Kadavu, Fiji

the connection is too slow for pictures...i will add them later because kadavu is amazing!!

Cameron and I have just gotten back to Suva, which is the capital city of Fiji and is on the mail island which is called Viti Levu. We spend a week on an island south of here called Kadavu. Our fried Dillon lives on Kadavu in a village called Vacalea (Va-tha-lay-a). We stayed with her friends family for 3 nights and camped for four nights. Kadavu is a very unspoiled island with barely any roads, cars, no electricity, or running water. The population is about 15,000 but this varries as many people spend time in Suva to work and school.

We left Lautoka (pop. 45,000, not 5,000 like I said in the last email) last Tuesday and arrived in Suva in the afternoon to do some things before we got on the ferry to Kadavu which left at midnight. While in Suva we met some friends of Dillon that were also going to ride the ferry to Kadavu that night. Poni, Va, and Iukimi immediately warmed up to us when they reallized that we were going to see Dillon, and we hung out with them until the boat ride. Cam and I had planned on hitting the computer as it was my dad's bday, and we wanted to walk around a little. Instead, Poni and Va got us really drunk and we almost missed the boat!

It is weird how we can travel a third of the way around the planet and run into people who know the only person we know in Fiji. I guess Dillon sticks out as one of the only Americans on her island.

Poni and Va took us to their family's house in Suva where we prayed together and ate dinner. I noticed a large picture of a very pretty girl on the wall that I had seen in the city and it did not strike me as something that a family would have hanging in their living room. Then Cam and I reallized that we were eating dinner with the girl from the photo. There is a Hibiscus festival going on with beauty padgents and Sophie, the girl in the picture, had won two of them. The family made us take pictures with her and she got embarrassed but we were excited to be with the Princess of Suva.

We rode the ferry all night until we reached Kadavu, where we were to meet Dillon and her friend Gus. They sent Gus's uncle to pick us up in his boat and take us to the village, Vacalea. His name was Tom. We helped him load his boat, which was about 23 ft long and 5 ft wide. He ran a shop in Vacalea and had to pick up a lot of supplies to sell in the village.

The waves were rough and it was raining. Tom looked like he knew what he was doing so we weren't worried, but this boat was basically a fiberglass shell and we were in some choppy seas. At one point, a cardboard box broke open, spilling 24 cases of butter. While Cameron and I tried to clead up the butter, Tom told us where to put it as he drove the hand held outboard motor from the back of the boat. All of the sudden, the man in front, Rafi, started yelling. Cam and I were facing the rear of the boat and before we could turn around to see what Rafi was yelling about, we crashed into a huge patch of mangrove trees! We were going pretty fast, almost full speed, and we hit the trees dead on! Tom had looked down at the butter and forgot to watch the trees. Cam flew into the cases of butter, I flew onto a bunch of other boxes, and somehow Tom and Rafi held on and manages to stay in the boat. Once we reallized what had happened we started to scramble to find toe plugs for the back of the boat so that we wouldn't sink. We did not sink, and we all started to laugh.

I must say that this is the worst crash that I have ever been in, and my leg is still sore from it a week later. Hoever, everyone was ok, the boat was ok, and Tom sold all of the butter! We all laughed about it all week, especially when we would pass by the huge hole that we created in the patch of trees. Tom felt bad, but Cam and I thought it was hilarious and all of us will certainly remember it forever.

We met Dillon at the village and she introduced us to everyone. Vacalea has about 100 people. They all farm and fish. We stayed with Tom and his family for two days. This is where Dillon has been staying as well.

Everyone in Vacalea was SO NICE to us...we ate very well. Common foods are casava and taro which are roots, noodles, bread, rice, dow (peas) spinach, and lots of fish. There are many different ways to cook everything, and it is all very very fresh. Also, "fijan ice cream" which is a budi (fat banana) cooked in warm milk.

