False Fingernail Visit in the Emergency Room

In the last few days there was a patient who came into an Emergency Room that had removed their false fingernail. While doing so, it hurt. So they came into the emergency room.

There was nothing wrong with it. No pain upon walking in. This visit cost them nothing because we, that's right, you and I baby . . . we pay for this person to be an absolute idiot.

Who is worse? The idiots running the country who do not have National Health Insurance or fingernail people. Just once, I would like to screen people at the door based on the stupidity of their complaint.

The other day, in another Emergency room a mother brought in her child with the barest visible bruise on her nose. Someone threw a CD and it hit her nose. No crying, no blood, nothing at all. So there is another Thousand dollars or so that this family does not even think of because they DO NOT HAVE TO PAY. So they come in and laugh, play, misbehave to the point where we have to say something.

Welcome to American Medicine.

Speechless . . .

when there is not much to say. We get tied up in our own lives, our 'personal' lives that can hurt so much or be the root of great joy. Till disaster hits and then all of that becomes irrelevant in the larger context of life. We all have personally momentous decisions to make I guess, ones that will have a major impact on our lives. But often these decisions are made in a vacuum, or our personal bubble of life and perhaps a few friends know of what is developing or occupying you.

Then I look at so many dead in Burma, so many dead in Sechuan and I just want to go and work, to stop thinking, to just do and place my own life where it should be in the larger scheme of things . . . unimportant for awhile, not irrelevant but certainly it pales in comparison to many thousands dead, dying, homeless, wounded, suffering.

So easy for a liberal to whine and moan as I do now, to lie awake at the early hours of the morning, wondering just what the hell it is I am doing with my own life when so many suffer.

My own familiarity with what I write here is disgusting and makes me sick. When will I rise up and make those changes in my life which I know are inevitable? They must be made and indeed the formation, realization and actual execution of those decisions began long ago. So despite whatever paltry personal pain I will go through? Irrelevant, unpleasant, necessary.

I must remember those who are in need greater than myself. To take action without endless jabbering.

David

Oh please, did I write this!

What to do when you are going insane.
Listening to music that keeps you warm inside,
dropping into your head
to keep you out of your mind and into your heart.

wish you were with me cause I've been thinking about you
you don't know me anymore,
and not that you ever have,
and not that you ever did.
But you are sure inside my head like the music I can't keep out.

You keep goin' round and round
you are the perfect girl for me
the one that's in my head

for I've got all your imperfections down you see
I know you inside and out.
You are that song in my head and heart
I know your every verse

You are the song that I sing
when things are going from bad to worse
It's the struggle to make you real I see
that's in my heart and soul

for your heart is the song I'll sing
when I sing for love I yearn for.

Leaving the Ridge

Aloha . . . while it is time to leave my beloved Ridge I find myself more reluctant to do so. It was such an incredibly beautiful day and I was able to get so much done. I mowed the yard and that was difficult as it was so long, thick and wet here and there. I cut down the first of several oak trees and this was the small one of the bunch. An old rose (I believe it is called a Cecil Warner but who knows!) had began to live in this Oak tree and I unfortunately had to take much of it with the tree. As old as it is I am sure it will regenerate and grow afresh once again. Besides, I did not take the whole thing!

Looks like 'my' website is down for now, tried taking a peak at my last post and it will not come up. I installed a couple of network extenders up here (see www.open-mesh.com) and it seems to have made all the difference in signal strength and range. Now all I have to do is replace the electronics that I have lost from PG&E's giant power surge that came through a few months ago. Auwe!

Thanks for reading,

David

elnabaker.com and studio360.org

Aloha, as I sat around the fire tonight, watching the stars, being oh so stunningly obvious introspective man (that was a joke people) I also caught studio360.org on KQUED (88.5). I listened to Elna Baker doing a spot she entitled, 'My Grandmother's Dress'. It was one of the most hauntingly beautiful, hilarious, sad but joyous pieces of radio work I have heard in a long time. Please do yourself a favor and check the piece out at:

http://www.studio360.org/episodes/2008/04/11/segments/96586

You can also check out her website at: www.elnabaker.com

She has some screamingly funny video clips hosted, where else these days but on youtube.com.

