WAYA, YASAWA ISLANDS, FIJI

Now they tell us the cyclone (it has a name now: Jim) is moving south and dissipating, but we're still feeling it's effects. The rain has let up some, but it's still pretty blustery. This morning it was decent enough, though, for us to tour the neighboring village of Nalauwaki, where most of the staff of Octopus live. It's about a 15-minute climb to the east side of the island, over a steep hill, past a cemetery, some pig pens, and a forest of boulders. The villagers live pretty simply, although they have satellite TV, which I thought was kind of funny. It's all about the rugby, apparently. We walked through their community center, where women were weaving pandanus mats, and their church (Methodist, like most of Fiji). On the grass outside, some women were selling handicrafts--shells, jewelry, fans, etc.--and I bought a necklace for F$10, to support the village economy more than anything else.

Afterward, Chris, Doug, and I went snorkeling near the village. The surf was less intense on this side of the island, although the storm has still made the visibility here pretty awful. We didn't see too many fish, although a six-inch remora (sharksucker) attached itself to me and hitched a ride for the entire time I was in the water. They're a very cool-looking fish, and despite their name, they don't really suck onto you, they just have a flat disc on the top of their head that lightly sticks to your skin. Mainly, it just tickles. This one started pissing me off, though, when it mistook a mole on my chest for a piece of food, and kept biting it. Remoras make me a little nervous, too, because I always wonder if they just hopped off a big shark or something.