OCTOBER 23: ON THE WAY TO MYSTERY ISLAND

In my latest mail I told you about my ability now also to speak Fijian.

I forgot to tell you that my quoted words for Hello, Goodbye was "my dialect" :-)  In correct "high Fijian" the greetings are:   BULA BULA !  Pronounced with an optimistic and energetic tone !

I also want to tell you four more interesting things we learned about Fiji:

1. Men in Fiji are often wearing a skirt. More or less like an Indonesian sarong. Why? Because it is very pleasant in the heat. And especially because a previous Fijian Chief while studying in Oxford met a Scottish friend in his kilt. He got so carried away by that idea that he made his own, elegant version for Fiji.

2. What do people in Fiji normally eat? A lot of fish! And also a lot of chicken. It's accompanied by tapioka and sweet potatoes. Now they are also importing lamb from New Zealand. But their aim is to be as self sufficient also with food as possible.

3. Fiji tries in different ways to serve the whole of the South Pacific - to be in a way the centre of this huge, wide spread region. It has the University of the South Pacific.  It also has the education for health staff, esp. nurses, for the whole area.  In business Coca Cola has their production for the whole region in Fiji. And diplomatically several foreign embassies in Suva cover many of the countries, incl. the US embassy.  The EU Delegation in Suva is primarily dealing with the many EU support programmes for Fiji.

4. Politically, Fiji has had a rather complicated time since independence from the UK in 1970. It includes three military coups - the latest one in 2005. Part of the troubles come from the problems between the Fijian native population and the Indians, who came here in large numbers as workers during the time of the British Empire. With a new constitution from 2013 things seem to have calmed down.

BULA BULA !

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