That evening we had a village meeting. Wednesday my sister and I went up to our yaqona plantation to weed. Then I slept. Friday was Fiji Day, and I was called over to see a family making “vakalolo.” This is a Fijian delicacy made from dalo and cassava, and not often made. After seeing it made, I can understand why. Let me explain...
First, you cook the dalo (taro) and cassava.
Second, you mash it up like this:
and like this:
until you get a gum-like consistency.
Then, you soften up the banana leaves.
Next, you squeeze it into little balls and mix it with lolo (coconut cream), which is mixed heavily with sugar.
Then, if you're selling them like Nau Ma (Grandma Makareta),you packagethem in the leaves like so:
Finally, you eat!
It's really yummy, really rich, and really gooey. It takes a ton of work to mash up the dalo. Which is also why Fijians are so strong- andwhy thefoodtastes that much better once you're finished!
Then I did a bunch of other thingsand that afternoonlearned how to make “Rourou balls.” (I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but rourou is the leaf from the dalo plant, a staple Fijian village food. Some villages call it veisiga, which means “everyday” because of the frequency it is eaten.) I made these specially for a fundraiser the women's group was having. We all cooked something then people gavea donation to eat.
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this. But here's how these yummy little balls of fried goodness are made: First you cook your rourou. Then you roll it in flour. Then you fry it. Then you cook it in... lolo! Of course, because what else accompanies every main course you eat in a place populated by coconuts?
Oh, and I've been training with some of the young women for the netball team! The school is having a big bazaar-the bash of the year- next week. There are games and grog drinking and eating and buying and selling and lots of money exchanging hands. This is one of those “it takes a village to raise a child” kind of things, because literally everyone participates and apparently the villages just empty out as everyone stays on the school compound for like four days. Sports options in a Fijian village are limited to three: for boys, there is rugby and volleyball. For girls, there is netball and volleyball. So, the boys have a rugby team and the girls have a netball team.
What is netball,you might ask? Well, let me put it like this: it's basketball, but invented by the Brits. It's very polite. It's not very fast. Right along my lines.
Then I got sick Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was the worst, with diarrhea and vomiting and a head cold (sinuses?). Too much lolo! Every meal I had that day had lolo. I just can't take so much of it! Sunday it was better but I haven't had a head cold like that for a long time.
Monday I got to go fishing again with the women! It was hot and sunny when we left, but half way through the weather changed and it rained and the wind picked up but then it got nice again. We were catching “nini” and “dreu” fish, both small fish that travel in schools. We ended up with a decent amount. The way it works is this: there is one woman at each end of the night. We're reallyquite and stealthy, watching for the bigger fish preying on the small ones or for gulls diving to catch them. Then we move in, swiftly but silently. The women spread out and then come together to enclose the net, splashing the water to scare the fish. Then they swim away and get trapped trying to swim through the net. Then we pull them out by their heads. Yes,some heads are lost in this. I got to carry the bag with the fish and help pull them out. The moving stealthily in the ocean thing doesn't really work well for me. It started out just the three of us and then two more people ended up with us. When we had enough- we probably were successful five times- we went ashore, divided them up, and then scaled them. I fried a couple of mine with onions and a couple I threw right into my fire. That's how I'd prefer to eat them.
I've decided to have a Halloween party. Mom sent me decorations last year, but at this time a year ago I didn't have a village orplace to live so I didn't get to use them. This year, though, I will. I hung the decorations and they've been very popular so far. We're going to make masks and I'll give out candy. I'll make a witches brew (hot chocolate, a treat) and something else... dirt cake,maybe? Maybe just cookies, which are always popular. I'm taking ideas for other games to play. I did think about bobbing for apples, but apples are so expensive I don't really want to go that all out.
What else... one of my brothers is getting married on Tuesday.
I'm posting some random pictures from around the village. Some are from the church building, the crew of boys building the church. Kele is the boy with some of our creations we've made drawing. One night it turned into homework help where I worked with his sister on her multiplication and division problems. It has been a long time since I've done those kind of problems. But really, I do use that stuff a lot. I remember being younger and thinking, “When am I ever going to use this?” And I do! And I'm really glad I know it, and my multiplication tables. I just wish I could explain it better. I am definitely not a teacher. I wonder at what age we learned things like multiplication tables and mental math. I think I'm going to make some flashcards- Morgan, I'm kicking myself that I didn't take you up when you offered to send me flashcards! They sure would come in handy.
I know I said I didn't really want anything, but I do have a few specific things for my wish list:
-latex house or acrylic paints (for a world map project at the school)
-white ankle athletic socks
-gum
-a frisbee (200 gm)
-Clif bars
-any other food items you might want to send... baking things, condiments, sauces, seasonings...
Garden update! Mom, I have the same things happening with my tomatoes as happened with yours! I talked to another PCV about it and he said it's this tomato rot disease and some people even grow their tomatoes upside down to prevent it. It's common, I guess. Overwatering might have something to do with it, he said. But, my toms are finally growing and my carrots are close. The cabbage has been eaten by moths.
My Birkenstocks, after nine faithful years and millions of miles, have finally been lost to Fiji. They were a good shoe, very good shoe.
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