FIRST Week in TAVEUNI -- Already!

rLn's art, on nau Tuvi's cupboard... JISU sa rauti au -- JESUS is enough for me.

Beni... "my" boy! -- ready for school, stopping by to say yadra (good morning) to his nei merlin...

Very typical gunu ti (breakfast) at nau Tuvi's house...

Nau Tuvi with grandkids Jotama, Kani and Leone...

My "new" backyard... We've got some plans to make this our cegu (rest) area, when the scorching sun is too much to bear indoors.

Leone, ready for school -- Class 2...

Viubani -- all green once more, after cyclone Tomas...

Naselesele Primary School...

Net-ball practice, getting ready for the Lavena four-village tournament...

Someone's "pet" snake... comfortable on its uvi "home"...

Maria, doing business in Naqara...

Ana with my ice-cream cone, with Buna Akeneta (a Facebook friend) and little Keiti...

Melania helping with the morning laundry...

Jotama... "my" boy! with his new backpack...

Nana Ana putting coconut oil on Jo, getting ready for school...

Ligani, Teci, Talei, Filo, Pule -- just posing for nei merlin...

Sepo and Tevita -- cooking cassava by firewood...

Nau Ana with her luvena, Make... a pretty couple indeed!

Ratu Jone's rooftop and Naselesele Village waters...

Mango tree framed by my window sill...

(April 16) Well, i've been here a week already! Every day has been busy, filled with activities of settling in to village life. Already i've painted (a do-over) a cupboard for dishes and for food storage... for fried fish we don't want the house cat Goldie to nab.

The Naselesele Village school kids are playing a tournament of games (rugby, netball) with three other villages (Lavena, Bouma, Qeleni). i painted the letters worn for the girls' netball team... for two bu (young coconut) per pair of bibs showing their playing positions. That was quite a job... with the humid heat and flies and mosquitoes and very curious kids surrounding me, cutting off any flow of fresh air. WheW!!! i earned my drink!

i'm the official photographer for the Naselesele teams tomorrow...Saturday. i'll post the pictures in the GODventureZ blog after this post... GOD willing.

This time around, i'm fitting in much better with the family. My Fijian (the little i know) is back and improving day by day, with the help of our reading our English and Fijian Bibles in the mornings and evenings before meals. i've designated myself the floor cleaner/sweeper; and with four kids running in and out, with bare feet, i'm usually saying to them: gusing gusi! (Wipe your feet!)

i've also talked to the Ratu Mika's wife, and now i'm allowed to wear a hat or open my umbrella within the village (which is taboo for the villagers), being a "half-cooked" Fijian... a kavalagi (non-Fijian blood). So i'm very much at ease in the village...

i'm posting this from Tovu Tovu Resort -- the only place so far in Matei where i can connect with y'all! Please feel free to follow/subscribe to this blog if you're interested in seeing more of the real Fiji -- vaka Viti... bula sa dina!