Today is the last day in the village after 3 and a half weeks, and it’s pretty surreal. Last night we had our last dinner with our individual families – Sophie, Harry, Tim and I had a feast of whole fish, pork ribs, kasava and cold juice (luxury!). It hit me that this would be the last time we’d be eating with Jope, Rudy and Frances, who have been so lovely to us, always encouraging us to ‘kana,’ meaning eat, lots! After dinner we had a mini grog party at Kitty and Jim’s. Chris turned up with a garland around his neck, and in a sulu and cape that matched his two older brothers, Tim and Asala. Later on in the evening, in the hall, the whole team was given a rainbow of specially printed Savuna sulus, we drank yet more grog and had a wicked Hop Hop session – think Hawaiian hula meets Justin Timberlake. I left for bed pretty early as I’m saving myself for tonight’s antics!
Today I’m starting to think of all the things I’ll miss about village life; from yelling ‘bula’ to pretty much every Fijian you walk past (stranger or not), burning my tongue on boiling hot fresh lemon tea, team debrief meetings with Harry giving us the daily low down, and Fijian Tim serving me ‘low tides’ of kava because I’m not actually that partial to it.
I know it’s cliché but I will never forget the time that I’ve spent living with the people of Savuna, experiencing their traditions and their everyday way of life has been fantastic, they’ve treated us so well. Now, wish me luck for staying up as long as I possibly can at tonight’s final party!
Amy
Tags: gap year Fiji, volunteer project
