The Falklands and I.

Things are really hotting up this year with the dispute over the Falkland Islands. I personally can't see how there is a dispute when the people who inhabit the Islands, and have for many generations, are Falklands Islanders first and foremost, and very British with it.
Of course the media is going crazy with the goings on between the UK and Argentina over the Islands. The Argentine Government say the Islands are theirs and it was the UK who invaded way back in the early 1800s, and the UK say, hang on, that's not what happened, but regardless the Islanders want to be British. Even after the Falklands War in 1982 when many people, on both sides, died fighting for these Islands, after the Brit's won the Islanders back their freedom, after they were invaded by the Argentine military; it seems the Islands are still to be fought over.

I report on the news in the Islands. I read so much of the information there is available on the internet. I have researched the history of the Islands, from both sides, as I didn't want to be biased when I moved here. My conclusion is; leave the Islanders alone. Allow them their right to self-determination. They are happy to live in a beautiful but sometimes bleak group of Islands that have produced a hardy and proud people. These people are hard-working. They play hard. They are independant in a way mainlanders can't be. They are optimistic about their future, with a good standard of education, and the opportunities of further education in the UK.

I love living in the Falklands. After moving here on a one-way ticket, giving myself six months to decide if I wanted to stay or to return to the UK, I am still here. Two years and I hope for longer still. Immigration laws meant I had to re-apply for my current job, but I got it and thank the fates for it. I have such a good quality of life here. Even the people I don't like here I respect. They are who they are and make no pretences. I enjoy my work, and I am good at it. I love my friends, who make my time here that much better. I love the wildlife and the opportunites the Islands have given me. I have been fishing, shooting, whale-watching, visited Islands, stayed on the West, eaten numerous food dishes never before contemplated. I garden, I'm more active, and have some of the most amazing photographs. I have lost weight, my skin is clearer, my moods are more level, all in all I feel healthier.

I tried to come to the Islands unbiased, but living here has made me very much a fan of the Falklands and a supporter of the Falkland Islands people.