After a few days Cam and I, Gus and Dillon took a boat ride (no cars, go everywhere by boat) to a piece of land that they have cleared and are planning to build a bure (traditional grass hut). We camped there for 4 nights and during the day we kayaked, hiked and snorkelled. It is probably the most remote place that I have ever been and I loved every minute of it.

Kadavu is like going back a few centuries. Everyone works together to maintain the village, and it works amazingly well. Vacalea has a meeting every month to designate responsibilities to all of the villagers. When we arrived, Tom and his wife Rini were staying at the school every night, acting as parents for all of the boarding students. Students stay at school for weeks at a time without their parents from the age of 5, since there are not schools in every village. It is amazing how educated the children are...all of them speak english by the age 8 or 9. Everyone in Fiji is bi-lingual. The island is also very peaceful. no one is in a hurry. FIJI TIME!!

I really love the way people live on Kadavu. Fiji is a Christian nation and every 5 or 10 minutes i find myself thinking "this is how God intended us to treat one another." There is no drinking in the villages...people only drink Kava. It is a traditional drink that is made from the root of the ava plant, and it ground into powder. It takes about 5-8 years to grow a high quality root, and brings lots of money. Kava is a narcotic and makes you kind of dumb when you drink it. Kadavu has the best kava in Fiji, and Cam and I got to drink it with the villagers. It is traditional, and everyone sits around and spends time with family and friends as they drink from the Kava bowl. It makes you kind of numb, but does not alter your mind. It did, however, alter my stomach one night as I am not used to drinking like the locals do.

We arrived back in Suva late last night where we are staying with Tom's sister and her husband. We have family here in Fiji now, and it is a wonderful feeling to know that people here care about us and look foward to seeing us again. It's hard to leave such a wonderful place but as I told Cameron as Kadavu dissapeared on our way back to Suva, if we feel like this about half of the places we go on this trip, we will have an amazing time.

Well it is time to stop writing even though I have so much to write about. We love Fiji and will be back soon! Next time you hear from me I will be in New Zealand, we fly there on sunday the 23rd! Love you all!

some Words I will teach americans:
Bula - welcome
vinaka - thank you
chilo - excuse me
laco - let's go
relax - FIJI TIME!!
mhm means NO, not yes
uhuh is yes, not no

see if you can figure out what this is: dua, rua, toro, va, lima, ono, vitu, waru, (i forgot this one) teni

times i got sick from something we don't have in the states: 1
times i was uncomfortable with how nice everyone was: once an hour!

fiji

hello to everyone from Fiji!

we arrived in fiji at about 530am on september 8th, which is 1230pm, september 7th in NC. it is now sunday afternoon here in lautoka, which is the second largest city in fiji with a population of 5000. the shift key on the computer i'm on doesn't work very well so please excuse the lowercase.

we were greeted at the airport by a band of island singers with mandolin looking instruments. once we got through customs we were bombarded wiht locals trying to give us cab rides and convince us to come to their resorts. after getting some information we decided to walk (or hitchhike or catch a bus) toward the town of lautoka which is about 24 km north of the airport. nadi is only about 4 km south of the airport but is a tourist trap. once we got on the main road a man named peter stopped and offered a ride in his taxi. we bargained him down to 15 fijian dollars which is about 9 us dollars.

once in lautoka we got some food (chicken stir fry at about 7am) and went and found a hotel with a courtyard and a pool on the ocean. we hung out there for a while until the cheaper dorm style hotel down the street was ready for us to check in. While at the nicer hotel, a priest and about 5 people went to the pool and we were able to witness 3 people get baptized.

yesterday around lunch time we ran into a guy named pana on the street. he took us into the electrical/hardware store where he worked and gave us all our first taste of cava. this is a local drink that is made from the root of a plant. i don't really know how it's made but it is basically muddy water that has spent some amount of time under ground. it is suposed to make you hallucinate it just made our mouths numb and caused us to walk aimlessly around town for about an hour. pana invited us to go outside of town and go swimming in the woods but we declined. the first thing he told us about himself was that he had just gotten out of prison and he was clearly not all there. also, a man who has lived in the states before told us not to trust him.

