Fiji Facts

The Mamanuca Islands

• If every single island in the Fiji archipelago was counted, the number would be in the thousands. Of Fiji’s 322 “counted” islands, 105-110 are inhabited (depending on one’s source of information). In fact, Fiji has more land and people than the rest of Polynesia combined.

• Most of Fiji’s islands are of volcanic origin. Fringing reefs line most coastlines, and the Fiji archipelago includes thirty-three barrier reefs, a staggering amount for any one country. Actually, more than a quarter of the South Pacific’s coral reefs lie in Fijian waters, and the Great Sea Reef is the fourth largest in the world.

• Abel Tasman (Jalayne, et al, remember when we sea-kayaked in Abel Tasman National Park on New Zealand’s South Island?!), the first European explorer to reach Fiji—in 1643, by the way—never actually went ashore. Captain Cook sighted Fiji in 1774, even anchored, but also never went ashore. In 1789, after evading canoes-full of practicing cannibals—thanks to adrenaline-charged rowing by his loyal crew of supporters, a sudden squall, and an unexpected gap in the Great Sea Reef—Captain Bligh, of Mutiny on the Bounty infamy, provided the first accurate picture of Fiji to the Europeans. Although perhaps unwilling explorers who never actually landed either, Bligh and his men ended up rowing through the center of Fiji, between the two main islands, on their escape route to Timor. Bligh, as was his nature, made careful observations, ones ultimately shared with other European sailors/explorers.

• The Moon Handbook, Fiji reports that early Fijians “were extremely hospitable to any strangers they did not wish to eat.” Still, when a cannibalistic tradition is informed by the prevailing belief that shipwrecked persons have been cursed and abandoned by the gods, most voyagers who wrecked on Fijian shores—native or otherwise—were generally killed and eaten.

• The natives’ fierce and warlike reputation and propensity for cannibalism, in addition to the early explorers’ emphasis on the perilous nature of Fiji’s multiple reefs, caused most sea travelers to shun the area for a chunk of time. Fiji became notoriously known as the “Cannibal Isles.”

• Polynesians arrived in Fiji around 1500 B.C. and the Melanesians around 500 B.C. Indigenous Fijians are the resulting mingling of these two groups. Beginning in 1879, the British brought indentured Indian servants to Fiji to work in the sugar industry. According to their contract, the servants could return to India after ten years. More than half of those who immigrated to Fiji stayed in Fiji. By the time the practice ended in 1916, 63,000 Indians lived in Fiji.

• Native Fijians are mostly Christians—Methodists (78%) and Catholics (8.5%) comprising the two largest Christian denominations.** Even still, about 35% of the entire population of Fiji is Hindu or Muslim due to the large Indo-Fijian population; only about 2% have converted to Christianity over the years. Local Chinese also practice Buddhism. In Nadi, Beth and I saw the largest Hindu Temple in the South Pacific, Sri Siva Subrahmaniya Swami Temple*, and while on the highway between Nadi and Sigatoka we saw a good sized mosque as well.

• Any one who has known me very long or traveled with me quickly learns I have a strong aversion to snakes—perhaps even a phobia. Consequently, I prefer to have at least some knowledge of the snake conditions for any locale I may inhabit, however briefly. Many people claim there are no poisonous snakes in Fiji, merely indigenous "harmless" snakes in such scarcity they are rarely seen. The introduction of the mongoose in the late 19th century to control rats in the sugar cane plantations on the main islands decimated Fiji’s land-dwelling bird, snake and amphibious populations. Nevertheless, Fiji does have a terrestrial venomous snake, which can come as a bit of a shock to people with a snake mindset similar to mine who hear many a Fijian claim that Fiji is snake-free apart from the pacific boa—as in one of those very rarely seen snakes mentioned earlier. Even more appalling to those sharing this snake antipathy is the added detail that this snake is an elapid, one belonging to the same family as the Indian cobra and the Australian taipan. Still, no real trepidation need prevail as at last count less than twenty of these venomous snakes were located in all of Fiji. (With overwhelming gratitude, I kept this snake report at the forefront of my consciousness during one grand Fijian adventure to be reported in a future post!)

