GO GIANTS!!

It is another postcard day here in Fiji.  In fact, we have now had a few too many of those as the government just declared a state of emergency due to the persistent drought.  This is supposed to be the dry season but I am pretty sure that in the tropics, dry doesn’t mean no rain for three months.  We actually did just get a little rain but it wasn’t nearly enough.  The funny thing is that since this was called a “La Nina” year, we are supposed to get much higher than average rainfall.  We were promised buckets of rain by some high-ranking meteorologist.  He was wrong.

We are actually OK in the village as our water comes from a spring.  Our pressure is low so we don’t usually get showers—just bucket baths.  In other areas, there is no water at all.  Since much of the cities’ electricity comes from a hydroelectric dam, rolling blackouts have started there.  Our lack of electricity is nothing new and can’t be blamed on a water shortage.  We are holding steady at 3 hours a night!

Interestingly enough, I am now working on a water project to fix the water system here so that there is running water in the village, even when it rains!  I bet you didn’t think that was possible.  A couple of years ago, a flood took out part of the village’s water supply and it was fixed "”Fiji-style.”  That means that every time it rains, the pipe gets clogged and/or a section of pipe that now runs through another river comes apart and washes downstream.  Usually when it happens, it takes a few days to get it repaired and for the tank to fill back up.  So, I am hunting up money to get that fixed.  I am hoping that the government is game.

Otherwise, the farming continues!  I have just figured version 2 of my Backyard Gardening book and Peace Corps has now sported the money to publish it.  Version 1 was done in-house as a manual.  It has been a pretty big success (by Fijian standards) so Peace Corps is going to actually publish it now.  I am pretty excited.  Sadly, the illustrator for the book had to return to the US due to knocking up his wife.  I just heard from him—in a couple of weeks time, he got a job, bought a house, and two cars.  I realize that sounds an awful lot like normal life to most of you, but it sounds like some fantasy land to me.  I haven’t driven a car in well over a year now and I can’t imagine setting an alarm clock to get to a job on time.

The last time I lived abroad was in 2002 in Australia.  Of course, you immediately recognize that year as they year that the San Francisco Giants went to the World Series, getting within three outs in game 6 of winning it.  You all remember it, I am sure.  Well, here I am living abroad again and here go the Giants again making a run at the playoffs.  If they go to the World Series again, there is a good chance that my years of living stateside are over.  If I have to live in tropical paradises to ensure that my beloved Giants go the the big show, I will gladly accept my role.  I have enjoyed my time in the US, but you understand I am sure.