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| Willard enjoyed the kava ceremony! |
As my title implies, this will be four blogs in one since we
have been quite remiss in updating our adventure. I am not offended if you skip
over parts, just happy you care enough to keep up with us; thanks for reading!
Green Pastures
Willard took off in April to check out a boat. You all are
aware that he has spent years shopping and a Hylas 44’ was always at the top of
the list. So when one became available in Hawaii he jumped at the chance. He
came back excited and anxious to hear from the surveyor who eventually called
and gave us the Good, Bad, and the Ugly. The biggest issue was that she needed
new rigging. We had figured for that so negotiations were made and Willard was
off to ready the boat. He figured he’d be gone four weeks, two to fix the rigging
and do some other odd jobs, and two to bring over the boat. He assured me he’d
be back well in time to help me with the graduation ceremony. Meanwhile, he
talked a friend into flying over to meet him and help him with the passage.
Shortly after he left it became evident that four weeks
would be five and it seemed every time we spoke there were a few more days
added to the duration. The rigger discovered the chain plates were corroded
(these anchor the rigging and are in the walls behind the cabinetry). This
meant we needed to have the plates custom made and then cabinets had to be
rebuilt. Four weeks became seven.
On my end I found myself very lonely and depressed. I could
tell myself it was all okay but somehow I didn’t convince myself very well. Being
the boss at work doesn’t afford me many friends, and the locals are all very
nice to me but we are not buddies. A lot of the expats here are young and they
don’t see running around with a 55 year old woman their idea of a good time.
And we live in the sticks, without a lot of neighbors. So I wasn’t having fun.
My in-laws had given us a book, Traveling Light, by Max Lucado. It is about how to apply Psalm 23
to your life. It became my life-line. I read it and re-read it and then ordered
more Lucado books. The things I took from them were that God makes us lie down
in green pastures and He gives us our daily bread. I started to focus on my
green pastures: my twenty something neighbors, young men who would come over
for Sunday dinners and who would chat with me when I played catch with
Mischief, my co-principal and her partner who took me to dinner, my son who
patiently walked me through Mischief’s health issues, my maintenance worker who
happily changed my flat tire, and my other maintenance worker who volunteered
to dumpster dive for the car key I inadvertently tossed into the dumpster when
throwing out a piece of paper. I also began to focus on getting through one day
at a time. Lucado points out that we are given daily bread – enough to get
through 24 hours – not for a week or a month. This helped tremendously. Prom
and Graduation went by and were great successes. And boy was I happy when I got
the call that the sailor men were back in Majuro with our “new” boat, Figment!
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| Figment before she left Hawaii |
Fiji
One of my American employees became engaged to a Fijian man
and we were honored with an invite. When two others decided to go and invited
us to be part of their group I couldn’t resist. I didn’t think we’d get to Fiji
for years, if ever, and now we were going! The wedding was one most brides can
only dream about. The venue overlooked the ocean with palm trees and a gentle
breeze. Katie, the bride, was in a simple and stunning American wedding dress,
and Joe, the groom, wore traditional Fijian wear. The reception involved
delicious roasted pig, curry, and other Fijian dishes and the live band and
dancing were memorable.
Fiji has two major cities and a few towns. The rest of the
land is very open and is scattered with villages. We flew into Nadi the smaller
of the two cities. It was close to noon and we thought we’d get some lunch and
look for a couple of things like a pair of sunglasses for me. It took no time
at all to learn that most of the shops and restaurants are owned and run by the
East Indian population. These folks comprise almost 40% of the population; they
were initially brought by the English to work the sugar cane fields and are now
a significant part of the Fiji population. I am not sure they could be more
different from the indigenous Fijian people who come across as easy-going,
polite islanders. The Indians are aggressive business folk who will do whatever
it takes to make a sale. They make the Mexicans of Tijuana look like amateurs. While
we were vacationing Willard caught a really nasty cold and was out of drugs. We
learned we could drive fifteen minutes from our resort to a town to get some.
It didn’t dawn on me that in this town we would find circumstances similar to
those we had on our first day in Nadi. When we came to the town some women told
us where to find the pharmacy. We bought the drugs and then thought we’d look
around for a minute. A man asked us if he could help and Willard wanted a book
store. After he bought a used book we found we were beholden to the man who
gave us the directions. He asked if we could just spare a minute to look at his
little shop. There was a building full of small little stalls, each the size of
a card table. His had inexpensive, imported jewelry, nothing we wanted. But he
was insistent. First he put a “free” bracelet on my wrist and then insisted we
look at the rest. We have not learned to
haggle and agreed to pay exorbitant prices so we could leave. We were relieved
to be done and going when two women suddenly accosted us, interrupting our
exit. “Come and see our shop now,” they said. “No, no, no, we are leaving,” we
said. “THAT’S NOT FAIR! We were the ones who showed you the pharmacy!” Oh boy,
we didn’t want a scene so we followed them to one of the women’s stall. She
thanked me saying, “It means so much to us. The men, they always do that to us,
they always take our business. Thank you for helping my poor family.” Her
jewelry was even worse. I saw some little bracelets that I thought would be
about $4 each and agree to buy three, thinking they’d make little gifts for
young girls at home. I asked how much they were and she said $19 each. Before I
could respond Willard said, how about if I give you $50 for all three. Of
course she agreed. We paid and were leaving when the other woman said, “Now you
come to my stall!” We didn’t look back, just kept walking (almost running). It
turns out this is the norm in the cities and towns. We have some learning to do
if we are going to go back and survive it all financially! By the way, I saw
the very same bracelets in the airport for $4.95!
