Next time you walk two steps to your bathroom and hot water comes out of the shower instantly…be thankful…be very thankful!  With the weekend off, a few of us headed out of the village in search of one thing…a hot shower!

With visions of shower-fairies dancing in our heads, we walked to the village bus station…

Bus station on the right. The only road around the island on the left.

Another picture of the bus station because…well…it isn’t your average bus station.

…and waited for our chariot to take us five hours down the only road that circumnavigates the island. Yup…a dirt one.

Maybe choosing the seats in the back of the bus wasn’t the best idea, but I really don’t think the ones in the front were any less bumpy or dusty. Oh well…our 92 mile journey cost a whopping $3.05 USD.Three busses (one stalled in the middle of the road and we had to board another) later and coated in a not-so-thin layer of road dirt, I checked into my room and headed straight away for the shower. Except…I couldn’t exactly find it. After feeling a bit confused, I walked out the mysterious “back door” of the hotel room. Bingo!! Found the shower!

Outside of shower

Inside of shower.

Yup…this weekend I was going to be showering al fresco! However, at this point in time I didn’t really give a rat’s a$$, just as long as hot water came pouring down on me. After the shock of watching horrendous amounts of dirt-feted water wash down the drain, I turned around to realize just how sizable and open-roofed this shower really was. The next feeling was one of panic at how many peeping-toms might have an observation station set up somewhere high above the shower walls. Trying to quickly get over my paranoia/self-consciousness, I turned the temperature nozzle just a bit hotter, gave the frog at the foot of the shower a wink, and lathered up!

My shower partner.

During the 36 hours between when I checked-in and checked-out, I took 4 scalding-hot showers! They were awesome. Call me a Priss…I don’t care. I got pretty good at showering outside, if I must say. Mr. Frogman and I jammed out to a newly created “Shower Ballads” playlist whilst discussing the constellations overhead and debating the necessity of a rinse-and-repeat!

If you must know, I did do more than shower during the weekend. I also snorkeled in Beqa Lagoon amidst a 10-foot white tip reef shark. I drank a lot of wine too, which made showering with frogs that much more fun!

Not the first time I’ve snorkeled in the rain.

Beqa Lagoon

Three taxis, two busses, and five more hours of dirt-roading later, we were back in the village. Never before have I spent 10 hours of commuting just to get to a hot shower. It was SOOO worth it!!

Yes, we did travel 1/3 of the way around the island for a shower.

University of the Sunshine Coast (from Queensland, Australia) was also with us in Nataleira for a few days, studying the Crown-of-thorns starfish that are growing in numbers on Moon Reef. Coincidentally, they had arranged the annual Moon Reef Ocean Festival while we were there and asked us to help out.

The festival was intended to be fun for the kids from local villages, while simultaneously educating them about how to protect and conserve the biodiversity of the Dawasamu region. From an educator’s standpoint, the awareness portion was definitely lacking, but the kids surely had a good time!

The festival was set up as a series of competitive events for kids from the secondary school, with each “House” (think Harry Potter) trying to win the greatest amount of points in order to take home the Champion’s trophy.

The day started off with the Ocean Swim.

Then came Coconut Tunnel Ball races. I actually had no idea what Tunnel Ball was until this day, but apparently it is a popular game here in the Southern Hemisphere.

Next, the boys took turns racing up a coconut tree to reach a bell hung at the very top. It was crazy how good/fast they were.

After the tree climbing, was the Coconut Relay, which turned into total chaos! First, the boys picked up a coconut and raced down the beach and back.

Then, they passed the coconut to another boy who shucked it.

After being shucked, the third member of the team – a girl – shredded it.

Finally, a few boys participated in the Spear Throwing competition. The wind was really strong at the time, so it also turned into a bit of a mess, but thankfully no one lost an eye!

While the older kids were competing, the younger ones were gathered around tables coloring and being read to.

What was really surprising was that these kids had no idea what the picture they were coloring was. They had never seen a dolphin before, neither in real life nor in books. It’s hard to imagine, given that there are so many dolphins just a few miles from them…dolphins that they will be responsible for managing and protecting as the next generation of village leaders. On the other hand, how could anyone expect them to know? They live in tin shacks without television, Internet, or most importantly books. Think about how you learned what a dolphin was: your parents showed you picture books, showed you movies, took you to the aquarium, or even on a dolphin watching boat if you were lucky. There is no aquarium in this country. The village has a boat because we use it and fund it. I would bet money that not a single child from Nataleira or Silana village has ever ridden in a boat before, let alone spent a day at Moon Reef.

Having already been officially welcomed in Nataleira, we needed to go through the same ritual in Silana, the neighboring village. The same night that we came for our sevusevu, a group of volunteers building a bure in Silana were saying farewell to the village. To celebrate the work that they had done, say goodbye, as well as welcome us, the villagers planned a Meke dance.

A Meke dance is a traditional Fijian dance that tells a story. The men dance, while other village members sing and create the accompanying music. Most Meke dances involve stories of battle and victory. I was told that the Meke dance that we observed involved a fishing story!

We went to the “community center” in Silana, watched our kava offering be blessed, enjoyed another sevusevu, and then waited for the Meke to start. The music was created by men, women, children, and bamboo poles. It was actually really amazing music! I must say, Fijians love to sing, are really good at it, and do it all the time as a social activity.

Sidenote: These pictures by no means “are worth a thousand words” that could be used to describe this event. Photographs are really not supposed to be taken at all, neither at a meke dance nor a sevusevu. So, without flash and at the side of the crowd, I tried my best to capture the event without disrespecting our hosts. Please enjoy them for their obscurity, their movement, and the very intimate picture they provide of life in a tiny Fijian village.  

The music began first.

Musicians = men, women, kids, bamboo poles.

Then the dancers entered.

There was a bit of dialogue and acting during the meke, but mostly music and dancing. Occasionally all the villagers would explode in a roar of laughter, so I assume it was a lighthearted and amusing story.

After the meke dancers were finished, the floor was open for everyone else! Similar to last night, you had to wait to be tapped on the shoulder to dance. That was the extent of the similarities though! The music and dancing was traditional Fijian made by the same singers as the meke (versus Maroon 5 out of a boom box!). Dance partners stood facing the same direction and walked four steps forward and then four steps back. No creativity needed!! One time I got tapped on the back and didn’t even know who asked me, because he already had a partner! Two arms = two partners in Fiji!

And then there was Mikly! This four-month old puppy has a reputation within the village as an unruly pain. You see, in Fijian villages dogs are really not considered pets and have to fend for themselves most of the time. They definitely are not allowed in the community center! However, Milky was rescued from the capital town of Suva by a staff member who manages the volunteers and brought to Suva. He has become the volunteer mascot in Silana and basically gets to do whatever he wants…including lay right in the middle of the “dance floor”.

Speaking of dance floors, this brings me to an interesting point. Every building/house in a Fijian village has mats on the floor, that you can see in many of these (and sevusevu) pictures. These are huge mats, woven out of tree leaves, hand-made by the village women. You can see the leaves drying in the sun all over the village. They were really amazing.

I heard from several other volunteers – who had already traveled around a lot during their visit – that people can watch meke dances in the popular tourist corners of the country. They also said that the “villagers” were actually actors and that the meke dance was nothing compared to what was performed for us tonight. Add Silana Meke Dance to the list of once-in-a-lifetime Fijian experiences. I’m getting emotional just reflecting on it.