A DiAmOnD in the Rough: Getting Close to the End

A couple of young boys take their bamboo raft out for a quick jaunt around the bay at sunrise.

Alusio Jamie Vumainabuke

I have a namesake in Fiji!!! Please welcome Alusio Jamie Vumainabuke into this spectacular world! He is so precious. Born to my given namesake in Fiji, Ili, and my counterpart, Alusio, this perfect baby boy has been added to my family forever. Namesakes in Fiji are a treasured tradition and I am blessed to have been given a namesake in a family that means so much to me.

Isn't he precious!

AAHHHH!!

My Ulamila and my new namesake!

Kadavu

Paradise Island. I spent one week on the beautiful island of Galoa, a 5 minute boat ride from Vunisea airport in Kadavu. Wow, such pristine forests, beautiful reefs, and a view that you can’t take your eyes off of. The airport in Kadavu is set on an isthmus just wide enough to land a 12 seater plane. You land just inches after the land begins and take off mere feet from driving straight off into the deep blue. After arriving in the tiny, quaint airport I was greeted by my namesake’s family and brought to her childhood home.

The school childran at Namalata Primary on Kadavu.

We told stories and I visited her sister, brother, and little boy. Eventually I fell asleep only to be awoken at midnight to walk to the boat. We had to wait for high tide to be able to head to Galoa Island. As I stepped off the boat onto the school compound I was rushed to the teacher’s quarters, was given a whispered welcome, handed a pillow, and gave in to a good night’s sleep. The next morning as I was having tea, I spotted a couple of young Europeans across the field. I was out in the middle of no where! It turned out there were two Germans volunteering at the school. They were staying nearby so I immediately made friends! Later that afternoon we were planning excursions and meals together!

Naicucuqu Estate
By dusk I had met two Australians that had a spare bedroom and plenty of space for me to join them. I hiked the mile back to the school compound, packed up my stuff, and headed to Naicucuqu Estate... an absolutely breathtaking coconut plantation with a historic dive operation and backpackers retreat. It couldn’t have turned out any better. They had dive equipment, an air compressor, a new boat, plenty of fresh herbs, vegetables, and fruit in their immense gardens, and the hospitality everyone dreams they could acquire. They took me to a waterfall and on two dives! We discussed everything from a hydralic virgin coconut oil press that the husband had invented to philosophical ideas on mythology and religion. So enlightening! They had great taste in music, the wife is an amazing organic cook, and I thoroughly enjoyed my week long visit! I can’t believe how things always work out for me. I truly am blessed.

The hike to the waterfall.

The Provincial Administrator of Kadavu and I practically private hired this 20 seater plane.

Spa Day

Learning how a pedicure is done.

Applying the banana and honey homemade mask.

Now they are getting the hang of this.
I wanted to teach the women in my tikina (kinda like a county in America) about menopause, but in a fun, feminine way. So, I invented spa day! I prepared a virgin coconut oil sugar scrub, a banana and honey face mask, together with nail polish, pumice stones, brushes, cucumber slices, lotions, and a menopause pamphlet. About 45 women were in the village attending a fundraising event so I jumped on the opportunity to reach a lot of women at one time. It was a hit! They joked and laughed about the effects of menopause and loved having their feet scrubbed. The nail polish was probably their favorite part other than looking like one-eyed monsters with just one cucumber. Some didn’t listen to the directions and ate the cucumbers and others didn’t really want to touch their aunts or cousins feet, but all in all we had a great time and they now know what is happening at about age 50 when things start changing. (Side note: the period here is called “mate ni vula” - the death of the month! Lol.)

Learning about menopause... for the first time.

Bird Island

Eight Peace Corps volunteers came over to “Lydia and I’s side of the island” for one last trip to the famous Vatu-I-Ra Island (aka: Bird Island)! The weather was perfect, the company was witty, and the birds were a’squawkin. Good times!

Misc. Happenings
Selling sweet potatoes... one American dollar per kilo.

The view from the beach that I sit and wait for the tide so that the boat floats and we can head home. My village is around that point out there and down the coast several kilometers.