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Lexington - Captain Bob: 6/11/2017 Lomaloma



So we are in Fiji at a village named Lomaloma. It rained hard last night and was raining some this morning. I decided to go to church to get a taste of Fiji church life. The service lasted 2 hours and the seats were very hard with straight backs. I did not understand a word that was said. There was lots of very nice singing which I enjoyed. As I left one gentleman invited me to have lunch with them. At first I was a little too shy to go but after talking with a few other men who also invited me to join them I decided to join them. We first sat on a mat behind the church cross-legged and talked. Then we retired to an adjacent building where the food was all set out on the floor mat. All the men sat around the floor mat and we served ourselves from the dishes that had been set out. We had fish, sweet potato, taro leaf, bread fruit and tapioca. It was a little bland but good. When we were thru bowls were brought around to wash our hands. We then moved to another mat, the dishes were removed and then the women and children ate. I was then invited to another house for coffee. One of the men and I looked around the village. He wanted to see my boat. We went by his house for him to change from church clothes. His house was very basic. He was rebuilding from typhoon Winston but I am sure it will be very basic when he is done. We visited on the boat. He talked with Sam and Karen. Val and Dugal also dropped over to talk. I gave him some extra batteries that I had. I also gave him some reading glasses. Dugal gave him a magazine which he appeared to really like. As we were riding back to land in the dinghy he said that he was set for the night with batteries to run his light, glasses to see and a magazine to read. This is all coming from a man who worked 30 years in a resort on the big island of Fiji. His family was back there and he visited back and forth. He had a pension from the resort and from the government starting at age 55. He said he would much rather be living in the small village of 100 or so people. He was a real dichotomy of a person who worked receptions at a major resort interacting with people from around the world, booking reservations on the computer, looking up stuff on the internet but happy to receive my simple gifts. Was he just being polite? Was he accepting gifts that he would later give to others who may be less fortunate? Was he being a good ambassador for his island? In any case I enjoyed the day and felt a little good about my interaction. I hope I was a good ambassador for the World Arc. The photos are of the church and the women and children eating. May fair winds fill your sails with good interaction with other cultures!

Bob

 



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