two huge “chunks” they gave us must have weighed 8 lbs or more. I filleted them into 10 steaks, froze as many as would fit in the freezer, made ceviche from the scrap and took a nice hunk and made sashimi for lunch. So, lunch, cocktails (tuna ceviche with our Charismas) and tuna for dinner. A nice 2 inch thick fillet, rubbed with wasabi, coated with egg and dipped in flour mixed with cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper then fried on a very hot cast iron pan with oil and butter. Two minutes one side, one minute the other. Just the way Ann likes it – red in the middle. Drizzled with soy/wasabi and fried rice with peas and carrots on the side (OK, the peas were dried and I boiled them with the carrot for a while, but they tasted good). Ann, the tuna fiend, is very happy.

We went into the village late in the day as we were invited by Lo and Shaney, two of the 12-year old girls, to a “play”. Well it turned out to be more of a traditional Fijian song/dance thing, but it was delightful.

On the way in, Ann checked on her “girls”, the weavers. Well, now that she has introduced them to quilting they may not go back to weaving. They were still cranking away at a project she started them on yesterday. They were very proud to show the progress they made and Ann was impressed. From Ann – yesterday’s project was with hexagons – a difficult angle in quilting. So today I took in some examples of a basic 9-patch and some precut 2 ½ squares to play with. By the time we came back from the play my protégés had completed their first 9-patches. And they were beautifully constructed and hand sewn. But most important were the proud smiles that showed them to me. I love it!

So…bought a few papayas and headed back to Charisma. A lazy day. Tomorrow, may be even more so although I may get a chance to go diving with a couple of other cruisers who are talking about going. We’ll see.

No kidding, that’s what it feels like right now. We’re just having too much fun.

I got to spend some time with Mini watching him carve a Lali - the Fijian drum.

Today, after a very leisurely morning, we went back into the village. When I say leisurely morning I mean we stayed on board until about 1:30 PM. Why? If we go in any earlier we inevitably get invited to lunch somewhere. We didn’t want to impose yet again on such nice people so stayed until we felt all possibility of being invited to lunch was over. So, what happened as we were walking through the village around 1:30 or so? We got invited to stop for lunch. At least we were able to say we had lunch on the boat and politely decline. Wow, such nice people.

So, why was today like summer camp? Ann wanted to meet up with her weaving group again and I wanted to hang with the men who do the carving. Turned out the weaving group was in a different place just inside the village along the path, so I dropped Ann off there. As I walked a little further, Jasmine, who is part of our host family saw me and jumped up to join me on my mission to spend some time with the men who do the carving. Nothing I could say about knowing my way would dissuade her – she was going to guide me there. Once at the carving shed we found noone about, but ducked inside to find Mini, Salote and one other man who I didn’t know sitting and chatting. Mini was working on a drum – they call them Lali. It starts out as a solid rectangular piece of wood, then the middle is hollowed out lengthwise and they decorate the outside with Fijian symbols. Part of my mission today was to do a pencil rubbing of the carvings so I have some of the designs for future projects of my own when I’m back in the US. I asked Mini’s permission to do this and he was delighted and very helpful. I made about six pencil rubbings of the designs.

While in Mini’s house, Jasmine pulled out a kava bowl and started mixing kava. Oh my, this is the third day in a row of kava for me. Well, once again, I was the honored guest at a kava ceremony and enjoyed four or five bowls. Along the way, and this was the delightful part, Mini and Salote picked up guitars that were sitting on the floor, Jasmine grabbed a ukulele, the other man started drumming on a bowl and I grabbed a lali from outside and there was song! They sang and played such beautiful tunes. I wish I knew the words and/or had the music, but alas…that won’t happen. Just the memories will play on.

Jasmine mixing the kava.

Salote grabbed a guitar.

Meanwhile Ann had secretly brought some quilting project into the village. The weaving ladies told her to sit down and start weaving with them. After a bit, Ann asked them if they would like to see some quilting (she had talked about quilts at the last weaving session). Of course they wanted to see and she brought out a project she started over ten years ago and never got around to finishing. By the time I got back from my afternoon, all the weaving ladies were hand-sewing the quilt and Ann was weaving their mats. It was quite a role reversal.

Ba working on a quilt.

