Ahh, crap, we had a rough night on Friday night, next door they are building a new house. Most exterior is finished and they have power there. On Friday night some of the builders were having a 'good' time at the expense of someone else. They were beating the "pain" (as Alec says) out of this one Fijian guy. We called the police in Namaka(2 minutes by goat!), they said they would come by. They never did. I phoned again a 1/2 hour later and they never came. The people across the road called the police, they never came. Not at all, not the whole night. I know, since I was up for it. I stood there with my eyelids glued back witnessing this thing, they were screaming and yelling and kicking (4 on 1) the guy on the floor and throwing punches on him while he was laying in the floor. I prayed, 'God send an intervention, make this stop.'(of course I was frightened they would see me peeking out at this and would then turn on us.) I was silent. Elias sparked up since he had to go and make a pee and my head swung around to see him and give him my attention as I didn't want the builders to hear him crying and guess that we were paying attention to what was going on. I helped him get through his midnight (2am) pee and when I came back to my perch at the window, the fighting escalated to a point where I thought they might toss the guy out the 2nd floor window, just after they killed him! (keep in mind, it's 2am, I haven't slept, I can't understand the language they are using and I have a vast imagination) Thus the intervention, prayed to God from my lips, came from my own mouth. I yelled out "STOP" trying to sound as non-north American as possible "LEAVE NOW" and then the whispering and the shuffling of the beat-up guy to another room and more whispering and then they replied "YES!" and several words from a language I don't speak and "Police", One even pretended to be the Police and say 'you have the right to remain silent etc' to the other guys and finally they yelled out "OK, we cut out this bull**** we go" and they tore out of there in their work truck like speed demons and left the guy screaming about his eyes and yelling for George and many other things in a language that I don't speak. He hung around that house, throwing rocks or something at the house for hours, wandering up and down Beverly Hills until 5am. Yelling for George each time he came back to the house.

The next day the building crew showed up for work and it was stone cold silent ALL DAY. Gerry went over there to talk with them and told them it was completely unacceptable behaviour or something to that degree and then he told them that if they ever heard that kind of stuff from our house he hoped they would call the cops and make sure they came. They all apologised to him and told him they were only having 'fun' !!! I think at least one of them wasn't.Well, I spose I'm a little off of this country this last week. 2 nights later someone else was partying in that empty house but it was a laughing party, not a 'kick the crap out of someone' type of party.

That was a week ago. It feels like something has changed in this area, several people I know have suffered break-ins. Some near us and some in a 'protected' area with security etc. The concesus was that the police never showed up because, 1) they were scared - no firearms, no protection for themselves and 2) they have no transportation.

The vibration that used to be comfotable in this country has now changed to make me feel like a true unwanted outsider. I drove down the hill to our house and a large group of kids threw a few little rocks ot my car. I stopped and for 'some' reason not one of those kids looked my way. With about 25 kids there I saw no point in making a scene. It just drove the point home to me that I really am in a foreign country. 2 nights ago some tourists (a couple on their way to dinner) were walking from their hotel (it's assumed anyway) and they were picked up and the man taken somewhere, beaten and tied and the lady driven off to a very rural area and her future is now destroyed. At least mentally. One of them is in the hospital, the other one reeling from what happened. When my friends house was broken into the police couldn't come by to investigate as their one and only vehicle was out in that rural area until that investigation was over. My friend offered to go and pick up the police but they declined, she offered to sent a taxi or carrier van to pick up and even pay for it...again, declined. These last 2 events happened very close to where we live.

Just when tranquility arrives and I am feeling more like I am at home in this country....what does it mean? Don't get to comfortable? this world is not my home? and, of coarse, at the back of my mind in the impending birth of my last little baby (most likely anyway) Do I really want to take a chance and deliver the bubba here? surrounded by people like this? more on that later.

And did I mention the new bill the parliament want to pass? it will give amnesty to anyone (past, present and future) who was involved directly or remotely in any political ramblings or coups. About a hundred or so crims are just itching to get out of jail so they can overthrow the gov't once again and we are entering an election year... more on that later too.

So, lock your doors, say your prayers

and "let it rain..." (Michael W. Smith song)