How disappointing: No dead animals in this one.

Since the villagers insist on reminding me I'm getting levulevu/fatty fatty on a daily basis, I decided to introduce them to Lulu. Most of my friends know and love Lulu. For those of you who don't know her, it's probably because I haven't drank enough beer around you for her to emerge from her slumber. Lulu was my beer baby in America. She likes to party and is a great date. Here, Lulu is around after every meal of kassava, rourou (boiled dalo leaves), and a bowl of tea. Yes we drink tea from bowls. It helps cool the scalding hot tea cool faster I've found.

So after dinner one night the chief was laying on his back rubbing his big belly. I did this too and the chief's wife made a joke about how I look pregnant. And I say the chief looks preggers too. Then I asked him what his baby's name was. He just laughed but I said mine was Lulu.

This story gets passed around a bit and a couple days later I'm telling story with some lady friends and they say Emi is so fat. I agree and say she's going to be beautiful. Who they ask. Lulu I reply. And then they ask who's the father and I reply kassava, fish, buns pancakes and curry. Thus introducing more villagers to the wonderfulness that is Lulu. Now instead of asking me to eat more or asking if I'm full, they ask about Lulu and if she's full. Pretty hilarious.

Some of you may be wondering how fat is amy getting, considering I've spent most of my life as what one may call thin. I'm actually back to the weight I was when I left America, finally. If you remember, I was very sick the first couple weeks here. I lost about 10 pounds or so and now it's all back plus 2 or 3 more. I'm finally strong enouch to do some of the daily chores people do here (ex: weeding with a machete) without struggling because I'm so weak. Considering I was emaciated when I got to my site, no wonder I look fat to the villagers now. I feel great though. Healthy and strong than I've been in a long time. Thanks to the handwashing my clothes and the scrubbing, weeding around the house, farming and walking up all the steep hills around here.

I wish I could think of some more interesting stories to tell you all. Feel free to ask me any questions about Fijian life. Sometimes I forget that you don't know what it's like on a daily basis here and you only get a tiny glimpse of Fiji from the blog. I'll do my best in the future to give you more about Fijian culture. But I'm still learning and figuring out why they do what they do. But I'm definitely learning. Until next time, stay safe and I'm heading back into the bush.