SAD OBSERVATIONS

It is with profound sadness that I have to report the observations of the past few days.
First the not so bad. The resort "Island" of Denerau which is located near Nadi, is full of beautiful hotels, beaches, condos, yachts and tourists. Frankly, the hotels could be anywhere on the planet. Although beautiful, they are "cookie-cutters" which left me with the feeling that none of them had any flavor of Fiji whatsoever. I could foresee that most tourists would never see the Fiji that I have come to enjoy so much. They wouldn't have a $ 3.00 lunch in an Indian restaurant, wouldn't have a $ 3.00 haircut of go for a 40 mile bus ride for 0.85 cents. Instead, they would sip $ 8.00 bottles of beer, eat meals starting at $ 25.00 and never receive a warm "Bula!" greeting from a complete stranger on the street.
I saw the "plastic" Fiji and didn't like it.
Next, the somewhat bad.
Both Nadi and Lautoka have their problems.
Nadi has a lot of tourists and as such, it is difficult to walk down the street without some huckster coming up to you and trying to drag you into their store. Nighttime is unsafe with hustlers and hookers lurking in the shadows.
Lautoka is a city plagued by its own success. It has a seaport which is fine. It has a sugar mill and a pine wood mill, both of which burn a great deal of their products in their processing. Consequently, a constant pall of sooty smoke lies over the city at all times. The black ash gets everywhere. The town is just plain dirty. I can't wait for the next downpour so I can wash Torrid.
Night time in Lautoka is outright dangerous for a tourist. I was food shopping at sunset and quickly noticed how the safety of the streets rapidly diminished as the sun set. I wasn't frightened, but I wasn't comfortable and I wasn't going to take any chances by walking the 1 mile back to Torrid. Fortunately, taxis are cheap and plentiful. For a $ 1.50 taxi fare I felt much safer.
My computer has been down with power cord issues. The problem has been resolved---with a LOT of effort.
I suppose I am shedding my American expectations concerning availability of goods and services. Yesterday I looked in at least 8 stores trying to find a can opener. Finally I found one. It broke the first time I used it. Oh, well.
No photos were taken as I saw nothing worthy of a picture.