Hi y'all,

             I was talking "furlough" but needed up with 'tour of duty'.

Hard to explain why I do this... I took my holiday time- three weeks before and chose to get out there.

I can sing old Methodist hymns in Fijian... old family connections. I spent two weeks with Melanesian subsistence farmers in Fiji. The family I stayed with were ridden with kava. Not so mind-blowing as booze; but it sure slows things down- and cuts heavily into the family budget.

I always say" :birds of a feather flock together. We end up becoming attracted to people like ourselves... wherever we go... couple with four teenage kids. Lovely kids i could relate to my own family. A homestay where the hosts do not provide toilet paper. The people of the village see no need for toilet paper.

After I paid my rent the wife went off and bought a microwave. Hubby wanted a speargun. 

The second village I stayed in had a rubbish disposal system. They had platforms to keep the dogs and pigs at bay. And left their rubbish out there for pick-up.

When I grew up we had a tin shack to live in. Bathroom was a hole in the ground. And rubbish built up round the side of the house.

This experience bought me back to myself. To my roots. I did not feel along. In the evenings I could hear the numerous kids playing outside. There was not one angry word... and they all had a jolly old time... they were many pluses.

they fail had a farm in the hills- where is was cooler. It was steep- but the soil was fertile. Sweet.

Finding healing in Step 12. I have a local District Meeting coming up this weekend.

Still trying to make a difference...  ...

DavidG.