The Beach House and a Harsh Reality

I had a great weekend. We went to a backpackers' hostel on the Coral Coast called The Beach House. It was 25 dollars a night for a dormitory style bed, breakfast, afternoon tea, and free use of sea kayaks. The beach was beautiful. There were swings that went out over the water. Kayaking was a blast; Austin and I went out on the water. We saw blue starfish, some coral, and lots of fish. I grabbed my mask and hopped out for a closer view. It was awesome. We also swam out to a bamboo raft in the lagoon area and played around on that. I definitely want to go back there soon.

It was so nice to get a break from Suva and my host family. I like them, but don't like the Pentecostalism and the attitudes that come with it. I don't like feeling like I'm being judged or converted, especially by hypocritical evangelists. That's only from my Mother though. I need to work at focusing on other aspects of her personality that I like. She really is a caring woman who's just trying to do what she thinks is best. I get along with my siblings really well. My brother Danny is back from boarding school at the moment which is definitely a good thing, because he's hilarious. He makes me laugh really hard.

I'm definitely moving past the honeymoon period of my stay. Don't get me wrong, I love it here, but Fiji is definitely helping me appreciate life in America. Especially when it comes to civil rights and freedom of speech. Since the coup in 2006, the government has been a military dictatorship. Some would claim that Commodore Bainimarama is benevolent, but I would disagree. Censorship seems to be on the rise as well as incidents of violence. My friend's host father is a former politician who frequently speaks out against the government. So far, he's been taken to military camps and beaten, his house has been stoned, and someone broke into his car and shattered the windows. Other people like him have had molotov cocktails thrown at their house. It makes me really concerned for my friend's safety, especially since the situation seems to be escalating.

Other things have been frustrating me alot too besides the government and my host-mother, mainly a lack of consistent running water. I only have running water at my house about half of the time. It's really affecting my workout schedule because I'm not sure if there will be water to shower with when I finish. The power will also cut from my area of the house sometimes, and I have to go to the breaker box and turn it back on. I also have about twenty mosquito bites on my body at any given time, even when I apply bug spray. I'm really hoping I don't get dengue.

If the bitch fest above isn't any indication, homesickness has been hitting me pretty hard lately. Phone calls home are becoming more and more crucial. I did luck out at the video store though. I was feeling kind of down and then a solution just appeared in front of me: Stargate Continuum. In Fiji. For two dollars. It definitely made my day and helped with my homesickness.

We're leaving on Thursday for a two week excursion to a village, Vanua Levu, and Taveuni. The itenerary sounds pretty sweet, so I'm psyched.