Keeping your skin healthy

FIJI WOOHOO!

Did anyone mention the number that humidity can do on your skin and hair? I'm not just talking frizz, I'm talking fungus, I'm talking about hair falling out.

If you're into pain, try a pair of cheap sandals, they have any S&M Dom beat.

A day fishing can turn into a day broiling if you don't take a hat.

That gorgeous hotel balcony may be a landing strip for divebombing mosquitoes.

It's awesome here.... but you'll have a way better time if you take a few precautions.

And I can tell already this is going to take me a couple of days to write out this series.

Skin

SUN Chances are you know about sunburns and sunblock is either the first thing you throw in your bag when you pack or you pick up a bottle of sunblock at your first stop. Couple of things here: SLATHER the stuff on if you're going to wear it and REAPPLY OFTEN, but if you're living here you might want to consider covering up instead of sunblocking. Hats, long sleeve shirts, long pants. Your call. Linen is way more comfortable than polyester, and there are great tropical prints all over that you can easily have sewn into the design of your choice. Don't forget a pair of sunglasses, although they're more likely to mark you as a non-local/tourist. Another option is just to stay in the shade.

FUNGUS Stuff is gonna grow on you. It ain't fun to think about, but it's going to happen. Accept it. When you have an itch around your neck, under your arm, under your breasts, in the crease between your thighs and your groin, Bingo! You just won a round of antifungal or antibiotic treatment. The good news is that the pharmacies are happy to help and you'll have plenty of choices of what to apply. Show them what you've got (I recommend a photo rather than a striptease) or describe the symptoms and listen to the directions! It's the strangest thing, but Selsun GOLD (not the blue dandruff treatment) can be used as an ointment. There are a bunch of other ones out there, but what you need will depend on what you've got.

While I did say it's going to happen to you sooner or later, you can make it less likely to happen by bathing daily with soap and water, taking care to scrub every body crease and then rinsing well. Use clean dry towels when you step out of the shower, and consider using a hair dryer on the cool setting to dry those creases and pieces. A dusting of talcum powder or cornstarch can help dry things up, too.

Not sweating in the first place helps a lot, too - wear loose fitting cool clothing. This is the real reason why everyone runs around in Bula shirts and loose pants - we really do need air flow to all our pieces and parts!

Seriously, protect your skin. If you get a mosquito bite DON'T SCRATCH IT! It may be driving you crazy, but you don't want the stuff growing on your skin to get into your system. If you get a blister, watch it. If your skin is broken for any reason - a cut, a scrape, a scratch, a blister, a scratched mosquito bite, you name it - treat it. Generally this is going to be an antibiotic or antiseptic ointment and a band-aid, but certain skin breaks may need special treatment.  

Coral Cuts / Reef Cuts

Coral is alive. When you scrape yourself on the reef, you end up with the exoskeletons of these creatures under your skin. Yup, that's animal protein and calcium deposits right there. Then there are nematocysts in some corals that sting. Open wounds in the water mean any gunk in the open ocean can swim right into your system, too. Yuck, right? Well, it's the price we pay for the awesome snorkeling and scuba diving here, so I'm careful, but I'm also in the water every chance I get.

• If you get beat up by the reef, first off remove any dead skin around the wound. Clean the wound. Like more than you ever thought you should and longer than you think it needs. Really.
• Rinse the wound with an antiseptic wash.
• Apply an antibiotic ointment.
• Check your wound at least twice daily. At the first sign of any infection, see a doctor. Yeah. Not kidding there.

I think this is it for today's post. I've got lots more to say about staying healthy here, but this is it for now.

In general, whenever you walk in the house wash your hands. It's also a good idea to leave your shoes at the door and slip into a pair of slippers at home. Keep all the junk out of the house and out of your system.

Anticipate, Participate, Reflect

As we were planning our first trip to New Zealand last October Lyn Hatton said that there were three parts to every holiday experience: Anticipation, Participation, Reflection.

I think I do a pretty good job with the anticipation part, I definitely do my best to earn the participation points, I'm not so hot at that last one.

Reflection.

So today I start my new goal: reflect for 20 minutes a day... and away we go!

Well, there's a little more to it than that. I also want to write more, so I'm not counting it as a reflection unless I get something down in writing.

I also know that I write stuff all over the place. You can find some of these musings on Twitter, on LinkedIn, on TripAdvisor, and at Island Life. I've done some guest posts other places, too. I'm going to try to be better about including all of that in one spot, but sometimes I just can't do that because of the nature of the platform.

So. That's it. That's my reflection for the start of the year. I guess it's a goal, which is more on the anticipation side. But it's all connected, right?

