Kava day
Trip Start
Jan 08, 2006
1
6
15
Trip End
Jan 27, 2006
Voli Voli Beach, Fiji
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Our first major stop today was at an orphanage in Suva. Stace and I were worried that this visit might put us on a downer for the remainder of the day. Sulus on, and we were greeted by one of the Nuns that runs the orphanage. She sat us down with the 20 or so kids and told us all about the orphanage, and the kids also introduced themselves and sang us a song. Following the introductions we were taken around the orphanage by the kids. Most of the young boys have no paternal figures in the lives, and so took to all the males in our group. Piggy back rides were the most common thing here! I had one little guy on my back that was directing a group of us to the 'pig house' they had at the back of the orphanage. It stank. The pigs were quite cute though! They kids were quite happy, considering they were living in an orphanage. I don't think it is possible for a kid in Fiji to not be a delight. We gave the orphanage presents of much needed stationary that we picked up in Suva city. We left the orphanage thinking that is was nowhere near as bad as we had imagined, and all of us were very happy to have been there.
Following the orphanage, William drove us to the presidential palace on the waterfront. There we got off the bus and photos with the guard - one of those ones like in Britain that can't speak or move or smile. That was fun! I stubbed my toe here and grazed a lot of the skin off. This was a pestering little sore that stayed with me for the rest of the trip. Just to get a bloody photo of the water. We also drove up through the street where the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretariat, and whole swag of other political leaders live. The houses were amazing, all with fences and guards at the front.
After Suva we spent about 2 hours on the bus along the Kings Road, and for the most part was not sealed. The scenery was amazing.
We finally reached our next destination, being a small village on the Wainibuka River. This village is guardian to an ancient cave where the Fijians used to lure their enemies in there, sacrifice them, and then eat them. This is not open to the public. Apparently Tony Blair made a secret visit to this place not so long ago. I was very excited - this was the place where we were to attend Sevusevu, or a Kava ceremony.
Once again we strapped the Sulus around our waste, shoes off, and into the village hut. The villagers along with the village chief were there to greet us, sitting down, and legs crossed on the mat. We sat around to join up in a circle, with our legs crossed. The Kava bowl was the centre item of the circle. One is never meant to turn their back on the bowl during the ceremony. Matt was elected to be our chief, and sat in front of us, just inside the circle opposite the chief. Lepani was speaking on behalf of Matt. Lepani had the offering from us to the village - a Kava root. He then proceeded to speak in Fijian to the chief for about 8 minutes, and then the chief spoke back for a bit. Later on I asked Lepani what was being said, to which he told me it was introductions, offerings, and thankyous to the village chief. The only word I understood, which was said frequently was 'Vinaka' (thankyou). Following the speaking, the villagers clapped (a cupped hand clap) and chanted whilst preparing the bowl of Kava.
Matt was first. The look on his face said it all. Yuk! The tradition when offered Kava is to clap (hands cupped), say Bula!, drink the bowl in one go, and then clap three times. I had my first bowl, and found the taste not as bad as everyone makes it out to be.
Kava is not alcoholic, it is a natural drug made from the root of a Kava plant. The drug is a type of relaxant, and when taken, initially will give a numb feeling in the mouth briefly. Drink enough of it and you become very spaced out, relaxed, and in a really good mood. It is a really pleasant feeling.
Stace was next to me, and I after I had mine, I turned to her and said "don't cringe your face". I think she took it the wrong way. Cringing your face can be offensive to the Fijians. We had about three rounds and then commenced a coconut scraping competition. By this time we were all relaxed in the hut, it was pouring outside, and we were getting to know some of the villagers. Our Bilibili rafting had been cancelled due to the condition of the river. The chief could not allow us to do it. And so after two more rounds of Kava and the competition, it was time to head further along the Kings Road to our stop for the night - Volivoli Beach.
A sunset cruise was the first thing we did in the glorious little corner of Viti Levu. It was perfect - great company, lots of Beer (and Kava!), fishing rods, Pappi the dive master, Willy, and a glorious sunset. We stayed out for a couple of hours, but we could have stayed there all night.
We returned to a nice dinner shortly before Kava and beer started flowing heavily. A hermit crab race was just one of the nights highlights. After a few 'High Tide' Kavas I was feeling quite relaxed. Another awesome day and night.
