off to Samoa!

My Mom, who took the picture:  You look like an interesting family
Me: Mom,  we ARE an interesting family.
Mom: well... (remains unconvinced.)

On Monday we leave Fiji for Samoa!  We are fairly sure we will be in Samoa until December, and then return to Fiji for 2017, but us + planning ahead = HAHAHA

Anyways.  It has been such a wonderful few months in Fiji.  I think this time abroad is exactly what our family needs.  This summer Daniel and I will be married 8 years, and this is the first time we have been out of Belize for an extended time.  Every aspect of our lives has been different here--  city living, a big house, no getting up at 5am to milk cows..... we were living under so much pressure, which we didn't even realize until we left.  Farm life is nice in some ways, but it is also unrelenting, Now we have a chance to put our heads up, take a deep breath and look around.

We have found Fijians as a whole are so friendly, but when Fijians find out we are traveling to Samoa, they all say we will love it there because Samoans are super friendly. I'm expecting some epic levels of friendliness.  I am going to miss Fiji, but I am so excited to be able to visit another island in the South Pacific.  My serious lack of geographical knowledge means that I keep getting surprised by countries.  Someone will mention they just came from Kiribati, or New Caledonia, or Vanuatu, and I have to google it.  I'm also spending time googling small local airways, looking for bargain fares between islands, because even though we have no budget for side trips I am dying to experience some of these places.  How fun would it be to visit a country you didn't even know existed a few months ago, right? Crossed fingers.  

I am sad that we won't be in Fiji for the Olympics though.  This is the first year that rugby will be an Olympic sport, and the #1 ranked 7's rugby team in the world is.... Fiji!  Rugby is SO major here, that even I follow it now.  It's hard not to when you have 2 tv channels, and 85% of the time both channels are showing rugby.  People here follow rugby the same way Belize follows the World Cup:  when a game is on, you don't need to watch it to know the score, because you can hear the cheering/ groaning from everyone else up and down the street. We live right up the street from the stadium, and know whenever the team is on the move because they get an official police escort, including sirens on and speeding through red lights.  Anyways, we are going to miss a major party in August, but we will be cheering Fiji on in Samoa!

A few weeks ago my parents came to visit, and we visited the beach for the first time in Fiji.  (Suva, where we stay, has a rocky coast line).

This place.... is pretty much perfect.  All I have to say is-- if you ever have the opportunity to visit the South Pacific, GO.

The one thing I appreciate the most about Fiji is how much everyone seems to enjoy children.  I get a lot of attention-- usually I’m walking around with Lu in the Ergo carrier on my back, with Miss M walking or in a stroller, and I know we are a very unusual site.  Everyone has been so friendly and loves to talk to and play with the babies.  And I mean everyone-- there hasn’t been a day we go out that the grocery store cashier, gate guard, random McDonald employee, people that are walking by on the street  wave to the girls, complement the ”princesses” and stop to say hello and chat with the girls.  The other day we were riding the bus, and Lu fell asleep in the Ergo on my back without me noticing.  I turned around to find a college age guy gently cradling her head so she wouldn't bump it on the seat.  If we get on the bus and it's full, multiple people will reach out to hold Ms M on their lap. The girls are a bit shy about all the attention, although Miss M might be persuaded to say “hola” (close enough to Bula) and Lu will wave bye-bye with abandon. People seem especially fascinated with Miss M, and I haven’t quite figured out why, but I think it might be her hair.  Most babies I’ve seen her age have very short hair, and Miss M’s little pom poms seem to be quite charming.  People come up to touch her hair and give her kisses, which she does not appreciate at this age :)

For me, part what makes this overall friendliness so interesting is that Fiji has a long and fairly recent history of cannibalism-- this was not the country to be shipwrecked on/ come to as a missionary years ago.  You would probably get eaten, as recently as the 1830’s.  (We learned this history at the Fiji museum, which has a nice collection).  I think this is a fascinating fact to add to my impressions of Fiji.  Some other observations:  people are fairly neutral on the issue of shoes.  Most people wear flip flops or sandals, and many people don’t even bother and just walk around barefoot-- even in the shops.  Fashion, and the concern about it, is much different than in Belize.  Most women wear cotton skirts and loose cotton tops, men are in short sleeve shirts and shorts or sulus. Both men and women often just wrap a long piece of fabric around their waist as a skirt and tie it, simple as that.  People just don’t seem to fuss too much about appearance-- hair, makeup, and  jewelry are kept pretty simple. Although, charmingly, ladies often have a flower or two in their hair. I love this practicality, which is so reasonable when it can be so hot.

