Mary the octopus lady — circumcision ceremony in Yamata — blue fish:
\nrawirawi — big and small generators — tapas mats: wk to make: rolled,
\nbeaten, dried — no power: Kava Joe — opening church hymn — use
\neverything up (radio, food, cellphone). before someone asks kerri-kerri for
\nit? — interchangeable clothing, homes — smoked fish: masi masi — rake
\npaths — my Reef Shoes break! — parrot fish for lunch — Noma fish bites
\nJoe — tylonol for Joe and Normani –baby hawksbill turtle: lays eggs in
\nDec — leatherbacks! — islanders eat eggs and turtles — fijian islander
\nhandshake — sea cucumber — big meetings in community center — moist
\nclimate dissolved Emergen-C tabs — lost helicopter arrives in school
\ncompound looking for Octopus Resort — charge phone and Kindle at Canada
\nHouse: 2 laptops playing movies — sea urchin: cawaki, sea cucumber:
\nsucuwalu “8 breasts” — $55\/kg wet (white ones) $75\/kg dry — Julian
\nNasinger: Canadian musician — home power strip finally appears only after
\nborrowing from CH next door: 2 hrs to get 1 additional bar on cellphone:
\npetrol generator — “ah pooh” — about giant piranas – Van Damme movies —
\nDisney cartoon — Fiji Times: “belly full of iron” “family violence” “the
\nfirst newspaper published in world every day” txt MH to 362 to win $80K
\nNissan X-Trail — xmas poem contest — tilting table — occasional
\nnewspaper 2 wks old — more concrete work — recording afternoon church
\nhymns from outside with birds and waves [include words to opening first
\nhymn: pic] no written music in Fiji? vaguely bi-tonal, rhymic: church goers
\ndressed up and waiting on the rocks — many church services — Kindle locks
\nup with first line quotations, or any? limit? — best breeze is by end of
\nschool near the “cellphone caves” — villager as occupation — disapproval
\nof *white* immodesty — “Tai Wai” (venerable water) boat name — sunsets as
\nnarrative events — sunset viewing from overturned boat — rugby ball=sea
\ncucumber –the cocoanuts are washing ashore — not so many turtles but
\nsmall uninhabited island has them Dec-Feb full moon — shard of pop bottle
\nplastic to slice papaya — rebar stuck in ground to split open coconuts —
\nw\/c masking fluid doesn’t work: paper too absorbent — 5 radio stations: 3
\nIndian, 1 English, 1 Fijian — more queries re writing and photos:
\npublish?: some special arrangement necessary? narrow band of rain over
\nsetting sun like a curtain: green clouds — islander immediate needs: most
\nelse discounted — very polite little girls –2nd or 3rd meal “sittings” ->
\nsucking the tiny bits of fish from bones that I missed — tambu=pagan! —
\nplaying “house” under a bush with discarded fragments: cassette player,
\nrusted lanterns, bits of flooring, seeds — T-shirts: Diabetes: Know the
\nfacts; I was rescued by the Fiji Red Cross; Enough is enough, stop family
\nviolence — fishing net stretched out along low tide shore by another
\nvillage — someone else concerned about my lunch: maybe later — preserving
\ntraditionalist notion of anthro rather than understanding trad societies —
\nwomen like beached whales in the heat — tea with Jim: said “kanna” but
\njust got papaya slice, tea and breakfast crackers — was “vailala madness”
\nPNG — wondering why the old man took his big coloured mug away from the
\nshelter: first thought it was cooler there but turns out it contained not
\ntea, but fish! Fijians are indentured labourers from S.I. — distant
\nburning fires at night: GIP postcard or 4\/c button — “airplane time” —
\n12-14 qeti “getti”: giving thanks to the ocean and fields and women: men
\nprepare pots of food: festive attired women seen carrying them — Sou
\nactually bought crackers and marg that morning! and I persuaded them to
\nopen a papaya: small boiled chicken for dinner: I ate half just to get a
\nreaction — Lolo came along beach with drum to “borrow” $20 for (tou)
\nchicken: perhaps for the similar event tomorrow at the old village —
\nvillage very quiet: thought they’d tricked me again but possibly the
\nvillagers are just preparing for the TEVUTEVU today (bridal shower) and I
\ncan go tomorrow morning (Namara: old village) — the boys are gone to Nadi
\nfor a rugby game — Normani was to make the tea and serve the 2 muffins
\nmade the “mayor’s wife” but he ate most of one first: $1 each: cooked in
\ncans in pot of water– up for the 6 am Tevutevu boat but it didn’t leave
\nuntil 7 — dinner of smoked fish at Tai Jerry’s who’s only 55: gives me
\nflip flops — lovo pig, bbq fish, canned meat in greens, pineapple,
\ncucumber — old whale’s tooth on braided cord during elders’ kava speech —
\nphotos in the old village! tea at various houses: house being built
\n(Johnny): bridal gifts in community center — don’t understand why basic
\nstaples (tea, aspirin, marg) are lacking but Joe can take the boat to Nadi,
\npay for a hotel, attend rugby games… Tai Nigh gently washed the cut on my
\nfoot with warm water, when I fell out of the boat– smoking? alcohol is
\ntambu except on New Years — bottles of water around chief’s graves to keep
\ndogs from pooping (same as Japan!) — Odyssey: lotus eaters — Michel
\nLeiris: L’Afrique Fantome — ethnography as inner island self-realization
\n— Epi Island, Indonesia — eating the local hot chilis always impresses —
\nred, blue, yellow, dark blue mesh shirts — Fiji welfare checks — used,
\npre-painted green wood slats in OV house interior — $50 advance on W —
\nMetaConstruct = Ethnography – esp the landscape, trellis profiles, frontal
\nimage constructs — many years ago a Canadian couple visited the three
\nvillages staying at the “Canada House” here — Natawa All Nations church:
\nyouth attempts to steal my flip flops despite a huge stone on top, on his
\nway to church as I’m doing my “training” — crackers and noodles while Joe
\nis away — Margaret now wants my SIM: use up everything in sight — cable
\nrelease rusts out — Beb\u00e9, the older dog, routinely backs into a bush by
\nTN’s house and wags tail and eats the flying bugs — Waikoka: bananas and
\nnew resort — Normani is missing the top left thumb joint and has some
\nchurch role: prone to headaches: lives on the plantation most of the week
\nwith his namesake — Tai Jerry’s: men eat, kids wait outside, then women —
\nshower at Tai Patimo’s: clean! locks on doors — partially charged the
\nKindle at Paul’s from generator: of course this prompts Joe to turn on his,
\nso was able to charge other batteries — nice barracuda fish, greens,
\npineapple, coconut sauce, cassava — fingernails trimmed with razor blade
\n— “too old for this world” — Nigh returns from the big city with black
\nnail polish and low cut dress but still rakes the yard in the morning —
\nSolar Nokero bulbs — heavy rain: visited Quarta and Joe’s namesake:
\nrecorded stories — “Phantom Rock” — Vaka Mama Lima (celebrating women
\nceremony) –Palu Sami: tarro leaves around tinned-meat, onion, tomato, or
\ntuna flakes: cooked in foil — more pain relief requests: “only one left”
\n— still after my cell phone! tambu! — venandu riki (thank you very much
\nin local dialect) — Joe tells me fuel is $15\/4l — Fanny, Jim’s church
\ndog, sings, walks to church when bell rings — “pudding muffins” at Jim’s
\n— toqara fish — myth of dwarf girls on Quarta at night — $20 to Joe on
\nTues: ask the white man first — bath has been clogged with filthy water
\nfor nearly a week — girls make hair extensions from nylon fabric strands
\nattached with burning stick — metal lounger remains brought back fro OV —
\nJoe eats big bowl of fish and cassava in front of us: asks again for
\naspirin for Margaret — why doesn’t someone buy a big bottle on the
\nmainland? — Nigh has a boil on her leg [insert definition][insert Capn
\nCook novel descriptions of breadfruit and coconut] Ch 7] Ellis: Polynesian
\nResearches — no early histories: Tai Joe said his grandfather left the
\nmain island due to fighting — Abel the school admin, family was the first
\nto live in Namara — fire on top of pot to cook “bunnies” — yam growing
\ncontests — as usual much loud sucking on fish bones and satisfied grunts
\n— 5 gal (20 L) petrol to Lautoka: $10-11 for 4L there — Japanese tourist
\nfrom Toronto — men at work clearing land and water pipe for new resort:
\nowned by American and local partner — the “store” is a large dingy dirty
\ncupboard under lock and key: tuna, tea, sugar, flour… the Lomolomo house
\nsells the puddings and snacks? no, its some other house “behind” the church
\n— heavy rain for several hours this morning — still nothing to eat but
\nnoodles, crackers, pancakey — a purple plastic box with rice curry
\nsuddenly appears: they didn’t expect me to eat it all ;) — pot washing day
\non the beach — cell acct only $83: do they charge for unsuccessful txt
\nmsgs? — small mirror and ear plugs missing — pot and blanket as rain gear
\n— children will snatch food from your plate or play with it until I won’t
\neat it — “Johnny” seems to be building a house here as well as for his
\nmother in the OV: actually he was paid to outline\/square the site —
\ndespite the drama served up by M as she dished out yet more noodles: the
\nwomen were all gathered in Tai Nigh’s house the next afternoon stuffing
\ntheir faces with crab, fish and eye-of-the-shell, plantains with coconut…
\nthey caught the crabs that night using torches: wouldn’t let me eat one
\nhowever, just a taste… kerre(2) ..and Lolo tried to dissuade me from
\njoining them… still no water and filthy bath still plugged-up — TN
\nshowed me some barnacle-like creature they also eat… Dec is when the
\nflies come indoors… white boat with orange trim\/deck! — prayer session
\nat TN’s: Sau present: curious, he even gets a little weepy: Away in a
\nManger, in Fijian: TN is tone deaf — John the house builder “squared up”
\nthe floor plan for the new house — 2x4x10 pine is $13 — offered a trip to
\nLautoka to get the lumber but think it was a way to have the white man pay
\nfor the fuel — expressed interest in his sulu screen prints — big chalk
\nnotice on school: stay out: doors locked or nailed shut — thunder this
\nmorning — should start photographing all the sleeping bodies — sky seemed
\nto recede after kava consumption — divers killed because on-board
\ngenerators for air fail — skipping myna birds — deranged laughter: no
\nescape when it rains: roofing is zinc\/aluminum made in NZ — Canada House
\nis eating crab for lunch: no sign of food here: little Jason goes across
\nthe way to kanna — tombstones (beside houses) are blank: concrete
\nsometimes with tile — baby stroller carriage now only has 2 wheels — some
\ndropped off a big pot of food last night just as I went to bed so lunch
\ntoday was a cooked plantain ;( no sun until 2:30 — “you’re not playing
\nyour cards right Margaret” — kava is $1\/bag or $20-40 a bundle — hellish
\nracket last night ’til 3 a.m.: the rest of the village was dark and quiet:
\nwhen Joe is back I can’t sleep, when he’s away I don’t get enough to eat
\nand no electricity — just pancakey and noodles — 2 girls at Canada House:
\nMaryannie (6) and Queenie (2) — may ask Abel is there’s another house I
\ncould stay in — Sau had a bad toothache: I suggested salt and warm water
\nrinse — everyone seems to know about my morning walk: may have started an
\nexercise regime for villagers — water line leaking: dug-up and repaired
\nthis a.m. — sunny today 12\/24 — mouse trapped in milkey tin bowl — gas
\nfor the stove! and cookies and kava for the flophouse — big dark blue and
\nwhite private yacht offshore: 3 jet skis and dingy racing around: yahoo —
\n“sleeping giant” postcard (stone mountain) — millionaire skipper and
\nmelanesian tart\/wife motor ashore and present yaqoni to village headman: I
\nsuppose in exchange for anchoring in the bay — sunning spot next to yams
\n— xmas village breakfast and lunch after church (mono recording 12\/25\/11)
\n— offer to send maple syrup as xmas gift — during the 60-80s big drunken
\nfights on xmas until alcohol banned — tea at the preacher’s house —
\nCaptain Cook arrives — “Vough-low” “Normeni” — the 12yr Ellie girl from
\nmainland interior — “we go that side to see the fish” — chubby chef who’s
\nhad a US visa is part of the new resort deal (where former Sunset was?) and
\nlives in Paul’s corner house: wants to write a Fijian cookbook as he used
\nto be a chef on Yasawa cruiseship — xmas village breakfast and lunch:
\njudging by the order in which he was fed and despite his strutting and
\nsnorting and supply of tools (from Jason?), Joe is low in the village
\nhierarchy — the squared floor plan for the new house has been ignored in
\nfavor of a new position and trial and error eyeballing — gave M $80 less
\n$20 I gave Joe — finally some breakfast at TN’s: ricey and tea with milk!
\n— Jason gave Jason a large toy “moto car”: replaces the big yellow canola
\ncontainer that he pushed around — 500L water tank elevated at Abel’s house
\n— chef says resort spends up to $12K per month on vegetables from the
\nmainland so he wants to start a greenhouse — brilliant green laundry soap
\n— exponentially more and more people hear and know your name without you
\nknowing theirs — stinky red nailpolish also used to mark cups and utensils
\n— ricey, crackers and tea for breakfast — “chill out chill out” — the 2
\ncows are moved from behind the dormitory to the back of school rooms in the
\nafternoon — TN has gone to Yamata: a huge padlock on her door: rain on and
\noff all day — took CH’s (curiously very heavy) kayak out and photographed
\nthe coral and fishing party– watch strap breaks — TP’s septic tank is
\nfull — new house is decidedly uneven as I said — selective hearing in
\neffect — some fish but fear the return of meagre meals — Joe hurls the
\nstinky nail polish out the door — all are punished by Lily’s bawling —
\nthe black piglet now visits this house — the children cry at wanting to
\neat as you try and eat your meal — L & N fend for themselves: finding eggs
\nand cooking them on the gas stove [pic] — Joe bellowing about something
\nall last night — big rains start just after my morning training\/exercise
\n— eggs, onions, tarrow last night — Joe’s namesake from Quarta is in the
\n2nd house — new girl in TN’s house says “hmmm” in response to my “yandra”
\n— 12\/28 funeral for chief who died 2 days ago in Naviti (other side of
\nWaya) but they wouldn’t let me go: big load of kerosene for some reason —
\napparently the fish from the far side water taste differently tht from the
\nocean side — M says J wants $100 now to buy things with on the mainland:
\nnope!: too complicated and there would be no end to the advances: typical
\nMelanesian — the FijiTime boat has left packed with passengers — J & J
\ncontinue work on the cement floor — coy interaction between sexes
\notherwise segregated — finally got some coconut roti after 9 — more
\nphotos of the workers suspended in the framework of the new house under
\nconstruction: lunch behind the church with them: nice fish, curry. lobster
\n(not my thing): beginning to think my host is deliberately skipping on the
\nfood: showed workers the photos: the headman helped me with some new words
\n— VANUA: joins past, present, future with the land water mountains etc…
\nVAU tree: grass skirts, white sticks… some youthful resentment for my Tai
\nsaubret — VULAGI (foreigner) — “acha” (well\/good: Fijian Hindi) — no
\n5:30 tea, just a stinky hair treatment underway — but villagers come to my
\nrescue with tea, “pie” and little donuts — SQNNY radio —
\noceansoaps.fj.com — spearfishing on Moya reef: colourful fish: some eat
\nraw lungs: shirt sticks to boat’s tacky blue paint so one kid spots my
\npenis amulet: have put it away — apparently some kava event at Jerry’s
\nlast night: supplemental funeral for a brother who committed suicide? —
\nENDLESS SUPPLY — couldn’t start the outboard and had misgivings about
\nbeing physically able to get back in the boat if I went swimming —
\nRAVINASAGA — maybe I should use the weights in the community center —
\nBill is off with others to install some cement for waterworks in new resort
\n— kerosene and mats for funerals — DEUA: double-hulled canoes — Mexican
\ntourists at small Naboro shell-market: it all looks like dime store junk
\nfrom Nadi(?) — photo of children’s festive “house” 12\/30\/11 — oral
\nculture: women singing by beach — reef heron — KAIVITI: indigenous
\nFijians — TP seems suddenly taciturn: funny how he squirmed as his teatime
\ncame and not wanting to share, had to sit with Eleanor (Normani’s wife) ana
\nme in his makeshift burre as the real SONY radio played — infants as
\nliving toys passed between young girls and women — young girls readily
\nadopt feminine acoutrements (nail polish, hair dye, jewelry) so as to
\nescape the (at least) physical toil of the family life — L & S were
\nslugging around concrete and lumber this morning: children huddle around
\nLoo as she dispenses bits of junk food — string of children coming back
\nfrom Yamata wit what looked like orange juice ! baby powder and Tang — was
\nsure the tide was going out (hard to read as the waves are always coming
\n_in) — keep having to repeat answers to same questions: I must have told
\nTP 20x that I have no brothers and sisters: his 2 sons work at the resort
\nand his wife died a couple of years ago so I don’t know who lives in his
\nhouse and presumably takes care of him — the “pigman” (Margaret’s
\nbrother?) asked to “borrow” some toothpaste and came in the house early,
\ntaking a pot — supposed to go crabbing in Watonga this early evening but
\nFT (FijiTime boat) is dismantled and everything revolves around Joe who is
\nfixated on the concrete work — TEBETEBE (chewy spiral shell interior with
\nbillie greens for lunch) — BABAKAU (triangular pancake) — very hot: last
\nday of year — apparently for the big-big chef’s funeral (also PM at the
\ntime?) 80 pigs, so many barrels of kerosene, and boat were given to his
\nmother’s relatives — coffin carried with wailing woman on top fanning him
\n— grave filled by hand — TP’s room has huge padlock on it now — Melvin
\nsays there’s a one-eyed deaf and dumb Fijian artist who lives at the
\nresort: painted mural in dining hall — tavioka (cassava) — wait and wait
\nand ask about tumba-hunting at Watongo (great photo possibilities with the
\nkerosene lamps): the day and evening pass: now wait probably pointlessly
\nfor possible boat to All Nations church in Natawa? — NYD breakfast with
\nthe village: various cakes, rice, tea — asked how long it will be before
\nit is Westernized: I say, the West is a culture in decline and will (not
\npeacefully) fade away: eclipsed by China or India — some went out
\nnight-fishing but many waited in church for the new year: actually service
\nat 9 then drink kava from 10-12 (plus Jay’s beer and cannabis) — I don’t
\nknow why they have me waiting when the motor’s not even attached to the
\nboat — I’ve lost bits of 2 molars — “the other side” can mean
\nanything\/place — all nations or nothing — “after tea” — WILLIWILLI bark:
\nstomach ache, diabetes — “qua” (don’t; most frequently heard expression)
\n— very nice village NYD lunch: many fish dishes, some “fern” greens —
\nNigh comes back this morning with three other girls — discover new track
\nto the hills (and cemetery) on other side of Jarry’s house: “turn right at
\nlemon tree” — ask M to buy me some toothpaste with this week’s $100: not
\ngoing to happen: Sau charged at me when he heard M’s reaction: you might
\nthink that after I’ve given them over $1K they might spring for some
\ntoothpaste… FT seems to be somewhat permanently dismantled: church,
\nwater-flinging, tin-pail banging, all this week — came home from the
\npinhole shoot (panorama sunset) to find the house empty except for Normanie
\nwho remained engrossed in a cell phone menu: no dinner — myna bird(5)
\nscuffle in the schoolyard — met Bill and Rachel and John on my way up the
\nrear hillside: they were weeding their cassava patch: they will not tell
\nanyone they are leaving when they go with John to school on the mainland.
