FRIENDLY FIJI

BULA BULA

Cannibal fun and games

Fiji’s “cannibal” phase is thankfully over. That was when tribal warfare led to the practice of devouring the vanquished enemy to prevent his power transferring to his offspring!

Today the people of Fiji have transferred that angst to happiness and are incredibly friendly. Everywhere we go we are greeted with broad smiles and hearty “Bula’s”, the word for ‘hello’ in the common Fijian dialect.  There are 14 different provinces in Fiji, and each has their own words for things, but Bula is enough to know.

The friendliness is infectious, although it was unnerving at first. Having very large men approach you with great broad wide smiles, eyes twinkling making eye contact with you, clasping their hands and directing a booming BULA in your direction, with many of them wearing sulus…or skirts… is not something you encounter often on Main Street in Collegeville. But we have come to love the cheery way of Fiji. From men to women to children Bula is heard often first, and then the query “where are you from?” The people of Fiji are genuinely interested and happy you are here in their land.

Billy at Bedarra Beach Inn

The other day we took a taxi into nearby Sigatoka to shop for Bula shirts (Aloha in Hawaii…lol) and we couldn’t walk a few steps without having to return a smile and a Bula. Even touts outside appliance shops trying to corral others into their store would stop to smile and say Bula. Never in our time in Sigatoka did we ever feel that it was edgy or dangerous as we wandered around, although some of the vendors hawking their overpriced wares in the market from their tiny stalls were a bit pushy.

Here at the Bedarra Beach Inn, our home for our first week in Fiji, the staff all knew our names from the first day and we are greeted each day with a smile and a Bula, and we get the feeling this is just the way of the people of Fiji, not the commerce of traveling.

Fiji has proved to be a wonderful place and well worth the effort of getting here.

Thanks for reading. BULA!

Love Janet and greg

© 2022 by Gregory Dunaj