Thanks Elna, I'll be keeping up with your career. Thanks to you for a wonderful evening that you did not know you gave as a gift (but hope she knows after she reads all the comments people left at studio360.org)!

Thoughts on the Ridge of Dreams

I am up on my family's Ridge Ranch for a few days. We call it that because it was or perhaps is a Ranch and on Seaview Ridge. More apt to call it a tree farm because we grow coastal Redwoods on our 150 acres of land. Less apt is Seaview since we have no view of the sea unless we cut down many trees on land that we do not lay claim to nor wish to. It is, in fact, Salt Lake State Park land.

The silence and the peace here . . . well . . . it is hard to describe. Yes, one could say it is lonely and 'in the sticks' but if you knew the people here you would not be lonely. It 'feels' lonely at this moment but that is my own melancholy that anchors me to that and anchors, if one is lucky can either be pulled up or the line severed. Used to the din and clamor of life below it takes some time to sink into the meaning of life here, to let it gently cradle you into it, lowering you softly into its welcoming, embracing silence. For its silence is anything but . . . the whooshing flap of the raven's wings, the clicking communications and cawing rap as they wend their way through wind-blown aeries, from redwood to redwood, branch to branch. Then in the distance, there is sometimes the boom and crash of surf and sand . . . and occasionally the whooping bark of a laughing sea lion, fierce and beautiful in its intensity. Through this 'quiet' is the hum of twenty or twenty five hummingbird wings thrumming in ferocious intensity. Under that are the sound of grasshoppers and crickets living their busy lives. As I sink into this I become so aware of my own place in the universe and somehow, more at peace, at least in this single moment.

While the rest of the world in its many places hums with injustice, suffering, anger, violence and more I can be here in my temporary refuge. It can serve as that I think, a place to reconnect, to ponder, think, exist with and without thought. It may be the place where I will die, or hope to die perhaps in what I hope is some distant future! As time passes I become increasingly aware of this fact and that as much as we may pretend to 'own' (and now in this instant that idea is quaint to say the least) the land . . . in truth, it 'owns' us. It will endure beyond this mortal flesh of mine. In Fiji I learned that deep connection and now, I feel it here in this place as I have so often before over the years. Musing upon my own mortality I imagine.

Yet what is this restlessness that drives me? I strive to understand and know, to come to some sort of accommodation with it. A childhood of constant movement, of re adaptation at each new posting, living (and still proud of it in some way for some reason) as an Air Force "Brat". This spoiled me in some way, always a new horizon, forced to get along and be able to get along and make new friends quickly. So I grew up longing for connection, for a sense of community, to 'belong' yet always knowing as a child that I was 'different'. I had seen and done things that others could only imagine and dream about and that some would shirk away from in shock, content to be content.

This restlessness, this hunger for newness, for the horizon yet unseen, the sunrise and set of each new place, the searching for a loved familiar face, this is what drives me to move. To live in a country other than my birthplace, to remain dissatisfied because in the end, I always know that there is so much more to be lived, each and every day of my life.

That is why, coming to this place, I can fall to my knees in wonderment and thankfulness for this blessing, this honor, this realization of how grateful, how lucky and how happy I can be in this moment, in this place.

On paper I am a citizen of the United States. But this idea of nation statehood is what damages us. I see myself as a citizen of the world, a world citizen, call it what you will. The concept derives importance in its articulation and belief in it. Cease the nationalistic jingoism and perhaps we may begin to someday act with the community of people in mind and not the community of nations. Woodrow Wilson's United Nations was a beginning but only that. I fear for what is coming.

Thanks for reading.

David

My Visit to San Quentin Prison

Aloha. A few weeks ago I was able to visit San Quentin Prison near San Francisco. One of the oldest prisons in the United States it was originally started aboard a ship that was anchored offshore. It was built in the 1850's and to this day many parts of it reflect that heritage or time period. I did not take the public tour but rather was escorted by one of the medical personnel - a nurse to be specific. It was one of the most interesting experiences I have had.

By way of a brief background the Prison system in California is under Federal receivership meaning they are subject to Federal oversight and control of the whole system. I will not delineate further here as there are plenty of other much better bloggers with much more and better information that are keeping up with the process.

