We left the village of Nananu on September 28th (day 16). Little did we know we’d be leaving behind so much of our hearts. Nananu became a home away from home. We became a part of a community with inspiring family values and work ethic. Everyone in the village has a role and every plays their part without hesitation, without complaint. Together, they would support one another, look after the young and the old, and work as a whole. We had the opportunity to be among them. To be apart of that whole. We lived our every day lives with the pure necessities, learning how different life is a across the Pacific. The Fijian culture, the traditions and the lifestyle, grew on us. We let go, left our worlds from home and we joined theirs.
Our project was to build a road, an entrance to Nananu. We finished the road with a few days to spare and continued to help the community by collecting mangos to be sold in town for juice. We spent our final full day with our homestay families. Some stayed home speaking with their mothers and families about their lives and their stories while dancing and listening to music, some went by horseback through the plains to a natural waterfall with a rock slide, some went to catch lunch in the river and cook it on the spot for a picnic, and at the end of the night, we danced and danced. Some stayed up late talking to the villagers, among the villagers, spending as much time as possible till morning came and we would have to leave.
The day we left, the entire village gathered outside the community hall. We sat around and exchanged emails, addresses, tears, and hugs while our bags were packed in the truck. When we walked out to the car, we shook the hands of the very men we constructed the road with, we hugged the very women who cooked our meals and looked after us as their own children. We made our way to the car looking into the eyes of each individual. When we were loaded up, we looked back with tears in our eyes, seeing tears in their eyes, and drove out down the very road we built and out of Nananu. An experience we will learn from. An experience we will never forget.
We arrived at a backpackers resort on the southern coast of Fiji, west of Suva, in the Pacific Harbor. We went kayaking and rafting, boating and sight seeing, along the very river the second ‘Anaconda’ movie was filmed. We reflected on our experience thus far around a bonfire on the beach, and enjoyed some of the simple pleasures of a movie in the dorms, hot showers, a pool, and an Australian-style restaurant next door.
Our next stop is to spend a night in Nadi and fly out in the morning to New Zealand. We will be staying in Auckland for three days and moving on to the WOOFER farm following. Until then.