We did get to visit a traditional village while we were
there. Our visit was via an organized tour and we did pay dearly. We felt a
little silly signing up for something so touristy but we wanted something to do
and so bit the bullet and shelled out the dough. It turned out that we took a
fun boat ride up the river to a remote village. The villagers are happy to have
us because they get a percentage of the fee. With this income they were able to
bring in electricity for the first time a year ago. They ring a bell that tells
their village of about 65 members that guests are arriving. They have no
machinery but hand plow their fertile land with horses and cattle. They raise
chickens for eggs and meat and of course they fish. They raise cucumber,
pineapple, papaya, bananas, coconut and more. Everything is fresh because there
is no refrigeration. They live in simple wood and corrugated tin dwellings that
are scattered on the land. Everyone is related with the exception of the pastor
and his family who rotates villages every three years or so. They treated us to
their kava ceremony, a feast of delicious food, and song and dance. It was the
highlight of our trip!
We did see Suva, the capitol city as well, for a couple of
hours. Our visit was long enough to see their huge produce market where locals
sat on the ground or stood at small tables selling all sorts of produce, most
of which I couldn’t identify. We also saw their handicraft markets. We bought a
little of their painted tapa bark and some fabric. I would have liked to see
more of Suva, maybe next time!
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| Katie and Joe's wedding |
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| Women aren't allowed to wear pants or shorts in the village so they cover us up! |
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| Kids in the village |
Golden
Opportunities
Living on a small remote island, there are some interesting
opportunities that come and we take advantage of all of it! The Japanese had
invited a martial arts expert from the States and hosted a welcome dinner. We
were happy to be invited and to have delicious food at the Japanese
Ambassador’s house.
Another opportunity was a silk screening class I got to take
last month. There will be a Pacific
Forum here in a couple of months on the topic of Climate Change. Dignitaries
from all over will be here and the island is working hard to get ready. We see
litter pick-ups and painting parties working overtime. Meanwhile, the First
Lady decided she wanted traditional designs printed on shirts for all of the
dignitaries. So she asked a woman from the University of the Pacific to write a
grant to teach the weavers how to print their designs on fabric. Tamara wrote
the grant and two professors from Hawaii came to instruct. Because they
arranged it on the Co-op campus they told me I could join the group. What fun –
I got to make a screen, create designs and print myself happy. My art-soul has
been nicely fed!
The U.S. Navy has arrived! They are on a humanitarian
mission doing all sorts of good works in several Pacific Island countries,
including the R.M.I. Their deeds include putting a roof over one of our
basketball courts, providing clothing and toys, and all sorts of medical
assistance. They brought a team of vets as well and so we were able to get
Mischief a check up. They just happened to be here on the Fourth of July and so
we got to board the U.S.S. Pearl Harbor and enjoy a ceremony with the
Commodore, the U.S. Ambassador, and the R.M.I. President. Meanwhile, Willard
decided it would be fun to take a group to a local island to picnic and snorkel
and so he put out an invitation. We took eight out on Saturday and had a
wonderful time. They were really appreciative of getting a day to play; one man
had never been in tropical water and wouldn’t have gotten in if we hadn’t taken
him! The whole day was a joy!
Fried Chicken
Aboard
We have slowly been moving onto Figment now that we have
returned to Majuro. I worked at Co-op last week while Willard would generally
go out most days to the house and grab as much as the dinghy would hold. We
then brought it on and unpacked it. Storage is tight and so there is downsizing
and rearranging to do. The boat is nice and I think we’ll enjoy this new aspect
of our adventure once we’re completely settled. As I had another week of
vacationing coming to me we thought it would be fun to go to an outer island.
Maleolap is about 20 hours away so we
figured we’d take a day to travel, enjoy
a few days and then return. Yesterday, we went into the house to gather
a few more things, planned to hit a grocery store to finish provisioning, and
then be off around 2 p.m. It was an
unusually nasty day, one with a lot of rain, and while we were at the house we
heard a lot of thunder and lightening. Just before we were ready to leave the
house we got a phone call; our mast had been hit by the lightening. When we
returned to the boat we found that most of our electronics were dead. Three men
from nearby yachts were soon on board with us volunteering their expertise and
telling us they had never seen anything like it. Our mast looked like a huge
sparkler. The men spent the whole afternoon helping Willard check different
parts of our system and giving us advise. Eventually they all sat in the
cockpit and Willard started writing up a list of things we will need to
replace. On the list was “chicken.” When I asked why he would put a chicken on
his list and he reminded me that on top of the mast the device that indicates
direction is called a “chicken.” “And,” added one of the other men, “yours is
now fried!” So we cancelled our trip and are licking our wounds. But we are
thankful we are all safe and that some things do in fact work. We have also
begun to realize how nice and helpful the yachting community is here and are
grateful for their help and assistance. New green pastures…. We’ll spend the
week working on what we can, and if you have been wondering what the Cabana Boy
will be up to I bet you have a pretty good guess now!
Love to all of you, again thanks for reading! Becky
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