\njust lockup and leave, as TP seems to have done the day before yesterday:
\ntold them what I pay to Margaret: they seemed enthused to have me stay in
\ntheir house when they return (not before) ;) — got tangled-up in the
\nchest-high vines and grass on my way up the hill: very hot day but had the
\nenergy for the climb thanks to the nice village breakfast: tea, curry,
\npancakey, rice) — NAISORO: artist at resort — Paul says “you can go
\nanywhere” for meals: we’ll see how true that may be: light-headed this
\nmorning “viakana” — if someone douses you (an adult) with water, you
\nshould expect a gift — stirring up the mango skin with bits of mango
\nresults in a sweet red confection that gives the greedy urchins bright
\norange fingers — Joe suddenly decides to hammer more nails into the roof
\nas winds pick-up — hmmm, that’s the second old lady to tell me that I look
\nsick — didn’t feel too well until I finally had some fish for a much
\nprotested early dinner (pre-Church evening service all this week) — M is
\nassuming demonic proportions with her feral offspring — some drinking last
\nnight\/ early this morning: it must have been hellish before prohibition:
\nconsume everything before it’s gone — favoured girls are often wet
\n(wearing fragipani flower) as they are carried and plopped into the sea —
\ntea at another house (next to the new one), with a dozen villagers packed
\ninto one room — reading Typhee and Return of Tarzan — don’t know whether
\nto chance going to church like they want this evening as the house may be
\nempty — even TN gets into the act, asking me to buy petrol for a picnic on
\nQuarta tomorrow — I wonder if the word “budget” exists in Fijian — the
\nson of the man with the bad leg burns lives near Toronto — roof is on new
\nhouse — the little boy with the deformed foot came and sat beside me,
\nsinging along with evening church service hymns, as I made another sunset
\npinhole — TJ is sick: probably all the shared dishware or perhaps dengue?
\n— villagers repeatedly ask about the weather in Canada now: probably
\nlearned that the subject is significant for tourists — I’m still called
\nJay occasionally, so they’re seeing the difference in race before any
\npersonal identity — every blessed thing is broken — Sau sports a new $60
\npair of spiked rugby shoes (?) — asked why there’d be water outside but
\nnot inside the bathstall: any such questions just seem to piss them off —
\ntelling Bill and Rachel about my arrangements here seems to have improved
\nattitudes locally somewhat but if I hadn’t happened to be returning along
\nthe beach to get my umbrella I wouldn’t have seen the lot them about to
\nleave for their picnic without me — if I don’t pay for everything, I get
\nnothing?) — at first they just ignored me or waved goodbye or pointed off
\nin the distance, but eventually they motioned for me to come into the boat
\n— we went to Quarta Island beach — most males were dumped into the sea
\nenroute to spear-fish and then swim to join us — the women collected VUTU
\nfor nuts which they labourishly extracted from the pods with machetes: fish
\nand lobster thrown directly on open fire — heavy rain and waves on the way
\nback — stopped at the resort for fresh water put in old plastic bottles
\nthat M had collected from along the beach — such an expression of
\ncontentment as she lay in the dirt, having eaten, gazing up at the sky —
\nearlier in the day, she’d been humming a hymn repeatedly in a distracted
\nfashion — the childless woman (Secca, husband: Air-en-nee) from TN’s house
\ncame over to ask me for matches — it’s raining all morning — and returned
\nwith our kerosene lantern that burns all night — another neighbour takes
\nsome firewood — food, as usual left out last night attracts many flies —
\nLily sounds even sicker: and she uses the same utensils\/dishes as everyone
\nelse — Sau speared this giant fish, which I had trouble lifting esp when
\njoined on a line with several other smaller fish: he said it was a parrot
\nfish but it didn’t look that colourful (sometimes they’ll just say the
\nclosest English word that pops into their noggins) — another was a “shark
\nfish” with a hard flat head — they purposefully called Nate from the beach
\nto have her hear from me about the chunk of “lobsta” I had — one of the
\nwomen kept badgering me to buy them $20 worth of kava that night in
\nexchange for my lunch! — Tai Jerry walks past, spies a pair of flip-flops,
\ntries them on and proceeds — 7:30 a.m. household shows some signs of life
\nas a string of villagers head for a boat during a break in the rain — wind
\nfrom the S across the gap always seems to bring rain — nice “dejeuner sure
\nla beach” painting-photo but Joe avoids the camera — Jay rattles on to Joe
\nabout many things but there’s little chance he understands but the odd word
\n— 10:30 breakfast roties and lemon tea finally arrives: scarfed down or
\nplayed with — cassava planting this morning — (wonder if I’m an informal
\ntest case for future “guests” that Nate might send?) — raking of the
\nfallen brown breadfruit leaves — plenty more shouting — Sau and pals pore
\nover Rugby catalogue — cell phone gets constant use: mp3 player +
\nflashlight + camera — some plain rice finally arrives after 2 — turns out
\nthe fish including the huge one ($58) were sold to the resort ?! — I’m
\nserved up the memory of lobster — watertank is being installed today along
\nwith the cassava — little Jason shits on the table and Lolo is told to
\nclean it up (with someone’s sulu, left in a heap by the faucet) — walk to
\nYamata where a pig has escaped: chased by dogs and children — dog snaps at
\nme on the beach — trying to remind them of me — my bit of plate-mirror
\nappears on the table and I pocket it — charge my cell at night (9-12?):
\nthey’ve turned it on but thankfully I removed the SIM — rain all day,
\nnight and this morning — mountain totally shrouded – villager come to
\nborrow skillet and then “fire” from Canada House: and now back for a cup of
\nsugar — villagers often claim to be self-sufficient except for (the list
\ngets longer): sugar, tea, flour, rice, butta… Naboro village may be 28
\nyears old: no ideas about the old village — little girl hops to church
\n(boil on foot): 2 or 3 others have similar inflictions — very little
\nvariety of birds — Sivo returns with skillet or perhaps it’s another —
\ntea at CH: cassava and those rubbery shells: towel put on bench for me,
\nspoon checked and cleaned; quite soft-spoken — did part of my
\nwalk\/training + cell texting during brief break in rain — village girls
\nflop-slide through puddle in front of school — now that everyone’s
\nindoors, Joe decides to do some roof hammering — old village may date to
\n1940 — Joe and Sau have gone diving; Normani, Sivo and Lolo have gone to
\nWatongo for land crabs – txt SCHOOL to 866 — M tells me dinner is early so
\nwe can go to evening church (last in series) so I get ready (shaved,
\nshower) but there’s no bell and no one else goes… turns out there _is a
\nservice but not in the church, but in “MacNamara” house: it’s already
\nunderway so I don’t bother (and the singing sounded especially painful):
\neveryone sort of assumes that I’ve been here before or it’s common
\nknowledge?)… will attempt the All Nations church tomorrow (Sun) walking
\nwith Sau (low tide or boats, I guess we’ll find out…) — seems to be a
\nsecond dinner now…?? UK Jay returned from Lautoka yesterday ( a
\ngirlfriend?) bearing gifts: hair relaxer for Nigh, dye for Tai Nigh, tea,
\nbread, butta, cheeze Bongo snacks, beer of course, and *toothpaste* -not
\nfor me- -pig tries to rouse Lily from sleep on the veranda this a.m. —
\nchickens seem to like to stand under this one small breadfruit plant —
\nassume that Sau (and his g-friend?) Sharon will try and give me the slip
\ngoing to All Nations — Nigh has already left yesterday… well, Sau didn’t
\ngo but after a “do you want to have your breakfast first?” ruse, Sharon
\ntook me to Namara: very sincere, spiritual, “home grown” service, pretty
\nmuch in the open air — nice village with two streams running through that
\nare used for drinking (after boiling) and washing\/bathing — everyone’s
\nchildren seem well-mannered except for this Ravinsaga (M’s) brood: anyway,
\nmet Joe’s brother Cale and wife and took a bath in the stream and lunch in
\ntheir house — breakfast coconut bread turns up in communion: electric
\nkeyboard, original hymns, singing, clapping, swaying: “God created us to be
\ndifferent” — I’m always asked how old I am and I’m often older than the
\nperson asking although they look much older to me — Sharon said that older
\npeople believed there was a God living in the hills behind the mountain
\nrange and that her grandfather had a visitation from Him and probably would
\nagain before he died (the good things are present but hidden) — apparently
\nthe AN congregation was impressed that I’d walked all that way and back to
\nattend their service — Namara is bigger than Naboro and has a paved path,
\na giant Methodist church, a community center under construction, but no
\nsand beach, hence the nickname of Rock City — sandbridge = parting of the
\nred sea (exodus: Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord,
\nwhich he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you
\nshall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to
\nbe silent.\u201d) — big patriarchical “other Joe” seems to be directing a beach
\ncleanup and chopping down the central tree: he also seems to have
\ninstructed this Joe to add big bolts to his verandah construction — crappy
\ndinner: fish carcass, tiny crabs, cassava — saw Nigh return from Natawa
\nbut she didn’t seem to be at the house — have suggested a statue (Capn
\nCook?) to replace the tree stump — boy from CH suffers deep foot gash from
\nbeach shell: cauterized with fire and salt: going to clinic across the bay
\nbut I guess he’ll need to go to the mainland for stitches (is there a first
\naid remedy?) — front addition to a house while the other new house stalls
\nshort of siding from lack of money — my trip to Natawa seems to have
\nopened up new relations here: my forgotten sulu did not come back with
\nNigh: may try and record the sounds of the service next Sun — is “big Sau”
\nalso “Paul?” he met a French woman here, married and had 5 children in
\nFrance: she remarried and he returned: wonder if TN’s and Secca’s offer of
\na girlfriend (like they did for Jay) is a financial proposition — FT is
\nashore for more fiberglass patches — pancakes with peanut butter! at TN’s
\n— another “secret picnic” as I see a boatload go past the sandbridge — TN
\ntries to get me to “rest” in her house and offers some tinned tuna but I
\nborrow a saw and make a walking stick and go around to the next beach:
\nthey’ve installed the water pipes now: some boiled fish and I’m urged to go
\nback: wonder if they’re staying overnight –I read in LP that Fijian
\nvillages are typically quiet(!) except on New Years (1st until school
\nstarts): no difference here esp in this dysfunctional family — another
\ntrip to Lautoka: to see Nate about her new house(?): apparently she shares
\nwith party people from Suva — M has the woman from the first secret
\npicnic, to ask me for money to buy groceries on mainland and that $100\/wk
\nis “just rent” — I say again that there’s nothing extra — Nate told me
\nthat my stay would be free and that anything I contributed would be
\n“appreciated” — odd how UK Jay obeys commands from Joe, despite buying
\nthem all these “things” — M says he buys groceries every 2 weeks — maybe
\nthere’s no other family who would tolerate his drinking and smoking for
\nlong (?): he sucked back at least 3 qts of Fiji Bitter Beer last night:
\nthis is why he goes to Lautoka so often (to buy groceries :)) he’s got a
\nlot “invested” here where he plans to live permanently — rumour has it
\nthat Chinese investors are now involved with the clan’s panned resort and
\nthat the American wants to build a road between the resort and the village
\n+ a car (!) — Joe, Jay and Sau go to Lautoka, the rest have disappeared by
\nlunch time (deliberately!) so I poke around until Sula (?) offers me
\ncassava and tea in Lomolomo house: again startled by how clean and neat it
\nis comparatively (fewer material items: no UK drunk benefactor: just as
\nmany children): same broad beaming face as the lady who gave me water by
\nthe school: everyone’s related — but perhaps Joe is an outcast in some
\nway? may make a $50 offering to the AN church and $50 to M — 2 youths
\nrummaging around the house as I came back from the beach — boat comes back
\nladen with groceries and lumber anyway: room construction begins — burning
\nplastic as mosquito repellent :(( despite never having set foot in the
\nvillage across the bay, a boatload of children from there all seemed to
\nknow my name (from the school perhaps) — incredibly rude fuckers! —
\ninsanely loud amp party all night at this flophouse –> slept on church
\nfloor — big boatload went to the resort at 7 a.m. — Melanesian Deceit —
\nM can’t keep her eyes open this morning and so I had to wait a few hours
\nfor breakfast: this entailed pacing up and down the village hoping someone
\nwould invite me for “tea” — eventually TN bought some peanut butter and we
\nhad it on breakfast crackers — the entire village must have been camped
\nout in front and inside the flophouse — plan to attempt to suddenly leave
\nMon a.m.: will take the Flyer if possible around 3:30 p.m. (otherwise
\nthey’ll overload the boat and I’ll end up paying for the fuel anyway) — I
\nguess maybe the resort is the only employment: that’s maybe what makes them
\nso crazy — placed a marker in the sandbridge so I can tell which way the
\ntide is flowing — the nice brother from Natawa paddled over this a.m. to
\ndrop off my sulu — both he and his pastor-son have gentle, limp handshakes
\n— wary about the mainland expense but last night was the very last straw
\nand there’s probably not much more to the place — maybe 2 hrs to repack:
\nI’m reminded of my Grenada evacuation but there be more rain the E: too bad
\nas it is a beautiful island — end of New Year ceremony: grog helped me get
\na good sleep plus I got fish to eat being the only male adult in the
\nhousehold (!?) — mayor’s son (Noah) is a tourguide\/bar-man: asked about
\nTavenui — the unrelenting expense of the mainland still a concern —
\nthunder and lightning this a.m. — think I was offered lunch in Yamata but
\n“kana” didn’t register in time as I walked past on the beach — nothing at
\nthe flophouse but some cassava at “Breadfuit-head’s” house — waiting to
\nsee if the tide’s going down by the sandbridge — finally unearthed where
\nthe local oral history is stored: in the many versions of the opening kava
\nceremony songs: I had to ask the question many ways but finally got TP to
\nwrite down some verses on the back of a baked-bean label — the first is
\nabout the introduction of christianity by the missionaries 100 yrs ago
\n[insert scan of label] — walked to Natawa again for church: amazed by how
\nquiet it is there: recorded the entire service [1\/15\/12] — met the mayor’s
\nson who just arrived from the mainland: sounds like he may be able to
\narrange a village stay in Tavenui Island: perhaps a more lush, typical Fiji
\nlandscape — and “chill out” is really “chullo” meaning excuse me when
\npassing — and the village has two reservoirs: not entirely dependent on
\nstreams as Sharon claimed — the fish head is reserved for honourable
\nguests seated at the head of the “table” but there’s not much to eat on it!
\n— beware of rusty, jagged-open tuna tins on beach — big clean-up of
\ncompound (no washing on funeral day tomorrow) — Captn Cook is back: shell
\nmarket on school yard – Normani says the Methodist church in USA provides
\nno support — photo of some crabs on shore-rocks [insert] — TP (jokingly,
\nI think) asks me to buy a “brush cutter”: $700 lawn mower — pigs cost $15
\n– 800 — Joe takes “my” sulu (probably to discourage me from attending the
\nfuneral): assuredly he will steal the $2 in pocket if he notices it — I
\nwear my Indonesian sarong instead — cow butchered this morning: huge pots
\nof food prepared — kava drinking most of the night of course — b’fast in
\nthe community hall — someone takes a bite from the mango on my shelf and
\nputs it back: I lock-up most of my stuff — we await the arrival of the
\nbody: then church service and kava: big stack of mats, kerosene, tapas,
\nsome root crop — the pilau was a bad choice for dinner (earlier dish
\nprepared for youth?) as stomach upset this morning — NAMARA YAMATA NABORO
\nTATAWA — kava bells mp4 [1\/18 and 1\/17] — one Naboro villager tells me
\nit’s so noisy and the children so unruly because all the houses are so
\nclose together: another visitor from Lautoka says Naboro used to be very
\ndirty — told Naah I’d visit Tavenui in Feb — big rain this afternoon so I
\nread the Kindle with earplugs against the loud racket but suddenly it got
\nvery quiet: sure enough, they were all secretly eating fish in the kitchen:
\nthey grudgingly gave me some: little N took my spoon but then washed it in
\nthe volu (hand-washing) bowl first, after hearing of my stomach ache — the
\ngirls resist much communication with me: asked about the video clips they
\nwere watching on their cellphones… SOMOSOMO village in Tavenui -> not so
\ntraditional says SIRELI (9083402) who recommends NACOMOTO village in KADAVU
\nstaying with VARANI MAKELESI — mango juice with pulp + cassava for lunch
\n— supposed to go with Joe and Sireli to L then with S tomorrow but S
\ndoesn’t sound too trustworthy so I’ll postpone despite dearly loving to
\nescape this hellhole — apparently S ran off with Sivo’s school fee: but
\nJoe gave no indication about this (related, cousin) military character
\n(discharged apparently) — too expensive to go to Lautoka this early: TP
\nalso called him a con-man: Secca doesn’t like him either — Lily let loose
\nwith a sustained barrage of bawling at b’fast — Lolo is torturing little
\nJason with a stick: the piglet now beats me to the falling mangos — sounds
\nimprobable but Sireli was arrested on Quarta for trying to takeover the
\nresort with “his gang” — Sivo has to be repeatedly told to heat-up cassava
\nfor Tai Brad — some funeral-related ceremony this afternoon: went out to
\nthe point past Yamata where the birds drop and shatter their caught crabs
\n— Lily yanks out glass shutter and cuts above her eye — men who don’t
\nmarry do the cooking…? cassava breadmaking time -> (Lolo greedily
\nprotects her mangos) but not before the piglet gets a good drink of the
\ncoconut milk — Marley “Born to Suffer” song — offered tea in Yamata —
\nmany mosquito bites around my knees: reason for sulu? “Nogu Viti Lomoase??”
