This morning dawned calm and lovely; we had a quick breakfast and
prepared to take the dinghy to the village of Somo Somo. At the beach, a
young woman greeted us with “bula” (hello) and a shy smile. She offered
to lead us to the home of the chief of the village for the “sebu-sebu”
ceremony. All visitors are expected to visit the chief to ask for
permission to stay in the harbor, use the beach, and visit the village,
and the visitor is expected to bring a gift of “kava”. Kava is a
beverage made from the roots of a certain plant; we had purchased it
dried in the market of a larger city. At times, the sebu-sebu ceremony
includes drinking some of the mildly narcotic beverage; our chief did
not offer that (perhaps it was too early in the day?). He made a solemn
speech to us in Fijian, with his wife translating into English, and gave
us permission to explore their village. He also offered some fans he had
woven; we bought several for $10 Fiji (about $5 US).

Somo Somo has about 70 houses, with a population of around 275. The
first people we saw from the beach were actually the kindergarteners,
who shouted “bula!” to us from their play yard. The elementary school
students were at school near the far edge of the village, and the high
schoolers went to a school in the next village. Morning and afternoon,
we have seen flat “school bus” boats filled with 8-10 children speeding
across the water.

After our visit with the chief and his wife, the young woman led us to a
small craft market. The women of the village had spread cloths on the
ground and displayed their wares: bead necklaces and bracelets, sarongs,
papayas and bananas, and placemats and table runners made of a bark
cloth called “tapa”. After we made our purchases, we strolled through
the village, seeing what life is like here. Most houses had a solar
panel for electricity and a cistern to collect rain water from the roof;
that appears to be their only source of fresh water. A large pale pink
building was the church, with a cemetery out front and a beautiful
spreading tree.

On our way back to our boat, Mark saw two small children playing near
their mother, and asked if he could take their photo; afterward, he
showed them their picture on his camera screen. A few minutes later, a
young teenager came over, asking if Mark would take his photo also. He
posed, very confidently, and was also delighted to see his image on the
screen.

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