he is selling the fresh clams and conch here, not the shells

Even though Fiji as an island is relatively isolated, it is an interesting mix of cultures.  Predominately the population is made up of native heritage Fijians and descendants of a large Indian immigrant population.  There is also a Chinese presence, and of course a British influence left over from the colonial days (meat pies!  My favorite!) This makes for an interesting mix while shopping and eating.  The stores are filled with glamorous sarees and jewelry, and the smell of curry floats through the air during meal times.  In the market, lots of fresh fish and native produce such as taro, papaya, and types of sea weed  fill the stalls.   I’ve asked some of the ladies who work around the compound (who are mostly originally from smaller islands in Fiji)  what they like to cook for dinner (trying to get ideas).  The answer is usually curry.  Since we have been here I've had a lot of fun trying new foods, and exposing the girls to new tastes.  They are pretty unfazeable, sampling vegetarian curry, chinese dumplings, lamb, taro root, and anything else I happen to think looks interesting.  The only thing they both flat out refused to eat was a cheeseburger, the one time I took them for a happymeal "treat" at McDonalds.... which probably indicated they have a much more refined palate than me.  I ate the cheeseburger instead :)

practicing pork dumplings.  My teacher is very particular about how the dumplings are folded....

 I've been able to take a few Chinese cooking classes on Saturday mornings (where I learned about the deliciousness that is mushroom soy sauce, among other things), and now I'm on the lookout for an Indian cooking class.  I wouldn't say Daniel is particularly enthusiastic about new foods in our meal rotation, but he is a good sport.  Also, ice cream is a LOT cheaper here than in Belize, and Cadbury chocolate is plentiful, so he has lots of snacks as back-up :)

We’ve been here a little over a month now, and I feel settled in.  We have a routine, we’ve found grocery stores and the parks, we know how to ride the bus.  Life here is nice.  We do have  an interesting housing situation-- we are actually in shared housing.  That means we have a bedroom in a 4 bedroom house, and all the other rooms are shared.  Since we have been here we have had several roomates (this is mostly used by the university as temporary housing), and actually after the first few days of panic (there is no way we can keep the girls well behaved enough!!) it has been fine.  We did not expect this-- it was a last minute thing done by the international office-- but the location and safety cannot be beat.  The house is on campus, so Daniel can come and go easily.  This also means the whole campus is the girl’s back yard, and they have claimed several “treehouses” (mostly trees with interesting roots they play around).  Also, there is a housekeeper (!).   To keep us from being too spoiled, I’ve told her we will clean our room, but I haven’t scrubbed a bathroom since I’ve been here :) . It actually makes me more conscientious, though. I’m much more careful about doing our dishes right away and making sure the girls clean up all their crumbs.

Living with others has been good for us, although not without some challenges.  I’ve seen some gaps in the girl’s manners that wasn’t apparent when we mostly kept to our own house. They are VERY interested in everyone else’s coming and goings, but our house mates have been tolerant of the constant inquiries of  “where  you GOING? What you DOING?”  We are still working on the concept of personal space with others, although it actually took about 3 weeks for the girls to be ok with me in another room. I felt like a mama duck with her ducklings for a while, I would trip over them every time I moved.  The hardest part has been just having one room that is really ours-- if someone is napping, or if the girls are at each other's throats and need to be separated, there really isn't anything I can do.  We will only be in this housing through July, and then will move to Samoa for at least a semester, so we can work with it for now.

As for Suva, it is the perfect sized city. The infrastructure in the city is much better than Belize-- cross walks!  stoplights! sidewalks!  It only costs 70 Fijian cents- about 35 US cents-- to ride the bus, and the buses run all the time, all over the city.  The girls and I love the bus-- Miss M asks just about every hour when we can go again, and when given the choice between going to the playground or riding the bus, she chooses the bus.  You‘ve never met a more thrilled bus passenger.  She spontaneously yells WOO-HOO! throughout the trip.  The buses don‘t have windows, so she sticks her little hand out, waves to everyone nearby, and yells, “I‘m riding the bus!!”   While Daniel is studying, we take mini-adventures, small trips of a couple of hours to explore without being overwhelmed.  We ventured into the center city and went to the market, which is huge and has a great variety of produce.  We also checked out a few malls, and the girls went to their very first toy store.  I’ve told the girls that the toys live there, so they don’t fuss when we leave, we will see how long that lasts :)  We get a lot of attention when we are out and about, but I have not felt unsafe.  Fiji actually feels much, much safer then Belize.

This picture needs a caption:  This is the downtown bus station, which happens to be RIGHT on the water.  That is a cruise ship pulled up to dock right across the street.  I couldn't believe how huge it was.

