Circus Mission

Last Sunday (Siga Tabu) Leslie and I went to my village to go to church. Yes, I have become quite the church-goer lately. After the church service we went over to one of the houses in the village for lunch. We found out that there was a sort of party going on that day and a big feast had been prepared. I asked (in Fijian) what the celebration was for. I was told (also in Fijian) that the feast was for one of the boys in the village who was returning from the hospital. I am still learning Fijian, so it took me a while to figure out exactly what was going on. I made out that a 13 year old boy from the village had been in the hospital for the past four days, something was cut, and he's coming back today. The man telling me all this kept sticking his index finger out and drawing the finger from his other hand across it in a cutting motion. " So he cut his finger off?" I asked. " No, his penis!" was the reply. " He cut his penis off?" I asked, shocked. " Yes, just the tip. He is better now. It is our custom." Then I understood that a circumcision had taken place. Here in Fiji circumcision is kind of a coming of age thing and takes place when a boy is 12 or 13.
After this strange conversation we sat around on the patio to have lunch. The boy walked out of the house bow-legged with a sulu wrapped around him. He was holding the front of the sulu about a foot away from his crotch. He looked really embarrassed. All eyes were on him as he sat down to eat. I was glad that I was not in his place.