Settling In

welcoming song

small Fijiian house

view from our bure, or small cottage

kids on the island

1/13 and on… The seas are calm. It will take a while to have it settle enough for good diving visability. Our morning revolves around listening to the birds, cooking breakfast, watching the sea. No TV or radio distractions. Below our bure is the Infinity Deck, good for stargazing (the Southern Cross…remember that beautiful song by CSNY?), and a hammock bure for practicing the great art of hammocking. I’m reading a book I found here in the bure: Tribe Wanted. It is the story of 2 twenty-somethings from the UK who started an island project on Vorovoro (a northern island in the chain). Together, with the chief and people of the island, these guys built an eco-community as well as a business. Anyone could join, from anywhere in the world, & everyone would take part on the internet by voting & joining debates on how the island would be run. A global village, where each culture would be learning about eachother. A large number of people, co-creating in 2 different worlds…cyberspace & Vorovoro. Of course, only a limited number of people can work on the island at one time, but people come from all over and share their skills, engineering, sanitation, computer skills, etc. They in turn, learn to fish, build bures, cook local food, share their cultures. It’s amazing. I can’t put this book down!. TribeWanted.com The author encourages “gap” years, where students do something different before starting jobs in the real world; their worldview being not just the bottom line, but how can we make a difference in other people’s lives…how can we build a better world. I am so encouraged by young people. It is they who will one day tolerate war no more; and as communication continues to increase between cultures, maybe this will be possible (not in our lifetime, but still…); a thoughtful continuation of the 60’s, but in a different form, using technology in a good way. We walked to Caucelecele and up to the school on the hill; we met the Primary teacher, and set up a time to read my books to the kids; show them pictures of snow and ice, and what life is like in Alaska. Fun.