[password] caesar

[position] 19 08.912s 178 33.945w

[status] 0745 hrs 2 July 2018. Luncheon with our hosts was fun. Both Alifretti and Bali have great senses of humour. We really enjoy their company. And we learned more village politics. Being here has taught me that no matter how big or small the community there are always power struggles, shifting alliances, with the economy an overriding concern. The only difference between Falaga and the US, for example, is scale. Also, Falaga doesn't have a completely incompetent leader. The 91 year old chief is very ill. Interestingly the choice of chief is through a combination of hereditary and representative democracy. In this village, the nominal first choice for the next chief would be the current chief's eldest brother. However, he is head of the Fiji Development Bank in Suva and does not appear to want to give up his position. So it will fall to the next brother. But theoritically, he's not a shoe-in. There is a council of elders who have the final say. And the council's say can be dictated by the villagers' say-so. If the villagers express a resounding no, then another person would have to be chosen. However, it would be from the current chief's family, direct or extended. And the ladies will appreciate this. A female could be chief. In fact there are female chiefs in Fiji. However, there are no current female contenders on Falaga. Stay tuned for the next episode of House of Cards.

For the past 36 hours we have been pummled with strong trade winds SE 25+ knots. Last night had a few gusts over 30 knots. The latest forecast shows it continuing for another 24 hrs, and then dropping to SE 20+ knots. Not a big improvement. That's to last a day or two, then a further reduction to SE 17 nots for a few days after that. Rain is forecast for Friday. Light, balmy trade winds are not on the foreseeable horizon for the 7-days that my forecast goes out. There are worst places to be hold up - like New Zealand in the dead of winter. At least it's warm and sunny here.

Sototali
John & Leilani

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