Tuesday in Fiji: A day of sickness & sadness—or Innocence Lost

You really can’t beat a 60-second commute to the temple. I think our bed here is closer to the Suva Temple than where we park our car at the Seattle Temple. Blaire and I attended a session in the morning. It was great, as usual. Nice to see so many Fijians in the temple. And again, nice to see the gospel is the same the entire world over.

I’m still sick, so after doing stuff, we rest a lot. Kinda blows, but what are you going to do? I’ve never been sick while on holiday in a foreign country before. I hope it’s not Dengue Fever. Or typhoid. I guess I shouldn’t have taken a drink from that river, nor coconut from that tree.


In the afternoon, we decided to head to downtown Suva on our own. We wanted to have the freedom to explore as we wished. I thought that since people were so nice to us the day before, it shouldn’t be an issue.

I was wrong.

My dad dropped us off in the heart of downtown, and literally 15 seconds later a guy stopped us. My dad hadn’t even left yet. This guy is totally nice, talking to us. Before I know it, he is giving us “free” woodcarvings and putting our names & siblings names on them. And before you could say “vinaka!” (thank you), he asks for $30FJ. Says he works for the city council and he needs money for it. I’m surprised because I thought Fiji was different. I guess not. And of course, I feel bad because dude is pretty poor and since I’m a rich American (I own a condo back home), have a little bit of goodness in my heart, and really don’t feel like getting mugged or raped by a couple of pretty big Fijians (probably the biggest reason).

Oh, and his buddy was doing the same thing to Blaire as well. So they actually wanted $60FJ. I told them I only had $50FJ (a lie—but again, I didn’t want to get raped), so I give them the $50FJ (which is like $25USD) and we leave. But before they do, they took some of the carvings they were giving us. So some Aussie tourist somewhere is gonna have a wood plaque that says Matt, Ryan, Dan, Brooke or Breann. Enjoy!

With that bitter taste in my mouth, literally 15 seconds later an Indian guy talks to us as we wait for the light to change. He says how those guys are bums and you shouldn’t trust them. He is gonna show us where to shop! Oh yay, please do! Do you want all my $$ too!?! So we kindly tell him we are going the other way.


Then yes, not even another 15 seconds later a Fijian guy starts walking and talking to us.

You can barely understand the dude, but it is clear he doesn’t like the Indian guy. He says that you shouldn’t trust him and he is gonna show us where to really shop and see. Wait, did I hear this before? It sounds familiar.

Oh, but he says it is all free. Of course, as free as Universal Health Care, right?

So we finally lose him and after erasing the big, red “X” off my forehead, we enjoyed some shopping. I couldn’t erase the fact I was one of maybe eight white dudes in the entire city.

I guess Fiji isn’t perfect, but it is still a pretty great place and I still recommend people to come here. It is a paradise. Just avoid the few cockroaches in the paradise—human or otherwise.