Lutu, he's like the village dog...

This is my dog, Lutu. He is precious and brings me much joy. My villagers love this dog as well, which is funny because they are scared of most other dogs, for good reason. They are terrifying, flea-infested mongrels and are just another mouth to feed. But for some reason, they love to pet Lutu, pick him up, watch him, joke about him, and such. He's been a great integration tool for me because now I have something to talk about with everyone. In fact, many times I won't be able to find him and he'll be asleep in someone else's house on a pile of dirty laundry with a full belly of whatever the villagers feed him. He's integrating nicely as well.

In Fiji, family relationships are very important and there are about a million different words for random relations. Relations like your uncle's wife's sister we would just say "we're related" and leave it at that. Here she is your Nana Levu (or big sister if she is the oldest girl in her family), or Nana lailai (little sister if she is the younger sister in her family). And that's if the uncle is on your dad's side. If the uncle is on your mom's side, his wife's sister is just Nei (auntie).

As a sign of respect, we call certain people certain names. I have learned most of my family, and call them by their appropriate names. It is not necessary to know someone's first name and is actually much more respectful to call them auntie or uncle or grandfather. One big cultural difference is how we refer to parents of children. For instance, my father would be called "Amanda's father" or Tamai Amanda because Amanda, my oldest sister is my father's first born child. And likewise my mother would be called "Amanda's mother" or Tinai Amanda. Everyone in the community would know my parents as this and would ask for clarification if someone said John and Lee Anne. So the best part of this story is now people have started calling me Tinai Lutu because he's my first born! Ridiculous but just another example of how fun-loving Fijians can be.

Lutu enjoys eating tinned tuna and milk. Both are expensive here so he eats like a king. He also enjoys chewing anything that moves, or doesn't. His favorite chew toy is my elbow, but I'm trying to wean him into chewing on the rope I fashioned out of an old t-shirt. I'm battling his flea situation now, and although I think he has too many, the villagers are all impressed that he only has 8 or 9 fleas. Apparently they are accustomed to more? His favorite place to sleep is on my face or on my suitcase.

Welcome to the family, Lutu.