(oh, and more of my pics on Instagram these days than twitter)

Christmas Eve Spiced Apple Rum Cake

APPLE SPICE CAKE INGREDIENTS
INGREDIENTS
1 cup sultanas or dried fruit
1/4 cup rum
Soak fruit in rum overnight before making recipe

1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3 to 4 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (3 cups)
1 cup chopped assorted nuts, such as pecans and walnuts (optional)
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

APPLE SPICE CAKE DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F/175C degrees. Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray; set aside.
Working over a large sheet of parchment paper, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; gather sifted ingredients into center of sheet; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine vegetable oil, sugar, and eggs; mix on high speed until lemon yellow.
Fold reserved parchment in half lengthwise; with mixer on medium speed, gradually shake in dry ingredients until just incorporated.
Add dried fruit, apples and, if desired, nuts and grated ginger, to batter; mix to combine. Add vanilla, mixing until incorporated.
Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 75 to 90 minutes.
Remove from oven, and cool slightly on a wire rack.

CARAMEL SAUCE INGREDIENTS
1 cup light-brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

CARAMEL SAUCE DIRECTIONS
Combine ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until thickened to desired consistency.

SUGAR GLAZE INGREDIENTS (fast and easy!)
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons water

SUGAR GLAZE DIRECTIONS
Make the Glaze: Whisk together confectioners' sugar and enough water to form a thick yet pourable glaze. Set rack with cake over a piece of wax paper (for easy cleanup); drizzle cake with glaze, and let set before serving

End of the year goodbyes

I went to the closing assembly at school today, was literally stunned at the number of kids leaving this year. The ones sitting on the floor are the ones that are staying, they went up with their friends. The ones standing are all leaving.

I don't know if I went to this assembly last year. I don't know if the number was smaller last year. I don't know if I wasn't as affected last year because I was newly arrived. I do know that I am amazed at how impermanent life is in an international school.

The Week of AGMs!

The International Women's Association Annual General Meeting is on Monday November 16th at 10AM. This is the grande dame of Suva organizations, the year I arrived they raised over FJ$200,000 for charities. They can be reached at iwafiji@connect.com.fj. Their usual meeting is the first Monday of the month.

Tuesday is the Women Entrepreneurs in Business Council Meeting at 3:00 PM November 17th. Members range from market stall vendors to owners of large businesses. They will have a guest speaker from the USA this week. They can be reached at employer@fcef.com.fj I believe they meet once every two months on the third Tuesday.

Wednesday November 18th is the Corona Fiji Annual General Meeting and Christmas Bazaar. Corona runs a weekly trolley at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital and coordinate the donation of medical equipment to the hospital. Their monthly meetings tend to highlight an aspect of Fijian culture through demonstrations and speakers and are a lot of fun. Email Corona Fiji <coronafiji@hotmail.com> to RSVP. Corona generally meets every month on the third Wednesday of the month.

Thursday is the American Women's Association Annual General Meeting and Thanksgiving potluck. This group is open to women of any nationality and focuses on settling into Fiji and developing friendships. AWA is providing the main dishes but attendees are asked to bring their favorite dish. It ties into Thanksgiving as a celebration of family and tradition. AWAsuva@gmail.com is the best way to reach the AWA leadership. AWA almost always meets on the last Thursday of the month, but as most Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on that day in November they moved the November meeting up a week so the Americans can celebrate with their families.

Friday is the Asian Ladies Group. The International School has an annual Fun Day with food stalls from all around the world. About five years ago a number of women from Asia commented on how much fun it was to share food from their homelands and sample the food of other countries so they started a monthly group for members of the Asian diaspora. This group meets monthly and is almost always a potluck because the focus is on homemade dishes and asian foods. I believe in 2015 they met at a restaurant twice. Asian Ladies Suva <asianladies.suva@gmail.com> is used to coordinate RSVPs for their meetings. Their meeting moves some, but is generally the third week of the month.

They usually all meet on different weeks of the month, but November got all crowded together. I'm really thankful that they're not all on the same day!  

I love you Sam Jones

I'm just going to bawl for a minute. I may have to post just a pic for now and come back to it later.

November 2015

A Partial Listing of November 2015 Stuff

MONDAY 1
W - Alofa Yoga YMCA 10AM

TUESDAY 2
W - Bootcamp with Dee @ANZ Stadium

W - SUAW - Cafe 30 @9, repeats weekly
Melbourne Cup @ Governor's Benefits Fiji Fashion Council
TW - Judo- Behind Nabua High School off Mead Road 6PM

WEDNESDAY 3
PTFA Budget Meeting @5PM
Alliance Francaise Movie night

Friday 6
MYC Monologue Showcase @The Playhouse

SATURDAY 7
IWA Arabian Nights Ball
Uprising Music Festival

Mon-Wed
Diwali Celebrations

Tuesday 10
M - Suva University Partners and Spouses monthly coffee

Saturday 14
ISS Garage Sale

Monday 16
IWA AGM (RSVP by 12 November)

Tuesday 17
Women Entrepreneur's Business Council Meets

Wednesday 18
Corona Fiji AGM

Thursday 19
American Women's Association AGM
Beaujoulais Nouveau Celebration @Bad Dog Damodar