III

At work, I took a trip to Nadi with Sam. We chatted along the way, and he’s a really cool person. Promised to take me fishing/diving with the sharks. HA. Along the way, we passed by a truck labeled “Red Lite District Truck” Kinda of awkward, no? I mean, what do you do with that? Get dropped off in the middle of the road to pick up a whore? Who would want to be seen boarding that bus? Oy. Sam also kept talking about this substance called ‘grog’, which is apparently some kind of alcoholic substitute that makes you extremely lazy and your tongue go numb. Later on, I realize that this is the infamous ‘kava’, ground into powder and mixed with water.

We met the workers at the Nadi office, and I followed Naina into the ‘field’ to see the work of an FCO (field credit officer). Landing in a large village, we walked about the roads and visited several members of MFW, starting with another Sam who ran a small shop. The rest of the members were in their own houses, which were nicer than just shacks. They resembled D’s house, except much smaller and dirtier. Small mats covered the dirt floor. Still comfy though. One of the ladies even offered us tea and bread and butter (all things that people of this country like WAY too much). Unfortunately, even though most Fijians speak English, their native Fijian is the language of choice when conversing. Meaning I didn’t understand a damn thing. Anyway, we were in the car back to Lautoka by noon.

At night, I stepped out of the shower to find about ten people in the living room. Was not prepared for this. Apparently, one of the family’s relatives had died a few months ago, and this Saturday was to be the ‘Hundred Days Ceremony’, where the family of the deceased gather to celebrate his life. With lots of grog. So in front of me were mostly relatives of Sam, including his bro Freddie and his sons: Walter, Eddie, and Henry. There was also an older women, and Josh. They spent most of the time making fun of Uncle Tom (who loved the attention), most of the time in Fijian. Grr. Supposedly, Uncle Tom has been getting too fat living at D’s, and now his legs can’t support his weight haha. No real decision seemed to be made about the ceremony, which was to be held this Saturday in Kulukulu, their native village located by Sigatoka. Everything was ‘ok, I’ll call tomorrow and tell you’.

Oh, the Fiji lifestyle.