Pictures to Come

Fiji Day One...if that is what you can call it. My time is all screwed up and I am not sure what day it is or what time it is on that day. After a nap, I have decided to tell you about our trip. It is the easiest way for me to let my girls know what we are doing. Chris is still napping, so I can take the time to update you all.

The flight from LAX to Nadi, Fiji was long. I can totally see why they fly it over night. To be honest, I could barely handle it sleeping for the majority of it. I can't imagine doing it during our waking hours. Once we got to LAX, I convinced the nice man at the desk to give us an exit row. That made it easier for the big man. Next to us was a very nice young man from Canada, through England. When you sit next to someone for 12 hours, you learn a lot more than you should:) Needless to say, after the appropriate niceties, the conversation of our government came up. It was such an interesting conversation. Adam, our young seat mate, was clearly from a wealthy family; his holiday this time consisted of Canada, Fiji, Australia, India and back home to England. Health Care, Taxes, Education all came up, but the most interesting point he made was this, Americans and American politicians are so busy 'being' right that we, they, aren't DOING what is right. A point to ponder...

The food on Air Pacific was actually fabulous and the service the same. We landed, got through customs, hopped our transit and headed out for our 3 hour tour of the island. This was the only way to get to our week hide-a-way: Uprising Beach Resort in Pacific Harbor.

The people so far are the friendliest I have ever met. They say, Hello, to everyone everytime. The resort itself is amazing. Our driver kept pointing out the 5 start resorts we were passing. Needless to say, we knew we weren't staying at one of those. But, I would hate to see a 5 star looking at ours. Our Bure' is right on the beach. The pool is as warm as the water, or visa versa. The sun is hot, but the ocean wind and spring clouds keep it livable. We had breakfast while we waited for our room to get ready. Roasted Tomatoes...delicious. Our next stop today will be riding bikes into town. Finding a local place to eat. Planning our excursion for tomorrow, which may be sleeping and reading.

Finally, one last observation, although Fijians speak English as their 'native' tongue, they really speak a combination of languages. Fijian and Hindi are their real languages. The mixture of cultures is so interesting. Native Fijians, Fijians mixed with Indian from the influx of indian slavery, and European are the primary people here. It is kinda fun to be the outsider. But, amidst all this beauty, the Fijian's don't know what they have. As the cattle roam free here, the driver of our transport threw a plastic bottle at one to get it to move. I certainly hope in their quest for the almighty dollar, they do not 'ruin' what they have here. I realize that "We don't know what we've got 'til its gone" is true on so many levels.

Well, love to all. Day 2 will come tomorrow; whatever time or place that will be.