Dear friends and family,

If there were groundhogs in Fiji , we are pretty sure they would will see their shadow tomorrow and that we will not have any more winter! We've had a nice few weeks and thought we would update you on our lives here.

A couple weeks ago, we spent 3 days on Ovalau, a nearby offshore island (this was the trip we tried to do while John was here). We took an hour bus ride to a boat landing, then a 1 ½ hour beautiful, peaceful ferry boat ride to the island. From that landing, the bus continued for another hour to the city of Levuka . Levuka is the original capital of Fiji , and has some neat historic buildings in the city. It is a small, laidback and quiet city.

We stayed with the sister, and her husband of one of the staff members here at Dilkusha. They have a older daughter living in Suva. They have a beautiful home on the hillside overlooking the seaport. It was 140 steps from the road up to the house so you can imagine the view! We had wonderful food and hospitality there.

We started the first morning at the museum, actually a few display cases in the library before deciding to go to small “resort” 1km away. It was very hot day, and the sea breeze was welcome. The resort had nice swimming pool, which we enjoyed by ourselves for a few hours. We had a shaded table and enjoyed a great lunch. We took a few walks on the adjoining beach and the kids found some neat shells as the tide moved out.

The second day we were there we hired a driver to take us around the island. Just outside the city was a village where the chief had just died days earlier. His home was decorated with cloth and people were bringing gifts of woven mats to the home. He will be buried just outside the village in a special place just for chiefs. We had heard previously that the ancient Fiji custom was when the chief died, all his wives were killed and the first wife buried alongside

We drove to the center of the island to Lovoni village, a village in an extinct volcanic crater (the Fiji word for earth oven "lovo" comes from this group). It was a beautiful drive as the interior is a lush rainforest and so green! We saw some young boys playing in the river, cooling off during the warm day.

At the northern part of the island we stopped at “Bobo's Farm”, a guest cottage that we had heard about and was written up in our guidebook. Bobo is a Fijian man, with a German wife, who built a home on his grandparents land about 10 years ago. He was raising kava, but the export market was down for a few years, so he decided to build a guest cottage on the property. They invited us to have our picnic lunch on their front porch. They made lemonade from lemons grown on their property and showed us around to the river nearby. He and his wife were very hospitable, and we had a nice visit.

We finished our tour of the island with a visit to a historic Bishop's tomb set on the hillside overlooking a beautiful sea view.

Our third day there we took a hike up the hillside to a river where we found a natural pool, surrounded by large boulders and fed from a waterfall cave the kids could explore. We enjoyed a very long, refreshing swim, and were later joined by a local boy who showed off for us by diving off the rocks into the pool. (The mother/physical therapist in Susan just couldn't watch!) We went back to our house for a rest and then spent the afternoon swimming in the ocean just off the seawall where the river flows through town.

Our hosts were just fabulous. They have an enormous garden and grow just about all the produce they need. Each morning we had slices of papaya and mango. We had pineapple, watermelon, soursap (a fabulous local fruit), guava, and many other things.

The kids had fun getting mangos down from the trees – they came in with a bowl of 25 one day! The flowers and plants were also gorgeous. We all had just a wonderful time there.

Back at Dilkusha, Scott added a new skill set for his resume – Pool Guy. We discovered an inflatable swimming pool (5'x10') that had been donated and used our lungs for about 2 hours blowing it up. All the kids have had a great time using it. Scott has stayed busy levelling ground, building a shade cover, figuring out how to use rain cistern water, trying to keep water clean and lifeguard duty. The squeals from the girls show how much they enjoy their time in the water – especially after a hot day in school!

All the kids have gone back to school on the 25 th , after the 7-week summer vacation came to a close. Everyone has made a smooth transition fortunately!! Rachel has the same teacher from last year. Elizabeth has yet to meet her teacher, as she was apparently in a car accident and wasn't at school during the first week. The class didn't have a substitute teacher either, so they enjoyed just playing the first day! Another teacher has given them some assignments to work on for the rest of the week. We hope the teacher is doing better and will be back next week. Andrew has had a positive experience, even declaring one morning “G-R-E-A-T”!

We have a visitor staying in the cottage with us. Davina is an 18-year-old girl from Brisbane. She lived in Dilkusha from the time she was 2 weeks until 10 months, when an Australian family adopted her. She has come for a month before she begins studies at a university and is helping out in a variety of ways. Our kids have really had fun having a “big sister” around and she has assimilated into our family very quickly. Susan just sets another place at the table and they have stayed up late talking about a variety of topics.

There have been a few staffing changes lately. Head Deaconess Olivia has gone to Australia to visit a sick relative and will stay for a 4-week holiday and some much needed rest. Two different pairs of young deaconesses in training served for a month each of practical experience. Another Deaconess left for new administrative position in the church, with a replacement arriving. The new one, Filiji, had been the director of the Boys Home and we appreciate the experience, and new ideas she brings.

Our children will be in a wedding next weekend!! The niece of the pastor at church is a young woman who will be married to an Australian man next weekend. This is an “arranged turned love?” marriage that is fairly common with Indian girls here. They had no young people in their family, and didn't want groom to be the only white person there and said our family is an answer to their prayers! Elizabeth will be a bridesmaid, Rachel and Abigail flower girls, and Andrew the ring bearer. It will be a small wedding and we are eager to be a part of this experience!!

We hope to send our next newsletter out to our wider audience in a couple weeks and think it may be in a Q&A format. We have been asked a variety of questions about our motivations, finances, surprises, tsunami, expectations upon return, etc. If you have any questions you've been wondering about or think others might find interesting, please let us know.

We are eager for March to come when first Susan's Mom will visit, and later Scott's parents are tentatively planning to celebrate Easter here at Dilkusha. We hope you are doing well. Love, S,S,E,R,A,A