A Change Of Venue

Day 16 - Monday December 24, 2001 - 9:53pm

Christmas Eve Day… in Fiji… or is it…?

The French in Vietnam and West Africa, the Germans in North and South Africa, the Spanish in Mexico, South and Central America, the Portuguese in Malaysia and Macau, the Dutch all over the east (Dutch East India Company, anyone…?), and the British in… well… everywhere else it seems. Although colonialism in most of its ‘original’ forms is dead, you’d swear the recent events with Mugabe in Zimbabwe have the Brits (and more than a few former Rhodesians one assumes) pining for the good ol’ days of Ian Smith.

It begs the question:

Had the missionaries not moved in all those years ago, what would Fiji look like today? What would their traditions be?

Tourism is the largest industry in the world and shows no signs of abating. The country of Azerbaijan is redecorating former Soviet politburo dachas on the Caspian Sea and turning them into time-shares. There’s no reason to assume that Fiji — without ‘benefit’ of European settlement — wouldn’t have jumped on the bandwagon and embraced tourism as a means to help feed the government coffers and prop up sugar cane exports, dwindling now as they are. (more…)

Day 15 - Sunday December 23, 2001 - 1:30pm

Throat infection, bad cold, pneumonia, plague, Ebola - pick one! Fuck, have I been sick the last two days.

I went to see the nurse (Diana is her name - large jolly Fijian woman doling out chemicals faster than Elvis’ connection!). She took one look at me and gave me a box of Strepsils. No, no, no, I said - this is serious. It requires serious medicine. “Oh well,” she said, “then you need some of THIS!” She handed me a pudgy mitt full of amoxicillin antibiotic capsules and suggested I take two every eight hours. Let’s see… 250mg per capsule, times two equals 1500mg per day. Fine, you’re the doc.

HO-LEE FUCK! I haven’t been that stoned since Santana’s second set at Altamont! (more…)

Day 14 - Saturday December 22, 2001 - Noon

BLECH! Still sick. See Sunday.

Day 13 - Friday December 21, 2001 - 9:00pm

Dick. Zilch. Zip. Nada. Nothing.

Still raining. See Saturday.

Day 12 - Thursday December 20, 2001 - 8:45pm

Alright, I lied. It’s now Friday and I didn’t write anything on Thursday. But, to keep this in some sort of chronological order I’ll fill in what actually occurred yesterday… not much.

I seem to be getting a small throat infection, or maybe just a bad sore throat, not sure. Anyway, we’ll see what transpires today and see how I feel tomorrow. There is a nurse, so the best thing is to go see her if this persists.

Sat on the beach all day nursing a sunburn on my side - bad enough I couldn’t wear a shirt. Good thing I had Robert Ludlum to keep me company.

I’ve never read one of his books before so this was a bit of a treat. It’s called, “The Bourne Identity”. Strange how some books that are a reflection of an earlier day don’t hold up with the passage of time - this is such a book. ‘Carlos the Jackal’ plays an important role in the book and of course since it was written in the late seventies, the Cold War plays a part. Well structured but not terribly believable. Apparently, Matt Damon (without Minnie Driver!) is starring in an updated movie version this spring. (more…)

Day 11 - Wednesday December 19, 2001 - Noon

My new best friend is Jonas. He’s three years old from Brighton with a shock of straight blond hair and carries two small plastic buckets with him at all times (hey, you never know when two small buckets will come in handy, especially at the beach). I met him this morning over breakfast when he rather timidly wandered over to my table to steal my sugar.

Once he had my attention the real reason for his intrusion became clear. (more…)

Day 10 - Tuesday December 18, 2001 - 9:00am

I’m a bit of an anomaly here. Single, that is. It’s that Fijian ‘family’ thing again.

I was asked last night by my waiter where my family was - tough answer, that. Of course Castaway is a place that caters to rather wealthy European and Anza (Australia and New Zealand) families. A lot of children - young boys and girls, of all ages. I appear to be the only single person here. A couple from Denmark, one from Sweden, several from the UK, one from Germany, a couple of Canadians and at least one American. You can always spot the American - it’s like Where’s Waldo?, only with guns!

Later

There are a million Mynah birds here - they’re everywhere and can they sing! They’re over at Musket Cove as well; I just didn’t realize they were Mynahs until this morning. Must be the national bird. Kinda like the ‘Shit Hawk’, sorry - the seagull is Vancouver’s bird. (more…)

Day 9 - Monday December 17, 2001 - 4:56pm

Hard to believe it’s been a week.

This morning I ran into a family from North Vancouver who had just arrived in Fiji. The husband and wife were travelling to Fiji and New Zealand with their young son and daughter and were full of questions about the area and such. I obliged them as best I could.

Got packed up by 10am, had breakfast (which is where I met the North Van family) and then arranged next week back at Musket Cove. Unfortunately, there are no Seaview Bures available as most people want to make their own Christmas dinner, so the self-catering bures are gone. However, not to be outdone I did manage to negotiate my old room — 104 — at a lesser rate than I paid this week: F$150, which is about CDN$100, CDN$50 cheaper. Apparently there’s a lot of this kind of negotiating going on. The reservations people have been charging whatever the market will bear. Such is the life of a resort owner in the middle of nowhere. (more…)

Day 8 - Sunday December 16, 2001 - 10:45am

The four of us, John, Michael, Lindsay and myself, trudge up the small hill on the far side of the airstrip in our Sunday best. Well, as ‘best’ as can be expected under the circumstances.

We arrive early and suss out the place.

Church on the island of Malolo Lailai consists of a small wood frame structure covered in whitewash and small flowering vines. Screened windows run down both sides and large doors open at both ends. Two large ceiling fans keep air circulating but one cannot consider the place ‘cool’ by any stretch of the imagination. As we enter we are presented with ‘Good News’ bibles and hymnbooks and shown to our pew. (more…)

Day 7 - Saturday December 15, 2001 - 4:02am

I’m regaining my sensuality

Same Day - 2:00pm

Good news, bad news. The rain has disappeared almost completely - apparently so has my car back home!

Spent most of the day writing and catching up and then decided to send e-mails to everyone. Well, everyone important, anyway. It was during my lengthy stint on the PC that I received a cryptic e-mail from a neighbour. (more…)