last night we went out drinking with some kids that nate met on the street. when i say last night i mean 4pm and when i say kids i mean that the youngest was 13 and the oldest 20. the 20 year old was a police officer. we went into a dark, cave like club with music and lights that you would expect to see in america...only it was 4pm. after a few fiji beers i walked outside for a reality check and also to wake my self up a little. we hadn't really slept in 36 hours. robert, the police officer, followed me to 'protect me' and offered to show me his police station. we went in and i found a young boy with hand cuffs and a radio. fiji is under martial law so i am not sure what the police situation is but these were just kids.

anyways, we danced with some fijian girls and walked around with them and all of the kids that we had befriended...went to the sea wall and got told to leave by the cops. it was hard to drink with them because i knew that they were nice and wanted to protect us from criminals that could attack tourists but i also knew that they wanted us to buy them alcohol. it was a great first night and we learned alot from the locals.

it is now sunday afternoon, and cameron and i just left a methodist church where we sat and prayed in the empty sanctuary. we may attend the night service there but i do not expect that they will speak much enlgish, even though everyone here speaks english. everything is closed on sundays as it is a day for family and god.

the weather is nice, but hot and humid. it is about 80 or 85 degrees with a nice breeze near the coast. we haven't seen a beach yet but cameron and i are heading south to another island called kadavu to see our friend dillon. we will be on amazing beaches for about a week. nate is heading to a small island north of us where he has payed membreship dues to go and stay on the island. it is a self sustaining island with people working to create a 'zero carbon footprint island.' check out http://www.tribewanted.com/ for more info on that.

well even though it only costs 1dollar an hour to use the computer i do not want to spend all of my time inside. i will be away from email for a few weeks so until next time please take care of yourselves and if you get stressed by the grind of life in the states just think of ryan sitting on a white sandy beach in fiji! :)

love you all,

ryan

women that have told me they love me: 1

women that i have tatooed with my permanent marker: 1

times i have been afraid of getting arrested: 2

words i have learned (probably mis-spelled):

welcome - bula
thank you vinaka
beautiful - raranaka (or something like that...with the rolling r sound that i can't do)
dance - danacia

And it begins....

It has been a lot of work and a little planning (hopefully not too much) but it is almost time to leave. I have hung out w/ many of you one last time before I trek the globe. Tomorrow I am going out to a family dinner, then drinking w/ some friends; then Nate, Cameron and I are flying to LA to stay w/ Patrick for a few days before we leave for FIJI!

My pack weighs 45 lbs and contains 2 pair of pants, 4 pair of shorts, 7 shirts, 4 pair of socks, 7 boxers, some long johns, a fleece, and a rain coat. Also in the most important backpack I'll ever wear is some camping gear, a water purifier, first aid kit, some bathroom stuff, and few bottles of meds. I'll be carrying a tent, sleeping pad, and a sleeping bag as well. Oh yea, I'll be wearing one pair of shoes and carrying a pair of sandals.

We still haven't made one single reservation at any hostels or hotels yet. We are, however, planning on chilling in FIJI w/ our friend Dillon in her grass hut on the beach. Also, Cam has set up some work for us on a vineyard in New Zealand in exchange for a free place to stay and hopefully some good (free) food. Other than that we are roaming the earth with nothing more to do than have fun and stay out of harms way.

I have my cell phone for one more day 919 920 6751 and will be drinking in Raleigh Monday night so if you wanna come party w/ us give me a call. Also, while I'm gone you an leave me a free voicemail that I can listen to in my email:

To leave me a message while I'm away:
Dial this access number 1-888-579-0208
Press 2
Enter my account number 2109209085
Press # and leave me a message.

Until next time...be happy and don't do anything I wouldn't do!!