Visitors, more visitors and a wayward son

We said goodbye to Thomas at the Labasa Airport on April 9th. After 5 months in Fiji he planned to spend a few days enjoying the sun at the Bamboo Backpackers Hostel in Nadi before returning to Canada. On the April 15th I get a text message “Hey Mom”. I answer back “Hey are you in LA now”. He answers, “Lol, actually I’ve extended my trip for a couple more weeks.” He met a great group of travellers at the Bamboo and wanted to share our rural farm life with them. That’s such a great complement from him. I felt so reassured that he enjoyed his 5 months here so much that he wanted to share his experience with others.

Meanwhile back in October an old workmate of mine (who I hadn’t seen in 25 years), Una Choi, contacted me. Her brother, Joe, and family are currently living in Suva. She’s planning to visit them in the spring and she’d love to come and visit our farm while she’s here in Fiji. After lots of emailing back and forth the date was set for April 16th to the 19th. We met Una, her brother Joe, his wife Yunju, and their three boys Noah, Asher, and Levi in Nabouwalu and brought them back to the farm. For the boys, the four days were backed with swimming in the river, a trip out to the reef, catching tadpoles, chasing chickens around the yard, playing with the dogs and snuggling with the cats – what an awesome school break!! For me it was absolutely fantastic to catch up with Una and talk about life off the farm. Oh and she brought me a microscope!!! Una asked if there was anything she could bring me from Canada. I forgot to ask for maple syrup but I did ask her to bring me a microscope which I’ll use to check for soil microbes in my compost and garden.

So we had just settled into our visit with Una and family when Thomas arrived with 7 friends from the Bamboo – Mathiew from Australia, Daryl from England, Keisha from England, Betel from Ethiopia, Nele from Germany, and JC and Mathilde from France. We put them to work preparing my garden beds, feeding the chickens, collecting eggs, delivering eggs to local villages, and preparing meals for the crowd. Although they did get a chance to get out on the boat, the weather and tides did not cooperate, so their snorkelling and fishing trip was cut short. But that’s real life on the farm – there’s always lots to do but what actually gets done is totally dependent on the weather.

In the midst of all this mayhem, Arthur got a call from one of his nieces in Suva – could he pick them up in Nabouwalu and take them to her father’s village a little farther up the coast from us. Of course he can. They stopped in on their way for a water break and a stretch. I hadn’t seen Marica in years and never met her daughters and grandchildren. It was a lovely surprise.

Daily life in Fiji is never dull and is full of unexpected gifts. I’m learning to be open to whatever happens and appreciate the blessings that come with the chaos. Meeting (and reconnecting) with all these fantastic people was an awesome experience. An added bonus was seeing Thomas one more time before he heads back to Canada.