Add Lady Godiva to boot and you’ve got some idea of how today went. Or not.

We were presented beautiful lais for the party.

Today was an event for the cruisers put on by the ladies of the village. They were also hoping to raise some funds for a flush toilet. They need this. Currently the path to relief is out the door and behind the banana trees. Not so bad if you are a guy, but these women desire more.

They have been practicing songs for several days and they built a special structure that everyone could fit into just for “the show”. The structure was made from small trees that held cross beams that consistent of more trees as well as a very long pipe that looked scavenged from a ship. The whole thing was covered with corrugated tin and held down with large rocks to keep the roof from blowing away. The floor was woven pandanas mats, so we were not sitting on the dirt. Musical instruments included guitars, ukuleles a loli (wooden drum) and other percussion instruments including a cardboard box, a coconut shell and a meter tall section of 6 inch PVC pipe.

Jasmine as "The Myna Bird"

Bill as "Lady Godiva"

Here's the outdoor theater set-up.

The ladies were all dressed up for the event.

There was some beautiful music as well as silliness. The beauty came in the form of an invocation started in falsetto by the children, several songs about the island of Fulunga (and how you’ll lose your heart there – so right!) and a goodbye song to end the evening.

The centerpiece of the event (besides the food – see below) was the silly song about the myna bird, etc. Four of the women dressed up in myna bird, gorilla, goat and chicken outfits and pranced and danced to the hoots and hollers of all present. It was hilarious and felt like summer camp! Then one of the young men came out dressed as a woman (Lady Godiva) and the place fell apart.

Since it was all in Fijian it was impossible to tell what the song was really all about, but given the costumes and silliness it was pretty easy to join in the overall fun.

There was also kava (of course) and food. After numerous rounds of kava, the feast began. Octopus, crab made several different ways, whole baked fish, fried eggplant, cassava root, and roti (a Fijian tortilla). Needless to say, Ann and I have skipped dinner after this sumptuous feast.

There were also some heartfelt speeches from the village elders and then a call for the cruisers to say something. Before anyone could decide who should speak , Tai called out Ann to say a few words. She has become very close to many in the village so there were lots of affirmative voices calling for her to stand and speak which she did – and Ann did us proud. Lots of “vinakas” and clapping.

I could go on and on about these wonderful people but I guess I’ll let the fact that we’ve been here for four weeks today be testimony that this place and these people are unique, special, wonderful – you can choose so many other adjectives but we’ll just say that we are also proud to call them our friends.