Suva, Fiji
We left for Fiji on Thursday with both girls running temperatures, coughing like lung cancer patients and needing eye drops every four hours for conjunctavitis. Despite this our flight went well. We got Air Pacific's big flagship plane (which has the individual tv's in the headrest), so Alesia was mesmerised by "Meet the Robinsons". I watched the end to see what had kept her glued to the screen for so long and found it pretty scary, but she seemed to like it. Keira's temperature kept climbing so she basically slept the entire time, slowly cooking herself I guess. When we arrived we got through customs quickly as they let people with babies go first, so I was able to strip Keira down to a nappy and singlet while we waiting for our luggage. We found the courtesy bus to our hotel. It had a broken window - so we felt like we were in PNG! Our room was small, even though I paid for an "Executive Room". We gave Keira a bath and more panadol and put her to bed. Then we spent the next two hours trying to keep Alesia quiet so as not to wake Keira. One time we were all hanging out in the bathroom. We ordered room service for dinner, they forgot our room number so an hour later we rang to find out where our food was - only to have it delivered cold. Alesia finally went to sleep and both girls started a coughing chorus that woke me pretty much all night. Chris was restless so I tried to sleep with Alesia. She like to sleep across the bed, rather than up and down the bed, and at one point told me I was in the way and should go back to my own bed. It was a long night and I think I swapped beds about five times. We had to get up at 6am (4am our time) and neither Chris or the girls wanted to wake up, so that was fun. We managed breakfast and then caught our flight to Suva without hassle.
We are staying at the church transit flat. Above is the view - not the best picture but it is a good view. Our flat is on the bottom floor, so we have a great view of the banana plants (those green things in the foreground). We were not sure whether to stay in a hotel in town or the transit flat that is up above town. The hotel would have put us in a location where we can walk around easily, but we would have been cramped into one room for a week. The transit flat has a separate sleeping area (where the girls are) sofa beds in the lounge (where we are) and a small kitchen. It also has free broadband internet - which is why you are getting a blog report directly from on site! We walked down the road to a supermarket this afternoon and got caught in a tropical storm. They are fantastic things. Alesia spent ages on the walk back examining the things rushing past in the storm water drains.
This is Save Cavalevu, incoming ADRA Fiji Country Director in 2008. He is currently the manager for the project Chris is visiting. So he is spending some time with both of us this week regarding his current role and his new one. Below is a picture of Alesia's bottom outside the ADRA Fiji office. When we arrived she jumped out of the car and ran to chase birds on the grass. It had been raining, so when she tried to stop running she slid over and along on her bottom. We rinsed the worse off, but she had to waddle around with damp pants for the next few hours.
Below is Leone, Coordinator of the Youth drop-in centre that ADRA Fiji is operating in Suva. The centre is doing really well. We arrived and music was pumping, kids were using the internet, playing video games, etc. The centre is in a rented room in a small shopping centre in the centre of Suva, opposite the public bus terminal. The room is too small during peak times, as the centre is so popular. Chris is here to work with the project team on refining their activities to be more effective and to talk about how to market the centre to the general public in Australia so that further funds can be found to rent a larger space.
On the way out of the centre we noticed the following business. Anyone interested in being introduced?
After getting the girls up at 4am according to their body clocks they were really tired by midday. When we got back to the transit flat they both transferred into their beds (which is usually impossible). I went out to get some food and Chris stayed with the girls. When I got back two hours later they were both still asleep. The busy morning had not been so good for them, as both were a bit miserable and felt hot. I wasn't sure if they felt hot because it is warm here, or because their temperatures were going up again but a bit more panadol later and both were fairly happy.
Tonight we have had a quiet time by ourselves in the transit flat. I made pasta on a hotplate that I had to plug into a powerpoint. Keira sat in the sink for a bath and then crashed at 6pm and is still asleep now. Alesia had a long shower and then settled down to watch a DVD on Chris' laptop. We didn't realise that the DVD was set to repeat automatically and she made it through two times before we wondered why the DVD was still going!
This is Chris helping me get dinner. He slept so bady the night before that he should sleep very well tonight. I have a headache and a sore throat, so probably have what the girls have. Chris and I are washing our hands all the time and so far have avoided "red-eye". I just hope the girls don't keep on cross-infecting each other. Alesia is on antibiotics at the moment. It has been a saga finding a way to get her to take them without a 4o minute screaming session. Putting eye drops in is hard work also. Keira is easier to get drops into, as she pretty much lies there without realising what is happening until it is too late. Hopefully the warm air, fresh pineapple, pawpaw and bananas, and some quieter time away from home will do them both good. I will eat lots of pineapples for you all!
