Celebrating our last night in Fiji - in Nadi

Here you have it! You are witnessing us celebrating our last night in Fiji - on the beach in Nadi. Here we are drinking & watching the islanders dance! What a terrific show it was & so much fun!

My interpreter clearly had a good time & enjoyed herself very much! (As you can see in the photos! Hee!) And an Irish traveller who we met at the bar. And I too had a good time!

After this fun girly night out, we retired to our hotel rooms to have a nice long hot shower & a deep sleep in our own double beds which we havent had in a while. Just blissful!

Making & drinking Kava for the first time!

Well here I am finally experiencing some Kava!

First of all, we saw some men outside under the street light pounding away grinding kava in a tall narrow pot with a very heavy heavy steel pole. When the pole hit the ground - the ground vibrated!!! My friend says one must be careful when grinding the kava or it will hit the foot & cut it badly. This is why the street light is needed - when doing it at night.

After this we went knocking on a neighbours door for a few packets of grounded kava.

Then finally in my friend's house to begin making the kava.

Making the kava started off really well! It started with a little puppy dog lapping up our fresh water in the green bowl! Ha! We had to start again & change the bowl with some more fresh water. After this, the kava (grounded root from a special tree) was put in large strips of fabric & dipped & swirled about in the water. Then the water was stirred until it became clear & muddy & of a smooth texture.

Then the the kava was ready to be drunk & was poured into a coconut cup. The cup was passed to me first - gulp! I had to clap my hands 3x times & sign 'n' say 'bula' before drinking the cup in one mouthful. But I confess I couldnt drink it in one mouthful cos it tasted so strong & muddy!!! But I did manage to drink it all & passed on the cup to my friend & then his brother to drink.

Suddenly my lips felt numb - I couldnt feel them! And then my tongue felt all tingly! A few more cups later - I began to feel quite mellow & relaxed!

Much later & a beer later - my chest had the strangest feeling ever. I had to stand while the beer went down my chest past the scratchy feeling of kava in the upper chest. A nice but strange combination!

Definately drinking Kava is an acquired taste. I didnt like the Kava much but am glad to have tried it & really enjoyed the ritual that goes with it - clapping hands, saying bula to each other before drinking & passing on the cup. I think I would drink it again cos it really does give a nice mellow relaxing feeling later!

What a great way to remember my last night in Suva & my last day of university!!!

Fiji Association of the Deaf (FAD) farewell party for us

Here we are having a little farewell party for us - held by some members of Fiji Association of the Deaf.

Lots of special thanks were given to my interpreter for her support & training for Fijian sign language interpreters. A big thank you to my interpreter for her big heart & advice to help the Fijian interpreters find ways to improve on their service.

A funny moment at this party! When the president of FAD was giving a signed speech - I tried to watch & pay attention but hard a time concentrating! Because the little boy in the red shirt sitting next to me kept blowing air at me through his straw!

After the party & some good chats, my interpreter left to have dinner with her host family. And I left to go taste some Kava with a deaf fijian friend - my aussie girlfriend's boyfriend. As this was going to be my last night in Suva - I had to go try out famous Fijian drink - Kava!