• Fijian waters do house sea snakes. (I saw nary a one…thankfully!) One of my sources provided this information, which I did find interesting:

“There are lots of long wiggly things that live in the sea and most of the ones that you will encounter are actually not sea snakes. The sea snake you are most likely to see in Fiji whilst goggling is the Banded/Yellow Lipped/Colubrine Sea Krait (Laticauda colubrina). These are fairly small, being about half to one and a half meters in length and generally not much thicker than a man's thumb. They are however the sixth most venomous snake in the world (behind Australia's Taipans, King Browns and Tiger snakes), with fangs able to deliver a mixture of powerful neurotoxins and myotoxins which affect the nervous system and skeletal muscles. The chance of being bitten by one of these sea kraits is minimal, though. They are amphibious reptiles which differ only from land-based snakes in having specially adapted paddle-like tails for swimming and diving. They must surface to breath every fifteen minutes or so and will be observed snooping and poking around the shallow reef edge in search of eels to eat. They search for food using their forked tongue as a sensor and have little or no interest in you. They pose no threat unless agitated or provoked.”

*Sri Siva Subrahmaniya Swami Temple in Nadi. A man at the gate stopped Beth and me from entering the grounds, informing us that he needed to be sure that we met the criteria for entrance. (See last photo below.) After surveying our attire and realizing we met the necessary clothes criteria, he asked if we were vegetarian. We answered no. He asked if we had eaten meat in the last 24 hours, and we confessed that we had done so. "Don't eat any more meat," he said, "and come back tomorrow. Then you can come in." Hence, we photographed the temple from outside the compound; we already knew that we would not be returning on the morrow!

**There is an LDS Temple in Suva, the capital of Fiji. (We didn't have enough time to include Suva in our itinerary.) One article that I read about Fiji mentioned that Mormons made up about 1% of Fiji's Christian population. On-line I did look up Mormon meeting houses and times for services in the Nadi/Sigatoka area, and there was a ward (Nadi) plus two branches listed.

Still Fiji on My Mind

First glimpses of Fiji from the window of the plane.

I made it to Fiji--that place so distant in the expanse of the Pacific Ocean that "You can't get any farther away before you start coming back!"--and my mind continues to bend, still seeking passages to encompass the experiences and then hold them in memory. Meanwhile, I can dabble with a record of sorts.

Skies, seas, and trees mesmerize me; major portions of the walls in my house format collections of photos, prints, and paintings of skies, seas, trees, and any combinations thereof. Fiji is a realm conceived in sea and sky, and trees comprise an essential element of the interior design!

Here, then, begins my Fijian record--always with sky, generally with sea, and often with trees!

First sunset from the hotel grounds, the Westin, near Denarau Port.

Fern palm, Viti Levu near the Navua River, where we white water rafted.


The grounds of the Westin again, our last day in Fiji--a day with sporadic rain.



Honeymoon Island, just off the coast of Nacula (one of the islands in the Yasawas). We spent five days at Oarsman's Bay Lodge on Nacula.



Bounty Island, one in the Mamanuca chain of islands.




Sea and the Mamanucas



Another island in the Mamanucas




Beach at Sigatoka Sand Dunes




"Our" beach in front of Oarsman's Bay Lodge on Nacula




A beach several coves over from the one in front of Oarsman's Bay Lodge--and on this morning, belonging only to us.

Retirement?!*>#!!&^+~#-??...

This last week I braved my first foray into the realm of a possible future—RETIREMENT—by attending my first ever retirement briefing. YIKES! However, I fear now I may require succor for my state of mind—total alienation!

Back story . . . During last November’s faculty meeting the principal announced the official sign-up sheet--the one for the once a year retirement briefing offered by the district--would make its way around. Perfunctorily, with scarcely a glance at the date of the briefing or names on the list, I contributed to the passage of the clipboard by handing it to the teacher beside me. The clipboard circled through the faculty and rested once again near administration by the time I reconsidered a confrontation with reality: In two more years I will have taught overseas for 25 years, for 30 years in just seven more; maybe there are some things I need to know. At the end of the meeting, I wended my way to the clipboard and added my name.