My own background as a nurse has largely been Medical Surgical nursing and while I would say I have competently taken care of patients I am not a great nurse. I'm striving to be . . . I have excellent rapport, am a good history taker and can take very good care of them on a psychological level. My first love has always been the Emergency Medical System (EMS) since I started in the field as an EMT and than moved into the Emergency Room (ER) as an ER Technician. Of late I have been all over the place looking at how we do medicine in this country - I have visited the Veterans Administration and part of my search was to visit the State correctional system.

Overall what I see (to no great surprise) is an overburdened and underfunded system, at many levels, stretched to the breaking point. I see the patients and staff doing the best that they can but clearly, the Federal Government's priority is keeping America safe by war fighting, combating terrorism and spreading Peace, Freedom and Democracy around the globe. I think that if they continue to ignore the American people that there will be trouble - personally I would like to see a revolution, an overthrow of the conservatives and neoconservatives.

But I digress . . . brief impressions of the medical system at San Quentin. So much to do with so few resources yet they tell me that it has gotten so much better. Unique challenges abound, for example an inmate suffers a heart attack yet locked in a cell, not under direct observation poses a challenge as to getting to them in time to attempt resuscitation.

I did not find it a scary place. I was very respectful and indeed this last week a few guards were stabbed in a riot in Southern California. So things can change in an instant. I am not sure I would wish to work there but I went with the intention of not having a closed mind about it and yes, I would still consider it at this point and I do not even know the benefits and pay. Deep down I believe that all people deserve health care to the best level possible.

I did find myself a bit nervous at times but I never saw so many guards in my life. I would have liked to work a shift and that may still be possible - they are checking into it. I do know that the stress alone of being in the system can lead to major problems in previously healthy people. It was noisy, crowded but also busy with inmates talking, laughing, and just trying to get through there day.

It was an amazing place and I may write more but this post is long enough for now. Thanks for reading, always.

David

Peace Corps Director - my application

Aloha and yes I am applying for a Peace Corps Director position somewhere in the world. My lack of some languages limits me, I speak German and Fijian but do not speak Spanish, French, or Portuguese. I don't really care where I go but care that I contribute somewhere or somehow.

Send career leads my way for things like this and thanks.

David

Chinese Leaders Suddenly Realize They Are Livinging in the 50's!

With all the kerfluffle going on in Tibet - and by this I mean the continuing killing, jailing, assault of the Tibetans - I laughed out loud at come of the comments of the so called leader of the Autonomous Region of Tibet and by Premier Hu Jintao. They may be able to ship thousands of troops into Tibet and brutalize the so called 'splittist' but much of the world laughs at their crudity, dated language and apparent belief that the world believes their outright BS and lies.

What I would tell the Chinese leadership is this . . . look, you have the opportunity to NOT be like America in so many ways. The party tries desperately to not follow the Western economic model but in reality is engaged in a headlong rush to massive oil consumption, overall consumption and pollution with little to no regard for the long term impact on the planet.

Instead of cracking down on Tibet - Leave! Get the hell out, prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that China will be an example of a moral or ethical leadership. Yeah, I know, I can hear the screams of laughter now.

I am ashamed enough of my own government and our embarrassing "President" that I can barely stand anyone who thinks the Dalai Lama supports violence and is behind the events in Tibet. If I was Tibetan I would be angry at the Han Chinese also and the government that is bringing millions of them to my country. If that happened here I would not like my culture threatened - the cultural genocide the Dalai Lama speaks of so eloquently.

The leaders of China are almost a bigger joke than George Bush except they are all responsible for so many deaths.

Jackie Ryan - Jazz

Aloha - I caught an unbelievably great show the other night at Sonoma State University. Jackie Ryan was the singer and I must admit my great ignorance (and some sadness) at not having known about her before. She put on a very professional, fun, personable and a definite jazz lovers show. She picked great tunes, has wonderful and engaging presence and for gods sake get yourself an opportunity to see her. I especially loved her crew this night (and apologies for not having all their names here). The drummer was excellent, they all were, but his facial expressions as he became lost in the music (in the finest sense of the word) or rather as he BECAME the music, was a beautiful thing.

http://www.jackieryanmusic.com/

After doing just a bit of web research the depths of my ignorance is always amazing. Do check her out gang.