\nJoe the shark, sees his namesake — Bill’s boat leaks: unrepairable: new
\ntin sheet: $45 — big broom steamed bread slices at the communal place —
\ntimes goes back 1\/22 (but I’ve heard that a few times already) — I think
\nI’m hearing my name a lot lately (or they could be talking about bread) due
\nto the Sireli affair: even lyin’ Joe was at church today and now makes some
\neffort to communicate: he was complicit in this potential con (other than
\nasking for $160 to go to Lautoka: same price as Flyer) — Abel in Naboro
\nchurch thanked me for coming and asked God to watch over and protect me:
\npacked church, very humid — rain moves across bay in advancing sheets —
\nNigh is thought to have gone to N for church: Joe throws stone at her as
\nshe appears in village — Joe feigns interest in my evening conversation as
\nhe drags out the German picture book: I show him the world’s 2nd largest
\ncountry on GIP map\/card but he ends by asking for more money! incorrigible!
\nand this after a double hit of church! he’s supposed to take Sivo to L to
\nbegin highschool year this morning but the weather is bad — didn’t think
\nthere’d be anything for Sun lunch other than cassava but we join group at
\nTP’s for fish heads and shells — hidden fish tail appears only at Joe’s
\ninsistence for late dinner prior to being hit-up for more money — I find 2
\nfallen mangos in the early morning, before the pig — UK Jay has been on
\nthe mainland for wks now: great! — strange mangy dog sneaks up behind and
\nhalf-bites my ankle — laundry being slapped around: clothesline strung in
\nverandah — potato and eggplant last night disagreed with me: maybe the oil
\nwas rancid — another day and night of rain: apparently due to a hurricane
\n— Sivo has still not been delivered to L for school and although today is
\nsupposed to be the first school day, here it may have been cancelled —
\nCaptn Cook came yesterday and motored quite close to drop off passengers
\nfor the shell-market — wet sulus cling to massive buttocks — “happiness
\nis egotistical” 3 Musketeers — gave M what should be the last “help” on
\n1\/25 (total $1500) — 3 days\/nights of rain come to an end: very low tide
\nthat very quickly rises-up — overheard prayers — feral grooming sessions
\n— wait 5+ min for txt (twitter) message to go out — Sivo goes off to
\nschool-> no emotion (maybe relief?): no thanks to me for paying her fees
\neither of course — food covering crawling with flies: think I was affected
\nby the rancid oil again at dinner (fried fish) — there was no lunch, had
\nto get it from Paul’s house (breadfruit curry) — mangos are fast
\ndisappearing: eat with soya sauce + garlic (yuk) — second Bula Boat
\ngrossly overloaded heads to L too -> although it has covered area for
\nbaggage: not sure what method to use to get to mainland and may have to
\ncurtail the $100 payments here if I have to stay in L guesthouse (rather
\nthan at Nate’s as first planned) — NANDERU\/Melvin — resort manager pays
\nfor fuel for family to go to town — big selfish children — M takes my
\nflipflops which panics me as I have little alternative when walking on
\nrocks — Sau fries some fish which I’m reluctant to eat (rancid oil) —
\nwonder if Joe knew before how much I’ve given to his family: I have come to
\nreally not like any of them — heavy rain has shifted mud and broken
\nwaterlines — house empty: hungry: food appears in TN’s: Airenee is one of
\n5 cooks at the resort: he brought home leftover porridge: pathos — stomach
\nstill not well — tense unpleasant atmosphere at house — may try Nanderu
\nfor day passage to L otherwise I’ll just take the Flyer to N: not much
\npoint in paying M any more: “just wait” — watch Nigh trim and split
\ncoconut: ask for the water inside, grimace included — what is it with
\nthese urchins? — Joe returns from L with rice, underwear, and cookies —
\nmore and more islanders turn out to be resort workers — fancy sarong
\nmissing — more mosquito bites — asked (txt) Nate if I can stay with her
\nat her new job at Long Beach (!) resort before flying home (no reply as
\nusual) –> of course Joe gets wind of this and again wants to use my
\nphone-time: red-eyed and bleary at 10 a.m. I can only assume he’s spent my
\nmoney on grog while his family is hungry? — Sau is using the boat to pick
\nup siding for the new house construction — apparently passage on the BB is
\nonly $10 1-way: they tell me this only after ascertaining that I’ve paid
\nenough to M’s family ($1500): but TN still lies when saying that the cost
\nof reg boat is $300 (!) — Joe who lied about being unable to call Nate via
\ncell, all in support of Sireli’s scheme [boxing game] — judging tide
\ndirection — UK Jay is in Suva visiting with Elli’s parents: don’t think
\nhe’s coming back (if only!) — “ungraceful” thrashing swimmers were driving
\nfish to a net — solar Vodafone! — kerosene is $30 for 20L — keeps much
\nlonger in the plastic cooking oil containers — boat to Watongo for
\ncoconuts, crabs, fish, nuts: eat at Normani’s: house has small hinged doors
\nwith locks – other house is used by Tai Lynn? — THUR-RE-A SERI “say-re”
\nfor short (Joe’s aunt) — hundreds of bats appear as the sun sets! easily
\nthe coolest event of my stay! — 2 youth rush out the door as I
\nenter\/return to the house ahead of the others saying, “you’ve been to
\nWatonga? see you around” -> this does not bode well as too many people now
\nknow I pay $100 each week and am leaving end of Feb — scratch scratch
\nscratch sound of coconut grater — more and more mosquito bites: think
\nthey’re getting me first thing in the morning: perhaps I’ll start my walk
\nlater — attach audible alarm to my bag — “ripe mango theory” of immediate
\nconsumption — Nate’s maybe on the mainland next week? — miraculously fish
\nwere abundant this Sun: oh sure, let the brats walk back and forth on the
\ntin roof (or is that Joe on “the day of rest” — no matter how I try the
\nfishbone suckers can always find more to eat from my plate — I’m often
\ngiven the smallest crab to eat because I can rarely stand
\nstruggling\/tearing at the carcass for a smidgeon of meat: which is only on
\nsmall crab — Nano is spastic and feeble-minded — Lily has spells of
\nnear-madness and a glass-shattering wale — young virgin girls on the East
\nSide grow a length of virgin hair like my “wisp” which is cut once they
\nhave sex — played the VIDIVIDI game: all games (cards) proceed in an
\nanticlockwise direction — first day of school 1\/30 — parents carry foam
\nmattresses\/bedding to school dormitory: 70+ pupils (31 in dorm) — must be
\ndepressing to see your deficiencies repackaged in offspring — rounds of
\n“row row row your boat” — hurricane rumours? — “nannitou? devil: nanitu:
\n4 yr old Jason looked outside the night window, pointed and said it
\nrepeatedly: Nigh got very quiet when I asked how to spell it — all the
\nboats pulled on shore: even the fishing boat which sells barracuda from its
\nicechests ($10 for a big one), has left the bay — Joe comes back clutching
\n2 little fish muttering something about TM — watch TN weave a mat — tea
\nat Jim’s: nice neat house with bare wood floors and big tampa on main wall
\n— rooves tied down: windows boarded — much high-pitched screaming and
\nrapid babbling — children make fun of my worry — FT is dragged up under
\nthe verandah as it could blow away — b’fast (rice) in the brother’s
\nhouse\/store: filthy but they tell me radio weather news: cyclone has passed
\nto the South but still lots of rain, wind and floods in the mainland —
\nnice shot of the children cleaning the school window slots — trad bures
\nnot affected by high winds as the wind passes through them and structures
\nbend with wind — Sami off to plant cassava; Normeni paddles home but
\nleaves Eleanor — I suggest alu-min-ium for boats instead of fiberglass
\n(all those rocks) — E washed M’s pots but then the pig and dog ate from
\nthem — VUDI (orange veg) — another cyclone coming! — seems to be just
\nwind and rain so far — went across to M’s brother’s place to
\nunsuccessfully (can’t charge error: too much draw maybe as the hidden
\nwashing machine was running), charge my cell phone as their generator was
\nthe only one running that night — 3, 4 or 5 cyclones per year — but
\nsomeone heard on the radio that there may be 8 just this month! -> which
\nmeans I need to leave ASAP — is the Yasawa Flyer still running? apparently
\nnearly always — bellowing bumpkin sneaks off for the stoner midnight
\n“fishing” gig and leaves the power strip on the boat so I charge my cell
\nand reader at TP & TN’s — fortunately I spot Nigh’s fly-encrusted fish
\ndish and have A’s catch of small fish at TN’s instead — still more wind,
\nrain, surf — papaya and the big doughy lumps — Friday is “sports day” at
\nthe school: kids do sliding belly flops in the puddles — supper is cassava
\n(Sau, Lolo, Normani know better and eat elsewhere) and Joe asks me to buy
\n“tin fish”: I refuse as always: he orders PMSy Nigh to get some which she
\nsubsequently shoves through th window slats [2\/4\/12 recording – erased] —
\nstorm as finally lifted: lyin’ Joe says he’s going to the mainland this wk
\n— FT was carried down to the water this morning and tie-downs and boards
\nremoved from house — I use Jay’s brighter, less-fly-ridden room to read
\nand Eli (gay guy) lies saying Nigh needed to change in order to get me out
\n— lying is like breathing here — Air-en-ee tells me the Flyer is still
\nrunning but resort has few guests so I may as well wait and see if the BB
\ngoes back into service — mainland will likely be flooded anyway — Lily is
\nsounding increasingly mad — they no longer bother to clean my room but
\nused batteries are disappearing — big styro box in rafters that hides
\nitems (fishing spears, volleyball) — allergic to Sawyer insect repellent
\nit seems — anything, or info not of immediate use is discarded —
\nmandatory Sun fish lunch: break in weather Sat allows better village mood
\n— does TN have a hidden secret washing machine? or is it a toilet? — when
\nthe weather’s rough the boats leave from the school-beach and go around the
\nisland clockwise — TIVI (looks like potatoes) — MAKITA NUT + coconut oil
\n= red hair dye — Air-en-nee brings home chicken-bones\/scraps and beef
\ncurry from resort — rumours of hurricane this morning but just the
\ncontinuing rain for now — Jim the pastor says, no cyclone if you have
\nfaith: his mother? offers to make a $50 mat: would like to see if he’d sell
\nthe tapa but probably couldn’t get it out of the country — cold greasy
\npancakes: Nano squeezes one an applies the grease to his face and hair:
\nlittle Jason clutches them all to his chest — hepatitis: boils? — pecking
\norder — sandalwood sells for $180\/kg: one tree worth $60-70K — offered
\n$100 for tapa burial shroud if Wayalailai chief — Namara Entertainment
\nGroup — school teachers paid $100\/wk by gov’t — dormitory costs $2\/yr as
\nlocal families take turns cooking meals — I’m offered mayor’s daughters’
\nplace in Nadi close to airport but Joe’s enthusiasm for that idea seems
\nlike his evil complicity with Sireli’s plot — re, $3K and corporate flat:
\n“everything inside” — ELIJAH (dismayed, disheartened, broken) insert —
\nPastor Jim turns down my offer of $200 for the tapa but half-seriously says
\n$500 — M falls asleep in the middle of the laundry on the floor so only
\nrice to eat that TN scares up — old breadfruit for lunch — alcoholic UK
\nJay returns with Eli: starts smoking indoors again — butter, store-bread,
\nbeer, bongos from Mainland — cyclone Jasmascus — maybe more rain this
\nweek – promise of fish, at least from Joe doesn’t materialize — 3 wks to
\ngo: 2 kava 3 bundles of yakqi? — no sugar left on island! — school
\noffered me tea and bread but silly snitch-boy ran back to tell M that I had
\nbreakfast and Nigh says that I “eat too much” — Kava: REM sleep
\ndeprivation — the less the “interface” (interaction) the clearer the
\n“expression” — am beginning to truly despise these people esp when they
\nfurtively talk about me in Fijian: there they go again! off on a picnic
\nwithout me! — Bula Boat is back in water — apparently a bus to Lautoka
\nconnects at Denerau port so perhaps the expensive Flyer is the prudent
\npassage & drier — I tell Nanduro I leave on wk of 20th: he says he’ll let
\nme know — Joe rapidly builds door for the “newly coupled:” Jay and Elli
\nsanction: dowry?: lock on outside — they all drink kava (& beer) late into
\nthe night: I can’t stand the sound of his clipped English natterings — BB
\nleaves this a.m. fully loaded: Fri : 7 a.m. — maybe just 10 days to
\nendure: dreamt of animated, dried yoqona roots (protruding from breast
\nshirt pocket — some domestic displays for Elli: will she stay when Jay
\nleaves?) — TAI RASI (88 y.o.) has nap on verandah using 2×4 and folded
\nplastic-burlap bag as pillow — little more rain and surf is still strong
\n— toilet paper!: Eli (horsey face like many and a limp?): Jay gets eggs
\nand the Tai prefix and I get a look as the Tai Rasi says smoking is not
\ntabu in the village (he uses the string-tobacco) — M seems especially
\njovial these last days: Tai Mary comes by with a huge boil on her elbow:
\nSau has one on his neck: Jays seems to have tablets for them but produce
\nheadache side effects — Tai Rasi takes pride in his 6-spoons-sugar tea and
\ngets firewood which a youth delivers, papaya, tobacco plug — single bed
\nmoved from J&M’s room so the big bed is used by J&E for sex? — the Tai
\nwith the burned legs slips in the rain and this event is cause for 15 min
\nof mirth and retelling for several plus those coming by — more hidden
\nfood: the music woke me up: despite being told that there was nothing to
\neat, they’re eating meat, potatoes & noodles at 12 p.m.<\/p>\n
Sau dropped out of school at form\/grade 5 or 6 because the teacher would
\nfrequently hit him on the head. Nigh got as far as form 3?: wants to be a
\npart of the AN church. Lily seems to like going to school (grade 1): all
\nthat structure must be reassuring somehow: apparently L & N are learning
\nhow to make brooms today in school. I’m waiting for the “village visit”
\nboat to return with me to the resort\/Flyer; all this sporadic rain may be
\nan issue and of course I’m not keen on dragging this luggage around Lautoka
\nin this weather at night. M had just finished her shower and as I entered
\nthe stall, Elli was adamantally alarmed that the cake of soap was still
\ninside and I might just use it! How is this pettiness possible? One last
\nlie from squinty-eyed Joe: no village-visit boat but pay him to take me to
\nthe Flyer now. One v-v is here now from Nangia (on the other side :)). Noah
\nshould be here from Wayalailai Resort @ 1 p.m. With the language difficulty
\nit’s hard to tell just how “simple minded” (singular mind) the villagers
\nmay be: they seem deprived and for me depressing. The albino-boatman tells
\nme the v-v is on as Joe watches from a distance. That fucker did nothing
\nbut lie to me all 4 months so, as he seemed to know about the plan to call
\nGoro (Mogee’s son) once at Lautoka bus station, I decide not to contact
\nhim, which was likely wise as the hotel was only around the corner from the
\nbus depot! So that was likely another bad scheme. The Flyer was a pleasant
\nalbeit expensive ride: very smooth and fast with a high viewpoint but
\nimagine my horror\/surprise at seeing a few villagers in Lautoka once I’d
\nchecked into the Seabreeze: they wanted to go drinking, with me paying no
\ndoubt. They were probably disappointed to see me only buy a litre of juice
\n$1 from the market and not-so “Lucki Bites” take-away chicken-curry $3.50 I
\nmust remember to ask for souvenir receipts and head back to my room (who’s
\nnumber I’d “forgotten”) but gave Frances one dollar for juice too. They
\ncame on Tai Jerry’s wooden boat (could it be faster than taking the Flyer
\nto Nadi + bus to Lautoka, included in $129 fare?) The hotel has a nice
\ncentral garden and outdoor pool and right on the bay shore. There’s
\napparently a new hotel just up the street which I’ll “check out” in the
\nmorning but anxious now to get some sleep and not be tortured by loud
\nmusic, screaming screeching all night. Very glad to be out of that
\nhell-house. Paid for 16 nights @ Seabreeze $720 discounted to $45\/night.
\nAnna, the maid’s, grandmother is from Namara so that should be helpful.
\nLooked at Kiran Palace: a new, still partially under construction, motel:
\ngarish Indian multi-color schemes, with a\/c and dark (offered at $40 +
\nbreakfast) but prefer the sunny, breezy place with (murky) pool and view
\nover the bay. Bought a piece of sandpaper 70c to finish my vau (was
\nincorrectly calling it tivi) walking stick: maybe a can of urethane spray
\ntoo: assuming I’ll be permitted to bring it on the plane: although light
\nit’s pretty massive in appearance. Nice to be able to buy things! Brown
\nsugar $3.30 Red Cow powdered milk $5.39 Punjas ceylon tea (punas.com)
\nexcellent! $2.42 Lee’s breakfast crackers $1.99 Bhuja snack mix $3.30,
\n5-pack Maggi instant chicken noodles $2.85 Matches $1.99… exchange rate
\nis about the same (at Western Union) 1.69 as when I arrived at airport, but
\nonly 1.50-something at bank. As the bus terminal is very close I’ll likely
\nmake many trips. Hotel seems pretty secure: there’s even a guard that makes
\nthe rounds at night. Bought a big cup $1.75 and big tea strainer $2.20 —
\nI’ll have to leave these behind. Earlier, bought some peanuts $1.65 and
\nFanta pineapple cold drink 1.25L $2.59 to ease my stomach after the curry
\n(or was it the market fruit juice)?? See more villagers in town: are they
\nnative Fijian societal misfits who retreat to the outlying islands? 2\/14\/12
\nFT headline: Bad Weather Affects Jobs. As most are, this public market is
\npicturesque plus the fragrances of the many Indian spices: I’ll be able to
\neat quite cheaply just from the fruit and vegetable offerings. Got the “are
\nyou on a yacht?” question, but there are but a few here (most in Suva, I
\nthink), that I’ve seen. My big mop of hair attracts some looks. Many shops.
