Cola Vina (Thola-Veena) - Weekend Adventure to the Yasawa Island Group

Bula... Or I should say, "Cola" (Thola) to all!

This weekend SI surprised me by giving me my time-off early due to the crowded scheduling of the upcoming teams... Thus, myself and Mosese, my SI compadre, will be taking an adventure to his island in the Yasawa Island Group shown below on the map!

Mosese is from an island in the Yasawas called Yasawairara. This island is said to be one of the most untouched/unspoiled in all of Fiji. It has one resort on it, but otherwise is only inhabited by 6 small villages--One of which Mosese grew up in before coming to Viti Levu (The big island) for high-school. We will be staying with his family and I will get to see yet another side of Fiji I've not yet experienced as Mosese is from a traditional village with a chief... Who I (shaking, I'm sure) will be presented to upon arrival. They will apologize for anything I may do wrong during my visit and we will give them gifts before they decide whether I am allowed to stay or not. I am SO excited! We will be bringing some gifts with us that are difficult to acquire for his family. Even things like flour and sugar are hard to come by when the island is SO isolated! They now have electricity (as of the last 10 years), though it is only available for a limited time during the day, and the drinking water is only collected rainwater. Even the water taxi we had originally planned to use doesn't run it's same route anymore so, through the Lord's incredible provision, we have charted a tiny plane (for less money than the boat would have been) to take us to and from the island! Vinaka Jisu!

The language, which has just been becoming familiar to me, will also be different (hence the "Cola" (tholah) rather than "Bula"). The Yasawans (who most Fijians refer to as 'westerners' ) use a different dialect of Melanesian which is similar in some aspects to Fijian, but throw in the throaty-"h" sounds associated with hebrew pronunciation, and the breathy-"z'"'s from slavic (russian and greek) languages... WHAT?! I'm so very excited as I've already been practicing the basics of this new dialect for the past few days.

Though this village is small and isolated, it still is, literally, centered around a christian church (not far from Mosese's house) and Mosese's family brought him up in the Lord. The same God you will all be worshipping this coming Sunday, I will be worshipping on a tiny, remote island in the pacific and in a different language! Amen! Or as they say here... Emeni!

Please pray for safe travels, divine appointments, and lots of fun, new experiences on the island!
Vinaka vakalevu ke lomani keida kece! (Much thanks and love to everyone!)

- Ositini (The Fijian translation of my name everyone refers to me as now :)

P.S. Sulus are becoming surprisingly comfortable.

P.S.S. I bought my very own "Nai Ivola Tabu" today! The Holy Bible, though my is a parallel of both English and Fijian! What a blessing! Even if I don't totally understand it yet, the word of God can now break the language barrier and I can now read to the individuals at our sites! Vanka vakalevu Jisu!!!!!

P.S.S.S. You can leave comments on the blow by clicking on the "comment" button below! Have a question you would like answered? Leave me a comment and I'll get back to you! :)