I used to complain it was difficult to find Jazz around Sonoma County and in some ways, depending on where you live, it is. However, I need to work harder because after this I know there is some world class jazz - right here.

On a last closing note - she's got some aloha spirit too after a couple of years on Maui.

Aloha . . . .

David

World Health Organization

I put in over six applications to the World Health Organization tonight. All over the world really, Cairo, Phillipines, Africa and more. Late night but worth it, heard from my former professor at the University of Hawaii who is now in Sydney at a conference.
Lots of thoughts, thinking about the nature of work, what gives and provides meaning to one's life. Guess that is what we are all looking for.

Want to mention a great web site, www.lifehacker.com

Thanks for reading.

David

Sunset

Love the Feds for thinking they can mess with time! Beauty amid the
madness.

Brief Update

Looking for not just work but meaning in and from the work. Not wanting 'just' a job but a chance to make a difference in the world. Not so interested in just going to work, not thinking, just to make money to buy my 'things'. More interested in not so many 'things' but in the quality and amount of interactions with my community, those people around and of my community. Wanting and willing to work hard but not wanting the work to be the 'be all, end all' of my life. Valuing the sense of community and neighborhood. Not wanting to rush, rush, rush as the culture seems to engaged in that headlong rush to nowhere.

Goal is one of living here and outside of here, somewhere 'over there', mainly the South Pacific but even in Europe where home also was . . . having lived in Germany back in 'the day'. Working toward that requires some sort of patience that evidently I must work at gaining (he says with a dry grin interlaced with frustration.)

So that is a brief update, wordy but brief enough I reckon. Come on people, where are the leads when I need and want?

David

Medicine, the book Overtreated, the path forward with an eye on the past . . . .

I just finished reading, Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer. Shannon Brownlee is the author.

I read most of this while I was in Fiji. The reading of this book and my experience in my last position has convinced me that I need to do primary care, have a long-term relationship with my patients (if at all possible), practice in a community setting with an organization that has ties to the community and is part of that community and not solely there to extract money for services without adequate follow up. Shannon Brownlee has written an eminently readable book and I highly recommend it.

So I am out looking for this kind of organization, one where I can use my medical background but also my Masters in Psychology. I have a lot to contribute but want to use ALL of my talents and education and especially to be appreciated. I also want to be in a learning organization (however small). Maybe I will just have to end up in a Doctor's Office, who knows.

Yet at the same time I am looking to get back overseas with the Loloma Foundation (a link is to the right under medical work in Fiji) doing medical projects and other health related / learning development projects.

Thanks for reading. Leads and thoughts appreciated.

David

Future of power

Every little bit makes sense, no? This is a wind farm on Highway 12 in Northern California. Admittedly not a great shot (my Iphone at about 60 miles per hour!) but they are many stories tall. I would love to be able to have one of these or its smaller cousin on my family ranch on Seaview Ridge. Someday perhaps we will.

David

RN's at Colonial War Memorial Hospital, Suva, Fiji

 

These folks were kind enough to show us around and let us take some photographs. Love the uniforms!

United States Department of State

Aloha . . . a long time ago, at least for me, I graduated UCLA in Political Science and took as many classes as possible in International Relations. After graduating the Peace Corps gave me more experience on a very basic level. While I plan on staying in medicine I am going to take the State Department examination this March.

I have friends with State, currently in Reykjavik. There are a lot of great people in State - I have met many of them over the years and it would be a difficult job especially in todays climate. Nonetheless, it might be a way to make a difference in some way. I'll do my best to pass the test although I know most people do not! International Service calls to me though.

At times I almost feel desperate to make a contribution, a lasting contribution to make things better. I am working on it.

David

A fine day

A fine day to ride at Annandale State Park. I know you can't see a lot
here but at least there is some light and clean blue sky. On this day,
life continues, world orbits, people love, we learn, babies are born.
Life is exactly what it is in each moment. I'm not too profound today
but while we strive to change it, it is busy changing us. Wisdom is
learning that, and just maybe each day I get closer to it? At the very
least, I make the attempt.