\nprimarily Indian-run: of course you don’t see many Indians on the
\nvillage-islands: Tai Jerry would be the only exception I’ve noticed and
\nhe’s married to a Fijian. All prices except grocery items seem negotiable:
\nwonder if I’m bargaining hard-enough: seem to need to hear the “final
\nprice” phrase… 15 reg postcards $6.60; 5 big cards $6.25 minus .85c
\ndiscount; notebook 40c; silk sulu $10 (from $12.50); wooden souvenir
\nwar-axe (I liked the shape but I’m getting a little buying-spree crazy. The
\nluggage weight limit is sure to be an issue, even before purchases as they
\nmay weigh the carry-on on the way home. 4-$1 lottery scratch tickets (one
\n$2 winner): asked about the Aussie Lucky-7 draw but it seemed to require a
\nname and phone number: weekly draw 35 million\/$2 pick — Fiji map $3 (from
\n$3.50) — $2 bananas in market — got 350 5c coins for the GIP
\ncoin-edition, from the bank with no problem — haven’t found any Fijian
\npencils: they all seem to come from Malaysia or China — lots of DVDs for
\nsale, some CDs but no sign of the mp3s that must be here somewhere: CDs are
\npricey at $20 — HOPE Daycare centre outside: children singing Frere
\nJacques in Fijian… Music mix DVDs $3ea x3. Michael Jackson DVD movie
\ncollection for V $4, but it’s looking familiar: bought her something
\nsimilar at least. There’s also a Julia Roberts movie collection which may
\nbe available tomorrow. Mailed the 5 big postcards 90c ea. Ate some of the
\nMix Bhuja which probably wasn’t good for my stomach but I craved the salt I
\nguess. More tea with powdered milk and sugar and perhaps down to the lounge
\nto watch TV and sunset(?) Must remember to make some mp4 clips of the
\nloaded buses leaving the terminal late afternoon. Almost seems to be as
\nmany Indians, if not more, than Fijians: they seem to disdain typical
\nFijian gospel music fare as well as reggae. Big Muslim temple with green
\nglass next to the sugarcane narrow-gauge railway tracks: with all the rain
\nand damaged crops perhaps the train isn’t operating: I’d hoped to film it
\n— Watched a Sandra Bullock movie on FijiOne TV: The Proposal: just a
\nsmattering of auto, mosquito, deodorant and public service ads in the
\nmiddle: accompanied by squeaking window washing and pleas of feral cat. A
\npiece of my tooth-guard has snapped-off: probably excess stress-driven
\ntooth-grinding. I must call Nate tonight and determine whether she really
\n_has moved from Lautoka: if so, it would be the only truthful thing Joe
\ntold me. Remember spotting what was perhaps an un-manned weather(?) drone
\naircraft from the bus window on the way to Lautoka. Need to buy 13+ more
\npostcards; mailing 15 this morning 2\/15\/12 Need to buy some adhesive
\npatches to repair the tears in my big bag that Joe caused by dragging it
\ndown to the beach. They were all either indifferent or lying about the
\nvillage visit boat: TP said there was no visit due to the earlier rain: TN
\nsaid it was too late for it: Eleanor just related how frustrating it was
\nfor me to pick out tiny pieces of crabmeat when I was so hungry: I drank
\nthe “tuom” (coconut broth with onion) instead of dunking the crab meat. Joe
\nkept saying the boat either was or wasn’t coming: they all seemed to enjoy
\nmy stress: I kept checking on the v-visit once it did arrive: at one point
\nthe boat suddenly left empty: it finally returned but went to “the other
\nside” (school beach\/sand bridge) so instead of “relaxing” as Joe kept
\ninsisting (trans: it’s not my problem), we had to hussle with the luggage
\nto the new pick-up point. Joe’s auntie helped me (sort of) carry the one
\nbag. If you ask the villagers a question they might blurt out an indefinite
\nreply and continue with their chatter so you don’t know if they’re
\ndiscussing your query or not –> inevitably not, as if they are not
\nattempting to speak or listen to you, they’ll immediately switch their
\nattention to the first local conversation and ignore you: or even fall
\nasleep in mid-sentence! as TJ did… (Here’s hoping that UK asshole doesn’t
\ncome here before he leaves… I’d rather not listen to that clipped insipid
\naccent anymore.) Two buttons on flush-toilets: half and full flush. I
\npartially forgot that I’m no longer drinking (fairly) fresh artesinal water
\nas on the island but likely treated Lautoka City water (that’s perhaps also
\ntainted by all the flooding?) Stomach cramps still so bought some bottled
\nAquaSafe water 1.5L $1.89. Spotted in the Shop-N-Save checkout by folks
\nfrom Namara (Old) Village. Also BulaLand salted peanuts from China 150g
\n$1.99×2; Golden Harvest crunchy peanut butter 340g $4.69 to use on the dry
\nbreakfast crackers; Nestle Milo soft pack $2.95 (never had this but it
\npromises protein). Had an Egg Bun $1.20 at the Public Mkt Snack Bar. Not
\nsure I’m really saving much by buying groceries but I like preparing little
\nmeals in my room. Anna did a nice job this morning: new, smaller quieter
\nfan and a new roll of orange colored toilet paper. Nothing appears to be
\nmissing. 4 white young guest (3 male) likely Australian as was the older,
\nvery pale gent I saw this morning in a cafe, while on the way to the P.O.
\nwhere I also bought 15 more postcards (postage for the reg size cards is
\nonly 40c anywhere overseas but packages are $17.50\/kg by sea, $22.50\/kg by
\nair plus a big box at $2.50 (but maybe not big enough for my carved Fiji
\nwar club. Overweight Air Pacific baggage: $10\/kg. At the Wise Kids
\nbookshop: box of Indian pencils, new copy of Fiji Myths & Legends, Indian
\nchildren’s reader (nice line work) and scissors to cut items from the FT
\nnewspaper 2\/15\/12: “Ministry Sends 56 More Workers Home: DISMISSED” Raven
\nSymone in Suva (news for V): total $15.65. Will also try boiling the tap
\nwater longer in a partially-full “hot pot” -> making some Magi chicken
\nnoodles. Little nap: stomach still not good. Out to buy some Ming’s Hot
\nBread 75c Pacific Laundry soap bar (orange) 99c (will attempt to wash other
\npair of shorts and tanks in the shower); Real Orange-Mango juice 2L $6.95
\nNice photo of the girl selling bread at Ming’s. Some of the fish prices:
\nWahloo is $8.95 per kilo! Fish heads $1.79 (see, I knew it wasn’t a good
\nthing…) More folks recognize me at the bus terminal where I braved the
\ndiesel fumes for some nice busy footage mostly of students plus stills (and
\ncalendar $2 but I bet they were really free) of more kava sellers: waba
\n(root only) & yaqoni — light rain; trails of bus exhaust cling to the damp
\nroadway… Well, eating that bread wasn’t a good idea… I should just stop
\neating altogether but I’d be too weak at this point. Once this clears, I’ll
\nbe taking the 12-hr bus trip around the island (Viti Levu) from bay #13:
\nSunbeam bus might cost $39 (but that seems inflated) or so one of the
\ndrivers claimed after discussing my question others… 200% tax deduction
\non flood relief donations over $1000: $1.2 million raised so far. Just OJ
\nand bottled water today. Really wish I’d managed to bring my radio,
\nalthough it would have been turned on 24\/7 and soon destroyed at the
\nhell-house: I could probably buy a cheap one in town. A few voices outside
\nat 4 a.m. — feels like a surprisingly safe town with shoplifting perhaps
\nthe main crime judging by the inevitable shadow clerks in the shops. Apart
\nfrom the overpriced craft section of the public market there’s not much in
\nthe way of souvenirs: only the post office shop has postcards and I’ve
\nbought most of them. Only Fiji rugby shirts and sleeveless beer shirts: the
\nP.O. has a nice black T with “Fiji Kings” in white (rugby?) but it’s $35.
\nVisited the botanical gardens which I stumbled upon during my morning walk:
\nfew visitors, I suspect: not a lot there: the field office employee had to
\nthink long and hard to find me a printed brochure: I suppose that cyclones
\nwould discourage much development — mail 11 more postcards — still no
\nsign of the sugar cane train :(( saw a repurposed (cafe + housing) Indian
\nmovie theatre that I’ll visit later today — several decrepit internet
\ncafes with out the coffee — feels a little like Central America this
\nmorning: humid, palms, open buses, rain showers, light industrial
\nshambles… not a lot _to Lautoka: bars, gates, security fences on houses
\n— may end-up making many bus trips: may buy some snacks, drinks for the
\nride tomorrow — it’s not a light, but a fan that’s missing from the
\nceiling, hence the portable model — Fiji Bitter quart $3.55; snack mix
\nfrom red Indian cart 50c — typhoid, dengue, & leptospirosis(?) are
\nwater-borne diseases — 11 dead and 4500 displaced due to flooding — NZ
\ndonates $2.2 million — got some nice footage of the snack carts outside
\nthe market — cars actually stop at crosswalks in town: probably a big fine
\nfor offenders like the $400 fine littering in the public market. I see now
\nwhy Fijians cling to the only validating history available (the early
\nmissionary days) -> the established Indian Hindu and Islamic faiths and the
\nsheer number of these adherents trump trivial comparative claims to
\nhistorical culture (the cannibal era excluded). Have delayed my 12-hr bus
\ntrip to tomorrow, Sat as my intestines remain unwell. The hotel, being
\nIndian-managed, is scrupulously clean: much sweeping and mopping: white
\nceramic tiles — I’d assumed the tap water would be OK once boiled for tea,
\nbut maybe not: I’ll try buying the expensive 1.5L bottles of a while:
\ngrocery store probably not open yet: starts to warm-up about 6:30 a.m. I’ll
\nbuy a newspaper and the water and read outside in the sun for a while.
\nStill plugging through “Thus Spake Zarathursa”: pseudo biblical treatise on
\nthe Kindle (which I remember trying to finish years ago). Left a nice oil
\nslick on the surface of the pool water yesterday from my suntan lotion:
\nhave yet to see anyone else use the pool: modesty issues? — txt msg to
\nNate?: the more I help your family the more hostile they become — clouds
\nbuilding in the afternoon over the mountains, probably bringing light rain
\nsoon — many guests arrive Friday afternoon by taxi — I had many
\npremonitions\/misgivings about traveling to this region (South Pacific)
\nwhich I finally knowingly ignored (to my peril?): I can’t believe that one
\nbottle of juice is still upsetting my intestinal tract 5 days later —
\nLautoka seems to be a bit of a weekend party town: the motel patrol was in
\neffect by 8 and guests are asked, “are you going out?” as they do: this to
\nprovide some reassurance? — I’ve been going to bed too early to see what’s
\ngoing on and of course as the islanders know, I’m not a party-person —
\nit’s either 15 min before (VodaFone) or after (TV) 8 p.m.: I can very
\nfaintly hear the Muslim prayer call — slid the bicycle-cable lock through
\nthe handle of the smaller bag and the PacSafe and around the plumbing that
\nruns through the closet — threw out the old toothbrush (who knows?): could
\nbe the Red Cow milk-powder?: best before date 06\/10\/2014: I don’t even use
\nwater when brushing my teeth: should be able to risk taking the bus to the
\nairport as (for once), I’ll have all day before departure time — story in
\nthe paper about cancelled, weather-related flights and no compensation from
\nthe airlines — I’m thinking UK Jay must have been behind all the
\nhostility: from confusing my airport pickup; feigning sleep in the
\nshoreline hammock as I arrived; to finally ignoring me altogether, which
\ncould only have fueled the household hostility — 3 tiny imported USA
\noranges $2; 4 tiny imported USA apples $1.50 — Sat is the _big market day:
\nmore vendors: includes live chickens, crabs, shrimp… bought 2 small bur\u00e9
\nmodels and fan for $15; 7 wooden bracelets for V $10… from the ShopNSave
\nmore 1.5L water: 3 for $5.67; Punjas breakfast crackers $1.13; 2 more
\nBulaLand peanuts in the tin $3.98 (150g); Sat FijiTimes $1 2\/18\/12: TWO
\nDEAD (Leptospirosis) — little mormants scuttle along the fenceline at the
\nback of the hotel -> introduced here and elsewhere to kill rats but they
\nalso ate the birds’ eggs — thunder at 3 p.m. — back from the bus trip
\naround the island Viti Levu ($40): apparently there’s a slightly cheaper
\noption with Pacific Trails busline and they have a\/c but you need to switch
\nbuses in Suva: glad I went on Sun: it has to be very hectic during the week
\n— not a lot to this place really — saw little evidence of major flood
\ndamage other than eroded river banks: small horses, cows along the roadway;
\nlots of sugarcane, numerous designated “villages”; a prison but no visible
\nmilitary institutions; grog shops; very long. narrow dug-out canoes;
\nfamilies headed to church; empty roadside produce stands (would make great
\nphotos); some posh resorts along the Coral Coast (SW tip); shops were
\nmostly all closed on Sunday; the drivers were all neatly coiffered, young,
\npolite Indian males: the ticket-takers seem to be circulated along the
\nroute: a running dis\/mount from\/to the bus: they seem very chummy amongst
\nthemselves and seem to engage in fairly serious respectful conversation as
\nthe bus moves along: any responsible job is invariably held by non-Fijians
\n— generous rainfall as I come home — still remember various islanders
\nasking to borrow my umbrella (light, small, delicate travel model) -> zero
\nchance of it not being broken, so that’s what I said it was: and even less
\nchance of them appreciating that it’s “special\/significant” and difficult
\nto replace: still, Fijians seem fairly easy-going, accepting, and cheerful:
\nit has to be the kava ;) the Indians may see this land as amazingly
\nopen\/sparsely populated and that may contribute to a sense of ease,
\nalthough they’re clearly “driven” compared to the natives — the
\nsettlements on smaller islands must empty the “mainland” pretty quickly for
\nthose wishing an approximation of Western capitalist environments; I
\nimagine students’ secondary schooling would provide the initial impetus,
\nbut there’s very little secondary industry income for arriving islanders
\nsuddenly faced with new expenses — gold, timber, sugar, fish — 3G network
\nisn’t picked up by the Kindle although I’ve seen ads for 3&4G — the USB
\nport on my Sanyo movie camera shows green corrosion but I’ve rarely used
\n(TV playback) esp as all my films are the very small 176×144 format — the
\nAirborne evanescent vitamin C container seems the perfect size stashing
\ncurrency!: had the last of it: may not still be effective: after my bus
\ntrip I woke at 1 a.m. charged the cell phone and Kindle: also made some
\nMilo with powdered milk and thought about making some more w\/c of the
\nmultiple rippled small wavelets out back of the hotel –12hr aerial shots
\nof the hotel garden foliage — could hear the wooden (church?) drums last
\nmorning — [from LP phrase book:] should you be invited to stay with a
\nFijian family, prepare yourself for a novel and heartwarming experience.
