The other night after the small kava ceremony at the place I was staying, a few of the local villagers who work at the hostal invited a few of us back to their village to part take in a celebration kava ceremony they were having for the new year. Apparently they had events everynight since Jan 1st and this was the final night. A couple of the folks from the hostal and I went over to check out what real Fijian life is like.

In everything you see, they paint this picture of Fijian life consisting of headdresses, grass skirts, flowers, etc. We got the behind-the-scene look into the real deal.

Kava is a root that Fijians grow and have used for their pleasure since the beginning. The narcotic is mixed with water and served around a circle in coconut bowls. The kava is first served to the chief of the village, then the rest of the leaders, then the villagers. Before taking the bowl you clap once and say "Bula," then drink the kava water in one sip, return the bowl, then finish it off by clapping 3 times to signify respect.

We expected to finally get a glimpse at this guy in the headdress upon out trip to the village, but to our surprise... true island life is a little bit different. The chief is this old grey haired, leather-skinned character that looks a lot like a loggerhead sea turtle. His fingers and toes are all gnarly from climbing cocnut palms and playing rugby. With every smile he flashes his 2 remaining teeth with a big bubblegum pink tongue between. His traditional outfit is an old pair of rugby shorts and a faded green tourist tank-top that says "Bula Fiji."

We drank and drank the kava until the dancing began. The girls from the village come tap you on the shoulder and then it is your job to get up and dance. Something you definitely do not WANT to do after 10 bowls of kava. It was funny though, the girls do not look you in the eye when dancing. You sort of dance by yourself with a girl 4 feet in front of you. I slapped the planks and let 'em have a little sumpin' sumpin'. American dancing boy was my new title.

The traditional Fijian Kava music blared from a Sony boombox with one blown speaker. The music was kind of like Fijian Backstreet Boys on lots of kava. The villagers stay up until the sun comes up, but by 1 AM I couldn't handle anymore and we all went back to the hostal. My official village experience was one to remember... the Loggerhead chief and his village on the kava.