On the Sunday that we were at the Octopus, Alan and I hiked over to the local Nalauwaki village with a group to attend the church service. The trip gave us a chance to see the walk that the resort staff make everyday (over a very steep hill) and let us see the village where they live. In this village the center is the church (unlike the village where the rugby match was held- see other post). The church service was Methodist but completely in Fijian so we didn't understand a word. The elder men sat up front behind the
preacher and the other men sat on the left side of the church. Most of the men wore button downs or some other formal type of shirt but with a long sort of wrap skirt in a basic color, like navy. Some men wore ties. All the children sat on the right side in the front and were threatened by a very old man with a very long stick anytime they acted up (quite humorous). But children being children, their attentions wandered frequently even with the 'fire-and-brimstone' (as we were told) sermon being loudly recanted. Behind the children were the women, who dressed in long, often brightly colored dresses. No one could wear shoes inside the church and we were required to wear clothing that covered our knees and shoulders. The main reason we went to the service was to hear the choir which was beautiful. The choirs in Fiji compete for some sort of title and the choir from this village is quite good. It is amazing that in such a poor, small village they can round up such amazing voices. The choir came back to the resort later that night and sang for everyone at Octopus Resort.
On the Sunday that we were at the Octopus, Alan and I hiked over to the local Nalauwaki village with a group to attend the church service. The trip gave us a chance to see the walk that the resort staff make everyday (over a very steep hill) and let us see the village where they live. In this village the center is the church (unlike the village where the rugby match was held- see other post). The church service was Methodist but completely in Fijian so we didn't understand a word. The elder men sat up front behind the 
preacher and the other men sat on the left side of the church. Most of the men wore button downs or some other formal type of shirt but with a long sort of wrap skirt in a basic color, like navy. Some men wore ties. All the children sat on the right side in the front and were threatened by a very old man with a very long stick anytime they acted up (quite humorous). But children being children, their attentions wandered frequently even with the 'fire-and-brimstone' (as we were told) sermon being loudly recanted. Behind the children were the women, who dressed in long, often brightly colored dresses. No one could wear shoes inside the church and we were required to wear clothing that covered our knees and shoulders. The main reason we went to the service was to hear the choir which was beautiful. The choirs in Fiji compete for some sort of title and the choir from this village is quite good. It is amazing that in such a poor, small village they can round up such amazing voices. The choir came back to the resort later that night and sang for everyone at Octopus Resort.
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