Stay in Week

My weekend is difficult to recall for it all meshed together into one great big nothing. I began the adventure of a lifetime, which was going to be like watching the best horror flick through my bedroom window as I cowered in my bed, which I moved across the room away from all the windows, and packed everything I owned into either a bag or placed in my closet. I first heard word of this on Friday when I was told there was a Cyclone warning. I immediately was thrilled. My imagination ran wild with all sorts of grandeur scenes you see in movies. I knew I would glue my face to the window and gaze in fascination as an whole palm tree would be uprooted and tossed into the ocean, as anyone else on Fiji may throw their McDonald's bag into it. I immediately ran home to begin preparations. After packing up all of my possessions into cyclone proof areas in order to protect them when my windows were torn from the pane I began spreading the news to the few who I knew would miss me most, and maybe the ones I could impose the most fear into HAHAHA! (that was my evil laugh) sorry about that Caitlin :(

The messages included: death, power outages, flooding, rabid dogs, anarchy, and of course contaminated water supply, each more worse than the next, but I always finished with I will talk to you when the power is back on. In reality I actually did hear there was a good possibility of losing power for awhile for I heard rumor that when there was a pansy cyclone in December the power did go out for a week or two, and at this time ours was considered a class 3 hurricane, dun dun dun...

So I lied in bed attempting to sleep, but I found that I really struggled from complete anticipation of BOOM... Crash, ahh the windows are gone, and Edgar NOOO as he gets sucks from the living room window, but I knew in order to make this the best possible I needed to be awaken from a deep slumber. So I busted out Deuteronomy and woke with the sun shining through my window. What!?! Now that was disappointing.

Anyways not much to report until later when it actually clouded over and the breeze began. This time I knew it was right, because already the hurricane hit Fiji time, how much later can it be? Next morning same story without the sun though, which was a good sign. So I marched off to church at the Holy Roman Cathedral, which was a really cool church, and it was so packed people were forced to sit by me. I felt so welcome. After hours of room time only creating disappointment the first time I was away from home in a while it finally decides to do something. I walk out of the comfortable stain glasses cathedral to run into sheets of rain and some solid wind. How could this happen especially when I'm in my good sulu. One unsuspecting draft from the left flank and then the people of Fiji are going to see more of me than they needed to.

In my search for a bus under a shop overhang a man decides to chat with me. Sweet someone has interest in what I'm doing here in Suva. Next thing I know I'm in his shop and he keeps saying "I can give you a great price." Darnit how could I be such a knucklehead to be blinded by attention not to see this coming?

The rest of the day consisted of moping from my room to the next watching the palm trees sway as much as it would if I pushed the bottom of it, not very exciting, but 2 am that morning the show was to begin. Since this was the last night I would have power I decided to send another message of peril to a number of people explaining the situation, but this would be the last they heard from me. That night I was thrilled to see a blinking light driving down the street. I could faintly hear the mumble of someone on a loud speaker saying "STAY IN YOUR HOMES. IF YOU ARE FOUND OUTSIDE YOU WILL BE TAKEN" OHH yeah we're on lock down!! This is finally it. Knowing the drill it was easy to fade out.

Silence, the only noise I could hear was the A/C in the background. Duped again. Ahh this was ridiculous, and insult to injury we were on house arrest all day that day. We couldn't move. So I sat. The new prediction was 5 pm that afternoon. the anticipation was killing me. When will I ever see some sort of animal that usually cannot fly go zipping by my window, or at least a tree fall down? Whenever I was near a window and I heard a gust I face planted into it and watched the palm tree, and the wind was back to normal, which was pretty much a breezy day back home. That night I nearly lied to myself that it actually hit, because I needed to tell myself that something was occurring in order to make me feel bad apples (I don't know who reads this so lets keep it G) when I walked from our building to the P house next door.

Unfortunately, it actually did hit when I was walking back and forth, the problem was that I really couldn't tell the difference. There wasn't one crack of thunder the whole time. Class 4 hurricanes, which it ended up being, are weak. The problem was that during Fiji time the Tomas the Hurricane lost focus and trailed off east, fortunately, but yet unfortunately, nearly completely missing Suva.

Tuesday came and the storm pretty much petered out completely. Unfortunately the entire nation of Fiji was still on house arrest, so it was a very very long day. Luckily a number of people have obtained a fine collection of dvd's at the finest outlets in Suva for $2 a piece. I must say the Fantastic Mr. Fox is recommended to everyone out there. Needless to say I don't think there was a single person in our group who seriously considered murdering someone throughout this whole debacle. I should know. I got a volleyball thrown at my face, and there was no play involved, it was pure hatred. It radiated from everyone.

Wednesday rolls around and it rained more than it did all weekend when we were in a hurricane, but luckily I found time to walk the entire Suva City, finding a neat shortcut through the middle, and find another culinary dessert that actually had some of that good ole flavor I've been craving so much. Luckily you you, the reader, I have found myself unable to read any of my fascinating history reading about the socializing habits of the Pacific islanders in the 18th century, so I could literate a tale of when nothing happened.