That's Never Happened Before...

She fell asleep watching TV! I hope she is not sick.

Cast off! (or Déjà Vu all over again)

I’d like you to take a close look at the following two pictures and tell me what you identify as the common feature.


If your answer includes the cast on Brian’s left arm, you would be correct.

Now, I’d like you to consider that these pictures were taken about 11 weeks apart.

“What?!” you undoubtedly exclaim. “Why is Brian in a cast for such a long time?”

Answers to this question do not include:
• It’s because the doctor forgot about him.
• The attraction Carolyn has for men in casts is second only to those who wear eye patches.
• Brian enjoys not being able to do the dishes.

No, alas. The answer is much more embarrassing. You see, the photos depict two different casts treating two separate injuries. Here are the details:

About one week (actually, closer to six days and twenty-three hours) after Brian got his first cast off, he decided to jog to work. On the way, he stepped in a hole, twisted his ankle, fell and reinjured the same wrist in the same spot.

I guess you might say that Brian gets another break from doing the dishes.

(pardon the pun, but I couldn’t resist)

Fiji report

Well, as you may have guessed, I’m back from Fiji and have been for almost a week now. It was a good trip. I learned quite a bit and made some very good contacts. I will be returning in June for about 10 days and possibly in September, too.





I don’t really know what to say about it other than I enjoyed my time. Being a week there allowed me only a brief snapshot. Added to that is the fact that I stayed in Suva, the capital, and spent a large amount of my time in the hotel. Thus, I feel that the snapshot was a bit out of focus, too. But I will share with you some impressions. Fiji struck me as being halfway between the developed world and the developing world. Planes left on time, traffic congestion was almost non-existent, the water was safe to drink. But the roads are terrible, unemployment is high, prices are relatively low, vehicle emissions seem to be unregulated, tourism and servicing the expatriate staff of various aid offices and embassies are major employers. Having only that brief snapshot, I have no way of determining in which direction Fiji is heading or if it is on a development plateau, though most of the papers seem to say that Fiji is struggling tremendously.



One of the more memorable events of my week in Suva was dinner on Thursday. A member of the board of directors of Transparency International-Fiji was involved in the week’s meetings. Her name is Suliana and she is an elderly, humble, regal lady. When she saw the number of foreigner visitors were there she decided we all needed a good Fijian meal, so she invited us to her home. The setting was marvelous. There were woven mats on the floor, beautiful baskets, carvings and pictures decorating the home. The yard was full of lush flowers and tropical fruit trees framing an incredible view of the bay from a broad, open porch. And, as if to complete the paradisiacal tropical image, a drenching downpour periodically made its appearance throughout the evening.

The evening started with a traditional Fijian kava ceremony. Kava is a traditional drink throughout the western Pacific. It is made from the leaves of the kava plant and is drunk as a relaxant, a bit like alcoholic beverages I suppose. There are even kava bars throughout the Islands and one can be cited with ‘driving under the influence’ if you’ve had too many bowls (tanoa) before heading out on the road. Kava looks like muddy water and tastes like one would think muddy water tastes. It also numbs the tongue and mouth. I can’t say it’s my favorite beverage. I have had kava once before while at BYU. It was in my ethnobotany class taught by Paul Cox, who does quite a bit of research in Samoa. He invited a Samoan chief to come perform the ceremony for us. The Samoan and Fijian ceremonies are very different and since I am not an expert ethnographer, I won’t try to describe either of them. I just hope you get the opportunity to witness them yourself. Undoubtedly due to the intoxicating effects mentioned above, I have heard that drinking kava is against the Word of Wisdom, but I have also been told that it is an accepted tradition and that Spencer W. Kimball would imbibe when in the Pacific. Until I hear from an authoritative voice, I won’t worry about it.


The rest of the evening was spent relaxing, chatting and eating a number of wonderful dishes. I think Suliana tried to make every Fijian recipe ever invented:
• various baked fish (yummy);
• taro, cassava and yams (interesting);
• banana and coconut pudding (not as good as I would have thought); pineapple cake (yummy);
• crawfish or raw fish salad (I couldn’t understand her pronunciation and didn’t want to really find out. It was very good);
• various fruits and veggies (always a winner); and
• chicken.


My final observation is about the people themselves. Fijians are a handsome people, but one must be careful about whom one calls a Fijian, because ethnicity in Fiji is a very important issue. Originally Fijians are of Melanesian stock, a bit more slightly built than Polynesians with very kinky curly hair and dark skin, but they have intermingled with other Pacific populations, particularly the Tongans who had conquered the Fijian islands at one time, such that there is a range of features not frequently found in Melanesian populations. The term ‘Fijian’ refers not to nationality or citizenship, but to race. About half of the population is Indo-Fijian, descendents of the Indians brought over by the British in the 19th Century to work on the plantations. The other half is ethnic Fijian. Only those of ethnic Fijian descent are called Fijians.

In closing I thought I'd throw in a few random photos.

I highly recommend the Tymo cookies. Especially the coconut Tymos.


I'd like to know the story the behind this one (no pun intended).


I call this picture 'Humble Optimism'.

Poor Sadie

I just though I'd post a couple more cute pictures. I realized recently that I don't take enough pictures of Sadie. When Célia was a baby, every phase was new and we took pictures of everything that she did but Sadie isn't getting so much photo time. So I am trying to remedy that without going overboard like we did with Célia. Here are the girls hanging out:


This one was too cute not to post. I told Célia that it didn't matter where but she had to wear her pajama pants. She chose her head:


Hopefully next time I will have some more creative pictures to show you.

I Cannot Think of a Creative Title

Okay, I challenged myself to write on our blog today. I don't really have anything exciting to say (or I don't want to take the time to think about it to be more honest), so I am just going to post a couple of cute pictures from today. This is Sadie just after waking up from a nap. Her new trick is rolling over (back to front) and she is getting a lot more used to being on her stomach now.


Célia decided to fix us some "dinner" this afternoon. I went in to check on her and she was feeding her doll. Every time I ask her to smile for the camera she smiles and closes her eyes. We'll have to work on that!