So, there you have it. Summer camp. Just plain fun working on projects. And for tomorrow…one of the young girls from school ran up to us as we were walking out of the village and invited us to school tomorrow to watch a play. We have no idea what that might entail, but you can bet we won’t miss it for anything.

On a different note: I have been feeling that there was a turtle in our anchorage. We saw one last year and I’ve heard what I thought might be one – they come up and exhale then inhale and dive again. Today, we saw him. He came over to Charisma and stuck his head up to have a look. Nice to see that turtles are alive and well in Fulunga.

Mr. Turtle swimming over to say hello.

Must have been my lucky day since I just sort of became Chief of the Pulangis again. Let’s take it back to yesterday to see how this came about.

While we were having lunch yesterday after the school project Tau the headmistress asked us if we might be interested in coming in the next day (today) to participate in a church fund raising event. It’s an annual event where all four of the villages (they consider the fourth village the island just north of here) make their annual contribution to the church. We said, “Of course”, and were then asked if we might inform the other cruisers. OK…we’re glad to make a radio call and announce the event.

So…we got back to Charisma and put out a call to the anchorage about an event to be held tomorrow, food, entertainment and a request for a donation to the church. A couple folks responded that they would likely come and we considered our job done.

Fast forward to this morning when we went in to the mystery event. We didn’t know what to expect nor did we know if any other the other cruisers would actually show up since it was a cloudy, rainy (the most rain we have seen in weeks) morning and all the other boats were on the other side of the lagoon – at least a 20 minute or more dinghy ride away. But, it turns out six boats made it in. We were all invited into the chief’s hut for a discussion of what to expect. Somewhere along the way I became our group’s spokesperson and then chief, since we were the guests of honor we needed a representative who would “speak” for the group. It turned out (and other cruisers will know what an honor this was) the chief of the Fulunga village started the event by doing a sevusevu for us! Quite an honor. He talks -in Fijian – and we get a summary translation and then it’s our turn to respond. I said something about how honored we were and how much we loved the island since they not only treat us as friends, but embrace us as family. Other cruisers reiterated these feelings and the chief was pleased. This went down pretty well and soon they broke out the kava as is normal for such a ceremony. Well…what I found out at this point is that the “visiting chief” – that would be ME, is responsible for the pace of the kava consumption. Once the kava bowl has gone around the room once, no-one can drink again until the visiting chief says. There’s a word that phonetically translates as, “Taki”, that the visiting chief uses when it’s time for another round of kava. (Like buying another round at the bar but not on your dime….nice!)

Kava is very important in Fiji, very popular, and eagerly consumed and I didn’t want to disappoint those present so as soon as the first round was complete I shouted “Taki”. There was great relief in the room, many smiles and the kava pouring continued and the bowl was passed. I carefully watched as each person had his or her bowl and as soon as it went around the room, I again shouted “Taki” much to the delight of the room. At that point – and this may be the highlight of my week, if not month- one of the men slightly intoxicated by the early rounds of kava leaned over to Ann, and very properly announced – “Chief Bob is the best chief ever!”

Taki!

So there you have it! Chief Bob. Yessssss!

OK, that lasted a minute. Ann quickly leaned over and said, “Don’t let it go to your head, buster!”

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

The kava celebration was halted when the “entertainment” came in. Local women dressed in red sulus and white shirts with beautifully woven necklaces of fragrant flowers. There is nothing like the song and dance of happy people. It was lovely and included an invitation to Ann to learn the hand motions and join the dance. And we both walked away wearing one of the lovely flower leis. Very special.

The Meke (Fijian "dance"). All done with the hands.

Closeup of the Meke.

And as if to just extend the excitement of the day, I can say that lunch was as much an adventure as being chief of the Pulangis. We ate (again, cruisers will have the best appreciation for this) boiled sea cucumber in coconut milk. Akin to banana slugs, the sea cucumber until now has mostly been something that we attempt to avoid stepping on when we wade onto the reef. It’s kind of squishy, no, actually really squishy. Definitely something I never anticipated eating. I think it rates right there alongside raw sea urchin. So glad we had eaten the ones on our plates before another more discerning cruiser questioned what they were eating. We figure try everything once, and if it is really yummy get its name!

So another day in paradise. For some reason we weren’t very hungry at dinner so just had some roasted potatoes and pumpkin and soon to bed. See you tomorrow!

Must have been my lucky day since I just sort of became Chief of the Pulangis again. Let’s take it back to yesterday to see how this came about.