We  found a great modern jungle gym in a park on the water, with lots of slides and swings and climbing.  I love watching the  wonder in the girls’ faces when they encounter something new.  They have impressed me so much with how quickly they can figure out new situations, it is amazing how adaptable small kiddos are.  Miss M rode an escalator and elevator for the first time at the airport, and now she is a pro.  When we go to the mall, all she wants to do is ride up the escalator and down the elevator. She knows how to push the button for the cross walk and crosses like a NYC native.  Both girls also now recognize McDonalds…. there is one close to our house which we have visited for ice cream and the playground :).  You would never know a few weeks ago they were chasing goats barefoot across a field.  My goal for our time here is to do as many things as we can that aren't available in Belize, including things like dance lessons for the girls.  I also stumbled across some Chinese cooking lessons offered by the Chinese cultural center, and have gone a couple of times.  No one speaks much English beyond "Good!" with a thumbs up and smile, but that seems to be enough for cooking lessons.  It's a lot of fun.

Pardon the recycled Instagram photos for this post, I'm having some trouble getting my Mac on the wireless here, and have to borrow Daniel's computer for now.  I've got a few more posts written, and I figured I would just try and post more rather then worry too much about pictures.  More soon!

So, Fiji.  I am enamored.  We are in Suva, the capital city.  It is on a bit of a peninsula, and a cool sea breeze blows all day long.  The light has a different quality here-- somehow things have more contrast, more clarity.  At first there was something about the light  that puzzled me, until I remembered that the sun  appears to be moving in a different direction than I am used to because we are below the equator.

We flew into Nadi, then took a smaller plane across the country.  The interior of Fiji is a continuous roll of mountains, starting out brown and  then becoming green and jungley.  Suva is ringed by more mountains, and slopes down to the harbor where huge ships and smaller fishing boats dock.  There are a lot of similarities to Belize-- Fiji is also a former British colony-- so the architecture feels very familiar.  Schools are built the same, the school children all wear uniforms, the trees and plants are the same.  It was quite disorienting driving from the airport, seeing so much that looked familiar, yet driving on the “wrong” side of the road.  Also, lots of men wear sulus-- which are basically wrap skirts.  Still getting used to that.

We are incredibly lucky to have a nice place to stay.  It is within a few blocks of  a lot of shops (including a store which  is like a Costco and a McDonalds… such a different world).  Also, we have hot water and AIR CONDITIONING.  Basically, this is a luxury resort for us.  It’s amazing how well you can cope with the heat and humidity when you know there is a nice cool bedroom you can retreat to.  And the heat and humidity  can be overwhelming-- it has been around 90-95 degrees daily, with similar humidity. We missed a few weeks of the semester, but it worked out the best for us, since Fiji was hit by a category 5 typhoon a few weeks ago.  Suva did not get a lot of damage comparatively, but there still was near 200 mile per hour winds, trees down, roofs off, and no electricity.  Parts of the country were completely flattened.  Here in Suva, you can see spaces where huge trees were knocked down, but other than that you would never know such a huge storm recently hit.  It would have been very, very scary to have been here during the typhoon with the 2 girls.  We are still dealing with rolling electricity and water outages, which can be frustrating, but since parts of the country still haven’t had electricity restored since the typhoon we can’t complain.

The University campus is really incredible.  It is quite large, and paths and bridges wind through huge, vine covered trees. Palms, oversize ferns and lots of really large bats flying around during the day make it seem like a prehistoric jungle.  The buildings are architecturally very interesting, with lots of tropical influences.

Daniel is one of only a few students in his class, and he is enjoying it, although he is working non-stop to make up for the 3 weeks he missed.   The semester is being held here in Fiji because there are a lot of industrial farms, and the class will go on field trips to visit.  I’m quite jealous Daniel will get to see so much of the country!

Internet here is very intermittent, and I've been slow to take out my nice camera because I'm mostly hauling around both girls and don't have an extra hand.  But I've got lots to share, so hopefully I'll be able to post again soon!

(I'm working with limited internet right now, sorry for a long post with no pictures.  I've been posting on Instagram a bit if you are desperate for pics....)

Bula!  (that’s hello)  We made it, we are in Fiji and it is glorious!  Before I get to the awesomeness that is Fiji, though, I have to document our trip here.  It was EPIC, in a very Homererian shipwreck-Cyclops-angry sirens way.

