Canada

Oh Canada what a warm and inviting country...okay not. Totally barren and freezing is more like it. I had actually blocked out of my mind what snow looked like and when I saw Saskatoon I sneered. Not deliberately just because I thought aaah man, I forgot about this.....in any case I am back, back to work, back to life including the Muskeg Lake elections on February 9.

The trip back was excruciatingly long but not painful. I guess I will stop drop and roll here and back the fox up to the drive to Nadi to catch the flight. After securing a taxi to take us, in which the words used were "you have good taxi, we have good money" in which he assured us he did....I guess we should have defined good taxi, because I didn't think it was so good while we were driving through the downpour that the downpour was in the cab as well, jhahahahahaha. Yep there was a hole (not a drip or leak but a hole) that allowed for the downpour to enter the cab as well. yet the thing was it was only where I sat.....hahahahaha Elijah and Matonga were fine and of course driver. Because it rained the most of the way, pictures were few and far between. Too bad though because it is truly a beautiful drive. About an hour before Nadi, there is a turn in which the road leaves the coastline and goes inland, so we stopped at the coastline and took some pics and then jumped around in the ocean (why not I was already soaked). Matonga offered to sit in my seat from this point on. Well wouldn't you know it, the rain stopped, lmao...of course.....

We got to Nadi in good time and while I landed there on the way I didn't go into Nadi town and man the floods did some serious damage. Potholes that were ridiculous in size, businesses that were obliterated man it was so sad. Matonga is in the army there and was telling me that he had cleaned up some of the schools the week prior (more rain is expected this week) and it was way worse. Suva was/is very lucky they were not impacted as such.

I dropped my things at the airport and admit I have this thing for Hard Rock cafes. I am sure there are many of you reading this rolling your eyes thinking how commercial , get over it, its my thing. In any case, Hard Rock Cafe opened a restaurant in Fiji, man I laughed so I convinced Elijah and Matonga to check it out with me. The restaurant is located in Port Denarau, which is kind of the central point for the boats to take you to the islands on the western side (where many of the resorts are located). So to me its like fake Fiji, ya know the postcard with white sand beaches and blue green ocean. Denarau is about 20 min from Nadi and it is amazing the change from driving through Nadi to Denarau...fake Fiji, golf courses, model homes it was weird.

In any case, they have totally fixed up the port in Denarau in the last five years, it is like a shopping complex from Canada, all concrete and glass but you drive through the Sheraton resort so lush beautiful golf course with palm trees swaying, very swank. We get there and find the Hard Rock I buy my swagger and we decide to have a beer. Elijah went off to see his ship buddies and I sat with Matonga. While we were sitting there Matonga says to me "I have never seen this place before" man I was shocked and laughed. I told him it was funny because this is what many tourists see of Fiji which made him laugh even harder than I was. So weird, two weeks prior here he was less than 10 km away cleaning up a school. Bizarre.

We didn't stay long just to get some swag and a beer, which by the way for those of you that enjoy a Fiji Gold or Bitter there is a new beer in town. Fiji Premium, I did not like it, it gave me a headache and before many of you say well yeah, it was truly only one. We went back to the airport to wait to board and just joked around (by the way ladies Matonga wants a Canadian wife I told him I had many cousins and friends and I would be in charge of the protocol, so let me know).

It was nice to have that time with Elijah we had a good many laughs and I will miss him. As I will the family. Boarding the plane I had a very heavy heart but a smile. I was worried about going back for a number of reasons - five years is a long time to be gone maybe people won't remember me, maybe I had changed, maybe they had changed, maybe my big mouth would get me in trouble with the military government, maybe this maybe that. But you know what, it was all good. Despite some of the changes - some I didn't appreciate, some I did - I still love and value the people and relationships I have there and the new relationships I made.

I was able to take time to think about things, really think about them. Think about faith and what that means to me. I am not one to wax on about religion, anyone who has spent more than five minutes knows that I am not religious, but that doesn't mean I lack faith. Fiji is a nation in which their faith is intertwined in their life whether its personal or professional. In some cases, their faith is their life. So it provided me an opportunity to think about that, where does faith fit? For the bons it just fits - be good to one another, be thankful, be forgiving, be honest, be gracious, learn and be human.

Now anyone that reads this can come back and say well your not that way all the time, no I am not because I am human - I make mistakes, I am not always nice, or forgiving and thankful or gracious (try to be brutally honest) but I try to learn and where I can make amends I do try. And if its not reciprocated such is life.

I am thankful I did this to my family, my friends and myself for helping me make this decision to return and to my family and friends in Fiji for being so welcoming. I learned more about myself which I think is always a good thing, looked at things I could change or strive to achieve (like school for all those that are saying your thesis hello) lamented about failed friendships/family relationships and what I could have done differently and for the most part I came to the conclusion that I am happy with the person I am today. Little rough around the edges, could lose a few but that's what keeps us going hey, opportunities to improve ourselves. Anyway, I will end it there because its getting too serious. I will write about my one day in Hawai'i either later tonight or tomorrow.

Super funny man totally funny all you need to know for know is Bons rented a convertible red mustang and hit up the north shore....LMAO. I haven't forgotten about the pictures or videos, I managed to get them off the camera on to the computer so just have to get them organized.

peace.