24 things

comments should be back on, sorry to have lost yours and I have no way to reply to any recently left comments. apologies.




10 things I like about Fiji

1. The lush greenery as far as the eyes can see, and the mountains.
2. The gardening
3. Fresh fruit and veggies. There is nothing like a banana from your own tree, so sweet and soft. (Organic is not the specialty, it is the norm, straight from the ground to the market stand, no additives or pesticides)
4. The rain storms – can be frightening and powerful but the fresh cool breeze that accompanies it is like nothing else
5. You can drive like a nut
6. Round-abouts on the roads, instead of 4 way stops, makes driving even more fun.
7. People loves babies here, I rarely have to hold mine when doing the shopping, someone always just comes up and holds and snuggles him for as long as I’m doing my shopping. This also applies in restaurants, resorts and airports.
8. Have I mentioned the beaches and water?
9. The underwater Garden of Eden that is prevalent under every drop of ocean water here. If you snorkel, it’s like a communion, taking in all what God has given, unbelievable and pure…..
10. The people that make up this country, vastly different from each other, yet making it work for the sake of their country.
11. Ok, I had one more…. i love the winter here! Temps that are do-able and lowered humidity.
12. rhino beetles... they look just like little black rhinos.


10 things I dislike about Fiji

1. The humidity…. we are talking 800% humidity in the summer.
2. The season of cane burning and the general all year-round burning of roadside rubbish…. pyros. We are probably all environmentally asthmatic. No visible sign of legal enforcement, even though the burning of the cane fields is illegal.
3. Availability of products…sometimes it takes 3 months to get all the things you need to just make lasagna.
4. It never snows here!
5. EVERYONE drives like a nut.
6. Housework is a fulltime endeavor. Every day is spent in a spring-cleaning mode. No such thing as a once a week go-over.
7. People forget about the older child and, I think, rudely ignore the child once he’s past the baby stage. Eli wanders why he gets no attention these days.
8. Getting to the beautiful shores is an hour’s drive or a boat trip or, if there is space, a seaplane ride. We rarely get to the beach. The closest beach here is an hour drive and the nice tranquil side of it has been sold off to the highest hotel bidder and no one gets to use that beach unless you are staying there, the hotel won’t be complete for another 2 years. Really lame and shortsighted.
9. Little and/or no enforcement of endangered species and reef preservation/conservation
10. The military coups. We are coming up on an election in May and people are getting a bit nervous and the police seem to have very little power.
11. Yes, another one, it’s really far from my ‘peeps’ would that it was a quicker trip, closer to my loved ones and Wal-Mart. I love Wal-Mart;)
12. cochroaches, moths the size of baseballs, ants (fire and regular), preying mantis (apparently you don't want them to pee in your eye or you'll go blind. this is not a problem as, generally speaking, we don't let anything pee in our eyes!), Minah birds (smaller than ravens, scream louder than ravens, poop more than ravens), spiders (although we are told they are not poison-laden, they still sting/bite and a really creepy and large)


Now, you know I have left out plenty of things from this list, as always, the grass is greener on that other side but Fiji is just a country you have to know it, to love it. We are actually getting to know it. moce.