Feb 5th 2011 Bula!

Some of the pictures are outside my hotel from the patio. The mountains here, unlike the rocky mountains, are covered with lush rain forests so they are all green. In the market there was also a loud celebration from the Chinese stores celebrating the Chinese new year. I tried out the panoramic view on my camera but the sun was so bright there it didn't pick up the rest of the mountains.

That's right it is Saturday here! I skipped a whole day while flying here! Sucks for anyone on this trip who's birthday was the 4th HA! Once we reached Fiji we were greeted at 5:30am with shell necklaces and men singing playing the ukulele. The warm morning air was heaven sent and very relaxing plus the airport was mainly outside. Once leaving the airport I was greeted with beautiful tree covered mountains and palm trees. Once we reached our hotel we were again greeted with smiles and shell necklaces. An extra gift from the Fijians was orange drink that tasted of a mix of mangoes and bananas! Very delicious! I have also learned a new Fijian word...Bula! This means welcome. We also went into town which was a large open market with many different and new smells. The streets were made of dirt and the place seemed kind of run down. Even on the bus ride there the streets were small and we went through the country side. As Americans we stuck out like a sore thumb with our pale skin and blonde and brown hair. Most of the markets were ran by Indo-Fijians which means they are part Indian (India) and Fijian. We had a lady take us to a market that was ran mainly by Fijians (they apparently are not very happy with so many Indo-Fijians running the joint). Once we entered the Fijian shop we were asked to take off our shoes in respect for their culture. The man then gave us wraps which are called lava-lavas and then we sat in a circle for a little ceremony which they blessed the drink called Kuva. The two boys that were with our group were called the chiefs and they drank the Kuva first. Before accepting the drink we had to clap once and say Bula and then we clapped three times to seal the ceremony. We drank the Kuva from a wooden bowl. The drink was kind of tasteless but made your mouth a little numb. The man also gave me a necklace made out of Mother Pearl which was shaped like a sea turtle because he liked my tattoo on my foot :) I responded with the word Vee-naca which means thank you in Fijian.

 Also if you can't see the pictures I can always make them bigger just let me know!