January 14, 2008 (Posting late due to access issues!)
Suva, Fiji
I am writing at the Suva Motor Inn which we arrived at in the last hour or so. While it is difficult to believe that I have been absent from this country for 12 years, much remains so hauntingly familiar. The moment that I exited the plane the sights, sounds and smells returned to me in a brilliant instant. I have had many of these returns, the memories more numerous each time as the years fall away. The moist air is so gentle, soft and caressing in the warm breezes that play across your skin. Yet in the next moment it can feel stifling, hot, humid and inescapable. I tend toward describing it in a positive vein even while I know it can be and is, uncomfortable. In the end however, I am here, now, in the moment and I am not anywhere else. So I work on the acceptance angle, not only with the weather but also with the acceptance of things I cannot change – like recalcitrant customs officials (more on this later!).
We in the West have sheltered ourselves from the immediacy of our environment so much. Yet none will quite complain quite so quickly as yours truly when the cold seeps and works its way to my bones! Much of this sheltering has been from simple necessity, the biological imperative to survive, to not freeze to death in the cold . . . so that life continues. But for much of the South Pacific the cold is not a life threatening event and when the temperature drops even a bit it is almost comical the amount of clothing that is donned. I remember that after a few years I became that way too. Even today, I feel as though I am extremely sensitive or reactive to cold in relation to others around me.
Before encamping at the Suva Motor Inn we stopped by Saint Vincent DePaul’s Catholic Charity (which does a tremendous amount of excellent work here and around the world). The customs officials had stopped by and have declared we cannot open the three containers (of 2 million dollars worth of medical supplies for distribution around Fiji) and must pay a customs duty based on the value of the goods. Well, you can imagine what this amount could add up to and that is prohibitive, unjust and outside the bounds of what many may consider common decency. In the morning we have to head down to Customs at the wharf to see what can be done about the situation. Evidently there is a new rule as of January 1, 2008 that this law is in effect.
This is one part of what I was trying to address above. It takes an extraordinary amount of patience and fortitude in dealing with this type of occurrence. Talk about trying one’s soul! Clearly someone is trying to benefit by ‘extorting’ money from the Loloma Foundation but all in the guise of the law. The de facto head of government is named Bainimarama. I am not sure what his titular name is, Prime Minister, Commander in Chief . . . because he is the head of the military and this is a military dictatorship no matter what dressing is put on by the ‘chef’. It is an extraordinarily complex web of affairs and history must be consulted in the analytical attempt at understanding this situation. That is beyond my scope here and certainly beyond most reader’s interest.
I have no internet access at this writing. I saw several internet cafés in Suva so I hope to be able to upload these blog entries and some photos of our adventures. The people of Fiji remain helpful and welcoming as ever – perhaps that explains the depth of my passion for the place and people even though it can drive me quite mad. For now though I go to take a cold shower, drink a cold beer and recover from an unplanned extended journey. Our flight from LAX was delayed seven and a half hours! There is another example of basically having all choices taken from you and being forced to accept the inevitable – excellent practice and reintroduction to the vicissitudes of travel (and being in the South Pacific!). Ah, if only I could share more of the sounds, sights, smells and feelings of this place I called home for two and a half years.
Thanks for reading – Aloha and Bula Vinaka to all.
David
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