The actual briefing for all the schools in our complex, though, was scheduled for 3:30, March 3, in the middle school library. I entered the library at 3:28 and experienced my first shock: most of the seats were already occupied and serious discussion appeared to be underway. Was I late?! Had the briefing really begun at 3:00?! I have never known so many teachers to be so prompt—even early—for a meeting, but only one more teacher entered after me. I slunk into a remaining chair at a table where a teacher I kind of sort of knew from the elementary school was sitting. Once seated, I realized the other teachers had folders of information, so, as the presenter launched into the official Power Point presentation (I was not officially late), I slid back out of my seat to retrieve a folder from the library's check-out counter.

An inauspicious beginning deteriorated further. The presentation limped along as the same five people asked question after question and proposed endless “what if” scenarios. The guy on the other side of me commenced what I’m sure he assumed was witty repartee constructed from dramatically whispered asides spawned by the presentation in progress. As I attempted to remain conscious of the presenter’s main points during his painfully slow trudge through the material (not fully his fault, though), I also learned far more than I ever intended to know about the guy next to me: He just turned sixty, he is very available, he has exceedingly good health, his ex-wife has remarried so will have no claims on any of his retirement benefits, etc., etc. Although I truly aspired to at least be polite—an occasional monosyllabic response and some weak smiles—all I could think was “I don’t think I’m old enough to go out with you!”

Forty-five minutes into the briefing and I was pretty much finished. At 5:00, one and a half hours of briefing later, I gathered my stuff and followed another man—a teacher from the elementary school who has a daughter on the other 8th grade team—out the door. According to the handout in my packet containing copies of the Power Point slides, about ¾ of the presentation was complete…to be followed by a question and answer session. But I was done!

I skipped dinner in favor of two sugar cookies and a large Diet Coke from the snack bar at the Fleet Recreation Center. I currently have Season 5 of Lost in my possession and fully intend to suspend my reality for a space of time. So, until I resurface . . .

Dabbling with Haiku

At school we are encouraged to do some cross-curricular planning as a team, so this quarter we planned a mini-unit based on the Olympics and implemented it in conjunction with the 2010 Winter Olympics. In English/Language Arts my students have learned and experimented with poetic devices and forms since January--scheduled into these past weeks mostly because the art and literature point of contact at my school asked me to provide student poetry submissions for this year's magazine of student work and meeting a March 1 deadline. (She knew I liked poetry, incorporated student writing of poetry into my curriculum, and none of the other language arts teachers would accept the invitation to provide any.) So, in an attempt to clump and streamline expectations, I offered to do the culminating activity for my team's interdisciplinary unit: Write a poem with an Olympics connection--mathematical, scientific, historical, and/or current events and viewing experience. We begin in class tomorrow...despite the fact that the Olympics in real time will still be in progress!

Because we (my students and I) may be approaching a poetry-sated state and "short" always appeals and we live in Japan, I decided we would write Haiku! Then, this weekend while reviewing my Haiku file--hard-copy and digital--I uncovered Haiku I wrote along with students several years ago when I taught a quarter-long creative writing class. They exist only on a piece of paper, so now I will self-publish, and there will be a digital record as well.

[Disclaimer: I do a lot of my personal writing under the influence of melancholy.]

low, gray clouds lumber
across a winter landscape
and trees wear black lace


dark and bittersweet
your chocolate breath carries
no promise but now


the rain beats against
anguished memory and drains
away your image


time is a traitor,
stealing the ache, betraying
everlasting passion


summer's memory
stirs November shadows like
marshes salted with sea

Fiji on My Mind

I am a “Thursday’s child” with “far to go”; my mind is painted in wanderlust. Still, Fiji did not actively engage my imagination or merit an inscription on my mental “to see and to do” list until maybe ten years ago when I first saw the movie The Truman Show. When Truman, who unbeknownst to him is the star of a reality-type television show, breaks with the plan prescribed by the creator of the show and falls hard and fast for an extra in the cast—Lauren/Sylvia Garland— instead of Meryl, the chosen love interest, the executives in charge remove Lauren from Truman’s fabricated world and orchestrate a reason for him: Lauren and her family are moving to Fiji. Because Truman can’t forget Lauren, he becomes increasingly more focused on going to Fiji. He tries to explain to his best friend Marlon just where Fiji is by using a golf ball to represent the planet and two different fingers to mark where they are (USA) as compared to where Fiji is. Then Truman says, "You can't get any further away before you start coming back" And with that line, I realized I, too, wanted to go to Fiji—a place so far removed from my space on the planet that by the time I arrived there I would almost be on my way back!

