Thursday Feb 7th 4:28 p.m. Fiji

Hello All or as the Fijians say BULA!!! We are now in Fiji - and we are in paradise........ This is the most beautiful place in the world, even though this is a third world country, it is absolutely heaven!!! - - We arrived yesterday afternoon and were greeted by some lovely fijians who welcomed us and gave each of us a shelled lei necklace. Then went immediately to our beautiful resort which overlooks the Ocean. On the way to our resort it was quite strange seeing cows, pigs, and horsed just grazing along the sides of the roads - free as a bird. something. The little shacks we passed really made me appreciate our life and what we have, but we are told that they are very happy with their lifestyle. I am just taking this all in. It was raining when we arrived but it was late so no worries. Today was an incredible day. I told our tour director that my heart is full. We started the day with a Discovery lecture on Fiji. Then went to a Sigatoka town for a tour of the local markets where I found some good buys :-) Next we went to Namatakula Village to experience life in a traditional figian village including a welcome ceremony and then followed by a home hosted lunch. I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful the food was the family made for us. We had about 20 different dishes to try (small portions of course). Oh my gosh - absolutely out of this world. We all sat on the floor and the women fanning us and fanning the flies away while we ate with our fingers. They were all so friendly and loving. AMAZING EXPERIENCE. After that we went to the village's school and sat with a 4th grade class. Even though you can see how poor the village was and seeing the school desks and things literally falling apart, the joy those children had in entertaining us and us learning about them was such a heartwarming experience. MaKenna, my niece donated a few of her books which I gave to the class - and inscribed in side the book "with Love from Makenna Sharp in OP Kansas, USA". I also brought some school supplies which they were very grateful for. What another amazing day. We are now back at our lovely resort and had a food demonstration of Kokoda - raw fish with some lovely spices - - it was really good too. Tonight we are own our own and tomorrow is a free day - - REST for the both of us. Marlene is treating us to a massage - aaaahhhhhhhh then relaxing at the pool which overlooks the ocean. I am truly in heaven right now :-) The weather is very very humid and about mid 80's is my guess. Marlene was not able to join us today as her ankles have really swollen so hopefully with a massage and another day of rest, she will be back to normal. Well, tata for now. Miss you all XXXXOOOO