Volcano view to the northeast reef
11 December 2010 | Rotuma Fiji
Rebecca with Patrick
It turned out to be more than just a rest stop. It was in many ways a highlight of Fiji. Although was it really Fiji? Same friendly people...same hospitality and gorgeous smiles. Same school schedule for the children, and same wide spread fluency in English. But sevusevu, bringing a gift of cava, with a local chief - no...we weren't expected to do sevusevu anywhere on Rotuma. They drink Kava, but they grow their own high grade stuff. When the locals ask us where the last place we visited was, they say "- Oh - you came from Fiji"...like it was another country...not theirs. And the people had a different look than the Fijians had...a more Polynesian look with straight hair and different shaped eyes and noses. But then there are many exceptions to that statement. The dancing, as we witnessed later in the week, was like back in French Polynesia...not the more sedentary dancing of Fiji. The language was not Fijian nor Samoan or Maori. No one else in the Pacific can understand Rotuman, and of course, neither could we. Language in the Pacific is as diverse as language in Europe.