When I moved from Germany to Japan, Fiji became one of those locations I regularly punched into travel search engines like Expedia or Orbitz or Sidestep or Kayak when bored or when procrastinating or when actually actively seeking a travel destination for an upcoming holiday. The cheapest airfares always showed a $3000+ price tag, an amount always way beyond my means. Until three weeks ago, that is! One evening while playing the travel search engine game with April’s spring break in mind, a game I commenced playing early in January, I discovered a Fiji flight/hotel package within the budget! And now, I wish to announce, my friend Beth and I are headed to Fiji for spring break. At moments I am nearly breathless with excitement!

Peanut Butter Reconsidered

Never a kid with any real affinity for peanut butter, my lifetime peanut butter consumption might fill ten standard size jars. Entire years of my life have elapsed without me swallowing the stuff. I don't hate it and never have; I just never developed any pressing desire for it. As a child--when my mother still made lunchtime sandwiches for her children as per their request--I ate the tuna or bologna or cheese or other savory option, never the "straight butter, honey, peanut butter" sandwich my siblings often petitioned for. Although I think I did sample a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a weak and frivolous attempt to be at one with popular elementary school lunch culture, even PB&J failed to lure me into the fold of peanut butter devotees. Any sandwich I carried to school for lunch purposes held animal protein between the bread.

In the dorms my freshman year in college I finally learned to eat and somewhat enjoy peanut butter--on crackers (I preferred saltines to grahams) and even in a PB&J sandwich prepared in the dorm cafeteria when the proffered main course lacked requisite edible traits. Before I graduated, a roommate introduced me to a peanut butter cookie recipe that I still keep on file--and occasionally bake--to this day.

Once I began teaching school, peanut butter sporadically figured into plans and activities with students. I remember one time when a lesson included a tasting activity, and my students informed me that the peanut butter sample provided tasted OLD. I had no real measure in taste memory to evaluate the freshness of peanut butter, and I had never before considered that peanut butter might have a shelf life! No doubt the culprit peanut butter came from a jar dating back to at least the previous year's tasting activity!

Over the ensuing years I have consumed--and enjoyed--a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on certain rare occasions. I eat peanut butter cookies--those baked according to the instructions on the recipe from that former college roommate and those other people bake with a Hershey's Kiss pressed into the middle. And I absolutely love peanut sauce (especially with chicken sate and other Asian entrees) which, even I must admit, has a close relationship with peanut butter.

In December I skied three days in a row. On days two and three, my ski buddies and I chose to carry sandwiches to the slopes instead of paying premium prices for sub-standard fare at the ski lodge. And, yes, we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! I can't remember anything about my lunch on day one except that it cost a shocking amount and was utterly disappointing gastronomically. But I do remember lunches on days two and three, and they were supremely satisfying: PB&J sandwiches, apples, water, and Coke Zero.

I got sick in January, had little appetite, and wandered the commissary aisles in search of something that might tempt me to eat. And, yep, I ended up buying peanut butter, grape jelly, and bread! In the last two months I have eaten SIX peanut butter and jelly sandwiches--likely at least five more than I consumed in the previous decade of my existence, especially considering I had never eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich since moving to Japan until the two I ate while skiing in December. I suspect I probably lunched on at least one peanut butter and jelly sandwich sometime during the eighteen years I lived in Germany.

Then, Thursday night of this last week I arrived home with a mean craving for those no-bake cookies made with cocoa, peanut butter, and oatmeal. (Truly, the fact that this kind of no-bake cookie showed up for refreshments at a church youth activity a couple of weeks ago and the reality that I currently have a jar of peanut butter residing in my home have to bear some of the blame.) I looked up a recipe on the Internet, cooked up a batch, and could scarcely contain my nibbling to allow them sufficient cooling time. Such a divine assuaging of rapacious desire!

Addendum

I commenced the previous post on January 22 and never completed it. Feeling poorly all that weekend, I surrendered to Season 3 of House, courtesy of Netflix. The following weekend was the end of Quarter 2 and Semester1 for me; grading and grades demanded my attention. So, I finished the post today, but the auto-format of Blogger maintains that "Appetizers" at Chili's is a January 22 posting.