While we were having lunch yesterday after the school project Tau the headmistress asked us if we might be interested in coming in the next day (today) to participate in a church fund raising event. It’s an annual event where all four of the villages (they consider the fourth village the island just north of here) make their annual contribution to the church. We said, “Of course”, and were then asked if we might inform the other cruisers. OK…we’re glad to make a radio call and announce the event.

So…we got back to Charisma and put out a call to the anchorage about an event to be held tomorrow, food, entertainment and a request for a donation to the church. A couple folks responded that they would likely come and we considered our job done.

Fast forward to this morning when we went in to the mystery event. We didn’t know what to expect nor did we know if any other the other cruisers would actually show up since it was a cloudy, rainy (the most rain we have seen in weeks) morning and all the other boats were on the other side of the lagoon – at least a 20 minute or more dinghy ride away. But, it turns out six boats made it in. We were all invited into the chief’s hut for a discussion of what to expect. Somewhere along the way I became our group’s spokesperson and then chief, since we were the guests of honor we needed a representative who would “speak” for the group. It turned out (and other cruisers will know what an honor this was) the chief of the Fulunga village started the event by doing a sevusevu for us! Quite an honor. He talks -in Fijian – and we get a summary translation and then it’s our turn to respond. I said something about how honored we were and how much we loved the island since they not only treat us as friends, but embrace us as family. Other cruisers reiterated these feelings and the chief was pleased. This went down pretty well and soon they broke out the kava as is normal for such a ceremony. Well…what I found out at this point is that the “visiting chief” – that would be ME, is responsible for the pace of the kava consumption. Once the kava bowl has gone around the room once, no-one can drink again until the visiting chief says. There’s a word that phonetically translates as, “Taki”, that the visiting chief uses when it’s time for another round of kava. (Like buying another round at the bar but not on your dime….nice!)

Kava is very important in Fiji, very popular, and eagerly consumed and I didn’t want to disappoint those present so as soon as the first round was complete I shouted “Taki”. There was great relief in the room, many smiles and the kava pouring continued and the bowl was passed. I carefully watched as each person had his or her bowl and as soon as it went around the room, I again shouted “Taki” much to the delight of the room. At that point – and this may be the highlight of my week, if not month- one of the men slightly intoxicated by the early rounds of kava leaned over to Ann, and very properly announced – “Chief Bob is the best chief ever!”

So there you have it! Chief Bob. Yessssss!

OK, that lasted a minute. Ann quickly leaned over and said, “Don’t let it go to your head, buster!”

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

The kava celebration was halted when the “entertainment” came in. Local women dressed in red sulus and white shirts with beautifully woven necklaces of fragrant flowers. There is nothing like the song and dance of happy people. It was lovely and included an invitation to Ann to learn the hand motions and join the dance. And we both walked away wearing one of the lovely flower leis. Very special.

And as if to just extend the excitement of the day, I can say that lunch was as much an adventure as being chief of the Pulangis. We ate (again, cruisers will have the best appreciation for this) boiled sea cucumber in coconut milk. Akin to banana slugs, the sea cucumber until now has mostly been something that we attempt to avoid stepping on when we wade onto the reef. It’s kind of squishy, no, actually really squishy. Definitely something I never anticipated eating. I think it rates right there alongside raw sea urchin. So glad we had eaten the ones on our plates before another more discerning cruiser questioned what they were eating. We figure try everything once, and if it is really yummy get its name!

So another day in paradise. For some reason we weren’t very hungry at dinner so just had some roasted potatoes and pumpkin and soon to bed. See you tomorrow!

This was really Ann’s day. She offered to do a class at the island school making paper woven hearts. You have to see them – you take two pieces of paper, decorate them with crayons, cut strips on each piece and then when you weave them together they make a three dimensional heart-shaped cup. Turned out to be the perfect assignment as far as the teachers were concerned because today was assessment day for grades 4, 6 and 8. They were taking their standardized tests to ensure they were keeping up with the rest of Fijian classes. Sooo…since a lot of the classes are mixed ages, testing days disrupt the normal flow. Enter Ann’s project. The Headmistress was delighted. We were a little worried when she told us there would be 35 from kindergarten through grade 7. Yipes!

Ann's day in the classroom.

