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Welcome to Suva, Fiji’s capital city - where the air is muggy, the coast is concrete, and downtown boasts fewer trees than a New York City postcard. This morning is consumed with the familiar screaming and shouting from the taxi stand, mixed with the confabulation of babies in the apartments next door, Suva is full of babies, and everyone is pregnant. The heat is already sweltering so I take a stroll down to MHCC, Suva’s original shopping center, complete with air conditioning, except on Sundays. The fancy Australian coffee chain is filled with expats sipping iced-lattes and complaining about the heat. Newspaper headlines relay stories of tragic flash flooding in Nadi, Fiji’s second major city, where all the shimmering resorts are found. That's one thing Suva has going for it, there may not be any beaches but there’s hardly any storm warnings either. In terms of night-life, Suva boasts an all-American 6-cinema complex complete with current 3D movies and 1 liter disposable Coke cups that usually end up being kicked into the ocean by unaccompanied minors. For those seeking a more traditional pass-time, Kava is the activity of choice. Often termed “grog,” the kava root is a ceremonial drink, a staple for special occasions as well as being consumed casually with friends. It’s effects are similar to those of Marijuana but it’s intake method is not; the crushed roots are folded by hand into a bucket of water to produce a muddy texture which is then offered to guests one at a time by the Master of ceremonies. The drink is sipped out of a hollowed out coconut bowl which is filled to one of three sizes: the overflowing “Tsunami,” the mid level “high-tide,” and the foreigners/beginner bowl, “low tide”. Guests will usually be served first. As custom dictates, remember to clap once before taking the bowl into both hands, and then knock it back like a shot. Depending on the occasion, grog ceremony rules will vary in level of observance. Not to worry, Fijians are very welcoming, follow their lead and ask many questions. Being a foreigner in Fiji can be the experience of a lifetime, or a previous lifetime even. The best way to experience it is to allow yourself to be flooded by the sensory perceptions of the kava root ceremony and let yourself be taken on a journey to your tribal past.