Wonderful Wednesday Pt 1
Wednesday was our last full day in Suva. We all had a good night's sleep, we got up on time to get the girls to Veronica's house, and then we went to the ADRA Fiji office for our last official chat. Pictured below is Chris the ADRA worker, demonstrating good occupational health and safety in computer posture.
After we finished our chats I went for a wander around the ADRA Fiji office. My head was all blocked up by this time (thanks to the girls) and a wander in the sun helped to clear it. I came to this compound about 10 or more years ago on a "Fly and Paint". We must have done a good job, as the buildings have not been painted since! It was interesting to walk around and remember the group who I travelled with (and all the things we got up to) and to think about what had happened in my life since I last walked around the houses. The day turned wet and Save (the new ADRA Fiji Country Director) wanted Chinese for lunch. Food is so cheap here Chris and I have been taking it in turns to pay for lunch for David and Save. Below is the Vineyard Chinese Restaurant. It is in the old Suva Town Hall building. I ate a meal here on my first visit to Fiji, so there were more memories (and it is exactly the same as I remembered). Greenpeace also has their office here, and there is an Indian restaurant in one corner of the building.
Parking is hard in the city centre of Suva, so we had parked at the Youth Centre (where ADRA gets free parking) and caught a taxi to the restaurant. I had one more thing to do with David so we decided to walk back towards the car along the streets and stop in a cafe so Chris could get his coffee fix. Below is a good example of the contrast in buildings in Suva. We did drive past all the fancy government buildings on our first day, but I didn't think to get the camera out then. Also, if you are wondering, we did a lot of talking about the governance situation in Fiji, with the current interim goverment from the coup. The day we left Fiji three major unions (including the Teacher's Union) were going on strike regarding pay cuts. But it was possible in the bustle of Suva to wonder what the government really did!
This is Chris buying his coffee at the Republic of Cappuccino - Fiji's answer to Starbucks. I had a Chai Latte that was just like the syrupy ones back home.
Chris then settled himself with his cafe latte and laptop while David and I had our chai and hot chocolate and had our last chat for the trip. With funky music playing , green walls and a hip book exchange in the corner it was a nice place to hang out.
