Blake and Deb in Fiji: Myra Arrives

Our favorite taxi driver Ali took us to the airport late afternoon Monday to pick up Myra. One thing to be said for these tiny airports is that it’s very easy to find your arriving party, especially when they are one of only six passengers on a particular flight. And baggage claim is a breeze too. One crew member unloads the plane’s tiny cargo hold onto one cart and pushes it all of 50 yards from the plane to the one waiting area, where you just grab your suitcase off the cart. Easy.

The house we are staying at is really only suitable for a couple due to privacy issues and limits to the septic system, plus the fact that the homeowner specifically requested that we not have guests (and of course he’s already peeved with us over the whole car issue). Fortunately, our neighbor Semoko agreed to let Myra stay at one of the empty guest houses where he is caretaker. We offered to compensate him but he wouldn’t take any money, however Deborah had the idea to have Myra bring him one of the Mexican hammocks like we brought which Semoko is always admiring. He hinted that he’d like a spare as well, so we order two hammocks online which arrived just in time for Myra to stuff them in her suitcase before flying out to us.

Semoko’s place is a complex of buildings including a couple of guest cottages and a main building where Semoko lives, which also includes the kitchen. This past week Deborah had spent several hours cleaning up Myra’s cottage, which has a good sized bedroom, closet area, bathroom, and a killer view (better than at our place). And, Deborah being Deborah, she also bought some new towels and fragrant soap, and she clipped flowers to fill two vases. The place polished up quite nicely.

Myra’s first evening was spent settling in and then parking on our deck to consume Deborah’s tuna cakes and fern lolo, plus treats from the Indian Sweet Shop, and lots of wine. Tuesday the ladies went into the booming metropolis of Savusavu. Myra purchased a nicely carved Fijian bowl which, though decorative, is in the style of the bowls from which they drink kava (also known as grog), a mildly narcotic drink made from the root of some type of pepper plant. The bowl also came with some utensils said to be useful in the consumption of human flesh. Oh, those wacky cannibals.