July 26, 2019.
After waking up early at the lodge to finish some service, we packed for the highlands. This weekend activity was HIGHLY recommended by the previous group, so I had to try it!
We left at about 3:30 and stopped by a local store. At the store we were given a checklist to pack our gift baskets for our host families in the Highlands. After this, we were driven to the trucks that were going to drive us up to the highlands.
Driving up in the truck was absolutely breathtaking as we got to see the prettiest views I’ve ever seen. We stopped along the way to take some pictures and hang out.
When we arrived, we sat down to talk a little bit then continued to the kava ceremony… i LOVE kava. We then met our families (chosen randomly). Kaija was my roommate for the highlands so we would lived in the same home. Our aunt, Auntie Loochie, welcomed us with a huge smile and hugs as she led us to our new home. We met our nene (mom) she is 25 years old, auntie Loochie, our little sister tocasa (2 years old), our brother is JT (11 years old), and we will meet our momo (dad) tomorrow since he was at work. We will also be meeting our Grandpa, who also lives with us, tomorrow because he was working as well.
I’m pretty sure the house we are staying in is one of the nicer houses. Our home is the only one with a television, and every time we walk in children are piled up watching some movie (in this case, chappy). I remembered watching this movie and started talking about it. They all smiled and turned to me, Auntie Loochie wouldn’t stop calling me Chappy. Auntie Loochie has the biggest, most contagious smile I’ve ever seen.
Our home has 4 rooms: a living room with a t.v., another living/main room (maybe for praying and eating), our bedroom, and one more bedroom we did not get to see inside of. Both the bedrooms have a curtain for a door.
All we did today was sit down and get to know our nene (mom) a little bit more and talk with everyone. Our nene brought us to the main room full of mattresses and sat criss cross apple sauce while signalling us to sit with her. It was a little bit awkward because of the silence, but we talked a little bit about her role in the house and their village. This is where she explained how young she was. It was crazy to think about because she has an 11 year old child (JT). She does all of the cooking, cleaning, and takes care of the children. The father and grandfather work in the fields all day long.
Tocasa is the cutest little baby EVER. She is so sweet and likes to jump on people, only if she likes you. Kaija and I were sitting in the main room listening to “I want it that way,” because that was the only song I have downloaded for some reason. Tocasa came running in and jumping on our backs and started dancing.
I think it’s so amazing that they are letting us in their home and letting us sleep in their only nice bed while they sleep on the floor. I insisted that I could sleep on the floor, but they would not let me. I woke up in the middle of the night and the main room was full of mattresses on the floor with people sleeping on them. They mentioned that if we ever plan on coming back to Fiji with our family, we our more than welcome to stay with them. Also I think it’s amazing that it feels as if we have been in their family forever. They’ve been nothing but welcoming to us and we appreciate it so much.
One thing I’ve noticed in Fiji overall is that the kids are pretty aggressive with other kids. Such as boys hitting girls really hard, but the girls take it and sometimes swing back. Of course brothers and sisters fight, but Tocasa and JT had a little fight in front of us, which may be a weird way to feel welcomed, but I sure felt like I was part of the family.
Then we went to dinner with everyone in the main building. I’m trying to eat healthier because we’ve eaten so many carbs, so I had more greens. Right now we are in bed so goodnight!!
I woke up at 5 am to some roosters clucking their heads off. Kaija had already been up since 2 in the morning from the rain hitting our metal roof and the clucking roosters. I’ve had to pee since last night, but I had to hold it because of the rain and I didn’t know where it was. This morning, since we woke up early, we searched for the bathroom. Auntie loochie was sleeping on the floor as we walked outside and she woke up, thankfully she helped us find the bathroom. She opened the door and handed us a roll of toilet paper. We walked out and used the outhouse with no light.
Then we headed to the main building for breakfast, one of the best meals EVER because I’ve been starving. I haven’t eaten much back at the lodge, but I had a really nice meal here so I’m very thankful.
Kaija and I went over to Elsa and Mia’s house where we met their mother, Nene Uni. Their momo asked us if we like to sing and dance. We laughed and said, “I only have one song,” and proceeded to play, “I Want It That Way,” by the Backstreet Boys. We sang and danced for the parents. It was funny because if we had done this at home, it would be so uncomfortable, but the joy on their faces watching us was EVERYTHING.
We played with tocasa a little bit and figured out she definitely favors kaija. I had to win over JT, so I was his favorite. We weaved bracelets which took a while it was so fun they’re so cute. Then we went to lunch and had a lot of time to hang out and meet more people in the village.
We then walked pretty far through wet, muddy roads and a large wet field over to Asha, anna, and Izzy’s house and played spoons it was so fun their family was the cutest little family I’ve ever met. I took some pictures of us playing; but they came out a little blurry. Their two sisters took my phone and started taking selfie’s… it was adorable.
Then we had tea time with our family and had lemon tea which was amazing, some of the best scones EVER, and some plantains… I LOVED the scones!! Earlier in the day we got to sit with nene while she was making all of the food. The process took so long which made us so much more grateful for the meal.
Our last night here was easier to fall asleep, but the roosters woke us up early again. I don’t know how they sleep with the roosters, I am a pretty hard sleeper, but that was crazy. After waking up we put on our sulus and walked to the main building for some breakfast.
At about 8:45, a couple of the locals and our leaders took us on a small hike through the muddy field and past the barbed wire fence, where I cut part of my sulu, to a beautiful waterfall. This was our first “shower” since we got to the highlands. It was very relaxing and we got some really cool pictures.
After heading back to our homes, our mothers gave us all our traditional church clothes. Kaija and I rock, paper, scissored over who got to wear the black one, I lost. We all got ready for church at 10:30.
Going to church with all of the locals and the families we’ve lived with was a once in a lifetime experience. All of the kids were in one section where I saw JT waving to me the whole time. All of the Rustic students were in our own section, I was in the front. We got to sing beautiful songs with the families and one of the girls in our group, Kayla, thanked everyone for being so welcoming to all of us.
Sadly, it was time for us to leave. All of our families gathered by the main building after we finished packing. We hugged our family and thanked them for the incredible time we had with them. They welcomed us into their home as if they’ve known us our whole lives. It was truly an amazing experience. THANK YOU!
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