But the kids are exceptionally well mannered and listen well. It took a while to corral everyone, then the “count one through five” to set up teams, then modifying the teams so they had some strong ones and kids who needed a bit more help as ascertained by the kindergarten teacher who became Ann’s aide. Once they finally dug into the project though, it was like kids anywhere. They had their paper and crayons and were on a mission. The challenge came as each finished decorating their two pieces of paper- that was where they had to have Ann or the teacher, Mary cut the paper with scissors and then do the weaving part. Or at least start the weaving for the older kids. Just as it was looking like this was going to be a giant cluster, Ann had the brilliant idea of enlisting the older kids who “got it” to help the others. So instead of two people weaving, she now had about six or so. The project went famously from there and by the end of the class time – about 90 minutes – everyone has completed a beautiful woven heart. Ann was reminded of quilting with the kids at Christ the King. Watching the boys, especially (who are taught to carve not weave) get it and see their sense of pride as they presented it to Ann to approve was just wonderful. One word of praise and as with all children, they puff up and glow with pride. Such a reward for us.

The kids quickly got to work.

Some detailed consultations.

There were two things that for us were priceless about the morning at school. The first was the pure joy in the smile as each child finished his or her heart, figured out how to open it into a cup and then show it to us. Radiant joy!

Some finished projects.

The second -and we can’t wait to post the movies – were the songs they sung for us when the project was finished. Such beautiful voices! They all know their parts to all the songs including some complicated harmonies, but not one reads music. We asked the Headmistress and she said these kids are singing before they can even talk. When we get back in the land of the internet we’ll post something and you can see for yourself. What a treat.

After the project was complete it was time for lunch. We ate with some of the relatives of the kids who were being tested. Apparently it is tradition for them to come and drink kava while the children are in testing. When in Rome, etc, so we sat under a shade cloth and drank kava and enjoyed yet another wonderful meal that included chicken, fish, cassava root, breadfruit, noodles, rice and one of the strangest things we’ve eaten yet – a Chiton. They boil them and pull the shell off. Tasted something like abalone that hasn’t been pounded enough. But good.

After school and lunch, back to Charisma for some reading and a nap. Kind of a lazy afternoon, but it’s been windy and a bit rainy. As of this evening the squally weather is passing and I think we’ll have a few really nice days. I think the paddleboards are coming out and maybe tomorrow we’re going to move to another spot in the lagoon where there might be lobsters for the taking. Stay tuned.

Fulunga, Fiji

I am calling this blog Weaving 102 because I have to admit that during my senior year at St. Mary’s College I actually took a course called Weaving 101. So this being my second weaving course I am calling it 102. Wow. What a fun day!

Gonna learn some weaving...

Bob and I went ashore with the dinghy loaded down with many of the gifts we had brought to Fulunga – like some flour, some sandals, and some beach balls. By far the heaviest item was the set of 22 full size encyclopedias that we were able to secure in New Zealand for a mere $8. Okay, so it is missing two volumes but the remaining 22 are sure to be well-loved by the school children. We asked the 8th grade teacher last year what one thing he would like most for school and encyclopedias were the answer. Yay!

But they were heavy so we left them on the beach for the school boys to come carry back to the school. We went to the school to let the teachers know they were available for pick up and were mobbed by our “little friends”. The children from the other two villages had not seen us yet and were very excited to see if we remembered them. “Bob, do you remember me!?” Of course! These are the kids that always walked the beach with us. The kids had just finished lunch and were all running around with toothbrushes. Fiji has figured out how important it is to keep these beautiful smiles around! Love it. Good thing we left more toothbrushes and toothpaste with the nursing station.

After a visit to a few other friends we wandered over to the community weaving building. How great would it be to have a whole building to leave your projects spread out across. Someday I will have a quilting room like this. And my girlfriends will be there to play with me. Just like today. It was so delightful to be in the company of women who laughed and giggled and created together. I was under the tutelage of Jasmine, and guided by Koro. Koro is the master-weaver of the island. I wish you could see her fingers move as she weaves magic with pandanas leaves. Jasmine pretends not to know how to weave but she was able to tell me how…the sign of a great weaver…even if she won’t admit it. I worked, they supervised and every once in a while Koro would cluck and Jasmine would point out a mistake and help me correct it. I love this stuff!

Weaving 101

All the extremities have a part.

New Best Friends.