On Monday, we heard that our long-awaited Fiji visa was ready.   Since Daniel’s flight is part of his scholarship, we had to wait for the coordinators to source his flight, and then pray that the girls and I would be able to buy tickets  for the same itinerary.  On Thursday, Daniel was told they wanted to fly him out that  Sunday.  At about 10pm that night, Daniel was sent a flight itinerary, and we noticed the university was working with a travel agent to source the flight.  We quickly emailed and asked if we could work with the same Fijian travel agent to get flights for me and the girls.  At 1am Friday morning,  after multiple phone calls and emails to Fiji, we were successfully booked on the same flights Sunday.  And the itinerary was perfect: direct Belize to LA, and then overnight LA to Fiji.  About 24 hours travel time for us.   At this point, it was Friday in Belize and Saturday in Fiji.  Everything was set for Sunday….. Only no one had ever sent us a copy of our visa.  We spent Friday and Saturday trying to get in touch with someone to send it, but since it was the weekend, no one was in.  We decided there wasn’t much to do but cross our fingers and go.

Sunday  morning around 5am (after I got about 2 hours sleep-- seriously, where do allll those odds and ends in a house come from?  Impossible to be “finished” packing)  we set out for the airport.  The trip was uneventful  until about 5 minutes from the airport, when Lu projectile vomited all over me and herself.  No problem, I’d packed a few changes in the carry on.   At the (automatic) check in, we perplexed the kiosk since I was traveling on my US passport, the girls on Belize, and Daniel on his British passport.   When an agent came over, she asked to see Daniel’s ESTA waiver.  UMMM….. Oops.  I had completely forgotten about that.  Since he is British he doesn’t need a visa to travel through the States, but a few years ago they started requiring an online check and small fee that has to be done before travel.  Thank goodness for technology, cause I got out my computer and credit card, hooked up to airport wireless, and 15 minutes later, we were good to go (although my hands were shaking so much I could hardly type).  They ticketed us all the way through Fiji without asking about a visa!

Our flight to LA was great, Lu slept most of the way and Miss M was enthralled by the seat back tv.  This was my first time to the LA airport, and I was quite surprised after we cleared customs and immigration to exit right on the street.  After a bit of confused wandering around (hauling 2 carry-ons, 3 backpacks, and 2 toddlers) we were informed that we had to go up a level and to departures to go through security again.  Ok, no problem.  We got to security, and were informed that our boarding passes that were issued in Belize were not acceptable, and we had to re-check in at the Fiji air counter.  Which didn’t open till 6pm.  It was 1 pm.  We entertained the idea of trying to go somewhere, but we were tired and everything was confusing, so we settled in, getting the babies some pinkberry yogurt and raiding the 7-eleven-- the only 2 food places in the departure terminal. We got on the internet and were relieved to see an email from  the Fiji university stating that we didn’t need a copy of our visa, we were in immigration’s system

6pm arrived with much relief, as at that point I was doing laps around the terminal with 2 very squirrely 2 -year -olds.  We were first in line to have our boarding passes reissued….. And then, oh so casually from the gate agent, can we see your visas, please?  (here it’s important to note we were flying in on one-way tickets, as we will transfer to Samoa in June for another year and a half).  We got out the computer and showed them the university email, stating we did not need a copy of the visa.  We showed them the scholarship letter, the university acceptance letter, anything we had. NO DICE.  These (very polite) people were not going to budge.  They required a signed and stamped letter from Fiji immigration with our full names stating we have visas.   Right in front of us, the supervisor called down to baggage and asked them to remove our luggage from the cue. (it was 6pm, the flight was scheduled to leave at 10... I mean, give us a chance….)  Trying very hard not to panic, we got the computer out, and miraculously were able to call Fiji and the coordinator answered.  He was confused at the opposition, but agreed to email a copy of the visa.  5 minutes later, we triumphantly walked the computer over to the supervisors.  And, NOPE.  The letter stated that  those who hold Daniel’s type of scholarship are allowed in without visas, but the gate agents determined that it did not cover myself or the girls (we are dependents on his study permit).  So we called Fiji again. The coordinator promised to call immigration, and get them to write something out with my and the girl’s names on it.  Then we waited.  The gate agents set up a bit of a corral with those barrier things and brought us chairs.  At this point, the girls were manic, running and throwing toys and generally being over- tired over- stimulated toddlers.  Daniel and I called Fiji every 30 minutes, and kept being told “20 more minutes.”

Then Fiji stopped answering (they are still having electricity rationing from the hurricane that hit 3 weeks ago).  At this point it was 8pm, and the gate agents were not budging.  OK, back up plan.  What if we bought ongoing tickets to Samoa?  Fiji grants a 4 month tourist visa on entrance , so we could get tickets to Samoa for May, and then just change the dates when we got to Fiji (the semester ends mid-June).  We asked the agents.  “OK," they said, "can we please see your Samoa visas?”

ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

We actually have applied for Samoa visas, but did not have it yet, and anyways, why the heck would they need to see our Samoa visas when we would be flying there 4 months  from now? How is it not enough that we have proof we are leaving Fiji?  It was approaching 8:30, the counter closed at 9, and Daniel at this point was ready to scrap the whole thing and go back to Belize.  I asked him to please go back and talk to one supervisor who was sympathetic, and find out if there is any flight we can buy that will  fulfill their requirements and be less than the $1,200 US per person  that the unneeded return ticket to Belize would cost.  And LO, he had an idea.  Buy ongoing tickets to Samoa, then further tickets to Western Samoa, which is a US territory and therefore we do not need / already have visas for.

And so, with very shaking fingers, using the last 9% charge on my computer, we bought those magical tickets to Western Samoa , showed the confirmation email to the agents, and they printed out our boarding passes.   We went straight through security and boarded at 9:45 pm.   The girls slept the entire 11 hour flight.

It was with much trepidation we approached the immigration agent at the international airport in Fiji, because the LA gate agents had regaled us with stories of travelers without proof of visas being locked in a room and than deported. “Do you have a visa,” the agent asked without looking up at us.  “Yes….,” we tentatively  said.  She waived us past.  Stunned, I (stupidly) said, “um, do you need to see it?”  “Nope.”  And we walked on by.


So now the girls and I have one-way tickets to Western Samoa, and a horror of the LA international airport that will take a loooooong time to fade.

Ah, where to start.

So life for the last 6 months has been rather insane, in both good and bad ways.

1. Lu is officially ours!!  After two years, we have finally finished the adoption process.

2. We are moving to the South Pacific for about two years.

Aaaand the back story.

About a year ago we saw an add in the local paper for a scholarship opportunity for Belizeans.  Daniel hadn't really been considering a Master's degree, but this scholarship was too good to pass up.  So we thought, eh, let's just try.  Can't hurt.  We sent in the application, and then heard nothing for 6 months, so we thought he didn't get it.

[Aside:  the scholarship is to promote inter- Caribbean relationships, and somehow the South Pacific got included because ??.  When applying for the scholarship, there were only 2 schools offering the degree Daniel wanted.  He applied for a school in the Caribbean, but when applying online was required to checkbox a second choice school.  The only other school offering the degree he wants is in the South Pacific.... and we can see where this is going.]

At the end of July, Daniel got the amazing, out of the blue news that he won the scholarship!  So exciting.  And then we read it again, and saw he had been accepted to the University of the South Pacific..... and then much Google-ing commenced.  We learned that the agriculture campus is in Samoa, and Samoa is really really far away (Samoa actually exists in the future!  There is about a 20 hour time difference from Belize).

Once we got over the excitement, we realized we had a ton of work and stress to go through.  Although Lu had been with us for a year and a half, she was still a foster child, and we needed to get her adoption done.  With Miss M, that process took a year and a half.  With Lu, we had under 6 months before we were expected to be on the other side of the world.



Well, we did it.  As of last friday, Lu is officially ours.  The story is long (and I will probably write about it just to give others an idea what the Belize adoption process is like). I wish there was more excitement but honestly every single step has been a huge fight and so much stress that thinking about it still makes me nauseous.  But we did it.   Daniel's semester is scheduled to start next week, and we will be a tiny bit late, but we are officially, legally all a family and can leave the country together for the first time since we started to foster in 2012.

So YAY.  BUT WAIT.  In a new and exciting (HAHAHA) twist we learned this week that we probably will be going to Fiji instead of Samoa.  Turns out no one thought to mention that the first semester of classes for Daniel's degree are held in a different country (which means different visas and different, you know, plane tickets).  Fortunately (notice the sarcasm indicated by italics) even though Daniel's semester is starting in 5 days, due to the phenomenon that can only be classified as "island time," we did not have plane tickets or accommodations lined up for Samoa.  This, surprisingly, doesn't really bother me, which gives you an idea of how incredibly stressful the last few months have been. Small potatoes compared to adoption in this country with a time deadline. Dealing with four separate tropical countries (Belize, Trinidad where the scholarship is based, Fiji, and Samoa) is a whole new experience of laid back island time, but it will get figured out.  We will get there. We will find somewhere to stay.



The goats have mostly been sold, my car is sold, we have not been able to catch the guinea hens so I guess they are staying. We are slowly packing up and trying to figure out what to bring with us in our 4 suitcases.  4 suitcases for 4 people for the next two years.  (It's a good thing capsule wardrobes are so popular right now).

In summary: We are going somewhere in the South Pacific!  At some point in the future!  And we are incredibly excited!