Fiji

My previous experiences in Fiji were limited to the area around Suva, the country's largest city. It is a busy impersonal place that didn't leave me wanting to come back.

It is clear to me now that I had misjudged this country. The people we have met during this visit are friendly, happy, and hard working. Everyone greets us with a cheerful "Bula" (hello) as we pass. It is a 3rd world country and the locals don't have much, but they don't seem to want for much either.

We've taken a couple of shoreside excursions by taxi to see the sights, and in typical Lori Loyd fashion she has become best friends with our drivers, extracting every detail of their life stories during our cab rides. Most entrepreneurs here, including the cab drivers, are ethnic Indians. We've had Christian, Muslim, and Hindu drivers. All have kids that are either in or on their way to college. Nearly all the drivers have multiple jobs and are optimistic about the future.

Yesterday we were walking around Lautoka, Fiji's second largest city and it's sugar industry hub. The city is dilapidated, but remarkably clean and well groomed. A train engine, which hauls sugar cane from the fields to the mill in town, was chugging through the center of this busy city. As it passed by, the engineer noticed a young father holding his 2 year old daughter up to see the train. The engineer stopped, reversed the train back to where the family stood, took the child from her father, and held her tenderly as he gave her a ride 100 yards up and down the track. He handed her back to her Dad and resumed his journey. This is a kinder, gentler place than I had expected.