sv evi

My dear Peace Corps buddy Benito and his husband Cliff came to Fiji to visit us to celebrate ten years of being together. They rented a house by the beach and also stayed with us on Guava for a few nights. They came bearing gifts of cranberry juice, rum from duty-free, and a plethora of their son Jonathan’s old T-shirts–all things I had requested.

Wade snuggled up to Benito first thing and sat quietly on his lap for long spells.

Cliff had had rather traumatic sailing experiences in the past, and been seasick at the drop of a hat, so he was a little nervous about sleeping on board. But he did great! Didn’t get sick at all.

While snorkeling, Benito & Cliff spotted lion fish burrowing around a log about 15 feet from the boat! I’d never seen them before, what a treat. Their fins look like bird feathers. We also saw lots of turtles from the boat, and the boys saw rays while snorkeling.

Benito is keen to buy a boat and sail around, so the last day we put up the sails and tacked around in the bay. It turned out to be quite squally with rainstorms and high winds; we were zipping along at 7 knots on a good heel. When Riki was taking down the jib on the foredeck (we have hank-on foresails), I was at the wheel turning into the wind and I told Benito to pull in both sheets. He said, at once? Yes, I replied and cackled. And he laughed too, “I can’t do that” (we don’t have self-tailing winches, so it takes 2 hands to tighten a sheet). It was really fun.

Here I am steering the boat with my foot back into the Savu Savu mooring field, taking a page out of Evi’s book and wearing my snorkel mask so I can see through the heavy rain.

It was so nice to spend some quality time with friends who live in Tucson that we don’t see often. Benito has a knack for asking questions that really get to the heart of the matter. Real questions that make you think. During the Peace Corps he and I played a lot of chess. We cooked and danced in each others’ kitchens. We were part of the Diversity Network and trained the new volunteers about diversity, a shared passion of ours. Once at his house we took blankets and chairs and went on the roof. We had a little recorder, and we turned it on save our thoughts on our respective philosophies of life. I remember feeling a little shy because of the recorder. I remember he asked me what I thought about crutches. Like how alcohol can be a crutch or coffee or exercise…something that helps you get through the day after day, that you depend on. I said I thought life was hard, and I didn’t think crutches were necessarily bad, if they were in moderation. When I finished my Peace Corps service Benito took me to the airport, and we were both sobbing and sobbing. In the ten years since then, we’ve seen each other just three times (at our respective weddings, and in Fiji). He’s not the best at email, either. Luckily his husband is. 🙂 But ours is a friendship forged so strong during a pivotal time in our lives–one of those friendships that touches your core and leaves you changed for the better. Thank you Benito and Cliff for coming so far to spend time with us. Los amo mucho.