Fiji Six

We spent another day cruising down to Pacific Harbor. It is always fun to check out the Handycraft shops and walk around somewhere where the foreigners outnumber the locals. Just watch out for the tourist prices. Ouch. It was sweltering hot and I was looking for a cheap little fan to cool off. Uh the lady offered me $20. So I replied in Fijian and walked out the door. Hello that same fan is $3 in Suva; she must have been smoking some good crack to think I would spend $20 on a woven fan. We had a good time though. After shopping around and finding some great deals on necklaces and bracelets we cruised across the street to the beach and relaxed a while. It was a good day and all the kids were knocked out on the drive back to Suva.

Pacific Harbor

Fiji Five

We decided to get away from all the wedding hustle and bustle one day. So up to the Le Suva we went. I had to have a laugh at the receipt that the Forestry Office gave us to enter the park. "2 overseas & 3 locals" Danielle and I cost $5/each. Inoke, Wes, and Esala were only $1/each. Only in Fiji. Wes wanted to hike down the trail from the first pool while Inoke wanted to drive down to the biggest pool at the bottom. So I got out and hiked while Inoke took the car down. Uh, someone should have said it was a full hour of a hike down steep muddy steps and massive spiderweb rain forest. There were eight different pools that all led to the big one at the bottom. It was a beautiful hike and by the time we reached the end Inoke was already swimming in the pool. I was totally bummed that I still couldn't swim so I watched as everyone else took turns on the rope swing. Ahh next trip I will swing too.

Hiking

Fiji Four

Saturday was the "western style" reception. It was at Central Cuisine in Suva. Danielle, Balavu, and I went down and spent the afternoon decorating the tables and preparing the last minute details. All the nieces were thrilled to go to the salon in the morning and get their hair done for the occasion. They looked so beautiful in the red dresses that Finau sent down. It was a fun night with lots of food and dancing.

The Reception

Fiji Three

The temple ceremony was Thursday, but the Tevutevu wasn't until Friday afternoon. So after the temple Talei came back to us and stayed with her family until Friday night. The Tevutevu is the traditional fijian wedding ceremony. The bride's side brings mats, blankets, masi, pillows, bedding, mosquito nets, and other various things to the groom's home and they present the bride to the boy's family sealing the match with the traditional presentation of the tabua (whale's tooth). For days prior to the Tevutevu family from all sides brought piles and piles of gifts to the home. It was an amazing process to watch. My favorite gift was the waiwai (homemade coconut oil) Inoke's mom was kind enough to hook me up with a bottle of the sweet smelling oil to take home to Hawaii.