'The Creeping Coup'

This is the name under which the recent Fijian coup should go down in history: The Creeping Coup. Something along the lines of "The Velvet Revolution" of 1989 in Czechoslovakia (of course, nobody knows that the Slovaks called it "The Gentle Revolution"...)

The latest and fourth in the series of Fijian coups took a whole month to unravel and just when everybody thought that it was averted, it happened: on Tuesday, December 5, 2006 the military commander Frank Bainimarama peacefully removed the democratically elected government in Suva and took over the operation of the country.

I think it's fair to say that this gives Fiji the unique trait of being the easiest country to have a coup in. In 2006, the entire Fijian army is backing the Commander's actions, but in May 2000 it was only 7 armed men who walked into the parliament and took over the government!

This week's coup is really still an effect of the unsolved and undealt-with 2000 coup and the corruption that stemmed from it.

There are military checkpoints set up around the capital and other main cities to prevent rioting and looting and the media is full of very negative "national crisis" coverage, but here in Savusavu the change in government hardly affects the daily life. Even in Suva the life goes on just like any other day and the deposed prime minister Qarase is already back in his home village grogging (drinking kava) with the chief and fishing. Most Fijians seem apathetic about the coup, but we heard some locals talk enthusiastically about the changes this will bring to Fijian politics. Nobody agrees with the way the Commander took over, but it seems that a good number of Fijians agree with his motives and hope that this will clean up the corruption in Suva.
So we'll see. Hopefully, the situation won't deteriorate - and even if it does, I don't think that Ryan and I have much to worry about. Our main worry now is to find an affordable apartment in Savusavu.

We arrived here last Thursday after a 12-hour ferry ride from Suva. On the boat, as we were picking up some stranded fishermen who were lost at sea for 3 days, I struck up a conversation with a 21-year-old Fijian law student Vika. She invited us to her home village that is just about a 30-minute ride from Savusavu, so we gladly accepted the offer. We spent the first 2 nights in a hotel and during the day we looked around the "Hidden Paradise" of Fiji, which is what the Fijians call the superbly lovely town and bay of Savusavu.

Savusavu is a really small town - just one main street lined with cheap Indian shops - that sits on the coast of the crystal-clear, torquoise-colored bay with sharp volcanic mountains looming on the distant shore. There are a LOT more palm trees growing on Vanua Levu than on Viti Levu and this gives the island an even more dreamy tropical look. This whole place just embodies relaxation and stress-free lifestyle - it's a place that even the unbelievably relaxed Fijians come to relax in! Savusavu is a place that all Fijians call "very Fijian."

After just a few days here, I cannot possibly imagine that anyone in this place is ever in any hurry to do anything. Aaaah, we finally arrived!

On our second day, Vika picked us up and we spent 3 wonderful days in her village Nasinu. We were excited to finally be able to experience the quintessentially Fijian way of life - the village life! Nasinu is a tiny village of about 30 houses (although I understand that for Fiji, Nasinu is a good size) sitting right at the bottom of South Pacific's largest bay, the Natewa Bay, which is miles long and nearly cuts Vanua Levu in half. Nasinu is so quaint, you wouldn't believe it. Vika's parents' house stands right over the beach and as we ate lunch in the kitchen, we had the killer view of misty rugged mountains on the other shore and of tropical reef fish swimming right below the kitchen floor - all straight from our table! With Vika's mom and gradmother cooking up a storm all weekend, we experienced the famous Fijian hospitality at its absolute best and we virtually didn't sop eating the whole time we were staying in Vika's house. We fittingly named it the "5-Star Village Resort."

Immediately, we drew attention from the village kids and as soon as we went for a swim in the bay, we made friends with about 20 of them. We ended up playing in the water for 2.5 hours, until we were burned red and almost remembered the names of all the little rascals. They were so cute - shy and curious at the same time, and well-behaved - that by the time we were leaving the village, we knew we were going to miss them.

Vika's family are Seventh Day Adventists, so the following day, Saturday, we were going to enjoy lazy relaxation of their sabbath, but the day was interrupted by two injuries that we had to attend to with our first aid kit (the only first aid kit in the village): Vika's grandfather's finger was nearly sliced off by a wire and just as Ryan was trying to clean the wound and somehow put the finger temporarily together, a horse brought another patient from the beach - a lady whose foot was pierced by a stingray. So we spent most of the afternoon running between the two patients, irrigating, bandaging, etc. and by taking them to the hospital ER, where, unfortunately, the cocky doctor didn't save grandfather's finger, which we felt a little bummed about because we hoped that he would. Anyhow, by the end of the day, the villagers called us "The Doctor and the Nurse."

On Sunday, we had the opportunity to attend a special church service, in which all the village's denominations (5) met together in one church and prayed and sang together. Luckily, we didn't understand the Fijian sermons, but the singing was beautiful and the hot chocolate and cakes that were served later were delicious.

We will be back in Nasinu next Monday and Tuesday when Vika will be belatedly celebrating her 21st birthday. In Fiji, this is a big communal celebration comparable to a wedding, so we're looking forward to seeing the traditions in action. And we're looking forward to playing with all the kids again. I'm sure they are, too.

After Nasinu, we spent 2 days (and the coup) with our new friend Peter, a local whom we met at a bar in Suva and who was just vacating his house in Savusavu when we got back to town from the village. We hoped to rent his house, but at the end of the day yesterday, we got the bad news that more permanent renters beat us to it. It's very sad because for a few hours we already saw ourselves living THE LIFE in this beautiful house that sits just accross the road from the beach and is hidden from the road by palms and blooming bushes. Peter moved out of the house yesterday and we will be occupying it for the weekend, meanwhile we will try to look for a similar house on the same road to rent for a month or two. We will keep our fingers crossed!