Day 9-Vinaka

9:34am Fiji Time
Last night, I had dinner of rice, split pea soup and noodle and fish stew. Api, Loi Sandy (Mama Sandy), Tua, babas Hope and Sam, and myself all ate together on the mats in Loi's home. In Fiji the woven mats are a symbol of family, the villagers dry giant leaves in the sun and then weave them into large floor mats for all to sit on, you come into someone's home, and they will invite you to sit down and chat for awhile. After dinner, we chatted about our days and caught up. I brought out chocolate, which is a favorite here in the village and we all enjoyed it together, Loi loved the Hersheys and the Milky Way bars, I also brought out some Pop Rocks and explained what they did in their mouths, Mahi tried them first and said it felt like a machine gun in his mouth. We all laughed as Loi Sandy tried some and her eyes got wide with surprise. When Tua came back we shared some with him too and he was surprised at the feeling, Mahi had said they explode in your mouth and Tua was curious. After dessert, baba Sam was playing with my torch and I remembered the light up sandals I had brought, I took them out and Sam was reluctant to put them on at first, but As soon as we got them on him, he couldn't stop running and playing with his new shoes, making them light up and stomping all around, he was so happy and I was thrilled to see him enjoying my gifts. We took a video and thanked my Bubu (granny) for giving them to me. The rest of the family stayed awake until 3am waiting for Jackson and Samseli (Api's brother and father, the chief) and 2 month old baby Keon with his Loi, Jackson's wife and his baba. I went to bed early after the long day and when I woke up, I went for a walk on the beach to watch the sunset. After the sun was up, I met up with my second family and since we had all been up late last night, we had a breakfast of cereal and fruit with crackers and peanut butter, jelly and butter. After breakfast, I went to say hello to some of the villagers and then filled my bag with some clothes to hand out. I gave shorts and shirts and dresses and shoes to the children and their parents, I ran out of clothes in no time and some little boys came with me to get more, I gave them a volleyball and a soccer ball to play with and their faces lit up! For the next hour, I filled bag after bag with clothes and handed them out until all had been distributed, the eager faces of all the kids brightened my day so much and I was so happy to see them all so pleased with their new clothes. They all said vinaka (thank you) for their presents and I responded with vinaka for accepting. It was sad that I didn't have something for everyone, but i still had all the school supplies, books, medical supplies and some shoes. I walked around and saw off the children to their parents, I was given gifts of the most beautiful shells and handmade jewelry from grateful villagers and I thanked them profusely. It was truly amazing to see so much joy in all these people. I love this village and the culture and the people. I am overjoyed that I get to spend the next few weeks learning more about this unique way of life.
10:28am Fiji time
As I was relaxing in my room after lunch, a boy came knocking at my window looking for a ball to play with, I gave him a soccer ball and he invited me to come play a game with him and his friends. i followed him to a bigger group of people who were all

playing games together. I introduced myself to all the kids and learned some names too. I watched someone husking coconuts for virgin oil and he showed me the whole process and even gave me some to try. I walked around and saw a woman chopping eel for dinner, it was interesting seeing how food is prepared here. I sat down next to one of the teachers from the school and we chatted about how she was one of only 3 teachers working at the school of about 180 children. She told me that since some of the teachers were on leave, she had a class of over 60 kids of all different ages. I was glad I'd be there to help out as best I could. When it started to get dark, I decided to head home, the wind was blowing in the Fijians, used to warmer weather, were all cold so they were going in for hot tea. The teacher I had been talking to, invited me for tea, we sat down on the mat and drank tea and fried pancakes. When I finished my tea, I said goodnight and started making my way home again when i ran it to another woman who invited me for black fish, I had some and then Naomi came knocking, apparently she had been worried because I hadn't come home before dark, Api came by too and they waited and talked while i finished my fish. We all headed home to have more fish for dinner, I finished up and then went home from an early night.