\nFijians are masters at entertaining, and go out of their way to make guests
\nfeel as comfortable as possible. You will probably be given the best room
\nin the house (or, if in a village, the only bed) and served with the best
\nfoods, within your host’s means.” — was wondering why I had a bruise on
\none side of my nose -> the nosepiece from my Revo sunglasses is missing:
\nexpensive optical clarity isn’t worth the price given how often Revos fail
\nin other regards: it was sometimes too dark to see properly: have a cheap
\nbackup pair of course — Punjas breakfast crackers are vitamin-enriched:
\nfeel a cold coming on: odd how these ailments strike once I _leave the
\nflophouse — only saw the southern outskirts of Nadi and the colourful
\nHindu temple on the way back to Lautoka -> made some probably unremarkable
\nfootage from the bus window — I like this mitre of coconut tanning oil +
\nSPF4 lotion: looks like ghee — 2\/20\/12 DRUG RESIDUE DANGER (no tests on
\nmeat from sick animals) — big afternoon rain with thunder and lightning:
\nfrom RP Foodtown: Laxmi Mix Bhuja 400g $3.15 and here’s the good deal: Real
\nJuice Orange-Mango 2 x $6.95 2L — Fiji Gold 750ml $3.95 — temps in the
\nlow 30’s C — the burlap bags come out all along the open entrances to the
\ngrocery stores, to minimize the mud tracked in — instant coffee in a nice
\nsquarish red Nescafe mug 70c in order to sit with my groceries and take
\npictures of people and buses in the downpour — wallou = kingfish — ate
\nsome breakfast crackers with canola spread + tea + bananas — did the Milo
\nMile 6x (why not Kilo?): came home and basically sat in the sun all day,
\ndrinking a 2L bottle of Australian orange-mango juice as my throat is sore
\n— shot a few clips of the rapidly incoming tide towards 4 p.m. — no
\nwatercolours — small 28 pp paper today: 2\/21\/12 “Commander warns Health:
\nToll up by 3” (flood borne diseases) — there’s running water at the market
\nso I’m thinking the fruit juice I had on arrival was not likely tainted:
\nassuming the Lautoka city water is OK) — “The breaking of the coconut
\nrepresents the cracking of the three forms of human weakness: egotism (the
\nhard shell), delusion (the fibre) and material attachments (the outermost
\ncovering), The white kernel and sweet water represent the pure soul
\nwithin.” — about half way through the Neitzche — had a Fiji Gold Beer
\nlast night but again the beer doesn’t seem to have any alcohol in it:
\nbottles wrapped in newspaper: Muslim propriety: all purchases are rounded
\nto the nearest 5c as that the smallest coin now — more juice 3 x $6.95;
\nFMF breakfast crackers $1.50; Collins (Indonesian) candies for my throat
\n$1.35; Fiji Cheddar cheese $6.09 (so far nothing’s disappeared from the
\nshared fridge) -> the whole complex is very open, structured around a
\ncentral courtyard filled with plants and a non-functioning fountain (I must
\nask if it works): they may just be thrifty with the electricity — mailed 2
\nmore postcards: started to explore North of the hotel along the shore
\nwondering whether there’s a local dock (apart from the fisheries formality
\nfarther South) -> heard there _was but now it’s “finished” -> came across
\ncluster of tombstones that perhaps was relocated (due to cyclones\/floods),
\nas usually they’re seen separately outside relatives’ homes — 2\/22\/12 KAVA
\nBAN IN PLACE — bits of sun but rain again by 2:30 p.m.: chicken chop suey
\n$4: asked at the red Indian restaurant what “ah-poo” meant: “A-poh is the
\nboss’ name and “a-poo” means apple ? in Fijian-Hindi? — light rain + sun +
\nrainbow -> put on the new grey & pink swimtrunks (a little tight in the
\ncrotch: even with recent weight loss): cheap Chinese eBay purchase: no
\npouch in front) and swam in the rain and sun: no chlorine in this pool I’d
\nsay, but lots of rainwater — Ming’s Hot Bread 75c; bunch of bananas $2 —
\ntried another Fiji Gold from Shop-N-Save: 20c cheaper at $3.75 and another
\nBhuja Mix (not as fresh as the carts but cheaper) — asked to have the
\ncentral fountain turned-on amid all the plants which I’d remarked on
\nearlier: only the sprayer in the center works, along with red, blue & white
\nunderwater floods, and not the cascading water shells: the hotel lady said
\n“thank you for reminding me”: they’re supposed to be on at 7 p.m.: nice,
\neffective background sound: and it’s easy to lose sight of all the plants:
\nthey’re a significant feature here: I guess I admire the layout of the
\nplace: open and yet private\/sequestered — Japan’s ambassador is moving on
\nand hopes that Fiji will implement a “credible\/transparent” democracy in
\n2014 elections — I try to get down to the lounge to watch the 6 p.m. TV
\nnews each night (despite the occasional cloud of cigarette smoke) —
\napparently the mini-vans at the corner, (as well as the buses every 15 min)
\nalso go to Nadi for $2 so maybe I’ll take the trip tomorrow morning: but I
\nsee\/hear that the fountain has now been turned-off, before 8 p.m. — ashes
\nfrom burnt Sunday palms of previous year (church service) — VEREKAUTA’S 7s
\nCHANCE (Fiji Rugby) 2\/23\/12 — finally paid $4 in advance? for Julia
\nRoberts DVD collection (6 films) for V — $15 for Fiji Time T shirt for D
\n— more big rain at 4 p.m. (glad I didn’t go to Nadi today: tomorrow’s
\nweather is supposed to be similar — semblance of village between
\ncommercial sector and light industrial zone — photograph the wild power
\npoles (insulators, jump-wires, connectors): big church in village: these
\nare the drums I hear: I don’t have a sulu anymore but maybe the shorts on a
\ntourist would be OK here, if I attend this Sunday — couple more w\/c before
\nI began tanning my ass! they don’t disturb me on the deck now: but I was
\ninterrupted by 2 brief downpours and so wandered up the street in search of
\nlunch (fish and chips $3.50) — bought 2 small papayas for $3: seems a
\nrip-ff after having big free ones on the island — seems the sugar can
\nharvest doesn’t start until June: the small train that used to transport it
\nwas running at the end of the season when I saw it in Nov — jumped on the
\nbus to Nadi this morning ($2.75) before I could get too worried ->
\ninteresting to see the locals up close on their way: meticulously groomed
\nschool girls: about 1-1\/2 hours from bus terminal to terminal: bought some
\njewelry for V from a shop that likely supplies all the shell market ;)) a
\nnice but small (and as usual for bird books), too expensive, but got it
\ndown to $7.90 from one shop: “Birds of the Fiji Bush” published by Fiji
\nMuseum: includes the little bright “red-headed parrot-finch” that I would
\noften see in the green grass on Waya — more tourists (but not many; some
\nJapanese) in Nadi as well as souvenir shops & the buy-now dreaded bula
\ngreeting — a quieter, with larger yaqona section, market next to the bus
\nterminal — almost didn’t bother to pay the $3.50 tourist fee to see the
\nSwami Temple: very lurid and a little crude decorations, just at the edge
\nof town: snuck a few prohibited snaps before being admonished: and I hate
\nhaving to leave my shoes in these places (functional, fitting footwear
\nbeing a perpetual problem): there was one goddess-statue that I was allowed
\nto photograph (Malina?): perhaps she watched over my footwear — there’s
\nnothing foreboding about either Nadi or Lautoka, but just like Belize, I
\ntend to believe the locals (who have their own agendas), in the absence of
\nany other info — bought an ice-cream cone from a vendor-cart in the bus
\nterminal [insert: “Me and My Ice Cream” pic] — didn’t see any
\ncheaper\/appealing accommodation in\/around Nadi: so Lautoka is the way to go
\n— still scared-to-death that AP will weigh my carry-on — locals at the
\nalmost adjacent house offered me kava (“one bowl”) but the water is still
\ntoo scary: I suppose I could bring a bottled water — 2\/24\/12 LIGHTNING
\nSTRIKE KILLS — bursts of rain this afternoon — asked about the “Sleeping
\nGiant” garden at a Nadi tourist kiosk: hahaha $85! + there’s a directional
\narrow to it off the Queen’s HWY little above the airport — to bed and up
\nearly: make toast in the kitchen: can hear distant bass music rumbling: ate
\na market papaya: much darker orange color inside and smaller than the Waya
\nvariety — more shots in the Sat market: morning shafts of sunlight:
\nsuddenly realized that all these heaps of produce are 12hr material so I
\nran several rolls (all doubled exposed with earlier, likely volcanic rocks
\nshots) — banana pudding & lemon cakee $1.50 ea — mailed 2 more postcards
\nwit re-valued stamps 2x20c — bought $9 BISONY tiny radio at the same shop
\nwhere I finally found mp3s for sale: 150 songs burned to CD: gospel & grog:
\n$15 total (despite there being a big sign stating “Pleeze No Gospel”) —
\nmaking a mon recording [2\/24\/12] of the $9 radio with ambient hotel and
\nweather using splitter [seems to generate line-noise; follows on Island
\ngrog-hell recording] — article in FT about Indian and Chinese ATMs that
\ndispense gold coins and bars (in the event of global currency collapse: I’d
\nreckon on ammunition, shotgun-shells, being the new barter currency) & “Kim
\nDotcom’s” custodial proceedings (Australian millionaire founder of
\nMegaUpload) — BE HONEST (Flood disease statistics bother Commander Cawaki)
\n— sucked back another 2L container of Orange-Mango juice in a bid to shake
\nwhat just seems to be a head-cold — had a slice of the “lemon pie” : like
\nthe “banana pudding” this lady makes the best! : I’ll tell her next time I
\nsee her (assuming that she’s not only there on Sat) — [insert photos]
\ncan’t believe the sound from this tiny cheap radio, about the size of a
\nthick business card — saw a disturbed elderly, white (Australian) man in a
\nb&w striped dress\/long shirt and elevated men’s shoes shuffle past as I was
\neating a piece of fried chicken ($4) yesterday: he made quite a stir in the
\nrestaurant — my chest was covered with what looked like small bug bites
\nthat itched and “leaked” -> stopped using the sunscreen-oil combination and
\nit seems to have improved but this morning I brushed at what looked like a
\nvery big pimple on my left shin and it broke, releasing some fluid and
\napplied (expired) antibiotic cream (still leaking): hope it’s not a boil!
\n— the 4th month is maybe just too much to recover from… 4 days to go…
\nnow the zipper on my waist-bag isn’t closing completely: things never get
\nbetter, only worse: entropy: not every shop seems to carry the Sunday
\nTImes: :finally found one from the street stand and bought 4 green oranges
\n($2) from a Chinese vendor outside the closed public market: no breeze and
\nthe street stunk — I’ve resumed using boiled local water for my tea ->
\nwonder if that caused my leg “boil” — everything\/everyone suspect —
\ncouple of soft voices called to me (“Madrai; Tai Brad”) but I was stressed
\n& too intent on returning my $9 radio which suddenly didn’t have any
\nvolume, that I just glanced in their direction and kept going -> of course
\nyou don’t know off the islands, if it’s a genuine greeting or just an
\nopener to ask for money: felt kinda badly after… I chanced on a peaceful
\nsoccer match, after finding the Sunday streets mostly deserted and shops
\nclosed — and staying with the hostile buggers where leaving anything
\nunattended\/unlocked would guarantee its disappearance, meant I was
\ncontinually having to check myself and where things were: exhausting after
\n4 months! and I still have to deal with airline baggage issues and the
\nusual immigration goons… so, I headed home to ditch the radio, have a cup
\nof tea and lemon pie and return to watch the soccer games, umbrella in hand
\nfor the usual afternoon downpour — I’m unusually itchy coming in from
\nsitting outside the hotel: seem to have a salt residue on my body: perhaps
\nthat’s what killed my radio! -> tried unsuccessfully to spot the island
\nfamily who hailed me but I don’t think it was anyone I knew especially —
\nwell, I still upset the radio doesn’t work! I really enjoyed listening
\nbefore I went to sleep and the choir music this morning. Anyway, went back
\nto the soccer field and watched 2 games at once, nearly always missing the
\ngoals ;) this is akin to my 2-puck hockey idea… not a friendly city: most
\npeople seem to have that urban-frazzle look: but the wide streets & parks
\nare promising — just realized that the “Sleeping Giant” Waya mountain’s
\nname was probably borrowed from Raymond Burr’s garden of the same name…
\none hotel worker told me it was a 15 min walk from the directional arrow
\noff the highway but another says 45 min and there’s a “carrier” who will
\ntake me there and back for $40… nothing perplexes me more than electronic
\ndevices that suddenly only partially function ;) I can still only hear a
\nvery faint radio station signal — Monday morning: leg boil looks OK but I
\nstill have some of the rash of oil pimples\/bites (?) on my chest\/thighs ->
\npop ’em & apply antibiotic: still have cold: the fan blowing on me all
\nnight probably doesn’t help but it keeps any mosquitos at bay — 8 loose
\nbananas in mkt $2 — Seacoast shop exchanged radios: very pleased: will
\nkeep this one indoors: drinking water should be boiled for at least 1
\nminute — 3 x $6.95 2L orange-mango juice (broke the refrigerator door
\nshelf with the weight: of course everything’s a little broken down to begin
\nwith) — Aqua Pacific 1.5L water $1.95; Indian Tonic Water $2.50 1.25L;
\nPunja Ceylon tea (small box loose $1.48 to take home); b’fast doughy fried
\nsnacks from carts: $1 + crunchy snacks $1 — paper 2\/27\/12 “BURNED ALIVE”
\n(Koronvia home fire) — tiny tight demin short on tiny thin Indian girl at
\ngrocery check-out — spent the day reading “Thus Spake Zarathustra” (Happy
\nIsles) 84% finished: overcast but warm all day: no rain: would have been a
\ngood day to visit the S.G. Garden but will hope for something similar
\ntomorrow: thought of asking the Tourist Police (next to Ming’s Seaview
\nrestaurant: chicken chop suey $4.50 + Juicy pineapple drink $2) about the
\nsafety of my walk to the SG but there was no one in the office (open barred
\ndoor) — picked up a little racial animosity when I asked the Indian hotel
\nstaff which island we could see in the distance: “ask the Fijian girl
\n(Anna); she’s pretty smart” — some conflict this morning between the 5
\na.m. drums, call-to-prayer and dogs — after much agonizing I decided to
\ntry and and cash back about 1900 FJD in case there was a big line or
\nproblems at the airport: the rate seems to be .56 so about $820US: Western
\nUnion had the cash on hand but wanted to see my name on the e-tkt and
\nwanted my local address: I then went to the bank where the teller took my
\npassport & ticket & money and went to two other tellers\/windows where
\neveryone muttered and flipped through my passport: I finally went over and
\nsaid, “what do you think you’re doing?” : the teller asked me if I wanted
\nto buy FJD!? then said they didn’t have enough USD! WTF! — went back to
\nthe hotel where I almost left my bags unlocked\/unchained as I wasn’t going
\nto be long and they never clean the room this early –> but they had! this
\ntime (but didn’t leave a towel or blanket) – called AP to check on my
\nflight Thurs and they really do weigh carry-ons! (actually they didn’t:
\njust hoisted up the bag to see if it felt too heavy) — I’ll have to cram a
\nlot of stuff into my pockets! too stressed to try the Sleeping Giant trip
\n— Bakana Island: seen from hotel — 2\/28\/12 DOCS FIGHT BACK (10 on stop
\nwork notice over medical decree) — still can’t decide about currency:
\ncharge razor, sanyo, cell, kindle, batteries…<\/p>\n
Western Division since Jan 25: 53 cases of communicable diseases: 14
\ntyphoid, 16 leptosprirosis, 23 dengue — discover sun & cool breezes on
\nusually-locked (never used) dining room deck: Fijian below bellows: “make
\nuse of the pool” (I doubt it but I wonder if my bacterial issues stemmed
\nfrom using that pool…) — only white upholstered chairs in the
\ndining-room so I bring up a plastic one from poolside: a great spot with
\nviews over\/beyond the barbed wire fence & debris-strewn, muddy shore (12
\ntyres & trash) — locals seem to forge for something (firewood? refundable
\nbottles?) — only 3 newspapers (2 English, 1 Hindi?): no magazines anywhere
\n(presumably the old mags on the island came through cruise ship passengers?
\nalthough it seems unlikely that’s how many of the playcard decks arrived:
\nperhaps passengers are advised to bring certain items ashore? along with
\nthe many color-pencils (I almost did too) that litter the school compound
\n— not hearing any likely audio-sources: the market seems only to yield
\nmany muffled voices & traffic outside — residential 4-plex next door is
\nwell-fortified: fencing & caged verandahs: there are breaches in the flimsy
\nshore fencing here but perhaps the roving security guy is a better option,
\ngiven the occasional Fijian visitor (such as the 3 in the pool now) — FT
\nheadlines 2\/17\/12 KAVA BAN (water borne disease threat): wonder if bottled
\nwater is even OK as my stomach is still gurgling: must check the seals on
\nthe remaining bottles (no exp date on this one or is it embossed 30-01-14)
\n— send yet another txt msg to Nate: all ignored so far: would like to
\nbelieve she’s not complicit: but it all make me wonder if the friendly
\nislanders were in on the ruse -> I’m tending to think that M was instructed
\nby Joe to be increasingly inhospitable as there was initially some token
\nrecognition of my household contribution: (mat on the floor, powdered milk,
\nPop’s juice, clean sheets…) -> wonder if there contraband activity of
\nsome sort? why else would UK Jay buy them all those expensive things,
\n(boat, motor, tools, diving equip, etc) — I hope I’m not denied this
\nsunning spot: I see that the dining room door (which leads to the verandah)
\nis being reinforced with a strip of wood: perhaps the lock in the
\ndouble-doors could be forced? — applied some Neosporin to the scratched
\npimple (I hope) and switched to the micro-mesh thong: very private here,
\nunless you snuck right up behind me — now, if I can just get a bottle of
\nvodka + OJ up here :) wonder if the alcohol helps kill the intestinal
\nbacteria? — the occasional freighter & passenger ship slides by — can
\nhear bottles clanking at the night club adjacent — many eggs offered for
\nsale in the mkt (that I could boil in the hotpot) but samonella or
\nsomething would be almost a certainty in this heat, and distance
\ntransported… maybe I’ll do the bus loop on Sunday (less traffic) = Like
\nthe sail trembling with the violence of the spirit, doth my wisdom cross
\nthe sea — my wild wisdom! = now I’m thinking it’s the Bhuja mix, although
\nI didn’t have any the first night. I have lashed the PacSafe to a PVC
\nplumbing pipe that traverses the upper closet shelf [insert pic]: there’s
\n6K US in cash in there + travelers’ checks + almost $1K Fijian; my SD cards
\nwith most of my pics and films and most of the mini-disc recordings — tea
\n& a little sunbreak at 2 p.m. — finally had to risk a restaurant meal:
\nchose a popular Indian place on the main street for chicken palau $2 then
\nordered $1 worth of deep-fried chili-things (that were in the “samosa”
\ntray_: way too hot even for me: one little bite brought tears to my eyes:
\nbought a big bottle of cold Fanta pineapple $3.39 and gave the chili-things
\nto one of the Indian staff at the hotel: diaherra still! (day 5) so took 1
\nCiprofloacin tab (thank-you, Travelers’ Clinic!) and will try not to eat
\nanything tomorrow — watched Zee Indian movie awards & Fiji News (mostly
\nflood relief efforts & one piece about how Fijian student aren’t learning
\nabout their own history! there must be some way to glamourize\/sanitize
\ncannibalism :) == unmoved is my depth: but it sparklith with swimming
\nenigmas and laughters == IMMACULATE 12hr PERCEPTION == to be happy in
\ngazing: with dead will, free from the grip and greed of selfishness: cold
\nand ashy-grey all over, but with intoxicated moon-eyes == no chicken palau
\n($3) left tonight so I had the spicy chicken (bones) with rice then headed
\nto the cinema complex to see a special screening of an Indian film (Dirty
\nPicture) that won numerous awards on TV the other night — less than 10
\npeople in the theatre but we were assigned numbered seats (often in
\nstrategic groups: an informal Indian matchmaking service?) — film starts
\nwith a Nietzsche quote (!) about chaos within and dancing stars — up at 4
\na.m. to catch the (what turned out to be 6:15 Sunbeam bus around the
\nisland) — mongoose is the name of the little creatures that dash around
\nthe hotel shrubbery — offered the use of the refrigerator in the kitchen:
\n“sorry I forgot” but just bought some canola spread for the crackers, so
\nthat’s not a bad thing: I was thinking it would keep for a while
\nunrefrigerated — sore throat this morning: hopefully its just from all the
\ndiesel bus exhaust — bought a 15% mango juice as the upscale store that
\nsells 100% juice wasn’t open yet — wandered down while waiting to the
\nshore (South Seas club) and did the Milo Mile: measured walk along the
\nbreakwater looking over mangrove islands but really an industrial zone —
\nstrangely Lautoka seems to have cultural potential although there’s little
\nhere now except the internet cafes & night clubs: live entertainment seems
\nunlikely — clouds are piling up along the horizon — much ongoing
\ndiscussion about hotel affairs: are there two sisters?: towels, toilet
\npaper, this & that and I see now how predominately plants play into this ->
\nfurther animated discussion about the trimming of variety of flowering
\nbushes along the fence line by the water -> seems so easy to grow things
\nhere: just snip some branches & stick ’em in the ground & voila! — plants
\nin pots along the inner railings, the courtyard, out front: not in the
\nrooms however — water is a difficult brown that shifts to green when
\npainted, but I’ve begun! nothing ever like this on Waya — two women wading
\nway out from shore fishing with floating bright yellow canola oil
\ncontainers in the murky water: Anna seems to know them, or the activity, as
\nshe went up to the fence and looked almost eagerly in their direction:
\nthere’s some industry in the area so I wonder how healthy it is to eat the
\nfish: some small kayaks farther out — solesolevaki (communal goods) —
\nwatch (and sometime listen if the conversation level permits to the 6 p.m.
