This is a picture of the gorge we went on yesterday.
The is a picture of what zip lining over the river was like.
This is not ME, but this a picture of our shower.
This is our room and the ocean steps away.
This is a picture of where we snorkeled and the stuff we saw. Clearly a professional picture, but one none-the-less.It is Thursday here. It is so weird to think that we lost an entire day. We will never be able to enjoy March 26th, but in that case, we get to enjoy April 3rd twice. It is thundering right now, which I am sure means that it is Lightening somewhere. It has been beautiful all day, so we sat by the ocean and read. About an hour ago, 2:00 pm it started to dump on us. That is fine because we've had enough sun today. We were going to go to Suva, but decided we just need to relax today. So Dad is reading in our cabin and I am bloggin' my favorite people.
Last night, the restaurant offered Salt and Pepper Squid, well they call it Octopus, but it was really just squid. Daddy decided he ate an entire generation of Octopi. They were delicious. In the states, we cut them up and don't eat the legs. Here, they fry the entire thing ,8 little feet and all. It look slightly scary to eat at first, but they go down in one fail swoop, so they are really good. We also discovered that they dont' have Hamburgers here. They think that means pork ground up into a burger, and they don't do that. Instead, they call them Beef Burgers. I had a dessert that was Rice Pudding. They have a thing called Black Rice that they cook in Coconut milk. They mash Mango and cinnamon and put it on the top. Their desserts are not like ours, not sweet really, but oh so good.
We discovered why the coconut milk we had a home out of the coconut was so NOT good. That is coconut juice, and not really used very often. Instead, you crack open the coconut, you take out the white stuff (the meat), and squeeze it. The milk is what comes out. Glad we know that:)
Yesterday, on the rafting trip, we got to see flying fruit bats. I didn't have my glasses on, so I thought they were just birds. Nope, bats. They were a red brown, more red than brown though. They were very fast and flew all day. The gal in our boat is from Guam, and they eat them there. The guide said that they eat them in Fiji, too. They are really good apparently. Actually, they said they taste like chicken. They are boiled in Coconut Milk and them meat is peeled off. ummmm...ick! Joe #1 also told us how they catch them. Apparently, they live in Guava trees. But, they have an amazing sense of smell, so they can smell the hunters coming. To avoid being detected, the hunters rub guava leaves all over their body. This smell keeps the bats from sensing them. The hunters crawl on their belly to the base of the guava tree and shake like mad. The bats fall out of the tree. They cannot fly away unless they crawl up on the tree, so they are helpless. The hunters pick them up quickly and throw them in a sack to carry home. They must remember not to put the bag on their back because the bats have teeth and claws. When they take the bag off their back, the hunter will be full of scratches and bites.
As we changed out of our wet clothes in the village, I realized that we must forgive Chris for his tooting because it isn't that bad. You see, a group of college boys from New Zealand went into the changing room, which is really a corrugated metal building. As we all milled around outside, around the bus, around the creek, talking to the villagers, we could hear the villagers make a sound of disgust. Then, we started looking at the bottom of our shoes and such. All of us thought that something had happened in the villages waste disposal unit, or bucket. Next, out came the New Zealander, "Sorry, Mates. I must have had something that didn't agree with me last night." Now, if an entire village can smell it and comment on it, you know it is bad. Poor Daddy, he isn't that bad:)Yesterday, we also saw an amazing slug. It wasn't very big, but it was super fast. It was against the wall in our shower. It moved as fast as a spider. Chris and I decided that the people move super slow here, so the slugs get to move fast. The bugs here are not bad at all, but at dinner, we are attacked by something. We can't see them, but we see their marks. It seems that if we stick our feet in the light, we are ok, but the bites scratch like crazy. Last night, they actually put these bug smoke things in beer bottles and put them at the feet of the diners. It seemed to help. I have a new found appreciation for the people on survivor.
The sky was clear last night. We looked up and saw an amazing array of stars. This of course initiated a battle of star knowledge. We know that the Southern Cross is like the Northern Star, but I said that the stars are the same, just upside down in placement. Dad, wasn't so sure. We are going to look it up together and he will see that I am right.
Final story for today is a story about Thomas Baker. Thomas Baker was a missionary/explorer. He ventured high into the mountains of Fiji. He found a tribe of people and began to teach them his ways as he learned theirs. In the midst of a heated discussion, Sir Thomas Baker touched the hair of the chief. This is/was a absolute NO NO in the Fiji culture. Your hair was a sign of respect and honor; to touch it was to disrespect and dishonor. This left the chief no choice. He killed Sir Thomas Baker. The tribe happened to be cannibals, so they baked Mr. Baker and ate him. Now, the Fijians are a tough culture and rarely wear shoes. As a matter of fact, I saw a picture today of a youth track event. Most of the children ran in their bare feet. This tradition played a role in the story. You see, they didn't know what Sir Thomas Baker had on his feet. They people assumed they were part of his body. They tried to eat the sandals, but they were too tough. They boiled the sandals, and tried to eat them, but still they couldn't. These sandals are in the museum of Fiji today with the bite marks in them. That is where we are going tomorrow.
The country is working up to Easter. It is a very large holiday here. I love hearing the excitement of the people.
We are almost home, and we miss our little girls. Thank you to all who are keeping our lives in order. Much Love To ALL!
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