I left the community hall with a completed wall hanging. It is not perfect, but it is lovely. And I will always look at it and smile and laugh, remembering an afternoon of fellowship. Not that I understood any of the specific chatter in Fijian but the playful, loving tone was so obvious that I couldn’t help but feel at home. And miss my quilting friends and our great prolonged quilting sessions. We girls are the same everywhere!

Ann also gave a quilting lesson and the weavings were quickly covered with quilting.

Ann's first completed mat. It even has a tree bark fringe which is the sign of a "fine" mat.

It’s Sunday here in Fiji, and that means all commerce/work stops. The day is devoted to church and family. As “yachties”, we are very fortunate to be considered extended family and join the village in church and then various host families after church for the afternoon feast.

Church starts at 1000, so we were careful to be in our dinghy by 0910 for the brief ride to the beach and then a 15 or so minute walk through the jungle into the village. We stopped just outside the village so I could put on my sulu, a wrap around skirt that is mandatory for the men on Sunday. Woman wear the same or dresses and make sure to cover their shoulders and arms.

Ann in her sulu.

Once in the village we’re mobbed by the kids all in their Sunday best – special dresses for the girls and white shirts and ties for the boys. We’re a little early, but some of the congregation is inside singing. We wait outside in the heat enjoying the shade of a tree that has no doubt provided similar relief for many, many generations of worshipers.

At the appointed hour, Joe – one of the village elders – approaches the huge wooden drums outside the church and begins the drum beat for “final call”. Everyone files in.

Joe playing the "call to church" drum.

One inside I’m struck by how similar yet different the experience. On the one hand, you are in a church. A place of worship where everyone is somber and expectant waiting for the minister to come in. Yet on the other hand, the windows are all open and the breeze is flowing in from the ocean which is just 100 meters outside. A glance outside the window shows coconut trees, the turquoise lagoon and the stark white spray of ocean waves crashing on the reef beyond the lagoon.

In the church before the service starts.

As the Minister enters the backdoor in all of his splendor with coat and tie I am still reminded of where I am when I see that he is barefoot and in the background, through the door I see chickens scamper across the grass.

Then the singing starts. It only takes a few moments before I start to tear up listening to the heartfelt joy that these folks – I’m happy to call them ‘our friends’ – pour forth in their song. When the children’s chorus stands up to sing, about a dozen children from 6-14 or so, and three adults to sing the lower notes, well….you will not hear a more beautiful sounding chorus anywhere in the world. I don’t think any of them read music, yet the pitch and harmonies are perfect.

Then, there is the sermon. Of course it is in Fijian, so we don’t have the slightest idea what is going on, but there is some thumping and raising of voice. The children are getting fidgety. They are yawning, stretching, rolling their eyes – you know how it goes. There is much tolerance, but when one goes beyond the accepted norm, “Joe” the enforcer shows up, quietly down the side isle with his stick! He never whacks anyone, but they get the message and quickly straighten up. I have to admit that when Joe comes past I also sit much more erect and pay closer attention to the service. One boy had his ear tugged because he was within reach. He got the message, no dozing.

This will be our enduring memory of Joe.

So, the service is progressing. Several people got up to make a speech of some sort, one ofwelcomed us “yachties” to the service, more people spoke in Fijian, then one of the other elders come over to our group of “yachties” and in a very low whisper said something that sounded like, “If anyone would like to say something, please feel free…” . There was a bit of an embarrassed silence as I think no one really knew exactly what was expected, but I thought, “What the heck, we should say something and if I blow this, the village is a very forgiving place, etc…” so before my brain really knew what I was doing I stood up and walked to the front of the church. Bowing to the minister and the congregation I said something about how honored we were to be there, how much we loved the village and I don’t know what else, but I ended with a “Thank you” and the whole congregation shouted back; “Naka!” which is the Fijian slang for “Thank you”.

I have to admit here and now that my biggest fear in standing up and walking to the front of the church to make a speech on behalf of the “Palangies” (white man) was not so much that I might say something foolish, but that my sulu, which is kind of precariously wrapped around my waist and sort of rolled under, would fall off while I was standing there! It didn’t. Phew.

After church Ann and I accompanied our host family (Tau and Joe) back to their home where we feasted on smoked fish, pumpkin with green curry, cassava greens, breadfruit cooked in the lovo, baked banana and Ann brought quinoa salad that she made with beans, tomato, corn and carrots.

