The village (7/9/04)

Yesterday (Wednesday here, 7/8) I went to a resort called The Hideaway. It was filled with plump, wealthy Aussies, Brits, and New Zealanders. Not my cup of tea. Everything was too “programmed”, to “fake”. Whatever… I wasn’t there for the games. I was meeting with the dive master who owns the scuba shop. He offered my colleague (Zach) and I a deal on air tanks when we move to the village ($10 Fijian per tank per day). It’s a great deal and seeing as we’re doing shore dives (when we’re not snorkeling), it’s very affordable.

Most of the day we snorkeled to get an idea of what’s on the reef. It was a veritable coral graveyard, but still better than the Caribbean. I can work with it. We won’t be doing our work right off the resort, which is actually a marine protected area, though you wouldn’t know it by looking at it. It’s covered with fleshy algae. The weirdest thing is that all of these corals, sponges, gorgonians, and algae are living in this shallow water that becomes completely exposed at low tide! I was very surprised. You could just walk along and look at corals in inches of water – tidepools!!

The reef I’ll be working on is owned by the village Tangang. We met with the Chief to get permission to work and live on his property. It was a very formal “ceremony” with Kava drinking and Fijian etiquette. Dress was a long skirt or loose pants, and no one sat down until the chief picked a spot and told them to sit. It was interesting and exhilarating (but a little stressful too). I was so afraid I would do something to offend. No problems though. The chief was very agreeable and gave us permission to pretty much do whatever we want on his reef. He offered us an old forestry lodge to stay in (quite rustic and dirty, but it will do) for $5 (Fijian) a day and the villagers will prepare us meals for another $5 if we choose. Our site is just across the road, so it’s very convenient. The Hideaway is a 15 – 20 minute walk in one direction and a backpacker’s resort is a 20 minute walk in the other direction. The backpacker’s will probably be more fun… more people in my age group that share my interests (and more affordable drinks!). The closest “town” (with a place to buy food) is a good 30 minutes by car, but that’s only a $5 cab ride or a $2 bus ride. Zach will be staying at the lodge too. He’s working on a different project, but will be snorkeling and diving with me. It’s good to have a “buddy”. We move to the lodge on Monday. I will be out of contact for several weeks. When we go to Sigatoka (for groceries), I’ll try to find an internet connection to check/send emails. I think there may even be a connection at the backpacker’s resort.

Well, it’s late and I’m very tired.
Moce!
Sara