It Takes a Village

This photo is of some other patrons at the Chinese restaurant here in Savu Savu, who wanted to hold Wade. One of the most marvelous things about Fiji so far is how much the Fijians love Wade. So often when we are eating dinner, our waitress will offer to hold Wade so we can enjoy a meal.

The first time this happened he was sleeping in the Ergo on me, and it’s hard to eat without spilling food on his head. So, I passed him over and he continued to sleep on 2 different waitresses, going with them as they did their jobs, and then was returned to me when we were ready to go.

When Fijians want to hold him, they clap their hands twice and then reach out for him. They do this if they notice that he is being fussy, or just because they know him now and like to hold him. This has happened at the internet cafe, at our favorite Indian place, when we go to the Copra Shed Dockside Cafe for a coffee, at the Chinese restaurant, at the fancy restaurant where we went for my birthday…you get the idea. It’s so lovely!! I can’t imagine that ever happening in the States, and we will surely miss this aspect of Fijian culture when we are no longer here.

One of the waitresses in the Copra Shed, Anjana, even gave him a present! An outfit and an angry birds toy that he loves. All of the orange polo shirt photos are Copra Shed workers, which is the marina where we stayed for the first 3 weeks here.

In Fiji there is quite a big Indo-Fijian population, especially in the towns and bigger cities. Back when Fiji was a British colony, the Indians were brought here to work in the plantations.