Family Fun and Government Issues

It's been a pretty relaxing Easter weekend. My two brothers who go away to school came home for the Easter holiday, which has been really fun. Danny is 19 and hilarious. He's always joking around and teasing people. Bill is 21 and really chill. Today I went to a forest reserve outside of Suva with all my siblings and four of my American friends. It was a really good time. We hiked around, had a picnic, and went swimming in waterfall collecting pools. There was a rope swing over one, which was sweet. My ear is finally completely healed, so I was able to enjoy myself without stressing about it.

I went to Pentecostal church with my family on Easter Sunday. It was intense and focused on donating money to the church. I really disagree with a lot of aspects of the organization. I've also been watching movies and playing with the kittens. We named them Black and Gold, after Wooster/MU colors. They fit in my cargo pants pocket.

The government situation has been crazy these past few days. The court of appeals ruled that the regime in charge, a military dictatorship under Frank Bainimarama, had illegally seized power, which it had during the 2006 coup. The President, who happens to be the oldest president in the world (he's in his late 80's) was charged with the task of picking a new prime minister and other government officials. The President also repealed the entire constitution. Everyone was so excited about the possibility of a new government sans corruption. The next day, the President announced that he had chosen the new government, and it was Bainimarama's regime. Now the regime has legitimate power (in that is wasn't taken in a coup), and no constitution limiting its capabilities. It has already begun heavily sensoring the news media. The people here were devastated. My grandmother was so upset. It was really disheartening to see. As much as I've grown to love this country, its hard to get over the complete lack of civil rights and freedom of speech. It's growing harder to overlook that I'm living in a 3rd world military dictatorship.