Sunday feast on the front porch with our host family...

...and my new friend "Boy" the dog. (And that's not a plastic straw in my coconut, it's a papaya stem which is hollow)

A fun day in the village! We walked back to Charisma (stuffed to the brim) around 1400 and once back went for a snorkel over to the little reef in the cove where we’re anchored. It’s a bit like being in an aquarium, so lots of fun seeing all the colorful fish.

Oh, by the way, we mentioned to Tau – who is also the headmistress of the school – that Ann wanted to show some of the kids how to make “woven hearts”. Tau immediately jumped on the idea and said, “Come in on Tuesday!” She then proceeded to let Ann know that she would be in charge of 26 children during the time when the older ones are working on their assessment tests. Ann was thinking it would be fun with a group of 6 or 7 girls. OK – this should be interesting!

(If you want to see “exactly” where we are, put the following lat/lon into Google earth 19 degrees, 08 minutes.934 seconds south; 178 degrees, 34 minutes.037 seconds west)

Heading in for sevusevu with my sulu on.

I’ll admit, both of us have been concerned that by going back to the most beautiful place we’ve ever been might be a mistake. Would it be possible to repeat the experience or would we be disappointed?

Our welcoming committee on the beach.

I can say that while it’s not exactly the same, Fulunga is still a magical place. Beautiful beyond description with the most delightful people you have ever met.

The first thing you see coming into the village are the children and you fall in love all over again.

While we had to stay on the boat yesterday fixing the broken wind vane steering system, word apparently spread through the village that we were here. Little did we know that folks would even remember us, but when we walked into the village this morning they were waiting for us. Even the children here all were able to yell; “Bob, Ann, welcome back!” It brought tears to our eyes.

Ann, as you know, is quite shy but still managed this selfie with the kids about 1.5 minutes into our visit.

Also a funny anecdote – Turns out that I’m known here as “Chief Bob”. Yup, almost everyone who greeted us used that as part of the greeting. We were wondering where the heck that came from when through some careful questioning we found that it was because last year I sat on the Chief’s throne outside his hut. Now, in my defense, I asked the Chief’s grandson (Mattei, who is in his ’30s and knows better) if it would be OK if I sat on the stone “throne” outside the chief’s hut. Mattei told me it would be fine. Knowing that this could be a touchy issue I asked again; “Are you sure it’s OK?” He reassured me it would be fine and I thusly sat on the throne. Well, EVERYONE in the village noticed and I’m now known – and I should note, fondly – as Chief Bob. I’m currently trying to leverage this with Ann, but she’s not buying it. Oh well, at least I’m a bit of a Chief to the village.

Speaking of the Chief, he is much better this year. Last year he was very much under the weather and well into his 80’s there was a lot of concern for his health. This year however he is looking ten years younger than his age and we were very fortunate to be able to do sevusevu with him by ourselves. It was a wonderful experience and through a translator we exchanged greetings and stories. Fortunately (I think) he was not aware of the Chief Bob thing. I mean, his father was a cannibal and all.

Sevusevu with the Chief and Mele.

The changes here that I alluded to are good ones. The villagers have set up a fruit stand and are selling fruit to the “yachties” to make a little money which goes to fund the school and other good things that help the village. We (all the yachties, not just Ann and I) told them they could make some money doing this and we would be really happy since there is no other store within a hundred sea miles from here. They have also consolidated their wood carvings into a store of sorts – it’s really more of a lean-to, but it has a sign! Again, a way for them to take advantage of their beautiful carvings.

The "Fruit Market"...

...and its little volunteers.

Other than that, the village is exactly the same and the people remain as unselfish, happy and wonderful as last year. The little girls cannot keep from holding our hands and smiling up adoringly at us. As we walk through the villages shouts of “Bula! Welcome back!” We, of course, remember them fondly and we are thrilled and stunned that we are as special to them. Fulunga….so special.

One view of the village.

Tomorrow we go to church which we’re really looking forward to. I think I mentioned last year that the singing brought years to my eyes. They sing with all their hearts in the true sense of the phrase.

Also, Ann has been working on a project that she can do with the little girls in the village and has settled on a crafts project. I donated my watercolor paper and colored pencils and she’s going to make “woven hearts” that the kids can decorate. We’ll let you know how that goes, so stay tuned.