Moves, Movies, Movies

Aloha. Last night I saw Atonement and this evening, There Will be Blood. Two very different movies but both thought provoking. One wistful, memories tinged with sadness, shame, guilt. The other full of mystery, questions of birth, death, endless anger. I enjoyed both of them but there was such sadness in each and perhaps in only one, redemption.

See them.

David

Robin Taylor, Academic, Entrepeneur, intellectual and great friend

 

Taken February 4, 2008 in Suva, Fiji at Robin's wifes shop. They also own a Hair Salon directly across the courtyard from this. Robin recently started a new Primary School in Fiji - once I get the web address I will be sure to post it! I am very happy to be in touch with Robin and his great family. More of the wonderful crowd I know in the South Pacific.

Thanks for reading,

David

Friends in Germany

Aloha and Guten Tag . . . just spoke with my friend Benno in Germany. I grew up there as a kid for three years. I met Benno at the University of Hawai`i over 17 years ago now and we have remained close. We just spoke and I am reminded of the meaning of true friendship and love that we have with our friends.

In addition, I had a friend from Hamburg recently get in touch with me also after some 20 odd years. She flies for Lufthansa and lives in Hamburg. I am getting them both in touch with each other.

Someday, and I hope not at my death, I hope to have a meeting of all my friends at once from all around the world. How many languages would be at the table? How many cultures and customs would we add up? Damn that would be fun!

I miss all of my friends right now, where ever they may be in this world.

Tschuss, moce, malama pono,

David

Sometimes Change is a Forceful Gift.

Sometimes change is forced upon you. At times, if you are lucky or as you get more experienced, you begin to recognize that the change being 'forced' upon you is actually the best and most correct thing. You may not like it, I know that I don't, but lessons are learned, sometimes in the most difficult ways.

Needless to say I am at that point now. It is even more difficult for me right now because of my recent return from such a fantastic trip to Fiji, filled with kind and giving people, welcoming in the extreme and coworkers that nurture and teach, instead of searching for fault, micro examining and laying blame. I take this lesson upon myself, no one else but damn, it sure is a rough go.

But then I must think of the positives, clean water, hot water, too much food, shelter, peace and no one threatening to kill me. I keep those in mind and it helps a great deal to retain perspective. My heart still aches but good to be humbled and forced to accept that give of learning. ACCCKKKKK! I still want to scream though!

I am sorry I cannot lay this out in detail. Perhaps someday? Thanks for reading and as ever, I remain grateful.

David

Final Approach

Design

The ceiling of a bure (house) at Navutu Stars Resort. Note the
symmetry & beauty.

Return

Bula & yes I have returned. Got into Los Angeles an hour ago. I'm
waiting for my Horizon Air flight now. Tired, sad, but happy too that
I am back to change course and carpe diem.
Thanks for reading.
David

Morning Reflections on Tropical Sunday Morning

February 3, 2008 @ 1115
South Pacific Dispatch / Suva Motor Inn, Suva, Fiji

Yes, I do love being able to write from a faraway place that I am not from. I am having coffee (from Papua New Guinea) and watching the BBC World News that absolutely puts CNN to shame most of the time. I do like CNN International and the special reports.

Things look on track for my departure. Weather is good and no cyclones on the horizon at this point in time. I’ll confirm with Air Pacific today or tomorrow and set up the transport to Nadi which is about a 3 hour drive. I have seen the bus and it is a huge and comfortable bus . . . a far cry from ‘back in the day’ (1985 – 1987) when it took 4- 5 hours in a cramped open air bus. The old buses are still around and I love the fact there are no windows. If it rains you simply roll down a vinyl tarp and everyone helps hold it inside.

That cooperation, at least for the most part is much of what typifies Fiji to the outsider. Some of this is of absolute necessity, i.e., it is a must to cooperate when unloading a container in the rain and mud and you do not have a forklift and a paved road to use it on. So when we unloaded the container of medical supplies in Nausori, we had to use the ‘human forklift’ and lift the pallets with people.