\nFijiOne news from the “Ministry of Information”: wonder if the Internet is
\nmonitored\/restricted at times — very still & a little humid this morning:
\nscarcely a ripple on the water — need a much finer point perm marker for
\nGIP postcards — the first (dreaded) kerri-kerri request from Anna but it
\nwas only for an old FT newspaper to line the rubbish bins :) — finally a
\nslight southerly breeze around 10:30 a.m. — these 17 days in Lautoka may
\ncost nearly as much as 3-1\/2 months Waya Island — some Catholic (Church of
\nPerpetual Help) special service this morning with communal blessings &
\noverhead projection of English song lyrics: Ash Wednesday — many walkers
\non the Milo Mile this morning including a long line of marching girls: the
\nelderly Indian fisherman was in his usual spot, patiently, methodically
\ncutting fish for bait: small hooks and light line — 4 stocky Fijian ladies
\nwith shovel and each with plastic container pass the back of hotel and
\nthrough hole in fence around the nightclub: crabs? — mustn’t be any
\nemission control on vehicles: insurance optional? — VAKUA DRUA
\n(double-hulled canoe) — counting of the towels — pigeons congregate on
\nthe hotel & plaza roof ledge flying a tight circle back en masse when
\ndisturbed: either fed or spilled grain from the delivery trucks — what
\nwere the similarly mischievous Japanese birds? to the mynah here — iTaukei
\nlanguage — 20% of total (non-sugar) agricultural production is ‘stolen’ —
\nGeorges Melies (silent film pioneer) — Fiji measles epidemic 1875: 1\/3 of
\n100,000 died — Fiji Internet through the “Southern Cross cable” — i tovo
\nvaka vanua (cultural inheritance) — vosa vakaviti (native language) — vei
\nqaraqaravi vakavanua (cultural ceremony attributes) — world’s shortest man
\nfrom Nepal 22″ tall: Chandra Bahadur Dangi — does drinking quinine in
\ntonic water offer any protection from malaria? — big white & green city
\nrecycling truck plays music and pickup announcements for “a sustainable
\nfuture” — Anna again asks for an old copy of my FT to line the trash bins
\n— must try “aftersun” vaseline intensive care lotion instead of No-Ad
\nsunscreen oil & aloe vera etc: (maybe they’re just outdated\/ineffective) —
\nstill remember the incredibly thin legs of the soccer linesman on Sunday —
\nSugar City < --> Sugar Land — Nietzsche: “Nothing is true; all is
\npermitted.” (it’s the other way around of course) — the wind blew my snack
\nbag over and took my blue Nadi bus ticket into the next fenced yard :( —
\n12hr: The purest are to be masters of the world, the least known, the
\nstrongest, the midnight souls, who are brighter and deeper than any day.”
\n—<\/p>\n
Nate Wasawasa (Korovou Eco Resort):<\/p>\n
I’m still very sick (unknown bacterial infection) from staying with your
\nlying, thieving, greedy, hostile, feral, filthy family… all topped-off
\nwith an obnoxious, somehow threatened, alcoholic, smoking UK cargo-cult…
\nthe worst time of my life! (if it weren’t for most everyone else in the
\nvillages who were open, helpful, considerate and friendly); but not a
\nsingle word of thanks or concern?… Fiji you!<\/p>\n
= financial disclosure =<\/p>\n
upon hearing my condition (infected hot painful swollen sores, cough and
\nburst lymph gland; I could scarcely walk): clinics who wouldn’t examine me
\nin a timely manner insisted that I go to an emergency room immediately: but
\nas I repeatedly told every OOOO doctor\/student who examined me, I have no
\ninsurance and no money and as a non-citizen, no health coverage (I am a
\nlawful permanent resident of Oregon for over 20 years): even though many
\nprocedures seemed frivolous to me (xrays for TB as one example), I was
\nrepeatedly assured that they were necessary and that most fees would be
\ndiscounted or waived — I finally had to leave in light of what had to be
\nimpossible overnight hospital fees (no one would ever tell me what anything
\nmight cost!) — again I said, I have no money –> I still cannot go
\noutdoors due to persistent drainage\/swelling from open wounds that still
\naren’t healed, despite your new antibiotic prescription… (and by your own
\nadmission, giving me an IV antibiotic when I first arrived, masked much
\nchance of determining the identity of bacteria in my system)… I’m still
\nsick and feel like I was a sitting duck in an emergency arcade…. I have
\napproximately $3000 in a BofA checking account and a 23 yr old car, rent an
\napt\/room that was recently burglarized; I’m single with no family and have
\nhad no income for several years surviving on my savings. (I _do have a lot
\nof my artwork that I could donate to OOOO as payment; it’s not likely to
\nsurvive otherwise.) ;’;How much of that do you want? I have a perfect
\ncredit history, always paying all bills on time all my life. Let me know
\nvery soon please how much you need. My doctor, North Noooo MD, whom I was
\nadvised to call about subsequent care several days later, according to
\nOOOO, does not exist<\/p>\n
The doxycycline is definitely helping but reading my medical report
\nyesterday, I could still be at risk for other things, (which sound a little
\nfar-fetched to me.) I should follow-up by going to a clinic somehow (if
\nmostly to see if my blood is still parasite-free): I’m on a waiting list
\nfor one down the road: my name could come up in a few weeks which likely
\nwould be OK. There’s a chain of private-pay-clinics (Zoom Care) which I
\nprobably should have tried first, but other clinics and people kept telling
\nme to go to the ER right away; didn’t seem like Zoom-Care could do much (IV
\ntreatment), but I can go there and ask — so that’s a possibility. I’d need
\nto deal with all these bills here first… some can be paid online but
\nthere seems to be a cut-off date of 4\/23. I think I get billed separately
\nfrom all the various doctors and there’s probably no discount. I have the
\nfirst one from the doctor who just admitted me (15 mins) for $287! This
\ncould all add-up: I’m thinking $10K or maybe $20K…but I don’t know. I
\nkeep wondering if I had been more diligent toward the end of my stay in
\napplying a dwindling supply of DEET — [ once I finally got off that
\nisland, I felt I was home-free, and there didn’t seem to be many mosquitos
\nin town — or maybe I got it from Waya Island: there were many mosquitos
\nthere but perhaps because of the limited population less chance of
\ndisease?] –> I might have avoided this?; but that’s me: penny wise but
\npound foolish — comes from being poor for so long I guess… I’m terribly
\nsorry…<\/p>\n
as I do everywhere I visit, I always attend the religious services out of
\nmuch usually-appreciated-respect but I’ve never witnessed such enthusiasm
\nfor hymns anywhere!: there’d be 4 services every Sunday beginning at 4
\na.m.; kerosene-lanterns at-hand (often repeatedly attended and announced by
\na rung-bell on a tree next to my room by Jim-the-pastor: his dog Fanny,
\nwould always then head into the church immediately) : usually less than 50
\npeople, although there were popular hymn-singing competitions once-a-month
\nin rotating island churches: you voted with your offering); and frequent
\ncollective\/familial hymn-sings\/prayers various evenings before supper:
\nnever any musical accompaniment… someone would lead-off with a sung-note
\nand they’d all pretty much pick-it-up more or less successfully, and
\nembellish where possible: pretty cool: the acoustics in my local cement
\nchurch on Naboro were bad: the sound would slam against your ears, but in
\nthe next village along the shore: Yamata, even though the building looked
\npretty much the same, the singing sounded much better: but it was all in
\nthe air… people that live on islands inevitably love to sing: especially
\nwith no excuse… I made the mistake of saying, that’s an (obvious
\ntranslation of an older ) English hymn but they’d be very adamant about it
\nbeing only Fijian ;) ) Eventually I heard about an indigenous (not
\nimported Methodist,) Fijian church (All Nations: they wrote their own
\nhymns) on the next island: little open tin roof on poles (took me all
\nmorning to walk there and over the disappearing sand-bridge between the 2
\nislands), very different and maybe despised by mainstream church-goers: but
\nstill very compelling (maybe a little like old southern US Baptist?): we’d
\nbe shuffling\/dancing and clapping with the keyboard
\npetrol-generated-amplified music and being swept-up by the ecstatic Holy
\nSpirit… and after\/always, you’d be guaranteed a very relaxed,
\n(borrowed)sulu-clad, on-the-floor, fish\/pineapple\/cucumber\/breadfruit lunch
\nafter ( a naked village stream bath before)… There was always one very
\npolished hymn that was sung at the beginning of every service: it rose
\ntonally in perfect increments and always made the hair on the back of my
\nneck stand on end… I have a photo (maybe of it), from the hymnal
\nsomewhere, which I’ll send, but there wasn’t much written music: everyone
\nknew the Fijian words to many hymns, (all the children would be in church
\nmuch earlier and sing\/learn), or just the shared over-the-shoulder
\nhymnal-lyrics…<\/p>\n
anoint the holy terror… octopus lady… horrifically and sadly
\ncrude\/cruel… another secret meal: I’m offered something first as a guest
\nmaybe, but once finished the better food is eaten: usually by the women (is
\nthis why they’re so fat?): I get the greasy little pancakes all to myself
\noh honourable “Tai Biscuiti” — beginning to feel sympathy for little Jay:
\npoor little tyke is slapped had upside his head by Nigh for slopping some
\nwater: he cries and goes away only be be dragged back and induced to stop
\nhis lamentation with a package of cookies (which will only induce another
\nstomach ache episode) — was going to wait another week and take the bula
\nboast to Lautoka but I think I’m finished here: will ask for a ride to the
\nresort to take the Flyer to Nadi (17 days left) — Jason smokes routinely
\nindoors now and they blasted me all night with the music: finally gave up
\nand sat outside and watched them play cards (cheating is routine) until the
\ngenerator ran out of fuel: splutter darkness and near quiet (cell phone
\nmp3s) — everything at maximum volume — Jason Levu must be socially
\noutcast at home in order to crave this crude existence\/relationships
\n(surrogate family) — but can’t imagine a more improbable couple (Jason and
\nElly): is he just a distraction and cargo-cult? or is it a perverse revenge
\nafter serving all the white tourists? — may ask Lyin’ Joe to take me
\n(we’ll see if he does this for free: a $2K token of friendship) early to
\nsee the Nansoro artist at the resort and to catch the Flyer — could the
\nloudness of speech be due to the heavy rains falling on these tin rooves?
\n— apparently islanders are disturbed by the car traffic noise in Lautoka
\nand only stay a day or 2 (the expense is also a factor when most things are
\nfree here) — the boys especially can identity various boats by their
\nsound: the engines must be tuned differently or operated uniquely as most
\nare the 23′? fibreglass with 40hp Yamaha engines — 50% divorce rate in
\nFiji as well — surf sound experienced before birth, doesn’t bother them —
\nBula Boat charter is 4 tanks @ $60 but group trip is not certain this week
\nas I may go on the Flyer — ZORO? old man: pic with brooms: 77 y.o. — Tai
\nJerry to offered to take me on his decrepit plywood boat… have $81 cell
\nphone credit left — Elly plays the music 24 hrs a day so it’s just as
\nwell… she is changing the wicks in the kerosene stove… Tai Nigh was
\nlooking for some herbs to reduce fever — wether looking better for
\ntomorrow’s passage to Lautoka via the Flyer — Naivo’s brother gives me his
\nson’s Orro’s cell to pick me up in Denaru and then to Seabreeze Hotel
\n7489924<\/p>\n
Additional banking statements as requested:<\/p>\n
Please understand, the savings account is all I have: my life savings!
\nSavings that I desperately need to survive and it has to somehow carry me
\nthrough maybe to pension-age. I’m 58 and have been unemployed for several
\nyears: I’ve literally applied for several thousands of jobs but I may just
\nbe getting too old for the labor market. (The trip I took in a bid to help
\nestablish a new career, cost me very little as I was staying in remote
\nvillages.)<\/p>\n
It would seem that I shouldn’t have gone into the ER but clinics that
\ncouldn’t help me insisted that I do. I have no idea why I was “held
\nhostage” in the ER for over 12 hours to essentially prescribe an
\nantibiotic.<\/p>\n
I was told that financial-aid was all approved on Monday! Please show a
\nlittle compassion for my situation. I have no where else to turn.<\/p>\n
new note taking device… good for island trips… folks drift by to see
\nmaybe eat the fish…as usual I get the Brad eats Bread jokes as that.s how
\nmy name is usually pronounced but one of the kava drinkers last night told
\nme my name was sometime like Mandrake in figian… theres a bell attached
\nto the breadfruit tree outside that apparently is ru ng in conjunction with
\nwooden drums Christmas and funerals… I seem to misunderstand a lot of
\nwhat Jo says but hopefully not his mention of a older man who may recite
\nthe little known history of the island… some major epidemic that possibly
\npenicillin couldn’t reach\/save?<\/p>\n
I call the OOOO business-office (you can only get through with the
\n800-number), because I still hadn’t received written\/promised verification
\nof the waived-bills: oh, they say, your application for financial aid’s
\nbeen denied! — this after three phone calls telling me “all was well!”<\/p>\n
Turns-out someone decided maybe more bank statements could be required
\nbecause it was a ‘big-bill’ in excess of $1K: so, off to the banks
\n(Justy’s doing fine): that part was easier than I thought (remarkably even
\nin the Chase bank where I’d irritably just closed my account)… and so,
\noff I go to the OOOO patient-business office:1400 SW 5th downtown: the
\nJusty conks-out along Multnomah: I give it a long rest and miraculously it
\nfinally starts-again but I decide not to risk a trip downtown: go home and
\ncall Radio Cab: get to the office for $20 (no tip): the maybe Lebanese
\ndriver is fascinated by the soaring red-tailed hawks out this way (sun’s
\nout briefly), or maybe just by any distraction: I cut the cab-ride short to
\nsave a few bucks and find the address: I’m stressed-out and they all seem
\nvery nonchalant (hey, it’s lunch time and we get pay-checks!); I never meet
\nthe supervisor “Tammy Jooooo,” (you can tell by the name, right?), who
\ninstigated this mess, but she’s presumably happy with the bank statements:
\n(I won’t rest until I see a confirmation letter but maybe that doesn’t even
\nreally matter once they have your SSN): don’t want to spend another $20
\ngetting home and the bus drivers don’t know which bus I should catch
\n(“they’ve changed all the route numbers”) and I don’t have the correct
\nchange ($2.40) anyway (just a $100 bill left over from my trip), so I
\nfigure the exercise couldn’t hurt much: walk home (6.2 miles), stopping at
\nthe horrid-new Burlingame Fred Meyer to buy band-aids (replaced them 3X
\nalong the way,) and fresh antiseptic for my still-big gaping ankle wound
\n(someone stole the tube from the first box in the store),… only to find a
\nOOOO medical faculty bill at home that I wasn’t supposed to ever see…
\ncalled Grooo, at OOOO faculty again (503-494-8000 *2), left a message,
\nend of their day: more sleepless nights for me…<\/p>\n
“I’m so distraught that it never ever stops…”<\/p>\n
marble tree .. big one out front red.black.white bird… lailai spent over
\nan hour in the hot sun recording the back.surge by the sand bridge. only to
\nhave the MD machine say cant…probably too hot for it even though it was
\nin the new light box cum windsreen… made some clips of a boat stuck on
\nthe low tide sand…I guess lifting the prop they try to run over it which
\ndoesn’t always work… grocery.fuel delivery by Fijian boat… lunch on a
\nmat by the beach… noodles. beans. fried eggs with small packets of HP
\nsauce. they keep calling.naming me [perhaps this enforced familiarity is
\nwhat keeps the structure if there really is one intact] and casting
\ndispersions about what I wear when there many shorter shorts worn in the
\nvillage and its too exasperating trying to keep a makeshift sarong wrapped
\naround and over my knees.. so screw it… maybe because Im so different to
\nbegin with… got dumped in the water after a brief loop around the
\nisland…interesting to see Joe’s extended family all encamped in woven
\nstructures with yam. cassava. banana gardens… some form of solitaire with
\ncards shuffled vertically… difficult to get a moments peace let alone
\nchair to sit in… Jo keeps asking me how things are and what Im doing…
\nits becoming annoying. like they’re all fishing for the biggest
\npayoff…the usual bread.brad joke {madrai} but this time Bread and
\nButter… some sleep would improve my mood… too much appeasing hot tea
\nand I can never figure out where the flipping water is stored …I guess
\ntheres a gravityfed big cistern up the hill but the pipes get
\nbroken.plugged…my clothes disappeared. were washed… all the bedding in
\ntown is being aired… my watch is reading Sunday my neck is stiff and my
\nankle hurts from the boat… Jason and Jo just came back with octopi and
\nred snapper… declined tea…Mr Brad. just relax .Im just tired… two
\nvillagers feel asleep in the middle of a conversation yesterday so perhaps
\nI can claim some space that way…after..<\/p>\n
I call the OOOO business-office (you can only get through with the
\n800-number), because I still hadn’t received written\/promised verification
\nof the waived-bills: oh, they say, your application for financial aid’s
\nbeen denied! — this after three phone calls telling me “all was well!”<\/p>\n
Turns-out someone decided maybe more bank statements could be required
\nbecause it was a ‘big-bill’ in excess of $1K: so, off to the banks
\n(Justy’s doing fine): that part was easier than I thought (remarkably even
\nin the Chase bank where I’d irritably just closed my account)… and so,
\noff I go to the OOOO patient-business office:1400 SW 5th downtown: the
\nJusty conks-out along Multnomah: I give it a long rest and miraculously it
\nfinally starts-again but I decide not to risk a trip downtown: go home and
\ncall Radio Cab: get to the office for $20 (no tip): the maybe Lebanese
\ndriver is fascinated by the soaring red-tailed hawks out this way (sun’s
\nout briefly), or maybe just by any distraction: I cut the cab-ride short to
\nsave a few bucks and find the address: I’m stressed-out and they all seem
\nvery nonchalant (hey, it’s lunch time and we get pay-checks!); I never meet
\nthe supervisor “Tammy Jooooo,” (you can tell by the name, right?), who
\ninstigated this mess, but she’s presumably happy with the bank statements:
\n(I won’t rest until I see a confirmation letter but maybe that doesn’t even
\nreally matter once they have your SSN): don’t want to spend another $20
\ngetting home and the bus drivers don’t know which bus I should catch
\n(“they’ve changed all the route numbers”) and I don’t have the correct
\nchange ($2.40) anyway, (just a $100 bill left over from my trip), so I
\nfigure the exercise couldn’t hurt much: walk home (6.2 miles), stopping at
\nthe horrid-new Burlingame Fred Meyer to buy band-aids (replaced them 3X
\nalong the way,) and fresh antiseptic for my still-big gaping ankle wound
\n(someone stole the tube from the first box in the store),… only to find a
\nOOOO medical faculty bill at home that I wasn’t supposed to ever see…
\ncalled Grooo, at OOOO faculty again (503-494-8000 *2), left a message,
\nend of their day: more sleepless nights for me…<\/p>\n
“I’m so distraught that it never ever stops…”<\/p>\n
found a weak cell signal on the hill by the school facing the main
\nisland…tried some text messages which seemed to go through…no
\nabsolution possible but attended church wearing a borrowed twopocket sulu
\nin neighbouring Disney village…little children would hold your hand along
\nthe way… amazing choirs…but created some unstated faux pas by later a
\nways down the beach a) painting my waterscolours on Sunday b) wearing
\nshorts c) cursing at a dog that kicked sand over my paints d) something
\nelse… as santcjmonious Jo effectively told me to stay down by the
\nhammock…WTF…amazed by Jasons determination to meld with all things
\nFijian and to move here permanently in a few years… asked how much I
\nshould pay but his arrangement is different as he fishes. helps out with
\nthe many children and buys some groceries when needed… things Im not
\nprivy too… very violent DVD playing over the clanking of the kava
\ndrums… not too much sleep again tonight… oh fuck it Ill just stay til
\nIm asked to leave… assuming someone will boat me over to catch the ferry
\nback back where I cant afford to stay… seemingly everyone has a cough…
\nthe MD recorder is not autosaving a fully recorded disk… ran the head and
\nlens cleaners…but seems to work OK if recordings are manually
\nended…perhaps recordings from the room are best… fried eggs with HP
\npackets again and french fries. the same smoked fish head reappears… gave
\nmy most of my fries to the children sitting farther the mat… Jo aimed a
\ntorch at me in the middle of the night during a sudden downpour resounding
\non the corrugated iron roof… there are issues…. a big exam today…
\nJason was helping them futilely study alphabets at the last moment…
\nvisibly sitting out front on stack of lumber exchanging the occasional
\nyandra.good morning… the chickens are savouring puddled rainwater… bug
\nin the bed… may spray lower rotted foam as I imagine the sheets will get
\nwashed often…with permethin… asked the wife… usually better idea than
\nthe alphamale…if i could give her [FJ$100] some money each week for
\ngroceries… Lilly now calls my name… she was peeping over my shoulder
\nduring yesterdays waterscolours… out to the site of a future new village
\nwhere an underground dam stream is being laboriously constructed up high in
\nthe mountains by some quite large villagers and not thai madrai me… dahl
\nrice fiery wild peppers tinned tuna and wild lemon tea lunch in the hot
\nbush… a few film clips of the very rapid incoming bay tide…Jo is quite
\nproud of the various expansions to his house over the years… some little
\nextra flourish to my room… a deluge of mangos on the metal roof… must
\nstart the pinholes soon… FijiTime… endless cups of tea but no sugar for
\nme… wahoo fish. eggs. chips. and special bottle of green pop presumably
\nin recognition..meals and prayers often establishing status… bell and
\ndrum went off this morning and I thought I heard distant singing…
\napparently this was a church celebration of an historic asteroids
\npassing… finished a couple of waterscolours…<\/p>\n
I guess what no one usually understands: I’ve been working much of my life
\nwith little chance of being paid: lately, with less than zero chance of
\nbeing paid ever: you hit me with a $3K bill and it’s like bullets…<\/p>\n
escaping a hawk predator. a chicken shot through the front door flying
\nthrough the rear window slots…the older sneaky cynical son who works at
\nthe resorts read some of these notes and may have relayed his idea of them
\nto Jo who after spearfishing with Jason went with a boatload of villagers
\nto the mainland to return tomorrow after staying with Nate… the young
\ndaughter has asked me twice now if Im alright..sure dont have the usual
\nsunny island disposition…breakfast cornbread with a bright yellow jelly
\ntoping clouds made the watercolours rather murky marched up to the
\nschoolyard corner rise to unsuccessfully send text saw that D had called
\nthough… lunch was brilo greens grown outside with canned tuna. instant
\nnoodles..later tea with little pancakes… watched a couple of boats
\nunloading supplies and children frolicking in unusually high surf….
