This resort island nation in the Pacific is certainly a surprise. Having about half the
population being Indian and the majority of the population is Methodist. As a member of the Commonwealth, it gained its independence from the Brits. At first, Fiji just seemed like a normal Polynesian country to us but then, it turned out to be very interesting.

For more detailed information on Fiji’s history, economy, people and climate,click on the PDF:FIJI_info . The Fiji scrambles right there. FIJI_scramble 

Interesting facts about Fiji

1. The 300 islands, and 550 islets in Fiji, only about one – third of them are inhabitable.
2. That Fiji’s national languages are iToukei(Fijian), Hindi, Fijian Hindi, and English because of the big Indian majority.
3. The top of the head of the leaders in Fijian villages is sacred, so if your going to Fiji, don,t touch the leaders head and DEFINITELY do not wear sunglasses and/or a hat.
4. Western countries use “Fiji” as the name, that is the Tongan name for these islands, the natives call their home “Viti”.

                                         — By Isaac

FOOD

Fijians eat a lot of Indian food, such as curries, chicken, masala etc. But then there is also Native Fijian food: like cassava, tropical fruit, fish and more fish. Coconuts are also very popular. A coconut palm is on their flag with the bunch of bananas.

The national dish of Fiji is Lovo but we didn’t make it because it takes about a day to cook, and you cook the meat in the ground with charcoal… but I’m not sure if were that advanced.

Breakfast

Fijian Roti – We made it our own way because we couldn’t find a Fijian roti recipe.  We went with a version we know that involves coconut, as well, everything Fijian – including the flag – has coconut.

• 2 cups flour
• 2/3rd cup shredded coconut (NOT the sweetened kind)
• 1 cup hot water

Mix together flour and coconut and then add in hot water and stir until forms a ball. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Form dough into 10-12 balls and flatten into discs. Cook the discs in oil in frying pan for about 2 minutes on each side or until they start turning golden brown.

Sliced Pineapple & Guava Nectar

Dinner

Kokoda  – This is a dish like ceviche. Cooked in lime juice for 24 hours with peppers and onions. The only difference is that Fijians use coconut cream mixed in as well. Everybody loved it.

Cassava Sticks – Very much like french fries but a little crispier. Super delicious

Pina Colodas

Dessert: Cassava Cake –  Yummy! Make sure you get the cake nice and brown

                                                                                                        — By Isaac                                                                                                    

CULTURE

While Hawaii has its Hula, Fiji has a similar dance called the Meke – grass skirts and all. Its a traditional dance used to mark holidays and important events. From the videos we watched it seems to start out slow and pick up to quite a fast pace. Both men and women dance it, though in all the videos we watched, it was typically the men in grass skirts. Check out the video here: Malaga Meke (It starts off kind of like a music video – dancing starts a third of the way through)

So we decided to make our own “grass” skirts and try the Meke for ourselves. Love the way the kids got into it!

Fiji Grass Skirt

• Measure yarn around your waist with about six inches extra on each side
• Measure crepe paper from your waist to your ankle – then double it.
• Cut/rip about twenty strips of  double – length crepe paper
• Fold the crepe in half and place the loop end just over the yarn, then pull the two ends through the loop and tighten gently
• Repeat the prior step for the rest of the paper strips, and space them out evenly
• Tie skirt around your waist – Enjoy!

And here the kids are getting their Meke on!!! Meke in Maryland