Some may find it interesting (others terribly boring!) or surprising that I am tired and yes, am actually looking forward to going home. I do have a deep love for Fiji but it is not my home and my mission here this time is complete for all intents and purposes. I have a life that needs tending to back in America, people that I love, mail being saved and my love for and addiction to the New York Times and other news. I can easily envision a life where I can live in America yet spend months at a time overseas doing medical work in different places. I could work at a hospital while in America and then work overseas too.

I just heard the BBC news call Indonesia’s ex-president a great leader. What a joke. The CIA and other various U.S. government agencies were completely complicit in assisting Suharto in a reign of terror. He was a joke to many Indonesians that I have spoken to. He personally enriched himself, his family and many of his cronies from the brutal repression of his people in the name of anticommunism. I don’t think he was an American puppet but probably very good at survival and manipulating the Americans into giving what he wanted. Much of my knowledge is based on a recently published history of the CIA. I would like to read a more specific history so eventually will have to look one up.

Thanks for reading.

David

Postscript: I remember sitting with the Fijian guys from Lalati and hearing them sing around the tanoa (the kava bowl). There was a song just about their island of Beqa and each village was mentioned in the song. Fijian songs are usually about connections, to their village, to each other, to the land. It is not usually songs about anger, or alienation. There may be sadness but it is about a broken heart from love, separation from a loved one, departure from home, an island that you have come to love. Other songs are simply about fun.

Back in Suva Second Go Around

February 2, 2008 @ 2350
South Pacific Dispatches / Suva Motor Inn, Suva, Fiji
I just returned from dinner at Fong’s Chinese which is a great place to eat. Still have to disconfirm the use of MSG or not at this point as I did not think to ask at the time. I was too hungry as all I had today was tea in Suvavou with biscuits or as the Fijian say, bisketi. I much prefer the sound of bisketi! I took some of my ex-in-laws to dinner with me and afterwards went to see No Country for Old Men. I loved the movie, especially the soundscape which was very distinct, spare and beautiful. A bit of a confusing movie at times and I shall have to see it again to deepen my pea brain analysis of a very complex bit of filmmaking. Overall however, I loved it despite the violence.

How normal it seems does it not? Dinner and a movie? Yet I treasured the normalcy of that for myself this evening. I am sleeping where and when I want, eating what I wish, I am very clean after a long hot shower and have been quite happy in my nest of a hotel room. Lonely a bit but great for introspection, reflection, review and analysis and most of all the silence, the space to do nothing, think nothing.

I bought a few groceries this evening for tomorrow so I could enjoy a nice breakfast and coffee for tomorrow. I shopped at MH’s which stands for Morris Hedstrom. The old store burned down over 10 years ago and it just reopened about one month ago. Fiji time anyone?

I attempted to get online at the Tanoa hotel but the internet there is down, both the wired and wireless. I tried Skynet Internet Café, logged in through my U3 Sancruiser Titanium USB drive. It runs a shell on the machine and protects the key data behind a virus and malware shield (Avast). It worked as advertised, warning me of a trojan horse, probably a key logger program so I terminated the session immediately. I don’t have a lot of valuable data but I protect it. The USB drive was an excellent purchase. The frustrating thing is that I have a lot of blog entries written and pictures to be posted yet finding reliable access is a great annoyance. I caught a whiff of a network in Suvavou Village on my Iphone last time I was there about two weeks ago so if I visit tomorrow will try to hop on the network – I was shocked to find it there. Isa Fiji, how it has changed! Even this morning, waiting for my commuter boat for the one hour crossing to the mainland I saw children and adults go to the seawall to text and / or call people. People text a lot! Saves money over a phone call. You can add minutes at almost any store – I bought additional minutes with my groceries this evening.

Another big change is the level of supposed sophistication in the way people are talking, dressing and acting in the city. More nightclubs and I was even blatantly propositioned by at least 3-4 prostitutes on the walk home even though it was obvious I was trying to avoid them like the proverbial plague.

Less than two days left in Fiji. I will spend Sunday and most of Monday here. I want to get another Bula or Aloha Shirt, maybe another sulu, Fijian Music CD’s and so on and so forth. I bought some nice curry supplies today so I am looking forward to making curry next week.