\nfish.malt vinegar.eggs.cassava.cucumber slices.no salt. swig of Pops
\ncola… close to full moon last night lit up the entire village…
\nbiscuits. spooned margarine. papaya.tea for breakfast… will try the cell
\nphone again from the schoolyard and enter Naboro Vllage as my cell phone
\ngreeting. photograph the caged pigs on the beach. perhaps more
\nwaterscolours. ..may have found a good spot\/log at the other end of this
\nbeach where I can expose a little more skin and have a quick dip…but as I
\nalready know the village has eyes everywhere… several schoolchildren came
\nby to see what I was doing… the girls wear nearly shapeless blue frocks.
\nthe boys severe grey sulus…bula accompanied by a stare can also mean n
\nok. lunch seems to happen about 12:30 and teatime at 5:30… today we had
\nbaked buns and a neighbour brought over some cake for me…it.s always
\ndisconcerting to be fed first\/better food while others wait to see if there
\nwill be any left for them… the Kindle attracts some frequent\/brief
\ninterest not all that intriguing…a traditional bure is being constructed
\nacross the way so that should be very interesting to observe… quick cold
\nwater rinse. which Im beginning to enjoy… are there more flies when it.s
\nwindy? seems the Navy has delayed the return of FijiTime and Jo . Jason
\netal ….apparently there are yellow FJ$100 as a villager asked me if I had
\n$50s to change… I didn.t want to unlock my stash so I lied… changing
\nthe outgoing cell phone prefix to 011 seems to have helped but I cant
\ncancel the earlier Caribbean call forwarding which may be an issue… Aunt
\nM died from cancer this morning she told me everyone had a predetermined
\ntime but this didn’t have to be hers…most of the older coloured MDs seem
\nbe defective …wished Id brought the radio now somehow as there is
\nreception but no set here… which is maybe just as well as it would
\nundoubtedly be on all the time…<\/p>\n
OOOO struggles resume Monday: eventually sunny this afternoon: sat outside
\nfor a bit and looked at my new 12hr b&w photo-prints (from a processing
\nplace in San Clemente, CA: very nice work, by hand); unfortunately, it
\nlooks like the vindictive thief also took a box of 12hr prints and the
\nhand-scanner I use… by far, the worst time of my crappy life ;)… made V
\na “burrito bowl” for dinner: rice, my turkey-chili, tomato, avocado,
\nmushroom, canned corn…<\/p>\n
pvc water supply piping is supposedly flammable and can spread fire over
\nthe island… another waterscolours in the eventual afternoon heat… fried
\neggs on buns. pineapple… walked up the hill behind the school overlooking
\nthe sandbridge so I could see the plantation on the otherside of the
\nschoolyard… two cows… will try and climb up from behind the house
\ntomorrow… daughter gave me string of small shells… I taught some how to
\nplay chess…delicious wahloo cooked in cocoanut with onion ..
\nbreadfruit… pretty quiet this evening. Jo is out
\nnightfishing\/diving…apparently he then headed to lautoka to pickup N and
\nJ… my travel playing cards are a big hit and a Suva radio station…
\ncalypso? computer voices… has suddenly materialized… hope this want my
\ndoing… trekked to the top of the mountain with Kalis help… J and J have
\nreturned at night over choppy seas but no fish for dinner as they were on
\nthe mainland… Maggi instant chicken noodles over eggs. breadfruit.
\nPickMeUp Worchester sauce. Pops Raspberry soda… cocoanut buns for
\nbreakfast… watercolours and watched\/filmed a fishing boat skipped lunch
\nwhich caused some alarm… got the hardluck pitch from M who said J bought
\nthem the launch and motor so Im being groomed as a second benefactor…
\nLilly was prenamed by a Japanese benefactor? so perhaps this is why her
\nclothes look current… yet more children on the mainland needing school
\nfees… why so many? told M that when I go outside my house theres nothing
\nto eat but here theres mangoes.breadfruit.cassava.papaya.lots of fish…
\nshe made it seem like the profits from the ecoresorts didnt help the
\nvillages much other than to build a few houses… their electricity bill is
\nonly $5\/mo…went out night fishing with J and J and onto a decrepit boat
\nwith a few more… amazing colours on the water… turquoise. yellow.
\ngreen. red and a bright moon… boat starts with a crank…only a few
\nbarracuda which Ill be loathe to eat due to possibility of fish poisoning
\nfrom this predator high up the food chain… fastest fish in the ocean…
\nonly half of one came up once… loud reggae.dope.beer for J. excellent
\nfish stew on board.beautiful sunset and moon…dont know what the password
\nis to receive voice messages…<\/p>\n
breadfruit season is november\/december. cassava all year round. anoint the
\nlittle holy terror J with cooking oil…shorter church service in town. the
\nfirst sunday of each month is a collective for all the villages\/choirs.
\nmade some clips of the singing. lovely lunch after of curried fish. walloo.
\ncurried beef. Pops cola… a nap with my swollen ankles up which helped…
\nsat in the sun… more walloo for dinner… reef encounters captn cook
\ncruise ship arrives every sunday night with entertainment provided by
\nschool children and local crafts sold the next day… tried some pinholes
\nof the ship through the trees… better to sit outside at night and avoid
\nthe DVD player…setup new voicemail PIN so to retrieve Vs message about
\nBofA messing with my CC again! searched through my luggage again but the
\nCanadian flag and loose change are definitely missing… still havent got
\nmy loaned pen back…locked up my money and ID more securely…gave M the
\nMonday Money and said Id skip lunch so as to not bother resetting the
\npainting stuff… sure wish I could take a long walk through the villages
\nand beyond in the morning…getting a little urked with the too frequent
\n“where are you going question”… reminded of The Prisoner TV show…there
\nwere only biscuits and tea for breakfast. whatever happened to the mountain
\nof food from Sunday?..may encorporate half submerged heads in the
\nwatercolours which don’t seem nearly as lively as Japans… difficult to
\nconcentrate with children continuously popping up beside me and keeping
\nsomewhat covered up… light drizzle across the bay turning to fairly heavy
\nrain this afternoon… my ankles itch… apparently our night fishing boat
\nwhich is still anchored a little offshore with a few nearly identical
\nbrethren. has a leaking threaded PVC fuel valve that a Canadian engineer
\nyachty nearby can fix\/replace by drilling out the core of a bolt…a little
\nmeat with onions. banana. breadfruit for dinner… rain continues prompting
\nDVD gathering of about 20 villagers at one point in front of my room…
\nfortunately the power cutsout early… an insistence in speech with names
\nrepeated few times… pancakes and lemon leaf tea… picked my way South
\nalong the shore … tourists. pigs and garbage are relegated to the
\nshoreline but at one point I was escorted through the neighbouring village
\nthen down to the beach where an elderly villager showed me the track up
\npast the pig fence and around and down to the third beach… had to wait
\nfor the tide to go down in order to reach the fourth beach but by that time
\nI had to head back… Lecky offered me some ripe mango and the walk back
\nwas much easier… more panorama shots…J has begun building the house
\nextension… posts set in concrete… V the grandfather across the way is
\nstill building his Christmas temporary bure… winding vines around
\ncrosspoles… lemon leaf tea and fried cakes with him. cat and radio… he
\ndescribed a little of the Christmas kava celebrations .. all houses have
\nnames? ankles itchy again…kava= shit all night sleep all day… soumds as
\nif hundreds of bowls<\/p>\n
noodles over eggs… night village pinholes…some fat villager came into
\nmy room at four a.m. [just hanging fabric over doorway] shone a very bright
\nLED light in my eyes and asked if I was still sleeping… bursts of rain
\nthis morning… hoping for more waterscolours…the third beach would be
\nbetter but its quite a hike… signed up cell to Twitter.. instant coffee
\nand donutlike things… think J and J caught one fish last night… not
\nmuch chance of that for breakfast I suppose… my pen has rematerialized
\nand then reloaned to Lolo for her exams today… I saw two pens on the
\ntable yesterday but theyre gone this morning… Jay told me that some
\nvisitor once visited all four villages on the much larger Waya Island in
\none day! so called pancakes rackup a variety of forms\/names with coffee
\nfor breakfast as Lily spills hot water on my leg…Yasawa ferries are
\noperated by a NZ company…locals pay half fare…as Ive said before this
\ndual pricing system is unjust.. despite slathering sunblock on my right
\npainting forearm I have small sun blisters… met Jim the local informal
\npastor on the second beach..said I didnt re without his tie… apparently
\nthere was a tsunami alert here a little after the Japanese one which
\nprompted some villagers to head up the hills… the basic frameworks of the
\nhouse addition and holiday bure complete…Jason et al are attending a
\nlocal entertainment performance at the resort… lovo. dancing.singing…
\npotatoes and chickens are purchased from the mainland… the numerous very
\nfreerange village chickens are too tough…hope to film the school morning
\ncommencement tomorrow… curious how often the big tupperware sugar
\ncontainer is used as a headrest… possibly I was awakened last might by
\nsomeone looking for Sol the sneaky son for early fishing…I wonder if ve
\ntaken over his room… may use my mosquito net as this one though larger
\nhas many holes… some have fancy lacelike trim at the top…had a
\nbarracuda head. someone likely already had some of the fish without
\nincident. chips which I shared with Lolo. egg. coffee with powdered milk
\nand a little sugar “which will make me strong”…more hour long pinholes of
\nthe village at night<\/p>\n
surprised to see little Lilly in the next village…she ran out to see me
\nwith coral coloured nails…theres a cheap F$30 cell phone that can
\npossibly work from the village… the ox gall medium bottle is broken\/empty
\ndespite original bubblewrap…suspect it may have been this way when
\ndelivered as the interior of luggage is dry… much birdsong in the morning
\nalong with churning surf sounds… woodpecker like bird with vibrant blue
\nmarkings on the small beach the other side of the sand bridge where I was
\nable to stare out at the sea and watch a few fishermen in their tin roofing
\nboats mostly undisturbed except for a machete wielding disapproving Waya
\nvillager who claimed to have descended on a track spotting a white man
\nlaying in the sun where I was told there were none…do what you can…
\nbeat a hasty retreat to the schoolyard for the second time as the tin
\nroofing was being hammered from plain actual pancakes and coffee earlier
\nfor breakfast… had to return for a lens cleaning cloth for my little
\nXactii movie camera as my clothes were too greasy… nice portrait of two
\nschoolboys… ll try to get more early morning clips hopefully of the
\nsinging… between the first and second trips Sami must have heard about
\nJoe or all tourists are similarly tapped as he asked me for a pain relief
\npill…unfortunately Im not able to fulfill the role of mobile apothecary
\nfor the entire village .. so I later returned with a Penguin cinnamon Mint
\nthat I gave to his parents in his stead haha…islanders and tourists alike
\nget the placebo… kerre kerre kara pen has still not been returned…roti
\nand bunnie and instant coffee from thailand only with sugar as the children
\nhave gobbled up all the instant milk powder as quickly as possible…made a
\nSEGA TARA sign for the pinhole… will try some more tonight…another
\nplacebo for Sami. Im bad… J and J have boated into town so no fish for
\ndinner just eggs and half cooked chips with malt vinegar…took some
\nevening shots of what turns out to be Sunset Beach.. saw the wooden drum in
\nfront of the church and Kali cautiously… or maybe it was just the
\ncellular porn? being perused on the sidelines… took me over to see the
\nringing kava bell. big metal pestle which seems to be intentionally struck
\non the side of the brakedrum? pestle…definitely some secret ceremonial
\nrites and melodic singing involved… and all the coughing may be due to
\nall the wood cooking fires…the little round pancakes. coffee for
\nbreakfast… why no fruit…unfortunately school starts at about the same
\ntime as the sandbridge is most passable… quite windy today so the waves
\nmade it tricky to gst back around 4:30… encountered a Waya village couple
\nand dog foraging for crabs…not much progress with the
\nwatercolours…photographed the pitted rock formations between the
\nvillages…the screaming children and mosquitoes are getting to me… town
\ncrier last night repeatedly announcing something… a meeting? someone
\nalways sees you and names you passing this info around… may leave the
\nwatercolour stuff behind tomorrow and try walking to the<\/p>\n
the first Waya village Natawa… M says its three hills… need to get my
\nwalking staff fixed…saw the blue birds with white collar and breasts
\nnesting in an old cocoanut trunk and the raptors again… rough pine house
\nbeams are first brushed with used motor oil and wrapped in plastic before
\nbeing set in hand mixed cement with coral filled holes…side overhang roof
\nfinished and with a tarp and mat over the dirt used for kava drinking last
\nnight. I actually dont mind the taste. mildly intoxicating as I had the low
\ntide” … no water for a couple of days as somethings wrong with the
\ndelivery pipe again. food supplies must be low. no fish. as I had eggs and
\nMaggi noodles swimming in oil with homemade chips most of which I
\ndistributed… dispensed another sugar pill… big song circle with guitar
\nthat I attempted to record over the DVD movie soundtrack…glad I have the
\nhand sanitizer. a big jug of bleach would go a long way here… noticed
\nthat Lily has a few ugly large growths on the back of her head… the spent
\nbatteries from the MD recorder still seem able to power my red Maglite
\ntorch… much sheet lightning last night which may turnup in the pinhole
\nand a light rain this morning…perhaps Lolo is the thief.. how did she
\nknow that I had a pen unless shed been through my pockets…also of some
\nconcern is a possibly missing foreign exchange receipt which indicates how
\nmuch cash I have… does squalor displace culture? still raining this slow
\nSaturday still no sign of breakfast. wet firewood?.. the older girl who
\nplopped down beside me when I was trying to paint and started to fan me may
\nlive nextdoor at the “Canada house”…seem more organized. perhaps they are
\na different clan… finally clumps of dough with margarine. which I gave to
\nthe children. and warm cassava with salt and coffee for breakfast as the
\nrain continues…must remember to recharge my cell phone.. sent another
\nTweet…endless rain uca…fish ikka breadfruit kulu peppers boro for
\nlunch… brief sunbreak… Patimo was stripping pliable bark from some
\nspecial tree to lash the braided palm leaves on the bure…Holga ultrawide
\npinholes from the louvered windows and more Nikon panorama sets… wonder
\nif the movie South Pacific was an early cinemascope production… the wide
\nvista\/towering craggy running mountain profile is certainly prevalent…
\njust as bula is a kind of challenge. “come and sit” really means wait and
\nwell see if you can proceed… trying to get the wary folks at the next
\nvillage accustomed to me… everyone wants to know where Im going. have
\nbeen…sega gade ga nowhere special… Bill caught a giant blue barracuda
\nfrom his kayak using handline and a piece of crab for bait… was asked to
\ntake a picture and invited by sometime… fish and breadfruit for supper..I
\nate the two offered pieces of fish which meant that little Norman to my
\nleft got tinned tuna..recharged the cell sappy Thai soap opera episodes on
\nDVD… the Canada household attend the first four a.m. church service.
