A breath of fresh air

This weekend I visited my host sister Sereima and her husband (Semesa) and daughter (Mereadani). They live in a settlement outside of Labasa. I didn't mention it before, but Fiji has a large (40%) Indian population. Sereima lives on a sugarcane farm and Fijians and Indo-Fijians mix in a happy little community. (Some areas in Fiji have racial tensions, not so in the Friendly North) By the time I arrived on Friday afternoon, the whole community knew that I was spending the weekend there so I had several invitations to Indo-Fijian homes. The weekend was full of swimming in the river that we had to cross to get to the Indo-Fijian settlement (an adventure since it is raining a lot and the current is very fast), drinking kava and eating delicious chutney and curry. It was a strange dynamic for me. I feel at ease in Fijian homes, I know the language (enough to get by), the customs (theres several taboos) and am used to the flow of life. I don't know a word of Hindustani or any of their any customs (besides only eating with your right hand). The first night the Indo-Fijians would ask questions in Hindi to Semesa who would translate to our dialect of Fijian for me and I would reply in Bauan, the main Fijian dialect since most Indo-Fijians can understand it. Sometimes I had to resort to English because I think if I tried to explain the role of zooxanthellae in coral reef systems in Fijian, it would have been a mess. Anyway, it was strange be in such a foreign setting while in a country that has become home to me. There wasn't enough time to accept all the invitations, so I will be making another trip back to the Indo-Fijian settlement to enjoy some more curry, conversation and river games.
It is reassuring to know that I have a home outside the koro (village) to go to when things are slower than usual. And I'm beginning to make close friends with the locals, all the better to make this place feel like home.

(my camera isn't cooperating with the computer so I can't post pictures, vosoti au...sorry)