VIUBANI -- Easter Holiday Picnic

Ana (with Miri in tow) pulling to safe harbor our just-paid-for, second-hand boat, complete with a slight leak! Its moniker merlinAna -- GODventureZ, unlimited will soon be painted on its side...

Tata Seru, doing the "driving" -- Ana and Miri, just sitting pretty in the shade... Naselesele in the background.

Miri with a just-caught land crab... to be used as bait for line fishing.

Little Jo playing around, testing the new "toy."

Juda, Leone, Miri, Kani and Jo... doing see-saw on this horizontal coconut tree...

Vutu blossom...

Leone and Miri exploring the playground...

Juda and Leone doing the Tarzan/monkey thing...

Vutu fruit... i don't know what they're used for, but GOD shows His generous nature with this show of abundance.

Vutu fruit -- even Atonio Valuvei at Tovu-Tovu doesn't know what they're good for...

Ana with the hungry kids, with our lunch...

Leone with his gift (buli) for nei merlin...

Miri's bowl of edibles, with Leone's buli... all wanting out -- back to the sea!

Seru, the expert fire-starter, getting the fire ready...

Seru's ingenious cooking style...

Kana at last! We had enough for all... eaten with boiled cassava from the house.

Qamea... beckoning the traveler for a leisurely visit.

Late afternoon... dramatic skies speak volumes of praise to my heart.

GOD's colorful handiwork... never a dull masterpiece -- always awesome and breathtaking.

Nana Ana (Make's mom) in her kayak, line-fishing in GOD's waters...

GOD's perfect ending to a wonderFUL GODventureZome day!

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!

GODventureZ in TAVEUNI -- Day ONE

Thursday -- DAY ONE -- April 7, 2011 -- after leaving San Diego, Tuesday (7:20 pm of the 5th)... finally arriving in Taveuni, Thursday morning at 8 am! i've taken many videos and pictures since then, but because of internet connections being troublesome and vERRRyyy! slow, i'm only posting pictures for now. Hopefully, i'll be able to download the videos soon on Youtube so that all may see the REAL Fiji!

Here's nau (grandma) Tuvi's kitchen area, with her voivoi (leaves, dried, then cut and woven into large floor mats)... and rLn art in the background. Naselesele Primary School kindergarten class... doing their masu (prayers) before eating their brunch snack.Here's Leone, with his State-side soccer shoes from nei (aunty) merlin...Friday -- DAY TWO -- Nei merlin with Kani and funny-man Jo!Naselesele's au naturele laundry -- sunshine and fresh air free!Saturday night -- DAY 3 -- Captain Cook (cruise ship) meke -- Naselesele and Wiwi villages putting on a traditional Fijian dance program for the tourists... A couple of the talented performers... Ana and Kalera... Kata and ... Sunday -- DAY 4 -- Jo and Kani, in their sulus... ready for lotu (church). The little girl in one of Rose's ShoppE's (Ocean View Church) fashions... Little Maria...another in-fashion fashionable toddler, modeling one of Rose's ShoppE's very own... Seleima with her sister Maria...Ana, my sister-in-law... chef, fisherwoman, home-engineer, godly mother and wife, with four children in tow -- DEFINITELY the Proverbs 31 woman!Nau Tuvi -- posing for her i.d. picture... Nau Tuvi receiving her communion wafer from Akosita (in-house, as nau Tuvi is house-bound). Surprise feast -- Vili went diving last night near Walegalala and caught two lobster for me (moi!) and some awesome fish (which we shared with Kuku Vili). Ana, our resident chef, cooked (with husband Seru assisting) fried fish into curry vakalolo (with coconut milk); lobster with fresh squeezed coconut milk with chili, onions and tomatoes; fried with with onions, dolloped with ketchup, the family's favorite sause; and our neighbor Salote gave us waci vakalolo (dalo leavews with tuna cooked in coconut milk). Needless to say, i was very sinai (full!) after i've eaten my lobster and a little of everything else!

Fly swatters Leone and Jo... Yummm! Kana (eat) at last!