\ncuriously our dogs barked\/growled at them as they returned with pastor
\nJim… another Tweet..<\/p>\n
the rain came down and the crops came up…church this morning followed by
\nfish. cassava and ota greens… big blue tarp lunch assembly in middle of
\nvillage pathway… tea with Bill. birthday wife. later pastor Jim et al…
\nvery sweet bananas. pancakes… walk through next village with Lolo. Lily.
\nNorman.. hat off. see the family pig… meet Joe Joes brother? and family
\neating pancakes… more panoramas…evening church service sounds more
\nvibrant…its another little girl not Lily that has the head growths…my
\ncoins have reappeared in my jacket pocket… more fish.. Captain Cook
\narrived last night… another FJ$100 to M…triangular pancakes for
\nbreakfast… very low tide at the sandbridge stayed passable til 11…
\nadvance Cook brigade cleans up the beach…a few more waterscolours\/film
\nclips… want to photograph more of the lowtide 12hr lava rocks… villager
\nout scavenging something… tide still wasnt down by high tea time…
\nNorman motored over to get me… think the water eventually went down
\nmore…J and J back with chocolate chip cookies~keke and a copy of the Fiji
\nTimes… “flood strands villagers”… found my pen on the floor of the
\nbathroom… eggs and noodles. distributed chips for dinner… sea cucumbers
\nmay sell for over FJ$100 middlemen Asian buyers but require a tank to
\nreach their depth…trekked over the mountain with Nigh. Sarah and despite
\neveryones objections little bare foot Lily who had no trouble reaching the
\nEcolodge… more great panoramas… the Three Sisters. Wobbling Rock and a
\ntowering view down on the village… I not good at heights especially
\ndescending on these old joints…one of the villagers asked if I was Jasons
\nfather… Nigh is from Nuie… the girls put island ferns in their hair…
\nthey tricked me into taking a nap after a small taro cassava lunch while
\nthey possibly visited the old village…noticed the barbed wire fencing at
\nthe back of the resort for keeping the villagers out. the tourists in. or
\nthe wild cows and pigs out? took a boat back with cynical Sow son. a
\ncouple from the resort and the painfully albino boat driver… skin on my
\narms is pealing… front posts and rafters in place… barracuda fish head.
\nkulu. raspberry soda for second lunch…plastic buckle on my shorts seems
\nto have suffered no longer staying fastened from the vigorous plunged PVC
\npipe in bucket washing method…eggs noodles chips again for supper… the
\ndreaded lumps of dough for breakfast then made about six recordings in the
\nschoolyard of the voices. surf. palm tree rustlings drifting across using
\nthe new portable light box… really seems to cut the strong wind noise…
\npractise underway for the big rugby netball and school fundraising event.
\nalthough its hard to imagine how another weed wacker and fencing can cost
\n4000$… seems to be more games and singing than scholastics… more small
\ngroups of visitors from the resorts…viago were formed from floating
\ncongealed Tonga volanic ash… scans of them may serve as this books
\nfolios… hadnt expected to be living in the village play yard and movie
\nhouse… Joe doesnt<\/p>\n
Joes headed to the mainland again [to buy prizes certificates for the
\nschool presentation picnic tomorrow] leaving us fishless… rice and very
\nmild curry potato with tuna… the new house addition may include lockable
\nstorage as the tanks fins snorkels spearguns are often permanently borrowed
\nsometimes ending up on the mainland… this bit of news adds concern for my
\nphoto audio painting gear when we go to the Manumancas next month for some
\nparty… tambu taboo abstinence from grog kava smoke drink for 100 days is
\nin effect for funerals etc but for some reason next week is slated…
\nwatched the school boys mark the field with coconut tuff brushes and used
\nmotor oil for rugby but many players sport expensive Nike shoes… cloudy
\nmornings and rain now but some good sun by waterscolours time… Sivo the
\neldest daughter arrives with Joe from mainland so good wahloo sausage onion
\ntomato salad pineapple and cucumber slices… another Holga pinhole out my
\nwindow… sat on the old refrigerator [useful with only two hrs power?]
\ncarcass and caught the cool evening breeze… rugby and netball teams out
\npractising in the early mornings… Joe has a hard time waking 11 yr old
\nLolo and resorts to a stick…attended trad Fijian childrens picnic took a
\nfew photos of the feast… not much sun today. Joe Jason and Sow went out
\nfish diving in the rain… one fish and colourful lobster…jolly chase of
\nan escaped piglet…life in the open…watched more rugby training
\nincluding hauling a massive rope across the field… another wayward
\nfloating coconut film… dispensed more Penguin Mints for a toothache..if
\nid known Id have brought a big bottle of aspirin…little bright green bird
\nwith bright red markings and maybe green herons along the shore… more
\nrugby players have arrived staying at the school and community
\ncentre…have begun morning walks around the school compound several times
\nin lieu of circum the island… heavy mist obscures the mountain peaks…
\nyesterdays radio announced that all of Fiji was now theoretically covered
\nbt TV broadcast… mountains obscure much reception of cell radio TV…
\nthere are a few portable petrol generators in the village… new black
\npiglet named after Lolo in the old refrigerator from the big sow Emily on
\nthe beach…dull colours for the watercolours… a bird sings “pay per
\nview” Nate arrives with singing smoking grog event.. probably some good
\nrecordings just from my room with *filipino* DVD soundtrack “Spot on DVD
\nhut. The best in Tonga” mixed with subtitles… share curry fish rice
\nsupper with Auntie… avocado pea? at breakfast with Bill Rachel and their
\nson John… Bill is also 57 living here all his life except to visit Viti W
\nwhere the family will go while John goes to school there Sava Sava… cups
\nof hot fish broth with lunch…Lily was found unconscious in the water when
\nshe was one or two and miraculously saved but some seem to wonder about her
\nfaculties…the mayor who wears red told me the story of the 1918 measles
\nepidemic…<\/p>\n
a minister Samual Jackson was forewarned by a message written in the
\nsand…with plenty of prayer fasting and pentinence the epidemic was heard
\npassing Waya and Wayaliaia by like a hurricane that killed over 40 thousand
\neverywhere else in Fiji… no written history of the islands exist .. the
\nmayor is very busy and went home to have a shower… rain tonight Monday
\nmoney tomorrow… the church collection plate is a resonating wooden
\ndrum… the 12hr photos are a unique denial of all personal vision…
\nseveral laps around the school compound and after several attempts tweeted
\n“cup of hot unpronounceable fish broth” Captain Cook arrived last night
\namid spectacular evening skies… a familys new piglets are given as prizes
\ngifts between their children and their friends… seventeen children in the
\nmain room watching a Filipino DVD Way Back Home… UK Jay was quite pleased
\nto be appointed manager of the womens netball team but perhaps less so
\nafter he was informed that hed be given fabric to be made into uniforms at
\nhome… islanders often calculate what you can do for them while much else
\nfalls under the rubric of island time or just plain indifference… night
\nfishing again but no or little fish…hmmm…maybe its more about the
\nreggae pot and fish curry… guessing that the half buried tyres by the
\nsides of houses are to anchor roof tiedowns… the stocky rugby team was
\nagain practising this morning with high pitched squeals of delight
\n…Margarets not feeling well… lemon tea with Red Cow powdered milk
\nbreakfast crackers roti… off to mainland again for Jasons beer ice and
\ncement for the floor…no Kindle 3G from the island maybe mainland.. tried
\nabout 20 times to send a tweet… M tried to hit me up for FJ$50 for the
\nhouses school contribution to raise $4K for a fence weedwacker maybe a
\nsolar panel… wore the sulu to attend the childrens awards ceremony…
\nlong speeches long prayers…Lily graduates from preschool… always
\nattempts to restrict access to events unless being charged double for a
\nlunch which I refused…villagers were all eating drinking all around me
\nbut nothing offered…watched some enthusiastic rugby and netball. . some
\nnice footage of the tall wavering bamboo goal posts… and adjacent kava
\nsongs from the exclusive chiefs enclosure…I can stand the weight loss
\nnow… probably down at least ten lbs this month.. but not sure how long I
\ncan subsist on so few mostly unhealthy calories and little sleep…the
\nlittle tube of Shoegoo was a good idea as the sole on my Reef shoes is
\nbecoming detached… small petrol generators run at night.. ice cream?
\nsecond day of rugby tournament many players in village… breakfast
\ncrackers roti lemon tea.. shoe repair did not hold… tweets again
\nfailed…Joe has cut his beard… newspaper announces rising taxi fares
\nlocal fashion shows and crime and restricting childrens access to
\nkava…grocery prices seem quite reasonable… screaming children… day
\ntwo of rugby and netball..much enthusiasm again with women occasionally
\ndoing a little dance on the sidelines or even rushing the field to kiss the
\nplayers… again Im asked repeatedly about my double priced lunch… looked
\npretty good actually…big pots of sausages chicken fish breadfruit rice…
\nsmall processions of singing women delivering money to the school fund…
\nmore kava clans singing… some wave at me but it doesnt seem like an
\ninvitation…I must try and ask what the songs are about and whether they
\nare specific to various villages… as the event concludes very overloaded
\nboats have left some singing…may try another ultrawide pinhole sunset
\nfrom the beach… in Fiji visitors are charged double – so Fiji-you…
\nJason Cotton the one man continuously drunk smoking cargo cult from the UK
\nwas making a racket all night so I did my Bangladesh act and took the
\npillow and sheet way out to the end of the schoolyard by the beach… the
\nrest of the village was pretty noisy too… curiously X and Sarah popped up
\nand sat beside me whispering but it got too cold I should have brought the
\nwoven mat with me… there was enough of a breeze to keep the mosquitos at
\nbay and many stars… perhaps Ill sleep there every night… the village
\nbigshots were cleaning up this morning but resumed their kava drinking…
\nthe “some tea” phrase is often said after youve past and just as easily may
\nmean “what can you do for me”… shards of mirror circulate amongst the
\nislanders… walked down our beach and deliberately up past the white
\nstucco house that seems to be mostly populated with ten or so women girls
\nwho did offer me tea roti and rice and asked where Jason was… nice breezy
\nhouse with nicer furniture… I thanked them for the kakanna and headed
\npast the grandmothers place where I was repeatedly offered tea and accepted
\nonly there wasnt any ready and M came and said Joe wanted me back for
\ntea…word travels incredibly fast… perhaps theyre able to send txt msgs
\nthat Ive been unable to for the last three days… and not only tea but
\nfried rice with onions and maybe tinned tuna breadfruit and eggs! …UK
\nJason came in and began to smoke I abruptly left and that was the end of
\nthe staged reconciliatory breakfast… sunbathing on the school side beach
\nusing this Kindle through a Ziplock bag to protect against salt spray…
\nschool is out now but this seems to be the poop beach but thankfully mostly
\nin the water… while looking for water met a lovely smiling lady and her
\nson Neal in her modest little room at the back of one of the teachers
\napts… would much rather be supporting someone like that rather than my
\ndruggy household… nice barracuda and breadfruit dinner but on the whole M
\nseems artless and slovenly…another panorama sunset exposure of about 25
\nmins.. may make this a routine as its always a good way to also meet people
\non the beach…dont think there could be much to gain from using the film
\nmasks and I should probably switch to negative film and wider latitude
\nsince I can now easily scan it… Joe built a door for their room possibly
\nin preparation for their trip to the Mamanucas… watched rugby on the
\nDVD… Joe and Jay were up drinking their respective intoxicants so<\/p>\n
they were still asleep at 9 so no breakfast for me as I had talked with
\nAbel about his school graduation speech… happiness in education…
\nchanging the mindset from grog preoccupation and working together which is
\nusually administrative double speak for “support my position\/livelihood”
\nespecially as he spent the last few days in the grog circle…but he asked
\nthe tea question and I sat on the sofa but there was none produced only
\nthat they were going to the school which I misunderstood as a more
\nsubstantial invitation than walking with them… really enjoying the JV
\nMysterious Island ebook which implies that the essence of civilization is
\ntransferable and that you really can begin again without starting
\nover…same tinroofing boat fisherman on the beach finger prodding for
\ncrabs bait… witnessed the cruel assault of a small girl with a stick
\nbroom by her father…such a look of pleading abject terror…what terrible
\nsin could she have committed.. knocked over the sugar jar? children rounded
\nthe point on the school beach at low tide returning with mangos papayas…
\ntheres another small beach there I may try to access with the aid of my
\nwalking stick over the slick volcanic rocks… thinking the ultrawide
\npinholes might need 2 12 frames .. should be interesting as the evening
\nclouds slowly slide by in layers… and some rubbery skinned but tasty
\nfish ,”cabbage” cassava for dinner … being the first Sunday of the month
\nchurch is at the Old Village… hope we go… yes finally left by boat
\nnearly running out of fuel… village looks more cohesive but I was whisked
\nout of there promptly after church where I filmed all the singing…
\ncollection is taken counted after each village choir performs… some
\nEuropean visitors from the adjoining eco resort… probably unnecessarily
\nleft my slides by the door with the others and worried as Id be effectively
\ncrippled if they were “borrowed”… recalling similar Bangladesh
\nincident… [insert Noah bible chapter] Jay and Sow adopted the ruse of
\nbringing a sulu and appearing as the congregation exited… borrowed some
\ngas from a moored boat at second village and transferred some passengers
\nfrom an overloaded boat returning home…lovely Sunday lunch on the tarp
\nout front as did other families… like the curried fish papaya…quite hot
\ntoday…bootleg DVDs and hopefully mp3 discs are FJ$2 in Lautoka..the
\nmountain directly across the bay is named Namara? meaning stone and
\nresembles a sleeping giant… others are said to resemble a camel and a
\ncobra… curiously the new door bolts from the inside… does this imply
\nthat M is staying?… read more JV on the beach still full from lunch but
\nwas talked into trying a banana pancakey…Captain Cook arrived last
\nnight… more sunset pinholes up to 30 minutes…strange how theres
\nfrancais on NZ packages unless its for export to former French island
\ncolonies…Joe is digging out an 20 yr old very deeply sunk housepost…I
\nwonder if artifacts bones were deposited there as in olden days…<\/p>\n
no water again no toilet paper noodles and eggs cassava again… where does
\nthe money go? the sand bridge has risen with the especially low tide and
\nbelies the presense of the ten headed devil… stale plain store biscuits
\nlemon leaf tea at the grandmothers and the dreaded greasy dough lumps at
\nhome…where does all the money go? why so little fish? there was a huge
\nbag of pineapples which is suddenly gone…some young lads have headed to
\nthe plantation with implements… was shown some tapa bark paintings but
\nthey seemed poor quality with heavy multiple folds as if theyd been
\nrepeatedly opened perhaps for the weekly CC visitors… stenciled embossed
\ninked geometric designs…white and dark versions used to make wedding
\nsulus or for grieving… Sarah? showed me a young version of the tree used
\nbehind the preschool… she told someones little girl to walk back with me
\nholding my finger…told Tai Patimo that the congregation seemed to enjoy
\nhis sermon… about internalized xmas bethlehem story… no room in your
\nhotel heart follow the one star soldier… TP was clearing rubbish to be
\nburned…some several month old cut frangipani branches still
\nbloom…perhaps I can smuggle a cutting home although he seemed to think it
\nnecessary to plant the entire branch… big overloaded boat discharged
\nmilling villagers on other side of sb … firewood? or perhaps they were
\ngathering coconuts to mark their volleyball court as two more boatloads
\ncame…saw Jay go over with beers in hand but must have been picked up
\nlater by boat as the sandbridge was underwater…watched Bill and Rachels
\nnew house addition being built… was tempted to suggest that they would
\nuse less wood if the interlocking pine siding was run end to end across the
\nentire length of the structure rather than fitting one section at a time…
\nanother pinhole sunset..Fijian village or simple slum? despite all the
\ndisclaimers such as no butter no milk no jam no ceylon tea the villagers
\nhave more discretionary income than it may seem… five year old children
\ncame over to charge and watch a Disney cartoon on a Dell laptop last
\nnight… more instant noodles ricey salty canned meat for dinner.. coconut
\nroti lemon tea and papaya for breakfast… learned the village is on the
\nsite of the bankrupt Sunset Resort…missed recording the kava bells and a
\nloud family hymn sing nearby as M had decided to fill the house where my
\nequipment was with smoke to deter the mosquitos… used the particle mask
\nto sleep but still coughing in the morning… lemon tea dry pancakes.but
\nsome little fishes in a bucket outside…Jays supply of beer for the week
\nand a small box of groceries that apparently my money paid for arrived…
\nprobably packages of cookies that will be devoured in one frenzied
\nsession…breadfruit is peeled using sharp opened can edges…M had I think
\nexpected to hear that food is more expensive in Fiji and so solicit more
\nfunds but even with the weak dollar its not the case… but of course wages
\nare likely different…”we are one big hap-py family…” more foraging
\nvillagers headed around the slippery rocks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mary the octopus lady — circumcision ceremony in Yamata — blue fish: rawirawi — big and small generators — tapas mats: wk to make: rolled, beaten, dried — no power: Kava Joe — opening church hymn — use everything up (radio, food, cellphone). before someone asks kerri-kerri for it? — interchangeable clothing, homes — smoked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","spay_email":""},"categories":[123,8,60,10,11],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6246"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6246"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7654,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6246\/revisions\/7654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbrace.net\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}