Phew!

 

P is for…Progress

Lautoka to Nadi. Sugarcane fields flanked part of the way.

Every relocation has a set process. The formalities before you get into the country, the formalities after you get in. The pandemic has added the covid test, vaccination protocols to that, but even without them, the wheels of the bureaucracy grind exceedingly slowly, the world over. The relocation out of India adds another layer. Fiji's has been the most elaborate process so far – the police clearance from Kolkata Police, the detailed medical tests for the job holder and spouse, the insurances -  a Pacific Ocean of paperwork, if you’ll permit me a bad pun. The paraphernalia seemed endless at the beginning but slowly and steadily it got done, bit by bit. 

These old trees, a double row of them, were planted by the
Girmitiya ancestors, I was told - indentured labourers from 
India brought in by the British in late 1800's.

Digitisation and the internet however, have made things much quicker – thank heavens! Hubby’s passport (expired most inconveniently last December!) was done in less than a week start to finish, the application and payment made online from home. The Police clearance certificate, also applied for online, came through in 24 hours. (Probably because we don’t have criminal records!) Papers were scanned and sent whizzing over the net and took no time at all. The only packet of original signed documents that had to be couriered to Fiji took more than two weeks to reach the recipient so imagine what the time requirement would be if we had had to send everything that way. Phew!

 

So are there no problems in this tropical paradise? You bet there
are! Politics is fraught and their democracy is fragile, as in many
other new nations. But this too is part of being an expat - see
and listen, but don't meddle. No taking sides, no participation. 

Now that we are here, things are moving at a fair pace. The phones were organised even before we landed, so the SIMs were just slotted in as soon as we got here. Local IDs, bank account, driver’s licence, property viewing and lease, and of course, the booster shot. India is currently giving boosters to 60+ so we were not eligible there. But here we are, more about that later. Today I had to get into Lautoka for some admin work, the second city in Fiji. The whole place is just lush green and picturesque. As the photographic proof shows. 

A-Z Challenge 2022