It just turned February 3 so I will sign off here. Thank you for reading.
David

The classic Kava Photo

 

Drinking Kava at Rukua Village two days ago. Drank till 12, up at 5 a.m. to catch the commuter boat to the mainland. Good fun!

Back in Suva

February 2, 2008 @ 1340
South Pacific Dispatch / Suva Motor Inn, Suva, Fiji

So roundabout I have come once again to the Suva Motor Inn. It is funny to me, perhaps to be expected however, that this is the loneliest part of my trip. Neither coming nor quite yet going I feel I am just at that in between place, hovering, waiting and suspended. My short term course is set and clear yet the long-term is uncertain, full of longing, excitement, sadness, doubt, and unknowingness. Being comfortable with that part of it is what is hard for me at times. I wonder about others.
The rest of the Loloma Foundation ‘gang’ are all home in America, save our stalwart leader, Linda Kwasny. They have all been a joy to work with and to spend luxurious time with them after our work day is complete.

I left Lalati Resort on Beqa Island yesterday and spent the night in Rukua Village on the other side of Beqa. My friend in Santa Rosa, Sailasa Rogogo is from that village. Interestingly enough, my fellow Peace Corps Volunteer, Chris Schorn (now in Seattle) lived in Rukua and as I was drinking kava with the boys last night it was a full on reminiscing of Chris and Sai stories over the years. I even saw an old foto of Chris and that brought back many memories.

It seems that everywhere I have gone brings back a rush of memories. I drank kava till 1200 pm last night, got up at 0500 and left on the boat at 0645 for an hour’s boat ride to Navua. From there I caught an ‘Express’ bus (read slow and maddening into that but some things never change!) and got off in Suvavou Village just past Lami. Suvavou is where my ex-in laws live so it was good to see them again. Now I am so tired and lonely that I am just going to take a shower and a long nap. I am so exhausted from working, the constant travel, and the emotional demands from memory and by just being alone in what is still to me, in the end, a foreign culture. I slept on the floor last night with a bit of foam pad but out of deference to me the boys lit mosquito coils but I was eaten up anyway. I usually travel with my mosquito net but had left it behind in Suva because I have not needed it. They also closed up the windows so I was dead of the heat and sweated all night.

So why write this? This is what it is like when you have to travel so much here. You lack control over your immediate environment to a large extent and are subject to the whims and vicissitudes’ of those around you and the travel gods. I could have stayed at Lalati Resort which is unbelievably comfortable and beautiful but I had to spend at least one night in the village. I did this not only for myself but for my friend Sai. Resorts insulate you so much from the people and this was my first time to experience resort life. I loved spending time with the staff, drinking kava and so on and so forth but also enjoyed the great food, service and other benefits of resort stays.

The last four days we just worked in the clinic. I drained an abscess on an eight year old that had been ‘drained’ in December. It was still very infected and very painful. One of the primary challenges here is keeping things clean so it is very possible that they let it get dirty and it healed over without sufficiently draining and the infection being stopped. Sterility is a joke in the tropics, in the bush with insufficient control over the environment. We called a Doctor in San Diego (or emailed him) about what antibiotics might be best for this foot abscess.

Plan for today and tomorrow is to simply rest. I have a few small things to do, recharge my phone with more minutes (I simply love the pay as you go plan they have with Vodaphone Fiji). I might buy a few more shirts since the three I brought got trashed since they were so old. On Monday I catch the 1630 bus to Nadi and my flight leaves at 1030 that night. I arrive into Los Angeles, wait for a bit and transfer to Horizon Air (Alaska Air) for my flight to Santa Rosa.

Although I have loved my trip I am so very tired and look forward to seeing those I love once again and fold them into my arms. Sometimes not knowing what to do is a blessing. I have a day to recover, unpack, clean and then off to work at MS II if I still have a job, if the Hospital is still open and on and on, ad nauseum (sp?).
Thanks for reading this far. Will try to get to a computer and post this with a few fotos later or tomorrow.

David

Work

Now this is what I call going to work in style! Need more of this and
not less. Taken in the Yasawa Islands last week. I'll be seeing most
of you soon!

Ratu Tevita, na Vu ni Wai!