Rajendra & Lautoko City

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From the village Rajendra took us to Lautoko City, and on the way he gave us some background on the history and culture of Fiji.
A man by the name of Thomas Baker was the first missionary to Fiji, and he brought with him his Methodist faith. He proved to be a very kind and friendly man who was popular with the natives. Some of the locals however, believed that if they killed Thomas and ate his brain they would become as smart as him. So they did indeed kill him. Eleanor had spoken to us about cannibalism, and showed us the tools they used to kill people, and how they extracted the brain and eyeballs for consumption. I thought Eleanor had said that they don't do this anymore except for at barbeques, but I was informed by Beck later on that she actually said that they only use the tools now at barbeques!
Rajendra continued on and started explaining how the two main cultures of Fiji get along so well despite the many differences. The Indian part of Fijian culture owns most of the businesses, while the Fijians control much of the tourism, eg. hotels.
Rajendra's grandparents were the first of his family to move to Fiji from India, and now he is a grandfather himself, with his grandson being born in Fiji two years ago. The two cultures never used to inter-marry, but it is slowly starting to change in the younger generations. The main reason behind this is religion. The Indians Hindu religion holds the cow sacred, and they don't eat beef. Rajendra explained to us how his uncle arranged his marriage to his wife, and how you can say no to an arranged marriage, but it has to be a good reason. Rajendra is still married!
Apparently Indians began migrating to Fiji around 130 years ago, and when we arrived at Lautoko City, our next destination, it was amazing to see the two distinctly different cultures operating together at the market. Of course we are only getting Rajendra's side of the story, but the two cultures certainly seem harmonious.
Lautoko City was packed, and while we didn't want to look like tourists, both of us being white and quite tall kind of singled us out. Beck was concerned that I had to walk a block by myself to the ATM, but I managed. Rajendra took us on a walk through the city which was good of him, because we wouldn't have been game to by ourselves. I've been to Mexico where there are absolutely no road rules, and Fiji isn't that bad, but it's certainly chaotic. Lots of tooting, hand waving and illegal overtaking. We were very careful crossing the road!
Rajendra was a great tour guide, and getting to see Lautoko City in a genuine light was priceless. When we got back to our hotel, we thanked Rajendra again, and took one last photo of him and his taxi.

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