travel in Fiji 
Sunday, February 06, 2000 10:26 PM

Bula!,
That is the friendly local greeting that everyone here in Fiji uses.
It has been great to get messages from some of you and the newsy kind
telling us about what's going on with you are the very best.  We are sorry
if we don't get back individually to you sometimes, but access to the
internet is not always easy and there is usually someone else eager to get
onto the computer too.  Please don't let that discourage you from writing
though, and we will really try hard to answer any question in updates like
this one.

We are in Fiji now and have been since Jan. 21st.  It is every bit as
beautiful as the pictures portray and everything you read about the people
being incredibly friendly is true. There is a lot to tell but some of the
highlights are:
We made friends with a local Fiji Indian couple and their family and a good
friend of theirs, Prem. They have taught Bonnie to make lots of different
Indian dishes at a dinner that we hosted at our place and then they
graciously reciprocated at the living quarters of Prem, the headmaster
(principal)at the school.  On another day Jessica got to attend the school
with her two friends in 1st & 3rd grades.  It was quite an experience and
made me appreciate what we often complain about in the U.S.  The
overcrowding due to lack of qualified teachers can create class sizes of up
to 50 students for one teacher.  We stayed in one class for about 45 minutes
of practicing the Hindi alphabet in 1st grade.  Hindi or Fijiaan is the
first language for almost everyone here but by the 2nd grade they all begin
to learn English and it is the common language.  Most people here are
trilingual.  We went into the 3rd grade where they were speaking English for
awhile, then it was time for that class to play outside which was much
better for Jessica.  She was incredibly popular which was a bit overwhelming
to her, but she had fun on the playground with all the attention.
Jessica learned to swim with the aid of a new friend from California named
Pat who was staying at the same place as us. She's diving 5 feet for objects
and swimming the length of the pool.  Thanks Pat! Nathan is making great
strides too and he'll probably be a fish before we leave.
We found a great place to stay called Sandy Point Beach Cottages that is
right on the water where we can watch gorgeous sunrises and sunsets because
it is on the Coral Coast, the south side of Vitu Levu, which is the largest
island in Fiji. We've been there the first two weeks but may soon move to
one of the smaller outer islands. If you visit Fiji and want a reasonably
priced, clean, well run, spacious setup you should give Sandy Point a try.
If you do, make sure and tell Bob Kennedy (the owner), "hi" from us.
Fiji is hot, tropical in climate, and third worldish in economy.  We
estimated that the minimum wage here is approximately 1/10 that in the US.
49% of the population is Indian (yes, from India), most of the rest is
native Fijian.  Most of the Indian population arrived here in the late
1800's under indentured service, assisting in sugar cane farming, which is
still the major crop.
Meeting other travellers is a kick.  Pat from Davis, CA, the Canadian
couple, the Belin RTW (round the world) travellers, and the near blind
Canadian retiree who comes to Fiji year after year have all been interesting
to meet.
Bonnie and Ky just finished a book, Michener's "Tales of the South
Pacific".  Excellent reading to give you an idea of what life is like in the
South Pacific.  While this book covers life during WW II, at the same time
it seems to hit the essence of the heat, excess time, and beauty that
exemplify island life here.
Many Fijiians still live in villages, closely knit communities with a
"chief" who has final say in everything. Kava (a drink made from a pounded
root) is a must when meeting locals. It is pretty disgusting and makes you
feel you've visited your dentist for a shot of novacain, thickening the
tongue and leaving a foul but slightly minty taste in the mouth that is
meant to be chased away by beer which didn't offer any respite to Bonnie
since she doesn't like beer either!
On Saturday we splurged and took a package tour, which consisted of taking
a sugar cane train to a remote beach, horse rides, snorkelling and boogey
boarding, and playing with the local kids at which Nathan really excelled.
On the way there we stopped at a cave and our tour guides were three
industrious young boys who did a fine job of lighting our way and telling us
the history of their ancestors who had lived in the cave.  It would be hard
to verify the facts they told about being able to travel through the cave
tunnel to another island to retrieve girlfriends but it made an interesting
story.  One humorous aside to the trip occured when Ky and Bonnie both
assumed the other had picked up the backpacks from the hotel drop spot by
the beach.  We only realized this 10 minutes into the train trip back.  The
conductor, upon understanding our problem, promptly put the train into
reverse to recover our packs!  Since we were on "fiji time", it was no
problem.  The only other passengers on the train (Japanese couples), didn't
seem to mind as they focused on their origami paper sculptures.

Attending church has been an good experience for Bonnie.  Ky has stayed home
with the kids since there is not usually any kind of child care.  Everyone
usually just brings their kids into the service but Nathan would really stir
things up if we brought him!  The services have either been in Hindi or
Fijiaan and only in the Hindi speaking church did they speak any English.
The gospel music is fantastic and the speakers are really full of zeal.
Bonnie follows along by finding out what scriptures the preacher is reading.
Christanity, Hinduism and Muslim are the primary religions with about 50%
being Christian.  Every Fiji village has a church and the religious lines
are pretty much the same as the ethnic makeup.  Learning about Hinduism from
taxi drivers and our new friends has been interesting - don't worry about
her converting to Hare Krisna any time soon though.
We are still planning to stay in Fiji for a month, leaving on 2/21 (or 22?)
for Auckland, New Zealand, making sure that Jessica's fifth birthday will
happen here in Fiji.  Please let us know if you've started making any plans
to join us somewhere on the journey - we'd love it!  Stay in touch.

Moce (pronounced Mothay - farewell!)
Ky, Bonnie, Jessica and Nathan